Yoongi jumped up as soon as Mrs. Song finished her class and he ran over to Namjoon, who had already turned around to talk with Seokjin.

The other kids in the class were a bit too shy to approach Seokjin. They were probably scared they wouldn't be able to talk to him properly.

However, besides some small difficulties, Seokjin surprisingly easily talked to Namjoon.

"Your Korean is not that bad.", Namjoon noted just when Mrs. Song walked over to their small group.

"Will you two take care of Seokjin?", she asked and kneeled down beside them.

Yoongi followed her gaze when she looked over to Bogum. But the boy turned away and avoided meeting their teacher's eyes.

Right - they were supposed to stick together.
Not anymore though.

Namjoon nodded when Mrs. Song looked back at him and Yoongi felt Seokjin's eyes on him.

The boy seemed to wait for Yoongi's reaction until he offered him a shy smile.

Seokjin's smile was a tiny curve of his lips and Yoongi felt so happy, he smiled back reassuringly.

"Namjoon and I are best friends. You can be our friend too.", Yoongi suggested and Seokjin's face slightly lit up.

His small cheeks blew up into two round and pink balls.

When he nodded enthusiastically, Yoongi looked over to Namjoon who looked just as excited as he felt.

"I would like that.", Seokjin said shyly and Yoongi was surprised to hear his voice a bit stronger than before.

Namjoon was right, Seokjin's Korean wasn't bad. He just spoke very softly and pronounced the words a bit weirdly.

But Yoongi was sure Seokjin would quickly learn to speak just as good as them.

The first couple of weeks were exciting.

When Yoongi and Namjoon visited Seokjin's place, Yoongi was amazed.

Their house was huge and there was so much place to play. Especially their garden where Seokjin's father camped with them and ate stick bread on a campfire one evening.

Usually, Yoongi was scared to stay outside so late, but having Seokjin's dad in their tent made him feel safe. Something about the men calmed all of them down so much.

Seokjin's dad was barely at home because he worked a lot.

Apparently he owned a company but Yoongi didn't really understand why he wasn't at home then.
Couldn't he just tell other people to go to work for him?

But when Yoongi asked this, Seokjin's parents laughed.

Yoongi didn't really understand.

Seokjin's mother was such a pretty omega, Yoongi couldn't stop looking at her.

Her eyes as blue as ice and hair as black as the night. It fell like silk on her shoulders when she bowed down and picked up Seokjin. And whenever she kneeled down beside Yoongi to play with them, her smell was so nice.

Yoongi really liked Seokjin's mother and sometimes he was a bit embarrassed about it.

So whenever she caught him staring, Yoongi tried to hide his stares or sometimes even himself.

But he was bad at it. Still, it didn't seem to bother her.

Instead she always only smiled and patted his head.

Yoongi couldn't help himself looking at her.

He was sure Seokjin got his pretty face from his mother.

Namjoon, Seokjin, and he had a great time for several weeks.

They talked a lot with Seokjin and therefore he got even better in pronouncing certain words, but somehow after a while, kids in school started to be mean towards Seokjin.

Yoongi didn't understand at all.

Seokjin was nothing but kind to everyone. Always lent them pens and gave them sweets when they asked him to share.

But suddenly kids were saying, "I can't understand you." or "What did you say?" even though Seokjin spoke clearly.

It broke Yoongi's heart when he saw how Seokjin always tried to smile and repeated his words until the other kids walked away giggling.

At first Seokjin kept calm but Yoongi felt the frustration built up and suddenly Seokjin did more mistakes.

Mistakes he never did before.

Namjoon and him always tried to defend Seokjin and even though nobody bullied them before, now everyone seemed to avoid them just as Bogum who was still looking at them from afar.

Luckily nobody dared to fret Seokjin anymore when they were together.

But sometimes Seokjin forgot his books in their classroom and walked back alone to pick them up.

And sometimes he came back with tears in his eyes.

Yoongi and Namjoon knew some kids just waited for him to be alone so they could pick on him.

Sometimes they caught Bogum talk badly about Seokjin.

This was probably something that upset Namjoon and Yoongi more than Seokjin who didn't even know Bogum that well.

Yoongi knew best how Seokjin felt.

So of course it was bothering him especially.

And Namjoon noticed.

"You look sad.", Namjoon mentioned one day when only the two of them met up to do their homework together after school.

Seokjin always did his homework at home with a private teacher.

Yoongi pushed out his bottom lip and tried to focus on the additions he was trying to solve at the moment.

Even though Seokjin tried to smile the mean comments and bad behaviour of others away, Yoongi thought it was obvious.

O bvious how sad Seokjin was.

"I don't want to see Seokjin cry. It's not fair.", Yoongi said, just when his mother walked into the living room with two glasses of juice for them.
"People bully him because of his accent but he can't help it, right?"

Yoongi's mommy lingered around a bit longer than necessary and Yoongi looked up when Namjoon didn't answer.

Suddenly Namjoon pointed down to their friendship bracelets.

"Do you still know how to make those?"

Yoongi nodded and looked over to his mother who helped him to make them in the first place.

Without even asking her, Yoongi already knew she'd lend them a hand.

"Let me look if we still have the wool.", Yoongi's mom said a bit excitedly and started to rummage in the cupboards in the living room.

"I also want to show Seokjin that we like him. Maybe he feels better like this.", Namjoon said and Yoongi thought it was a great idea.

Their friendship with Seokjin felt different than with Bogum.

Seokjin told them all his secrets and also didn't like how Yoongi was treated before.

Namjoon had told him about Bogum and why they didn't talk to each other anymore.

Up until then, Seokjin also worried why the boy avoided him although he didn't do anything to him.

Seokjin was a good friend. Even though Bogum was so mean, he didn't judge him.

He just listened to their stories and understood.

So maybe they could make a friendship bracelet for Seokjin that looked just like the one Namjoon and Yoongi shared.

Yoongi's mother found the same colors again.

She cut off the threads and helped the boys to braid the bracelet, their homework forgotten on the table in the living room.

In the end, Namjoon and Yoongi couldn't find any difference between the new one and the ones they wore.

His mother's braiding skills were so impressive.

Yoongi could never fumble with the threads as skillful as she did.

Together with his mom, both boys packed a little care package for Seokjin.

Yoongi placed a bunch of cookies into a lunch box.

H is mother packed them into a freezer bag so they won't dry out.

And Namjoon picked out a package of apple juice for Seokjin.

They were able to fit all of it into the lunch box before they placed the bracelet on top.

Then they closed the lid and stared at the lunch box.

Excitement bubbled in both of them when they went back to doing their homework.

Yoongi barely slept that night.

Hopefully, Seokjin would like their present.

The next day, Namjoon and Yoongi were at school early.

They were waiting at Seokjin's table for him to arrive.

Yoongi was so nervous, he couldn't stand still.

Namjoon was sitting on his own chair which he pushed up to Seokjin's table.

Every time someone stepped through the door, Yoongi looked up curiously.

Bogum arrived early that morning and Yoongi felt a bit guilty.

There was no need to feel bad really.

It wasn't Yoongi fault they didn't talk anymore.

Once Seokjin stepped into the classroom, Namjoon jumped up and Yoongi smiled brightly.

At first Seokjin looked a bit sad but then his eyes grew wide once he saw his friends.

"I thought we'd meet outside. I was scared you two weren't coming today."

S eokjin sounded seriously worried.

"We have a present for you!", Namjoon said and put his hands on the box.

It was obvious that Namjoon wanted Seokjin to hurry up.

So Seokjin quickly walked over and pushed his chair aside to look at the lunch box properly.

"What's this?", he asked.

"Open it up.", Yoongi urged him.

Now, half of the class was looking over to them.

Some interested, some annoyed.

Yoongi couldn't help himself but feel proud that everyone would officially witness their friendship bond grow.

Seokjin reached forward and lifted up the top.

Slowly the content came to light and Seokjin's eyes grew wide.

He picked up the bracelet carefully and ran his thumb over it.

He gasped before he looked at Yoongi's and Namjoon's wrists.

Then his eyes seemed glazed.

"We wanted to gift it to you, because you are very important to us. And we want everyone to know that we are friends."

Namjoon said exactly what Yoongi thought.

It was a bit blunt but Yoongi couldn't have said it better.

So he smiled at Seokjin wholeheartedly who then proceeded to hug them.

"Thank you so much!", he muffled into their shoulders before he tried to get the bracelet around his wrist.

Sadly Yoongi and Namjoon couldn't secure it safely so they wanted to wait for Mrs. Song to help them.

"You even packed up cookies and my favorite juice!", Seokjin said and smiled so widely at them, Yoongi was convinced he never saw him smile like this before.

Yoongi was glad they prepared the surprise.

So once Mrs. Song entered the classroom, Seokjin ran up to her and asked her to put the bracelet on him.

At this point, Bogum also noticed what they gifted Seokjin.

Yoongi saw him gaze at Seokjin first and then over to Namjoon and him.

His eyes were a bit angry and Yoongi's stomach clenched up.

Namjoon didn't even seem to pay attention to him.

But Yoongi felt his eyes on him and he couldn't stop himself but to look back.

It bothered him that Bogum seemed to be affected by it.

But Yoongi didn't really understand why it upset him so much.

One day, Yoongi forgot his retractable storage tube at home and stored his drawing inside of his table.

He wanted to take the drawing with him the day after, but when he opened up his table in the morning, his papers were nowhere to be seen.

He stood there a bit baffled and considered if he didn't put the drawings into his table the day before but left them somewhere else.

But the longer Yoongi thought about it, the clearer he realized that someone must have stolen them.

At first, Yoongi looked through the classroom.

Looked at others cupboards in the back of the room, but his drawings were nowhere to be seen.

He needed to finish his art homework today.

Yoongi put so much effort into his picture which he wanted to prettify with glitter and sugar paper.

Suddenly a classmate walked up to him.

It was a girl who always played with Bogum.

She looked at him with sorry eyes and seemed insecure.

Finally she told him, that she saw a couple of first graders throwing his drawings into the schools water fountain.

Yoongi didn't even think about it twice.

It was clear as daylight who stole his belongings.

Even though he knew Hoseok probably was guilty of it, he didn't tell a teacher about it.

The day after, Yoongi didn't have his drawing with him. He couldn't redo the drawing that quickly.

So his teacher scolded him and during that time, Yoongi stared at his tiptoes.

He was too embarrassed, so he didn't dare to look at his teacher.

Later, when their teacher was gone, Namjoon and Seokjin gathered around him.

"Why didn't you have your drawing?", Seokjin asked, trying to look into Yoongi's eyes.

Yoongi felt bad for lying to his teacher earlier. And he knew he could always trust his friends.

"Someone told me that kids from first grade were in our classroom and stole it. I guess they threw it in the water fountain. I didn't look for it though."

Yoongi talked with a pressed voice. He didn't want his classmate to get dragged into it.

He was just thankful she told him.

"Do you think it was Hoseok?", Namjoon asked.

These days Namjoon got more straight forward.

Hearing this name gave a stab to Yoongi's chest.

Instead of discussing it further, Yoongi only shrugged.

He couldn't tell. In the end, he didn't see him.

Seokjin and Namjoon looked at each other.

Seokjin mumbled, "That's not fair. He can't just steal Yoongi's stuff.", before their next teacher entered the class.

Yoongi pulled his math book and homework out of his bag.

He should get his mind off of it.

But that was harder than expected.

During their lunchtime, they had to pick up their food from the mess hall before they could eat lunch in their classroom.

They always waited in the hallway for the other classes to leave the hall before they could enter themselves.

Somehow they crossed ways with the first classes and then something happened, Yoongi never imagined.

Namjoon has always been calm and collected and nothing could really shake him up.

But Seokjin seemed a bit more emotional these days so when he was face to face with Hoseok, he started a fight with him.

Hoseok's food tray fell on the floor when Seokjin pushed him and then jumped on top of him.

Namjoon and Yoongi stared while their older friend started to hit Hoseok, and Hoseok scratched at Seokjin's arms and - if he could reach- at his face.

Kids were screaming and crying.

Yoongi was just shocked when he saw Hoseok and Seokjin roll around on the floor, grunting and hitting each other.

It hurt him.

He didn't want them to fight.

"That's for stealing Yoongi's drawing!", Seokjin yelled when he hit Hoseok's eye.

Just when Hoseok got a good grip on Seokjin's hair, the teachers ran up to them and separated them.

But Hoseok didn't let go of Seokjin's hair and ripped out a good amount of it in the process.

While they pulled Hoseok and Seokjin all over the hallway and away from the others, Yoongi and Namjoon just stared at each other.

They never expected Seokjin to get angry at Hoseok. At least not as angry so it would end in a fight.

It took a couple of minutes for the teachers to calm down the kids and rearrange the food distribution.

Neither Yoongi, nor Namjoon talked about it because they didn't have any words for what happened.

They also didn't see Seokjin for the rest of the day. They tried to find him at the infirmary but his parents had picked him up.

Yoongi felt bad.

Not only did his parents scolded him for missing his homework that evening, but he also realized Seokjin fought because of him and got hurt.

Hopefully Seokjin would show up tomorrow.

The next day, Namjoon and Yoongi waited for him in front of the school.

A bit anxious that Seokjin would never come back now.

But his mother dropped him off and once she saw the two boys, she waved at them and let Seokjin walk up to them on his own before she drove away.

The scratches on Seokjin's arms and face were patched up.

A bit of hair was missing on Seokjin's head.

He looked bad but not guilty of his actions at all.

His eyes were fierce and strong.

"Seokjin! You are here.", Yoongi said and walked towards him.

He hugged his friend and pressed him close until he heard a small whine from Seokjin.

Yoongi then jumped back, scared that he had hurt him.

"No worries. You were just pressing on my bruises.", Seokjin said and pulled up the arms of his shirt to show off his bruise on his upper arm.

He sounded a bit proud even.

"We wondered if your parents wouldn't let you come back.", Namjoon said and refrained from hugging him.

But he looked closely at the bruise.

"I explained to them why I hit Hoseok. The teachers were angry but my parents understood, luckily."

Seokjin grinned widely and made Yoongi smile a bit too.

He didn't want to be too happy over Seokjin being proud of a fight.

Suddenly Seokjin's smile vanished when he spotted someone.

Yoongi turned around to follow his gaze.

And maybe he gasped softly.

If Seokjin looked bad, Hoseok looked worse.

Hoseok was arriving with his friends.

He had a blue eye and several bruises from Seokjin's punches in his face.

Yoongi wondered how hard Seokjin had hit him.

Once he spotted Seokjin and Yoongi, he lowered his gaze though, and walked a bit faster towards the building.

They looked after him and Seokjin scoffed.

Yoongi didn't know where Seokjin's braveness came from. But he was a bit envious.

Yoongi asked Seokjin to never hit someone for him again.

But Seokjin just said, "Friends stick up for each other", and didn't leave any room for arguments anymore.

Somehow Yoongi felt happy.

He didn't like the fact that Seokjin got hurt because of him but he was so happy Seokjin still stuck to him and showed everyone that they were also dealing with him too if they were after Yoongi.

Meanwhile, Namjoon was always better with his words.

And Yoongi - Yoongi just felt weak ever so often.

His friends were too cool for him.

It was calm for a couple of weeks.

Maybe they stopped because they were scared of Seokjin.

At least Hoseok always turned the other direction in the hallway when Seokjin walked towards him.

B ut then the bullying started again.

Mainly towards Yoongi.

They stole his homeworks again and dumped them into the toilets.

He also found several papers out of his table and cupboard in the school water fountain.

Sometimes homework, sometimes just doodles.

Basically everything they could get their hands on.

After a while, Yoongi started to store things at Namjoon's table or took everything home with himself.

It was bothersome because the books were super heavy, but he couldn't help himself.

He didn't want to anger his parents who were already getting many calls for missing homework or damaged books.

One day, there was dog poop in his table.

At first, he was wondering because of the smell, but he was super embarrassed when Mrs. Song opened his table to present a pile of dog poop.

The whole class laughed at Yoongi who didn't know how to explain to Mrs. Song, who was totally shocked.

Luckily Namjoon picked up the poop because he always did that with his own dog anyways.

Usually, when Yoongi was late to school, he found eggs in his shoe locker which stood by the entrance.

But only when Yoongi forgot to lock it up the day before.

After a while they also put eggs into his sports bag when left his bag in their classroom during break.

At this point, Yoongi figured out it must be his classmates as well.

Because sometimes they giggled when Yoongi opened his bag.

He never talked about it though.

Sometimes he washed his clothes at the fountain before he drove home.

Yoongi had no choice but to accept it.

He didn't want to talk to the teachers and the fear to open up towards his parents was even bigger.

He didn't want to seem weak.

Most of the time he didn't even know why things disappeared.

T he choice of objects was very random.

He couldn't imagine who'd sneak into the changing room in their sports hall to steal his shoes or clothes.

Yoongi needed to walk home in his sports shorts and sneakers one day and his parents were so confused.

He just told them he lost them somewhere.

But worse were the books which were stolen out of his backpack one day.

They were expensive.

Yoongi's mother even bought protection foil to put it on the math and history books.

Just in case Yoongi would scratch up the surface by accident.

When Yoongi found them next to the school fountain the next day, wet and his name smudged on the top right corner of the first page, he walked home with guilt deep in his guts.

"Yoongi those books were so expensive. First your shoes and clothes. Now your school supplies. Yoongi you can't lose your stuff. We can't rebuy everything!", Yoongi mother scolded him in the afternoon when she told his parents that he lost his books.

She stood across the coffee table. Her hands on her hips. She looked angry.

Yoongi sat on the couch and felt distressed. The mood wasn't nice.

His father just sat on the armchair by the side. He rubbed the insides of his eyes.

Exhausted because Yoongi was troubling them.

At least that was what Yoongi thought.

"It's not my fault!", Yoongi whined weakly.

He didn't like his parents scolding him. This was not fair.

He shouldn't get into trouble because of mean stuff others did.

Actually he wanted to defend himself, but he also didn't want to admit that he was being bullied again.

"Then why do you keep losing it? Stop lying!"

His mother accusing him of lying, hurt Yoongi.

He looked at his mother with tears in his eyes.

Even though he wanted to explain it to his parents, he didn't want to cry in front of his father.

His parents were already disappointed in him.

Suddenly Yoongi got quiet. He was holding his breath and then looked away from his mother.

He didn't want to bother them.

He was older now. He was in second grade now and couldn't cry like in kindergarten.

So maybe he should just take the yelling and apologize.

When he decided to do so, Yoongi let his shoulder slump and looked down into his lap.

He was ashamed.

During his first class, he thought everything would change for the better.

But he was wrong. Very wrong.

"Yoongi, do you get bullied again?"

The question out of his father's mouth made him gulp.

Yoongi didn't want to answer.

Suddenly his father stood up from his armchair.

He grunted a bit when he lifted himself up.

With a sigh, he settled beside Yoongi and placed his big palm on Yoongi's back.

The warmth of his father's hand made Yoongi weak.

He pushed out his bottom lip and wished for the moment to be over.

So Yoongi shook his head. Maybe to shake this weird feeling off.

The feeling that he failed his parents who were also excited for Yoongi and his new environment.

A moment passed before his father spoke again.

"Are you lying?", he asked, his deep voice rumbling in his chest a bit, and Yoongi was defeated.

His pushed out bottom lip started to tremble and he hid behind his tiny hands.

Yoongi pulled up his legs and tried to roll up into a ball.

Maybe he could avoid talking to his parents like this.

Seconds later, his mother was by his side.

Kneeling in front of the couch, hands on his thin arms.

A tiny sob erupted from Yoongi's throat.

He couldn't hold it anymore and he felt miserable for it.

Too ashamed to look at his mother's eyes, he squeezed his eyes shut even when she pulled him forward, almost off the couch and into her arms.

"Oh. I'm sorry, pup. I'm sorry I yelled at you.", she apologized and hugged Yoongi so tightly, he couldn't pull his arms from in between them.

He was sitting half on the couch.

Leaning forward to lay in his mother's embrace while his father mumbled something about the Jung family.

It was frustrating to know his parents were worried again.

Especially when they asked if Yoongi wanted to stay home.

If he wanted to change schools.

They'd do anything for him.

But Yoongi thought of Namjoon and Seokjin and declined the offer.

He could manage.

As long as he could stay with Namjoon and Seokjin, he was fine.

Never ever wanted to lose his friends.

That evening, his parents said something about a child therapist.

Yoongi didn't really understand what the purpose was but his parents told him he'd be able to talk with him about his experiences. As long as he didn't want to tell his parents.

For now, Yoongi agreed. He didn't want to talk with his mommy and daddy about the bullies and what they did to him.

So he liked seeing the men who talked with him about it.

And slowly Yoongi found a way to deal with his frustration.

The bullying didn't stop though.

He just got better at dealing with the feelings he had when being hurt.

One day by the end of the school year, Yoongi was a bit late again.

Luckily classes didn't start yet.

The doors were still wide open and Yoongi could still talk to the others before their teacher would come.

But before he ran into class, he heard someone yell and Yoongi stopped around the corner.

It was Seokjin.

"Why are you being so mean!? Is there any reason?",Seokjin asked and sounded desperate.

Yoongi dared to look around the corner and saw Seokjin standing in front of Bogum.

He just looked back at Seokjin and didn't seem to be affected by his words.

The other kids were standing around them, some worried, some angry.

What were they angry at?

Because Seokjin spoke up?

He didn't get it.

Namjoon was nowhere to be seen.

Maybe he was late as well.

Yoongi decided he should step in.

Show Seokjin that he was with him. No matter what was up.

Maybe Bogum said something mean towards him.

So once Yoongi stepped inside and up to his table, Yoongi realized what was going on.

His table was completely ruined by pencils. They all wrote weird stuff on it, some drew ugly animals and wrote Seokjin's, Namjoon's or Yoongi's names beside them.

But the biggest word was -

L O O S E R

"oh.", Yoongi gasped when he saw it.

Seokjin also looked up from Bogum and his eyes grew wide when he spotted him.

"Yoongi! We saw it. We saw how they wrote on the table."

Some mumbled that they didn't participate in it and some yelled at Seokjin for lying.

Just then Namjoon entered the classroom through the other door at the front.

He had a rag in his hands, wet and dripping.

Namjoon froze when he saw Yoongi.

He also seemed caught off guard. He was breathing a bit heavy as if he ran all the way.

Yoongi looked down at his table again and thought for a moment.

Finally he looked up at Bogum who was eyeing him unsure.

"Well. That's not how you spell loser.", Yoongi simply said and immediately Bogum's cheeks turned red.

Bright red and he looked embarrassed.

A couple kids were laughing but Seokjin still looked serious.

Apparently he didn't feel like laughing.

Namjoon walked over to him with a small smile on his lips.

Luckily Namjoon and he were still learning English in their free time and Yoongi read this word before.

He was proud he was able to talk back. Even when it was a weak response.

Namjoon started to rub his table.

Some of the drawings came off, but some were scratched deeply into the table.

Just like the 'looser' which was staring up at Yoongi.

Great.

Just then Mrs. Song hurried into the class.

"I'm sorry kids. I didn't plan to be late. Please take your seats."

While everyone started to move, Namjoon was still rubbing Yoongi's table. The water dripping already from the surface.

Seokjin also didn't step away from Bogum's side.

"Mrs. Song, the others drew mean stuff on Yoongi's table.", Seokjin said and pointed over to the table.

She looked surprised for a moment. Almost shocked.

Mrs. Song walked over and carefully pulled Namjoon from the table before she looked at the words.

A heavy sigh escaped her lips.

She then grabbed the rag in Namjoon's hands and told him to take his seat.

"Yoongi, Seokjin, will you two go to the staff room and ask for a new table for Yoongi? I'm sure the caretaker will help you two to carry the table."

Seokjin nodded and walked to Yoongi. He grabbed Yoongi's hand and pulled him outside.

They walked straight for the staff room but they heard how Mrs. Song said, "And I think we need to have a serious conversation now."

Seokjin was really upset and ranted over Bogum and his stupid friends the whole way.

Yoongi only smiled at it and squeezed Seokjin's hand which was sweaty from being so mad.

Later Namjoon told them that Mrs. Song was very angry and told them to be nicer towards Yoongi because he was a nice kid who did nothing wrong.

She also threatened to call their parents.

Yoongi felt bad that they got into trouble.

But he didn't tell Namjoon or Seokjin.

The bullying in his own class stopped afterwards.

At one point Bogum even walked up to him and apologized which Yoongi accepted.

But Hoseok and his new friends weren't stopping.

Yoongi just figured he'd need to take precautions regarding his books and homework during the next couple of years.

As long as he wasn't alone, everything was alright.