"Father?" Namjoon called as he entered his father's office and approached his desk.

"What?" Mr. Kim aggressively asked. "Do you have anything else to tell me about the things that happened at my house tonight or do I already know everything?"

Leaning into his leather armchair behind his desk, he seemed both tired and very upset of this party. And Namjoon felt that the discussion he was going to have with his father was not going to help anything.

"Well, there are probably things that happened that neither you nor I know about, because we had the most deceitful guests at our house this evening," Namjoon declared, knowing that if he had by chance learned from his brother that Jungkook was doing drugs in their garden, there were probably many other things he had missed.

"If you don't have anything interesting to say, then get out," his father sighed in annoyance.

 "Actually, I have something to say," Namjoon corrected him, "Seokjin was innocent and he tried to prove himself worthy of our family by refusing to be corrupted, I hope you realize that."

"I know very well, I heard what happened," Mr. Kim said dryly. "Why come and ramble about this? Would you like me to reward him for stupidly allowing himself to be trapped and threatening the honor of my family?"

Namjoon gritted his teeth at the contempt his father still felt towards Seokjin. However, it had seemed to him that for some time, this contempt had lessened somewhat, notably thanks to Seokjin's successes at school and the influence he had had on Taehyung's success.

The proof according to Namjoon was that there was a time when his father would never be embarrassed to defend Seokjin to defend his own honor but would have just thrown the boy and his family to his vulture guests to absolve himself of all responsibility and preserve a cordial understanding with his commercial partners.

"Even though I know you did it for yourself, I wanted to thank you for deciding to take Seokjin's word into consideration as much as Yoona's. Maybe a day will come when you truly trust him," Namjoon decided to said.

"You seem to have high hopes for it, I advise you not to believe in it too much," his father replied. "Anyway, you wouldn't have come just to thank me, so I'm going to ask you just once: what do you want Namjoon?"

"I want Seokjin to go to Eunma," Namjoon asked out of nowhere, "prevent his admission to Whimoon and have him admitted to Eunma with Taehyung and me for next school years."

Although he was stunned by this sudden request, his father did not let it show and replied:

"That's out of the question. It's time for Seokjin to move away from both of you."

"But now that you have publicly introduced him to our society as your ward and you defended him in front of everyone, you could-" Namjoon wanted to argue

"Namjoon, I said no," M. Kim cut him.

His son sighed and shook his head melodramatically.

"At least, I would have tried to convince you with the words of a son. Please, remember I didn't want to do this but you made me, okay?"

"Do what?!" his father barked, exasperated.

Namjoon took the crumpled letter out of his pocket. 

"If you refuse to grant my request, I will rely on Mr. Choi's testimony to denounce Taehyung's harassment that almost led to Seokjin's death. And I will persuade Yoko to file a complaint against our family, while helping her win her case."

"What are you talking about ?!" 

The father looked at his son angrily.

"Yoona wasn't lying when she said she wasn't the only one to harass Seokjin," Namjoon explained. "Worse, she didn't have time to tell you but it was Taehyung who asked everyone to attack him. Mr. Choi, the former school janitor, recounts in this letter everything they put Seokjin through, at least what Seokjin was able to confide to him because very quickly, he stopped and kept his suffering to himself. 

I guess you understand now that Seokjin wasn't lying to you when he said he was innocent of everything the school accused him of. You should feel remorse for punishing him for Taehyung's stupidities, but I imagine you won't."

Mr. Kim glared at him and ordered:

"Give me this letter."

"No," his son refused.

"Namjoon!"

 "No, I know you will burn it if I give it to you. Ah, if you succeed, know that it won't stop me from looking for Mr. Choi to have him testify, but I would prefer to keep this letter to use it. I will read it to you myself if you if you allow me."

Without waiting for his angry father's invitation to speak, he proceeded to read it out loud until the end, focusing on Choi's threats to the school and the Kim family.

"How come it's you who has this letter if it's meant for me?!" Young-Jae asked his son in annoyance when Namjoon finished reading.

"Because I stole it before it came into your hands and I thought about what to do with it before telling you about it," Namjoon said with a smug look which irritated his father even more.

"And instead of defending your family against these threats, you decide to use them to threaten your brother and me?!"

"That's right," Namjoon admitted.

"You are threatening your own family?! Have you lost your mind?!" Mr Kim exploded.

"Hoseok testified against his sister tonight because he thought of himself before his sister," Namjoon replied with a shrug. "For once, I'm going to think of myself before my family. This is the first and last thing I will ask you, after that, I will obey you without getting in the way of your decisions, I swear. Don't refuse it to me. Please."

Stunned to see his son get rid of his arrogance and come to ask him for a favor, Kim Young-Jae saw his son bow. He asked:

"Did Seokjin ask you to do this?"

"No, he doesn't know what I'm asking you right now and he will hate me when he finds out as he doesn't want to go anywhere else than Whimoon. But even if he had wanted, Seokjin isn't the type to take advantage of what he might have. He wants to acquire things through his hard work, not through his friends' money, I thought you understood that. And that's also why he's a sincere friend who I can't let go."

"Are you aware of the nonsense you're talking about? You say he's a friend and you want to force him to come to Eunma knowing he'll hate you for it?"

"I know what I'm asking," Namjoon replied, "I'm ready to go get the moon for him but also so that he stays with me, no matter how much you don't like it, it doesn't matter if it hurts him. I decided to be selfish and I want him to go to Eunma."

"I don't like seeing you so close to him, I never liked it," Namjoon's father said, thoughtfully. 

"I know. But you have to accept that Seokjin is somehow a part of this family. Neither Taehyung nor I will give up on him. Seokjin tried to respect your and mother's wishes by moving away from Taehyung but Taehyung took revenge on him by hurting him at school and you were always against him. Now that Taehyung has repented, he is closer to Seokjin than ever and he will no longer want to separate from him : he wants to go to Whimoon with him."

"It is out of the question!" Mr. Kim replied sharply. "I will never let something like this happen, and Taehyung will go against my wishes."

"I know that well. And Taehyung knows it too since he hid this information from you. But since his will and mine converge, you could make a gesture for your sons and allow us to have Seokjin come to Eunma."

"I wonder if you're doing this more for yourself or more for your brother," asked Mr. Kim, who no longer remembered the days when his sons got along well.

"I'm doing this for me," Namjoon said.

"And what are you prepared to do for this?" his father asked him, curious to see how far his determination went.

"Anything," Namjoon affirmed.

Mr. Kim smirked upon hearing this.

"Anything, really?"

Namjoon nodded.

"Then give up on Seokjin."

"What?" Namjoon asked, frowning.

"Let your brother have all the fun he wants with Seokjin until he gets tired of him, since it's clear Taehyung will never be worthy enough of the family business. But you have to be. It's you that I'm preparing to be my successor and I don't want my two sons to be seen as friends with a boy like him. 

You have to get away from him, that's my condition. If you honor this condition, I will grant your request and let him study at Eunma. But if I find out that you disobeyed me, I will have him kicked out of school and he will no longer have a place at Whimoon as well. Are you ready to accept this?" 

"Deal," Namjoon said, holding out his hand to his father who was a little surprised to see his son so easily accept such a deal.

Mr. Kim looked into his son's eyes and found an unusual sincerity there. He then shook his son's hand, sealing their agreement.

"Perfect, give me the letter now," he said holding out his other hand.

"I'll give it to you when I have proof of Seokjin's registration with Eunma," Namjoon replied, who didn't trust his father enough.

His father gave him a cold look but nevertheless told him:

"Fair enough. Now, get out of my sight, I've seen enough annoying teenagers for today." 

Namjoon nodded and walked towards the door but before leaving he turned around and said to his father:

"Thank you. I know that you did not do it out of generosity and I am also aware that I forced your hand and you also forced my hand, but nevertheless, I thank you for accepting my request. It means a lot to me, dad."

He then left without looking back and therefore could not see the amazement on his father's face and not only because his son had thanked him. Namjoon didn't call him father. He called him dad. 

It was the first time.

Returning to his room which he had unlocked on the way to join his father in his office, Namjoon saw that Yoko was there, watching over Seokjin who was trapped in Taehyung's arms.

"Have the guests left?" Namjoon asked, making the maid jump but not waking up the two youngest.

"Yes, everyone is busy cleaning downstairs and I'm going to go too but I want to take Seokjin home first. Can you help me bring him home? I can't wake him up and I almost wake Taehyung while trying. Otherwise, I'll ask Baek to come and carry him."

"Yoko, please leave him here tonight," Namjoon said.

" But-"

"Yoko, please. I realize I made a lot of requests this evening but I won't ask again, so make an exception and let him sleep here," Namjoon cut in a voice suddenly as tired as his father's. "Don't worry, I promise nothing will happen to him."

"You also promised to protect him at school, and yet I just found out he was bullied since his first year!" protested Yoko, who no longer knew if she could trust Namjoon. "How can I still trust you with my son's safety?"

But Namjoon didn't want to have this conversation that night.

"You don't know everything, I'll explain to you later what happened, okay?" He said, "and regarding what happened this evening, I just went to see my father to ensure that nothing will be held against Jin. Know that he has no intention of punishing Jin for what happened, everything ends well."

Yoko seemed reassured to hear this and grateful for Namjoon's gesture. The eldest child Kim had never stopped paying for Seokjin's medicine and even during his last hospitalization in the expensive clinic, when he had claimed to Seokjin that he had called his mother to have her pay, he had actually paid for the hospital costs himself. He had remained Seokjin's good fairy all these years and because of that, Yoko had to face the facts: Namjoon had earned her trust.

However, she seemed to hesitate about letting Seokjin sleep in the mansion because Mrs. Kim hated seeing Seokjin in her house, what would she say if she knew Seokjin was sleeping in Namjoon's room? She would probably get mad at Seokjin. But it was late and Seokjin had been very distressed by everything that had happened that evening, so it was probably better that he stayed there, like Namjoon said.

"I trust you Namjoon," Yoko ended up sighing.

She placed a kiss on Seokjin's forehead and left the room to help the other employees put the property in order after this nightmarish party.

Sighing too, Namjoon observed Seokjin who was sleeping in Taehyung's arms. The two had fallen asleep without changing or washing and Namjoon decided to follow suit. He turned off the light and slipped into his big bed, on Seokjin's side who had his back to him.

He knew that in just a few hours, his relationship with Seokjin would change drastically and he was a little scared about that because he knew it was going to be painful. He decided that he too, wanted to sleep while hugging Seokjin for once.

When Namjoon's arms wrapped around Seokjin, they involuntarily brushed against Taehyung's.

"Don't touch me," Taehyung muttered, not actually sleeping.

"You just have to let go of him so I won't touch you," Namjoon retorted, "besides, this is my bed and my room, I can kick you out if you annoy me but Jin will stay here."

"No, that's not going to happen!"

"Then, shut up."

Silence fell in the room and for a moment, the three intertwined boys remained motionless except for the breathing that caused their chests to rise and fall. Then, Taehyung asked:

"What happened?"

"You have a phone, ask Jimin to tell you, I don't want to do it," Namjoon replied who would have preferred to enjoy a moment of peace.

"Jimin doesn't know anything as he can't know what you went to tell dad, only you can tell me!" Taehyung replied.

"You'll find out tomorrow, I guess," Namjoon said, preferring for this night only to keep to himself the decision he had made without Taehyung and Seokjin knowing.

"You are useless, I hate you!" Taehyung exclaimed, irritated.

"Good."

Even though his brother was back to being as annoying as usual, Taehyung still couldn't forget the conversation the two of them had before Namjoon left the room. Inwardly, he no longer hated his brother that much and he even thought that from now on, things would be easier between them.

"You made the best decision, didn't you?" he finally asked in a calm voice from which, however, a real anxiety emerged, thinking back to what he had asked Namjoon to do: not denounce himself but denounce Taehyung to protect Seokjin.

"The best decision for whom?" Namjoon asked, thoughtful.

"For Jin, who else?" Taehyung replied as if it were obvious.

"Well, I would like to say yes but I didn't have to make any decision," Namjoon muttered. "So either you nor I had to suffer from what Yoona did. She's going to get all the blame alone. Rest assured, that means Jin won't hate you and you can stay with him."

He knowingly said "you" instead of "us" but Taehyung didn't notice.

"H-how is it possible?" wondered Taehyung, who was certain that by this time, his friendship with Seokjin had already been broken permanently because of what he had asked Namjoon to say to prevent Yoona from sabotaging Seokjin's entrance to Whimoon.

"Unexpected allies made this possible, we must believe that luck is with us..." Namjoon explained, "in any case, Yoona won't be showing up again anytime soon at a social event and she probably won't go to high school in Seoul given the public humiliation. She is everyone's laughing stock."

"Perfect," Taehyung grumbled, satisfied.

"Aren't you a little sad for your ex-girlfriend?" his brother quipped.

"Shut up!"

"I imagine you would have wanted to witness his public decline," Namjoon laughed at him.

"She didn't even deserve me to look at her, I was very good here, with Jin. I just hope you defended him properly in front of all his people who should have preferred that it be him who was judged guilty and not Yoona."

"Actually, I didn't even get a chance to say a word because others took care of it. When I told you about unexpected allies, didn't you ask who I was talking about?"

"Who are they?"

"Jimin to start, which was not surprising as he had a score to settle with Yoona but also and surprisingly, Hoseok and Yoongi."

"Hoseok?!" Taehyung repeated, stunned, "he betrayed his own sister?"

"Yeah, he wanted to dissociate himself from his sister so that her humiliation and her wrongs do not tarnish the reputation of his family and therefore his own. What a bad big brother!"

"He suddenly reminds me of someone," Taehyung retorted.

Namjoon sneered facing accusations from his little brother.

"On the other hand, I don't know what Yoongi had in mind. He never does anything for anyone. I think he will try to get something out of his gesture."

"Yoongi?" Taehyung asked, perplexed.

"The guy who saved Jin from falling," Namjoon explained, remembering that Taehyung didn't know him, "he recorded everything when he was in my room and that's why I didn't need to speak."

"We owe him twice over then," Taehyung pointed out, realizing that Yoongi had twice saved Seokjin from a fall, the first literally and the second figuratively.

"I know," Namjoon replied in annoyance.

Taehyung was deeply relieved to learn that Seokjin would not only pull through and be able to go to Whimoon as planned but also that he himself would have a chance to reconcile with Seokjin when his friend realized he wasn't responsible for what happened to him.

Everything was going to be okay.

He suddenly blushed with shame remembering the embarrassing discussion he had with his brother earlier and during which he had forgotten all pride and said everything that was in his heart. He blamed himself for having had this moment of weakness in front of Namjoon when all hope was not yet lost and he hoped his brother wouldn't bring it up again.

"Now that everything is back to normal, let's forget about what happened earlier, okay?" Taehyung said nervously.

"No," his brother refused with a grin. "I won't forget that you cried in front of me and admitted that Jin preferred me to you."

"It was an act, I was lying," Taehyung replied through his teeth, annoyed with his brother.

"Yeah, sure!"

"I thought I could hate you a little less after today, but I changed my mind, I hate you even more!"

"I wouldn't have liked it the other way around," Namjoon replied.

"Very well then-!"

Sandwiched between Namjoon and Taehyung, Seokjin, whose forehead was sweating, suddenly interrupted them in their argument when he mumbled in his sleep:

"Too hot..."

"Sorry, Jinnie, but I'm going to stay like this," Namjoon told him, who nevertheless began to take off Seokjin's suit jacket which should actually keep him warm and who grabbed the air conditioning remote control to cool the room before resuming his position against Seokjin.

"There's no air conditioning in Jin's room, we're dying of heat these last days," groaned Taehyung who envied this comfort. "Besides, your bed is so comfortable, I'm tired of sleeping on the floor!"

"In that case, you just have to sleep in your room," Namjoon replied.

"Seokjin never wanted to, he's too afraid of mom."

" It's understandable, she's a demon with him. But remember, you said you were going to learn to sleep without him so soon you'll be sleeping alone in your own bed in the comfort of your room with your air conditioning, right?" Namjoon said with a smirk.

"I said I was going to learn but it was a crisis situation, now I don't need to anymore now that the situation is under control," Taehyung replied nervously.

"You forget that you said that when you found out that you were almost responsible for his attempted suicide and that you even said that you wouldn't go to Whimoon with him. Have you changed your mind?"

As Namjoon expected, Taehyung, unsure of what he had said previously, didn't respond.

I knew you couldn't do it, idiot, Namjoon said to himself, ultimately convinced that he made the right decision.

For the first time, he hadn't made this decision for himself.

He hadn't done it for Seokjin either.

He had done it for Taehyung and now, he had to go all the way, no matter the consequences.

______

A/N : I finished proofreading and republishing the old chapters. Tell me who is still here to read more =)