When they left Taehyung's room and found themselves at the top of the grand stairs in the center of the mansion, looking down at the huge entrance hall with its black and white marble floor that, usually empty, was today full of waiters and guests discussing business, complimenting or criticizing those who were present as well as those who were absent.

Taehyung led Seokjin out of the house, weaving through the guests, absently thanking those who congratulated him on his success. It didn't matter to him, he knew that no one was sincerely happy for him, everyone was only looking for the good graces of his family or on the contrary, looked for reasons to harm it.

The music that resounded throughout the property echoed classical music coming from a small bandstand installed in a large garden of the property where an orchestra recruited for the evening was playing. There, buffets covered with refined dishes and well-set tables where the silverware shone under the glare of the garden lamps could be admired. 

Impeccably dressed waiters wandered between the tables and on the chairs, here and there, sat guests, each more distinguished than the other, even though most of them were standing and already beginning to spread out to the four corners of the garden near the mansion, to comment on everything he saw.

The Kim property, in fact, was rarely open to so many people and only a select few could generally enter. The splendors of the residence and the garden could only be the subject of discussion and jealousy on the part of these less powerful people.

"Woooow!" Seokjin exclaimed, in the same way as Jimin and whose facial expressions and gestures he involuntarily copied more and more, as this boy was so expressive when he spoke. 

Taehyung had noticed that the more the Seokjin and Jimin hung out, the more similar they became, because people rub off on each other. But Seokjin only seemed to take the good sides of the people he was around. And as he only had good in him, it was only good that rubbed off on his friends. 

Taehyung knew what good he had taken from Seokjin but he wondered if Seokjin had found anything good to take from him. Did he even have something good to share with him? This questioning bothered him sometimes but that evening, he didn't have those kinds of worries on his mind. That evening, he only had eyes and joy for Seokjin's candor in the face of this world that he seemed to discover.

Seokjin, indeed, eyes full of stars, had never seen so many people gathered in the Kim's garden. Usually, the immense garden, its rose garden, its small forest, its ponds, its paths and even its small labyrinth of hedges like those found in French gardens, trimmed and maintained by his grandfather were empty, except when there were guests, a few at a time, or when he and the Kim brothers were there. He was so impressed by all these beautiful people that he didn't know where to look.

Everywhere people dressed in great pomp seemed to stare at him and Taehyung and after a certain time, he ended up feeling uncomfortable.

"Let's go get some food," Taehyung decided as he saw Seokjin's fascination with this world he was so foreign to turn into visible embarrassment.

Seokjin nodded and the two boys walked towards the buffet to steal some food and get away from all these uninteresting adults but before they could reach the precious food, a man saw Taehyung and called out to him:

"Taehyung! The one that everyone wants to see but who sneaks like a thief to go unnoticed! Come on, it's thanks to you that we can enjoy the splendor of Kim Young-Jae's family today. It's so rare that we have to thank you."

"Good evening, uncle," Taehyung grumbled, turning around, while Seokjin looked over Taehyung's shoulder to see what this uncle of Taehyung's he had never seen looked like.

The man had a familiar face and yet he didn't look like Taehyung, or Namjoon, or their parents. On the contrary, the woman next to him looked a lot like Mrs. Kim. Seokjin understood that it was Taehyung's maternal aunt and that the man next to her was her husband.

"Hey Jin, good to see you again!" said a teenager of the same age as them who joined the small group, emerging from the shadow of his parents.

Then suddenly, Seokjin understood why the man's face was familiar to him. Because the boy who had just appeared and greeted him was none other than Jeon Jungkook, his opponent in the final of the football championship, making Taehyung's uncle Jungkook's father and therefore, making Taehyung his...

"Are you two cousins?!" Seokjin exclaimed, looking at one, then the other, stunned.

Jungkook smiled widely and nodded, while Taehyung sighed in annoyance, as if it was the worst thing that ever happened to him.

"Didn't he tell you? I wonder why!" Jungkook said ironically as Taehyung glared at him.

"And who is your friend?" Mrs. Jeon asked suspiciously, because it was rare for this notorious gossip not to know one of the heirs of the big groups that ruled this country and she was wary of Seokjin, eyeing him from head to toe to be sure he wasn't just a waiter. In which case he would have been undignified to address her son or herself.

Jungkook and Taehyung opened their mouths at the same time to respond but it was Mr. Kim Young-Jae, father of Taehyung and Namjoon, who had just appeared with Mrs. Kim in their luxurious evening attire, who replied:

"This is Kim Seokjin, my ward, the one I told you about and who has just finished his schooling at Gugbo Middle School with Taehyung. He just graduated too, like our sons."

Thus, Seokjin suddenly understood: that was why he had been allowed to come, so that Mr. Kim could boast of having led this poor little guy with no future to success. He tried not to look disappointed because he had thought Mr. Kim really wanted to congratulate him.

"Oh, so it's him," Mr. Jeon pointed out, giving Seokjin such a hard look that the boy finally looked down.

"Proof that if we educate them correctly, they can succeed just like us," Mrs. Jeon seemed to regret, looking at him with as much consideration as if he had been a weed to be cut as quickly as possible.

"Besides, now all they have to do is dress like us to give themselves the impression of looking like us," Jungkook's father chuckled, noticing the costume that Seokjin was wearing and which had given him the impression that Seokjin was from their social class.

Taehyung didn't like the haughty tone they took when talking about Seokjin. The three teenagers were spectators of the adults' conversations and Jungkook looked like he was really bored, starting to bite his nails. As for Seokjin, he would have liked to disappear so that he would no longer have to hear these people criticize him like this as if he was worthless compared to them.

"I imagine you're training him to eventually work in the Kim's company?" Mr. Jeon asked Mr. and Mrs. Kim. "After all, you have to get the best possible return from him and he will be loyal to you after what you have done for him."

"No, Seokjin wants to become a football player," Taehyung interjected, refusing to resist the pleasure of humiliating his father.

Jungkook giggled when he saw Taehyung's parents and his own nearly choking and he exceptionally decided to help his cousin:

"It doesn't surprise me, I faced him on the football field and he is impressive, he has natural talent!"

Jungkook's words made Seokjin smile. First, he was happy to meet Jungkook again, even if his relationship with the Kims was not really a positive discovery. And second, he was happy that Jungkook, who he admired as a footballer, complimented him. He didn't notice that Taehyung, like Jungkook aimed above all to make fun of their parents, not to please him.

"F-football player?" repeated Mrs. Jeon, who didn't like the admiration she heard in the voices of her son and nephew. "Is this a joke you're playing on me?"

"I'm afraid not, dear," Mr. Jeon replied, staring at the three boys, especially Seokjin who seemed surprised to see that Jungkook's parents considered his passion dishonorable. "That's the only thing I managed to get out of him, he's not interested in anything else. We cannot expect the same aspirations from a child like him as our children, I had to make up my mind."

"I'm surprised that you continued to finance his education if you don't plan to make him work for you afterwards. How generous you are, I wouldn't have imagined it!" Mr. Jeon exclaimed.

Mr. Kim and Mr. Jeon engaged in a staring contest that did not escape the three teenagers. Seokjin looked at them in bewilderment but Tehyung and Jungkook seemed used to their fathers' rivalry.

"You let him live with you and go to the same school as your sons, aren't you afraid he will be a bad influence on them?" Mrs. Jeon asked, turning to Taehyung's parents. "I have no desire for Jungkook to go to high school with him and if you ask me, I would tell you shouldn't allow it for your children either. He was already going to middle school with them, that's more than enough for someone like him."

"It has already happened, he will not go to the same school for the rest of his education since he obtained a place at Whimoon high school, it's a sports school."

"Oh, it's a relief to hear that he won't go to Eunma then."

"Stop talking like we're not here!" Taehyung shouted annoyed while Seokjin wanted to disappear immediately.

The four adults turned to him, scandalized by the way he spoke to them.

"Taehyung!" His mother rebuked him before Mr. Kim could do so himself, probably more abruptly. "Stop talking to adults like that!"

Seokjin opened his eyes wide as he looked at her for the first time because he had just realized Mrs. Kim's protruding belly under her loose black ceremonial dress which failed to hide it. So this is the reason why she went out so little, constantly demanded the presence of his mother by her side and now paid so little attention to Taehyung: she was pregnant!

However, Mr. Kim didn't seem to care much about her because even if she seemed particularly tired, her husband didn't seem to notice or want to help her sit up. The two had never given the impression of loving each other in Seokjin's eyes, their marriage having undoubtedly been arranged. Still, Seokjin did not find it normal that Mr. Kim did not care about her given her state.

Grumbling some excuses he didn't mean so as not to upset his mother too much, it was Taehyung who helped her sit down on a chair, as he seemed to want to spare her.

"Go play elsewhere Taehyung, don't make your father angry tonight, there are too many guests and too much at stake for your future and that of the company," his mother whispered to him.

Taehyung agreed reluctantly. He glared at his father and Jungkook's parents then walked away, pulling Seokjin away from these evil people without realizing that Jungkook was following them or that Jungkook's mother was proclaiming to anyone who would listen that she was right to thinking that Seokjin could only be a bad influence on their children.