A/N : And here is the first chapter of the year 2024.

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When Yoongi woke up the next morning, he saw Seokjin was already dressed and putting on his shoes, ready to go out to eat breakfast. He looked tired even though he had gone to bed early, but his face was radiant and he seemed to have recovered from his emotions of the day before.

"You got up early," he pointed out, startling Seokjin.

"S-sorry, I hope I didn't wake you up by making any noise,"

"No, I always wake up at this time," Yoongi said, checking the time on his phone. It was almost six thirty, the time his alarm normally went off during class.

"Ah, that's good to know," Seokjin said, writing it down in the back of his mind and promising himself to always get Taehyung out of the room at six o'clock sharp. "I'm going to meet Taehyung and Jimin in the canteen."

"Did you talk to Taehyung? he was unbearable last night while you were sleeping."

"Yes, I already talked to him and I'm really, really sorry for what he did yesterday Yoongi," Seokjin apologized, "you should have woken me up, I would have stopped him from bothering you and threatening you like he did. do. He won't do it again, I won't let him, I promise!"

Yoongi just nodded. He could tell from the tone used that Seokjin was no longer angry with Taehyung. They had reconciled... during the night?

Suddenly his nose caught an unusual scent and he sniffed something in the air. He moved closer to Seokjin until he smelled his neck, embarrassing Seokjin.

"W- What are you doing?"

"I'm smelling your perfume."

"I didn't wear perfume," Seokjin told him with a smile taking a step away, "I never wear it."

"That's what it seemed to me," Yoongi said thoughtfully.

"See you later Yoongi, have a nice day!" Seokjin told him, waving his hand before walking out without waiting for Yoongi to respond.

"If it's not your smell, then who owns that scent of perfume floating in the air..." Yoongi asked at the door that Seokjin had just closed and who, obviously, didn't answer him.

Taehyung and Seokjin entered a canteen that was almost deserted but already in use. Most of the boys waited until the last minute for breakfast, preferring to sleep in as much as possible to face the long day of classes ahead, but with Taehyung and Seokjin having to wake up earlier, they thought it best to eat as early as possible and had Jimin warned.

Jimin also woke up early but not for the same reason: as he spent more time than normal taking care of his physical appearance, from the quality of his skin to the perfection of his haircut. For him, even rolling up his pants and shirt sleeves was important. He thought it was artistic, Taehyung thought it was lame, Seokjin thought it was cool.

When Jimin joined the other two in the canteen, they were already well into their breakfast.

"Did you have a good night?" Seokjin asked him with a smile that gave Jimin his energy for the day.

"Jin, he is my nightmare!"  Jimin exclaimed, hugging him dramatically, a horrified expression on his face.

"Who?" Seokjin asked. "Oh, you mean Hoseok ? Did he do something bad to you?"

"I told you, he populated my nightmares! I heard his laughter in my head while I slept and when I woke up, I saw his face just inches above mine, his mouth right above mine exhaling on me his putrid breath of the morning! Above my mouth!"

"He kissed you?!" Seokjin exclaimed, stunned, imagining the scene and suddenly blushing as Taehyung rolled his eyes.

"What are you imagining?!" Jimin exclaimed while observing him, "get these obscene images out of your innocent head right away! I didn't let him do it, don't worry about me, I know how to defend myself from an attack: I pushed him away with all my taekwondo strength!"

"Oh. Are you sure he meant you harm? You interpret a lot when it comes to Hoseok," Seokjin told him with common sense, considering that it was rather Jimin who must have hurt Hoseok by hitting him.

"Yes, I'm sure of it, Jin! Even if he claimed that my alarm went off but I didn't hear it and that he had decided to wake me up himself, I'm sure it was him who turned off my alarm, he is vicious enough to do such a thing!"

Seokjin wasn't convinced. He turned to Taehyung who shrugged his shoulders, unable to sort out what was true from what Jimin was saying, who obviously still hadn't really accepted that Hoseok was his roommate.

"What about you, how was the night with your roommate?" Jimin asked his two friends curiously.

"Good," Seokjin and Taehyung said in one voice before Taehyung added, "Jungkook isn't so unbearable anymore when he finally sleeps."

"Really? I would think you would have a harder time with him," Jimin said, knowing how Taehyung hated his cousin, especially after what he did to Seokjin. "So I guess I truly have the worst roomate of the three of us. Does that mean you don't plan anymore to go back to the Rat to change room with Yoongi, Taehyung?"

Taehyung and Seokjin exchanged a knowing look that Jimin didn't miss.

"No, that wouldn't do any good," Taehyung said in a casual manner which confirmed to Jimin that something had happened that night. Indeed, Taehyung was not the type to accept being denied something so easily., even if his even if his opponent was the Rat.

He knew that Taehyung had been trying to contact Seokjin most of the night since even he had sent him desperate messages to try to contact Seokjin, thinking that the latter was just ignoring him.

However, that morning, both of them seemed to have forgotten about their verbal confrontation from the day before and this caught Jimin's attention. He wondered if the two had ended up having a conversation in the middle of the night. It was most likely since they both looked tired.

He didn't like the secrecy of the other two but he had accepted the idea that there were secrets between them that he might never know because even Seokjin who was easy to fool kept them carefully and would not accept that he, his friend, try to take them from him by force. Despite everything, it wasn't pleasant for him.

"I imagine you two have made up," he said lightly.

"Yes!" Seokjin said happily. "Everything is fine now."

"Does that mean Taehyung is going to apologize to Seung?" Jimin asked, turning to Taehyung.

Seokjin also turned to Taehyung and gave him a beaming smile, inviting him to give his word back in front of Jimin.

"I don't know yet..." he began slowly.

"Tae! You promised, you liar!" Seokjin immediately exclaimed, scandalized.

Taehyung had tricked him, he got the code to his room and got him to agree to sleep with him and then he broke his word?!

"...how to do it," Taehyung finished with a mocking smile. "What's the matter with you getting so worked up on me like that when I haven't finished my sentence?"

Jimin burst out laughing knowing full well that Taehyung had done it on purpose.

"Oh, sorry," Seokjin said, feeling stupid.

"I think you're quick to call me a liar, Jin," Taehyung pointed out. "You didn't even give me the benefit of the doubt! You don't trust me, it shows."

"I said I'm sorry!"  Seokjin cried, "but it's unexpected to hear someone say that they don't know how to apologize!"

"It's not unusual if it's Taehyung," Jimin chuckled, "has he ever apologized in his life?"

Taehyung glared at him.

"Yes, Jimin, Taehyung already apologized to me," Seokjin stated.

These apologies could be counted on the fingers of one hand but that was enough for Seokjin. Sometimes, Taehyung did not apologize but he expressed remorse through his behavior and that was also enough for Seokjin who was particularly kind to Taehyung because he knew him too well to demand too much from him. And for him, apologizing was something very difficult, because he was extremely proud.

This is how he never heard Taehyung apologizing for what he had done to him when they were little but his behavior towards him had long shown him that he regretted and Seokjin, wishing not to make him live with guilt, had never demanded an apology from him, preferring never to talk about it. Likewise, he had not apologized for the harassment he had subjected him to in middle school, but he had felt regret and had agreed to change. That was all that mattered for Seokjin.

But when it came to Seung, Seokjin knew that it wasn't up to him to decide and if Seung needed an apology from Taehyung, then he would do anything to make Taehyung give it to him.

"And to whom else?" Jimin insisted, "Have you ever heard him apologize to anyone else besides you? Because I don't."

Jimin and Seokjin turned to Taehyung thoughtfully and gathered their memories. Seokjin shared older memories with Taehyung but he quickly had to face the facts:

"No, never."

Taehyung stood up with pride.

"World leaders do not apologize easily."

"Where is the world leader, I can't see him?" Jimin said ironically pretending to look for him before easily catching the fist that Taehyung had just thrown at him. "You're not a leader, you're just arrogant, that's all."

Seokjin laughed and Taehyung lost his cool.

"Shut up!" He said to Jimin.

"Don't worry Tae, if you don't know how to do it we'll teach you," Seokjin said kindly.

"Yes, we're going to teach you what all children have already learned when they were still in diapers," Jimin taunted.

"Jimin, please! Tae's trying hard right now and we're his friends so we have to encourage him," Seokjin intervened and Taehyung gave Jimin a mocking smile. "His parents didn't teach him so he's just a little late, that's all."

Jimin burst out laughing as Taehyung lost his smile.

"Jin, I love you," Jimin declared.

"Shut up, both of you," Taehyung replied, "I'll figure out how to apologize on my own, I don't need you to teach me something so easy."

Jimin and Seokjin exchanged an unconvinced look.

"Hey Seung!"  Seokjin called as he saw Seung enter the classroom.

"Hey Jin!" Seung greeted him.

Seokjin noticed Taehyung who was sitting in his place, next to a window and who had frozen when he saw Seung enter. The roles seemed to have been reversed and Taehyung was trying to hide the apprehension he felt about apologizing to Seung.

They had arrived to class very early and Seokjin, who had been able to save Seung's phone number the day before, had brought his friend over so that he could speak with Taehyung before the rest of the class arrived.

"Can you go see Taehyung?"  Seokjin whispered, "he have something important to tell you."

Seung looked towards Taehyung who was staring at them. Sitting on the chair in front of Taehyung's desk, Jimin, with a smile on his lips, greeted Seung with a wave, but he also made fun of Taehyung who was nervous at the mere idea of ​​apologizing.

"Jin, did you really manage to convince him?" Seung was surprised, he suspected that it must not have been fun for Seokjin to have this conversation with Taehyung.

Seokjin nodded excitedly.

"I told you, Tae had changed!"

"It's true that you said it. But it's hard to believe," Seung admitted.

"Go see him and you will see that it is the truth!"

"Jin-"

"Seung, I know you don't want to be his friend, it's okay," Seokjin told him. "He also knows you don't want to. He just wants to apologize and make peace, like you. Please accept!"

He took on a pleading look and clasped his hands in front of Seung who found him looking comical and who laughed.

"Why are you laughing?" Seokjin asked surprised.

"For nothing, Jin. Since you've tried so hard, I'm going to listen to what he has to say to me," Seung said kindly. "Even if it doesn't work, thank you for trying."

Relieved, Seokjin thanked him profusely and eagerly pulled him by the arm to where Taehyung was standing.

"Tae, I brought Seung to you, you can tell him what you want to say to him now," Seokjin said, taking a few steps away to stand next to Jimin who was sitting.

Taehyung took a while to speak as if he couldn't do it and Seung crossed his arms.

"If you don't have anything to say-" he began to the great despair of Seokjin who wanted to intervene but Jimin held him back and whispered to him to let Taehyung do it.

"Jin wanted me to apologize to you," Taehyung cut Seung off.

Jimin slammed a hand to his face upon hearing how Taehyung started.

"You were right, we really should have taught him, he is too bad at apologizing," Jimin whispered to Seokjin who looked dismayed.

"But you don't want to," Seung pointed out without uncrossing his arms.

Taehyung glanced at Seokjin who looked anxious but was quick to give him an encouraging expression when he met his gaze. This dissuaded him from telling Seung what he was thinking: no, he didn't want to apologize to him, personally, he was doing it only for Seokjin.

"I hurt you and I'm sorry," he said quickly. "There, I said it."

It happened so quickly that Seokjin didn't have time to realize that Taehyung had apologized. Seung frowned.

"I know Jin tried hard to get the apology out of you, but if you want me to accept your apology, you'll have to at least pretend it's sincere. Don't forget I'm not the only one who you harmed: you attacked my family!"

"Seung..." Seokjin whispered with sadness before looking at Taehyung, as if begging him to make the right choices in his words.

Taehyung's jaw tightened at Seung's brazen behavior, who in his eyes was taking advantage of the fact that he was in Seokjin's good graces to push him over the edge. He took a deep breath to give himself the strength not to give in to his impulses and push Seung away.

"It's true, I hurt you for one year, then I threatened your family and I forced you to leave Seoul," he started. "I can't say I didn't do it, just that at that moment I thought you deserved it and since I had the power to do it, I did it."

"You thought I deserved it?! You did all these things to me when I didn't do anything!" Seung exclaimed, expressing for the first time to his harasser how much this injustice had hurt him.

"I hated you from day one," Taehyung told him, continuing to express his thoughts without paying attention to Seokjin and Jimin who were silently begging him to stop hurting Seung further and just apologize. "Are you saying you didn't do anything wrong to deserve what I did to you? From my point of view, you had wronged me."

"Being friends with Jin made me cause you harm? Can you hear yourself talking?!" Seung exclaimed, judging that Taehyung hadn't changed at all since the last time they spoke.

"Not only that," Taehyung said, "you were disrespectful to me during the first day. Then you had become so close to Jin that I couldn't accept it. Even if I didn't attack you directly to keep my promise to Jin, I made you everyone's victim. Then when you decided to bring Jin to your house with his family, I exploded, I hit you, I threatened your family and my brother took charge of carrying out this plan. And I haven't had a single regret for what I did."

He had coldly made this summary and for Seokjin and Jimin, this apology was a real fiasco. Seung seemed particularly hurt by this reminder of the facts without any sign of repentance. His lips were pursed, his eyes were bright, and his fists were clenched. Seokjin was going to rush to comfort him and, probably, to start hating Taehyung with all his heart for making his dear friend suffer.

"However," Taehyung said, cutting Seokjin off and getting Seung's attention again, "time has passed since then, I've done other bad things, I've hurt Jin too."

He felt a lump form in his throat as he remembered the letter from old Choi who had told him that Seokjin had tried to kill himself because of him and that he had never told Seokjin about. One day he would have to find the courage to do it. But for now, it was with Seung that he had to make amends, and it was already difficult enough as it was.

Hearing this, Seung turned to Seokjin who hadn't told him what Taehyung had done to him after he left. Seokjin gave him a small smile, saying nothing, preferring to listen to what Taehyung had to say.

"I reached a point where I shouldn't have been able to come back and where doing harm didn't make me feel any regret. And yet, Jin's suffering made me feel regretful. And then, he opened my eyes by making my change the condition of his friendship. And believe me, just telling you that should be enough to prove to you that I'm trying to change. So yes, I did not come of my own free will to apologize to you, but I aspire to change, this is real. And that change starts with fixing things between us. Now, are you going to accept my apologizes or do you prefer to continue this war between us?"

Seung stared at him for a long moment, and Seokjin held his breath, his hand clenched so tightly around Jimin's that Jimin winced in pain but remained silent as well. Taehyung flet like had stripped himself bare in front of his enemy, he had never felt so stripped of his pride as now. But Seokjin didn't want him to be proud, he wanted him to be sincere. And he had been.

"I have to say, I'm surprised," Seung said after clearing his throat, "I honestly didn't think you would agree to sincerely apologize. In reality, I had planned to accept them no matter what because I wanted to move on, but I also wanted to tell you how I felt, whether you cared or not. What you just did exceeded my expectations. Even though you did it for Jin, it mattered to me. So thanks, Taehyung."

Surprised by Seung's reaction, Taehyung frowned. Was he sincere?

"So... do you accept my apology?"

"Yes, I accept them. Let's maintain normal relations as classemates from now on and ignore each other as much as we can outside of the classroom, there's no point in persisting in wanting to be friends, that wouldn't be honest. You agree?"

"Yeah, okay," Taehyung grumbled, pretending not to care.

In reality, he almost sighed in relief but he held back, remembering that it wasn't him who should be happy with this apology. Yet, while he gave up, Seokjin heaved a deep sigh of relief and went to hug Seung who returned his hug gratefully.

Taehyung looked away, frustrated, aware that now that he had done what Seokjin wanted, he had paved the way for Seokjin to walk away. He was the one who pushed him into Seung's arms because he loved Seokjin so much that he gave in to his demands. It was so predictable and it made him sick.

But when he felt Seokjin's arms wrap him in an affectionate embrace as well, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Thank you so much Tae," Seokjin whispered to him. "I'm so, so proud of you!"

Happy to realize that Seokjin wasn't going to abandon him, Taehyung was about to hug him back but froze when, raising his head, he had the unpleasant surprise of seeing fixed on him the smiling face of Jungkook who was listening to him attentively and who, visibly, had just seen him humiliate himself in front of Seung for Seokjin's friendship.

"What are you doing here?" Taehyung asked aggressively, pushing Seokjin away and getting up to face Jungkook who stood in the doorway a few meters from them. "Get out of there!"

"This isn't your daddy's house as far as I know," Jungkook replied in a snarkytone, "I'm sorry if I'm breaking this to you, but I'm in this class too."

Then, Seokjin's happy heart seemed to fall out of his chest.