Having walked the few meters of corridor that separated him from Taehyung's room in front of which his friend usually waited for him to go eat, Seokjin was surprised to find no one. 

In fact, he was even surprised that Tehyung hadn't knocked on his bedroom door to tell him to hurry up because his discussion with Yoongi had made him very late. Some students, usually less early than them, were already leaving their rooms to go have breakfast.

He took his phone out of his pocket and saw that Taehyung hadn't tried to contact him. It was just as strange. He sent him a message to tell him that he was waiting for him outside his door but Taehyung didn't answer so he tried to call him, without getting any more response. Intrigued, Seokjin wondered if Taehyung had left without him or if he was still in the room.

Then, he remembered something with horror: Jungkook knew that Taehyung was sleeping with him in room 213 and since Yoongi hadn't helped him destroy Taehyung's reputation, maybe he had decided to attack Taehyung frontally?

Seokjin anxiously pressed his ear to the door to try to hear what was going on in the room. Building D provided its residents with the privacy they needed and no distinct sounds escaped from the closed rooms, but Seokjin heard muffled screams that convinced him that he must enter at all costs. He knew the room code because Taehyung had communicated it with him but never wanted to go in until now as it was also Jungkook's room.

When he opened the door, Seokjin's eyes widened at the scene unfolding before his eyes: Jungkook and Taehyung, standing opposite each other between the two parallel desks, held each other tightly by the throat. 

Yet, it was obvious that it was Taehyung who suffered the most from this situation because his face was red and the veins in his temples were protruding while Jungkook, on the other side, was barely out of breath. His split lip nevertheless indicated that Taehyung had managed to hit him before.

The two looked at each other with hatred and when they heard the door open, they turned to Seokjin, unable to change their expressions, which scared Seokjin who felt they were really capable of killing each other publicly. He quickly closed the door to prevent other people from witnessing what was happening in room 201.

"Are you two crazy?!" he cried, rushing towards them and trying to detach their arms without succeeding, "let go, you will kill each other!"

"You're wrong Jin, I think he'll be the only one to die and then his dead body will just release me," Jungkook chuckled with a stifled laugh, tightening his grip around Taehyung's throat who gave him a murderous look and did the same, even with less force.

Seokjin had a horrified expression when he thought that it was indeed possible but Taehyung quickly replied with difficulty:

"You can... dream... I'll slay you before... you Junkie!"

Seeing that he couldn't reason with them or separate them, Seokjin cried out:

"I'm sorry!"

Then, he delivered a resounding slap to each of them that shocked them both and immediately made them let go, as they didn't expect Seokjin to be violent. It was the first time Seokjin had hit someone and he immediately felt bad.

"Did you just hit me?" Taehyung said, outraged, holding his hot cheek. "You should have hit just him, not me!"

As him, Jungkook was massaging his cheek nonchalantly, as if Seokjin's slap hadn't hurt him at all.

"You know Jin, you just proved that you're not an angel after all, you're no better than us because you're also violent."

"I'm very sorry for hitting you, but you both weren't listening to me," Seokjin quickly explained guiltily, positioning himself between the two. "You need to calm down, this behavior is not worthy of you, we need to discuss all together, not fight!"

"Whatever," Taeyung groaned, "that bastard needs a lesson. He threatened me because he finally found out I was sleeping in your room. He thinks he's scaring me but he just made me angry. Move over, Jin I'm going to kill him!"

He tried to push Seokjin away who was between him and Jungkook but Seokjin didn't move and replied:

"No, I'm not going to let you do that! We will settle things through discussion, not violence."

"No, discussion doesn't work with this kind of mentally ill person!" Taehyung replied.

Jungkook giggled.

"You are the mentally ill person with explosive tendencies. I'm surprised, as your roommate, I expected to discover that you were on medication to calm your nerves but it seems that you don't want to take them. I should talk to your mom about this."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Taehyung screamed in anger at Jungkook over Seokjin's shoulder who was trying to keep him away from Jungkook by holding him back.

"No, Tae, calm down, don't let him provoke you ! Focus on me, I need to tell you something, Yoongi-" Seokjin started.

"I don't care about Yoongi right now, and I'm not going to calm down, I'm going to rip Jungkook's tongue out so I never hear it again!" Taehyung shouted. "Move Jin!"

"No!" Seokjin exclaimed, refusing to let Taehyung give in to his violent and bloodthirsty impulses again. He refused to let his friend turn into a monster again, even against someone like Jungkook.

"I told you to move!" Taehyung roared.

Unable to convince him to push himself, Taehyung ended up pushing him himself, too brutally though, his anger preventing him from controlling his strength. With a cry, Seokjin lost his balance and fell, his head heading straight into the corner of one of the desks, Jungkook's desk judging by the fact that it was neatly arranged.

"Oh no!" Taehyung shouted, and raised his arms to catch him half a second too late.

Feeling that it was going to hurt a lot and not having time to raise his arms to protect himself, Seokjin closed his eyes reflexively, waiting for the impact against his forehead.

But the impact did not come. Instead of the hardness of the desk, he bumped against something much less hard and more pleasant and felt arms wrap around his head to protect him, before his body fell heavily to the floor. As he kept his eyes closed he wondered if he had passed out and if that was why he didn't feel the pain of his head, only at the hip on which he had fallen.

"Are you going to sleep like this for long, Jin?" Jungkook's voice asked a few inches from his ear,  unclasping his arms from his head. "You're okay, you can open your eyes now."

Opening his eyes, Seokjin realized that his face had not hit the desk but Jungkook's chest. The latter, more reactive than Taehyung, was thrown to catch Seokjin and had used his own body as a shield to protect him from the impact. 

In doing so, it was the back of his head that had hit the corner of the desk and it was therefore he who had to feeling the pain that was meant for Seokjin.

"J-Jungkook..." Seokjin breathed, shaken by what had just happened.

"Let go of him!" Taehyung ordered, seeing that Jungkook was still holding Seokjin.

He quickly grabbed Seokjin's arm and made him stand up to walk away from Jungkook.

"Are you okay?" he asked him, observing him from all angles to check that he was not injured.

"I think so..." 

Aside from a sore hip that would no doubt be bruised from falling to the ground, Seokjin was fine and he quickly turned to Jungkook to see if his savior was okay as he was still sitting on the ground looking at him and did not get up. 

"Jungkook, are you okay?" Seokjin asked uncertainly.

"Are you worried about me? That's new," Jungkook mocked.

"It's not funny," Seokjin replied, genuinely concerned. "You hit your head, it must have hurt."

Realizing that Seokjin was genuinely worried about him, Jungkook stopped smiling and felt the back of his aching head, grimacing. When he pulled it out, Seokjin saw to his horror that it was covered in blood.

"Shit," Jungkook muttered and started to see blurry.

"Oh my God, you're bleeding!" Seokjin exclaimed, rushing to Jungkook's side again, thinking that it was his fault. "Jungkook I'm so sorry!"

"Stop apologizing, he was looking for it when he decided to attack me in the first place!" Taehyung replied, although slightly worried by the turn of events. Obviously, he hadn't really thought that his cousin would really die by his hand that day.

"Stop saying such mean things and help me take him to the infirmary, it might be very serious!" Seokjin cried, worried to death for his part.

He grabbed Jungkook's left arm and put it around his own neck, while grabbing him by the waist for support. Then he got up like this with him. But Jungkook's muscle mass made him very heavy and Seokjin knew he was going to struggle. He turned to Taehyung who wasn't moving. 

"Please, Tae, I need help," he breathed, struggling with the effort.

"And why should we help him?" Taehyung replied.

"He saved me! I should be the one hurt because of you, not him!" Seokjin shouted, angrily.

Taehyung knew it, and he had feared that would be the case. But that was not the case since, fortunately, it was not his best friend but his worst enemy that he had injured. So he refused to be moved.

"It's all his fault! You wouldn't have risked getting hurt in the first place if he wasn't threatening me and hitting me! He's just a piece of trash who doesn't deserve your compassion!"

"You were fighting too and it was you who pushed me, not him!" Seokjin protested. "And now he's seriously injured, don't you realize?"

"Who cares, at least it'll teach him a lesson and he'll stop trying to pick on us!" Taehyung replied.

"That's who he is, Jin, there's no point in asking him to help me," Jungkook muttered, half-conscious and leaning heavily against Seokjin.

Taehyung glared at him but didn't contradict him.

"You would let your cousin bleed to death?!" Seokjin shouted at Taehyung in a voice full of reproaches.

"My cousin? Since when does it matter? He said it himself, you don't choose your family and he never considered me his family!" Taehyung shouted back, "so why should I act like his family now, huh?! Tell me Jin!"

Stunned, Seokjin thought he heard a hint of pain in Taehyung's voice but he wasn't sure. Taehyung proclaimed loud and clear that he hated his cousin, but deep down, was that really the case? Maybe it was only because Jungkook pushed him away first and not because Taehyung wanted him to?

 After all, Taehyung didn't do what his parents wanted unlike Namjoon and it probably wasn't because their parents were enemies that Taehyung chose to hate Jungkook himself.

Come to think of it, they were the same age and they were cousins, everything should have predestined them to be friends, in the same way that Namjoon and Taehyung, brothers only a year apart, should have gotten along well. 

But Taehyung had not received affection from either of them, he had realized that family ties had no real value in his family, their parents' relationship testified to this, their mothers being two sisters who hated each other, and he had to suffer about it. That didn't mean that he himself hadn't had any affection towards them.

Would he really be happy if his cousin died? Seokjin doubted it but how could he convince Taehyung before it was too late?

Thinking about the urgency of the situation when he saw the blood flowing down Jungkook's neck, Seokjin decided to think about it later.

"Let's talk about it later Tae. In the meantime, whether you like it or not, I'm taking him to the infirmary, I'm not going to let your cousin die," he announced, readjusting his slippery hand around Jungkook and dragging him as best he could towards the door.

The few steps were torture and he quickly became out of breath, but he continued despite everything and took a few steps down the corridor before feeling his burden suddenly lighten.

"Wha-" Seokjin started, turning around in surprise.

"I'm helping you, not him," Taehyung told him, who had just grabbed Jungkook's second arm and put it around his neck. He slipped his arm around his cousin's waist, just below Seokjin's arm.

Relieved, Seokjin nodded and said:

"Thanks Tae. Let's hurry now."

Jungkook hadn't lost consciousness but he wasn't speaking at all anymore and Seokjin found that worrying.

They hurried to leave building D to reach the building where the school infirmary was located. Thanks to an optimal rotation service, there was a night nurse and a day nurse, which made it possible to have medical staff at all hours of the day and night to watch over all the precious heirs who resided and were educated in this school. This is how, despite the early hour, they found a nurse to take care of Jungkook. 

At her request, Seokjin and Taehyung made Jungkook sit on the edge of one of the two beds in the room and watched the woman, whose nameplate indicated that her name was Miss Ho, clean Jungkook's wound after making him swallow some pills against pain.

Taehyung wanted to leave immediately but Seokjin obviously didn't intend to leave before knowing Jungkook's health. Empathetic as he was, he was wincing in pain at the same time as Jungkook, as if he felt the same pain when seeing him suffer.

"Is it deep?" Seokjin asked worriedly, watching the nurse tend to Jungkook's wound. "Is he going to have to go to the hospital? Will we have to shave his head? Will we have to sew his skin back together? Will it be painful? Is his life in danger? Is he going to- "

"How do you expect her to answer you if you keep asking questions?" Taehyung grumbled, cutting him off, and making the young woman smile.

"Sorry," Seokjin said, looking at the nurse, "I'm just worried about him."

And that was exactly what annoyed Taehyung.

"Mmmm..." Miss Ho said after carefully examining the wound to assess its severity. "There is a lot of blood which makes the wound impressive but in reality the wound is not deep, a simple bandage and painkillers will be enough until it closes, there is no need to go to the hospital unless he still feels severe head pain despite treatment." 

Visibly relieved, Seokjin thanked her and said to Jungkook who was white as a sheet after all this blood loss:

"Did you hear that, Jungkook? You don't need to have your head sewn up, you'll be fine, that's great!"

This familiarity with Jungkook was starting to exasperate Taehyung who grabbed Seokjin's arm.

"You heard the nurse, it's nothing serious so let's go now otherwise we won't have time for lunch before class. Besides, Jimin has to wait for us."

Seokjin glanced at Jungkook who suddenly looked very vulnerable and alone, sitting on this bed. He didn't want to leave him there alone.

"Go alone, I'll stay with Jungkook," Seokjin told Taehyung to Jungkook's surprise, taking his hand to make him let go of his arm, before asking the nurse, "I can, right?"

"You can, but your friend will need to rest and will miss his classes for the day," the nurse warned as she took care of dressing and bandaging Jungkook's head.

"He's not his friend," Taehyung interjected. "Jin, you're not going to miss class because of him!"

"I still want to stay," Seokjin told the woman, ignoring Taehyung's intervention. "I don't want to leave him alone."

"In that case, I will give you a note of apology to justify your absence," the nurse told him, before heading into her office adjoining the treatment room, leaving the three boys alone for a moment.

"You're not going to stay!" Taehyung protested.

"Yes, I'm going to stay," Seokjin replied.

"I told you no!"

"And I said yes!" Seokjin cried, this time refusing to let Taehyung have the last word. "Normally, it's his family who should stay with him, but since you refuse, then I'm the one who will assume your responsibilities since I'm your friend. But know that it's you who should stay here with him, not me!"

"Do you really think he would do the same for me?!" Taehyung protested. "Of course not, he wouldn't even come to my deathbed unless it was to taunt me!"

"You said you would become a good person but you don't behave like one right now," Seokjin replied in a disappointed tone. "I thought you considered yourself better than Jungkook? Why don't you show him how a good person acts? Maybe this way, he will start to change his attitude towards you and become a better person too."

Frustrated, Taehyung didn't answer; he met Jungkook's gaze, which he had ignored until then, and stared at him. Unlike his usual, Jungkook didn't give him a mocking look as Seokjin asked Taehyung to stoop to being nice to him. The Jeon heir seemed weak and in pain, but his attentive gaze seemed to indicate that he was waiting to see his cousin's reaction.

For a few seconds, Taehyung wondered if Seokjin could be right. Could it be that, by agreeing to take a step towards his cousin, he would change his attitude towards him and stop hating him for the simple fact of being the heir of the Kims? 

But it only lasted a brief moment and very quickly, he realized that he didn't have to do anything for Jungkook and that he didn't care about him. Annoyed to realize that he was starting to sound like Seokjin when his principle was to forever hate Jungkook, he replied:

"There's no way I'm keeping this bastard company, I'm leaving. You just have to stay with him and miss class if you care for him so much, I personally don't care."

With that, he left the infirmary, leaving Seokjin with a horrible feeling of déjà vu. That's what happened when, at the Kim's party, Taehyung got angry to see them getting along so well and forgot his presence, Jungkook and himself. He had left them alone and then Jungkook attacked him.

Yet, this time it was different, Jungkook was weak and couldn't hurt him, which was probably why Taehyung agreed to let him stay with him, albeit reluctantly. 

With his head bandaged and his pale face showing his suffering, Jungkook suddenly seemed incapable of harming anyone and even seemed... innocent. It was as if he was no longer the perfect, self-important boy who thought he was above everyone. And Seokjin wanted to take care of this Jungkook.