"Jungkook is really mean," Seokjin whispered as he took his place back in class after giving his note of apology to the teacher.

"I thought you already knew that?" Jimin said, while Taehyung sulked in his corner. "Taehyung has been sullen since breakfast."

Seokjin looked at Taehyung who ignored him superbly. In response, Seokjin pouted.

"He'll get over it, he was afraid that you would fraternize with Jungkook after he left you with him but since that's not the case he'll calm down," Jimin said before handing Seokjin some papers. "Here, I copied your lesson since Taehyung clearly said that you had to fend for yourself and that he had no intention of helping you. I don't write as well as you, but I tried hard for you."

"Oh Jimin, you're perfect, thank you so much!" Seokjin exclaimed gratefully as he grabbed the papers given by Jimin before excusing himself when the outraged math teacher called him to order. 

"I know I am, no need to shout it to the whole class," Jimin chuckled. 

There was a time when it was Seokjin who was forced to copy lessons for Taehyung and Jimin. At that time, Seokjin never imagined that one day Jimin would copy lessons to help him as his friend. He was proof that people could change for the better. So why was Jungkook so closed off and refusing to change? Why did he retreat into wickedness even when a hand was held out to him? 

Remembering that Jungkook had hurt him and didn't deserve to care about him in any way, Seokjin pushed Jungkook out of his thoughts an smiled back at Jimin but frowned when he noticed a bruise on his wrist that showed because his sleeve was rolled up.

"What happened to your wrist, Jimin? You got hurt?" he whispered worriedly.

Seeing that Seokjin was eyeing his wrist, Jimin quickly pulled down his sleeve and reassured Seokjin:

"It's nothing serious. 

"Really? It looks painful though," Seokjin protested.

Seeing that Seokjin wouldn't let it go until he had an explanation that would have reassured him, Jimin told him:

"Really, Jin, it's nothing you need to worry about. It's just my dance partner who was a little too rough."

"Hobi?" Seokjin was surprised seeing Jimin nod, thinking that Hoseok wasn't someone violent who would hurt Jimin. "Did he hit you?"

"No, he didn't hit me, it's just he always goes hard with me. Dance is a state affair in his eyes."

"You should tell him to go easier on you, you're a beginner and you're not very strong, he can easily hurt you," Seokjin worried.

"If anyone else had told me that I would have already proven to them that you shouldn't trust appearances, you're lucky it's you and you're adorable, Jinnie," Jimin replied. "Don't worry about me, I'll be careful and beat up anyone who tries to hurt me, Hoseok too."

Reassured, Seokjin nodded.

In the afternoon, their sports teacher Mr. Hwang brought them to the high school swimming pool to give them swimming level tests for classes the following term.

"Seokjin, no need to change, I received the swimming exemption sent from your guardian. You stay by the pool and time the others," Mr. Hwang said to Seokjin.

"Yes sir, thank you," Seokjin said, relieved.

The other students in his class looked at him with incomprehension but Taehyung and Jimin knew why Seokjin couldn't swim. During their vacation in Busan, although Seokjin had admired the sea with excitement and walked along the beach letting the cold water caress his feet, he had not dove in to swim with his friends and had just watch them.

In reality, Seokjin, who had a panic fear of asphyxiation, feared submersion more than anything. When he was little, he almost drowned in Kim's pool when he fell by accident and was only able to come out because Baek pulled him out, after he drank the cup numerous times. 

Seokjin had since become very afraid of water and had never learned to swim, fearing that he would not know how to coordinate his breathing and movements sufficiently and that he would tire so quickly that he would immediately drown.

He had asked Mr. Kim to give him an exemption from swimming, citing his illness to avoid saying everyone that he could not swim. The sports teacher was also his football coach this year, he knew of his prodigy's health problems and did not want it to affect his performance on the football field. So, he had accepted Seokjin's sports exemption regarding swimming lessons without complaint.

When all the students of class 1-A returned from the locker room, dressed in swimming suits, swimming caps and diving goggles, Seokjin was sitting at the edge of the pool, a stopwatch around his neck like Mr. Hwang. He had rolled up the bottom of his pants so as not to get them wet while his legs were submerged in water up to mid-calf.

The pool was divided into different lanes for races and the teacher asked the students to spread out in front of each lane to take turns swimming and have their performances measured. Jimin, Seung and Taehyung lined up with other students in single file in front of the hallway that Seokjin was going to time.

"Hey, Jin, don't forget to encourage me!" Jimin exclaimed before jumping into the water at the same time as other students at Mr. Hwang's whistle.

Activating the timer, Seokjin watched in awe as Jimin swam like a fish in water, amazed to see him swim with an ease and grace that he himself would never have.

"Come on Jimin, faster, you'll get the best score!" he exclaimed while watching the timer. "Come on, go, go, go, go, go !

Under Seokjin's excited cries of encouragement, Jimin quickly finished his round trip in the fifty meter pool and hauled himself out of the water, removing his diving goggles and walking towards the ledge where Seokjin was to get the results of his race.

"Wow, you were amazing Jimin!" Seokjin exclaimed, looking at his stopped timer and showing it to Jimin.

"It's thanks to your encouragement, they made me want to go faster," Jimin assured.

Delighted, Seokjin nodded, now ready to give his other friends the same encouragement. Yet, behind Jimin, Taehyung was still sulking so Seokjin decided to ignore him and turned to Seung to whom he gave an encouraging smile. 

"Your turn, Seung, I'm timing you so do your best!"

"All right!" Seung said before diving in as well.

Throughout his race, Seokjin continued to encourage him to galvanize him and even if he was not as fast and elegant as Jimin because of his more massive build, Seokjin warmly congratulated him and happily agreed to hit the hand that his friend held out to him as he passed in front of him.

When Taehyung's turn came, Seokjin just said to him without any enthusiasm in response to his sulky behavior:

"You can go, I'll time you."

Taehyung frowned at this difference in treatment but said nothing and dove to begin his race.

Despite his admiration for Taehyung's swimming which was impressive, seemed to be that of a professional and reminded that his parents had made him take private swimming lessons, Seokjin refrained from encouraging him, judging that he didn't deserve it after what happened in the morning with Jungkook.

When he saw him quickly come back to him for the end of his race Seokjin looked down at his stopwatch, not wanting to show Taehyung that he had been looking at him. But when Taehyung reached his level, instead of continuing his run to the ledge in front of him from where he had started, he stopped in front of the one, to his right, where Seokjin was sitting.

"What are you do-" Seokjin started, looking up, seeing Taehyung stop in front of him.

But he couldn't finish his sentence because without warning, Taehyung grabbed his arm and pulled him into the water. Seokjin fell fully clothed with a cry of surprise and suddenly found himself submerged, unable to breathe, and swallowed water which cut off his scream. 

Panic immediately took hold of him and he wanted to flap his arms in an instinct for survival but almost immediately, in a saving gesture, Taehyung's arms closed around his waist and pulled him up to the surface of the water to allow him to breathe.

He began to frantically breathe the precious air and, afraid of sinking again, clung just as frantically to the only lifeline available around him: Taehyung. Wrapping his arms around his neck, he held on with all his might to make sure he wouldn't slip, panting and coughing from the chlorinated water he'd swallowed.

Seeing them hugged like this and realizing that Seokjin obviously didn't know how to swim and was even afraid of water, some students whistled mockingly and Seokjin felt his ears heat up and turn red but he couldn't break away from Taehyung for fear of falling.

"Were you really that scared?" Taehyung asked feeling him trembling against him. "I'm here though, you should know I won't let you drown." 

"Why did you do that?!" Seokjin shouted despite everything. His wet face hid the fact that he had tears in his eyes because of how scared he had been.

"Because you ignored me and you didn't talk to me," Taehyung just said.

"You did the same thing!" Seokjin retaliated.

"That's true, but you were at fault, not me : you stayed with Jungkook even though I didn't want to."

"You were at fault too! It's because of you that I almost hurt myself and that Jungkook-"

"Don't talk to me about Jungkook anymore, Jimin told me you hate him again, that's good, keep it up," Taehyung cut in, before lowering his voice to make sure no one but Seokjin heard him: "Tell me about Yoongi instead, Jungkook told me he told him everything and you stayed in your room for a long time this morning before coming to mine. What did he tell you? Is he plotting against me? Is he going to report me? Is he going to blackmail me? I need to know so I know how I'm going to fight back."

Outraged to hear him talk about hurting Yoongi when he had been so understanding and having no desire to stay in the water, trapped in Taehyung's arms, Seokjin declared:

"I don't want to talk to you now. Take me back to the edge, I have to go time the other swimmers or the teacher will reprimand me."

"No," Taehyung said, smirking, "I'll take you back when you answer my questions."

Seokjin, feeling Taehyung's arms around him, felt safe enough to detach himself from Taehyung's neck and pull back to give him a pouty face.

"Just because you're sulking doesn't mean I'm going to give in," Taehyung warned.

"Fine!" Seokjin grumbled, glaring at him. "Yoongi didn't plot against you contrary to what you believe, you judged him very badly from the start. He's not like Jungkook at all, he is a fair person, so don't think about hurting him or threaten him." 

"Don't be so protective of him, I don't like it," Taehyung replied.

Seokjin rolled his eyes, annoyed.

"So stop being so suspicious of him. Yoongi never hurt me, on the contrary, and he saved my life. He deserves you to trust him a little."

"Jungkook saved your life too, that doesn't make him trustworthy," Taehyung replied back.

Realizing that he wouldn't be able to reason with him because he was almost as antisocial as Yoongi but with a much worse temper, Seokjin giving up. Sighing, he said:

"Yoongi said you could stay in our room and he wouldn't tell anyone."

Taehyung seemed particularly satisfied.

"He finally understood who he was dealing with," he said arrogantly.

"You're wrong, he's not afraid of you at all, you know?" Seokjin retorted, holding back his laughter seeing how much Taehyung misunderstood. But as he had promised Yoongi, he wasn't going to 'spoke about the kindness and emotional fragility he had discovered in him. However, he wouldn't let Taehyung hurt him, he promised himself.

Taehyung looked unhappy. 

"I don't care, the main thing is that he accepted without compensation. His reason doesn't matter in reality."

Seokjin clarified:

"But keep in mind he accepted as long as we persuade Jungkook not to say anything. And it's not won," he sighed, "I argued with him earlier and since he hates you, I don't know how that's going to be possible."

"Who cares about Jungkook," Taehyung replied.

"We do care Tae," Seokjin contradicted him, "don't forget that he can report us to Mr. Ra. We shouldn't get Yoongi in trouble if Jungkook decides to report us. So it's up to us to manage Jungkook."

""I'll handle Jungkook," Taehyung affirmed.

"How? You're not able to talk calmly with him," Seokjin pointed out doubtfully.

"Who said I was going to talk to him?" Taehyung replied, "he's vulnerable right now, all I have to do is go beat him up until he begs me to stop in exchange for his silence."

Widening his eyes, Seokjin cried out:

"Can't you be serious after what just happened?"

"Oh but I'm dead serious," Taehyung retorted, his face so serious that Seokjin knew he wasn't joking.

He then understood that he had to go back to see Jungkook himself, he definitely couldn't let Taehyung take care of it.

"I didn't manage to talk to him about it earlier," he admitted.

"It's because violence is the only thing that works with him," Taehyung declared with undisguised contempt for his cousin.

"No, it's the only thing that works with you," Seokjin corrected. 

"Are you trying to provoke me?" Taehyung asked, displeased.

"No, I'm just telling the truth. It's always you who jumps on him first because you can't handle what he says to you. He responds to your violence with violence but otherwise he is capable of discussion."

"I remind you that I gave you the opportunity to discuss with him earlier, I did not see any conclusive results!"

Sekjin then realized that he had done what he accused Taehyung of: he had given in to Jungkook's provocation. He was embarrassed. 

He really had to learn to distinguish sincerity from lies in people's words. How much truth was there in what Jungkook had told him? Where did his appearance, his social image end and where did the real him begin? 

Why am I only surrounded by people who are so difficult to understand and who hid their true emotions? Seokjin wondered in frustration. And yet, if he had managed to break the protective shell of Taehyung, Jimin and Yoongi's hearts, he should be able to break Jungkook's.

"I wasn't very patient with him and I got angry," he said, more for himself than for Taehyung, "but I'm sure we can get along with him and persuade him to be nicer and not say anything that might cause us harm. He said he didn't want to hurt me and I believe him. I'll go back and see him this evening to have a more peaceful discussion."

"Are you crazy? No!" Taehyung immediately refused, "He'll never get along with us and you're not going back to see him, you already had your chance this morning and it didn't work, that's a good thing. You won't give him a second, no, third chance."

Displeased that Taehyung considered it a good thing that he argued with Jungkook instead of convincing him, and just as displeased that he wanted to stop him from doing what he wanted, Seokjin replied: 

"I'll go, you can't stop me!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"In that case, we'll stay in the pool so you won't be able to go."

"What? No, let me go!" Seokjin exclaimed.

"Okay," Taehyung said, letting go of Seokjin.

But, feeling himself sliding towards the bottom of the pool, dragged down by the heaviness of his clothes, Seokjin hastened to hold on to Taehyung.

"Ah, it looks like you want to stay with me after all," Taehyung pointed out with a smirk. "It's a shame you can't swim at your age."

"Tae!" protested Seokjin, who wanted to get out of the water as quickly as possible.

"Okay, that's enough, you two, get out of the pool!" Mr. Hwang finally shouted on the other side of the pool when he realized that the two boys were not coming out and were blocking the last water passage.

Seeing that Seokjin was giving him a triumphant look, Taehyung refused to move until the teacher yelled: "Now if you don't want to be a chore and clean the locker rooms for a month!"

Frustrated, Taehyung was forced to bring Seokjin back to the edge of the pool where Jimin and Seung were waiting, each of whom grabbed one of his arms and helped him hoist himself out of the water and rush away from the pool to sit on a bench near the wall.

While Jimin took over Seokjin's task and timed the swimmers in the last lane and Taehyung was ordered by the teacher to repeat his swim in another lane, Seung brought Seokjin a towel to dry offand sat next to him.

"Taehyung is giving you a hard time," he pointed out.

"Yeah, a little," Seokjin admitted, wiping his wet face and hair, "but he didn't want to hurt me, don't worry."

He didn't want Seung to think that Taehyung was still someone dangerous to him.

"Do you think this is acceptable because he didn't intend to hurt you?" Seung told him in a reproachful tone. "He just took advantage of the fact that he knew you can't swim and you're afraid of water."

It was something that he himself didn't know and that he had discovered at the same time as the other students when he saw Seokjin struggling in panic in the water before Taehyung came to his aid.

"No,but I know Tae," Seokjin contradicted him gently before explaining to him, "we were both sulking and he didn't know how to come back and talk to me because he's too proud, so he came up with this ploy, it's that's how he is. It seems weird from the outside, I know, but to me, that's totally what Taehyung is."

He smiled as he realized how close he must have become to Taehyung to have that kind of thought.

"You said it. Don't take this the wrong way, Jin, but I still find your friendship really weird, I always have," Seung admitted with a sigh. "Sure, he cares about you but in a weird way, he treats you like you're his and he's too possessive. Yet, you still want to stay with him. There was a time when you wanted to run away from him and be free, remember?"

"Yes, I remember," Seokjin said, remembering that time with sadness.

"You do not want anymore?"

Observing Seung, Seokjin saw that he seemed eager, almost desperate to hear him say that he still wanted it.  

He understood with gratitude that his friend was always ready to help him if he asked him to extricate him from the clutches of the Kims. But things had changed for some time so he shook his head:

"For a long time, I wanted to be free and stop having my life controlled by Tae and his family. I still want to get away from his family but I want Tae and I to remain friends so I can't do things the same way as before, without considering his feelings. He still tends to treat me like I'm his, but he's made a lot of progress in our friendship and I don't feel like a prisoner like I did before. I feel free and it will continue to get better. I promise that Tae won't hurt me so don't worry about me. I will make him a good person and one day, maybe you can be friends with him too."

Seung sighed and smiled saddly.

"What?" Seokjin asked.

"At least I would have tried. You really trust Taehyung, I hope he doesn't make you regret it."

Seokjin nodded, smiling back faced with his friend's concern for him. Then, remembering someone else he had to worry about too, he said:

"Jungkook got injured this morning, that's why he's not in class today. I was with him earlier but Taehyung wasn't very happy that's why we were a little angry with each other, you know how they both hate each other, him and Jungkook."

"Yeah, I know." 

"Are you going to visit Jungkook in the infirmary?" Seokjin asked. "I know you two have become friends through spending time together and it would probably be better if his friend visited him rather than me. He was hurt and is in pain because of me, and I worry about him. I was supposed to get hurt but he got hurt trying to protect me."

Seung nodded.

"Don't worry, I'll go see him. And about our friendship, I didn't want it to be a problem for you, I know you don't like him, but past my first doubts and apprehensions, I finally find him different from Taehyung, and I like him. Not only as a member of the football team but also as a friend because I realized we have a lot in common."

"I don't have a problem with that," Seokjin affirmed with a bright smile, finding hope for Jungkook: it was actually possible that Jungkook would experience sincere friendship with Seung and change his mind like Taehyung had changed by being friends with him. 

"Really?" Seung insisted, not wanting to upset Seokjin.

"Yes, really. On the contrary, I'm happy for you and for him, I know better than anyone that you're a good friend. It gives me hope that he will become kinder thanks to you."

"Thanks Jin, you're a good friend too," Seung said grabbing his hand and shaking it.

Embarrassed and visibly consumed by guilt hearing these words that he did not think he deserved, Seokjin said: 

"Not to everyone. I... I wasn't very nice to Jungkook earlier, I said some mean things to him. As I don't know if he really wants to talk to me again yet , could you give him a message for me when you see him?"

"Sure, what is it?"

"Can you tell him that, uh... that I'm very sorry for what I said to him before I left? I don't wish him to be unhappy, I said that because I was angry and I regret it."

Seokjin seemed really sad about what he said to Jungkook and Seung was quick to promise him:

"I'll tell him. But don't worry too much, your mean words aren't as mean as you think," he added kindly, "I sometimes feel like they hurt you more than the people you tell them to. I'm sure Jungkook doesn't blame you. Especially since he is certainly guilty of mean words towards you too, knowing that you are not the type to be mean to anyone without a good reason."

Grateful to have a friend who knew him well and who did not judge him badly, Seokjin was quick to say:

"Exactly, he criticized my dream saying it was stupid!"

Seung held back his laughter knowing how serious this was to Seokjin but the way he said it sounded so childish that it was funny to him.

"I'll pass your message on to Jungkook and lecture him so he understands that you were hurt too," he said instead. 

"Thank you so much! Oh and please don't forget to bring him any lessons and homework he needs to catch up on, okay?" Seokjin said, afraid that no one would think to give them to Jungkook. 

For someone Jungkook had hurt, Seokjin was particularly considerate, Seung couldn't help but notice without being surprised. After all, it was typically Seokjin to have consideration for everyone, even the people who hurt him or unfriendly people. And that's how he developed weird friendships, like the one with Taehyung but also with his roommate Yoongi who everyone found weird and scary, and whom he was the only one who talked to him.

"You're way too nice for this world, Jin," Seung sighed for himself.