Yoongi never was the lucky type. He supposed if he were, high school wouldn't be such hell for him. But here he sat in detention, cursing his teacher's name as a group of boys, including Junho, descended upon him.

No one even said anything to him. No, apparently Yoongi wasn't worth the effort it took for them to form words. They simply pushed him around for a few moments after one of them spit in his hair, then scurried away when another teacher finally entered the room.

Now that they were leaving him alone, Yoongi figured it wasn't so bad being in detention. At least now he had a quiet place to complete his homework so he didn't have to do it at home that evening. As long as the teacher stayed in the room, it kept the bullies at bay.

Luckily, he only had to be in detention for an hour and he did, in fact, finish his homework. He knew that when he left the room, however, he only had a few precious minutes to visit his locker before getting the hell out of the school. If he wasted any time at all, Jimin's minions would show up before he could even head to the font doors. He'd sat at the desk closest to the door in the room for this very reason. And, his backpack was packed and ready on his desk long before the bell rang.

And when it did, he immediately jumped up, already having been holding his backpack, and practically ran. He made it to his locker in just enough time to hurriedly sling his backpack over his shoulder before he opened the locker and snatched a few items from it. He didn't bother putting his books back in, now that he was done with his homework; he'd just take them home anyway.

He made it to the front doors before anyone else showed up. He pushed his way through them, sighing in relief as he stepped into the sunshine. It wasn't until he made it out of the gates of the school that he finally allowed himself to relax, however. He could now walk home in peace and get to nursing the bump on his head from that morning that had never stopped throbbing since it had appeared.

When he made it home, he headed to the kitchen to make an ice pack. He was surprised when he saw his mom there. He furrowed his brow.

"Hi, sweetie," his mother said.

"Hey, mom," he said, trying to conceal what he was making. "What're you doing at home?"

"I wanted to talk to you about som – why are you making an ice pack?"

Yoongi sighed as he pressed it against the side of his head. "I bumped into my locker door today."

His mother looked at him disbelievingly, but didn't pry any further. "I wanted to talk to you about something," she told him. "Please don't get mad, okay?" Yoongi looked at her questioningly. "Just hear me out."

"Okay..."

"I saw this today, and I thought it might be something you'd like to consider."

She handed him a pamphlet, and he looked down at it in confusion. It was advertising a support group for teens. Yoongi furrowed his brow as he opened it.

"Why would I want to do this?"

He looked back up at his mother, who he was surprised to see had tears in her eyes. "Yoongi-yah, you are still struggling. You try to hide it, but your father and I both see it. We want to help, but don't know how because you won't talk to us. But I think this could help. I-I'd like it if you'd at least consider it."

"Mom, I'm on medication now. I'm fine. I..."

Yoongi trailed off as he watched the tears begin to run down his mother's cheeks. "But you're not fine," she whispered.

Yoongi sighed. "Mom..."

They stared silently at each other for a few long moments before Yoongi finally hurried over to her and threw his arms around her. He couldn't handle yet again being the reason she cried.

"I'll think about it," he said quietly. "Okay?"

He felt his mother nod against his shoulder.

"I love you so much, Yoongi-yah."

"I love you, too, mom."

-

Across town, Jimin had also made it home. He hurried to his room, avoiding his mother, then set his homework aside in order to play some video games. He connected online with a couple of friends, and began playing, talking to them on the audio.

"Hey, Jimin, did you see that Yoongi got detention?"

"No," Jimin admitted. "Why?"

"He was late to class after I roughed him up this morning."

Jimin snorted. "Did you get detention, too?"

"Yeah, of course. Worth it, though."

Jimin laughed. He had been late to class, too, but he never got detention. Being the big man on campus had its perks.

"You should've seen him at the end...all packed up five minutes before the bell, then rushing out the door when it rang." Junho laughed. "He was terrified."

"Did you go after him?" Jimin asked.

"Nah, I decided it wasn't worth it to waste any more energy on him. I mean, he was damn near running!"

Everyone laughed now, imagining Yoongi high-tailing it through the halls.

"So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow? Got anything planned, Hwang?" Jimin asked.

"Dunno," Hwang answered. "Personally, I was thinking about chasing him home. We've never done that before."

"Ha! He'll think he's safe, but we'll be waiting for him outside the gate," their other friend, Garam, laughed.

Jimin frowned. "Are you sure that's such a good idea, guys?" he asked. "What if he like, calls the police or something. Off school grounds is kinda a whole different thing."

"Oh yeah, like that pussy would have the balls to call the cops," Hwang sneered.

Jimin shrugged, though no one could see him. "I guess you're right."

"You gonna join, Jimin?"

"Probably not. I'm not really the chasing type."

"Aw, c'mon," Hwang said. "It'll be fun!"

Jimin rolled his eyes. "I'll think about it."

Jimin wasn't lying. He wasn't the chasing type. There was no point when he wasn't going to touch Yoongi anyway.

Jimin let his friends do the dirty work. He knew if he ever got caught actually beating Yoongi up, he'd lose everything he'd built at school; his reputation with teachers and administrators, his recommendations for university, possibly even his place at school in general if he happened to get expelled. No, it wasn't worth the risk.

Jimin was a master manipulator, able to influence his friends' actions without lifting a finger. Jimin did enjoy taunting Yoongi, however, and he knew that ultimately, his words hit harder than his friends' fists. So, he was satisfied with not getting his hands dirty.

Jimin's bedroom door suddenly opened, and his mother appeared.

"Mother," Jimin said sharply. "Who said you could come in here?"

"Park Jimin!" she screeched. "You do not speak to me that way!"

Jimin rolled his eyes and sighed. "What do you want?"

His mother pointed at the books on his desk. "That homework had better be done."

"It is," Jimin lied.

"Because if it's not, no more video games for the rest of – "

"I said it is!" Jimin snapped.

His mother huffed, but said nothing more as she disappeared into the hallway and slammed his bedroom door behind her.

Everyone on the chat was quiet, waiting to see if Jimin would acknowledge what had just transpired.

"Whatever you do to the fag, just do it after first period," Jimin mumbled. "I need him to do my homework before you hurt him too bad to be useful."

His friends snickered. "No problem," Garam said.