"Yah, Jungwon-ah!"

The said boy turned with a smile on his face, "Oh, Taehyung hyung! How are you?"

Taehyung pushed his ash blonde hair out of his eyes. "I'm doing just great. Where's your Heeseung hyung?"

"You don't want to see me?" Jungwon pouted, causing the older boy to chuckle, "But, yeah, Heeseung hyung said he needed to call home. I think he's near the library."

Taehyung nodded, smiling softly when he noticed Jimin and Hoseok approaching.

"Hey Tae and Wonie," Hoseok greeted, patting Jungwon's shoulder before turning back to Taehyung, "Isn't our little Huening joining next week? Along with Sunoo?"

Taehyung rolled his eyes at the mention of his little brother, "Well, not so little anymore, but yeah, they're coming in next week. I think he's been allotted Heeseung's dorm, Won-ah. You can finally meet him."

"Really?!" Jungwon exclaimed, "This is going to be so much fun. Ni-Ki's coming in too! All the little ones are gonna get along so well!"

"You aren't that older than them, Jungwon," Taehyung snorted, "You have been spending too much time with Jin hyung." Jungwon pouted again and hit the older's shoulder.

"Who's Ni-Ki?" asked Jimin, while quickly flipping the pages of his notebook to study for a test he had forgotten about.

"Jungwon's cousin who practically adores him. His real name is Nishimura Riki; everyone calls him Ni-Ki in short. He's from Japan if you're wondering," Taehyung explained to Jimin and Hoseok who looked confused.

"I should probably get to class, hyungs. Bye! See you later!" Jungwon hugged each of them before heading towards his class.

"Don't you have class, Taehyung?" Hoseok asked, placing his hand on the said younger's arm.

"No, hyung. I'll probably head to the library or something," He replied, trying not to make eye contact with Jimin, who had noticed.

Noticed him wincing softly when Hoseok's hand made contact with the part of his shirt that covered his upper arm.

Noticed Taehyung immediately looking over at Jimin to check if he had seen.

Noticed him look away when Jimin's eyes met his.

It's not safe to stay here anymore, Taehyung decided, Jimin will surely find out.

"I'm gonna head to the library, guys. I still need to look for Heeseung," Taehyung excused himself from the presence of a suspicious Jimin and a blissfully unaware Hoseok.

He soon found himself lost in thought.

What if Jimin had found out that I cut myself again?

He would be so disappointed.

I shouldn't have. Like Jeongguk said. I shouldn't have-

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" He had collided with a much taller boy in his trance, resulting in the both of them collapsing on the floor.

Taehyung opened his eyes to find an almond milk bottle right in front of his face on the floor. His eyes widened.

Almond milk?

No. He convinced himself. It's someone else.

"You zoned out for a second. Are you o-" The stranger gasped when he saw Taehyung's face, "Hyung?!"

Taehyung took a look at the guy's face, only to gasp twice as loud and stagger backward, "S-soobin?!"

He was right, after all.

It's been close to five whole years since they last met.

And that day wasn't that much of a happy occasion.

"C-can we talk some-somewhere more private?" The younger boy asked and Taehyung nodded, not being able to say anything because of the lump forming in his throat.

Taehyung led the younger boy towards the library, mind racing and vision cloudy. Tears filled his eyes, one slipping down his cheek, remembering everything they had gone through together.

When he felt another tear slip down his cheek, he took a deep breath and furiously wiped them away.

Stop it Taehyung; you can't cry in the middle of the campus!

Soobin almost bumped into Taehyung when the latter stopped abruptly and pulled them into a secluded corner outside the library. They just stood there, gazes fixated on the floor, before the older boy decided to talk.

"H-how-"

"I- I ran away, hyung," Soobin interrupted him, voice shaky, "Eomma and Appa refused to take me in. After, you know, they found out I was gay. R-remember me telling you about my noona? She was the o-only one who would accept me. Jisoo noona arranged for me to stay here and learn. B-but the management didn't allow me to stay."

"What?!" Taehyung exclaimed, "Why? They're usually really nice to everyone!"

"Y-you do know that the first-year dorms only allow up to six students, don't you?" Taehyung nodded in understanding at Soobin's words, "All dorms were full, so, th-they wouldn't let me stay. That was when one of the third years, Heeseung-"

"Wait, Heeseung?" Taehyung interrupted in disbelief.

Soobin nodded, looking a bit confused.

"As in Lee Heeseung?" Taehyung asked again, looking pleasantly surprised.

"Yeah. You know him?"

"I'm quite close to him, actually," Taehyung smiled a bit, for the first time during the conversation.

Soobin visibly relaxed and immediately smiled back, "That's good. He pleaded with the management to let me stay with him in his dorm, starting from this week."

"This week?" Taehyung asked, perplexed, "But aren't the first years supposed to be shifted into their dorms first thing next week?"

"Yeah, we are," Soobin continued, "But Heeseung-ssi managed to win them over. Jisoo noona doesn't have enough space in her apartment to have me stay there too, even if it is for a few days. If Heeseung hyung hadn't done that, I wouldn't have had anywhere else to go. Gosh, I swear I saw a halo around his head when he started talking to the principal for me!"

Taehyung chuckled softly along with the taller yet younger boy. The mood had lightened considerably from the beginning of the conversation. He noticed the genuine smile on the latter's face, and truth be told, he was elated to see that back on his face.

After everything that had happened.

Soobin looked at his watch before pushing his bag higher up his shoulder, "I'm getting late for my part-time job, hyung. See you later!"

Taehyung waved as the boy walked away, and was about to head into the library when another person stopped him.

"You know Soobin hyung?" It was Jungwon who had approached him, along with Heeseung.

"Yeah, we were, um, acquainted a few years ago. He's like a little brother to me," Taehyung sighed, before turning to Heeseung with a grin, "Yah, what is this I am hearing about you? You talked and successfully persuaded Bang about Soobin? The boy's so thankful to you that he thinks of you as an angel now."

Heeseung blushed a bit at the compliment, "He looked ready to cry when they told him they couldn't let him stay, hyung. I just happened to be in Bang's office then. And hey, Bang's not as bad as you guys think!"

"Yeah, says the one who was dissing him just a few hours ago for whatever mental condition he was having when he appointed Mrs. Yi as a professor here, and how HYBE uni could have done better without-"

Heeseung cut Jungwon off with a sharp smack to the back of his head, "Oh shut up. People change all the time. And I have better stuff to do rather than listen to that old-"

"Heeseung," Taehyung's warning tone cut the younger off, who just smiled sheepishly before trying to choke Jungwon with his elbow, "C'mon Wonie, let's get you to cla-"

THUD!

The trio turned around quickly as Jungwon sighed, "Oh come on Sunghoon hyung. It's been a week since Jake hyung transferred here, and you're already tripping him."

"You say that as if I am doing it on purpose!" Sunghoon whined as he slowly helped Jake back up on his feet, "I was ice-skating!"

"On hardwood?" Heeseung mused, a corner of his mouth quirking up in a teasing smirk, "And are you sure you weren't doing it on purpose, Hoon?"

"Hyung! How dare you say that? And Jake hyung," Sunghoon turned to the shorter male, cheeks slightly pink, "Are you okay? I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going-"

"No, it's okay Sunghoon-ah," Jake smiled softly, picking up his bag from the floor, "Accidents happen all the time. But just because I said this doesn't mean you can bump into me all the time. I'll murder you if there's a next time."

Sunghoon chuckled, and Taehyung giggled slightly at the undertone of nervousness in his voice, "I'm sorry again, hyung. And I swear there won't be a next time. By the way, Taehyung hyung, have you seen Gguk hyung?"

"I think he's in that classroom you guys hide in when Jin hyung chases you," Taehyung said before turning to Heeseung, "I'm entrusting these kids with you, Hee. Don't get killed, please."

Heeseung laughed while Jungwon 'hey'ed in protest, "Okay hyung. And Hoon, let me know if you see Yeonjun hyung. I need to get this report to Bang. Be right back!"

"Teacher's pet," Jungwon muttered under his breath before dragging Jake along with him towards god-knows-where. Sunghoon bid goodbye to Taehyung, before speed-walking in the direction of their hideout.

Taehyung sighed softly, a smile gracing his lips when he remembered Soobin would be in HYBE too. That boy's been through a lot, thought Taehyung as he entered the library, he deserves to be happy.

If only.

𝕴 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜, 𝖓𝖚𝖒𝖇𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖕𝖆𝖎𝖓 𝖎𝖘 𝖔𝖓𝖑𝖞 𝖌𝖔𝖓𝖓𝖆 𝖒𝖆𝖐𝖊 𝖎𝖙 𝖜𝖔𝖗𝖘𝖊 ~ 𝖇𝖚𝖙 𝖎𝖙'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙 𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊 𝕴 𝖍𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖆 𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖎𝖈𝖊.

A/N: Updated a day early because I'm gonna be busy tomorrow. This is dedicated to one of my favorite people on Wattpad right now because they have been a constant support to me, and I'm thankful for them. Hope you like the chapter! Comment what you think and vote! Thank you for reading and borahae!