Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

lxxiv.

"Math was easy today," Jin said while munching on his sandwich. "It used to be really hard for me, but I've been studying a lot while you weren't here. You'd be so proud of me! I'm not the smartest in my class, but I actually understand most of what we're learning, which is cool. Tae's way better than me at math, though. Sometimes, I ask him for help with my homework. He's really good at explaining stuff and figuring it out. Of course, he has to read my notes first, but he usually manages to understand most of it and then explain it to me." Jin giggled before taking a sip of juice, gesturing vaguely with his hands. "I never used to ask for help. I didn't want to feel stupid." He quieted. "I still don't want to feel stupid. But Tae doesn't make me feel stupid, he's patient and nice. Not like Yoongi," Jin said, sticking out his tongue. "I asked Yoongi how to do something and he was just like you put this here and do this and you get this and then that's how you do that and here's your answer. He just did the whole problem for me and didn't explain any of it. I don't ask him for help anymore. I would ask Dad but he's too busy right now taking care of you and working, but that's okay." Jin picked up the apple, rolling it between his right hand and left hand. "Maybe I'll-"

"Hey," a boy said, standing in the doorway. "Who are you talking to?"

Jin cut off abruptly. He looked at the boy before looking back down at his desk and taking a bite of the apple he'd been holding.

"Hey," the boy said again, taking a few steps inside. "I asked you a question."

Jin just swallowed the bite he'd taken and took a sip of juice.

The boy came over to stand right in front of him, putting his hands on Jin's desk. "Hey, kid. Who were you talking to?"

Jin looked up, sinking down in his seat. "Just- myself. I was talking to myself."

The kid stared at him strangely. "Why?"

Jin shrugged.

"Well, what were you discussing with yourself?" the kid asked, and Jin frowned, pulling his food closer to himself.

"Nothing," Jin mumbled. "Just stuff."

"He was talking to his dead baby brother," a different boy said, laughing darkly as he walked into the classroom, and the boy in front of Jin's desk looked over at the newcomer with a blank face.

"He's not dead," Jin denied automatically. "He's home now. We found him. He's safe."

The boy in front of Jin looked back at him, frowning. "What?"

"His little brother was abducted like, 5 years ago. It was all over the news. Posters were everywhere. That kind of thing." The other kid draped himself over the quiet boy's shoulder, but the boy pushed him off, looking back at Jin, who was staring down at his desk, glaring at the wooden surface, wishing that they'd just go away.

"Is that true?" the first boy asked, and Jin clenched his jaw.

Go away go away go away go aw-

"Hey, I asked you if it's true," the boy said, tapping Jin's shoulder, and he flinched, pushing his chair back, and the metal legs screeched in protest against the tile floor.

The room fell into silence.

"Yes," Jin finally said, mainly in the hopes that they would hurry up and leave him alone. He still had so much to tell Jimin - it had become a habit to him - and the lunch hour was running short. "But we found him. He's home now. He's not missing. Not anymore."