Struggling Father • Namjoon!Father + BTS!Adults

xv.

"I know," Hobi mumbled, curling his toes within the comfort of thick, woolly socks. He was seated at the kitchen table, a forgotten mug in his hand, as he spoke to Yoongi, who was standing in front of the sink. His hands braced either side of the counter, holding him upright, and he made no move to change his position. "I called the registrar, and they said he dropped all of his classes."

"So he's not coming back."

Hobi was quiet. His fingers tightened around the thin handle of the mug, a handle that seemed all too easy for him to snap, while the contents of the mug grew colder and colder. "It doesn't look that way. Not for the semester, at least."

"Is this our fault?" A raw question that was an answer in itself. Hobi put just enough energy into his eyes to look up and see Yoongi's muscles bunching up between his shoulder blades, tensing and straining as he fought a physical battle against himself, raging against the guilt. It was the only thing he had left to fight with Jimin gone.

The apartment felt colder without him, but Hobi had sworn up and down that he hadn't touched the thermostat.

Hobi didn't respond. Didn't need to.

The door to their shared bedroom opened, and Hobi's heart surged, an almost uncomfortable warmth flooding up his spine before the hope fizzled out. Hobi tried not to look as disappointed as he felt when he put on a fake smile for his younger brother. "Sorry Tae, did we wake you?" he asked. He and Yoongi had awoken early and without direct cause and had spent the past two hours sitting in the kitchen and speaking in soft tones, knowing that the bed that should have been occupied by Jimin was holding a different body.

"No, you didn't," Taehyung said, hesitating on the threshold of Hobi and Jimin's - Hobi's - bedroom before taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Hobi stilled. That was Jimin's seat, the chair he'd sat in the last time Hobi had seen him-

"Is something wrong?"

"No," Hobi said, exhaling into another forced smile. Yoongi didn't turn from the sink, his back still facing them. Hobi didn't want to see what expression he wore, but from the tension in all of his muscles, he could picture it in his mind. "Everything's fine. We were just talking."

"About Jimin." Not a question. It didn't seem to need an answer, but Hobi felt one rising to his lips anyway.

"Yes. About...about Jimin."

"He went home."

Hobi nodded. "He went to stay with Jin. For now."

"Why." Not a question, or at least, not an optional one.

"Because..." Hobi swallowed, looking over to the sink for guidance, but Yoongi was silent. "It's complicated," he said at least when he realized that he was alone in trying to speak for their brother's actions.

"I'm not twelve," Tae said, his eyes as dark as his tone. "So don't give me that It's complicated crap. What's wrong with Jimin?"

Hobi was quiet, his gaze hovering on Yoongi's back, waiting for his older to brother to make everything okay like he always did.

But he didn't say anything, and Hobi didn't say anything.

"I'm leaving," Tae said a moment later, planting his palms on the table and sliding his chair back. The legs screeched against the floor, more vocal than either of his older siblings, and Hobi flinched at the violent disruption.

And still, they were silent as Tae disappeared within Hobi's bedroom, and they were silent as he walked out the door with just a backpack.

The door shut, and still, no one spoke.