Forever And Ever (BTS)

Chapter 19

The sun was shining, the white clouds were floating, forming shapes that could only be seen by the imagination. But Jin couldn't see the beautiful day outside, because he was lying in bed sick. His bedside drawer was covered in tissues, the only sound in the room was his coughing. The other boys had gone to school for the day. Jin's mind was occupied with worry. Were they doing okay without him? Did they take their lunch bags? What if they got kidnapped? He just couldn't stop worrying about them. He had tried to act well enough to go to school so that could watch over them, but everyone had seen through it. Now, he could not think about himself when his little brothers were out on their own. Yoongi could get into trouble with a teacher, Jungkook could wander off and get lost, Hobi could fall and break his leg... So many things could go wrong without Jin there. He sighed in frustration as he lay under the covers. I need to get better, he thought, I need to be there with my brothers, for my brothers. They need me. Jin was too young to understand that there was a big difference between needs and wants.

"I wonder how Jin hyung is doing," Tae said as he bounded along the pavement, "he looked so sad to be missing school today." Yoongi scoffed, "He's not worried about school, he's worried about us. Too worried, if you ask me." "What do you mean?" "Well," Namjoon chimed in, "have you realised that Jin is the only one out of all us who gets sick? It's because he focuses so much on taking care of us, he forgets to take care of himself." Tae frowned, "But he needs to be healthy too! We worry about him too!" Namjoon fondly ruffled Tae's hair, "Why don't you tell Jin hyung that when we get home later?" Tae nodded before running off to walk with Jimin. "Jin hyung needs to stop worrying about us so much," Yoongi scowled, though his eyes held genuine concern. "He needs to figure out himself that he can trust us to handle thing on our own," Namjoon replied with a small, sad smile.

"Here's your medicine," Mr Kim gave Jin his tablets and sat on the bed. "How are you feeling?" "Better. I'm just worried about the others," Jin said, his voice soft and tired. "Why? I'm sure your brothers are capable of taking care of themselves." "But I'm the one who always takes care of them, what if they don't know what to do when I'm not there?" Then Mr Kim realised what was going on. Jin was feeling the pressures of being the eldest. He felt like he had to carry the weight of caring for his six brothers, and he was starting the stumble underneath that weight." Jin, you don't have to worry about them all the time. They're growing up, just like you are, everyday. Besides, they have to learn to do things themselves eventually." "It's because they're growing up that I have to be there to look after them. They're going to have to make bigger decisions and look after their health even more. I have to make sure that they do. This morning I didn't even get to give them my lun-" Jin cut himself off right at the last word. He quickly closed his eyes and rolled over with his back to his father. "I'm going to sleep, thanks for the medicine," he mumbled. Mr Kim looked at his son with suspicion. Was he going to say "lunch"? Was Jin not eating anything at school? He was worried. Jin was good at taking care of his siblings, but perhaps he wasn't so good at taking care of himself. Mr Kim gave Jin one last look of concern before he slipped out of the room. This talk is not over, he thought.

Lunchtime had arrived. As each of the six brothers went for their respective breaks, they opened their lunchbags, expecting the usual abundance of food. "Wait, there's less than usual," they thought. They quickly ate everything in their lunchbags and realised that they weren't as full as usual. Looks like Jin had been biting off more than he could chew.