Forever And Ever (BTS)

Chapter 24

"So, did you finish the homework? I found it really difficult, Maths is just not my thing," Dae Ho complained to Jin as they met in front of the school entrance, arranged the previous day. Jin nodded, "I found it manageable. If you want, I can explain it to you. Maybe it'll be easier to understand if it's someone other than a teacher." Dae Ho grinned in thanks, "Thanks Jin, want to come over to my house after school to go though whatever we learnt? It's too late to redo the homework, but any help after is appreciated." Jin quickly agreed. He couldn't believe his luck. It was only the second day of school and he already had a friend inviting him over. If only he had been this lucky in elementary school, he might have enjoyed it more. A small voice nagged at him in his head, "Well, maybe if you hadn't been so busy fussing over your brothers when they didn't need it, you would've actually had friends. Maybe it's your own fault." Jin shook his head vigorously, causing Dae Ho to stare at him questioningly. "I'm alright," he said, "just a little tired this morning." The other boy smiled fondly as they made their way to the first class.
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"Did you do my homework?" Jimin asked with a threatening tone, scaring the wits out of the poor boy he had chosen to be his victim. The boy quickly nodded, passing over Jimin's workbook now filled with neat handwriting and correct answers that Jimin wouldn't have gotten himself. It was quite unfair, the teachers all believed that Jimin was the star student who was good at all his subjects. In reality, he had a different classmate doing the dirty work for him in each class, always taking all the credit for himself. He could not find it in himself to take responsibility for his work. Why bother when there were people who could easily do it for you? Classmates were supposed to help each other out, weren't they? This was the exact question he had posed to the people he forced to take his work home with theirs. By completing his homework for him, they were only helping out a classmate in need, at least in Jimin's eyes.

Or rather, J's eyes.

Jimin's alter ego had come out even more, now appearing not just during the breaks like before, but whenever he was in school. Jimin saw all of it while being trapped inside his own body. His heart reached out to his classmates, he knew they didn't deserve any of the bullying. But he couldn't do anything except wait until he got home and he was back in control. Even then, he couldn't just call his classmates and tell them that there was another him. They would think he was crazy. He was beginning to think he was too. After all, how does one explain that they have another personality that comes out of nowhere and takes over their body? That was why Jimin hadn't even told his brothers. He didn't know how and they wouldn't be able to understand.
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Tae held his breath as he walked past the group of boys that liked to give him a hard time, hoping that they wouldn't notice him. Luck wasn't on his side, however, as he caught their eye immediately.

"Hey weirdo, fixed your face yet?" They walked towards him, their footsteps seeming to echo as though they were in an empty hallway. Tae had grown to have unique facial features, and they weren't well received by his schoolmates who liked to judge those who were different. His main tormenters were in the group who stood before him now.

Man Shik, Man Wol and Si Woo.

Three boys who went out of their way to tease him in particular. Every day, they would look out for him in the hallway. Once they saw his crouching, hiding figure, they would call him out and tease him mercilessly. They would insult his looks, knowing that he was deeply influenced by what people thought of them. The bullies enjoyed hearing him stutter and shake before them. They liked being in power. Sometimes, they would pretend to take a swing at him. Because when they did that, he would shout for them to stop and cower on the ground. His brain would just tell him to protect himself from getting hit, even though he knew they weren't going to. This had been going on since the day his father had hit him. Tae was more badly affected than he himself realised. He had thought that he would get over it soon enough, but it had been years, and he was still as scared as ever when someone raised their hand. So it wasn't a surprise when Man Shik lifted his hand above his head and Tae immediately dropped to the floor.

"Please, n-no..." He whispered over and over again. The three boys only chuckled before walking off. Tae remained on the floor, taking deep breaths to calm himself down. A moment later, he got up and looked around to make sure the three were gone before walking to class, still trembling.
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Namjoon listened to the teacher attentively, but something was different. Usually he'd understand everything the teacher was saying right away, but since the start of this term, he'd found himself asking questions and clarifying things. It was taking him longer to completely get the lessons. His teachers were concerned. How was it possible that their brightest student was having trouble? They would not stand for it.

"Miss, could you explain factorisation again? I don't quite get it." Namjoon asked, being studious as ever. The teacher was quick to reply, "You don't need help, Namjoon, you'll be able to get it on your own." Namjoon sighed. He just wanted to understand as quickly as possible. Teachers were supposed to help their students, why were they not helping him? I guess I'll just have to ask someone else, he thought.
*******

Hobi wiped the sweat off his forehead as he panted, exhausted from putting all his effort into dancing. An opportunity to compete was coming up, so he was training extra hard to get selected. Unfortunately, this made the rest of the class hate him more than they already did, for some unknown reason. They were always giving him cruel glares or whispering about him. He didn't know what they were saying, but he often heard his name. He didn't know what more he could do to make them like him. He didn't even need them to actually like him anymore, at this point he just wanted friendly association. He didn't see why they were so hostile towards him when they were supposed to be a tight-knit class.
*******

Yoongi sat in class dozing off. Luckily, his teachers were all the same as last year's, so they were all used to him and he didn't have any explaining to do. He was just thankful that he was a year closer to being able to choose his subjects. But for now, he would go into his own world of writing,and no one would stop him. Or so he thought.

"Yoongi, I know we've let you do your own thing in the past, but I'm afraid you can't this year," his teacher, Mr Kang called from the front, looking apologetic. This was the teacher who understood where Yoongi was coming from and had tried to help get him subjects that were more literary. He had failed, however, and this was Yoongi's last year. If he didn't pass his exams, he wouldn't have a choice at all. Yoongi glared. He grudgingly got his textbook out and looked at it. Whether or not the content was going in was another thing. Mr Kang knew he'd have to find a way to motivate him.
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Jungkook wiped his mouth and popped some mints into his mouth to hide the smell and taste of the bile that had just been flushed away. He looked in the dirty mirror of the school toilet, examining his sunken face, one that seemed more like an adult's than an eight-year-old's. He smiled in satisfaction, one more meal exiled from his body was one more win for him. Eventually he would be as skinny as he deemed skinny enough.

When he walked back to class, his table mate turned to him with concerned eyes. "Jungkook, you okay? You look so pale." Jungkook smiled and nodded, "I'm fine." His classmate couldn't see how his chin slightly trembled, couldn't tell that his stomach was churning and protesting against his actions. No one knew that whatever Jungkook ate, he found it disgusting even if his mouth enjoyed the taste and his stomach relished the feeling of fullness. His mind was filled with shame that he had allowed himself to eat so much, and the mind controls the body. So his body never got a say, he never listened to it. He just wanted to feel adequate in the eyes of the demon that roamed around in his head, whispering "You're too fat."