PERSONA ✓

23.

Namjoon didn't know what to do.

That morning, as he walked to school with Jungkook, he thought of Hoseok. They'd saved him from the mind control he was under, but had they really rescued him if Hoseok couldn't go back to his normal way of life?

Rather than huddling in the corner and trying to make himself as small as possible, Hoseok used to be a confident kid who wasn't afraid to strike up conversation with anyone. Now, however...

"Hyung?" Jungkook snapped his fingers in front of Namjoon's eyes. Namjoon blinked, looking at the younger.

"Yeah, Kook?"

"You're doing that thing where you think so hard your chin sticks out 'n you don't listen to anything I'm saying," Jungkook said.

"Oh." Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly. "Sorry, baby."

"You've got to stop calling me that," Jungkook said, cheeks flushed in embarrassment.

"But you like it."

"Not when you're using it to get me to forgive you," Jungkook argued. "Anyways, what were you thinking about?"

Namjoon shrugged, adjusting his backpack strap. "Hoseok," he answered.

"...Hoseok," Jungkook repeated.

"I know you don't like him, Kook..."

"It's not that I don't like him, it's just..." Jungkook ran a hand through his cherry hair. "All the things he did, 'n now he's part of the team. It's still a little weird, is all."

Namjoon didn't have to ask Jungkook to specify when he said "all the things he did." Jungkook still held a bit of a grudge against Hoseok for his fight against Namjoon in which Namjoon was so injured that he was unconscious for almost a whole day.

"I'm just worried about him," said Namjoon. "He's been a little off lately, y'know?"

"Like he's hiding something?" Jungkook guessed.

"Don't jump to conclusions like that."

"It's hard not to," Jungkook defended.

"You guys really don't trust him, huh?" Namjoon asked.

Jungkook shrugged. "Not all of us can be as ready to accept him into the team as you are, Joon hyung."

Well, thought Namjoon, I'm going to have to change that.

-

Min Yoongi knew how to right his wrongs.

If he didn't, he wouldn't be here with Taehyung during lunch, watching over the younger boy as he completed his homework.

Yoongi wasn't with Taehyung just to make himself feel less guilty about middle school, no, he genuinely liked the kid and wanted to get to know him better.

Yoongi also needed to muster up the courage to apologize to Taehyung for standing by and watching as he got bullied during middle school. But Yoongi was stalling because he was afraid.

"How are you doing your work so fast?" Yoongi asked, peeking over Taehyung's shoulder. Taehyung was already at the end of the worksheet.

Taehyung shrugged, answering another question. He didn't so much as hesitate in writing the answer, which Yoongi knew was correct.

Usually, the team would all be together in the library while eating lunch. But since Hoseok joined their team, Taehyung started eating lunch in empty classrooms. Seokjin knew nothing of this because he was working on his valedictorian speech during his free time and helping with graduation preparations.