Jin sat down in his chair, setting his pink backpack down on top of his desk and swinging his legs back and forth.

All the other kids were in groups of two or three or four, talking and laughing and giggling.

But Jin was alone, smiling to himself, swinging his legs.

He'd told his brothers that he was popular, that he was friends with everyone in his class, that everybody loved him.

But that was just what he told them. In reality, Jin was alone.

He watched the other groups of kids and listened in on their conversations. Sometimes, he liked to pretend that he was included in the conversation, that he was just being quiet. Sometimes, he laughed quietly to himself as though they'd told the joke to him. Sometimes, he felt like one of them.

But he wasn't.

He was just the boy in the back with the pink backpack, sitting by himself, smiling to himself, swinging his legs back and forth and back and forth.

What he'd told Yoongi hadn't been true either. They didn't give him their juice boxes or snacks. Because they didn't talk to him.

Jin just smiled, swinging his legs back and forth and back and forth.

Sometimes, they talked about him, and Jin was okay with that since it was close enough. It was basically the same thing, right?

Jin is my favorite person was basically the same as Why does a boy have a pink backpack?

Jin is my best friend was basically the same as Why does his face look like a girls?

Jin is so nice and handsome was basically the same as Why doesn't that one kid talk to anybody?

Right?

Sometimes, Namjoon asked Jin if he had friends and how school was going. Jin always smiled and said he had lots of friends and that everything was great and so much fun.

Because Jin was the oldest. Because he had to be someone his donsaengs could look up to. Because he had to look out for all of them and protect them.

But Jin just sat in the back, swinging his legs back and forth and back and forth, smiling to himself, not because he was trying to fake happiness for all the other kids in his class, but because everything he did was for his younger siblings. He didn't mind being alone in class because when the last bell rang, he got to run down to Yoongi's classroom and pick up his younger brother, and then Namjoon would pick them all up in his car and take them all home, where nobody gave Jin weird looks or teased him about his pink backpack, where they talked to him and included him.

And that was enough for Jin.

It would always be enough for Jin.

"Everybody, take your seats," the teacher said, standing in front of the class.

Jin didn't have to sit down because he was already sitting, swinging his legs back and forth and back and forth. Sometimes she yelled at him-

"Jin, stop swinging your legs. Set them down properly on the ground."

-but he never paid attention, because when he kept his legs swinging, it was like he was personally commanding the clock, making each second tick by and bringing him closer to his family again.

The kids in his class giggled because she told him to stop all the time but he never did. Jin knew that they all thought there was something wrong about him, something strange. Maybe it was why they didn't include him.

But Jin couldn't help it. He knew he should try to make friends, but when he thought of who he wanted to talk to most, who he wanted to laugh with most, who he wanted to joke with most - he didn't think of his classmates. Instead, he saw Yoongi's face, Hobi's face, Jimin's face, Taehyung's face, Jungkook's face. Even Namjoon's face. Because even though Namjoon would pretend to be upset with Jin sometimes, Namjoon never excluded Jin, never made him feel like he was wrong somehow for liking what he liked or looking how he did.

"Jin, if you don't stop, you're going to have to sit out in the hallway."

So two minutes later, Jin was sitting by himself in the hallway, smiling to himself, because nothing had really changed, only that he wasn't surrounded by kids who didn't pay attention to him anyway and a teacher that just wanted him to be normal.

Jin sat out in the hallway for the rest of class, rocking back and forth and back and forth gently against the wall until the teacher came back out and had a talk with Jin about his "behavior." Then she told him to go back to his desk.

Jin did so, and once he was seated, he kept swinging his legs back and forth and back and forth, a little smaller this time so she wouldn't send him out in the hallway again. He stared at the board, which was covered in math. He'd missed a lot of class from having to sit out in the hallway, and math was one of the subjects that he didn't really understand at all, but he was the oldest brother. He couldn't ask Yoongi for help. Not just because Yoongi wouldn't know how to do the math, but also because Jin was supposed to be the big brother who could do everything. He could have asked Namjoon, but then Namjoon would find out that Jin wasn't doing as well in school as he had told him that he was, and Jin didn't want that either.

So he just tried to pretend that 2 x 3 = 6 even though it made more sense to him that 2 x 3 = 23.

Jin was good at pretending.

Jin ate lunch alone and only got kicked out of class once more that day during the last subject - writing - because he always got antsy when class was almost over.

Then the bell rang, and he ran back into the classroom to grab his backpack before running down to the first graders' classrooms, waiting outside class 2-A for Yoongi. He jumped up and down, trying to see Yoongi's head, until he saw him, and then Jin grinned, linking arms with Yoongi.

"How'd your day go?" Jin asked, smiling at his precious younger brother.

Yoongi sighed, scowling slightly. "Not well. The kids won't talk to me because they're afraid I'm going to stab them with a pen or steal their crayons."

Jin tsk'ed. "Yoongi, that's not good! You have to make friends!" He turned slightly. "I'm friends with everyone in my class! It makes school so much more fun! Promise me you'll try to make friends tomorrow?"

Yoongi sighed, looking down before looking back at Jin's wide eyes. "All right. I'll try tomorrow." He hesitated. "There are two brothers who sit next to me, Kihyun and Wonho. They were talking about music. I wanted to talk to them but I was afraid. Maybe I'll try talking to them tomorrow."

Jin nodded. "You should! I bet you'll make friends in no time. You should rap for them!"

Yoongi hesitated. "Do you think...they would like that?"

Jin nodded enthusiastically. "Definitely! And if they don't, you don't need them."

Yoongi smiled softly. "You're right. Okay. I'll talk to them tomorrow."

Jin smiled, leading his brother out to the car. This was enough for him. He didn't really need friends, so long as his brothers did.

He'd give up anything for his brothers.

No.

He'd give up everything.

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you! I got in trouble again today," Jin said, laughing, and Yoongi rolled his eyes.

"Did you take someone's juice again?"

Jin smiled. "They gave it to me! I swear! It was cherry flavor, too."

"Oh. Well, if it was cherry flavor..."

"Exactly!"

The two boys got into the car, Jin jumping up into the front seat and setting his pink backpack on his lap, looking over at Namjoon and smiling.

"How did school go? Are you guys making friends?"

Jin smiled brightly. "It was great! I made lots of friends!"

Yoongi shrugged. "It was all right, I guess."

"Did you guys stay out of trouble?" Namjoon asked, raising his eyebrow and looking back and forth between Jin and Yoongi.

Jin giggled. "Of course!" He looked back and winked at Yoongi, who tried to wink back at him, but he just ended up shutting both of his eyes and scrunching his face up.

"Of course," Yoongi echoed.

Namjoon smiled. "Good job." Then he started driving.

Jin stared out the window, smiling as the school fell away out of his view. His feet couldn't reach the floor of the car, but even so, he made sure not to swing his legs because he never wanted nay one second to pass when he was with his family.

He wanted time to stand still.