Sunday came and Namjoon (along with Lisa) brought Yoongi, Jimin, and Hobi to their mom's house to swap kids.

"Toaster is mine" was the first thing Taehyung said to Jimin, whose eyes got wide.

"Nuh uh! I'm the one who found her!"

The two argued amongst themselves, not hearing the slamming of a car door in the driveway.

"Well Toaster stays here so you aren't getting her," Jimin said, crossing his arms. "You can't have-"

Yoongi slapped a hand over Jimin's mouth, and Jimin's first reaction was to wince, then glare at Yoongi, then pale as he took in the situation.

"Hello," their step-father said, a briefcase in his hand, coolly looking over the small crowd on his doorstep.

"Oh, hi," their mom said, blinking and hesitating before putting on a tight smile. "You got off of work early?"

He nodded before looking back at Yoongi and Jimin. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Yoongi said, removing his hand from Jimin's mouth.

"Why were you covering his mouth?" their step-father asked with a frown.

"Because..." Yoongi fumbled for an explanation that didn't expose the kitten they weren't supposed to have. "Because he was going to say a really bad word."

Their step-father stared at Yoongi, and even though Namjoon, Lisa, their mom, and all of their brothers were there, Yoongi still felt afraid.

In the end, their step-father didn't linger to interrogate Yoongi and instead went inside the house with a slight nod toward Namjoon.

Once he was gone, the three triplets and their mom all breathed out at once, and Namjoon's brow furrowed.

"You c-can't mention Toaster around h-him, okay?" Jimin told Tae quietly, and Tae frowned at him.

"Why not? Is he allergic or something?"

"No, just, y-you can't, okay? Promise me, T-Tae."

Tae nodded, still frowning. "Okay...? I won't mention Toaster if he's here?"

Jimin exhaled. "Okay, thank you."

"Why does it matter though?" Tae asked before looking around at all of his brothers' faces. "You guys are coming to live with us soon anyway."

Jimin looked at Hobi.

Hobi looked at Yoongi.

Yoongi looked first at their mom, then at Namjoon. "Well...until then, at least..."

Tae nodded but clearly wasn't satisfied with Yoongi's answer. Namjoon looked down. Their mom looked at Yoongi, an expression on her face that Yoongi couldn't easily identify.

Whatever moment was going on, it ended the second Jungkook jumped on Yoongi's back.

"What the he- heck?!" Yoongi shouted, twisting his neck to glare at Jungkook. "Get off of me, bunny boy!"

"Nuh uh, hyung owes me a piggy-back ride!"

"Your hyung owes you nothing!" Yoongi retorted, trying to shake Jungkook loose. "How much do you weigh, anyway?! It feels like I'm carrying a horse!"

"I, for one, am offended," Hobi said gravely. "Are you calling me fat?"

Yoongi bared his teeth at Hobi, who burst out laughing and put an arm around Jimin to support himself.

"C'mon, Kookie, let go of Yoongi before you break his spine," Jin said, chuckling lightly, but Jungkook just took the opportunity to wrap his legs around Yoongi's waist.

"Well, when you think of it this way...it's sort of like Yoongi is the turtle and Kookie is the shell," Tae remarked thoughtfully, earning a glare from Yoongi.

The kids all laughed and joked amongst themselves while Yoongi kept trying to knock Jungkook off his back. All the tension created by their step-father seemed to have dissipated.

But Lisa stood by, looking on with a frown. She hadn't forgotten the earlier tension, and it had left an unsavory feeling in her gut.

***

Lisa waited until they'd arrived back at their house before pulling Namjoon aside.

"What's wrong?" Namjoon asked, frowning and squeezing her hand lightly.

"I don't know, Joon, it's just...did you see how they reacted when their step-father approached?"

"I'm not sure," Namjoon answered slowly. "I think I was looking at Tae and Jungkook, and they seemed fine."

"Not them," Lisa said. "Yoongi, Hobi, Jimin. They all tensed up, Joon. Like...like they were afraid of him."

"From what I've gathered, he seems very un-kid-friendly," Namjoon said. "He barely interacts with them. Maybe they're just uncomfortable around him?" Namjoon's frown deepened as his inner helicopter parent kicked in. "Do you think something's wrong? Do you think he's hurting them? Abusing them? Physically, or...or..." Namjoon didn't want to say it, didn't want to lend credibility to the ghost of a thought.

"That's the thing," Lisa said, biting her lip. "I've spent hours in interrogation rooms with survivors of abuse cases, and there are certain signs. Flinching, avoiding eye contact, gestures like that. They didn't show those signs."

Namjoon exhaled deeply. "Yoongi wanted to keep living there, Lisa. Do you think...do you think he would say that if he was being hurt in some way?"

Lisa hesitated. "This isn't going to make you happy, Namjoon, but it's possible. Some victims feel the need to keep a relationship with their abuser. It's an impulse. But I don't think they're being abused, Joon. It just doesn't add up. But..." She pursed her lips. "I think we should keep an eye on them. Just to be safe."

Namjoon's eyebrows knitted together, revealing several wrinkles on his forehead and around his eyes, wrinkles born of a father's worry. "Lisa...if something happens to any of my kids..."

"I know," Lisa said, kissing away the wrinkles on his forehead with gentle lips. "We'll protect them, Joon."

"There isn't another option," Namjoon said. "But it's a lot easier to protect them when I know what I'm protecting them from."

Lisa rubbed her hands up and down Namjoon's upper arms, trying to soothe him. "I know, Joon. I know you're stressed about this. I'm worried too. But maybe...maybe if you tried talking with Yoongi-"

Namjoon was already shaking his head. "Something's going on with Yoongi, and he won't talk to me," he said. "I'm just worried because he thinks he has to be the adult for the three of them, only he's not an adult, Lisa, he's a kid trying to make adult decisions, and that's exactly how kids get hurt."

"Then maybe you can talk with Hobi or Jimin. Or...I know the chances are slim, but maybe they'd talk to me if it's something they're uncomfortable talking with you about. I'm here to help you, Joon, you and the kids, in any way I can. And it doesn't have to be Police Officer Lisa they're talking to. I can just be Lisa if that would make them more comfortable. Okay?" Her hands slid up to rest on his shoulders. "We're going to protect them, Joon. Okay?"

He nodded, but his eyes were still thick and dark with worry. "All right, Lisa..." But all he could really think was that he'd already failed once, and he couldn't afford to fail again.

***

Jimin was running, running down hallways, searching for...for-

There.

Jimin stopped, panting, in front of a classroom with students pouring out.

Jin came out, laughing at something someone had said, and stopped when he met eyes with Jimin. His eyes held a question. Why are you here?

"J-Jin," Jimin said, still trying to catch his breath, and his difficulty breathing seemed to make his stutter worse.

Jin stilled as he felt some of the kids from his class around him turning to look at him, and he sensed questions in their eyes too. Who is he? How does he know you? What does he want?

"Yes?" Jin asked carefully, having thought about the correct response. It wasn't that he didn't want to acknowledge Jimin, but if he replied with Jimin's name, then everybody would know that Jin knew the small, stuttering, panting boy. Jin felt torn between letting them know and hiding his existence.

"Do you know this kid?" the girl next to him asked, looking over at Jimin with critical eyes. "He's a freshman, isn't he?"

Jin opened his mouth but hesitated. Just say it, Jin. Just tell them that he's your brother. Just-

"J-Jin!" Jimin said again, louder this time, his brows furrowed in anger and annoyance and something else. Panic? Is something wrong?

Do I know you? were the words sitting on Jin's lips, but he didn't want to say them.

But if they find out we're related, how will they treat me? After everything I've done to get here?

Jin felt himself burn with self-loathing.

Jimin has never bothered me in school before. He rarely even says hi to me unless I'm not with a lot of people. So why now? Is something wrong? Does he need my help?

Jin stood there, debating what he could say to make everything okay, but the moment came and went.

"Jimin?" came a voice from behind him as Jooheon exited the classroom. Jimin's eyes moved to the right to meet his. "Are you okay?"

The girl next to Jin made a distasteful face at the sight of Jooheon's appearance. Jin still wasn't sure why kids in their class didn't like him, but Jin thought it had something to do with Jooheon's attitude. Jooheon didn't get involved in any of the drama going on. He just seemed above it all, and not in a self-righteous way. Just like he was too mature for high school, and he gave off an aura that made other people feel defensive about all the drama they were invested in.

"J-Jooheon," Jimin said, the anger fading from his face. "Please. H-Help..."

The other kids were gone by this point, on their way to other classes, and no one was around anymore to judge Jin.

"Jimin," he said, still speaking softly in case someone overheard him, but Jimin didn't even look at him. "Jimin," he said again, more insistently, a little louder. "Jimin, what's wrong?"

"Emergency?" Jooheon asked, and Jimin nodded, his eyes worried. "You? Or someone else?"

"Y-Yoongi," Jimin said, and Jin felt his heart quicken.

He grabbed Jimin's arm, forcing him to meet his eyes. "Something's wrong with Yoongi? What is it, Jimin? Where is he?"

Jimin's eyes darkened before he looked back at Jooheon. "Bathroom. East w-wing."

Jooheon cursed. "East wing? That's the other side of the school. Did you run all the way here?"

Jimin nodded, still out of breath.

Jin felt like shit.

Jimin ran across the school.

He ran past some of our other siblings' classrooms.

Because he needed my help.

And I-

It isn't too late, is it?

"Take me there," Jin said. In some dark part of his soul, he didn't want Jooheon to come, even if Jooheon was helping, because Jooheon was like a replacement brother. It was Jin's own fault that he'd been so distant, but he didn't want to be replaced, either. But love is like that, sometimes. Contradictory and hard to pin down, unable to be tied up in a neat bow.

Messy.

Jimin just turned around and started cutting a way back through the crowd, moving quickly, twisting and turning to weave through people, and Jin hesitated before following, only Jooheon moved before he could, and Jin had to dart into the hallway crowd to follow Jooheon.

After they got out of the main foot traffic, there were fewer people, and they were free to run. Jimin was running, Jooheon sprinting after him, and Jin tried at first to just quickly speedwalk to draw less attention before realizing that he would lose them if he didn't run as well. Still, he'd lost some time, and when he caught up with them just as they were heading into the bathroom.

"He t-texted me saying he wasn't f-feeling w-well," Jimin got out, opening the door. "Said he was c-camping out in the b-bathroom, and when I g-got here..."

Jin followed them in, and his heart stopped.

Yoongi was lying face-up on the bathroom tiles, his eyelids closed but his eyes moving rapidly behind them, his body twitching and spasming erratically.

Jooheon swore, and Jimin didn't even flinch, his eyes scanning Yoongi before coming back up to his face as he knelt beside his brother.

"What's w-wrong with h-him, Jooheon?" Jimin asked, looking over at Jooheon, who was pulling out his cellphone. "J-Jooheon?"

Jooheon dialed three numbers.

"911, what's your emergency?" came the smooth voice on the other end.

"My friend is having a seizure."

***

The room was silent save for the timely beeping of the heart monitor. It was starting to give Jin a headache.

He sat in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs in Yoongi's room. Jimin had also taken a chair, only he'd dragged it up next to Yoongi's bed. They'd both ridden in the ambulance with Yoongi, and Jooheon had been prepared to, but they'd insisted on family only. Jooheon had said that he'd understood, and he'd watched them leave.

Jin decided to try and break the silence. "Jimin, about what happened-"

"Which p-part, hyung?" Jimin asked sharply without turning around to look at Jin, and Jin flinched. "The part where you t-tried to pretend you didn't know m-me or the part where we f-found Yoongi in the middle of a s-seizure?"

"...The first one," Jin said softly. "I'm sorry. It's just..."

"S-Save your excuse," Jimin replied. "I don't need it b-but the people you call your f-friends might."

Jin fell silent. So much for trying to talk.

"We're here for Y-Yoongi-hyung anyway s-so don't try to make this about u-us instead," Jimin said firmly, and Jin could sense his disappointment from the rigid set of his shoulders.

The doctor came in just then and saved Jin from replying, not that he even knew what to say. Jimin, his sweetest brother, the one who used to make them lunches when he couldn't going to school, Jimin, who Jin had never heard utter a single swear word, Jimin, the brother he'd lost and had returned, was mad at him. More than just mad. Enraged.

"We contacted his legal guardians, and they're on their way," the doctor said in a gentle voice, and Jimin looked up at him in worry.

"Why did this h-happen?"

"We believe it's a result of the head trauma he came in for a few nights ago," the doctor said, looking at Jimin sympathetically. "Sometimes, severe blows to the head can trigger epilepsy. That's why we wanted to do a concussion test."

"Epil-lepsy?"

"It's a condition in the brain where damaged nerve cells can cause seizures," the doctor explained. "For some people, it's genetic, but it can also be developed in a lot of different ways. I can't say for sure that he has it, but we're going to run an EEG to check. I think it's likely, though."

"Is he g-going to be okay?" Jimin asked, eyes wide, and the doctor nodded.

"We're lucky that your friend called 911 when he did," the doctor said gravely. "It's best to catch these things early on. And not everyone recognizes the symptoms of a seizure, so they aren't prepared to handle it appropriately. The seizure itself might not be permanently damaging, but without diagnosing your brother as epileptic and getting him the treatment and medication he needs, he might experience them more often. It's important for him to be aware of his condition so he can function with full knowledge of his health risks."

Jimin nodded, and the doctor looked over to Jin uncertainly, as Jin hadn't spoken a word.

"Thank you," Jin said, feeling the need to break the atmosphere that had abruptly turned uncomfortable, and the doctor gave a slight nod before leaving the room.

The room was quiet.

Then, "I hate hospitals."

A small, tired confession from Jimin.

"Why?" Jin asked impulsively, wincing as he remembered that Jimin was probably still mad at him.

"We're here t-too often," cane his reply. "First Hobi, n-now Yoongi. Maybe it will b-be me next," he said before chuckling.

"No," Jin said automatically. "You won't have to come to the hospital. You'll be all right."

Jin sensed Jimin tense like he wanted to refute Jin's statement or call Jin out on the ungrounded bullshit he was spewing, but he stayed quiet.

Then the door swung open so quickly it smacked the wall.

"Hello hello hello!" Hobi said before lowering his voice when he realized that Yoongi still wasn't conscious. He narrowed his eyes in a glare as he went to stand beside Yoongi's bed before poking Yoongi's cheek. "I said I wanted to see the inside of an ambulance, and you pull a seizure and don't invite me? Not cool, bro. Very not cool."

"Hi," Jimin said, and Hobi stopped glaring at smiled at Jimin, coming over to his side of the bed to ruffle his hair.

"Good job, Jimin," Hobi said sincerely. "Yoongi is going to be really proud of you when he wakes up."

"Hi, Hobi," Jin said, and Hobi turned to look at him, not having noticed Jin earlier.

"Oh, hi, Jin," Hobi said, staring at him oddly, like Jin was an object out of place. "Are you here because you heard or..."

"I was with Jimin," Jin said, and Hobi nodded.

"Oh...well, thanks, hyung." Hobi looked back down at Jimin. "Mom is on her way. She gave me a ride here, and she's talking to the doctors or something right now."

"What about D-Dad?"

Hobi shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think they called him but I don't know if they were able to get ahold of him. He's probably at work right now."

"He gets off his shift at 4," Jin said. "It's 2:30 now. So he might come after."

Hobi just nodded and took a seat beside Jin, pulling Jimin off his chair and wrapping his arms around Jimin, making Jimin sit on his lap.

"Hyung," Jimin whined, but Hobi just snuggled Jimin tighter.

"Get some rest," Hobi said gently. "You're tired, right?"

Jimin hesitated before nodding slightly and letting his head rest back on Hobi's shoulder, his eyelids fluttering shut. He adjusted his position a few times, but after ten or fifteen minutes, his breathing had evened out.

"Why is Jimin so tired?" Jin asked softly, looking over his dongsaengs.

"He gets nightmares," Hobi said, running a hand through Jimin's hair and smoothing it down. "He just hasn't been sleeping well lately."

"Oh," Jin said weakly. There was so much he didn't know about his brothers. He wondered when he had stopped knowing. Or had they just changed without his knowledge?

***

Their mother popped in a few minutes later to say that she was going to talk to a few more doctors, grab some informational brochures and other packets on epilepsy, and find out what tests Yoongi needed to take.

She left after sending a final worried glance toward Yoongi, and ten minutes after she left, Jimin's eyelids fluttered open, and he rubbed them with his fingers, a frown on his face.

"You all right?" Hobi asked, and Jimin nodded, staying quiet. "Maybe we should go take a little walk. We could hit up a vending machine, if you want. I've just a little bit of money on me."

"All r-right," Jimin said, sliding off Hobi's lap and looking at Yoongi before opening the door, Hobi following.

And then it was just Jin and Yoongi.

***

Yoongi came to before the other two had returned. The first sign was the heart rate monitor, as his heart beat kicked up a bit. The second was that he'd opened his eyes and looked extremely confused.

"What happened?" he mumbled, more to himself than anyone else.

"You had a seizure," Jin said, standing up and walking over to Yoongi's bed before realize that maybe leading with that was a bad decision. "Hi, Yoongi. How are you?"

"Jin?" Yoongi asked, looking even more perplexed. "Don't you have practice?"