Jungkook still manages to maintain a smile as he looks down at his lap. On some level, he knows that much of the fault lies with his stepfather. Conceptually, he knows that there's no excuse for hitting one's child this way, no matter whether or not they're a child only by marriage or by blood. He knows that if any of his friends were to be experiencing something similar at home, he would be doing everything in his power to get them out of that situation. He knows all of this, surely.

And yet, it's hard not to find fault in himself. How he triggers his stepfather's temper. How he can't seem to find an elegant way to extricate himself from the situation. He's not strong enough to stand up to his stepfather, he's not smart enough to keep it hidden. If he's going to stay in this situation, isn't it the least he can do to make sure it doesn't hurt anyone else?

"It's not that bad," Jungkook offers, not quite meeting Jin's gaze. "I bruise pretty easily. It probably looks a lot worse than it feels."