Seokjin leans against Jungkook, willing himself into being safe and comforting and supportive, as if he can somehow absorb some of Jungkook's unhappiness if he wishes hard enough. "I'm the best liar I know," he says with a fake cheery confidence. "And you'd still be upset if I came to school with a bruised face."

Not just upset. They'd be righteously furious, scared, and worried. Seokjin knows because those are precisely the feelings he has right now.

When he speaks again, Seokjin's voice is quiet and serious. "You don't have to make excuses or say it's not that bad to me."