Seokjin had fallen asleep again - the real one, not the eternal one - but Taehyung wouldn't take his eyes off him and wouldn't let go at all. He was scared of losing him again or having Seokjin taken from him.

Namjoon and Yoko did not take their eyes off this mismatched duo, a scared boy with the boy who scared him but who was now afraid for him. Yoko would have liked to extract her son from the embrace of this boy who had almost killed him and treated him as an object that belonged to him, but she knew she had to be patient. When Seokjin was able to leave the hospital, she would take him away from the Kims.

Namjoon meanwhile had his fists clenched and his gaze was filled with anger and contempt for his little brother. He had never hated his little brother, despite the difference in treatment between them by their parents.

Yet that day, because he cared deeply about Seokjin, he hated his brother for what he had done: he had almost killed Seokjin, with his selfishness and his whims.

"You will pay for what you did, Tae, don't think you're gonna get away with it," Namjoon promised, threatening.

Taehyung just stared at him but didn't reply or move, afraid to wake up Seokjin. Anyway, if he could have Seokjin for him, he didn't care what his brother said to him.

However, his precautions to preserve Seokjin's sleep were useless: the door flew open, revealing Namjoon and Taehyung's parents, followed by Baek who exchanged a sorry look with Yoko, because he had been forced to lead them to the room.

"Taehyung! Namjoon!" Mrs. Kim shouted, visibly annoyed, "You shouldn't be here, Baek, get them out of here, we need to talk to Yoko and Seokjin."

"No, you can't talk to Jin, he's sleeping," Taehyung replied, placing both hands over Seokjin's ears. "And stop yelling, you'll wake him up."

Mrs. Kim opened her mouth wide in amazement and turned helplessly to her husband, letting him take over.

"Taehyung, you're going home, it's late. Baek will take you back, come on son, get up. You too Namjoon," he added to his eldest son more sternly, his hard gaze seeming to promise that he would be severely punished for making adulterous decisions on his own that day.

Namjoon seemed to understand what awaited him and was careful not to answer his father so as not to make the situation worse, but Taehyung who did what he liked and was not afraid of his father did not have the same reaction:

"No, no, no and no!" the little boy categorically refused, "I won't sleep without Jin, I'm staying here tonight if he stay here!"

"Then me too!" Namjoon said immediately finally seeming to realize that he too could hold on to his father to defend what was most dear to his heart. He too climbed into the bed next to Seokjin, on the opposite side from Taehyung.

"That's enough!" Mrs. Kim said with anger as she approached the bed and grabbed Namjoon's arm to pull him down.

"No! If Tae stays, I'm staying too!"  the eldest replied, pulling his arm out of his mother's grasp to her amazement.

Namjoon was not a disobedient child, his parents knew that. He was rather the opposite of his brother, being particularly docile and mature, due to his strict upbringing. Seeing him suddenly rebel at the age of 8 was quite surprising for Mr and Mrs Kim who understood that Taehyung was not the only one to be very attached to Yoko's son. They exchanged a annoyed look and then decided to postpone the problem until later.

"Miss Murakami, follow us outside, let's leave the boys here to talk," Mr. Kim said.

Anguished about leaving Seokjin alone with the two Kim boys, Yoko shot a pleading look at Baek.

"I'm staying with them, don't worry," the security guard reassured her, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.

"Thank you," Seokjin's mother whispered as she left the room, along with her anxious employers.

When he was alone with the three boys, including the sleeping injured man, Baek said sternly to Taehyung and Namjoon, who were each holding Seokjin's arm and glaring at each other:

"Seokjin is no object, little gentlemen, you should not forget about that or you will hurt him again."

"I never hurt him, Tae hurt him," Namjoon replied.

"No, it's not me, it's him who wouldn't listen, even daddy said it!" Taehyung protested, unwilling to lose face in front of his brother. "I asked him for his ball and he didn't give it to me!"

Namjoon and Baek were shocked at the futility of such a reason. If the man kept his thoughts to himself, Namjoon did not hold back from letting his brother know what he was thinking.

"You just had to buy one for yourself if you wanted one, it wasn't difficult! You hurt him only because he wouldn't give his ball to you, you really are a monster, and if dad agrees with you, then he's a monster too!"

"I'll tell daddy!" Taehyung immediately protested, knowing full well that his brother was going to be set on fire by their father who let nothing pass as far as Namjoon was concerned, "and I'm not a monster, you can't say that, I'm your brother!"

"No, you're not my brother anymore, you don't deserve to have a brother. This is Seokjin now my little brother, and I will protect him from you."

"He's not your brother," Taehyung shot back, angry, "I'm your brother!"

"No, I will not be the brother of a criminal."

"I am not a criminal!"

"Yeah, the police is going to pick you up and you're going to go to jail for almost killing Jinnie, well done, you won't see us anymore and you will be all alone forever," Namjoon scoffed wickedly.

"NOOO!" Taehyung shouted, his eyes widening in horror.

His scream made Seokjin squirm in his sleep, but he didn't wake up.

"Yes, and you deserve it," said Namjoon fiercely, suddenly enjoying causing despair to his brother.

"Boys, come on..." sighed Baek, seeing these siblings start to tear each other apart.

He had hoped that the new generation of Kim siblings would be better than the previous one and there was no indication that this would not be the case. Until that day.

"I-I beg you pardon?"

"We ask you to keep what happened to yourself. Say your son hurt himself playing with his grandfather's shears," Mrs. Kim repeated seriously.

Her husband specified:

"If your family agrees to keep quiet about what happened between our two sons, we will offer Seokjin a better future, a chance to go to the same prestigious schools as our children from middle school until the end of his studies. We can even help him beyond that, by finding a job in the best companies, including mine if he wishes. All he will have to do is study seriously obviously and not to shame my family."

Yoko was stunned. The Kims were asking her to be deaf to her son's suffering and not reveal the truth about their son's madness? Yet, even though she was outraged, she couldn't outright refuse the Kims' proposal either.

She had arrived in South Korea as a precarious Japanese worker and had become a young mother in difficult circumstances before bringing her father from Japan and supporting all three of them, thanks to her work with the Kims. It was with the Kims that she could occupy a free accommodation and provide a decent life for her child.

As a precarious worker, she knew the need to have a good academic record in South Korea more than in any other country to have a decent life. For the moment, Seokjin was only in elementary school, but from middle school, the reputation of schools became particularly important in the Korean social and professional system.

Even if her son said he wanted to become a professional footballer, this professional field was not the most accessible, it was certainly necessary to have talent but above all a lot of luck to be recruited by the training centers, and it was better to secure his back as much as possible. If the Kims financed his secondary and higher education, then she would no longer have to fear for her son's future. He would be safe, that was certain.

However, the price to pay was to stay with the Kims until the end of his studies because the Kims would become his tutors. She felt capable of it but she didn't know if Seokjin would be and she wasn't ready to see him suffer: she wouldn't force him to live a life he didn't want. If he refused after their talk, then she would refuse too and she would leave the Kim mansion with her family as soon as possible.

"Well? Your answer?" Mrs. Kim said impatiently. "Do we have a deal?"

"I'm really..." Yoko mused as she chose the right words for those arrogant and evil people, "g-grateful for your proposal and I'm ready to accept it, but only if my son agrees, I have to talk to him about it before giving you my decision."

"Your son is seven years old, he will do what his mother asks him to do," replied Mr. Kim.

Yoko would have liked to reply that their own seven years old son was the one who ruled them both, but she judged that it was not time to provoke the wrath of the Kims. However, she replied:

"Seokjin is really shocked by what just happened to him and so am I. He is suffering from a serious injury and I haven't even been able to hug him yet because your son won't let go, I honestly don't know how Seokjin will manage to overcome this. He could have died under the blows of your son if my father had not been there with them. I think my son is very afraid of yours right now, and maybe he won't be able to live with him anymore. So I have to ask him for his opinion, I hope you understand."

"Nonsense," Mrs. Kim replied sharply, "unfortunately, I have to admit it, my sons love yours. Therefore, it's clear to me that Taehyung didn't want to hurt him, he just wanted to play with him but eventually, this unfortunate incident happened, it's obvious he didn't do it on purpose."

Yoko shook her head, indignant:

"I guarantee you that considering how Seokjin was afraid of him when he woke up, your son did it on purpose. Just ask his grandfather who was there, I'm sur he'll give you a version that will coroborate mine."

Mr. and Mrs. Kim exchanged a knowing, almost annoyed look.

"Whether it's intentional or not, Taehyung is in a mess, maybe he's shocked for life because of what he saw and he realized he did something bad : he won't do it again," Mrs. Kim impatiently.

Stunned, Yoko would have thought of a joke if she had had other people in front of her than the Kim couple. They were perfectly serious. For them, it was far more serious that Taehyung saw the consequences of his actions rather than Seokjin paying the full price of it.

First, Mrs. Kim had taken her unharmed son to the hospital when he was the attacker, ignoring Seokjin when he was seriously injured by her son. And now, she was ignoring his trauma and his pain to focus only on her son. Yoko's father's words came back to her: she had to take care of her son, because no one else would, and certainly not the Kims who thought only of themselves and had no empathy for anyone.

Yoko couldn't help saying out loud what she was thinking:

"It is my son who will come out the most shocked by what happened today, he is the one who is suffering and he is the one who will keep a scar for the rest of his life. Not your son, mine. It is therefore he who will judge what he feels capable of, neither me nor you-"

CLAC!

The noise echoed in the empty corridor of the hospital when Mr. Kim slapped the young woman. Shocked, Yoko held her cheek on fire and stared at the man's face contorted with anger.

"I suddenly find you very arrogant considering your position and I prefer to nip your belligerent behavior in the bud. You better not threaten my family's reputation or you will regret it, I promise you. We would go to court and I guarantee you that financially, you would not survive against us. Remember that you are only our maid and that in this country you are nobody. Worst, you are just a Japanese parasite who only owes his life here to a residence permit and that it is easy to evict. What do you think will happen to your residence permit when it has been admitted to the Korean courts your son and your father are being applied in a very serious case which is harming one of the largest families in this country?."

Yoko widened her eyes at this more than serious threat of Mr. Kim. The man and his wife saw with satisfaction that they had managed to shake the fierce spirit of the woman.  She seemed to be ready for anything for her son, but they were too, with much more power than her.

"Know that the law will never be on your side, it will always be on ours. Because you are nothing when we are everything for this country, we are the miracle who raised this country from its misery and therefore we and our heirs have the power to do whatever we want with you and your pathetic family. Now, I leave you until tomorrow to give me your decision, no more. Accept my proposal, or leave without making a sound, it's the only choices left to you because if you choose another, I will destroy your life."

"We're handing the boys over to you for the night, they'll stay here with you and Baek since they're clinging to yours," Mrs. Kim added with a disgust that she did not try to hide.

Mute, Yoko nodded nervously and watched from this hateful couple. More than ever, she wanted to run away from them and their evil children who were threatening her son's happiness. She had just made this decision: she would not ask Seokjin's opinion. She would leave the Kim's house the next day.

Returning to the hospital bedroom, she found Baek watching with an alert eye the bed where the three boys layed sleeping close together.

"You could almost believe that they still adore each other, it's a shame what happened," he lamented. "Maybe there is still a way to settle this and see them become friends again."

However, Yoko shook sadly her head.

"It won't happen. Taehyung-sama...I mean Mr. Taehyung... he's too dangerous for me to let Seokjin continue to hang out with him."

"So you're leaving?"

It wasn't an accusation, just a sad assertion, as the man liked Yoko and her family.

"The Kims have offered to pay for Seokjin's schooling if we stay and does not reveal that it was Taehyung who attacked him, to preserve his reputation as a Kim heir. But I can't accept letting Seokjin grow up with him. I will submit my resignation letter tomorrow and put the most distance between the Kim family and us. I should have done it before, it's my fault what happened: I shouldn't have let them become friends and play together in the first place, when they belong to two worlds far too different. I failed to realize that if the parents were violent, arrogant and dominating, the children would also be so by imitation. It took my poor boy to be hurt for me to finally understand."

Baek said nothing. Yoko was right, the Kim's mansion was not an environment for a kind little boy like Seokjin and his mom who alone protected him from all dangers. They had to run away from the Kims and the world of those wealthy heirs.

"Do what feels right for your family, Yoko," he finally told her. "But we will miss you. Your son's laughter was a blessing that will never touch the Kim household again. Guess they didn't deserve it."

Yoko gave him a grateful smile and dropped into the second chair of the room where she was going to spend a sleepless night watching over her son, without realizing that one of the three children was not sleeping.