A nurse stepped into the room several minutes after Yoongi had returned and Jin had left. The three were locked in quiet conversation, light jokes, small apologies about things that didn't matter in order to really apologize for the things that did; quick, meaningless touches were exchanged, a pat on the arm, a squeezing of the hand, to assure each other that they were there for each other no matter what.

"Kim Hoseok?"

Hobi looked up at the nurse, giving her a weak smile. "Are you here for my autograph?"

The nurse couldn't help but smile at the thin, bedridden boy. "I wish. I just wanted to let you know that your parents or guardians have been contacted, and they should be here soon."

Hobi's smile faltered as he looked over at Yoongi questioningly, who read his confusion and turned to the nurse. "Who is listed as our guardian?" he asked bluntly, and the nurse's eyes widened. Before she could ask questions that would pain any of them, Yoongi interjected, "Our parents split up a few years ago, and we're living with our mom and her husband. So did you contact them? Or our dad?"

The nurse paused as she flipped through the sheets on her clipboard. "I'm sorry, it looks like your information hasn't been updated at this hospital. Currently, it looks like your guardians are listed as your mom and a Kim Namjoon. Is that your dad or your step-dad?"

Yoongi exhaled slowly, already imagining how bad this was going to be. "That's our dad."

"Oh." The nurse frowned as she took in the state of the three boys. She wished she could help them somehow, but there wasn't anything she could do except make sure Hoseok was comfortable while they waited. "I'm sorry. When your guardians get here, I'll have them fill out a few forms that should clarify things for the future about who to contact. Not-" she said, giving Hobi a pointed look. "-that we want to see you back here, okay? Be healthy!"

Hobi gave another shaky smile, and then the nurse left to go check on another patient.

"Shit," Yoongi said.

"Shit," Hobi said.

"S-s-shoot," Jimin said.

***

Their mom got there first, husband in tow, talking agitatedly on his phone to some business associate.

"Oh, honey," she said as soon as she stepped in, her heart swelling painfully at the sight of Hobi hooked up to an IV. She went to sit next to him, but Yoongi didn't move to give her space, and he shot Jimin a look across the bed that if he moved, Yoongi would be pissed. So Yoongi stayed, and Jimin stayed, and their mom was forced to hover out of reach of Hobi's hand.

"I'm so sorry," she said, pulling her bottom lip inward with her teeth.

"Why are you sorry?" Hobi asked skeptically, and she blew out a breath, her brows furrowed.

"Because you're my son and it's my job to take care of you. No, that came out wrong..." she mumbled before looking back up at Hobi. "I love you, and I want what's best for you. I want you to be happy and healthy and strong."

"How convenient," Yoongi muttered, low but not low enough for it to go unheard. "That you care now. What did you want for us ten years ago, hm? Was leaving us behind the best for-"

"Yoongi," she said, her tone slightly harsh but pained. "I know that you haven't forgiven me, and I know that you probably won't ever forgive me. And I know-" Her voice cracked slightly, "I know that you won't believe me, but I do love you, and I want you all to be happy. I know I made a mistake, and I know I haven't done a good job of protecting your happiness, but I'm your mother, and you're my children, whether you hate that fact or not, so please just let me love you, all right?"

Yoongi was silent, and Jimin couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"We know, Mom," Hobi said, smiling at her. He knew that she was trying. He knew as well that she wasn't doing a great job, but she wanted to do a great job, and that mattered to him. "And I'm sorry for winding myself up here. I know that hospital bills are expensive, and-"

"Forget about the money," she said, shaking her head. "It's never about the money, none of it. Not your health concerns, not Jimin's tutoring, none of it, okay? Don't you ever worry about a dime," she said, her voice soft.

Yoongi wondered if she'd heard her husband yelling at Jimin two weeks ago. Yoongi wondered if she'd wanted to say something then, and she was only brave enough to say it now because her husband was on the phone outside the hospital room.

Yoongi wondered if that made her words any less true.

"I know..." She took a deep breath in before sighing and shutting her eyes, clinging tightly to the metal railing on the hospital bed as though to hold herself up. "I know that splitting up custody was a horrible thing to do to you kids. Separating you from your dad...your siblings...I know. But I love all of you so much...you have no idea...no idea at all...and the thought of going through life without being able to see my sons...it felt like I was dying."

She opened her eyes but stared down at the sheets. "I don't know what they teach you in your health class these days, but after a woman gives birth, she goes through postpartum depression. I gave birth four times...and from the first time on, I didn't ever feel like the depression had fully lifted. I just kept adding to it...and work became stressful...I was worried about supporting our growing family...and then I felt myself growing farther and farther away from your father...and coupled with my growing depression, I made decisions that I regret...I wasn't myself, back then. And going through a miscarriage..." She sighed. "It's not a valid excuse. There's no way to excuse what I did to you kids, to Namjoon. But...I just...I just want you to know that I've gotten help for my depression, and I'm not the same person I was when you were all so little and I left you all behind. The only thing that has stayed the same is that I was your mom then and I'm your mom now."

She paused. "I know I don't deserve another chance. Being a parent is something you have to get right the first time. I know that, but...I want to be your mom. And I know that asking you to forgive me is too much, and I don't deserve it anyway. Asking you to love me back is too much, and I probably don't deserve that either. But...I just want all of you to know that I love you, unconditionally, and that won't change. I'm sorry that my selfish need to love you took you away from your family. But I...I guess I was always secretly hoping that this could become a family. For you all, and...for me. That if I loved you all enough, it would work out. But..." She sighed. "It hasn't been working. But." She swallowed and made eye contact with each of them. "I won't give up. I won't make that same mistake. I'll try harder. I promise."

She looked like she was hunting for the words to say more, but Hobi leaned forward and put his hand over hers, only his was smaller and thinner.

"I can only speak for myself," he said, his eyes wet and his lips fighting between a smile and a frown, twitching slightly as he tried to control his emotions. "But I forgive you. You're human. You make mistakes. We've all made mistakes." He looked at Jimin. "You don't hate Jungkook for what happened that day, right?"

Jimin shook his head slowly, not because there was any doubt that he didn't hold an ounce of hatred for Jungkook, but because the thought of the day of his abduction still made him uncomfortable.

"And Yoongi, you don't hate me for accidentally setting your Kumamon on fire, right?"

Yoongi began shaking his head before he stopped abruptly. "Wait, what?"

Hobi blinked innocently. "Right, so as I was saying-"

"THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED TO KUMAMON?! YOU TOLD ME HE MAGICALLY DISAPPEARED!"

Before Hobi could defend his younger self's actions, the door opened to reveal an absolute nightmare.

To the left, their step-dad.

To their right, their dad.

They were staring at each other with barely-restrained hostility, at least until Namjoon caught sight of Hobi in his peripherals, and he rushed forward, Yoongi moving out of the way so Namjoon could get close.

"Hobi, baby," Namjoon said, worried beyond measure. "You have to eat. You know this, right? Please, Hobi..."

Hobi smiled at Namjoon, taking his hand away from his mom's and poking Namjoon's cheek. "I know, I know. I won't do it again. Although I missed seeing the inside of the ambulance so maybe just one more-"

Namjoon glared at his son, and Hobi held his hands up, laughing lightly.

"KIDDING, kidding, gosh," he said. "Dad is very no fun."

Namjoon just sighed before massaging the bridge of his nose. "Each one of you is working on giving me a heart attack, I swear."

Hobi laughed. Meanwhile, Jimin looked over at his step-dad, who was looking on icily, and Jimin shivered. Yoongi noticed and immediately switched sides of the bed, going over to stand next to Jimin. To protect him, yes, but also as a warning to their step-dad.

"How are you two doing?" Namjoon asked them, and Yoongi nodded before shrugging.

"I punched a kid in school a few weeks ago," he said, and Namjoon narrowed his eyes.

"Yoongi, we've talked about-"

"He was making fun of Jimin," Yoongi said, not quite sure why he was being so honest.

Jimin looked over at him, frowning, as he hadn't heard that part before. "H-hyung," he murmured, seeming to forget about the presence of their step-dad. "D-don't be s-stupid."

"That kid was the stupid one," Yoongi snapped before shrugging again. "Trying to mess with my brother." Yoongi gave Jimin a slight nudge. "See? I told you I'd take care of you. Believe me now?"

Jimin gave Yoongi a soft smile before forcing himself to glare at his older brother. "Y-You were still b-being s-stupid."

Yoongi rolled his eyes but settled into a smile as Namjoon looked over at Jimin.

"And how is school going?" Namjoon asked. "Not punching anyone, I hope..."

Jimin opened his mouth before he saw his step-dad looking at him, and he faltered. But then he felt Yoongi's hand squeezing his underneath the hospital bed, and he swallowed. "It's g-g-going ok-kay," he said, biting down on his teeth afterwards so they didn't chatter, as he was shaking slightly.

Namjoon smiled, and their step-dad just sighed, disappointed.

Jimin smiled.

"Actually," Namjoon began, but then the door slammed open, hitting the wall as two more figures entered the room.

"Where is he?" Tae asked, narrowing his eyes until they locked on Hobi's. "You stupid, stupid boy," he said before Jungkook smacked the back of his head.

"Hello, I'm Jungkook. I'll be serving as Taehyung's official translator until he stops being an idiot. He means to say, quote, We were worried about you, hyung. Are you okay? unquote."

Hobi snorted lightly. "All right, Taehyung's translator. Can you tell him that he's an idiot and that I'm surprised the staff here even let him through the doors given how shady he is?"

Jungkook turned to Taehyung, smiling politely. "Hobi says, quote, Thank you for your concern, little brother. I'm so glad you were able to make it. unquote."

Yoongi chuckled, but his laughter cut off when Hobi asked expectantly, "Where's Jin? I figured me pulling a stunt like this should be sufficient to get him off his phone."

Jungkook and Tae's smiles both fell.

"He said he couldn't come," Tae said, before Jungkook said, "You know, he's very busy...I'm sure he wanted to see you...He's just, you know-"

"Busy. Right," Hobi said, his laugh echoing hollowly.

Yoongi wanted to say that Jin had come, that he did care, but how was he supposed to explain how he'd yelled at Jin and driven him away? As well as the fact that Jin clearly hadn't told anyone else that he'd even come?

The nurse entered just then and handed forms to both Namjoon and their mom. "Would you mind updating your guardian forms? I'm sorry that both of you were contacted, and we can fix it so only the parent in custody is contacted in event of a future hospitalization."

Namjoon stared at the form for a second before looking back up at the nurse. "Can I not change that?"

She blinked. "I'm sorry?"

"I'm just saying that I don't care which house my son is staying at. If he's being hospitalized for something, I want to know immediately."

The nurse blinked before looking over at their mom. "Is that all right with you, Ma'am? If we leave both of you as emergency contacts?"

She hesitated, thinking back to what she'd told her kids. If she were being selfish, she'd kick Namjoon off the files and monopolize her kids. But she knew that doing so would only hurt them, even if it hurt her to see them running to him every time.

They have a good reason. He's been there for them their entire lives.

So she stopped thinking and just nodding, handing the nurse the form back. "That's fair. But in reverse, can I be kept as a contact for our other children as well? For Jin, Taehyung, and Jungkook?"

Tae and Kookie both looked at her as though they couldn't fathom why she would care if they were in the hospital, but Namjoon looked at his ex-wife knowingly.

Maybe she understands now...what it means to be a parent, a mother.

He nodded slowly. "That's fair."

She smiled tightly at Namjoon before nodding toward the nurse. "While you're here...when is it safe to take Hobi home?"

The nurse checked the clipboard once more. "He should be released later tonight after they run a few more tests to make sure he's stable."

Their mom thanked the nurse, and then the nurse left.

A few minutes later, their step-dad received another phone call, although he paused to awkwardly pat Hobi's wrist before leaving.

"Real charmer you got there," Namjoon said quietly while their kids all chatted, happy to be in the same room (minus Jin), even if it was in a fairly morbid location.

And for once, their mom didn't defend him.

rip kumamon