Jung Hoseok's POV

"Oh, so your first encounter with Areum was... pretty eventful?" Mr. Han asked, and I nodded.
"I made a promise to her mum that day." I told him. "She was so distraught that her child was being taken away from her. I could see the sacrifices she was making so her child could be happy; her hair was tatted, clothes were stained, but her daughter wore clean clothes and had beautiful hair."

"Plus the medical bill must have been awfully large," I added. "It was no wonder she was suffering." I felt a small lump in my throat, but fought back the urge to cry. "I could never forget the promise I made her, I promised her I'd raise her child well, but look at me now..."

✧ ✧ ✧ ✧

I was in the counselling room, sorting out things with the school's councillor after being called in over a matter concerning some kids from the orphanage. Of course, it didn't come to much of a surprise when I found out Areum was involved.

When we first take children in it's a mandatory condition of mine to do a little background research on who the children are, where they came from, what their parents were like, etcetera. When I did this for Areum I discovered that her parents were indeed 'Miss Jeon' - who goes by the name of Minji - and Mr. Park Jimin who was the man around my age who came to visit that one day.

From what I discovered Jimin is the biological father, but hardly ever saw Areum - only a couple of times in her life. The person who raised her like a father was her step-uncle, Mr. Jeon Jungkook, who is in prison at the moment for dealing drugs and for assault on Areum herself. I remember her having slight breathing difficulties when she came in and it was because of an incident that broke a few of her ribs. Mr. Jeon is also nearly finishing his sentence and will actually be released very soon. How do I know this? Well, I may or may not have gone to visit Mr. Jeon in prison.

I like knowing what the parents are like in order to get an idea of what the child will be like when they grow up, so I know what's best for them when I raise them. With Areum, her mother was outgoing, confident and short-tempered. Her father was persistent, caring and always fought for what he wanted. These pieced together turned Areum into a nightmare in places like school, where she was never scared of the teachers and always kicks off at the smallest thing.

It's why I'm here today.

"Your god damn orphans were at it again." The councillor slouched back in his seat. "I swear, it's always the orphans. What is wrong with them?"
"It's not always the orphans." I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "There are just a lot of them at this school, that's all."
"Well then there's also a lot of troublemakers at this school." He retorted.

"So, three children are outside: Jeon Areum, Na Jaemin and Bae Jinyoung. The two boys got into a fight after Jinyoung was 'intimidating' Areum." The councillor looked up at me before picking up a piece of paper, holding it up for me to see. "This is a witness statement." He began. "This girl was sat next to Na Jaemin in the Literature class." He cleared his throat, looking down at the paper.

"Areum and Jinyoung were arguing because Jinyoung called her a 'whore' so the two stood up and Areum pushed Jinyoung into a table. Jinyoung then backed Areum up against the wall in attempts to intimidate her when Jaemin held him back. Jinyoung then punched Jaemin and Jaemin punched back, causing a fight. They were eventually stopped by some of the class who restrained them." The man then looked back up at me, and I couldn't say anything.

He put the paper back down, readjusting the glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.
"This would normally result in a three day suspension." He told me. "For causing harm to another pupil, ignoring a teacher and disrupting and potentially harming the class."
"I understand." I told him, and he took a deep sigh. We sat in silence for a few seconds, words escaping me.

"They really need to get this 'troubled youth' image out of their heads and learn some manners." He suddenly spoke up. "These students are going to graduate in less than two years, and here they are acting like children."

"I'm not trying to defend their actions or anything," I began. "But you have to remember that these kids have basically been abandoned by the world. Imagine growing up knowing that no one wanted you, and when you go outside you see happy families playing in the park or going shopping." I paused for a while, gotta add in that dramatic effect.

"That's the harsh reality of it all. They have all this pent up frustration and sadness of not living in a functioning family. Hell, some of these kids were even abused by their parents. They don't have someone waiting for them at home to make their meals of offer them comfort if they're upset, so I'd say telling them to get rid of their 'troubled youth' image may be a little too insensitive."

"That still doesn't justify their actions Mr. Jung." He replied. "Like I said, three day suspension, I hope that they learn from their mistakes this time." And with that he stood up, I did so too. "If you want to speak with any of them in this room you can. It's currently lunch time so I'm off to the cafeteria, but I'd like you to take these children off site by the time lunch is over."
"Will do." I smiled, fake of course, but smiled nonetheless, and so he left me in the room. What an asshole.

The counselling room had windows leading to the waiting room, where I could see Jinyoung sat closest to the door by himself, and Jaemin and Areum sat together on the other side of the room. Suddenly, Areum's friends walked into the waiting room, so I stayed seated and watched their conversations or a while.

"Jesus Christ Jaemin what happened!?" Mark exclaimed, as he was the first to walk in, the others trailed behind and crowded round the pair and made a fuss. Jeno, Renjun and Haechan, who are in the same class as the two, were making a fuss about how scared they were or how cool Jaemin looked, whilst Mark, Chenle and Jisung listened intently, gasping at intense parts.

"Can you guys keep it down?" Jinyoung huffed towards the friends, then began to mumble. "You guys are so fucking gay I swear."
"And what's wrong with being gay hyung?" Daewhi suddenly burst through the door, followed by Jihoon, Woojin and Guanlin. These were Jinyoung's friends, all of which were from the orphanage. They also have a lot of friends who have grown up and moved out, those in the room being the only minors left.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Woojin asked, and a few of the boys sat down next to Jinyoung. The boy only glared over at the group on the other side of the room, before uttering "nothing."
"Was it about Areum?" Jihoon suddenly piped up, but the boys voices had gotten slightly quieter. I could still hear, but DREAM were being too loud to even notice the other huddle.

"Yeah it was." Jinyoung replied. "Are you really gonna get with her?" At this my eyebrows raised, and I leaned forward slightly, interested in their conversation.
"Yeah, why?" Jihoon asked.
"I feel like she's just using you hyung." He told Jihoon, holding the ice pack to his left cheek.
"Well that's all I'm doing to her." He mumbled back. "I told you that I invited her and those weirdos to Sungwoon-hyung's party on Friday, what did you think it was for?"

Jinyoung sighed, slouching in his seat.
"So you're really not bothered by it?"
"Not in the slightest." Jihoon replied.
"Sorry to change the topic," Guanlin spoke up. "But did that Jaemin guy really beat you up that bad?"
"Oh shut up Guanlin." He retorted. "He's worse off than me."
"No he's not." They all laughed.

At this point I decided that it would be a good idea to talk to the kids about what happened. I spoke to Jinyoung first, then Jaemin, and finally called Areum into the room.

"Hey Hoseok." Areum smiled, taking a seat opposite me. All I could do was sigh.
"Here we are again." I mumbled. "You've got a three day suspension."
"Yeah, Jaemin told me." She slouched in the seat.
"You have to start watching your behaviour Areum." I told her. "You're acting like a child instead of an adult."

"To be fair," She retorted. "He called me a whore. I wasn't gonna sit there and say nothing."
"Fair enough," I told her. "But pushing someone is not gonna solve that problem." I leant my elbows on the table. "Please just learn that."
"Will do!" She replied, but I knew she wouldn't. That's just who she is.

"Oh, um." I spoke up. "I heard that there was gonna be a party this Friday. And that you were invited."
"Maybe." She huffed. "So what?"
"You and your friends are not going to a party."
"What?" She yelled. "That's not fair. Jinyoung and his friends are going!"
"Ha Sungwoon is holding the party, and I remember when he used to be in the orphanage that Jinyoung and his friends were all good friends with Sungwoon."

"How do you know I'm not good friends with Sungwoon?" She retorted.
"Okay, what's his most recent hair colour?" I asked her.
"Umm, black?" She mumbled.
"It's purple." I told her.
"How do you know?"
"I see him when he and his friends come to pick up the minors every Sunday afternoon to hang out." I told her.

"Okay, so they're close." She huffed.
"You're also grounded due to the suspension." I told her.
"What about Jinyoung!?" She cried.
"He's not allowed to go either." I told her. "I spoke to him before, but I haven't spoken to Jaemin because I figured you were the one who got those boys invited to the party."

"So you're saying all of us aren't allowed to go?" She asked me. "How is that fair on the rest of the group?"
"Let's get real." I stared her down. "Would DREAM really go to a party without you, their ring leader?"
"Well-"
"Would they?"
"No."
"Exactly. You're not going."

"Fantastic." She smiled sarcastically, standing up. "I guess with all this free time I have you can tell me a bit about my parents."
"Forget it." I bluntly replied. "I've told you before and I'll tell you again. You don't need to know about your past. Just forget it."
"Whatever." She replied, leaving the room.

Areum has always been interested in her past. She tells me she gets nightmares of a dark, damp-ish room, and she feels her lungs cave in and it feels like she can't breathe, but she has no idea what happened. I do, but I don't tell her. Why? Well, it goes for all my kids. I don't tell them anything about their past because the majority of the time it's sorrowful or upsetting, and they don't really need to know about it.

The bell for the end of lunch rang, and the Wanna One And DREAM kids all left their three friends and went to class, leaving me to walk them back to the orphanage.
"When you get home I've got some chores that need doing." I told them. "Look forward to a fun three days of cleaning the orphanage!"