Btshobi - Tumblr Posts
Taking Care
Pair: Hoseok x F Reader
Summary: Hoseok falls ill and you take on the role of a caregiver. Through the moments of vulnerability and tender care, you solidify the relationship between the both of you, reminding him that even the brightest souls need care and warmth.
Genre: Fluff, Idolxreader, established relationship, girlfriend reader, sick Hobi, Hobi being stubborn AF -
Chapter Warnings: None
WC: 1307
As the doorcode chimed and you entered the apartment, two things became very prominent in the atmosphere. One, the vibrant energy that radiated around Hoseok day and night was replaced by a subdued demeanour. Two, his laughter was replaced by soft coughs and sniffles from the sofa. You quickly took off your shoes and threw the keys in the dish, quickly moving over to view the damage.
But you didn’t have to move far. As you stepped into the living room, Hosoek’s sluggish steps met yours. He was curled up in layers of blankets from head to toe, tissue stuffed in one nostril.
“Hi, Jagiya.” Hobi croaked out. It tugged at your heartstrings to see the usually-filled sunshine being so under the weather.
As you made your way to the kitchen to prepare a soft meal for your boyfriend, he leaned his body over yours. “I missed you.” He nuzzled your neck before pulling away and sat down on the kitchen chair.
“I missed you too, Hobi. But right now, go lay down on the bed.”
Hobi sluggishly got up and you distantly heard the bedroom door close. You picked out the ingredients needed for the ginseng chicken soup, moving efficiently around the kitchen. You quickly threw in the ingredients for the soup and headed over to the tea cabinet to prepare a pot of lemon ginger mint tea. Bringing over a pail of ice and tea, you opened up the bedroom door, revealing Hobi curled up in the middle of the bed.
Hobi turned to you, nose red and eyes puffy. He quickly reached out for the pail when you moved it out of his grasp. “Lay down.” You chided.
Hobi whined but complied. “Baby, you don’t have to help. I can take care of myself.”
You rolled your eyes. “If you could take care of yourself, you wouldn’t be in this state right now and the boys wouldn’t have to call me out in the middle of work to inform me that my boyfriend is so sick he can hardly get out of bed.”
You wiped him down as he pouted up at you. Handing Hobi a cup of tea, you guided him into a sitting position. “The ginseng soup is cooking downstairs.” He sniffled. “Grandma’s recipe: Cool towel 1.”
Hobi nodded. “Been tryna do that but got lazy to change the water after it heats up.”
You headed over to open the windows. “Let some wind in, it’s stuffy.” Hobi chuckled which soon turned into a body-wreaking cough. You sighed. “How did you even get yourself into this?”
You guided him back down and sat on the ottoman at the foot of the bed, watching him as he fell asleep. You quietly sighed and got up, leaving the bedroom door open. Jimin had told you over the phone that Mickey was currently staying with him so the house felt empty. While waiting for the witch potion to brew, you cleaned the house.
Hobi woke up a few hours later to hurl the contents in his stomach out. As you heard the sounds of gurgling, you dropped all work and rushed over to his room. Going over, you tied his hair back into a man bun, keeping the hair off his face. You then brought him back to the bed as he groaned and fussed.
Bringing the bowl of soup to the bedroom, you fed him as much as he could take before forcing medication down his throat.
“No!” Hobi whined. “It makes me puke. I don’t wanna!”
“Hobi, you gotta eat your medicine regardless.” You pushed it towards him with a cup of warm tea. “Come on.”
Hobi took the pills from your hands, looking at them offendedly before swallowing them. He pulled a disgusted face and chugged more tea down. As you tucked him back in bed, you tilted your head up to the ceiling, knowing that it would be a long few days.
Over the next week, you took the role of a caregiver, making sure that Hoseok had everything he needed - even if it meant forcing him to eat it. He absolutely hated his medications so you brewed teas to go with the medication, more herbal tea (that can’t go with Western medication due to the clash of ingredients used), and nourishing meals. Hoseok was essentially bedridden at a certain point in time, causing him to become really bored.
So you decided to bring in some books and shows to keep him entertained. As you sat by his side one evening after his fever had suddenly spiked again, you viewed a different type of vulnerability in Hobi that was usually hidden well behind his cheerful facade. His tired eyes and occasional sighs showed his discomfort, pulling at your heartstrings. As his coughs seemed to worsen, you shot him a concerned glance.
“I think you should go and rest. Your body needs time to heal.”
Hoseok nodded weakly as he looked at you gratefully. You tucked him back into the covers, sitting beside him and occasionally brushing your hand against his forehead to check his temperature.
“Thanks for taking such good care of me, Y/N.” Hosoek’s eyes met yours. “You could’ve just called the boys.”
You nodded. “They do help. Jin occasionally comes up to make you food instead.”
Hobi’s eyes shined with curiosity. “Oh, I didn’t hear him.”
You snickered. “No, sir. You were too deep in sleep while we had meaningful conversations over what caused your sickness.”
Your bedridden boyfriend rolled his eyes. “Truly, thank you for staying with me.”
Your heart swelled with affection as you replied, “It’s the least I can do. You’re always there for everybody, now it’s our turn to take care of you.”
Hoseok’s fingers found Yorus, intertwining them as he turned to his side, fully facing you. “I guess sometimes I forget that even the brightest soul needs a bit of sunshine and warmth.”
With a soft smile, you squeezed his hand. “That’s what I’m here for, Hobi. That’s what the boys are there for. You can lean on us too. We were meant to light up the world together.”
At that moment, the room filled with an unspoken understanding - a connection that went beyond words, a puzzle piece that fell right into place. Hoseok’s vulnerability created a space where you could be present for him in an intimate way.
As the weeks passed, Hoseok’s health slowly improved thanks to your care and the power of rest. His laugh returned, brighter than ever, once again filling the room with its infectious energy. You knew he would soon be back to his cheerful self, dancing and spreading joy wherever he went.
One dinner, as the sun began to dip below the horizon, casting a soft orange glow through the window, Hoseok turned to you. “Thank you for being my healing sunshine during these days, Jagiya.” He leaned his head on your shoulder. “I know I was tough to take care of but your staying meant a lot to me.”
You carried his luscious curls. “Hobi, you bring so much light into all of our lives. Sometimes I wonder how to return the favour of that.” You kissed him. “Glad I found a way now.”
With a quiet chuckle, Hoseok pulled you into a hug. “I hope you aren’t asking me to get sick more often.”
You wrapped your arms around him, straddling his lap and leaning your head against his neck. “Wouldn’t dream of it.”
The hug was intimate - one that spoke beyond the language of gratitude and the unbreakable bond you shared. In that embrace, you knew that even in the face of vulnerability, your connection with Hoseok was a source of strength and support. The both of you were puzzle pieces meant to fit and you wouldn’t change it for the world.
All Hail the Queen - Prologue 1- The Moon's Fury and the First Howl (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1419630403-all-hail-the-queen-prologue-1-the-moon%27s-fury-and?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=maiapeay02 What will you do when you find your mate? Get together with them immediately? Work on happily ever after? What will you do when your mate is not willing to be with you? Gives you cold shoulder? There is distance between Royal Alpha Kim Taehyung and Bella Chase. Difference of status, differences of ideals, differences of everything. And there is an unknown enemy lurking around.
All Hail the Queen - Prologue 2- The Moon's Children: Witches and Werewolves (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1455279470-all-hail-the-queen-prologue-2-the-moon%27s-children?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=maiapeay02 What will you do when you find your mate? Get together with them immediately? Work on happily ever after? What will you do when your mate is not willing to be with you? Gives you cold shoulder? There is distance between Royal Alpha Kim Taehyung and Bella Chase. Difference of status, differences of ideals, differences of everything. And there is an unknown enemy lurking around.
All Hail the Queen - Prologue 3- The Whispering Moon: A Tale of Fated Mates (on Wattpad) https://www.wattpad.com/1455280071-all-hail-the-queen-prologue-3-the-whispering-moon?utm_source=web&utm_medium=tumblr&utm_content=share_reading&wp_uname=maiapeay02 What will you do when you find your mate? Get together with them immediately? Work on happily ever after? What will you do when your mate is not willing to be with you? Gives you cold shoulder? There is distance between Royal Alpha Kim Taehyung and Bella Chase. Difference of status, differences of ideals, differences of everything. And there is an unknown enemy lurking around.
I just published "The Unseen Alpha " of my story "All Hail the Queen". https://www.wattpad.com/1457436994?utm_source=android&utm_medium=com.tumblr&utm_content=share_published&wp_page=create_on_publish&wp_uname=maiapeay02
this is....one of the best things i’ve read on tumblr recently and i’m not even exaggerating.. I love how I was able to FEEL chae and her growth through the years. I literally screamed at the last words because I did not want it to end!!! I absolutely love this, it just ignited something in me! can’t wait to read more of your work!
Double Take (Hoseok x OC)
Summary: Years after telling the neighbourhood brat to get a life, Hoseok does a double take when he realises she’s no longer the skinny kid who worshipped him once upon a time.
Pairing: Hoseok x OC
Genre: Angst, unrequited love
Word count: 11.7 K
Rating: 18+
Warnings: Parental death, heartbreak, allusions to sex, mentions of alcohol
A/N: It's finally here! I've been waiting so long to finally put this on paper and to get Hobi's storyline up and running. Hope you enjoy one of my favourite OCs and her story. Since this is more of a prologue than anything else, it can be read standalone.
Tagging: @bbl32, @quarter-life-crisis2, @meirkive, @dreaming-with-happiness, @kflixnet (drop a message if you want to be added)
Listen to: “you can't hurry love” by phil collins
hoseok masterlist | main masterlist
When Chaeyoung was a girl, the best person she knew was her older brother. Chanyeol was everything; he was smart, he was kind, he was fun and popular, he was one of the best tennis players in the school and didn’t so much as have a spat with anybody his entire life. He was perfect; in fact, if there was one weakness he had, it was his little sister.
Chaeyoung worshipped him. He was her protector, her best friend, her role model. Every time her parents told her to be more like Chanyeol, it annoyed her only to an extent because why wouldn’t all parents want their kids to be like Chanyeol? He was perfect. From birth to present day, Kang Chanyeol was perfect.
The shift was subtle but crept up on her quickly. Sometime around the time when Chaeyoung was in her last years of elementary school, her mind began to expand. She observed more, listened more, and even started to question herself, but it wasn’t until the middle school sports day that year that it hit her: if there was one person in the world who was cooler than her older brother, it was his best friend, Hoseok.
She would never forget that day. She’d been dragged along by her father and the Jungs to watch the middle-schoolers partake in various sports. She hadn’t been in a good mood; Chanyeol hadn’t been forced to come to her sports day because he had school, and enforcing the reverse had felt grossly unfair. Still, she’d huffed and silently watched the taller kids run around, begrudgingly cheered for her brother when he’d won his tennis trophy, and even taken pictures of various combinations of their family and friends.
By the afternoon, Chaeyoung was becoming tired and cranky. At six years old, she felt ridiculous sitting among adults all day while the other kids hung around with their friends. The day couldn’t end fast enough and when it was finally only the two hundred metre race that was left, she’d breathed a sigh of relief. All her irritation went out the window once the race began, however, and she’d found herself unexpectedly engaged in how close it was. When it ended with Jung Hoseok running through the ribbon, sweaty and victorious, it was like she was seeing a whole different person.
Chaeyoung had known Hoseok for what felt like her entire life. His family had moved to their street when she’d been five, a little over a year after her mother had died. There was the older sister; she looked like an angel the first time Chaeyoung saw her, descending the porch staircase to jog down to catch the school bus. There were the parents who were welcomed to the neighbourhood by her own father who was gardening while a loading truck was parked by their house.
“Chaeyoung! Come and say hello!”
She’d been startled, for she’d been waiting for her own school bus when her father called, but she’d walked over with the confidence of a five year old anyway - when she’d noticed him. A young boy, no older than her brother, was standing silently by his mother’s leg, but with a bright smile on his face. He was scrawny, and slighter than Chanyeol, but seemed taller. Chaeyoung was still staring at him when her brother joined them and when both boys ran into the back of the loading truck at Hoseok’s father’s request, Chaeyoung followed without a second thought.
“Is this yours?” Chanyeol had been asking Hoseok, a gameboy in his hand. Hoseok nodded, the same smile appearing on his face again.
“I got it for my birthday this year,” he’d volunteered almost apologetically, as though needing to provide an explanation for why he had it.
“Cool,” said Chanyeol, sounding impressed. “I just got one, too. For doing well on my exams.” He’d turned the video game in his hands. “Is this the X400? It’s supposed to have Level 12 of the Alien Invasion version…”
Chaeyoung had been watching Hoseok, how his eyes shone as he talked about his video game, how easily her brother had made a new friend. Most importantly, she’d recalled the moment Chanyeol had received the aforementioned gameboy - and how she’d received nothing, because her report card hadn’t been as good as his. She’d gone to bed angry and in tears that night, until her brother had sneaked into her room with his brand new present after everyone had gone to sleep and let her play with it until she’d had her fill.
But this was not the time to dwell on that. There was not a chance in hell that she would be left out of the group because of a gameboy, or lack thereof, and she’d needed to cement the first impression before that happened. So, without thinking about it, Chaeyoung had skipped forward and snatched the gameboy right out of her brother’s hands.
“I’m really good at Alien Invasion, too,” she’d begun to say, interrupting the conversation and starting Chanyeol. Hoseok had broken off mid-word and was staring at her, which made her lose focus for a moment, and somewhere in the commotion, the gameboy fell to the ground and broke in two.
“No!” Hoseok’s face had dropped and he’d rushed to her feet to pick it up, frantically picking up both pieces and turning them around in his hands. “What - what did you do?”
“I’m - I’m sorry,” she’d murmured, suddenly feeling very small and short between the boys as her brother stepped closer to Hoseok, calmly taking the smaller piece and looking for where to fix it. Chaeyoung had stood there, motionless, while Chanyeol calmly figured out how to slide the loose piece back on the game.
“There,” he said after a moment, shaking it gently to see if it was fixed. “I think it’s okay.”
Hoseok’s face had been white as a sheet as he confirmed it, pressing one of the buttons and swallowing thickly as she screen lit up. “Yeah,” he said finally. He’d looked up at Chanyeol, eyes wide and grateful. “Thanks, man.”
“No problem.” Her brother had then looked down at her and tilted his head. “Chae, you want to say sorry?”
She already had, but at that moment, Chaeyoung had obeyed him. “Oh - um, sorry.”
Hoseok had glared at her suspiciously. “It’s really expensive,” he’d blurted, his voice a little wobbly.
“I - I know. It was an accident.”
He’d looked like he wanted to say more, but her father’s voice had floated over to them then, informing them that their school bus had arrived. Both boys, as though they’d been doing it every day of their lives, walked out together like the cool, older nine year olds they were and Chaeyoung was left to trail behind them, boarding the bus just as the door closed behind her.
She’d been peering at the different seats, knowing that no matter what, she and Chanyeol would sit together. He always let her sit with him, even if his friends were there. “Oppa, where do you want to -” But she trailed off when she looked up, her chest feeling funny as she watched her brother introduce the new boy to his group of friends at the back of the bus. As the group mumbled their names and started chattering about mundane things, Hoseok took the seat next to Chanyeol.
It had taken a few seconds for Chaeyoung to realise that she’d have to find a seat of her own, for the first time in her life. Her eyes fell to the gameboy in Hoseok’s hands; he was still fiddling with it as he listened to the others talk to each other. His gaze had met Chaeyoung’s then, and his wide, friendly eyes immediately narrowed, letting her know he wasn’t about to forget what she’d almost done anytime soon. With a jerk, the bus began to move.
It didn’t take long for Hoseok to become an inevitable part of her life; he and her brother quickly became inseparable, and Chanyeol clearly thought highly of him. He fit in seamlessly at school, he was fun and loud and cheerful, and no one she’d met so far had a single bad thing to say about him.
The only person Hoseok seemed to get annoyed by, apart from his own sister sometimes, was his best friend’s sister. Chaeyoung had noticed how he rolled his eyes every time she tried to hang out with them, how she wanted to be included while they were playing video games or when they wanted to ride their bikes to school. At school, Chaeyoung watched her brother and Hoseok grow further and further away from her, both of them in different buildings of the school, in separate cafeterias and with completely separate groups of friends.
But it was a point of pride for her that despite Chanyeol’s growing popularity, she was still his sister. His friends knew it, her friends knew it - and the only person she allowed to be as close to him was Hoseok, only because he was Hoseok.
At the sports meet, almost a year after the Jungs moved in next door, she felt like she knew what that meant. When she’d seen the waves of cheering for Hoseok when he won the final race, when she watched how his friends gathered around him, how her brother was the first one to hug him, it occurred to her how badly she wanted to be one of them. So, naturally, since no one stopped her, Chaeyoung ran down to the field with the other kids, ready to congratulate him.
She fought her way through, feeling just as proud of him as everyone else seemed to be. She’d known him for as long as she could remember, after all - he was family. With his damp hair, white jersey and infectious smile, it was like she was seeing the sun. He hadn’t seen her yet, though, but once she made it to the front of the crowd, he finally did.
Chaeyoung didn’t think she’d ever forget the moment their eyes met. How, for a split second, the euphoria seemed directed at her and she felt stirrings in her heart she’d never felt before. Her legs moved automatically and she rushed to hug him, noticing only just before she reached him how his face went slack and his eyes went wide with horror.
He stepped back the same moment she reached him, causing her to trip and fall onto him as they both crashed to the ground. It was sudden and unexpected, but Chaeyoung hugged him anyway.
“You were amazing!” she started to squeal, only to be roughly pushed away. She fell on her backside with a soft “oof!”, completely confused for a second until she looked up to see Hoseok scrambling to his feet. His expression was one of immense irritation, a direct contrast to what it was a minute prior, as he dusted his hands on his shorts.
“What are you doing, you weirdo?” he snapped, and it was only then that she realised the noise around her hadn’t died down - they just weren’t cheering anymore. They were laughing.
Chaeyoung sat there on the ground, motionless, too stunned to even cry. It wasn’t at all the reaction she was expecting, until she noticed how Hoseok, his face red, was backing away from the crowd as though trying to make himself invisible. It occurred to her only then what was happening; Jung Hoseok, the coolest boy she knew, was shy.
It made her stomach flutter, that she’d made him shy. Even though Hoseok only glared at her after that and wouldn’t even look at her when their families went out to dinner that night, Chaeyoung knew. She knew she’d seen something on Hoseok’s face she’d never seen before, and she was the only one who’d made him look that way. At six years old, Chaeyoung knew she was in love with Jung Hoseok.
—
Chaeyoung couldn’t remember her mother very well. She hadn’t been barely five when the aneurysm had suddenly been detected. There were some quick hospital visits, the walls white and the sheets crisp, before one evening, her father had come to both her and Chanyeol at the house of the neighbour who’d been babysitting them to tell them that their mother had died.
At the time, Chaeyoung hadn’t quite been able to comprehend it. All she knew was that her father was crying - her father - and Chanyeol was trying his absolute hardest not to. She’d sneaked over to her brother’s room that night to comfort him - after all, he did every time she cried - but when she’d reached the doorway and heard his muffled sobs, she’d broken down as well. It was that, even more than her mother’s sudden death, that had made her succumb to tears that night: the fact that for the first time in her memory, her brother - her tall, perfect nine year old brother - was crying.
As the years went by and Chaeyoung began growing up, she’d realised that losing her mother meant more than just the fact that she would have to dress herself for school. There were conversations with friends, playdates at others’ houses, even casual words between Jiwoo and her mother every time the Jungs came over for dinner, that would give Chaeyoung pause and make her wonder what exactly it was that was lacking in her life without a mother.
Of course, given that she hadn’t really known much about her mother, and remembered even less, there was only so much she could speculate about. Then, about four years after her mother’s death, their father had told them about Seoyoon. He’d been very nervous, she’d been able to tell, but everything he’d said after that made no sense to her at all. Next to her, Chanyeol hadn’t reacted much at all until the end, when he’d simply shrugged when their father asked them if they were okay.
“But what about mom?” Chaeyoung had blurted out, not even realising that from the moment the new lady’s name had left her father’s mouth, these had been the only words in her mind, going round and round on a loop.
Her father had tilted his head and looked at her sadly. “Mom…” He’d trailed off for a moment. “Mom will always be your mom. Nobody else will ever be able to take her place. Even in my life,” he’d continued, and he’d reached out and held Chanyeol’s hand, “no one will ever be able to replace her. But Seoyoon is…” He’d blinked rapidly for a few seconds. “At a certain age, sweetheart… it gets too hard to be alone.”
At the time, Chaeyoung had taken this to mean that this new woman, this Seoyoon, was something of a playmate, someone for her father to chat with on the phone and watch movies with once in a while. It still wasn’t the best feeling but she didn’t know how to put it into words, the feeling of seeing something slip through her fingers and being powerless to catch it. She’d looked up at Chanyeol, who was staring at the ground and finally nodded. A moment later, Chaeyoung nodded, too, for if her brother was okay with it, so was she.
When she went up to her room, she suddenly felt terribly lonely. It was too dark and she felt that if she were to cry as loudly as she could, no one would hear her, and no one would care. She thought of her mother, a face she only knew from pictures, a voice she scarcely remembered, and whose touch she could only imagine. She pictured her mother right beside her, understanding everything she was feeling and murmuring quietly, as quiet as the wind, that everything would be alright.
Call me if you need me.
It was one of the only things Chaeyoung had any memory of her mother saying, a vivid picture of her scribbling her cell phone number next to her husband’s on a piece of white card and tucking it safely inside Chaeyoung’s pocket. It was what she said now, sweetly, silently.
I will, Ma.
It was the first night she dreamed Ma into existence.
Ma stayed after that. She felt like a mother whenever Chaeyoung thought about her, but better than all her friends’ mothers. She never told Chaeyoung to finish her vegetables, she always realised it was unfair when her father would compare her marks to Chanyeol’s, and she always, always took Chaeyoung’s side. When Chaeyoung was annoyed or angry, Ma would be there. Sometimes, even when she was happy, like when she made it onto the football team, Ma was there - not with the other parents in the stands, but right there next to Chaeyoung on the field.
She didn’t know whether to tell Chanyeol. On the one hand, she trusted him more than anybody else in the world - and wasn’t she his Ma, too? But when she tried to broach the topic of their mother once, when he’d been studying and she’d been bursting to tell someone, Chanyeol had been uncharacteristically abrupt with her.
“I don’t want to talk about this, Chae.”
He’d interrupted her when she’d been mid-sentence, and she’d fallen silent. He seemed to realise this, for a moment later he looked up at her and sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. I just… I really need to study for this test.” When she only nodded and said nothing, he continued. “Also, now that dad has… now that Seoyoon is here, I just don’t think it’s right to talk about mom.”
If Chaeyoung had been older, if she’d realised that her brother, too, was a child who was doing the best he could, she would have seen this statement as evidence that he was coping with the loss of their mother, just like she was. But in her nine year old wisdom, she took this to mean that Seoyoon was the reason no one could talk about her mother anymore.
Seoyoon was invited for dinner later that week, and again the week after that. After that it became more and more frequent, to the point that she was there when Chaeyoung and her brother returned home from school, and Chanyeol at least stopped seeming surprised.
A couple of months later, her father sat them down and told them his plan. He’d looked nervous yet hopeful, until relief washed over his face when Chanyeol gave him a small smile and nodded in assent.
He’s lying! Chaeyoung wanted to scream, but her voice wouldn’t work, not when her father turned to her and his expression changed from relief to anticipation, as though he was expecting a fight. Chaeyoung didn’t disappoint, and even though she knew he’d do what he wanted anyway, she bit the inside of her cheek and exhaled sharply.
“You promised you wouldn’t forget about mom,” was all she said and at nineyears old, it seemed like the crux of the issue. No matter how much her father tried to convince her he hadn’t, Chaeyoung knew that she, at least, would do everything possible to keep her mother with her.
Later that week her father finally pulled the plug and proposed to Seoyoon. The following weekend, he threw an announcement dinner with the Jungs from next door, where Chaeyoung watched this woman throughout. Her stepmother; this new woman who was sitting in her mother’s kitchen, laughing with her father and giving presents to her and her brother like she’d known them forever.
Chaeyoung was too startled to do anything but quietly accept it and echo a thank you along with her brother. No one will ever be able to replace your mom, her father had promised. Chaeyoung didn’t know what that meant anymore; all she knew was that there were eight people in the room, four in each family, and that her mother was not one of them.
Sometime during dessert, when there was music playing and the adults were chatting with drinks in their hands, Chaeyoung slipped out of the front door and sat on her porch. Chanyeol was busy with something inside and, anyway, she had no interest in hanging around with him right now. It was rare but it happened, and right now she simply wanted away from all the music and energy.
It was a reasonably chilly night, and she involuntarily shivered when she sat down on the porch. It was quiet as she waited for Ma, and she closed her eyes in wait. A sudden rustling made her eyes snap open, followed by a groan.
“Chaeyoung?”
Her heart instantly zoomed, which seemed to be the default reaction for her body every time Hoseok entered her mind space. She looked up to see him come into view, standing at the edge of the front yard.
“Yeah,” she said immediately, hearing the forced upward lilt in her own voice.
He sighed loudly. “Seriously? Are you following me again?”
Chaeyoung felt herself deflate. This, too, seemed to be a default reaction every time she entered his mind space.
“No,” she mumbled. “What are you doing out here?” she asked after a moment.
“I lost my keychain this morning. I think I dropped it here.” He sighed, glancing at her begrudgingly. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen it? It’s a Manchester United one.”
Chaeyoung bit her lip. She knew which keychain he was talking about, for not only had she seen it, she had it. She’d seen it fall out of the side pocket of Hoseok’s backpack this morning when all three of them walked to the school bus. As usual, she’d been walking behind both boys, trying to keep up with their conversation as they chattered about something hilarious that had happened during their class field trip yesterday.
Every time she’d tried to interject, they either continued their conversation like they hadn’t heard her, or they would tell her to stop interrupting. When Hoseok finally snapped at her (“Can you please shut up for a second?”), she’d sulked but obliged, feeling rather annoyed again. The final nail in the coffin had been just before they’d been about to board, and a girl in the window - a beautiful, popular thirteen year old girl with pretty curls and blue ribbon - smiled out the window. Chaeyoung had followed her gaze and swallowed as she realised she was smiling at Hoseok - and he was smiling back.
Chaeyoung had felt her heart drop and her teeth grit. As she followed the boys into the bus, she’d spotted something shiny on the ground. Bending down to pick it up, she’d realised what it was and who it belonged to. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pocketed it, knowing that no matter who he smiled at, Hoseok’s favourite keychain with his favourite football team on it belonged to her.
“Nope. Haven’t seen it.”
Hoseok sighed loudly and dramatically, climbing the porch stairs and about to sit down, before apparently thinking better of it. He remained standing, as though afraid of being too close to her and while that would usually break Chaeyoung’s heart enough for her to cry herself to sleep, tonight she simply felt a dull throb and a whole lot of impatience for his snark.
“Why aren’t you inside?” he asked.
“I want to be outside,” she answered defiantly.
“Okayyy.”
“Chan’s talking to Cruella in there,” she muttered after a moment. The image of her brother, smiling and graciously welcoming Seoyoon into the family, made her sick. If she’d spent another moment in there, she swore she would’ve thrown up.
Hoseok scoffed. “Chan? Didn’t you get in trouble for calling him by his name?”
She flushed. “Not trouble. Just… it doesn’t matter, okay?”
“Fine. Whatever.” There was a pause. “Did you just call her Cruella?” When Chaeyoung didn’t answer, he shrugged. “Chanyeol says she’s nice.”
“Well, bully for Chanyeol.”
“God, must you whine?”
“I hate this sweater,” she said, tugging at the brand new gift her father had made her put on. “And I have to wear it because she gave it to me.”
“So? I hate these pants but my mom made me wear them.” He shrugged. “That’s life.”
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. This was Hoseok’s new thing lately: that’s life. She didn’t know where he’d learnt it, but his eventual response to everything was “that’s life”, which irritated her beyond belief. He especially said it to her all the time, as though she was a child that needed reminding about the facts of the world, and it made her blood boil.
“She’s not my mom.”
“All moms are the same. Your mom would’ve told you to wear it, too.”
“You didn’t even know her,” she snapped.
There was a few seconds of silence as Hoseok presumably processed this, including her unusual tone. “You’re right,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically sober. “Sorry.”
Chaeyoung grit her teeth and hoped she wouldn’t cry in front of him. She would look weak and any hopes of getting him to notice her would go straight out the window. Also, Ma wasn’t here yet and she would only cry to Ma.
“Chanyeol didn’t like her at first either.”
She didn’t know if she’d heard him correctly. “What?”
“Your… Seoyoon. Cruella,” he added, an awkward sort of smile appearing for a second. “Chan didn’t like her when she first got here.”
This was news to hear. “Really? He - he told you?”
“Yeah. Said she talked weird.”
It wasn’t on the list of things that annoyed Chaeyoung, but she took it. It didn’t escape her notice that Chanyeol had failed to mention this to her while confiding in Hoseok about it, but for now, it made her feel just slightly less alone. She turned around to look in through the window again.
“He seems to like her now,” she mumbled.
“Maybe you will, too. Or he’s faking it.”
Chaeyoung snorted. It felt good to laugh for a moment, even if the situation sucked. “I hope he’s faking it.”
“Really? Why?”
She frowned. “Because… I don’t…” She didn’t know how to put it into words that she didn’t want to be the only one missing her mother. “I don’t want to be the only one who doesn’t like her.”
“Then maybe you should try to like her.”
Chaeyoung bristled. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. “I don’t want to like her.”
“But why? I mean, aren’t you glad your dad is happy?”
The way he said it, it sounded like the most obvious thing in the world. But when Chaeyoung turned around to look inside again, for the first time all night, her gaze shifted from her brother to her father. There was something heartbreaking about how happy he looked, but Chaeyoung didn’t know just how to express that while it was a nice sight, it only made her miss her mother even more.
She said nothing, though, resolving only to keep Ma her secret forever. Her dad and brother didn’t need nor want Ma, and Chaeyoung was fine not sharing.
Next to her, Hoseok sighed. “It’s cold. I’m going inside.”
All thoughts of her soon to be stepmother vanished. “Wait!” When he halted and turned around, eyebrows raised, her heart thumped against her ribcage. “Why - why are you being nice to me?”
Even in the darkness, she could see the hint of a blush on his face. But his next words wiped away any scenarios her imagination may have created. “You’re Chan’s sister,” he said, shrugging, his hands in his pockets. “I have to be nice to you.”
—
The day Hoseok left for Seoul, Chaeyoung thought she would die.
Everyone was thrilled for him, it looked like. He was going to follow his dreams, they said. His parents seemed nervous but proud, his sister called from Australia, telling him to take care of himself. Even Chanyeol, who she’d thought would be distraught since he’d be losing his best friend, was irritatingly supportive.
“He’s going to be an idol,” he said, like it was the most obvious thing. They were at the dining table in their house, a week before Hoseok was meant to leave. “He’s meant for it. Haven’t you seen him dance?”
Chaeyoung stared at him, incredulous. Seen him? She lived and breathed him - of course she knew how he could dance, that he was meant to be an idol and whatnot.
“That - that’s not my point,” she stuttered, her chopsticks feeling like water between her fingers. “How is he - his life is here. His school, his friends, his… everyone.”
Chanyeol, now sixteen, squinted at her. “He’ll make new friends. He’s good at that.”
“Yes, but he’s your best friend. Won’t you - won’t you miss him?”
He chewed his food thoughtfully. “I mean… sure. I guess. We’ll text and stuff.” He shrugged.
Chaeyoung blinked. “Text,” she repeated.
“Yeah. What’s the big deal? You’re acting like he’s dying.”
“Chaeyoung,” said Seoyoon, her voice soft and melodic, “it’s okay to miss him, too. He’s like family.”
She met her stepmother’s eyes. “Yeah. Not really what I was getting at.”
Next to her, Chanyeol rolled his eyes, while her father said her name sternly. Seoyoon simply placed a hand on his arm and muttered “it’s okay”, while Chaeyoung was left to silently resent how, out of everyone at the table, including Ma, Seoyoon was the one who had the nerve to say it out loud.
It felt like the worst thing that could happen, and it felt directly targeted at her. His parents would always be his parents, his sister had already left for Australia a year ago, and Chanyeol was his best friend in the world. Chaeyoung was none of these things, however, and it felt like if he left now, he’d be gone from her life forever.
The first night, she cried for hours. It was as though she could feel his absence next door. She fell asleep gazing at a picture of she, Chanyeol and Hoseok on her nightstand, taken during a family trip to Jeju Island. The next day at school, she walked around like a war widow, with puffy eyes and her books clutched to her chest. At lunch, she sat surrounded by her friends, feeling like they would never understand, never know true heartbreak and true pain.
A week later, things were easier. Chaeyoung made the middle school football team, just like her brother had, and after-school practice meant less time to miss the love of her life. Then exams happened, and birthday parties, and before she knew it, it was next year.
Hoseok was forgotten by no one; the Jungs came over for dinner just as often as they did before, but only two kids out of four meant that the dinner was more for the adults to stay in touch than anything else. Chanyeol got busy with applying to colleges, while Chaeyoung, for the first time, had her life laid bare in front of her. With no Chanyeol and Hoseok to follow around, her own friends, her own studies and her own life were suddenly at the forefront.
Hoseok was still on her mind, though. She looked at the picture on her bedside table every night, kept his Manchester United keychain in her backpack, and told all her friends about the day she would date an idol. “He’ll become an idol and then he’ll come back,” she said, for it seemed incredibly obvious. Her friends, no strangers to her lifelong crush, were part supportive and part envious, which only thrilled thirteen year old Chaeyoung even more.
Chanyeol was right about one thing, though. He and Hoseok texted - and only texted. She hadn’t a clue if and when they actually spoke, and she spent hours daydreaming about the day he’d call her, because as much as he pretended like he couldn’t stand her, one day he would surely wake up and realise how much he missed her. They were family, after all.
He finally did call one day - or rather, he was called. It was his seventeenth birthday, and they were at the Jungs’ house for lunch when Hoseok’s father decided to call his son, putting it on video as everyone said hello and wished him. The first thing that Chaeyoung noticed was how narrow his face was; it was unexpected, but he still looked as handsome as ever and she only hoped that he’d notice her new haircut, too.
It was chaotic; Hoseok was speaking hurriedly, saying he didn’t have much time. The phone was passed down from adult to adult, everyone wishing him and making typical grown-up comments about what a big man he was, living by himself in Seoul. The phone was then swiftly passed to Chanyeol, who simply stood up and began walking away into another room, going “Dude, you won’t believe what happened at Eunwoo’s party last week…”
Chaeyoung knew she had to wait before it was her turn - but it was just so hard. She was almost giddy with happiness; she’d missed him so much. There was so much she had to tell him and so much she wanted to know, including when he was planning to come back. But when five minutes passed and Chanyeol didn’t return, and the adults had moved to some boring topic of conversation, Chaeyoung decided to take matters into her own hands.
Hopping off her chair, she retraced her brother’s steps and found him in the pantry of the house, sitting atop a stool and laughing into the phone as he held it up in front of him. He caught her eyes above the phone and she tried to signal to him to give her the phone.
“- and it was… what?” He frowned before apparently catching on. “Oh, uh… do you, uh, want to talk to Chae? She -”
But Hoseok’s voice interrupted him, shrill through the speaker. “Oh, God, no.”
Chanyeol’s eyes flickered to his sister. “Hey, man -”
“Dude, no, not today. I’ve had a bad enough day so far,” he said, sounding more weary than ever. “Don’t make me talk to your sister right now. Let that be my birthday gift,” he quipped, clearly oblivious to how Chaeyoung stood behind the phone, frozen to the ground.
“Oh, um…” Chanyeol sighed, tilting his head sympathetically at his sister as Hoseok said a hurried goodbye. “Yeah, yeah… have a good day.” There was a beep and the call ended. Chanyeol took a few moments before meeting Chaeyoung’s eyes again.
“I don’t - I don’t understand,” she said, feeling like her voice wasn’t even hers, like it was coming from somewhere else. “Why - why doesn’t he want to talk to me?”
Chanyeol opened his mouth but seemed to think better of it, standing up and moving to walk past her. “Just ignore it. Come on, let’s go back -”
“No, wait.” She stopped him. “Tell me. I - I thought… I thought he missed home. You said he missed being home,” she repeated, hearing her voice tremble. “Why didn’t he want to talk to me?” And why did it look like you understood?
“Chae, just - just let it go, alright?”
“No! I’m his family! Why doesn’t he want to -”
“Because you’re telling everyone that you’re his family!” Chanyeol blurted, looking fed up. “Jesus, Chae! Everyone knows you have a crush on him, but you don’t have to make it so damn public!”
Her face reddened. “I don’t have a crush on -”
“Oh, please. It was okay when you were younger but then you started following him around school and stuff… come on, can you blame him for being embarrassed?”
Chaeyoung shook her head. Nothing he was saying was making sense. “What are you talking about? He wasn’t embarrassed, he was - he was shy. He didn’t -”
“Seriously?” This time, even Chanyeol looked incredulous. “Chae, you told your friends that you were going to marry him when his crew won that inter-school competition in ninth grade. One of them told her older sister and suddenly everyone knew. You really thought that would make him shy?”
It took everything Chaeyoung had in her to not cry. “But - but he never said anything. He - he always…” But that wasn’t true. He said a lot of things. He was perpetually annoyed with her, and every time that she ever wondered why he was so sweet and sunny with everyone but her… it seemed she finally had an answer. “Why didn’t he ever tell me to stop?” she asked in a small voice.
“Because you’re my sister,” he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “What was he going to say?”
You’re Chan’s sister. I have to be nice to you. At the time, it was proof to her of how close their families were, of how they were family. But now she realised it was none of those things, just Hoseok admitting what he and everyone else apparently knew: were it not for his best friend, Jung Hoseok would have absolutely nothing to do with Kang Chaeyoung.
She found it hard to meet her brother’s gaze. There was a stinging on her lower lip where she tasted blood, and then a stinging in her eyes. It was a time in her life when she and Chanyeol weren’t as close as they once were, and she was faced with a sudden and irrational fear that if she cried right now, he would tell Hoseok about it.
Chanyeol took a step towards her. “Chae -”
She started to shake her head when they were interrupted, and she turned to see Hoseok’s father approaching the pantry.
“There you two are,” he said cheerfully, sounding far too much like his son for Chaeyoung to handle. “I need my phone. Oh, Chanyeol, help me bring down the barbecue for tonight, come on…” He brushed past her and patted Chanyeol on the back, who nodded respectfully and made way for him. “Oh, Chaeyoung, your mother was asking where you were - there’s strawberry cream for dessert and she says it’s your favourite…”
Chaeyoung nodded in a daze, turning away from Chanyeol and walking out of the room. The dining area felt miles away and every step made her feel like she was on a treadmill. Finally, after what seemed like ages, she reached the dining table and took her seat. She ignored Seoyoon when she offered her dessert, her eyes on her empty plate the whole time. Even when Chanyeol returned and tried to get her to look at him, muttering “Chae? Are you okay?”, she simply nodded once but didn’t dare look at him.
That night, the first thing Chaeyoung did when she went to her room was take out the picture from the frame on her bedside table and slip it into one of her books. She hunted through every photo album she had and finally chose a picture of her with the rest of her football team, a group of thirteen year old girls holding up small gold trophies and grinning into the camera.
It felt like a step in the right direction, for if she needed to stop embarrassing Hoseok, it needed to begin right here in her bedroom. As she stared at the picture, trying to talk herself into liking it, into realising that these girls, her friends, were more important than a guy who wouldn’t even let her wish him a happy birthday, she felt the first sob wrack through her body.
She imagined what Ma would say. Ma didn’t appear to her like she did before; it was just her voice now, saying things that Chaeyoung wanted to hear. Right now, she imagined Ma would tell her that Hoseok hated her, that there was no point loving someone who hated her. He’s only nice to you because of Chanyeol, she said, her voice soothing and familiar. So why are you nice to him?
“Because he’s perfect,” she cried softly, feeling like her heart would break. She’d never felt this horrible, she knew. Even Chanyeol couldn’t make this better; in fact, he’d only made it worse. How long had he known? How could he have gone all this time, knowing what he did, and continue letting her make a fool of herself? Did he laugh about her with Hoseok? Did she embarrass him, too?
She thought of her father, how he’d sigh at her every time she got into trouble at school. How he and Chanyeol would both give her a look when she didn’t fake it with the stepmother. Hoseok’s face as he rolled his eyes floated through her mind. It was a kick in the gut as she thought it: How many people was she disappointing at once?
—
Bangtan Sonyeondan was a cool name. It was a fact, and even though Chaeyoung was very careful to not let it show on her face, their debut single was really cool.
Chanyeol’s class had long graduated by now. Chaeyoung, at fifteen, was at the peak of her school career so far. While she’d been initially wary of Chanyeol graduating, leaving her completely alone for the first time, it turned out to be just what she’d needed to step out of his shadow once and for all. No one had forgotten him, but they remembered just enough to know she was.
Everyone in the school knew when Hoseok debuted. It was a huge point of pride for the school that one of their former students was now an idol and for a good few weeks, every single person in the school was humming No More Dream. It was catchy as hell, and Hoseok was amazing in it - not that Chaeyoung was noticing.
Ever since the phone call that was not meant to be, Chaeyoung had attempted to distance herself from everything Jung Hoseok. It was the hardest thing in the world at first, but eventually real life took precedence over daydreams, studies took importance over doodling his name, and her real friends ended up being more fun to hang out with than a fictionalised version of him in her mind.
Once she’d managed to let him go, she’d been pleasantly surprised to find how much of a life she was able to have outside of him. It turned out that, for the most part, people seemed to like her. In one of her birthday cards, the most frequent words used by people was “fun” - she was fun, apparently. She wasn’t sure what exactly that meant, until one day in ninth grade when she’d convinced a few friends to skip a class. They’d gotten away with it, and she’d been hailed as “so fun”.
Life continued, fun and everything. Chanyeol left Gwangju for Seoul when he went to college and, she imagined, got back in touch with Hoseok. She still texted her brother reasonably often, whenever they had the time. Now that they’d reached a certain age and stage of their own lives, their initial relationship had started to become slightly more distant.
It wasn’t something that even occurred to Chaeyoung except for in certain moments, like their mother’s birthday. On those days, she missed Chanyeol more than anything. To his credit, he was mostly there for her when she needed him, but to her credit, she tried not to need him too much.
A few months before her sixteenth birthday, Hoseok returned to Gwangju for three days. It was a huge deal, for he’d apparently had to negotiate a lot for even those days off. Chanyeol was back then, too, and naturally both families wanted to make the best of it.
Despite the fact that Chaeyoung, for all intents and purposes, was over her crush on Hoseok by now, it still evoked a sense of quiet excitement in her stomach. She didn’t seek him out, but she made sure not to leave her room until she was perfectly dressed and her hair was impeccable, ready to breeze past him without a care in the world, determined to show him how much she’d grown without him.
As it turned out, she didn’t see him that morning. She didn’t see him that evening after school, or that night. In fact, she didn’t see him all weekend; Hoseok seemed to have a ton of friends to visit, and he and Chanyeol were gone for practically the entire time.
Chaeyoung wished she’d just catch a glimpse of him - not because she missed him or anything, but because the longer it took to see him, the higher the anticipation got. She’d managed to put their last humiliating not-interaction to the back of her mind eventually, but the longer she waited to see him, the more she ended up reliving it.
On Hoseok’s last night, there was a dinner at the Jungs. Unlike the last time he left for Seoul, when no one knew what his future would hold, this time he was leaving as a successful debuted idol. The dinner, therefore, was more of a farewell party, with a few more of his friends invited, all of whom Chaeyoung remembered from school.
Chaeyoung tried her hardest to stay out of everyone’s way. She didn’t trust herself around Hoseok, particularly because now that he was here, actually in the flesh, she was begrudgingly being reminded of everything that she’d once loved about him.
Don’t go down that rabbit hole, Chae, Ma said, as Chaeyoung hovered near the kitchen, nibbling at her nails. Hoseok had brushed past her once or twice, giving her a perfunctory “hi” which only served to make her feel ridiculous, because it was clear that he wasn’t devoting even a fraction of the mind space to her that she was to him.
Towards the end of the night, given that it was a Sunday, Chaeyoung knew that she would be sent home soon. It was a school night and the older kids were chattering about going out for a while longer, so she knew that if she didn’t speak to Hoseok now, there would be no telling if she’d ever be able to get this out.
Finally, around ten pm, when she saw him go upstairs to his room, she followed him. She tried hard to ensure that no one saw her but when she finally reached his doorway, she realised that none of it mattered because she had no idea what to say.
Chaeyoung cleared her throat. “Hoseok oppa?” she said gingerly.
He whipped around, turning away from the bag he seemed to be packing. She didn’t fail to notice how his face fell when he realised who it was; she tried not to let that get to her.
“Uh… what are you doing here?” he asked, sounding almost wary. His eyes darted around the room as though expecting to get caught by someone.
“I just wanted to say hi,” she managed, her heart racing. He looked… incredible. Nineteen became him. He looked thin but fit, and his hair was cut stylishly so it fell across his forehead. Swallowing, she continued. “And… I wanted to apologise.”
“Uh, okay - look. You’re in my room. Anyone can see you,” he informed her. “So you should probably -“ He gave her a knowing nod and gestured towards the door.
It stung, but she held her ground, stepping inside his room and shutting the door behind her. Leaning back against it, she exhaled. “Is that better?”
Hoseok’s look of pure horror was enough to tell her that it was, in fact, not better, but she’d had enough distractions now.
“Look, I don’t need too much of your time. I just…” She looked at her feet, trying to find the courage to continue. “I wanted to… apologise,” she said finally.
Hoseok frowned. “For what?” he asked suspiciously.
“For… everything? I guess.” She swallowed, forcing herself to continue looking up at him. “It was brought to my attention a while back that I may have… embarrassed you.” She paused as the words settled around them, having said it out loud for the first time ever. “I know I was probably a bit annoying and I didn’t - I wasn’t very… cool.”
Hoseok looked more confused than anything now and she couldn’t blame him, for she didn’t think she was making any sense either. But he hadn’t asked her to leave yet, which was more encouragement than she could hope for.
“Honestly, when I think back to some of the things I did…” She trailed off for a moment, shaking her head. “I cringe a little bit. Okay, that’s a lie. I cringe a lot.”
He nodded slowly, and she didn’t know if she’d imagined the fleeting look of amusement on his face.
“So, anyway. I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”
Huh. Chaeyoung didn’t know what else she was expecting, but his tone made it pretty clear that their heart to heart was over. “Okay, then. I’ll just… go.” She turned to open the door, only to see about four of his friends standing right outside. Chanyeol wasn’t one of them. They were clearly waiting for Hoseok, possibly giving him privacy because of the closed door, but the moment one of them spotted her, his eyes went wide.
“Oh, my -”
“Oh, God,” muttered Hoseok from behind her.
“Dude.” A second guy, Hyungmin, seemed to smile in slow motion, as though he was suddenly uncovering some huge joke. He nudged the first guy and snorted. “The happy couple is back!”
Chaeyoung wrinkled her nose. “What?”
But her voice was drowned out among the hoots, all loud and obnoxious. She turned back to Hoseok, possibly for an explanation, only to see him rolling his eyes before he suddenly glared at her.
“I don’t even know what she’s doing here,” he said stonily, and her heart skipped a confused beat.
“What? I -”
“Hey, Chan, get up here!” One of the other guys interrupted her, leaning over the railing and shouting into the house. “You’ll never guess who was in Hobi’s room - with the door closed!”
“Dude, he’s gonna kill him,” snickered Hyungmin, giving Hoseok a mock-sympathetic look.
“Alright, isn’t this joke, like, a million years old?” he asked, sounding thoroughly unimpressed.
“It was, but now she’s getting hot and all,” said the third guy, whom Chaeyoung only remembered as the one who was invited because he had a car. He gave her a side glance and raised an eyebrow. “Now it means all kinds of -
“Dude, what the fuck?” Hoseok groaned, while Hyungmin slapped his shoulder with the back of his hand and hissed, “She’s a kid.”
“Well, she doesn’t look like -”
“Chan is going to kill you if you don’t -”
“Hey, what’s going on up there?” Chanyeol’s voice floated up, interrupting everyone. “Are we leaving or what?”
There was a momentary pause when it seemed as though no one knew how to respond. Then Hoseok rolled his eyes and strode out of the room. “Come on, let’s go,” he muttered, and fortunately, his friends followed his lead. As he passed Chaeyoung, he glared at her.
“How do you manage to ruin everything?” he hissed. “I told you to get out of my room.”
“I - I know.” Chaeyoung heard her voice tremble. “I didn’t think they would -”
“Really? Because it’s so different from what they’ve been doing the last ten years?” He gave her another exasperated look, like she wasn’t worth his time. “Why can’t you just disappear?” he muttered, knocking into her shoulder as he left the room.
Chaeyoung stayed there for a minute, humiliated, her feet rooted to the floor. She didn’t know whether it was his friend’s comments about her, the way they were talking about her like she wasn’t right there in front of them, or whether, after all these years, Hoseok had finally told her the truth.
Why can’t you just disappear?
She glanced into his room again, her eyes running over the taped posters on the wall, the folded bed sheets, a set of clothes draped neatly over the chair. She’d come here in hopes of maybe moving past everything that had caused him to avoid her all these years. Now, she wished she hadn’t said anything at all.
Chaeyoung rushed home after that, not wanting to wait for Seoyoon to croon over at her to do so. She didn’t think anyone even noticed; she ran out the front door, glad for the empty hallway from where she could hear everyone else in the dining room. The night was dark and chilly, and she hopped over the short fence to her front yard, slamming her door behind her before hurrying upstairs.
She wouldn’t cry this time, she vowed, even as she wiped angry tears forming of their own accord. She was sick of it, sick of everything. She was sick of those stupid friends Chanyeol still hung out with, she was sick of how Hoseok instantly became a different person when it came to her, she was sick of her stepmother, her family - but most of all, she completely sick of how, even after all these years, the things Hoseok said still had the ability to hurt her.
She hadn’t grown up at all, clearly. Nothing had changed. She would forever hold a candle for her brother’s best friend, even if, until two days ago, she’d been somewhat preoccupied by the fact that Nam Sehun from the other section had a rumoured crush on her.
She looked up from where she was sitting at the corner of her bed when she heard a faint sound of laughter and a shout. Dragging her feet to the window, she saw a car pull out from the Jungs’ driveway, music emanating from it until it screeched to a sudden stop.
“Hurry up, man!” One of the guys shouted as another leapt out of the car, scurrying back to the house. The party must be over. Before she knew it, everyone else would be back home.
Chaeyoung rolled her eyes and stepped away from the window, too tired to care. As she stripped and retrieved an old t-shirt and pajamas from the closet, she found herself feeling more and more stupid by the second. She’d made more of an effort than she’d realised apparently; even the bra she was wearing was something she’d purposely picked out, possibly in an effort to show Hoseok that she’d grown up - except it hadn’t worked, and the only person who seemed to notice it was Chanyeol’s creepy friend.
Pulling on her clothes, she trudged to the bed, ready to nurse another broken heart and fall asleep forever, when she heard a knock.
“Fuck,” she whispered, not in the mood to face her stepmother and her fake concern right now. The knock sounded again and she swore under her breath. “No one’s home,” she called, hoping she’d take the hint.
“Yeah, I don’t think that’s true,” said the voice outside, and Chaeyoung felt a jolt in her stomach. She walked over and opened the door gingerly to see Hoseok, quite possibly the last person she’d ever expected to see outside her room. It suddenly occurred to her how much taller he was; it vaguely intimidated her, until he bit his lip and sighed, looking at the floor.
Chaeyoung was about to ask what he was doing here, but something in his posture made her want to wait him out. So she continued standing there, one hand on her hip and the other on her door.
Hoseok’s eyes flickered up to her and he opened his mouth before he seemingly noticed something behind her. “A colour-changing lava lamp?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Is that a high school girl thing?”
She stared. “You’re wearing a snapback at night. Is that a Seoul thing?”
He paused before sighing and taking it off. “I knew it looked stupid,” he muttered, ruffling his messy black hair.
“No, it doesn’t,” she said automatically, wincing slightly at how desperate she sounded. It was too hard to think straight around him. “I - what are you doing here?” she asked, slightly nervous. “Aren’t you afraid your friends will see you in my room?”
“Uh, no. They’re downstairs.”
She nodded. “That’s… good thinking.”
There was an awkward silence where neither of them looked at each other and for the first time in her life, she wished Hoseok would leave her alone.
“Look, um…” Hoseok began slowly, as though every word was taking a great effort. “About before… I know you were just trying to apologise. I shouldn’t have…” He looked up, as though hoping for a prompt. When he received none, he sighed again. “I’m sorry.”
“Okay.” Chaeyoung nodded.
“Right.” After a moment, he spoke again. “Also… Joonho’s an ass.”
She bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest, a little protectively. “Yeah.”
“Anyway… I just came to say that.” He gestured vaguely behind him. “I should head.”
“Sure.”
He turned around halfway before pausing again, squinting slightly at her. “You do understand why I got mad, right? I mean, this wasn’t just about tonight. But it’s like every time that you’re around -”
“Yeah, I understand,” she said quickly, gritting her teeth. The more she looked at him, the less it looked like he cared at all. He didn’t care. He had no idea how much she’d loved him when she was younger, he had no idea how much she regretted her behaviour now, and he had no idea how humiliating it was to stand here and realise that she had no idea who he was at all.
Hoseok looked a little taken aback at her interruption. “Oh? Okay. Uh, good, then.”
“M-hm.”
“I’m gonna go.”
“You do that.”
This time when he turned to leave, Chaeyoung stopped him. “Oppa, wait.” She went to her desk and rifled through a drawer, feeling the cool metal against her fingers before bringing out the object. “I think this is yours,” she said, handing it to him.
He extended his hand automatically, frowning as she dropped it into his palm. “Is this -” He squinted at it. “Oh, my God. This is my keychain.”
“Yeah.” She cleared her throat, feeling distinctly lighter all of a sudden.
“I lost it years ago.” He looked up at her. “How - how did you find it?”
“Oh, I - I found it in a box of stuff, in the attic.” She shrugged and folded her arms across her chest again. “You must have dropped it here, I guess.”
“Wow.” He nodded, looking slightly more chipper as he shoved the keychain into his pocket. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” A sudden honk sounded outside and it felt like it was reverberating through her chest. “You should go.”
“Yeah.” He raised a hand halfway, like he was saying goodbye to someone he met in line at a bookstore. “See you around, Chae.”
“See you.” She stepped forward to shut the door, watching him walk out of her room and out of her house. Before she could lose her nerve, she spoke again. “The new single is… really cool.”
He was almost at the foot of the stairs when he stopped and looked up at her. For the first time in her memory, Hoseok smiled at her, a real, genuine smile. It was like the sun had come out, and as he thanked her and continued on his way, it occurred to Chaeyoung that it was quite possibly the only time she’d ever see it.
—
That night was the last time Chaeyoung saw Hoseok for several years. She heard from his parents that he barely had time to eat or sleep, let alone come back to visit his family. He did return for a weekend once, but she’d been away on a school trip with her football team at the time. Apart from that, Hoseok was as far out of her life as was possible.
When she was seventeen, Chaeyoung entered her first relationship. He asked her out by the water cooler after a week of rumours, and their tryst lasted a whole month until she broke up with him in the biology lab, feeling rather smothered by how he insisted on showing up at all her football practices. He didn’t take it well and responded with rumours of his own, following which Chaeyoung’s reputation began preceding her.
Her seventeenth birthday party took place a month before she graduated high school and since she was leaving Gwangju, an unexpected nostalgia caused her to invite every single person she knew. A month later she graduated along with her friends, partied for a week straight until she spent the rest of the summer waiting until she could leave for college in Busan. She did the same a year later for her eighteenth birthday, and since it occurred in the summer, all her friends were back in Gwangju and able to attend.
As it turned out, the only thing remaining that could ensure that Chaeyoung lived her own life with no ties to her brother was leaving Gwangju. In college, she had the opportunity to be who she was. Everyone was figuring it out, and she joined them. She paid attention to the classes she liked, spent nights in the library and in dorms as people quizzed each other, went on weekend trips, had boyfriends, joined college clubs - everything that gave her the satisfaction that she’d made the best out of her college years.
The most stressful time of those years came right at the end, when everyone was applying for jobs. After months of gruelling essays, internships and interviews, Chaeyoung managed to get what she considered her dream job. Her father wasn’t too certain about it; he said it didn’t “sound like a real job” but after her stepmother pitched in during their video call and persuaded him to give it a chance, he gave in.
Chaeyoung didn’t care; it gave her the same vibes as her favourite English movie, The Devil Wears Prada. Condé Nast wasn’t a magazine per se but her job wasn’t exactly that of a secretary either; the role simply said research and while she would’ve liked it to be a bit more specific - maybe columnist - she was willing to pay her dues, especially if it meant getting to live in Seoul, not wearing boring formal clothes to work and possibly working with some truly fancy brands like GQ or Vogue someday.
Moving to Seoul was less romantic than she’d expected; it was a busy, expensive city and no one had time to stop and take a breath, let alone help out a twenty-one year old who’d just moved to the city.
It’s all part of the experience, her inner voice said to her, the one she’d dubbed Ma when she was little. It was less of a coping mechanism and more of a conscience now, and it was what convinced her to move into an apartment in Hongdae with a senior she’d known back in college.
Sungmi was nice and all, but she intimated Chaeyoung a little bit. Her many piercings, her abrupt way of talking and her strange sense of humour always had Chaeyoung on edge. She also had this boyfriend who smelled perpetually of weed and had a cousin he frequently invited over, making it not the ideal living arrangement. Still, even Chaeyoung had to admit that despite the aesthetics, Sungmi had been living in Seoul by herself for nearly a year and was holding onto a good job at a catering company. Most importantly, she was offering her spare room at really low rent, something Chaeyoung was currently giving top priority to.
Plus, the best thing about Sungmi’s apartment was the parties.
“Get, um…” Sungmi moves away from the speaker and asks someone something. “Everything,” she says finally. “Just make sure there’s Absinthe and Bacardi in it and we’ll be good. I’m trusting you, Chaeyoung,” she adds knowingly, abruptly hanging up.
Faced with a plethora of bottles before her in the liquor store, Chaeyoung sighs. She isn’t even fully sure what this party is for, except that vodka and rum are required in large quantities.
“Absinthe makes the heart grow fonder, I guess,” she mutters, holding the plastic basket up as she scans the shelves, feeling a strange sense of responsibility towards her older roommate’s expectations.
Meanwhile, Jung Hoseok is near the fridges, rattling off the different beer brands to Jimin on the phone.
“I feel like wheat beer,” says Jimin thoughtfully, “but think about the calories.” He pauses as someone says something at his end. “And Taehyung wants that fruity soju.” He whines as Taehyung says something else loudly. “Okay, specifically green apple.”
Hoseok stands there, motionless, as Jimin goes through a minor Friday evening crisis. “Got it. Now, Jimin, you have about thirty seconds to make your decision before I leave this place. Beer-less.”
The younger member sighs heavily. “Alright, just get me a six pack of Corona,” he says finally, as though with a huge effort. “It’s always safe.”
Hoseok closes his eyes and counts to five in his mind, hoping he won’t snap at Jimin for wasting his time debating some random Swedish beer before ultimately deciding on Corona. “Will do.” He hangs up.
Once he has everything, he goes through the list on his phone again, hurriedly making sure he has everything for everyone. As he reaches the end of the list, he realises there’s only one thing remaining.
He spots a clerk at the end of the aisle and looks away. He’s managed so far without being recognised; he’d like to keep it that way for as long as possible. He shuffles towards the spirits, peering at the names and hoping the bottle appears all of a sudden when finally - finally - he spots the green label, the only one of its kind.
“Thank god,” he whispers and reaches for it, the same time as another hand wraps around the bottle. He flinches and withdraws his hand immediately before turning to see the only other person in the entire liquor who could possibly need Absinthe.
Something clicks in Hoseok’s brain, like a track being slowed down in post-production. “Wait…”
She raises her eyebrows. “You really don’t recognise me?”
Hoseok chuckles. It’s too unbelievable. “Dude, I think I saw you at more family dinners than my sister. Wow, Chaeyoung,” he says, taking a step back to look at her. Is she taller? “You look… older.”
“I am. Significantly. And you look…” Chaeyoung frowns and bites her lip, as though searching for something. “… blonder.” She nods as he reaches for his cap and pulls it down further over his head, tucking the few loose strands under the cloth.
“Yeah, that’s… work.” There’s a few seconds of awkward silence that makes Hoseok uncomfortable. They were never friends, but he can’t remember ever being this… unsettled around her. It’s almost like she’s a work acquaintance he’s run into, not the kid he grew up next door to.
He realises he hasn’t said anything and immediately scrambles. “Uh, so… what are you doing here? Wait, what are you doing here?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s a liquor store. I mean, you’re - you drink?”
“Yeah… I’m twenty-one. Almost twenty-two.” She bites her lips and shakes her head. “I don’t know why I said that. I just turned twenty-one.”
It takes Hoseok a moment to process this. She certainly looks older…
“Wow. Twenty-one.”
“I know.” Chaeyoung looks around before her gaze lands on the bottle still in her hand. “Oh, you can have this.”
“Oh, that’s alright. I don’t need it.”
She raises her eyebrows. “No? You don’t need it for, like… a famous person party?”
He chuckles awkwardly. “Oh, no. A friend of ours, Nari, is coming over tonight and she was the only one who wanted Absinthe.”
“Oh, then you can take it for Nari.”
“Nah, she just wants to get hammered,” he replies, shaking his head. “That can be done with anything. She doesn’t get time off from her job so when she does, she likes to go all out and that includes, unfortunately, a lot of vodka, but I’m sure whiskey would do the trick just as -“ He breaks off when he notices Chaeyoung’s tilted head and slight frown.
“I’ll take it,” she says after a moment. “My roommate’s having a party tonight. Many people need to get hammered with this.”
“Roommate, nice. Wait, are you living in Seoul?”
She nods. “Yeah. Just moved here.”
Too much is happening for Hoseok to process in one trip to the liquor store. “You -“ He pauses. “Does Chanyeol know?” he asks in a low voice.
Chaeyoung chuckles. “Yeah, he knows. My dad knows, too.”
It’s the first glimpse he’s seen so far of the old Chaeyoung, the deliberate omission of her stepmother. But he knows better than to acknowledge it. “Wow, you - you really grew up.”
She gives him an odd look and opens her mouth to say something but then closes it, as though changing her mind. “I did,” she agrees.
Hoseok knows he should be saying something more, maybe offering something - for Chanyeol’s sake. But what is he meant to say to someone he can barely recognise? She’s actually taller, from what he can remember. Her hair isn’t in ponytails anymore and she’s standing differently, too, somehow…
But before he can wrack his brain for the right words, Chaeyoung takes a deep breath.
“I should go.” She holds up the bottle of Absinthe. “Thanks for this.”
“Oh, of course,” he says, nodding and stepping aside. As she brushes past him, he frowns again: is she wearing perfume? Chaotic, skinned-knee, football-playing Chaeyoung?
But the moment passes him and so does Chaeyoung. Before leaving, she raises a hand halfway. “It was nice running into you, Hoseok.”
“Yeah,” he says softly, watching her for a moment as he tries to put his finger on why everything seems so strange. His phone pings then, though, and he remembers the errand he was running. He needs to find an alternative to Absinthe now and move on from one of the more surreal experiences of his life.
He takes a couple of steps forward before something else clicks, and he can finally put his finger on at least one thing.
“Wait,” he says slowly, turning around but not even really trying to spot her near the check-out line. “What did you call me?”
—
Thank you for reading. Don’t forget to drop a review :)
He calls you clingy with hoseok? I'm love him🌻🌻, angst with fluff please :))
Alright, kutie anon, you asked for it. Please don’t hate me, it’s a lot of heated angst 💜 Btw, I love Hoseok too! He so kute 💜
Age Recommendation: 18+
Warnings: Sweeeeaaaaars (like ALWAYS come on now, y’all know the drill), mentions of alcohol consumption, Jin being an ass, Hoseok being an ABSOLUTE BUTT HOLE. I love him no matter what, but PLEASE don’t project and create toxic situations the way he is doing, ‘kay? Yelling, screaming, and crying 😭 When you ask for angst, I give you ANGST. You’re welcome 😈
Word Count: 2,663
Summary: You feel like you haven’t seen your boyfriend for a while, so you decide to go over to his place and surprise him despite him insisting on a guys’ night. Thanks to Jin mixed with alcohol, things do NOT work out well.
Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ
Tears and Tulips (Hoseok One-Shot, Angst, Fluff)
You hesitate before knocking on the door. There’s music coming from inside, along with several muffled explosions and male voices yelling. He’ll appreciate you coming over, right? After all, you did bring food.
With that thought giving you courage, you rap your knuckles on the door. It takes a couple minutes before it opens to Jimin. His eyes go wide with surprise. “Y/n h-hi,” he stutters. “I didn’t realize you were invited over.”
You give him a weak smile. “Technically, I’m not, but… I brought food?”
You held up the bag full of take-out containers, but Jimin still hesitated before stepping aside. “I’ll let Hobi hyung know you’re here,” he muttered.
Nodding, you walked inside the apartment, inhaling the distinct scent of pizza and sweaty boys. “You cheated!” Jungkook shouted, reaching over and playfully punching Taehyung.
“You’re just mad ‘cause you suck,” the elder teased. His eyes flickered over to you. “Oh. Hey Y/n.”
“Hey.”
“Didn’t know you were coming over.”
“So I’ve been told,” you said under your breath, turning to head inside the kitchen.
Jin, Namjoon, and Yoongi were all in there, talking loudly with slurred words. Each one held a cup in their hand filled with liquid you were sure wasn’t juice. Jin’s windshield-wiper laugh rang out. “And then…” he gasped, slapping Namjoon on the chest. “And then she fucking went, ‘Oh, okay, didn’t realize you had such a huge-’”
Joon nudged Jin, cutting him off, the second he caught sight of you. “Y/n!” Namjoon said, his voice too loud, his smile too wide. “What a surprise!”
Your pathetically fake smile came back. “Hey, guys. Sorry to drop by unannounced… But I brought food.”
“Wow!” Jin exclaimed as you dropped the bag on the table. “Damn, Y/n, you’re such a good girlfriend. No girl I know would bring me a meal, let alone one for my roommates too.”
He threw you a cheeky wink. “If you and Hobi don’t work out, you should go out with me, ‘kay?”
You bit your lip and shoved your hands in your hoodie pocket, looking down at the ground as you felt heat rise to your cheeks. You hated when he did this, but you didn’t want to start drama with your boyfriend’s friends. You looked up as Jin stepped close, stumbling as he did so, and pressed his hands into your shoulders. “Seriously, I could kiss you for bringing us food,” he mumbled, his words still heavy and slurred. Your mouth fell open as he actually puckered his lips and leaned in towards you.
“The FUCK!” a voice cried out as a pair of hands reached out and roughly shoved Jin backwards. Hoseok grabbed the front of Jin’s jacket and pressed him against the wall, teeth bared, anger blasting from his dark eyes.
Namjoon and Yoongi, drunk as they were, had a hell of a time wrestling them apart until the younger three came in and helped. Taehyung tugged Jin to the front room and Jungkook held a struggling Hoseok back, pinning his arms behind him. “LET ME GO!” your boyfriend roared.
“ENOUGH!” Joon bellowed.
A beat of silence followed his thundering voice, in which all the boys froze and looked at you. You didn’t realize you were holding your hands to your mouth until that moment. Slowly, you dropped them to your sides. “I’m… I’m sorry,” you whispered.
“Fuck off!” Hoseok growled, shoving Jungkook away.
He grabbed your hand and led you wordlessly to his bedroom, fury rolling off him in waves. You jumped as he slammed the door shut. “What. The. Fuck,” he hissed, turning towards you.
You backed away, suddenly feeling a bit frightened. “Hobi, I’m sorry-”
“No! No more ‘sorries!’ No more making excuses!” he shouted, pointing towards the door. “I’m sick of you all defending him! He’s been drunk-flirting with you for weeks now, and I am two seconds away from kicking that pretty boy’s ass!”
You held your hands up. “I get it. I do, Hobi, I really do-”
“No, I don’t think you do!” Hoseok ran a hand frustratedly through his dark locks. “Watching him think he can just… just have you, like he does every other girl who comes his way is… Well, it makes me sick!”
“It makes me uncomfortable, too, I’ll be honest-”
“Then WHY?!” he roared. “WHY DO YOU PUT UP WITH IT?!”
Your mouth parted open at his words. “What am I supposed to do?” you scoffed. “He’s one of your best friends, and you know I’m not the type to start shit-”
“Well you certainly let it end in shit, don’t you?!” Hoseok spat. His chest heaved as he spoke.
“I don’t let anything happen,” you said through clenched teeth. You felt your defensive walls rising and wrapped your fingers into fists, prepping for the inevitable fight. You knew Hoseok wasn’t really mad at you, he was just projecting, but you had a terrible day and were completely fed up with his shit.
“Yes, you do,” Hoseok growled, stepping towards you. Despite you wanting to stand your ground, you wavered and backed away from him until your back hit the wall. Hoseok pressed his palms into the wall on either side of you, trapping you.
“You know exactly what you do,” he murmured, his voice low and dangerous. “Always wearing those skimpy little outfits, showing as much skin as possible…”
“Those are for YOU!” you yelled, shoving him away. “And wearing shorts and the occasional tank top does not make my outfits SKIMPY!”
You stomped to the other side of the room, still shouting as you went. “And how do my clothing choices warrant Jin flirting with me?! What, don’t have an answer?!”
You whirled around, looking your boyfriend full in the face. “Well, here it is: THEY DON’T!”
Hoseok rolled his eyes and shoved his hands in his pockets, tightening his mouth into a pout. He already knew he was in the wrong for saying that. He was just angry and wanting to blame someone for how hurt he was feeling. You didn’t begrudge him that. You did, however, resent the fact that his ‘someone’ was nearly always you. Your boyfriend could really be a child sometimes when it came to taking responsibility.
After a beat of tense silence, Hoseok snorted. “Why did you come over tonight, anyway? I told you tonight was guys’ night, Y/n.”
“Yeah, I know you did,” you replied impatiently. “But I hardly ever see you, Hobi. You’re always at work or dance practice, and I thought since you were home tonight, maybe we could spend at least a little time together.”
“Well, you thought wrong,” he snapped.
Your mouth parted open once more, taken aback. “Seriously? I even brought food for you and the guys! I just wanted to see you!”
Hoseok grabbed his hair with both of his hands, the look in his eyes unhinged. “Have you ever thought that maybe I don’t want to see you?!” he shouted. “I mean, god Y/n, you can be so… so…”
Your entire body tensed up as you waited for that next word to drop, your eyes widening as tears pricked at them.
“Clingy.”
And there it was. The verdict you didn’t realize you’d been waiting for. The one word that caused your muscles to unclench and the tears to finally spill over. You angrily swiped at them.
“Y-You think I’m clingy?” you stuttered, taking deep breaths to try and calm yourself. “F-Fine. Then I’ll give you space.”
“Y/n…” Hoseok said weakly, his eyes already filling with regret.
“No!” you said, your voice suddenly strong again. You gulped. “I’ll give you as much goddamn space as you want.”
And with that, you whirled and wrenched open the door, running down the hall, through the kitchen, and into the living room. “Y/n, please!” Hoseok called after you.
Your breath came out in gasping sobs as you struggled to unlock the door. Someone lay a hand on your shoulder, and you jumped, turning to see Namjoon looking at you. Concern filled his eyes. “Y/n, are you okay? I don’t think you should-”
You didn’t bother letting him finish. You ripped the door open and bolted down the hall, sobbing loudly as you sprinted away from all of the hurt, all of the humiliation, and most importantly, all of him.
The next few days passed in a daze. You barely spoke at your job, causing your coworkers to repeatedly ask you if something was wrong. You shut your phone off, sick of getting texts and phone calls from everyone but him. You spent most of the day sleeping, but at night, you lay awake, tears streaming from your eyes. Nothing could make you feel better, not even your favorite tv shows or movies.
Finally, the weekend came. You were wrapped in a blanket like a burrito, gorging on a gallon-size bucket of ice-cream as you watched your favorite romantic comedy for the umpteenth time. You reached over and chucked a pillow at the screen the two main characters kissed and the credits rolled. “That’s not how it ends!” you shouted.
You got up and put the ice-cream back in the freezer, dumping the spoon unceremoniously in the sink. Meandering into the bathroom, you splashed some water on your face and stared at your reflection for a moment. Dark circles covered the skin below your eyes, and your hair was a rats’ nest. You sighed and ran a brush through it, nodding in contentment as it lay at least a little more flat on your head.
You jumped as someone knocked on your door. Who could that be? You shuffled over to the door and pulled it open, eyes widening when you saw who it was. “Hey,” his voice said, cracking on the single syllable. Wow, he must be nervous.
“Hobi,” you said before shaking your head. “I mean, Hoseok. What’re you doing here?”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, giving you a half-hearted smile. “Whaddya mean? I came to see you, of course.”
You looked down at yourself in horror, realizing you were wearing an over-sized t-shirt with several stains on it, leggings covered in cat hair, and… had you even showered today? Not to mention the state of your apartment.
Then again, Hoseok looked nearly as bad as you did. He had on a bucket hat over his hair, which meant it was likely unwashed, and you noticed he didn’t have a speck of color anywhere in his outfit. He must be really depressed. He also had dark circles under his eyes, and his mouth was turned down in that famous shiot frown.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“Oh, uh, sure.” Fuck it. Let him think your place was messy. You had nothing to hide.
He stepped inside and sat on the couch you were just burrito’d on. He motioned for you to sit, and you did so, pulling your blanket over your legs and facing him. “What’s up?” you asked, suddenly nervous.
“I just wanted to say…” he said, and you braced yourself. He wanted to break up. You just knew it.
“...That I was wrong.” You let out the breath you didn’t realize you were holding. His dark eyes roamed over you, filled with guilty remorse, one corner of his mouth turning up in a hopeful smile.
“I was so wrong, baby girl,” he murmured. Tingles shot down your spine.
Hobi earnestly grabbed my hands with his. “You weren’t to blame for any of it.”
You gently took your hands back, not ready to let him off the hook just yet. “You sure made it out like it was,” you muttered.
Hobi furiously shook his head. “You weren’t. At all. You can wear whatever you want, and it doesn’t give anyone, not even me, the right to make a move on you.”
He scooted close, his hands frantically reaching up and stroking my face. “And please, baby girl, please believe me when I say this,” he begged. “You aren’t clingy. You can come over whenever you want. I never, ever want you to feel like I don’t want you… like I don’t love you… again.”
You bit your lip before turning your face and kissing his palm, tears pricking at your eyes. “I love you too.”
Hoseok let out a sigh, a wide smile forming over his face before he leaned over and pecked you on the lips. “I’m so sorry, baby. Please forgive me?”
“I already have,” you choked out before throwing yourself in his arms.
He peppered your forehead with kisses, letting you sob into his chest. “I know baby, I know,” he murmured, rocking you back and forth. “These last few days have been hell for me too.”
Once you cried it out, Hobi stood up, got a box of tissues and began wiping and kissing your tears away, the way he’d always done and would always do. “I’ll never make you feel like that again,” he promised, his voice determined. “I promise.”
“And I promise to put Jin in his place if he ever tries that again,” you replied, tossing him a watery smile.
Hoseok grinned. “Yeah, about that. The rest of the guys agreed… If he hits on you again, they’re gonna kick his ass out.”
“No shit,” you said, slightly taken aback. You weren’t too surprised, though. The guys were probably pretty sick of all this drama.
“Speaking of them,” Hobi said, standing up and holding out a hand to you. “I have a surprise for you.”
You let him pull you upright, dropping the blanket as you stood, and lead you out into the hall. You gasped as you saw all of the guys standing there, each holding a bouquet of different-colored tulips and grinning. “We’re sorry things got so crazy,” Joon said sincerely. “We promise it won’t happen again. Right, Jin?”
He playfully wacked Jin right in the stomach, causing him to grunt. “Right,” he wheezed, holding his stomach. “I’m sorry Y/n. I promise I’ll never flirt with you again, no matter how drunk I am.”
“You’d better not,” you warned, feeling your heart swell.
Each of the guys traipsed into your apartment, setting down the tulips on the kitchen table until it was full of the beautiful flowers. Namjoon dropped off violet ones, Jungkook had purple ones, Taehyung had green ones, Jimin had yellow ones, Jin had pink ones, and Yoongi had maroon ones. Finally, you turned to see Hobi smiling and offering a single, red rose to you. “My beautiful girl deserves beautiful flowers,” he said. You took the rose and deeply inhaled its scent.
“Awwww,” Taehyung teased. You all laughed and the guys circled around you, wrapping you in the sweetest group hug you’d ever had.
“I love you guys,” you sniffled. “Thank you.”
“We love you. We don’t ever want you and Hobi hyung to break up,” Jungkook said, and the others murmured their agreement.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Hobi said, waving his roommates off. “You guys gotta get out, she’s gotta get ready.”
“For what?” you asked, blinking in surprise.
He waggled his eyebrows mischievously. “For the best date ever.”
You laughed, then pressed your hands to your mouth, feeling happy tears well up once again as the guys left and shut the door behind them. Hobi clicked his tongue in disapproval. “Uh-uh, none of that,” he murmured, drawing your chin up and brushing your lips with his. “You’ve shed enough tears.”
He hugged you tight, and you let him hold you, pressing your face into his chest as you inhaled his familiar, sunshine scent. Even though things had looked completely shitty before, you knew that this was a huge stepping stone in your relationship to bigger and better things. You knew this fight would lead to nothing but happiness, and that in a few weeks, you probably wouldn’t even remember what you fought over. You loved Hoseok, and he loved you, and there was nothing else in the world that mattered.