“Hoseok?” You called out as the milky darkness of a dream surrounded you.

                As if summoned, he appeared in front of you, smiling. “Ah! I was waiting for you~”

                You smiled. “Hoseok, Jungkookie’s talking again!”

                His smile faltered for a split second, then returned. “H- He is?”

                You nodded, grinning. “He really is! He’s too young for his parents and now you to be taken from him, but he seems to be getting over your loss. He even left me a letter to give to you…”

                I handed over the crinkled piece of paper, watching as he read it.

                Hoseok frowned. “Jungkookie… He’s not very happy. I want him to be happy. Y- You need to give him lots of hugs for me, okay? The fastest way to get him to trust you is to just stay with him a lot. And talk with him. And reassure him that he’s not useless, okay?”

                You nodded. “I’ll try…”

                He grabbed your shoulders suddenly, gazing at you with his eyes flashing urgently. “Listen to me. You need to keep him safe. Jungkookie is the only way you can survive this, okay?”

                I nodded. “Hoseok, I’m trying. I’m trying to keep them all safe.”

                He nodded, satisfied with my answer. “Good.”

                I laughed harshly, looking at him. “Hobi, it’s only been a month here with everyone. I- I feel like I’ve known them my whole life, but at the same time I know virtually nothing about anybody. I just… I just want you back. I need you to help me, please. I don’t understand…”

                You had kept from crying for so long, you collapsed onto his shoulder as he held you and let you cry. “Shh, it’s okay… I’m here for you when you sleep, okay?”

                “But I don’t want to keep going, Hoseok.”

                “You can’t mean that. It’s your job to keep everybody safe. Everybody in the world.”

                You looked up at him, shaking my head with my eyes wide. “No. I can’t, Hoseok. I can’t even protect you-” You sobbed again, pulling him closer.

                Hoseok looked at me. “Hey, listen to me for a moment, okay?”

                You nodded, still hiding my face in his shoulder. “What?”

                “Just… Just try your best. If bad goes to worse, talk to me. And if worse goes to worst, talk to Jungkook. H- He knows what to do.”

                You looked up at him quizzically, trying to blink away my tears. “Wh- What?”

                He shook his head grimly. “Just… Just let him know, okay? I’ll be here for you. I’m not going anywhere.” He gave you another hug, starting to fade away again as the darkness was illuminated reality.

                You opened your eyes slowly to find Jungkook standing in the doorway, looking at you with wide eyes. He jumped as you sat up. “I- I heard you sobbing… I’m sorry. I’m not trying to… be weird…”

                You touched a finger to your cheek under your eyes to find that you really had been crying. You got up and walked over to Jungkook, enveloping him in a hug, remembering Hoseok’s words.

                He hesitated, putting his arms around you slowly. You kissed his forehead in a motherly way, looking down at the small boy. “Kookie, Hoseok said… He said that you’ll help me if worse comes to worst. Do you know what he means?”

                He nodded, looking away. “Yes. I- I know… But you can’t know, not yet.”

                “Please, Kookie?”

                He shook his head. “No. I can’t. I- I’m sorry…”

                You ruffled his hair, smiling. “I’ll trust you, okay? But only because Hoseok told me to.”

                He nodded. “O- Okay…”

                You smiled, looking down at him. “Do you want to go down for breakfast, Kookie?”

                He nodded again. “S- Sure…”