“Hey, Minnie, Appa’s going to have a quick shower. Will you, Kook, and Tae be okay for a few minutes?” Hoseok asks, sticking his head into the room turned superhero fortress.

“Appa, we’re superheroes. You can’t used our for real names, people might hear you,” Jimin informs him, tone hushed and eyes wide with concern.

“Oh,” Hoseok replies dramatically, covering his mouth with his hand and looking around the room cautiously. “I forgot,” he says, leaning in close to Jimin’s ear to whisper. “I’m very sorry Spiderman. Appa will be more careful.”

Jimin looks up, eyes squinting and lips pursed somewhere between a pout and a frown. The youngster gives him a once over, and Hoseok has to make a fist to keep himself from laughing out loud. He’s so tickled; his little boy’s adorable when he’s trying to be serious.

“S’okay Appa, just be more carefulled next time. We’re trying to be incomspicious” Jimin whispers, and this time Hoseok can’t contain his chuckle.

Three hours later as he recounts the events of the day to Jin, who’s laughing so hard he can’t talk, Hoseok can’t even be mad.

“So wait, how many interruptions?” Jin’s voice shakes with laughter.

“Nine, nine freaking times. They each took turns coming into the bathroom while I was in the shower. I counted. First Taehyung came in to ask if he could open the juice, just open, by the way; he didn’t want to drink it. Something about using his Flash speed powers. I was so thrown off by the unexpected visit, I said yes.” Hoseok sighs on the line. “Then, not even two minutes later,  Jungkook comes barging in to ask if he could use my chapstick because, and I quote, ‘Ironman's mouth hurted, and my Appa putted that on my lips before.’ How, how was I supposed to say no to that?”

“You couldn't, clearly.” Jin’s mocking him, he knows this, but he ignores it.

“Exactly,” he agrees quickly. “My shower felt incomplete. I didn’t get to lather properly. Either the fifth or sixth visit, Taehyung came in to ask if he could have one of the sweet brown balls in the fridge, and yeah, that, that was when I knew I needed to get out of the shower.”

“Brown balls? What exactly did my child eat?” Jin questions so dramatically Hoseok chuckles.

“Jimin had a mommy and me date, and they made Oreo Balls,” he explains.

“Ahh,” Jin hums on the line, and Hoseok pictures the man shaking his head in response.

“Oh, the best interruption was the last one. The door flies open so hard it bangs against the wall and bounces back, almost knocking Jimin in the face, so of course I say, ‘.’ And of course Jimin tells me that it’s a bad word and that bad words are bad.” Jin’s laughing so hard now Hoseok’s sure the man has tears in his eyes. “For the record, I’m standing in my bathroom, buck , holding a towel over my privates and being schooled by a five-year-old, who caused the situation when he scared the out of me by barging into the bathroom.”

Jin's cackling on the line, and Hoseok takes a moment to collect himself; the whole thing is just too hilarious for him to maintain his composure.

“So I’m about to tell him that he and his super friends have disrupted my shower and explain to him why that’s unacceptable,” Hoseok continues.  “When, when the little er dares to say, ‘I love you, Appa. You’re the bestest appa. Today is so fun,’ and runs out of the bathroom. Seriously, when did I become such a pushover? That one sentence was worth every single awkward interruption.”

“Kids man, they have some mystical magical powers. Taehyung could set the kitchen on fire, but if he says he loves me or that I’m his favorite appa, it’s like nothing happened, like all’s right with the world. I would move heaven and earth to keep my child happy and healthy.” Jin's words have Hoseok nodding his head aggressively in agreement. “Did Tae give you trouble to go to sleep?”

“No, they fell asleep in a tangle of arms and legs in my bed about thirty minutes ago. Which reminds me, I need to get Jimin a bed big enough for three because apparently, ‘cousins must sleep together, Uncle Seokie, so that we can ptect each other in our sleep.’ Seriously where does your child come up with these things?”

“I have no idea. I wish I did because I’d bottle it and sell it. I’d make billions,” Jin tells him with a chuckle.

“You’d be the richest man alive. Have you spoken to Namjoon recently?” Hoseok not so subtly checks to see if Namjoon has taken his advice.

“Mmm, he called me two days ago, when you had the meeting. It was out of the blue and unexpected, out of character for him, given his circumstances. I was so nervous and excited that I started cursing and couldn’t stop,” Jin answers him with a small sigh that rings of regret.

“I have second-hand embarrassment on your behalf. As your closest comrade I feel as though it’s my duty to do this for you.”

“Thanks, pal, I hope to return the favor someday,” Jin retorts, and Hoseok snickers at the man’s response.

“How was the talk?” he questions, this time putting the jokes aside.

Hoseok’s Jin’s friend, his closest confidant. He met Kim Seokjin shortly after his wife’s death, forging a friendship with the newly widowed man that is damn near unbreakable. Hoseok’s also Namjoon’s friend; they share a common fear, and not to mention the tall blond’s his favorite author. Hoseok doesn’t know what the future holds for either of his friends, but he wishes happiness and peace for both.

In the three years that he and Jin have been friends, brothers really, he’s watched the man go on date after date without ever making a connection. Jin once told him there wasn’t any spark, nothing that excited him or made him want to delve deeper or find out more. The day his friend called him, a little tipsy after having one too many drinks, to tell him about his encounter with Namjoon, he could feel the man’s elation. It was almost palpable.

Hoseok can sense Namjoon’s interest as well, but there’s a wall surrounding the author, enforced and backed up by several boulders of fear, uncertainty, and anxiety that Hoseok hopes one day the man will be able to overcome and break down but for the time being keeps Namjoon locked away and out of reach.

“He, uhm, invited me to bring Tae and, uhm... to hang? It was nice and awkward but lovely, and I swear my heart was beating so hard the entire time I was there that I’m not sure I heard anything he said,” Jin relays a bit of the events of the evening, and Hoseok can’t help his smile.

He’s proud of Namjoon.

“That’s so great, hyung. I’m glad he reached out. I know how worried you were.”

“I thought I’d messed up, you know? I like him, but I’m not willing to destroy the friendship we’ve built or Taehyung’s relationship with Jungkook to fulfill my desires.” Jin sounds tired and somewhat sad, and Hoseok nods in understanding.

“I get that, hyung. I admire you for that. People mostly just take what they want with no regard for how it will affect the people around them. My parents are a good example of that. I’m happy I know you, hyung. You remind me every day that there’s good in the world,” Hoseok tells the man matter-of-factly.

“Aww, I love having fans. Want me to sign something for you? Your forehead perhaps,” Jin jokes.

“I’m hanging up now. I take back my praise, gonna go outside and give it