Hoseok was completely frozen. What. What????

Hoseok opened his mouth to say something not stupid, but all that came out was a weird, low moan.

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT-

Hyungwon raised an eyebrow in amusement and a slightly knowing look flashed across his face as his lips curved into a tiny smirk.

Hoseok didn't think he would ever be able to turn redder. He just had to make his attempt at speaking properly sound like some kind of humiliating teenage . Great. It didn't help that Hyungwon (sigh, his name was so pretty he could say it all day) was still uncomfortably close to him right now. AND he was smirking, which meant no good for Hoseok's facial tone. He probably looked like an overripe tomato that had spent too much time in the sun. Suddenly it was getting way to hot in here.

He was about to say something when Hyungwon opened his mouth. Hoseok immediately lost any idea of what he was going to say as his eyes trailed down to his lips and stayed there, stupefied. He swore he had never seen prettier lips- OKAY STOP STARING YOU ARE NOT SOME HORMONAL TEENAGE BOY. Hoseok had to forcefully rip his eyes off of Hyungwon's lips, only to be met with his eyes- those beautiful, deep chocolate brown orbs- staring back into his, glittering with amusement. Hoseok immediately turned red.

"Like what you see?" Hyungwon asked, entertainement flitting across his eyes and his smile opening up to show pearly white teeth. 

Hoseok had forgotten how gorgeous Hyungwon's voice was- velvety and deep, with a sweetness to it that flowed through Hoseok's veins. He felt oddly drunk. With that thought, he immediately wished he had died at the gym that day. Hyungwon did NOT have to ask that and look so flirty and gorgeous while doing so-

It took almost all of his power to not stare at Hyungwon's lips and to form a comprehensive sentence. 

"I-I was n-not staring. I-I w-was- uh... lost in u-uhh.. space." 

Hoseok frowned at himself. That was not comprehensive or understandable and it certainly was not what he had initially wanted to say. 

He heard a chuckle beside him and whipped around at the sound. Crap, his neck was gonna be in shreds after this. Not only did the sound he just heard make his ears turn the brightest red and his cheeks burn, but it was almost the most beautiful, delicate sound he had ever heard in his life. It sounded like gentle bells in a quiet snow storm, with intricate, fragile snowflakes dancing around the silver ornament. Hoseok heard sound come out of his mouth before he even realized that he was speaking.

"Y-you have a gorgeous voice."

As soon as it had registered within Hoseok's brain what he had just said, he slapped his hands over his mouth and his eyes widened. WHAT. WHY HOSEOK. WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU EVEN SAY THAT DO YOU HAVE LIKE ZERO CONTROL OVER YOUR THOUGHT TO SPEECH COORDINATION-

his life.

However, Hyungwon's smile only widened and Hoseok was sure that he would go blind from its brightness. 

"You're cute." Hyungwon simply said.

Hoseok let out something between a squeal and a yelp, flailing his arms around. "W-WHAT?!"

Hyungwon inched closer, and Hoseok could feel his breath on his skin, setting his cheeks on fire and causing goosebumps to erupt on his neck. "You know what I said," Hyungwon whispered. Hoseok's entire body trembled with fire.

Just then, the door slammed open and a slightly disheveled Minhyuk appeared in the opening, his blond hair flying all over the place, a few buttons missing from his shirt, his chest a light shade of red and heaving, a goofy smile plastered on his face. 

"Hey," he said breathlessly, holding onto the doorframe. He took in the sight before him- Hoseok wrapped in blankets and trembling, his face a dark shade of red, with Hyungwon inches away from him on the bed. Minhyuk's smile widened. "What were you two doing hereeeee?" he asked, eyebrows wiggling in a sultry manner. 

Hyungwon carefully got off of the bed, but not before gently brushing his fingertips against Hoseok's hand, almost accidentally. Hoseok felt it within his entire body and he swore he wanted to throw himself out a window.

"We were just getting to know each other a little better, weren't we, Hoseok?" Hyungwon turned his head towards the trembling Hoseok, who could only nod while simultaneously trying to avoid looking at Hyungwon in any way possible. Hyungwon smiled in satisfaction. He stood up fom the bed, and made his way towards Minhyuk. Just before leaving, he turned around and caught Hoseok's eyes, trapping them within his. "I'll see you later, Hoseok." Hoseok opepened his mouth in shock but was not able to emit a sound.

Hyungwon turned back around and grinned at Minhyuk. "Looks like you two had a little fun, didn't you?" Hyungwon asked, taking in Minhyuk's crazy look. Minhyuk's cheeks tinged pink but he grinned back. Hyungwon patted his shoulder before ambling out of the room, his shiny black shoes dissapearing along with himself down the hallway.

Hands suddenly slid around Minhyuk's waist and with a much-deeper-than-usual huff, the owner of those hands grabbed a giggling Minhyuk and pulled them both into the hallway. The giggles suddenly turned into not-so-g-rated-exclamations, and that's when Hoseok shook himself out of his daze and flopped down onto his pillow, clenching his eyes shut at both the pain and the gross sounds of his friends outside the door. Nothing had changed.

♡♡♡♡♡

Hoseok was discharged from the hospital that evening, accepting his doomed crutches after no more than 10 minutes of whining and pouting. He made his way back to his house with the help of Hyunwoo and Minhyuk who were giving each other looks and giggling behind his back. Hoseok was honestly too confused and irritated and tired to care, so he just made sure to slam the door in their faces as soon as he entered his house. He heard chuckles outside. 

"Sleep well, Hoseokie!" He heard Hyunwoo whisper-shout. More giggles. Minhyuk joined in, but this time in a more suggestive tone.

"Have some sweet dreams, Hoseok! And make sure to change the sheets tomorrow morning, trust me, you will need to!"

Hoseok heard Minhyuk burst into laughter and then Hyunwoo shushing him sternly. Take that you loud dummy. Unfortunately Hoseok had to endure his cakling all the way up the stairs, that slow, limping the whole way up, until he reached his room and slammed the door shut. He grumbled and rubbed his face in his hands. What a long day.

As he made his way to the bathroom, he stopped in front of the mirror. It was an August night; hot, sticky, nasty. He could feel the beads of sweat building up at the back of his neck and on his forehead. His foot was also pulsing, and he was in so much pain he could feel his heartbeat in his foot, ever pump a sharp bite of pain. He looked at himself again, and before he knew it, his eyes were brimmed with tears and had escaped controlled captivity, rolling down his tinted pink cheeks from the heat. 

Why am I so ugly? Hoseok thought. No wonder I don't have anyone to be with. No one would want to be with someone like me. He knew those weren't his words, but they rung on repeat in his head. 

He felt more tears run down his wet cheeks, and angrily rubbed at his face, trying to get rid of the treacherous tears. His thoughts went to Hyungwon. Ugh, Hyungwon. He did call him cute... did it mean anything? Hoseok began to feel a tiny smile twitch at the edge of his lips. No, a nasty, sick voice spoke up in his head. He was probably just trying to make you feel better, since your idiot dropped a weight on yourself this morning and cried like a baby. It's called pity. No one wants you, and no one ever will. Get that in your head. 

Hoseok felt more tears run from his eyes and sink into his skin as the truth from the voice did the same. He shouldn't keep his hopes up, there was no point. He would be alone forever. He should just get Hyungwon out of his head, along with his non-existant hope of ever gteting a patner. 

Sighing, Hoseok dropped himself in bed and curled around himself. His foot was in a lot of pain, but he didn't bother to take anything for it. He probably deserved the pain, anyways. 

He let his pillow dry his flowing tears and wrapped himself in blankets. He closed his eyes and fell into a rough, uneasy sleep.

That night, he dreamt of thick pink lips and silver bell laughter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little angst and sadness in this chapter!!! Hoseok needs some self-confidence guyssss

Sorry for the shorter chapter. I'll make the next one longer. Hope you enjoy, have a nice day!

:)