~Hoseok~

I wasn’t ready to see Mao. Not now, not ever. What can I say? I wanted to talk to her just for a little while (Without the boys of course) but since we departed from the store I feel utter regret. Not only that, but I wanted to talk to her because she had something urgent to tell me. I was so fidgety during my dance practice that the next morning Namjoon thought I was catching a fever. Yes, Namjoon, I’m about to have a heart attack if I don’t know what the hell she was going to tell me yesterday! I had to shrug it off as soon as she came into the studio for work, which everyone seemed to give her a warm greeting and you see me, nervous as heck to even look at her directly. “Morning, Hoseok-ah.” I heard that same sweet tone of hers, making my heart beat out my chest. “Morning.” I managed to grin. I might as well joke around with her for a bit, just like good old times. Smirking, I reached up and squeezed her cheeks lightly, causing her to yelp. I laughed. “Chubby Mao.” I smiled.  She chuckled quietly. Mao never was the kind to diet for appearance, as she told me once;
 

‘Why would I eat less just to look pretty? Shouldn’t I be glad I’m actually alive with a good soul?’~

“Oh, that’s right! Hoseok, would it be alright if I could talk to you after I’m done work? Hopefully early, since Yongguk still has to pick me up.”Her voice brought me back to reality as soon as I heard his name, Yongguk. I mentally scowled. It was hard to not show my jealousy when the other member’s knew already by my liking to her. Instead, I nodded numbly as she took that pretty well, and went off to the the kitchen. I sighed, Jungkook’s and Taehyung’s reassuring pats on my shoulder made my day slightly more better. But barely. “Don’t worry, it could be good news.” I chuckled at the maknae’s optimism, but even so my heart still thumped in my ears rapidly. Just thinking what she might say to me I felt anxious, and my palms were getting sweaty. Yoongi and Jimin didn’t seem to notice, and Jin was sympathetic enough to give me an extra heaping of rice pudding during our lunch break in our dorm because he said: “You ate like how a rabbit nibbles it’s lettuce”. Man, I wasn’t this nervous around girls, especially when that girl is one of my closest friends! I checked the time on my phone. 12:30pm. Just a few more hours to go. A few more hours for my anxiety to rot my brain.

It was 5:10 pm, and just in time to see Mao walk into the dance room, all of us already finished the last choreography for the day. She sighed, grabbing her bag from the closet and took out her mini compact mirror-brush, combing her hair back and clipped her fringe with a loose hairpin matching her hair colour. I tried to maintain my cool, but even so I was so scared to just even make eye contact to her, or even approach her. Thankfully, it was her 1st that made the move. “You’re not busy, are you?” she walked slowly to me, which I felt my blood pressure increase. Please, please don’t beat so fast, you stupid heart of mine. Though that just made it even more worse. “No, of course not, we just finished.” I managed to say. Smiling, she motioned her head towards the exit, and with a slight nod, we walked out, the boys all staring at us and murmuring little words. Glancing at Jimin he smirked, which I glared back. Namjoon on the other hand gave a small ‘fighting!’ fist, which I returned gladly. “Just be yourself, hyung. It’s going to be fine.” Jungkook whispered, which I chuckled softly. “Thanks, that really helps.” And it did. Maybe I can go through this, considering it was just Mao Isamu, the girl I’ve been friends with ever since. We felt the breeze of the evening wind against our skin, and it felt oh so good from all that humidity of sweat and dancing for hours and hours. “Okay, I’ll just make this as quick as possible.” I turned to her way, which she looked at with me with such intent that I couldn’t peer my eyes away from her. “Hoseok, if you have something to tell me that I don’t know about, please tell me. If you’re angry at me, or if I’ve done something to the kitchen and you don’t like our food-“ I held up my hand to stop her, shaking my head. “Wait, what? No-no, Mao. I’m not angry with you, honest.” I saw the surprised look in her face, as I sighed, rubbing my neck.
 

Now for the moment of truth, Hoseok. You can’t keep this shut forever. “Look, that little ‘incident’ that happened just  a few days ago...or all those times I was really nervous or flustered-“ “You were nervous around me?” she said in a low tone, eyes in concern. I nodded meekly. “Yes, I was. Because... I wasn’t sure how to tell you…how much I wanted us to be more than just friends.” It was like setting a grenade in the middle of a peaceful field, the way the silence just echoed, only hearing the muffles of cars honking in the distance. Mao stood there, slightly open; a blush crept on her face. Oh great, now you’ve done it, Hoseok. It was too soon when we heard that familiar voice calling her name, as I silently cursed and Mao sighed to see Yongguk come from behind, trailing an arm on her shoulders, basically coming into our space between.

“Ready to go home? I know I am, since you’ll be making my favourite sesame rice balls!” he rubbed his nose against her hair, which she laughed uneasy. “Ri-right, I’m making them for dinner.” She looked at me, which I tensed up. “Um, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow, Hoseok.” I nodded, straightening my back to see her more face to face. “See you.” I waved glumly, and with a small smile, Yongguk steered both of them out of sight, hearing their laughs echo into my ears.

Author's Note

My apologies for not updating yesterday - I went out and came home pretty late ^^;
And whoa, did Hoseok just confess...heck yeah he did ><

Have a great day everyone~

-B.B