.:Chapter 6: Betrayal?:.

The scream shook Hoseok out of his thoughts. Fire?!

The trio stumbled out of their seats and ran to the back door. The smell of smoke burst through the door as they flung it open.

Without hesitation, Jimin ran inside leaving Hoseok with Mihi. What was he thinking? Why would you run into a burning building? Jimin was out of his mind.

“Jimin!” He yelled.

Hoseok noticed that Mihi was going to follow after but he wouldn’t have that. He reached out to pull her aside. There was no way in hell was he going to let her endanger herself in there.

“Wait here, okay? Promise me.” Hoseok held out his pinky. You always call me idiot but please don’t be the idiot today, he wanted to say.

Mihi hesitated and Hoseok impatiently pulled her hand up and wrapped his pinky around hers. “Don’t break it unless you don’t want your pinky!”

He stared at her to see if she would protest but she didn’t. Thankfully. Her stubbornness seemed to be replaced with urgency of the situation. If only she could be this way often, it would make it easier for him at least.

Don’t you dare come in.

Now he was the one out of his mind. He prepared himself to go into the burning building to retrieve Jimin. Hoseok would be lying if he said he wasn’t scared. This was walking into his death basically. He had no skills whatsoever when it came into running into a burning building. He was no firefighter. Why did Jimin run in anyways? Why was he trying to be a hero?

He looked back at Mihi. He wasn’t sure how much she cared for Jimin but it seemed like she did to a certain degree. If he didn’t go in, maybe she would and he wouldn’t want that.

Now he had to be the hero.

“Damn it, Jimin.” He muttered.

He in all the oxygen he could muster and ran inside the burning building.

It was burning quickly now. There was a lot of smoke but the fire started to spread quickly over every wooden area. The alarms and sprinklers weren’t working for some reason. Where’s the fire extinguishers?

Hoseok covered his mouth with one arm and ran to the closet and his eyes searched every inch but he couldn’t find the red extinguisher.

Where the hell was Jimin?

He was scared to shout just in case his lungs filled up with too much smoke. He blinked back tears that were getting watery from the heat.

Then he noticed a person’s legs lying on the floor but he didn’t spot the body since a big pile of boxes laid on top of it.

Hoseok removed the boxes quickly. It wasn’t entirely heavy but it wasn’t light either. With all the ruckus, no one probably noticed.

He discovered the girl to be Nara When he removed the last box off the girl. She was a new worker as well.

She blinked at him. “Hoseok…” She smiled. “Thank god.”

Hoseok placed her arm around his neck and pulled her right up. He tried to talk quickly. “Did you see Jimin anywhere?”

“I was under a pile of boxes so no.” She weakly said, reminding him.

“Right.” Hoseok gave her a small smile. “Jimin!” Hoseok finally decide to shout.

When there was no answer, he knew he had to leave. Jimin might have ran out by now. He prayed. Everything started to fall around them. Hoseok picked Nara up bridal style to make escaping faster.

Just then, the back door got covered in burning wood.

He cursed under his breath and maneuvered his way towards the front of the restaurant. Firefighters rushed in time and pushed him out of the front door.

When he made it out, the first thing he did was try to drink the fresher air around him. Instead he kept coughing. He handed Nara, who grew unconscious in his arms, over to the medics. He pressed an oxygen mask to his mouth and breathed. The medics placed him on the back of a medic truck and checked him for any injuries.

Jimin, please be out here. He slowed down his breathing when he felt a hand pat him on the back. From the corner of his eye, he watched Mihi staring at him relieved. Jimin was not next to her.

Did he fail?

When she asked about Jimin, he didn’t know how to answer. He kept breathing until he was sure he was stable. Mihi looked shocked. When she started yelling, he knew he deserved it. If he had tried harder, maybe he would have found Jimin. He was selfish. Now there was another reason why she couldn’t forgive him.

When Hoseok had control of his breathing he coughed. “He went in before me, remember? I had no idea where he went. It was hard to see.” “I found Nara underneath a pile of boxes. It must have toppled over her as everyone rushed out.” Hoseok explained to her. The medics draped a blanket over his shoulder. He didn’t deserve it but he couldn’t refuse. He hugged it close to himself.

“Don’t do that again, idiot.” Mihi told him.

Before he knew, it Mihi wrapped her arms around him tightly and pressed herself into him. He was honestly surprised. Mihi wouldn’t do this to him would she? His heart ached. Her sincerity hurt him more than he could imagine. He failed though?

In response, he pulled his arms away and wrapped them both in his blanket, hugging her tighter.

 “I won’t.” Hoseok whispered. His face flushed slightly and he was thankful that she couldn’t see it.

He couldn’t be thrilled that Mihi was hugging him though. Jimin was still not here.

Jimin ran into the building quickly.

“Where is it?” Jimin tossed a few things to the floor in search of the item. By now the building was burning too much. He looked for the fire extinguishers but they were gone.

As expected.

Jimin pulled a mask over his face and resumed searching for what he really came for.

He ran into the staff room and explored every area as well. It took him a while but he eventually found it.  The manager hid it well.

Jimin slipped the object into his pocket.

Now he could leave. A few pieces of the ceiling landed on his arms and back. He stumbled back and fell back on the couch. Behind the couch, a small figure was cowering and crying silently.

It was a young boy.

“Kid? What are you doing here?” Jimin asked. He scooped up the kid. The kind clutched onto him tightly as they both ran out the staff room.

Jimin pulled off his mask and placed it in his pocket. He tried to rush outside and noticed that there were a few fire fighters rushing in and hosing down the building. They shouted at him to leave and he did.

When he ran out, he tripped on something and rolled out of the building, trying his best to protect the kid at all cost.

Hoseok and Mihi both looked up when the crowd started shouting. Jimin rolled out of the building coughing violently and handed the child to his parent.

Jimin! His mind screamed.

Mihi loosened her arms around him and ran forward to embrace Jimin.

Hoseok had never seen her so relieved. His heart ached again watching them hug. He had a mixture of emotions. Relief and jealousy.

Yes, he was glad Jimin was alive. Hoseok had to be honest and admit that Jimin was his best buddy. They grew quite close working together and he couldn’t ask for a better friend.

But he was kind of jealous. She wasn’t a touchy person so initiating a hug meant a lot to him. The fact that she could easily throw her arms around Jimin…

Hoseok it up. Whatever emotion he was feeling couldn’t beat the feeling of relief. Jimin was alive and that’s what all that mattered.

Hoseok came up behind them and gave them a hug. “Jiminie!!!” He shouted Jimin’s nickname.

Jimin got patched up quickly and after the meeting with their manager, the trio went out to eat dinner.

They were told that they might be called in for questioning. Hoseok wasn’t worried about that. He only came in to look for Jimin but ended up saving Nara. Nara was okay but she got hospitalized for a while.

There was a lot of eating and not much talking. Surprisingly, Hoseok had thought that Mihi was going to start lecturing their actions but she continued eat. She must have been too happy that they were both alive.

Then out of nowhere, Jimin brought up the subject he was dreading to talk about it.

Who was Mihi going to stay with?

She’s going to choose Jimin. As always. Hoseok thought.

Hoseok roughly grabbed his drink and started gulping it down. He didn’t want to hear the obvious.

“Hoseok.”

Hoseok started choking on his drink. No, wait.

“I choose Hoseok.”

Hoseok pulled the glass cup from his lip and set it down.

“You’re serious?” Hoseok looked at her with his eyes widening.

Mihi nodded while eating her dinner.

Hoseok and Jimin both stared at her.

Jimin started to smile. “Awesome.” Jimin congratulated Hoseok quietly with a pat on the back.

Hoseok still didn’t know what to say.

“Unless you changed your mind?” Mihi stared at him.

“What? No.” Hoseok quickly answered. “I’m just shocked…I thought you said you would never forgive me.”

Jimin looked at both of them questionably.

“I didn’t forgive you.” Mihi answered straightly. “All I said was that I was going to stay at your house.”

“Oh.” Hoseok smiled. Well it was a start. “Then woo!” Hoseok cheered. 

After dinner, they said good bye to Jimin. He was a brave man trying to put out the fire by himself. He was brave, but really insane. Well if it weren’t for Jimin, they wouldn’t have saved that kid and Nara.

Hoseok helped her with her luggage. Mihi must have planned this considering the fact that she had all her belongings in the car. She never mentioned how long she was going to stay or if Yoongi was going to hunt Hoseok down and kill him (Hoseok thought Yoongi seemed like a tough guy). Hoseok trusted her though. This quarrel seemed like a lovers quarrel to him but since she told him that there was nothing between Yoongi and her, then he should feel safe.

“Here’s my home~” Hoseok kicked opened the door and showed her around. “Make yourself at home. I’m not sure if you can cook but I usually do the cooking around here.” Hoseok placed the luggage on the ground.

“Jungkook!!!” Hoseok yelled out to his younger brother. “There’s someone here I want you to meet!”

“What?” Jungkook poked his head out into the living room and let his eyes wander around at the luggage and then to Mihi.

“Really?” Jungkook rolled his eyes. Jungkook stepped out from the hallway that lead to his bedroom. “Hyung, shouldn’t we discuss this first before you make hasty decisions?” Jungkook crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry to intrude but I won’t be staying here too long. Just for a while.” Mihi cut in. 

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Jungkook replied.

After a long pause, Mihi grit her teeth. “I wasn’t talking to you either.” Which Hosoek knew was her way of saying ' you.' 

Jungkook and Mihi glared daggers at each other causing a tension he was all too familiar with.

“Guys, we need to calm down a bit.” Hoseok placed a hand on his forehead. When it came to difficult people he had to deal with daily, these two made the top of the pyramid.

“Sorry Jungkook but Mihi is in need of a home right now and so I offered our place.” Hoseok explained to his little brother.

Jungkook scoffed.

“What’s wrong? Isn’t it going to be fun with all three of us living together?” Hoseok laughed heartily.

To be honest, he wasn’t expecting Jungkook to be non-accepting of Mihi. Hoseok had thought his brother would welcome her with open arms and not turn his back on her. Hoseok could understand his frustration. He didn’t warn Jungkook or discuss it with him so Jungkook must have felt a little betrayed.

Either way, Hoseok was paying for part of their home so his choices were above his younger brother.

“Fun? Sure.” Jungkook said sarcastically. He took one last look at them before he stormed back into his room and locked his door.

“What’s up with him?” Hoseok thought out loud.

Mihi shrugged. “I should feel bad but instead, I feel insulted.” Mihi grabbed her bags and slung it over her shoulders. “So where’s my room?”

Hoseok laughed. “Well at least you’re honest.” Hoseok grabbed one of her suitcases with a buckle. “Follow me—“ before he could say anything more, his fingers pressed into the large button and the suitcase flung wide open. The contents of the suitcase spilled across the floor of the living room.

“Hoseok!” Mihi glared at him and rushed forward to push the contents back in.

Panicking, “Sorry I’ll help…” Hoseok bent down to help but unintentionally stared instead. What spilled out of Mihi’s luggage wasn’t your usual travel items but a bunch of frilled silk and bras and they were spread unevenly on his floor.

Hoseok’s burned bright red. He couldn’t believe it. Mihi wore these under her clothes?

A pillow was shoved in his face, blocking his view and he fell back on his hands.

“Don’t help!” Mihi yelled and continued to shovel all her undergarments back into the luggage. “God, so embarrassing.”

Hoseok pressed his pillow into his face and nodded, embarrassed as well. He tried to keep his mind off of what he saw but he couldn’t forget as the sound of silk and fabric being thrown into her suitcase.

When she was done, Hoseok helped her move her things into his room since he had decided that he was going to sleep out in the living room.

“Are you sure?” Mihi asked.

“Yeah of course!” Hoseok gave her a thumbs up. Hoseok laid out his blanket on the couch. “I’ll be right here just in case.” Hoseok glanced at the time. It was almost 10pm. He usually watched a little TV before bed.

“Care to join me?” Hoseok smirked, sat back in his couch, and flipped the channel to the news. He patted the seat next to him. Hoping he sounded inviting.

“No.” Mihi flat out rejected him and walked back into her room.

Hoseok winced and continued to watch the TV. It was expected.

The next morning, Jungkook got ready for school in a hurry.

“Hyung I’m going to be late.” Jungkook paced around the living room while Hoseok was in a pair of bunny slippers, sleeping shorts, and a white t-shirt, cooking some eggs in a pan.

Hoseok yawned. “I know.” His eyes had dark circles. He had woken up a bit late that morning. He couldn’t help but feel exhausted since he WAS in a fire yesterday but he hadn’t told his younger brother yet. If Jungkook knew, maybe he would have been a little less harsh on him but he never got the chance to talk to Jungkook yesterday since he was locked in his room all night.

“Almost done…” Hoseok flipped the eggs over.

Jungkook groaned.

“You seem eager to go to school though. Why the change?” Hoseok asked.

Jungkook shrugged. “I just don’t like coming in late.” He said it simply. “They stare at you when you come in late. It’s annoying.”

Hoseok knew that Jungkook wasn’t telling him more but that’s how he was. He could never get Jungkook to tell him exactly what was going on in school.

Mihi slipped out of her room in a pair of sleeping shorts and a t-shirt. She yawned and had disheveled hair. She didn’t have any make up on but she was still very pretty. She walked into the bathroom and the faucet was heard.

Hoseok glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and started to panic as he flipped the egg on a plate and began cutting it into smaller pieces and placed them on rice. Damn.

Hoseok tried his bed to get that image out of his head. He rushed out everything and dropped a bunch of fruit into Jungkook’s bag and handed it over to his younger brother in hopes he didn’t notice anything odd.

Jungkook quirked an eyebrow. “Okay. Thanks?” Jungkook peered inside and noticed a whole apple, banana, 3 tangerines and his rice with eggs in its container. Jungkook glanced at Hoseok several times, giving him an ‘are you kidding me’ stare.

“What? Fruits are good for you. Now get going.” Hoseok shooed him off gripping the edge of the counter. Mihi looked so cute, he thought again.

“Look hyung, just because you have a girl here, doesn’t mean you should forget about me.” Jungkook frowned and walked out the door to catch his bus.

“Jungkook! What do you mean?” Hoseok felt bad. Jungkook seemed hurt by this. “Ahhh. I’ll make it up to him after.” Hoseok pushed his fingers into his own bed hair and shook it.

“What did I do this time?” Mihi came out from the bathroom, in fresh hair, make up and clothes. She worked very quickly.

Hoseok didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “Nothing just mad at me mostly.” A nervous chuckle passed his lips.

“I’m not dumb. I know he doesn’t like me for whatever reason.” Mihi sighed as she grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and bit into it.

Hoseok folded his blankets on the couch. “Yeah, I don’t know how to respond to that. He’ll come around.” He said it optimistically. “In the meantime, what do you want to do today? We have no work and…”

“Hold on.” Mihi grabbed her phone and looked at a text she received with displeasure. “Ugh. It’s Yoongi.”

Hoseok looked up from his folding. “Oh? What did he say?” He started to sweat out of nerves.

“It says, ‘Where are you?’” Mihi scrunched up her face. “At Hoseok’s.” She typed out to him.

Hoseok wondered what Yoongi would say to that. To have your roommate stay at another man’s place, might set him off.

A few seconds later her phone vibrated.

Hoseok waited for Mihi to read the text out loud.

Mihi stared at the text for a long time.

“Mihi?” Hoseok got worried. “What does it say?”

“He said…’Come back.’” 

.:Chapter End:.