The following day Hoseok decided that he really wasn’t in the mood to put up with school. The guilt had nagged his brain all throughout the night at having missed one day with Hyeri. He decided he would spend the whole day at the hospital with her. He sat eating a quick breakfast listening to his dad’s quiet snores in the room next to the kitchen. He had arrived an hour ago and he only had a few hours until he had to move onto the next job. Hoseok couldn’t remember the last time they had sat down together to have a proper meal. He could only sigh and glance at the door as he walked past it heading out.

The bus was quite full, so there were no seats available whatsoever. He kept himself upright by clinging onto a pole and with the other hand shooting a quick text message to his best friend Yoongi that he wasn’t going to make it. Yoongi had been best friend ever since the third grade. He was the only person Hoseok kept close to him besides his sister and he had been quite content like that. He couldn’t help, but smile slightly when he read the quick response of his friend promising him to call him up later to see how I had gone. Unfortunately for him the bus decided to make a harsh stop, and in an effort to keep himself upright his phone went flying from his hands. Hoseok watched in horror as it roughly landed on the lap of a teenage boy. Said boy flinched at the sudden intrusion of the item on his lap and with hesitant fingers picked it up.

“I am so sorry! It just slipped out of my hands!” Hoseok exclaimed as he clumsily waddled around people to get to the boy sitting a few seats down from where he had been standing.

The boy looked up at him from his fringe of straight black hair and lifted his hand to give the phone back to Hoseok, “It’s alright. At least I saved it from smashing on the ground.” He gave a shy smile and Hoseok was surprised to find a pair of adorable bunny teeth peeking through. Judging by his school uniform the boy had to be in high school, but his face seemed really young and carried a sense of innocence. Overall the boy had a very pleasant aura.

“Thanks. Sorry once again.” Hoseok made sure to give him a slight bow before heading back to his spot. He was about to reach his stop anyways.

Hoseok was quick to get of the bus and was thankful the bus stop was right in front of the hospital. He began making his way inside when he noticed somebody keeping pace with him. He turned to look to find the same boy his phone had attacked walking at his pace messing with his own phone.

“It seems like we are heading the same place, Im Hoseok by the way.” Hoseok decided that he was going to be friendly. The kid had such a calming aura that he liked.

At the sound of Hoseok’s voice the boy quickly put his phone away and directed another smile at him, “Oh it looks like we are my name is Jungkook, nice to meet you.” He extended a hand for a handshake and Hoseok shook it enthusiastically.

“Are you here to visit someone?” Hoseok hoped he didn’t sound too nosy, but he was sincerely curious.

“Yes Im here to visit my hyung. He is in room 1004, but this is my first time visiting him so Im not too sure were that is.” Jungkook admitted sheepishly.

“Oh that is right next to my sister’s room. You can follow me Ill show you the way.”

After a quick stop at the front desk they kept simple small talk as they rode the elevator and walked down the long hallways. Once they had made it to the rooms, Hoseok bid him goodbye and walked into his sister’s room without truly realizing what room Jungkook had just walked into.

Hyeri’s condition was a bit better from the day before. This time when he walked in he found her sitting a bit more upright in her bed softly petting a small stuffed lion. Her eyes were glued on the television watching a music show. When Hoseok closed the door she quickly looked towards the entrance and when she spotted him she gave him a big smile.

“Hobi you’re here! Wait a minute aren’t you supposed to be in school? It’s your senior year and you should be trying to finish with good grades.” She accusingly greeted him.

With an equally big smile on his face he walked towards her bed and gently gathered her in his arms before sitting on the leather chair next to her bed.

“Ehh I really didn’t feel like going today. I wanted to come see you instead. Hyeri where did you get that lion from?” he carefully took the stuffed lion out of her grasp and gave it a couple pats on his head.

“Actually I got him yesterday evening. The patient that was admitted into the room next to mine came into introduce himself. He followed Jin oppa into the room when it was time to change my IV. He said his name was Taehyung and he was really sweet. Some of the things he talked about were a bit strange, but it was really interesting. He gave me this stuffed lion before he left.”

Taehyung must have been the name of the boy that had seen him crying in the hallway. For some odd reason he felt himself choke up a bit staring at the stuffed animal thinking about his kindness. He handed it back to her and she resumed petting it as they continued their conversation.

She had boasted to him that in the morning she woke up feeling a bit better than yesterday so she had taken the liberty to take a couple sips of the ginseng tea. He promised her more the next time he came.  After catching up they settled on watching a movie. They got about half way through the movie when a knock was heard on the door and Jin entered accompanied by two other people.

“Hyeri Im here to give you another round of medicine. Taehyung and his friend Jungkook followed me here and they are wondering if it is alright if they stay for a bit. They wanna keep you company. “

Sure enough the two people behind Jin were standing at the door way with sheepish smiles. Hoseok quickly recognized Jungkook and it he had just made the connection between the two. From where he was sitting he finally had a proper view on Taehyung. He looked the same except he looked a bit paler and this time around he had a thick cardigan wrapped around him. This time around he wasn’t attached to an IV stand.  

“Sure, come in guys.” Hyeri directed her welcome to Taehyung whom she had met already. With her acceptance, Taehyung grabbed Jungkook’s hand and went to go stand in front of Hyeri’s bed.

“Thank you Hyeri noona. This is my best friend Jungkook. Ive known him all my life and he puts up with me so Im grateful.” He ended his introduction with wide grin. Hoseok had never seen such an interesting smile on anybody in his life. It was extremely unique and he found himself admiring the way Taehyung’s lips formed a sort of rectangular shape exposing a mouthful of straight white teeth. His eyes formed into tiny little crescents and somehow it made Hoseok feel warm inside.

Formal introductions were made and the correct honorifics attached. Jungkook had retold the story of their initial meeting in the morning. Both Hyeri and Taehyung had listened on quite amused and not long after Taehyung began to delve into a story of his pet cat. Jin had left a few minutes earlier needed by other patients and Taehyung was describing his pet cat in fine detail. It was a female California Spangled Cat that he had simply named Haru. Taehyung’s deep voice had soothed Hoseok and he actually found himself enjoying the word by word description of the fur of the cat.

“Her fur is really soft and the spots she has are really interesting. I really miss her so Im going to try to get Jungkookie to bri-“

“Hyung your nose is bleeding.”

At the mention of blood Hoseok looked up and sure enough Taehyung’s nose had begun to drip blood down his chin. It was a heavy nosebleed because by the time Hoseok and Jungkook had quickly handed him tissues it had stained the front of his nightgown. Jungkook had helped him tilt his head back and after a few minutes the bleeding had stopped.

“Hyung you should get yourself cleaned up.” Jungkook commented as he helped him gather his dirty tissues.

“Ok I’ll be right back.” Taehyung stood up and after his first step his legs crumbled underneath him. Without thinking Hoseok wrenched himself from his seat before anybody had the chance to move and attempted to prop Taehyung up in his arms.

Fortunately he hadn’t passed out, but judging from his pale face and the sheen of sweat that had formed at his brow he had become quite light headed, “Hey are you ok? Jungkook-ah go get Jin hyung!”

Jungkook quickly shot out of his seat and out of the room.

“Yeah Im fine, just a little dizzy. It must have been the nose bleed.” He weakly smiled. Hoseok helped him sit up and not a moment later Jin burst into the room followed by a breathless Jungkook.

“Taehyung let’s get you to your room now. Hoseok-ah can you help me get him to his bed please. Come on Jungkook.”

Everybody was quick to follow Jin’s instructions. Hoseok with gentle hands placed Taehyung’s arm around his neck and lifted him up. He was really light and the jostling movements seemed to make his dizziness worse. Without a warning Taehyung stuck his face in the crook of Hoseok’s neck and he almost froze at the sudden contact. He carefully looked down as he slowly followed Jin out of the room and he found Taehyung’s eyes shut tight. Hoseok felt a slight blush creep on his face in embarrassment and he hoped Taehyung wouldn’t spew chunks against him.

Thoughts of vomit and close contact ended abruptly when he entered Taehyung’s hospital room to find it full of various stuffed animals, books, and games. Taehyung had just entered the hospital the day before and Hoseok found it strange that all these items had already been brought in. Taehyung had various stuffed lions scattered about in his bed and Hoseok made sure to avoid them when he carefully set him down. Jin was quick to begin working on him and whispers of doctor could be heard as he handed him some pills. Hoseok didn’t feel needed anymore so as quietly as possible he made his way to the door. As soon as he put his hand on the door handle a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

“Hoseok hyung wait! Taehyung wants me to give this to you.” Something soft was placed in his hands and when Hoseok looked down he saw a stuffed lion in his hands. It was similar to the one Hyeri had gotten but the eyes were bigger. Hoseok clutched the lion tightly in his hands when he looked up again to find Jungkook pointing at Taehyung. Taehyung was propped on his pillows and he shot Hoseok another one of his rectangular smiles as soon as they had made eye contact.

“Thank you Taehyung. I hope you feel better!” after spewing a quick thanks Hoseok quickly stepped out of the room. The blush had returned and he couldn’t understand why his heart had begun to race a bit after seeing him smile. It made no sense to him whatsoever, so Hoseok stood right outside of the door in the empty hallway a little while longer. He admired the little stuffed lion in his hands and contemplated that contagious smile in his head before heading back to Hyeri’s room.