words; 2288

pointofview; Hoseok

Leaning against the large dance mirror, I can feel the sweat pool up on my forehead before sliding down the side of my jaw. My breaths are heavy and my muscles ache as I try to stretch them out. I can hear the whistle of my phone’s ring tone causing me to stare with exasperation as I see it across the room laying on my ruffled bag of clothes. Standing, my bones creak against each other. I roll my shoulders and neck around, trying to work out the kinks while I make my way over to my whistling phone. The kakao symbol is displayed at the top on the navigation bar and so I have no idea of knowing who it’s from. I pout slightly, almost annoyed I got up from my resting positon. Before I can unlock my phone to reveal the mystery sender, my phone begins to ring loudly with ‘Jiminnie’ as the caller. Swiping it, I hold it to my ear, “Hello?”

“Hoseok-Hyung!” The younger boys voice sounds worried with a sprinkle of annoyance. “Yoongi-hyung and Taehyung-ah haven’t come back yet!”

Checking my watch, I notice how late into the night it is, “Yoongi-hyung said he’d be at the studio.”

“I already called, the manager said he’s not there!”

“Then he’s on his way back! You worry too much!” I only tell him this to stop him from panicking even though my own fears start to creep up on me.

Jimin scoffs, “Then how do you explain Taehyung’s disappearance!?”

I shake my head, rubbing my temples and pacing around, “Do you want me to help look?”

“Would you?” His voice is pleading; I don’t really have an option.

“Yeah, yeah. Should I get Yoongi-hyung or Taehyung?” Slipping my jacket on, I notice the thunder clouds up above and mutter under my breath.

“Oh!” I hear the phone move away from Jimin’s mouth and listen carefully to the distant conversation, “Hyung! You’re back!” I can’t hear his reply but the way Jimin’s voice answers sounds like Yoongi-hyung is not in a mood to be messed with. “Where were you all day? We were worried!”

I put down my phone for a moment to properly slip on my jacket and duffle bag before I bring it back up to my ear. “Jimin?”

The line has gone dead so now I assume I’m going after Taehyung. Sticking a cap on my head, I turn off the practice room’s lights before exiting through the office portion of the building. I bow politely to all the people still in the office before exiting. Before I begin searching for the missing boy, my eyes are drawn to the small coffee shop across the street with a familiar, pretty Barista working the lonely place. Looking both ways, I cross the street cautiously and walk inside a little hesitantly.

“Welcome.” Her cute, round figure bobs lightly as she enthusiastically welcomes me in. I’m still surprised at how tiny she is, barely making five feet on a good day. When she looks up at my face, she stops slightly when she notices I’m her new customer. Her black frames fall down her button nose a bit and so she nervously pushes them back up.

I sit down in a seat by the window, the most popular seat but since I’m the only customer, I have some choices. She comes over shyly, “G-good evening, what would you like?” The cute girl trails off a bit, hiding behind her shoulder length, black hair that falls over her blushing cheeks like a sheet of velvet.

“Hm,” I say extra thoughtfully, “What do you think is the tastiest drink on the menu?”

“Y-you mean, what I like?” The girl plays with her pen, a mini panda dangling off the tip. “Well I really like the hot chocolate with crème…it’s sweet though…um…” She looks up at me quickly as if she said something wrong. I only smile.

“Then I would like two of those, please and thank you.” I give her my biggest and sweetest smile causing her cheeks to redden a gently.  

As she’s writing it down, she almost mumbles so I can’t hear her, “A-are you waiting for someone?”

I shift around in my seat and lean closer to her, not really needing to but it was cute when she got nervous, “What?”

She’s taken aback by my sudden closeness, “U-uh…never mind.” The girl turns and quickly scurries away to make the drinks. I watch her round back for a moment, enjoying her diligence as she carefully measures the hot chocolate into the cup.

Turning away, I begin to watch the outside world just as small drops of rain commence a race down the glass. My face is quiet and calm as my eyes follow the people running into safety shelters to try to keep dry. I watch as girls squeal and cover their hair, men hold umbrellas or jackets over their girlfriends and children splashing in puddles dangerously close to the road. My mind starts to wander away from the safe haven of the little coffee shop until I see a familiar head of orange running past the BigHit building, a smaller figure beside him. “Taehyung?” My voice is small and in disbelief as I watch him holding a jacket over the girl, bringing her closer to his body. “T-taehyung! Whoa. Wow!” I shake my head, smiling knowingly. I pull out my phone and quickly message him.

Sent; 11:31pm; to TaeTae;) [I see you man, who’s the cutie?!~]

Putting my phone down, I’m on the edge of my seat as I see Taehyung pull out his own phone and begin to turn around in confused circles. As he looks in my direction, I look away to hide my face when my phone whistles again.

Received; 11:33pm; From TaeTae;) [Where?! Are you in the building?]

Covering my mouth, I try not to laugh too loudly to disrupt the Barista’s concentration as she pours in the crème.

Sent; 11:34pm; to TaeTae;) [You’ll never know kekekeke]

As I click send with a playful snicker, the doorbell signalling a new customer rings. I turn to look out of curiosity and am shocked to see a dripping wet Taehyung and a small girl beside him. They both wear couple sweaters and I freeze as I see them notice me. “You—” The orange haired boy points to me, stumbling towards me, “H-how did you know?”

The Barista carefully walks over to my table, setting down the two hot chocolates carefully. “Here you go.” Her voice is quiet and she nervously glances up at me.

I smile softly, leaning in carefully, “Thank you. Sit with me.” I gesture to the open seat across from me.  Before she can answer, Taehyung slips into the booth seat across from me, his little girlfriend doing the same. They both smile loudly, taking the two cups of hot chocolate. “Y-ya!” I exclaim, lunging for the cup Taehyung holds, “Are you crazy?”

The wet boy just laughs and take a deep sip, “Delicious! He smiles a victorious smile as the girl beside him follows suit with a daintier sip. “Isn’t it good, Jagiya?”

“Mm,” She replies, her smile wistful, “It’s so sweet!” Turning to the confused, and almost annoyed Barista, she bows deeply, “Thank you…” Taehyung’s girlfriend leans in to look at the Barista’s name tag, “Mmm, Sage!”

Sighing, I rub my temple, “Taehyung, I paid for that.”

The most annoying couple I’ve ever met bow in unison, “Thank you Hyung(oppa).” They continue sipping the drinks, looking at the menu and discussing what pastries to order.

I turn back to the Barista—Sage. “Can you make two more, please?” She nods but before she could turn away, Taehyung quickly orders two powder donuts. When Sage finally leaves, I angrily whisper to the two of them, “Why did you come here?!”

The girl answers first, “Because it’s raining!”

“Yeah but this shop! You know,” I gesture to Sage who works with intense concentration, “She’s the reason I see colour!”

Taehyung’s girlfriend in a breath, “I’m so sorry! We didn’t mean to interrupt!” Obvious lie.

The orange hair boy just smiles, “Hehe, so that second drink is for her, I assume? ~”

His girlfriend answers, “No , Sherlock!”

“Did I ask your opinion, Dear Watson?” He smiles playfully as she kicks him under the table.

So youthful.

Sage comes back with our order, “Two donuts and two cups of hot chocolate with extra crème.”

Taehyung suddenly half stands, “Sit with us, Sarah.”

“Sage.” She replies curtly, obviously uncomfortable with the situation.

“If you want to,” I add quickly, not wanting to scare off such a timid creature.

She looks around the shop to see no one else before bringing her attention back to us, “But the shop is still open.”

The girl couple sweater slips out of the booth and walks confidently to the front door. Looking over her shoulder, she flashes Sage a smile before flipping the open sign to the closed side. “There, now it’s closed.”

I lean in to Taehyung, “What’s her name?”

“Daisy!” He smiles proudly, as if he just won best man award.

“Daisy,” I call, “You could get Sage in trouble for that, you know.”

Sage just smiles softly, “Don’t worry, my father owns the place.”

“Will he be mad?”

“He’s not here for the weekend. Business trip.”

“So,” I start, giving her a shy glance, “Do you want to sit with us?”

“Why not?” She seems to have opened up a bit for her smile is less concealed and friendlier. “Do you guys want to play board games? I have a bunch in the back.”

Daisy’s face becomes dark and challenging, “I’ll destroy you all at Monopoly.”

Taehyung laughs nervously, “I guess its Monopoly.”

Sage nods and half-runs, half-walks to a small door at the back of the shop. She disappears for less than a minute before returning with the game board. “Alright, I call the thimble!”

“Yah! I wanted that one!” Daisy looks mildly surprised at Sage’s new found confidence. Sage laughs softly, making me smile at the awkward giggle. Her face turns red when she notices me noticing her. “W-what do you want to be, Hoseok…?” When she says my name, she says it as if it will break if not pronounced correctly.

“I’m always the car.”

Taehyung quickly grabs it out of my hands, “If Sage gets the thimble, I get the car.”

“My hero~” Says a dramatic Daisy.

Sage and I give each other a side glance before she picks out the hat and hands it to me, “You can be the hat then.”

“Ah yes, Taehyung’s favourite.”

The annoying orange watches as I place it loudly onto the board. “Shall we?” We roll the dice to see who goes first.

Sage rolls double sixes.

--

After an hour of playing, we’ve each gone through three cups of hot chocolate and at least six donuts each. Taehyung became bankrupt at least a half hour ago, I’m barely holding up and Daisy is starting to lose her momentum. Sage has over half the board in control including all the yellows, reds, greens, and dark blues. No one wants to move anymore. “I give up.” I say, placing my head on the table.

“Already?” Sage sounds genuinely surprised as she looks at me, “Are you sure?”

Daisy sets her jaw, “I’m not done yet!”

“It’s going on midnight and we have a schedule tomorrow!” Taehyung whines, half asleep.

His little Soulmate gives in, “Alright, fine. But you!” She points challengingly at Sage who flinches in response, “I will beat you next time. You are now my mortal enemy!”

Sage just blinks in confusion.

We all slide out of the booth, helping carry garbage away and clean off the table. I yawn loudly as Sage moves a little closer to me. She whispers under her breath, “They’re very loud, aren’t they?”

I also keep my voice low, “Mhm, they have a lot of energy.”

“I don’t know if I can do that again for a while.” She yawns herself but quickly stops, embarrassed.

“So what are you doing tomorrow?” My voice is hopeful, I want to talk to her again.

“The shop is closed, if that’s what you’re asking.” Even though the words seem harsh and sarcastic, her voice is light and soft.

“Eh? Why?”

“I have a test to study for on Monday. I’m in university.”

“Ohh. Tomorrow is Friday, right?”

“Tomorrow is Saturday, today is Friday.” She points to an old fashioned clock above the door, its hands displaying 12:13am.

My eyes widen in surprise, checking my phone for the first time in a while. I see multiple missed calls from my members. “Aish, we should head back.”

“Alright. Um. Bye.” She bows lightly, clearly saddened at the prospect of my leaving.

“Are…you…free Sunday? I mean, I can come over with snacks. We don’t have to go anywhere.” I quickly add the last half as I see her eyes drift away to the idea of not studying for her test.

After a moment of silence, she smiles, “There is a little fair going on at my old Elementary school…I was asked to help volunteer…can you help, too?”

I nod, anything to be around her. To learn more about her. Taehyung shouts at me from outside, “Yah, Hoseok-hyung, there’s a taxi!” I wave him off, finishing my goodbyes with Sage.

She bows lightly again but I pull her into a small hug causing her to stiffen in surprise. “Ahha, sorry, I’m a hugger!” I tell her happily, bouncing out into the taxi. We all wave to her as we drive off.

I can’t help but be excited for Sunday.