Hoseok burst through the doors of the hospital and didn’t waste a second to slam his palms down on the receptionist’s desk. He glared at the petite woman who had been busy chatting with a nearby nurse and they both jumped at his sudden appearance.

“Good morning sir, how may I- “ “Cut the crap” he interrupted viciously, “Where’s room 504?”

Astounded by his lack of formality, the secretary frowned and stood up from her seat, “Sir, if you would please cooperate-“

“Where is the damn room?!” He cried with a red face. He swore that a second longer and he wouldn’t hesitate to punch her face in. There he was in dire need of seeing his father’s state and she was being all y about it? God, someone might be dying! He wanted to scream at her, to chop he head off and make her realize that there was no time for formalities when someone’s time was ticking!

She debated for a minute before reluctantly pointing towards a corridor and muttering that it was on the fifth floor and to take a right when he’s arrived on the floor, before the boy dashed away without a second to spare.

She only huffed and murmured to her friend, “Youngsters these days don’t have manners”

“Agreed” Her friend nodded.

He ran like his heels were on fire, he ran like he had never run in his life. The adrenaline pumping through his veins pushed him to his limit, and everything was just a blur of corridors and steps as he bounced on his heels back and forth. He swiveled his head right and left, breaths coming out as soft pants before taking off down a corridor once again.

The only thing that was on Hoseok’s mind at this moment was his father; all the times he had hurt him, all the times Hoseok had bothered slamming the door in his face and had called him names because he was forcing him to do something the boy had never liked. A flashback of ten years ago, when Hoseok had been only nine, jolted before his eyes. He remembered how his father had pushed him into the basketball field where everyone had stood, waiting for him to take the test for trials. Hoseok had never felt so humiliated in his whole life, but now that he thought back to it, it was all his father’s doing, his father had helped him in so many ways to develop himself although they were never really on the same wavelength. Hoseok was now a star basketball player because of him, all thanks to him.

Somewhere along the line, the man had been right at a time in his life, right?

“Hoseok!” He heard his mother’s call upon barging into the room without even knocking. Ot even bothering to answer her, his gaze went straight to the bed, where a figure lay still, unmoving.

Hoseok felt his heart drop in his stomach. This was not happening, he wanted to comfort himself, this was not happening, but no matter how much he tried twisting and coiling the words, they all came back with the same meaning.

When he caught sight of his father up close, he didn’t look like his father. The individual lying there so lifelessly, had he always been this pale? The oxygen mask present on his face hid his features and Hoseok thought that he had never seen his father look this small. It almost like he had the life out of him. A slither of fear crawled up Hoseok’s spine, causing his body to shake involuntarily from the shock of it all. The heart monitor was beeping, the sound rushing to his ears like a cacophony of alarms ringing inside his brain. It wasn’t until his sister’s arms came around him that he collapsed to the ground with a broken expression on his face.

Now what?

“Hey, hey Hoseok” Hyejin managed to put him back on his feet, her arm wrapped around his shoulder tightly in a form of consolation, “He’s okay for now. He’s stable, his still alive”

“How did it happen?” he whispered softly after a long silence prolonged. Mrs Jung took a deep breath then sat down on one of the plastic chairs placed at the edge of the room, her fingers clasped together as if she was trying to comfort herself.

“He got a fit when he was shouting at one of the staff members. Apparently, the doctor said that it’s because of him overworking himself at this age” His mother tried to soften the blow but Hoseok still felt this slap in the face as fresh as a newborn sting. Guilt spared no time in flooding his heart as he took a deep breath, looking back towards the figure of his father.

“Is he…” The boy took a deep breath, “Is he going to be okay?”

“The doctors said that it might occur again. His heartbeat is unstable”

“Yah Hobi,” Hyejin shook Hoseok slightly when she felt his shoulders sag, “He’s okay, calm down”

“No he’s not’ the boy shot back, “He had a heart attack because he worked too hard, because I…I wouldn’t take over the company’

Nobody said the word out loud but their minds thought alike as they spared glances at each other. The guilt tripled and snatched at his heartstrings. He couldn’t believe his father; the man that had been capable of doing anything was now lying there attached to a damn machine that was the only thing keeping his heart alive. Hoseok felt like crying, but why? He thought he hated his dad, ever since he started putting down Hoseok’s dream and instead forcing him to go to different meetings and auctions just to learn about the business life, the boy had wanted to rebel and show his father that he was better, could be better than just a mere shareholder, a stupid businessman.

But when he thought about it now, there was a fine line between hating and loving someone. Don’t get him wrong, Hoseok still hated his father from the deepest, darkest pits of his soul and yet, looking at him now, the boy couldn’t bring himself to turn and walk away when he knew that part of the reason why Mr Jung was here was all because of Hoseok not wanting to take over the company from his hands.

“Stop saying such stupid things” Hyejin snapped, her expression pinched into a frown, “You know appa, he’s stronger than this. You think that a mere heart attack will stop him?”

“That’s not the point” Hoseok hissed.

“Oh do please enlighten me”

“The point is that it’s my fault!” He suddenly yelled out loud, not bearing this kind of repression anymore. His nostrils flared as he glared at his sister for the firs time in ages. The Jung siblings weren’t known for their fighting, and their mother clasped both their shoulders while pulling them away with a concerned look in her eyes, “You two stop fighting” she said like a caress.

They both looked away. Hoseok was at loss for what to say, what could possibly be said in those circumstances?

Just when he thought that life was going on pretty well, bricks just had to be flown his way.

Soa bit her lip when she was greeted once again by the monotonous dial of the phone beeping in her ear like an annoying alarm bell. Looking at the screen and checking that once again, Hoseok’s phone seemed unreachable, the girl let a small sigh escape her lips as she looked up at the dance academy where he was supposed to be. She had skipped the last part of her maths class because something was niggling at the back of her mind ever since this morning, like something bad was going to happen to Hoseok. He had told her that his break finished in 10 minutes and this had been half an hour ago, where the hell could he be now? She looked down at the plastic bag full of food in her hold and thought that maybe she should try asking and checking inside although they’d probably take her for a real weirdo.

Oh well, it couldn’t hurt her, they didn’t even know her.

With her head held high, the girl walked through the doors and asked around for J-Hope’s name, which was easy to identify since it looked like he was quite popular with the school population. A group of girls pointed her towards his class and bowing gratefully, Soa directed herself towards the door and tiptoed, trying to take a peek at the inside. She couldn’t find anything and she was pretty sure it was because this was their break.

So where the heck had he gone?

She checked her phone again. Nothing but the boring lock screen glowing back at her. She furrowed her brows even more and bit her lip before turning away. Maybe if she had any luck, she’d find him in the university-dining hall.

She was about to take another step forward when she collided with someone else, her takeaway food threatening to burst out onto the floor as she made a grab for it and held it close to her chest. A second later and she’d have to bid her goodbye to good, lost food.

“Soa?”

That voice, it was a voice she knew somewhere. Her head snapped up to meet a pair of familiar brown orbs. Instantly, she felt the dread crawling up her spine as she lowered her head, “Hey, Jongin”

“What are you doing here?” He asked with mild curiosity. If she didn’t know better, she would’ve said that he seemed totally normal, like he hadn’t even heard about the confrontation between her and her father the other day.

With reluctance, the girl replied, “I came to see my boyfriend”

“Boyfriend?” a small grin alighted Jongin’s face, “You mean J-Hope?”

“How-“ Soa blinked, “How did you know?”

“I saw him last time remember?” Jongin shrugged, “At the party”

“Oh.” That party, the party where she made a fool out of herself. Soa’s grip on the plastic bag tightened unconsciously when she thought back to that moment, the time where she had embarrassed herself by being shot down so easily by her father. But then, Jongin’s hand came to a rest upon her shoulder and she looked up at his touch.

The boy smiled, “Hey it’s okay. I totally get you. No need to be embarrassed about that”

She averted her eyes down the hall, wondering when on earth was her boyfriend going to show up because she just felt like dying right there and then. “So do you know where he is?”

“Uhm no, I didn’t see him after the small break. He was there in the morning though” Jongin scratched the back of his head in thought. Grasping onto the reality of the situation, Soa’s head snapped up to his with confusion written across her face.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Suspicion was laced in her tone. “Don’t you have school?”

“I do,” Jongin rubbed the back of his neck like an adorable embarrassed kid, “But I got a scholarship here. I try to divide my time between school and here”

“Wow’ her eyes widened, “You must be good then”

“I guess so” Jongin mumbled, “So, I guess I’ll see you around then. Classes are about to start”

“Jongin” she called out before he could turn fully and walk away from her. Soa walked up to him and placed the takeaway plastic in his hand, looking up at him through her side fringe in annoyance, “take it. I bet you’re hungry”

“But-“ “See you around” She turned before he could do anything else and the boy sighed. His heart ached whenever she was around. How the hell was he supposed to comply to Saerim’s wishes when Soa was that nice and kind? Her genuineness had surprised him at first because all he knew about her were all the bitter things Saerim had spat out of like a fling of insults. But Soa wasn’t like that; Soa seemed even more innocent up close, with those eyes of her always flickering around uncertainly, like she needed someone to protect her. Raking a hand through his hair, he wondered whether it had been a good idea to comply to Saerim’s idea of a sick joke because he felt like complete while doing so.

Soa walked out of the university campus and with her fingers swiping deftly across the keyboard, she sent J-Hope a short message:

From: Soa

To: Hoseok

Where the heck are you? Why aren’t you picking up any of my calls? I swear Hoseok if this is a joke then it’s not funny.

She waited and waited, then dialed his phone again only to receive the same monotonous robotic voice.

The day passed by agonizingly slow for the girl. She didn’t go back to school for fear of getting herself a detention so instead she walked back to her flat and decided to wait for his return. Usually, he would be home earlier than her since his classes had earlier rotation shifts. As Soa scanned the room for his presence, nothing gave off the fact that he had been there apart from his bag thrown onto the floor carelessly across the middle of the room. A frown slowly made its way onto Soa’s face as she leaned down to pick it up.

Weird, never had Hoseok neglected his things.

He wasn’t someone to throw his things around. He’d always have specific places for each item of his possession.

Something was off, something was wrong, she concluded to herself.

She sighed when she realized just how lonely she had been before he had decided to move in with her. Loneliness hadn’t been a very big problem in the beginning because she had actually grown to love the solitude and freedom it gave her. But now, watching the flat with dead eyes, the boy’s absence was indeed, felt.

She took out her homework because she knew that stressing over his MIA might not help her. So to distract herself, she started working and distracting her brain with other things.

It wasn’t until late at night that her phone suddenly beeped. Jumping at the noise, the girl practically threw herself at the phone before opening up the incoming message eagerly. Her heart was thudding loudly inside her ribcage and unconsciously a smile made it’s way to , stretching it wide. She felt relieved at the mere fact that he was responding, he was safe somewhere, everything was fine.

From: Hoseok

To: Soa

Sorry for not replying. My phone battery died.

That’s it? Her thoughts froze for a moment before meddling up in confusion. That was the only thing he could find to say? Seriously? She felt like banging his head against a nearby wall. He didn’t seem to notice the amount of worry she had over him. How many miscalls has he gotten from her? 30? That was a lot, couldn’t he just for once make an effort and act like he card that she cared about him? He disappeared for over twelve ing hours and the only thing he says is ‘his phone battery died?’. Anger bubbled up through the pit of Soa’s stomach, turning back to her phone screen and pressing onto the phone dial.

If he thought about getting away with this, well he had another thing coming for him.

As soon as he picked up, Soa shot him down with accusations, “Where the are you?! Do you know how worried I was?!”

His sigh only aggravated her even more. He made it sound like it was no big deal that he vanished out of the thin air, “I told you my phone died”

“Why aren’t you home? Your classes finished since a long time ago” She snapped but with an underlying tone of concern though it was hard for him to decipher it.

A pause. Then, “Open your door”

Soa blinked into the receiver, then as if her heels were on fire, she scrambled up from her sitting position and threw her body at the door handle, twisting it with shaky fingers and jerking it open violently in her hurry only to see Hoseok’s face greeting her.

But instead of sporting a slight smirk on his face like he used to every time he’d come home late, this one didn’t even blink at her. His eyes were dead without any light, without any life as she scanned his face. Why did he seem so dead? Her heart ached slightly when she noticed that he was still in his morning clothes and softened.

“Were you at the dance studio all this time?” She asked with a murmur of a caress.

He shook his head, “It’s…a long story” he hesitated. He brushed past her and walked into the flat without any bounce in his step, the curve of his shoulder hunched slightly and making the girl wonder what exactly was he hiding this time. She knew that it was something bad and yet, Hoseok was always reluctant in talking about his problems, just like her. But she was determined into knowing because she wanted to be there for him. When she had been crushed by her father’s accusations, he was there comforting her and pushing her up again so that she could walk with her own two feet without feeling like she was stepping on egg shells, she wanted to let him know that no matter what would happen, Soa was there for him to lean on, just like he had done for her.

Genuine worry flooded her veins when she watched him lie back on the sofa and stare up at the ceiling without any emotion on his eyes. As smoothly as a cat, the girl made her way over and sat down next to him, nudging his knee slightly with hers in hopes of a response.

Nothing.

Hoseok hadn’t even felt the pressure. He just continued looking up like he wasn’t really there.

“Hoseok?” Soa tentatively dropped he hand the said boy’s shoulder.

After a few seconds did he turn his head to look at her. There was no deying the fact that she should bring down the boy back to earth because his brain was probably floating into space at this instant.

“Hoseok, what’s wrong?” She tried again, this time leaning closer.

Instead of replying, the boy turned to her and suddenly enveloped his arms around her. he buried his face into the crook of her neck and exhaled, his breath hitting sensitive spots over her flesh and causing her to tingle all over with desire.

“Hoseok?” she reached out and patted his head in comfort, her other hand wounding around him and his back gently. He just shivered in response and murmured from the depths of her neck, “I’ll…I’ll tell you later, just- Just not now”

His voice was so full of emotion that Soa felt like she was choking. Without another word, she hugged him tightly against her own body and made sure to show him the comfort of her arms, feeling like she had to protect him from the world, just this once.

Haiiiiii guysss! Long time no seee~ 

I'm so sorry for the late update, but blame it on schoolwork huhuhuh TT.TT Hope you like this chappie although there's not much Hobisoa interaction because of all the drama going on. What do you think is going to happen next? What do you think Kai is hiding? :o comment your thoughts down below! <3 

thanks as always for enjoying my story! Welcome to new subbies and i love you guys, you know that right? :) <3