too scared to be afraid

chapter twenty-four: don't get in between our time together

"To you, everyone's a good person except yourself."

024: don't get in between our time together

xxxx

"What a freak! Look at him, just sitting with his friends like nothing ever happened. They probably don't even know about it."

"He's such a fucking fake bitch, I'm so sorry Hoseok did that to you, Daehyun-ah."

Hoseok's head involuntarily bowed down. His body moved with it, shrinking in on itself.

He wondered if that were Daehyun's true intentions. Not to play with him like Mother and Father loved to do, but to frame him for something he didn't do. He'd take the blame if he must but it hurt. It hurt that the possibilty of his friends finding out about the lie could separate them. The friends he allowed himself to trust over time..If they disappeared just like his parents, he wouldn't know how to continue living.

In a world so foreign to him, all he had were the people by his side. His six friends who were willing to be his friend despite how terrible of a person he was. The guilt he carried weighed him down with each passing moment, but they didn't seem to care about it. They didn't see him as some useless being, although they were bound to find out soon enough. He had to hold their precious time together close or it would slip away.

"Were they talking about you, hyung? I think I heard someone say your name," Taehyung asked, directing attention onto him. He found they all were shooting him those concerned expressions that he hated so much. They shouldn't be worrying about someone like him.

"It doesn't matter. Can--if you hear anything about me, can you ignore it? Please?"

Yoongi sighed, "If there's a misunderstanding, we should work to settle it. I don't want anything to happen to you because of some dumb rumor." Yoongi was always so kind. Too kind.

"It's alright, hyung. Nothing will happen."

"Because it already did. Did you tell them about your arm, Hoseok-ah?"

Everyone looked to the two approaching boys. What were Seokjin and Jungkook doing here? Seokjin attended night classes and Jungkook was still in high school.

"Did something happen? Is something wrong, hyung? Why are you and Jungkookie here?"

"Well, Jungkook kept asking to skip school so he could see you and I'm not busy today. But, I agree with Yoongi. We should get your little issue settled quickly."

Hoseok shrugged, looking to Jungkook. He smiled, hurrying to get out of the booth so he could hug the younger boy. Throwing his arms around Jungkook's neck, he pulled the tall boy close to him.

"Jungkookie! You need to tell me about where you're staying and what's happened soon. I still can't believe you're taller than me, it's harder to hug you now!" Jungkook laughed off Hoseok's complaints, wrapping his arms around his hyung's waist. He had been waiting for so long to get to see Hoseok again. Seokjin forbid him to see their love because of exams.

"I like being tall, hyung," Jungkook murmured. This way, he would be able to protect Hoseok. Unlike when he was shorter than him and weaker, he could protect his hyung like his hyung previously did for him. Additionally, Hoseok's small body fit perfectly in Jungkook's arms. He melted into the feeling, arms holding Hoseok tighter, unwilling to let go.

Now all of his friends were here. The last time everyone was together was two weeks ago when they were all at Seokjin's house. It made Hoseok content, seeing all of his closest friends together. He wanted to be the friend they all deserved so badly.

"Jin hyung, Jungkookie, are you two hungry? I can buy you guys lunch. They probably still have some gimbap left."

"We're alright, we ate before arriving here. Thank you for the offer, Hob-ah."

"Hey, off-topic but what happened to Hoseok's arm?"

Dang it, Namjoon.

Hoseok begrudgingly backed away from Jungkook once the boy had let him go. He moved to sit down and patted the seat beside him. Jungkook stepped forward, but was too slow. Seokjin beat him to it, slipping into the seat that was closest to Hoseok. The other side of Hoseok was taken by Yoongi. This left Jungkook to sit next to Taehyung and Namjoon.

"Some b--girl from his class hurt him and fractured his left arm."

Seokjin had taken him to the hospital and it was definitely a fractured arm. The noticeable change was small. Hoseok kept his left hand in his hoodie's pocket all the time so few people noticed. He didn't like to complain about such things.

"What? Are you okay hyung? Does it hurt? Who was it?" Jimin asked, eyes glistening with what looked like unshed tears. There wasn't a reason for Jimin to get so worked up over something so small. Hoseok found himself wishing Seokjin would've kept this a secret. Jimin was already a worry wart over paper cuts. It was best to keep things like this away from him.

"I'm good! It was two weeks ago, I'm sure it's almost completely healed! Don't worry, Jiminie!" Hoseok beamed, laying his head back on the cushion behind him. Jimin didn't seem satisfied with the answer.

"But who was it? We need to get them reported and-" Taehyung began.

"It was some girl named Daehyun. She's also spreading rumors that Hoseok had raped her too."

He shouldn't have told Jin. That was his bad.

"Daehyun?" Namjoon queried. "You're---You're kidding, right? He's joking, right Hoseok hyung?"

"Namjoon, please don't be mad. I-If you don't believe it, please don't stop being my friend. I--It's probably just a misunderstanding, Nam--"

"Don't believe you? Hyung, I'd believe you if you told me my legs fell off in my sleep. But my cousin was always so kind, I can't even imagine her doing this to anyone. I'm so so sorry. Do you know why she did it?"

"I--"

"Because she wanted to "help" him. She got upset that he was gay," Seokjin said with a smile.

"She---what? That fucking bitch, I'm going to kill her and tell the-"

"Don't!" Hoseok cried out, bowing his head to Namjoon. "Please don't tell anyone. She-She'll get in trouble and it'll be much worse a situation than it has to be. I don't want her to get upset. Please, Namjoon-ah."

Namjoon glanced at Seokjin who sat with his arms crossed, with a relaxed posture and a small warm smile on his face. He caught Namjoon's gaze and nodded ever so slightly that Namjoon barely processed it. Then Jin mouthed, "We'll talk about this later."

"Okay, hyung. I won't tell."

xxxx

edited.