Wish (Jung Hoseok)

Seven

"I'm panicking!" Riley exclaimed, throwing her backpack against Hoseok's wall.

Hoseok only shrieked in response.
"Riley! You've known us for three weeks now how can you possibly be nervous to interview us!"

Riley now aimed a pillow at his head to which he instantly backtracked. "You'll do great!" He said, a nervous smile on his face.

Riley whined and laid back on his bed. Jimin threw the door open, looking at the mess now on the floor from her panicking.
"Noona~ how many times do we have to tell you not to throw things when you're overwhelmed!" Jimin picked up her backpack and laid it on the bed.

The girl only poked Jimin's cheek, making him flush and smile. "Are you nervous about tonight? You don't have to be, it's just us. Just think of it as... twenty questions."

"Twenty questions? I'm bad at that stupid game!" Riley whined.
Jimin glanced to Hoseok, who she had still been attached to.
The younger singer wouldn't deny he was jealous. After all, Riley was adorable. Jimin just couldn't find the words to tell her when he looked at her, but Hoseok always could.

"Now I'm sure it can't be that bad. Surely you've written your questions out already." Hoseok said, chuckling at her childlike tantrum.

"No. I haven't, actually. Cause somebody kept distracting me!"
"I hope you're not implying I was distracting you because last time I checked you spent a day with Taehyung and didn't invite me!"

"He was bored!"

Hoseok and Riley glared at each other before laughing. Jimin rolled his eyes.

"Alright, guys, we have work to do if she's not ready... how would we help her write questions we're supposed to answer?"

Hoseok thought for a moment, his brows furrowed. Then he had an idea.

"Well, what's something you've always wanted to ask us? It could be anything. Like... how do we remember dances, rap verses, or anything like that. Or something deeper."

"Deeper..." Riley trailed off. She'd been planning this for so long, but never excepted to ever get to this point. She never bothered to write the questions, scared that if she did; it would never happen.

As she thought, images of herself flashed in her mind over the words she was trying to form.
Riley stood in front of a mirror. She could tell by the clothes it was after her sister's funeral. A long black, lace dress with a pair of black flats.

It was the same dress she wore with her sister to their first night out after a homecoming dance.
Their first night of freedom.
Her cheeks were stained, streaked with the supposed waterproof mascara.

Riley was in shock, just by the fact she was back in her room, staring at her distressed self in the mirror.

It was like her current situation had been a dream.

Then, she was back. But the memories of that night immersed her, despite her efforts to push them away.

Riley was laughing, screaming lyrics of the latest KPop songs at the top of her lungs, while Natalie shouted them along with her.

You'd think the two were in a car, but they really were walking home.
This moment felt timeless.

A memory had been imprinted in Riley's head because of KPop. And now that this memory replayed, over and over... Riley realized the KPop song was I Need U, by BTS.

Riley snapped back to reality, eyes wide.
How could she have forgotten? How could she have missed this precious memory?

Then Riley realized, the loss of her sister had been pretty traumatic. Most of the good memories were buried away.
Under the guilt.

But because of this group, she had a new memory. Reminded of her other final moments with her sister.

One where she didn't feel regret.
That's it.

"I gotta go." She grabbed her bag and headed for the door, hugging both of the boys before she left.

-

Riley was frantically typing her questions.
Questions she never would have thought to ask.
Her younger self would have asked those stereotypical questions like "are you dating anyone?"
"What does it mean to be 'smooth like butter'" but, that was pointless to her.

Why was I trying so hard when I wasn't even prepared?

They don't know just what their impact is on their fan base. That's why I... They need to know.

Riley didn't want to consider herself a messenger for other fans, but she pulled up Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and even Tumblr for ARMY testimonies.

They need to know.

She read one girl's story, saying how watching videos of Jimin would distract her from an anxiety attack, while another was a younger fan that by listening to Min Yoongi's 'Daechwita' she could drown out her parents arguing.

It was like a treasure trove.
Everything she needed was in one place. On one device.

"Bring a smile to my face..."
"Can always make me laugh..."
"It shows they are human..."
Then, it came down to her own.

She had to go into detail about her own experience.

Riley took a deep breath.
Sure, she wouldn't be listing off each experience, but she still needed it for her script.
This was it.

What little Riley had always worked for.

What English Riley had wished for.