Wish (Jung Hoseok)

Thirteen

Riley actually had fun at the amusement park, but her stomach ached and cramped the rest of the night.

Still, she couldn't get Yoongi's voice out of her head.

You love him.

She groaned, smacking her forehead with the palm of her hand.
"Out out out!" Riley whined.

It was pretty late in the night, already 10pm and she decided to stay at her own apartment for once.

It was nice, for once. She didn't feel threatened when she entered the door.

She was two bowls of cereal into an anime when Riley's phone rang, startling her at first.

Until she read the caller ID.

HOBI <3

She had changed it to his nickname after a while of it remaining as 'Hoseok.' It was only fitting.

Leaping for the phone, Riley answered breathlessly. "Hobi! I miss you!" She whined, not hearing the voice for so long.

One day.

"Riley~! I miss you, aein. Just a couple more weeks starting tomorrow, I promise. The video is going great, actually, so maybe sooner? That's enough about that, are you doing okay?"

"Oh god I hope so. The guys took me to some amusement park yesterday and Yoongi made fun of me... otherwise I'm actually at my apartment right now. I'm going to try to sleep."

Hoseok was quiet for a moment. "If you need anything, call Namjoon, okay?"

Riley agreed with a short "got it."

"Get some rest, I'm sure it's late there."

"Ah~ not really. I was watching anime though."

"I'm honored you paused for me!" Hoseok said excitedly.
"It's not paused~"
"Dammit."

After a few moments of silence, enjoying the others presence even if it was just over the phone, Hoseok yawned.

"Hobi, you need to rest for your video. Gotta have that sunshine smile reach your eyes, you know?"
Riley said, fidgeting with the blanket she had stolen from his bed.

She heard a small chuckle.

"Goodnight, aein."

-

Riley laid in her bed, which was hard as a rock compared to Hoseok's.

Staring at the ceiling, she counted from one end of the room to the other, how many shapes she could make out of the popcorn design casting shadows into lines.

Sleep never came, but as it reached 2am, almost on the dot, Riley heard a shuffle in her living room.

She shot up, locking her door within seconds of the noise echoing in her ears.

It sounded like... footsteps? A chip bag? Someone's zipper?

The questions piled on top of each other until eventually, Riley was calling Namjoon.

"Riley? Are you okay?" His tired voice asked.
"You weren't here so I thought you went home... do you need me to come pick you up?"

"Y-yes. I think someone's in here" she whispered, her voice shaky.

No matter how long it was since the event, Riley knew she'd never be able to sleep alone again.

-

Hardly any time went by, maybe five minutes, before Riley heard the front door alarm beep, and someone walked inside.

Even though she knew it was Namjoon, her heart rate picked up.

"It's Namjoon!" He hollered, remembering what Hoseok had told him to do if he ever went over.

Riley threw the door open, running into his arms.
"Hey, its okay, it was only a bag falling off the counter." He whispered, petting down her dirty blonde hair, which was now knotted from her hiding under Hoseok's blanket.

Riley took a deep breath, wanting to be comforted by his scent, wanting the anxiety to go away.

Namjoon smelled nice, sure.

But he didn't have the same smell as Hoseok.
The smell of fresh flowers, sometimes vanilla, or sometimes even the scent of a new book.

It was comforting to her, but Namjoon smelled of a woody body spray.
Typical rapper. She thought.

"Riley, are you alright?" Namjoon finally asked, pulling her away to check on her.

"Yeah, I'm fine... I guess I'm still scarred from what happened."

"It's okay to be, you don't realize how traumatic it was until after the fact. Come on, I'll make you some food."

"You can cook?"

"Obviously! Jin taught me some things."

"Joon..."

"Fine, do you have any ramen packs?"

Riley giggled and pointed to the cabinet above the fridge.

"Thanks." He said, sheepish.

Riley sat on the counter, watching as he put together bowls of instant ramen for the both of them.

"Namjoon, why did Hoseok say to call you if I needed help? Why not Jin? Isn't he ... motherly?"
Namjoon choked on the ramen he had started to eat, covering his mouth as he cleared his throat.

"Well, Hoseok told me before he left that he was trusting me with you... he cares about you quite a bit."

Riley smiled. "I see. I care for him too... I miss him so much."

Namjoon was quiet for a moment before setting a bowl of ramen on the table, helping her get down from the counter.

As she ate, he kept his stare straight on her.

"Joon, you have something on your mind."

"Well... do you like Hoseok?"
"Like? Of course I do. I swear, Yoongi, Taehyung and now you have asked me this."

"No, I mean, love."

Riley sighed and ate her noodles.

Do I? This is becoming so consistent that if I say no I'll just look stupid.

At this point...

"I don't know what love is. How would I know if I love him?"

"You'll just... know." He said, finishing the bowl before standing.

"When you do figure it out, tell him. I'm positive he will return your feelings."

Great. Now Namjoon is telling me to hurry it up.