The Statue - Yoongseok FF

August

Hoseok kept being amazed by what was happening. Out of a unexpected encounter, he had found himself having lunch with five other guys.

And the weird thing was that it
somehow felt good.

It feels natural.

Evidently, each of them had different personalities, and it amused Hoseok to try to identify each of them and seeing how they interacted with one another.
One of the interesting dynamics was definitely the one between this Kookie -Hoseok had forgotten his real name- and Taehyung.  However his favorite so far had to be Namjoon and Jin. The latter had demonstrated that he didn't compliment himself only in front of strangers. He did that in front of his friends as well, which made Namjoon put on a "desperate facepalm" expression on. In the middle of them, Jimin kind of acted like the mom of the group, hitting shoulders whenever he was happy or laughing.

It seemed that they liked Hoseok as well. At least, they were interested in him and the conversation was going well.

So far so good

"Do you have siblings?" asked Namjoon, as he took the last bite of his meal.
"Actually, yes!" replied Hoseok, smiling. "I just moved in with my younger brother. His name is Jungwon. He's in his last year of high school."
"Oh, so you know what I go through with these guys then" replied Namjoon, pointing at his friends while laughing.
"Hey" replied Kookie instantly. "We're not kids."
"You're the youngest here" commented Taehyung.
"Come on, could we not bicker in front of Hoseok for two minutes?" asked Jimin.

Namjoon shared a look with Hoseok, both of them laughing discreetly.

"I do know" answered Hoseok. "What about you guys, how did you become friends?"
"So, Jin and I go way back, right?" replied Namjoon. "I think we've been friends for a while."
"Could you imagine being this lucky?" added Jin, looking in the distance. "Being in my handsome presence is a privilege."
"Aaaaand, Taehyung is his brother" said Namjoon, cutting Jin mid-sentence.
"Oh, I didn't know" commented Hoseok.

It was nice to see brothers hanging out as well! Hoseok knew how some siblings didn't get along, so this was a good surprise. It did make him feel closer to Jin. Both of them knew what it meant to take care of someone.

"And I met Kookie back in the first high school" added Taehyung. "And we met Jimin during the last year of high school."

Jimin nodded proudly.

Hoseok smiled. He hadn't even noticed how he had missed having normal interactions.
These last years, Jungwon and him had lived in secret, in a secluded area. After the last troubles they had had in, laying low had been more than a necessity.

"Are you okay?" asked Jimin, intensely looking at him.
"Oh yes" Hoseok said. "I just spaced out for a second, sorry."
"Looks like you finally made a friend" said Taehyung, patting Kookie's shoulder.
"Come on" replied the latter. "It doesn't happen this much, does it?"

Kookie desperately watched his friends nodding.

~

"Looks like we share classes" said Namjoon, looking over Hoseok's shoulder to read his schedule.
"Aren't you in second year?" asked Hoseok. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude."
"Oh, don't worry" replied Namjoon. "I did start university before, but I really hated the degree I had originally chosen. So I decided to change it, which means I'm back to square one."
"Well, it's good news for me" commented Hoseok.

Namjoon smiled, revealing his dimples.

They started walking to their first class, which which history of art. Namjoon seemed to have already read a hundred books about it. He talked about his favorite artists and Hoseok nodded, dying to tell him that he had met some of them.

"By the way, I didn't want to ask in front of everyone, but what made you come here?" asked Namjoon. "I mean, why did you choose this university?"

Hoseok choked on his saliva. He shouldn't -couldn't- talk about Yoongi. Because if he had to be honest, Yoongi was the only reason he was there now.

"Well, hum, I used to live here a long time ago, but we moved away. I think I needed to reconnect somehow" explained Hoseok, trying not to say to much.

Thing was, he was dying to share everything with someone.

He had lived for decades and decades with his secret. With his burden.
He couldn't even talk to Jungwon about it. Of course, Jungwon knew some things, but he didn't know the whole story. Hoseok had chosen not to reveal everything to protect his younger brother.

"I see" replied Namjoon. "If you want to, you can talk to Jimin about that, he also moved back during his high school time, so he knows how weird it can feel."
"Thank you" said Hoseok sincerely.

He didn't question anything. He just took in and offered information if I needed help.

~

Their second class was the one Hoseok was really looking forward to: creative writing. He sat next to Namjoon, and as soon as the teacher explained what the class was about, he saw his friend scribbling down.

"Looks like you have stuff to say" whispered Hoseok, chuckling.
"Don't you too?" asked Namjoon, looking in Hoseok's eyes.

Hoseok choked on his saliva for the second time.

How does he know?

Thankfully, he was saved by the teacher, who gave additional information.

They could choose between two options: compilation of poems, or a story in prose.
Namjoon directly chose poems, which almost looked like lyrics from what Hoseok had seen.
The latter had chosen prose.

Hoseok stood in front of his blank page. He couldn't seem to find inspiration.
The teacher had offered help. He had written several methods on the board to start a story.

Choosing a main character
Choosing a time period
Choosing a writing style

All this sounded good, but nothing seemed to come to Hoseok's mind.

"Don't you too"

Namjoon's words resonated in him, like a lost echo.

Maybe that's not such a bad idea.

Hoseok knew he couldn't share his life experiences in a real conversation. However, nothing could impeach him from narrate them as story for one of his classes.

His heart felt heavy.

Hoseok grabbed his pen, and slowly started writing.

Once upon a time, a young man named August was sleeping in his yard. He did not know it yet, but this day would change his life forever.
In fact, that very day, August would meet the person with whom he would swear to spend his whole life with.

As the words appeared on Hoseok's piece of paper, he felt his heart getting a little lighter.