Splash of Love | j.hs au

Chapter 16

The bell chimed, signaling you had a customer come in. "I'll be with you in a second!" You called out from the back.

"It's just me!" Hoseok called back and you froze.

Your hand on the stuffed animal gripped tighter onto it. Your eyes went to the clock, seeing that it had been about thirty minutes since Hoseok left. "Oh, welcome back!" You said in a hopefully happy voice.

By then, Hoseok had come into the back. "Thank you for taking over. Here, I'll continue everything."

You smiled and put the stuffed animal back in the box with the others. As you turned around, you noticed something was off about him. You walked off but your instincts made you freeze. "Is everything okay?" You asked.

Hoseok looked at you with a grin. "Totally okay."

You frowned a bit. Something was off with him. "I feel like I'm getting in your private space." Poseidon, these are the moments that you wish your brain would find the right words you learn but you're going to have to make do with it. "But if you do want to talk about it, I'm here."

Hoseok stared at you for a bit. You felt a bit uncomfortable as for a time you were the fish that other mermaids or mermen were hunting. Though Hoseok was not like that. He just sent you a smile. "Thank you, Y/N."

You nodded and left the backroom. Your eyes glanced outside seeing the rain continued to pour outside. You couldn't help but wonder what they talked about. Maybe one of your thoughts earlier was right and they were still dating each other. You let out a sigh in frustration. Now another thought annoys you.

At the end of the work day, the rain had gotten heavier. It was so heavy that you couldn't really see beyond the street and you watched it for a bit. Hoseok flicked off the lights and now came to stand beside you. "Still raining a lot huh?" He commented.

"Yeah. I hope it gets lighter sooner." You stumbled again on another word. In your mind it didn't make sense, but your brain was too full to deal with proper words and things like that.

"Me too." Hoseok replied.

Both of you continued to stare outside for a bit, watching the rain. It was kind of nice where the store's lights were off and the only light came from the outside. The quietness enveloped you and for a moment, you were reminded of the ocean at night. Most of the sea life was already sleeping and darkness penetrated the ocean leaving you alone in the dark. You felt a little comforted about it in a way.

Once the rain was getting lighter, both of you took the chance to go outside. There, you struggled a bit with opening your umbrella but finally got it open. Thank Poseidon or else you'll be making a fool of yourself more.

"Did you want me to walk you home?" Hoseok asked politely. You looked up at him and were about to answer when a giant flash and noise echoed around you. You jumped and moved backwards, eyes darting everywhere for the source. What was that?! You've never heard or saw anything like that. Usually, you were at the bottom of the ocean since sometimes the waves were rough so you've never experienced this.

Hoseok said nothing but gently placed his hand on your shoulder. "It's okay. I'll stay with you until this is over."

He made your heart do another flip/ Hoseok was making you fall in love with him more. Your heart was beating oddly and your mind was fuzzy. Was this the moment to tell him? A voice of reason was screaming at you to do so.

And you did.

"I like you." Your voice had a hint of hopefulness in it. You watched him smile.

"I like you too." Hoseok said immediately and without hesitation. Except you knew that he didn't know what you meant so you repeated it again.

"Not like a friend but romantic like." You said it once more and now this time it looked like your words got to him. You stared straight into his eyes that widened a bit. The rain continued on as you waited for his reply. When he finally answered, your heart skipped a beat.

"I'm sorry, I don't like you that way Y/N."

With a smile on your face, you said, "That's okay. I just had to get my feelings out there. Let's continue to be friends, okay?"

Hoseok sent you a smile but this time you could see that it felt off to you. "Okay. Let's continue to be friends." Perhaps you suffered a bit at this moment since the rain had decided to lighten up a bit. "Do you still want me to walk you home?" There was also something off in his voice.

"No thanks. I'll see you tomorrow!" With what you hoped, a happy smile on your face, you walked home. At the end of the street, you turned around and saw Hoseok disappear around the corner. Your heart felt heavy and your eyes stung a bit. This hurt. You brought a hand up to your chest like it would help your heart out. It didn't. At this point, could you even have him fall in love with you?

"Oh! Y/N noona, how-" Jimin's voice popped out of nowhere which scared you again. You jumped in place and hurriedly wiped away the tears but it was too late. Jimin's face was in concern as he went closer to you. "Are you okay? Why are you crying?"

"It's nothing." You sniffled. "It's a stupid thing to cry over anyway."

Jimin frowned. "It's okay to cry over stupid things sometimes. Did you want to talk about it?" His voice became low as if he was trying to approach the subject carefully.

You shook your head. "I don't want to." You wiped another stray tear away.

The rain continued to hit everything as the two of you stood in silence for a moment. Without another word, Jimin placed his hand on your shoulder, both of your umbrellas smashing into each other. "Did you... tell Hoseok hyung that you liked him?"

Your eyes widened in surprise as you looked at him. No words came out of your mouth as you tried to think of something.

Only a smile was your response. "You're a bit obvious with your crush on Hoseok." You felt a sense of dread wash over you.

"W-What?" You could only stare at Jimin like a fish. Then did Hoseok know this whole time?! Though it would make sense if Hoseok didn't like you in that way.

Jimin simply chuckled. "Just a bit but thankfully Hoseok doesn't really notice things like that." He went quiet and you could feel the mood change into a more serious one. "I'm guessing you told him that you liked him?"

You only nodded in response. "I did and he said that he didn't like me back."

"Oh." Jimin solemnly nodded back. "Well, come, I'll cheer you up for today!" Then he began leading you somewhere. To where? You're not sure yourself.