The Hunters and their Prey || A Vhope story

It's okay to not be okay

Jackson slowly blinked his eyes open...the first thing he noticed was the pitch darkness in the room and the next thing was the laboured breathing filling in his ears. Jackson needed a few seconds to fully comprehend the fact that he is not in his room but in Hope's and that it was his crying that woke him up. Jackson sat up immediately and switched on the bedside lamp. He turned around to see Hoseok drenched in sweat, and clutching the blanket hardly..there were streaks of tears on his face. He is having a nightmare. Jackson first tried to tap on his cheek gently to woke him up from the dream. Not only did it fail to wake Hope up, but also the crying only got worse. So he started shaking Hoseok with more force. 

"Hope...Hope wake up...hope come on." Hoseok startled awake with a shout and thrashed so hardly that Jackson nearly got kicked in his stomach. He immediately grabbed Hoseok's face between his hand and made him look at him. " Shhh.... it's okay..its me...its okay...its just a dream. You are awake hope..I am here...shhhhhh... it's okay..its okay...just a dream..I got you..I  got you..breath with me come on..in and out...in........out...." Jackson kept murmuring soothing words until Hope calmed down in his hands. Hope's breathing finally evened out and the boy slumped into Jackson's chest with exhaustion. Jackson embraced him in his strong arms and stayed there like that, slightly rocking both their bodies sideways until Hoseok untucked his face from the embrace. His tear-soaked chins and red eyes nearly tore Jackson's heart. He soothingly wiped away the tears with his thumb and smiled softly.."It was just a bad dream. It is gone now.." 

Hope nearly went back to hide back in the safety of Jackson's arms. He felt like he didn't deserve the warmth and love directed at him. Mark hyung looked at him with the same adoration in his eyes..and what had he done? he just watched as he...he stood and watched and did nothing to save him. He doesn't deserve it..he doesn't deserve any of this... 

Jackson must have seen the guilt and pain in his eyes, he gathered Hope one more time in his arms and held him. Hope closed his eyes and drowned himself in Jackson's heartbeat. 

"You wanna talk about it?" Jackson asked after some time. Hope shook his head without looking up. "Okay...you wanna go back to sleep?" That was even more scarier to Hope than talking about his nightmare. He nearly broke his neck by how fast he shook his head in denial. 

"How about we go out and take a walk and get something hot to eat and drink? I think both of us slept more than enough. It's time to feed our tummies." Even though Hoseok was nowhere close to being hungry, the prospect of getting outside his room was good enough for him to nod his head. 

Jackson waited patiently as Hoseok washed his face. He grabbed a coat from the wardrobe for both of them. The night is getting colder. He smiled at the freshened-up Hope and handed him the coat. "let's go". Jackson put his arm around Hope's shoulder and pulled him closer as both of them walked out into the night.

Hoseok sat on the wall and looked down to see a million lights winking at him...the night was thriving through its most glorious hours. The city had its own beauty at night..it always took Hoesok's breath away. But not today...tonight he felt like none of these lights can chase away his darkness. He pressed his hand against his chest and tried futilely to rub the heaviness away. He feels like a part of him is still back in that nightmare. He exhaled a shaky breath and watched as the fog floated in front of him. He turned to look at Jackson who was buying a coffee and hotdog from the vendor. He might have felt the stare because he turned around and waved at him with a smile. Even though it felt like he couldn't smile without tearing up, His lips still managed to give a small tug in return. He was glad he did because Jackson's face just brightened up at that. He jogged back to Hoseok with two hot cups of coffee and a bag filled with their hotdog.