I've Got You || Vhope

Chapter Three: The Lamb

Hoseok doesn't give himself time to begin hyperventilating. He just stands and begins clearing away Taehyung's empty bowls. He's stacking them to be washed when his father walks inside, closely followed by his mother, who is carrying a lamb in her arms, one of the weaker ones that has been struggling with the cold.

"You should get us if someone comes over, Hoseok-ah," his mother says, putting the lamb on the dog bed she'd set up for it by the fire. "We might have kept this young man waiting forever if your dad hadn't seen him walking up the track. Honey, has he offered you a drink?"

Taehyung lifts his hot chocolate, blinking shyly. "Yeah. It's nice." She smiles, dusting herself off. "People don't usually visit this early. We're a bit unprepared. Haven't even fed all the animals yet. What can we do for you?"

Taehyung glances at Hoseok nervously. "Um..."

Hoseok walks back to the table on numb legs. They've barely had a chance to discuss anything. He doesn't know if Taehyung is okay with his eviction being discussed. He doesn't know if he wants to tell them about their relationship. He doesn't know anything.

His father stands silently by the door, watching Taehyung with unreadable eyes.

"Mum, Dad... actually... this is Taehyung-ah," Hoseok hears himself say, his voice disembodied and far away to his own ears. "He's here to see me."

His mother's eyes widen slightly, a silent question. "Oh, I didn't know you were having someone round," she says, in her 'if someone wasn't here, I'd lecture you about this being my house' voice.

"Well... I wasn't. Taehyungie—Taehyung-ah needed some help with something. And he couldn't reach me because there's no reception here. So... he showed up. Um...'' Taehyung is my boyfriend. Three words would be all it would take. Wait, no, that's four words. He's lost the ability to count. Great.

"What kind of trouble's he in?'' Hoseok's father asks.

"N-nothing bad," Taehyung says quickly. "At least, not bad as in I'm bad. I'm good."

Hoseok almost laughs. Yeah, thanks for that, honey. Because bad people never lie about those kinds of things. "I didn't say he was in trouble, Dad. He just needs a place to stay for the night. He's... he's my... my friend and it would really help me out if he could stay until tomorrow. He's been travelling all night." And if you say yes, he's going to sleep in my bed.

His parents exchange a look. "Hoseok-ah, honey, there's only the couch for him to stay on. I don't think that'll be very comfortable... he's welcome to, of course, but..."

Like I said, he's going to sleep in my bed. "The couch will be fine, right, Tae?"

Taehyung nods eagerly.

Hoseok smiles. "Okay. cool. I... um... I fed him already—there's rice and some other stuff if you guys are hungry. Um... yeah." His heart is thudding, in his mouth, his throat, his chest, his fingertips. "Tae, do you want to go upstairs and have a nap? You can use my bed for now. Come on, I'll—Tae?"

Tae is peering over the table at the lamb as it bleets softly, his eyes large. "Does it have a name?" he asks, looking from Hoseok, to Hoseok's father, to his mother. "Oh, it's nice to meet you both. I didn't say that. I—ten cups of coffee. No sleep."

Hoseok's mother smiles and his father shakes Taehyung's hand briskly.

"We don't name the animals," his father says.

Taehyung frowns at him almost reproachfully. "Everything should have a name. Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Doesn't matter much. Doubt she'll survive for long."