splinters 一 weak hero.

1-3

with an extremely pensive look on his face, brows furrowed and two fingers stroking his non-existent beard, moonsik mused, 'it seems fate is calling us once more... hey, myunghwan, wanna join us for pool after school?'

myunghwan's cheeks flushed pink as he realised that moonsik was addressing him. i noticed he'd lost the stutter, though. 'yes, please!'

'hey, hoseok, wanna join us too? i mean-' moonsik backtracked quickly. the seven weren't usually free; none of them deigned to spend time with others outside of school. aside from taehyung. but deoksu didn't like taehyung, and both moonsik and i respected that. '-you don't have to join, but-'

'sure thing.'

moonsik was still rambling - then he halted abruptly. 'wait, really?'

hoseok beamed. 'of course. can yoongi come, too?'

'no,' yoongi grumbled, 'yoongi cannot come.'

'he really wants to,' hoseok clarified.

yoongi wrinkled his nose. 'where's yejun.'

'didn't take you as the type of person who'd take a liking to yejun.' moonsik commented.

'you don't know shit about me,' yoongi growled. 'and i don't like her. she pisses me off.'

'she won't be back until the day after tomorrow,' moonsik said matter-of-factly, and, rather sadly, 'but she does this quite a bit, so you just have to get used to it.'

yoongi folded his arms and laid his head on them. 'suit yourself, hoseok. i'm not going.'

-

yoongi ended up going.

hoseok was a cheerful addition to moonsik's group, and what was better was that moonsik seemed to have actually taken a liking to the orange haired. in many ways, they were similar - loud, cheery, talkative. by the end of their walk to the pool hall, yoongi's eardrums were near to bursting.

'hi!' moonsik grinned at the young lady behind the counter. 'four ball, please.'

her eyes brightened in recognition as moonsik was considered a regular. 'of course. brought some new friends? i've never seen them here before.'

moonsik grinned. 'well, starting today, we have to prepare for war-'

the lady's face, although remained smiling, paled a little. 'war, you say...'

it certainly did seem like war with the amount of shouting that came from their table that afternoon. moonsik's yelling and hoseok's screeching eventually gave way to hunger. 'it's always chinese at the pool hall,' moonsik groaned. 'just order already! loser pays.'

hoseok bounced his cue stick on his knee. 'i want tteokbokki.'

deoksu gave a glance in yoongi's direction (although, due to his fringe, none of the others caught it) and asked, 'what do you want to eat, yoongi?'

there was silence as the group turned, breath held, to face yoongi collectively. 'tteokbokki.'

'tteokbokki doesn't deliver!' moonsik barked. 'yoongi and deoksu, i choose you!'

and so they went, with moonsik claiming he needed to teach the basics of pool to hoseok and myunghwan. 'moonsik's the worst out of all of us,' deoksu murmured as he descended the steps of the pool hall.

and they returned, having retrieved the food (and some more). deoksu liked yoongi - he was quiet with the subtlest hints of sardonic behaviour. and he hadn't made a snide comment about his hair yet, either. but they walked in silence, because deoksu liked it and yoongi liked it and they both respected each other. until yoongi caught the slightest of changes in body language from deoksu - a little stiffening and straightening of the back, picking up the pace a little.