Rubatosis 》YOONSEOK

Nine

"The music we listened to together takes the place of my longing for you-"

Hoseok sighed, collapsing into the chair in Taehyung's room. His whole body hurt beyond words and he just wanted to sleep.

But no. His friend had told him something urgent was happening and Hoseok needed to come over after he got off of work at the restaurant. He really didn't want to, seeing as he'd have to walk farther than usual and it was cold outside.

He shucked off his jacket and threw it haphazardly to the side.

He was forcing his eyes to stay open at this point, his breathing just beginning to slow.

Then the door to Taehyung's room opened and the smell of burning wax filled the room, as did the melody of a birthday song.

Taehyung's parents and siblings, his own mother and Jiwoo entered the room, Mr. Kim carrying a somewhat large cake that had "Happy Birthday Hoseok!" written in icing.

He was in shock, his sleep-hazy mind still trying to process what was happening.

There were smiling faces and cake and presents... He wondered how he could have forgotten his own birthday.

Nobody expected it when Hoseok began to cry. First, there was only a few tears, but it quickly escalated to sobbing and he struggled to catch his breath. Taehyung was the first to move while everyone stood still, shocked into silence.

He embraced his hyung and let him bury his face into his chest. Taehyung smiled as he held his best friend, his arms wrapped loosely around his waist from the side.

Next was Jiwoo, who, with tears in her eyes, shoved Taehyung away and took his place in the hug. Taehyung only laughed because he knew how close the siblings were and Jiwoo had always had a hard time showing that. Their mom joined in the hug ad the Kims watched with small smiles and Mrs. Kim cooing over how adorable this was.

Ms. Jung had managed to calm her son down and they had him blow out the candles. The scent of wax lingered as the sat the cake on Taehyung's desk and multiple colorful gift bags were brought in by Nari and her brothers.

Hoseok still sat in the chair, and it was a good thing he did otherwise he would have fallen in shock because there were so many bags. Before he could start to feel bad, Mr. Kim spoke, "Now, I don't want to hear anything out of you. You work very hard for your family, and most of these came from Tae so they're probably really silly but you deserve it."

Ms. Jung smiled at her son kindly and he almost burst into tears again, "We're so proud of you, you've never once complained about how hard its been on you even if you get hurt. You have always tried not to show us how you feel, all your sadness, but we know," she stop to catch her breath and Jiwoo rested a hand on her shoulder, "We love you so much Hoseok, and I couldn't ask for a better son."

Taehyung picked up a bag and shoved it into his hands quickly, to distract him so he didn't cry again. "Open this one first," he'd said happily.

He peered inside cautiously, just in case it was a prank, but all he saw was a white shirt.

When he pulled it out, he laughed because written across the front in bold, black letters it said "Best Friends Forever!"