Really, Baby (I Will Be Just Fine)

4

Hoseok sighs, wrapping the burger back up and stuffing it in the bag before heading over.

He doesn’t want to sound like a teenage girl, but something told him he wasn’t just doing this to get Seokjin’s attention. Rather it’s to prove to himself he was worth someone’s, anyone’s, attention at all. If there was one flaw Hoseok grew up with since he was a child, it was his insecurities about his physical image. Being his closest friends, he knows Namjoon and Yoongi can see that too.

There’s no one at the counter when Hoseok walks up and sets the bag on the countertop, receipt in hand as he looks around for Jimin. Hoseok spots Jimin’s familiar black head of hair through the window of the kitchen, moving around back and forth as he gives Jiho a hand. Hoseok takes this chance and raises his hand quickly to catch his attention, but just as he leans forward over the register, another head of brown hair blocks his view as someone straightens up from below the counter, startling him backwards.

“Oh hey, sorry,” the guy says, and Hoseok sees that it’s Taehyung. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you. I mean, unless I did? Then boo.”

“What the fuck were you doing down there?” Hoseok breathes,  slightly spooked and trying to compose himself. He relaxes his palms and releases the crumpled receipt, smoothing it out on the counter.

“Just grabbing a spare pen from my boot,” he responds, tucking the pen behind his ear and smiling meekly. Hoseok will discover later that Taehyung had worn Dr. Martens to work. At a Larkburger. “Got it now.”

Hoseok stares for a second, wondering who exactly kept spare pens in their boots because surely that couldn’t be comfortable. He remembers back in high school when he walked around  the entire school year with a coin in his right shoe. It had given him such bad back pains that he almost let Namjoon convince him he was aging backwards and was actually Benjamin Button. But high school Hoseok also thought sunshine could be trapped in jars.

“What can I help you with?” Taehyung asks after a long moment of silence, breaking Hoseok’s train of thought. “I’m pretty good at english, but not really, so don’t ask me about that. Or math.”

“Yeah, right, sorry,” Hoseok says, shaking his head and fidgeting for the receipt. He doesn’t plan on asking for help on english or math from a stranger. “So I think I grabbed the wrong bag? This isn’t my order.”

Taehyung grabs the receipt from his hand and scans it over. “Um, what did you get?”

“The ahi tuna burger.”

“Oh, then that’s definitely not right, is it?” Taehyung says, laughing a little and folding the receipt. Hoseok can’t help but notice that Taehyung has a nice smile, wide and genuine, and it’s been awhile since he’s seen anyone besides Jimin with a smile that reached  all the way up to his eyes, too. “Lucky for you, someone just came up with what I’m guessing is your order. Let me go grab it before they toss it out.”