the night was cold and silent as hoseok wandered the streets. his mind was hazy if not blank, and he was stumbling, slurring the words to an incoherent song.
with blurred vision, he looked around him only to see the bright lights of a noodle shop flicker before the bright word 'CLOSED' shone in the window. he parted his lips, flashing a somewhat devilish grin at his reflection in the dark glass.
he continued down the street for a ways before he gave up on his lost song and altogether shut his lips. as he neared the downtown area, traffic became audible and pedestrians were surrounding him from every angle. relief flooded over his entire being as the eyes of many strangers lingered on his sweat-burdened complexion.
instead of avoiding the probing gazes, he stared them down, forcing them to either cower away in intimidation or walk away in discouragement.
he turned a corner without paying attention to the streets, mindlessly wandering the dark night. he looked up to study the buildings.
to his left was a dimly lit laundry mat, and to his right was what seemed to be an apartment complex. down the empty street - somehow detached from the world only a few strides behind - he heard muffled voices.
he made his way toward them, curious to see who might be interested enough to exclude themselves from the rest of the city.
behind the laundry mat, he caught a glance of two men standing and chatting at the open back door. he tilted his head slightly before walking down the alley to the other men.
his blood was hot and his head was light and he wanted nothing less than a fight. at first, his pace was steady and he gradually sped up as the two males became closer to him. "excuse me? is there something we can help you with?" one of the boys asked.
without answering, hoseok suddenly struck the silent one with his fist. "hey, man, what's your problem?" the first one spoke again. the make hoseok had punched wiped his bleeding nose before forcing himself to stand back up.
hoseok smiled fiendishly, hoping they would retaliate. when they didn't, he decided to push further. "can't you twinks find a better place to fuck?" the words he spat didn't come out as comprehensively as he hoped, but he saw anger flare in their eyes. his plan was working.
the one he had hit lurched himself at hoseok, his fist making forceful contact with his stomach and jaw.
hoseok hit the ground, landing flat on his back as the wind was knocked from his lungs. he gasped for air. "n-not . . . bad for a . . . twink." he ridiculed between pants.
a hard blow was suddenly brought to his stomach, causing a cynical smile to become etched into his lips. he braced himself for the next impact, but it was replaced instead by loud yells.
he forced his eyelids open only to see a third man coming from the laundry mat. "hyung, what are you doing?" the new voice was frantic and hysterical; the fear was evident.
hoseok groaned and closed his eyes again. he felt a slight gust of wind for a single moment before it was replaced by a warm touch.
once again, jung hoseok opened his eyes and looked up at the young man in front of him. the blur was greater in his vision than only moments before. he tried to blink the smog away, but was disappointed to find that with every blink it became worse.
"jimin, leave him alone. let's close the shoppe now and head home." a rough voice that he hadn't heard yet (the man he had hit) said quietly.
the third boy, jimin, shook his head and told the others to close the laundry mat without him. after a moment of hesitation, and a wave farewell, they walked back in and shut the back door.
jimin wiped the blood from hoseok's lips. "sir?" he asked quietly. the voice was sweet, kind, addicting. a grunt escaped hoseok in response.
jimin opened his mouth to continue speaking, but before the sentence was completed, hoseok slipped into unconsciousness.
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