Faltering Steps • J-Hope

x.

"Here," Jin said, setting a glass of water down on the coffee table beside Hobi, who was sitting on the couch.

Yoongi dropped a straw in the glass without a word.

Since Taehyung had showed Namjoon what people were posting online about Hobi and how sad it had made him, they had all stepped up their game to cheer Hobi up.

It wasn't really working, but they weren't about to quit. Nit when Hobi had always been the one to cheer them up.

Tae sat next to Hobi on the couch, joined by Jimin and Jungkook. Jin watched them from the kitchen with a worried mom look on his face.

Yoongi went to Namjoon's room. "I'm going to talk to the producer," he said. "I'll be back later."

"Wait. What are you going to talk about?" Namjoon asked, looking up from the handwritten page of rough lyrics before him that he'd spent the past hour writing and revising.

"You know bloody well what. I want to know who crashed into us."

"What good is having a name going to do?" Namjoon asked, sighing. "Don't get me wrong. I'm hurt and angry too, but we can't really do any-"

"I want to know the name of the person who's the reason why Hobi can't dance, why he's taking shit from ARMYs on the internet, why he's scared to get into a car. I want to look him in the eye - whoever he is - and ask him if he feels guilty. I want to ask him if it was an accident. I want to ask him if he knows what his screw up cost Hobi. I want to ask him if he's sorry."

"But you won't hurt him?" Namjoon asked hesitantly, as though he weren't necessarily against the idea but he had to pretend to be as the dad of the family.

"Depends on what his answers are," Yoongi replied coldly.

Namjoon swallowed but nodded. "All right. Do what you gotta do. I'll keep the kids here."

Yoongi nodded and turned, pausing. "And you already know this, but don't tell Hobi. He'll get more upset."

Namjoon nodded. "Right."

"And make him take a hot bath.  Then after he gets dressed, wrap him in a fluffy blanket. He likes that."

Namjoon cracked a smile. "Why don't you just do it?"

Yoongi scowled. "Shut up. I'm not his mom."

"No, that'd be Jin."

"Whatever, I'm leaving."

Yoongi left and Namjoon waited a few minutes before calling Taehyung into his room.

"Yeah? What's up?" Tae asked, sitting on his desk.

"You want to cheer Hobi up, right?"

Tae nodded so fast that his head looked like it would fly right off. "Yes!!"

Namjoon smiled. "Okay, Yoongi said Hobi likes to take a hot bath and get wrapped in a fuzzy blanket afterward. Can you take care of that?"

Taehyung nodded, saluting. "Leave it to me!" He left the room.

Namjoon smiled to himself. Sure, he could have done t himself, but he knew that the dongsaengs felt helpless to help Hobi and that they needed something to make them feel useful. If one of Hobi's hyungs stepped in to cheer him up, Namjoon knew Hobi would feel bad for burdening them, but the dongsaengs were an exception.

Besides, who could say no to Tae?