Faltering Steps • J-Hope

xiv.

"I'm so sorry," the boy repeated over and over again, lying on the floor, his head on the ground. "I'm so sorry..."

"Get up," Yoongi said. He didn't sound particularly mean.

But he didn't sound particularly nice, either.

"Get up," he repeated when the boy laid there. "I want to see your face."

After a long moment, the boy lifted himself off the floor.

"Look me in the eyes."

The boy did. His face was pale and clammy, his eyes puffy and red-rimmed. He looked like he'd been crying for a week straight, every day, all day.

He looked guilty.

But regretful.

"What's your name again?" Yoongi asked. It was a little hard to recognize the boy because of how awful his face looked.

"S-Sehun," he said, hiccuping through his tears.

"You were driving that night?" Yoongi asked. "You're the one who hit us?"

Sehun nodded. "I'm so-"

"Sorry, right, right, we heard you," Yoongi said, sighing with impatience. "Do you know all of what happened?"

Sehun hesitated before shaking his head. But then he nodded, like he wasn't sure, but he knew what he knew. "Someone got hurt...I saw the ambulance driving away with sirens flashing," he said, his voice rough. Funny how he could look so composed on stage and on screen, but he was a total mess at that moment. "I wanted to make sure everyone was okay...but then my producer called me, he said everything was being taken care of and that someone was driving me home and I was supposed to be quiet and disappear."

"Like it never happened," Yoongi said.

"Like it never happened."

"But it did happen," Namjoon said gently but firmly. Unlike Yoongi, he seemed to be more sympathetic since the boy was so obviously broken up about the whole thing. "And somebody did get hurt, and he's not really okay."

Sehun paled. "He didn't- Is he- Did he- Did I-"

"He didn't die," Namjoon said, wincing just at the thought of Hobi's sunshine being forever darkened. "And he's not in a coma or anything like that."

Sehun bit his lip. "Is he all there? Mentally?"

Yoongi rolled his eyes. "Hobi was never all there mentally," he scoffed, but Jin glared at him and he mumbled an apology.

"He's fine, mentally. But his leg was broken because the car door crushed it where your car hit ours," Namjoon said. He could have sugar-coated the details, but he didn't. He felt bad for Seshun, but he felt worse for Hobi, and his family would always be his priority. He didn't care if he hurt a million people's feelings, as long as he didn't hurt the six people who mattered.

Sehun looked even worse, if possible. "I'm so-"

"And he had to have surgery done immediately," Jin said, stepping in. "They fixed his leg, but it had to heal. So during that time, Hobi wasn't allowed to practice or do anything overly physical. But he felt bad about holding everyone else back so he practiced anyway. He ended up hurting himself, and now he has a limp that will never go away, a limp that ensures that he'll never be able to dance the same ever again."

Sehun stared at Jin. "This is all my fault."

Jin sighed, looking down. "Partially. If Hobi hadn't have gotten hurt, he never would have been unable to practice, and he never would have hurt himself doing so. Part of that is Hobi's own fault for trying not to let anyone down, but you're the one who crashed into our car and injured him." Jin frowned, trying to keep his eyes dry so he didn't ruin his beautiful face. "He doesn't know who did it," he said quietly. "We didn't tell him that it was EXO. He doesn't know anything at all. He said he was fine with not knowing because it wouldn't change anything."

Sehun bit his lip. "So...he doesn't know it was me?"

Jin shook his head. "Our manager wouldn't tell any of us. Yoongi had to pressure him just to get the name EXO. And now we're here because we're looking out for Hobi." Jin hesitated, looking at Sehun and then at Xiumin. "Honestly, I don't know what we want from you guys. I don't want to make Hobi upset by telling him that we figured out who hit us, but a handwritten apology just isn't going to cut it."

Sehun stood a little bit taller. "I know that Hoseok doesn't want to know who did it...but...I want to- no, I need to apologize to him. Face to face. I've been sitting here in the dorm since then feeling so guilty because it felt like a hit and run. I never got the chance to apologize back then, and it's my fault that he's...that he's..." Sehun took a deep breath. "Please. Take me back with you. Let me apologize to him."