Faltering Steps • J-Hope

xix.

"And now that it's here..." Hobi took a deep breath. "I want to say thank you."

Sehun's mouth dropped open like someone had unscrewed the hinge. "W-what? I don't...I don't understand..."

Tae looked at Hobi like he was insane. Jimin looked at him nervously, like he was worried that Hobi was going to say something really depressing, like that he didn't deserve BTS or to dance or some stupid lie like that.

"I want to say thank you," Hobi repeated. "For hitting me. Because I've thought about the accident. About what happened. About how it all took place. And you did the right thing in hitting me. Because if you would have hit the back of the car, everyone else except me and Namjoon were back there. They all could have gotten hurt or killed. And if you would have hit the driver side, Namjoon would have gotten hurt, and since he was driving, he probably would have crashed and hurt even more of us. So if you had to hit us, at least you hit my side because then none of my family got hurt with me."

Jimin stared at Hobi, tears running down his face. "H-Hobi hyung..."

Tae was also tearing up but he looked away because he didn't want Hobi to see.

"I..." Sehun looked confused. "But...but I hurt you..."

"It was an accident, right? Accidents happen. A-and while I wish it didn't happen to me-" Hobi cut off, his eyes getting watery and his voice starting to sound choked. "I-I feel so selfish. I was m-mad because I can't d-dance anymore b-but I'm still alive, right? S-so I should be grateful and not-"

Hobi cut off and broke down. Jimin has sensed it coming and was ready, quickly stepping to him and pulling Hobi's face into his chest, hugging him tightly and letting Hobi cry into his shirt, muffling the sound.

Tae stepped around and hugged him from back, looking up at Sehun.

"I'm messing up my eyeliner," Hobi mumbled, and Jimin just patted his head.

"B-but like I said, I've thought about this a lot, and I j-just wanted to say it's okay, I forgive you. And that you're a t-terrible driver."

Sehun gave a small shocked laugh before nodding and bowing. "I'm sorry...and thank you."

Hobi nodded, still hiding behind Jimin's shirt. "N-now go b-before you see my ugly c-crying face with s-streaked m-makeup."

Sehun gave a small smile and stood up, leaving the room.

Hobi hugged Jimin around the waist. "Thank you," he mumbled before turning to hug Tae around the neck. "Thank you." He wiped his eyes. "Thanks guys. I'm okay now. I just..."

"It's okay," Jimin said, patting Hobi's head and smoothing his hair. "It's okay to be upset. You don't have to pretend to be happy for us. You don't have to force yourself to be 'our hope.' Just focus on being your own hope."

"But I'm scared...that if I'm not happy for all of you...if I can't be your hope...that you won't need me anymore. Because it's like Yoongi said. I'm here for the vibe. So if I lose my vibe, what do I have left? I can't...I can't d-dance...so all I can give you is my vibe."

Tae lightly smacked the back of Hobi's head. "Don't be stupid. We'll always need you. So you don't have to fake it all for us, okay?"

Hobi nodded, crying into Jimin's shirt again. "I'm sorry. I'm ruining your shirt."

"Nope. I'm going to frame it and sell your tears to ARMYs."

"What?!" Hobi was startled into laughing, and Jimin smiled back at him before pinching his cheeks.

"We all love you, okay? So just focus on your own health. If you're sad, be sad but let us know, okay? We can help you but you have to let us."

Hobi nodded. "Okay...I'll try..."

Tae made an alien face. "Do or do not, there is no try."

"And then there's Tae..." Jimin said, sighing.