Ice Cream (hiatus)

4. Graham Crackers

Waking up never felt as painful as it did that day.

There was a loud knocking on the door. Groaning, Hoseok felt sore before he even got up. "Ah—aish.." He hissed as a familiar pain on his shoulder throbbed.

"Hoseok! Time to get up!" He heard a voice from the other side yell. "Are you okay?"

"Yeh! Just give me a second!" Hoseok yelled, planting his feet on the ground. Lightly he rubbed his eyes, but someone had kept the curtains shut. He tried to remember what the agenda was today. Rehearsal.

He forced himself up and was relieved to find he had a tshirt and shorts on. Groggily he answered the door.

It was Suga and Jin. "Ohhh, look at what a mess you are. Are you sure you're not still feeling sick?" Jin teased.

"No, I'm fine, I just have a headache." He answered as he went to warm the shower.

Jin and Suga sat comfortably on his bed, then pulled out their phones while Hoseok looked for a towel. But as he did he heard them whispering about something.

He shrugged it off as he quickly closed the door a bit then undressed quickly. When he felt the shower was ready he hopped in. He yelled from the shower, "Is everyone awake already?"

Suga lingered at the door, Jin hovering behind him. "Yeah, you're the last one. But there's no hurry."

"Ah, really?" Hoseok said as he wet his hair then put shampoo. He felt them wanting to say something. He wondered what they were going to say, and suddenly it hit him. He couldn't remember what happened after he had left them.

"Hoseok." Suga voiced out. His thoughts were already pulling him out of reality. He might as well have not heard him through the shower. 'What the fuck happened?' He mouthed the words to himself silently.

"Hoseok." Jin said louder, and he only woke up once the soap reach his eyes.

"Ah—aish—" He immediately washed it off. "Ah, what is it?"

"Ah.. well.." Jin started but trailed off.

"We wanted to ask you what exactly happened yesterday?" Suga voiced clearly. "You had us all very worried."

"Plus, your food. We finished it, no leftovers for you." Jin added trying to light the mood.

He didn't mind the food at all, only regretted not tasting it. However, Suga was right—he caused unneeded concern. He peeked out from the shower curtain, "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Just, I get the feeling that it's more than physical sickness. You can come to us, Hoseok. Okay? We just wanted to tell you that. We're all friends and we care about you like you care about us. We are all in this together, so we would probably be the most understanding of all people, right?"

Hoseok couldn't help but feel saddened, remembering what exactly was stressing him out. Suga was right to the point. No one could fully understand him besides his fellow members. They were living practically the same life. But to tell them his feelings? Would they see him differently, accept him? Or would they push him away? That more than anything was what he was afraid of.

"Hoseok?" Suga called out.

"I.." Hoseok mumbled. "You're right.. I just.."

"You don't have to tell us now, or soon. Whenever you're ready to talk, we just want you to know that we will listen. We're your friends. Trust us, okay?" Suga said with honesty. "Let us help you. We know you'd do the same for us."