Baseball (VHope)

Twelve

"Hyung, can we hang out today?" Jungkook asked me as I stepped out of the school to head down to watch the baseball team practice. He looked tired and sheepish as he played with one of his earrings. I knitted my eyebrows together and nodded, concerned frown on my face as I reached out for one of his hands. "Yeah, Kook. What's wrong?" I mumbled and walked with him out to his car. Before he could open his mouth, I heard a voice behind us.

I turned around to see Hoseok jogging over with a small pout of hurt on his face. "I thought you were going to stay?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around my waist. I sighed sadly and rested my hands on his shoulders. "I was about to text you. Jungkook's upset over something and I haven't gotten to hang out with him in a long time, so I'm going to spend some time with him today. Have a good practice today, alright?" I explained and my boyfriend nodded in understanding, then kissed my cheek. "Alright. Have a good night, pumpkin."

Jungkook looked on in shock as Hoseok walked back towards the stadium, eyes so wide they took up the majority of his face. "You good, Jungkookie?" I said and pulled him to his car. "You have a lot of explaining to do," he mumbled. I rolled my eyes and put our bags in the back seat of his silver Audi, then we left the school and went to my house.

"Jeon Jungkook!?" Jin nearly screamed when we entered the house. My friend smiled brightly as his face turned red. "Hi, Jin-hyung," he said shyly as he was trapped in a death-hug, hugging Jin back just as tightly. My brother almost started crying as he pulled away just enough to give my best friend a once-over. "You're growing up so well! I miss you so much!" he exclaimed and Jungkook shyly looked away. "Thank you, hyung. I miss you too," he mumbled and I decided to come to his rescue. I lazily pulled him out of my oldest brother's grasp and whined, "Jin-hyung, leave the baby bunny alone!" He sighed and reluctantly let Jungkook go. I grabbed his hand and pulled him up the stairs to my room.

Only my brothers and Jungkook were allowed in my room. Not because my room was messy - far from it, actually - but because they were the only ones I was comfortable with in my room. I never realized how fucked-up my mind really was until Jungkook laid out on my bed like he always did when he would come over, then made grabby hands for me to lay down next to him. We always did that when we went over to each other's houses; quiet people don't do much when put together.

Jungkook placed his arm around me and let me lay on my stomach next to him, burying my face in his neck and pulling my arm across his chest. "What's up, Kookie?" I mumbled after a minute of contentment. He sighed and traced shapes into my lower back. "Just needed a break from Jimin for a while. We agreed on a break. We haven't broken up, but..." I closed my eyes and focused on the way he breathed slowly. "Yeah, I get it. And that's totally fine. It happens. You both need your space," I said and he hummed in agreement.

"And I miss you. A lot." I hummed and nuzzled his neck affectionately. "I miss you, too. Remember when we were little and I could never sleep peacefully without you as my teddy bear?" Jungkook laughed a little and nodded. "Yeah. It was always nice being your teddy bear," he admitted and I nodded sleepily. He cleared his throat and patted my back a little. So, are you going to tell me why the captain of the baseball team aka Jung Hoseok kissed you and held you like that?" That arrogant, smug tone was clear in his voice and I could feel him smiling like he always did when he messed with me like this. I huffed and shrugged, accidentally jutting my shoulder up into his throat momentarily. "Maybe. What do you want to know?" I yawned.

My best friend whined and playfully smacked the back of my thigh, or at least he tried to. "Just tell me!" I giggled and poked his cheek. "Such a baby. Anyways, about that, Hoseok's my boyfriend now," I said proudly and Jungkook gasped. "Woah. Taehyungie, that's... that's a big step for you. Is this why you've been so happy?" he asked quietly and I nodded into his neck. "Yeah. He's a happy virus and... yeah." We giggled for a minute, then Jungkook sighed. "I honestly thought Namjoon-hyung was going to kill him," he said.

"Oh, I wanted to, Kook. Believe me. No one touches my baby bear," Namjoon said as he entered my room. I rolled my eyes and shook my head. "You like him though," I deadpanned, eyes closing once again. I felt the bed dip down and Jungkook huffed out a laugh; Namjoon probably ruffled his hair like he always used to do. "Yeah, because he's a good boy and makes you smile," my brother reasoned and I grumbled unintelligible protests under my breath as he played with my hair. "Get out, Joonie. It's the babies' naptime," Jin said in the doorway and Jungkook and I giggled as Namjoon was pulled out of the room. "They're still insane," my best friend chuckled and I hummed in agreement. "Put them together and they have four brain cells between them and they use them to bully each other."

It was silent for a while, but then I remembered something really important. "Jungkook," I mumbled against his neck and he grunted to let me know he was listening. "Please don't tell anyone about me and Hoseok. I want it to be a secret." He nodded slowly and soothed circles into my back. "I promise I won't say anything."

We woke up four hours later. It wasn't by our own internal alarms; Namjoon shot Jungkook with the marshmallow launcher, which caused him to wake up in fight mode, which caused me to wake up with his sudden movement. "What the hell, hyung!?" I growled and Namjoon pointed to the doorway. "Your boy's here. And Kook, your mom wants you home, so get out." Jungkook immediately relaxed and nodded. "Oh, okay. Thanks for having me over," he mumbled and hugged me gently, then went downstairs. I faintly heard him say his goodbyes to Jin, then decided to make my way downstairs as well.

Hoseok was eating a sandwich as I made my way into the kitchen. "Hey, pumpkin. How was your nap?" he teased and I shrugged. "Kookie's comfortable. How was practice?" I mumbled and he nodded a little. "It was alright. Hungry." He chuckled and held up his sandwich with a brief close-lipped smile before he took another bite. "Me too," I muttered and got out a container of egg-drop soup and heated it up in the microwave.

"I sat here and watched Namjoon load that marshmallow launcher," Hoseok said right before the microwave beeped. I chuckled as I took out the soup out of the microwave and let it cool for a minute. "He shot Kookie in the gut. It was hilarious, but I was too tired to laugh." Hoseok laughed lightly and finished his sandwich before picking up the other one while I ate my soup.

The comfortable silence that fell upon us was nice, especially now that we were considered boyfriends. But part of me was sort of scared; I had a boyfriend before, but the moment my depression forced me to start hurting myself, Minjae left. And he hadn't said a word to me since. I didn't want Hoseok to leave me, too. Everyone always left and it hurt so much every single time.

My boyfriend set his sandwich back on the plate and stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Pumpkin, we should go on another date," he suggested. I leaned back into him as I ate and nodded in agreement. "That would be fun. I always enjoy our dates," I replied and he pecked my cheek. "Alright, pumpkin. We'll figure something out. God, I'm hungry."

I almost spit out my soup at the last part, but refrained and started coughing instead as he picked the sandwich up again. Are you trying to kill me?" I said and he gave me a smug smile as he shrugged. "Maybe. I just wanted to date you so I could kill you," he said indifferently and I rolled my eyes. "I feel the love, baby." My boyfriend coughed and looked at me, face bright red and eyes wide. "W-what did you call me?" he stuttered and I grinned as I noticed how flustered I made him.

"Baby." I said it in English once again and his red face got even redder. "Say it again," he said after a pause and I leaned in and locked our fingers, then pecked his lips. We were so, so close and he tasted so sweet.

"Baby."

And I loved how he kissed me again.

oooh Hobi's weakness! Happy Days!

- Tae