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•10-31 Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea •
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May 20th, 2013
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•• 11:45 pm ••
Air.
The one word resonated blatantly through his head. Giving no thought to his protesting legs, he hurried to catch his breath, resting his head between his forearms, his body slanting wearily over the mirror. He impatiently drew in a few sharp breaths, his chest rising and falling at pace with his heavy pants which slowly subsided into bothered breaths, before eventually evening out to their normal beat.
It only took seconds for a smirk of content to find his face, later Turning into a sighed laughter as he lifted his head back up and straightened his posture to lean only on a single hand stretched above his head.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride as their grueling practice finally came to an end, leaving the room filled with nothing but the grunts and complaints of his members who he could see had dispersed across the room, each fighting their own battle for air. The hurried thud of his heart in his chest was an addicting track.
A firm, open hand pat him against the shoulder bringing his attention away from his recovering members in the reflection of the mirror. He looked over his shoulder to meet glance with their leader. He was just barely taller than him, with an evident potential to be well built if they didn't lead the lives they did. Though his features neared a gaunt appearance, His cheeks were full enough to curve as he smiled at Hoseok, his hand gripping tightly to his shoulder.
"Good job Hoseok hyung, I think we got it down for good this time" he spoke with confidence, his words almost reassuring, though they were meant more like an apology to his teammate. He wasn't ever of much help when it came to shortening their practice hours, but being the one they looked at for comfort, he didn't often apologize for his actions. This was about as far as he'd ever go. He'd never protested and expected an equal reaction. Hoseok admired that. He had a few things to learn from their deserving leader, not all of which were based purely on content.
"Yeah, We need to work on coordination but its definitely better than what we tried yesterday. Everyone did great today," he raised to tone significantly towards the end, his words booming across the room. He didn't break eye contact, only nodding in reassurance towards his leader, leading both of their closed smiles to widen slightly. A noiseless moment of understanding they would both keep for their own insight.
Giving in to the modest awkwardness of their silence, Namjoon loosened his grip, walking towards their crowded bags in search for his.
"Namjoon-Ah" Hoseok called out.
The younger of the two turned, his eyebrows raised in confusion.
"Just Hobi is fine, I haven't had a friend call me Hoseok since primary school"
The message of his words was clear. The younger only nodded breaking into a small chuckle as he heaved his bag over his shoulder.
"Don't stay too long alright? were supposed to be in the studio early tomorrow"
Hoseok hummed in understanding turning to see the room slowly being emptied out. He seemed to be the only one with plans to stay, which he was grateful for. He was due some alone time.
There was no denying the pride he felt being the one to lead the team through their unsupervised practices, but he feared he'd never attain the level of patience it took to teaching the group in the same forbearing and forgiving way in which he had been taught. And though he had no spoken responsibility to, he feared if anything went south it'd be a valid enough reason to keep him around, as self-serving as it made him sound. He felt a pull to make up for the qualities he lacked with the ones that overflowed.
Nights like these, He couldn't help but wonder why he'd stuck around. Training wasn't supposed to be easy. It's an unspoken rule that applied to all companies, no matter the financial status. Trainees work hard to prove they have what it takes to prosper in even the harshest living situations and their work will be rewarded with a chance to debut. There just seemed to be much more to look forward to when you knew a successful debut would be able to tweak your lifestyle even the slightest bit. Positivity was a scarcely found quality in the company and Hoseok wasn't much help to changing that.
After a late night practice, going home to a 1 bedroom apartment barely large enough to fit one person let alone 7 seemed far from inviting. So it had become a habit to wait out the night in the practice room and avoid any of the conflicts that were sure to arise when the 7 sweaty stressed men made it back to their 'home', which not surprisingly, only had one bathroom.
To an extent, Hoseok felt guilty for his disappointment towards the situation. Unlike the other members, he'd not only come from a large and supportive family but from one that made sure he felt happy and accomplished in whatever he did. His dreams were always a priority which from what he'd seen and heard through the rare phone call or even rarer open conversation, wasn't always the case with some of the other members. He almost felt privileged for having had such an easy flowing childhood. Turns out life wasn't the same for everyone. His members seemed more prepared for these hardships than he was.
He'd never complain about how easy he was brought up but conflicts arose he seemed to be the hardest to fall and the first to flee.
A quiet knock perked his head from where he was connecting his speaker to begin. Walking around the clutter at his side, he opened the door to see all 6 Guys standing outside the door. By the looks of their unbuttoned coats and their gloves in hand, they hadn't even made it out the door of the building.
"Hyung" Jungkook spoke up from behind the others, perking his head enough to be seen.
"We were gonna stop by the cafe on the way home, we - uh - we thought you'd like to come"
The nerves in his voice made Hoseok's heart falter. Never in his life had someone spoke like that to him. He was definitely nothing to fear and reflecting on it, he hadn't been acting that way.
"Of course, Yeah. Let's go" He smiled.
"If you're still practicing we can- "
"Oh no, I was heading out anyways" He cut him off. "we've worked enough today"
Out the door and towards the hallway all 7 men walked together, conversation starting to bubble. Fruitless debates and talks of dreams and accomplishments followed them till they all sat with a steaming drink in hand around 2 joined tables in a quiet cafe nearing midnight. Badly strung jokes and ruined punchlines left them laughing till their breaths gave into the cold and then laughing at the coughing fits that followed.
and for once, Hoseok has thrilled for the years to come.
"It's okay come on when I say one two three forget it
Erase all sad memories
Smile holding onto each other's hands"
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17 1/2 Years later :))
Hope you enjoyed ❤❤
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The Flower Path We Walked // BTS
FanfictionShort stories centered around our beautiful boys and their journey to stardom. (Ongoing)
