don't cry || j.hsk

iii

"that's not fair! you can't put a two over a four! tell him, seokjin."

jin glanced down at the cards in the middle of the table, then back to marcus.
"marcus, take 6 cards."

"god damn it!"

we laughed boyishly as the man grumpily slipped 6 more cards into his deck.
marcus was an old friend of ava and i. we used to go to high school together, he'd drool over and fantasise over ava along with the other boys in our school, and id just be that friend sitting next to her to make her look prettier.

he invited us over to his resort in Côté d'Azur. he was a millionaire, of course, his resort being the top five starred rated resort in all of Europe.
a charmingly, slow melody played in the distance as we sat in the island of the hotel, tall palm trees surrounding us and framing the dark night sky above us.

hoseok put down a skip card. i turned to him and cringed as he made an odd noise and apologised for skipping my turn.

.

our table was overflowing with empty alcoholic beverages.
i was caught in a landslide. everyone had settled down, putting away the UNO cards to chatter about whatever came to mind.
respectively, yoongi excused himself to go back to the cabin and work with namjoon over the phone before heading to bed.
seokjin and ava were being the social birds that they were, having a laugh and talking with marcus while greeting any random stranger that passed by.

finding myself useless in this situation (or any other, really) i excused myself to use the bathroom as an excuse to walk around the resort and have some time by myself.
the moon was red today, said to happen only once ever 100 years. Côté d'Azur was high up, so you could definitely have a clear view of the moon as your toes dug into the cold sand of the night.

i sat myself down on the sand. the waves of the calm beach were the only noise filling the air, the twinkles of the water glistening and mimicking the stars in the sky. saying i felt at peace was an understatement.
i felt zen, true zen.

i felt sand scatter into my high waisted denim shorts, tickling my thighs. it was an annoying feeling, to say the least, so i stood up and did a weird little dance to shake the sand off of my skin.

"exquisite dancing."

my eyes automatically rolled as i turned around to look at hoseok, casually leaning against a palm tree, the dim lighting from a bar a few blocks away was the only source for me to see him, other than the shining red moon.
"better than yours."

he chuckled. "you sure have a lot of guts to talk to me like that."
"yeah? what are you gonna do about it?"

he shrugged his shoulders. "nothing. however, i do find you pretty displeasing. you really don't seem to like me."
although his words seemed hurtful, the heart-shaped smile on his face suggests otherwise.
"what are you doing here, hoseok?" i sat back down on the sand.
"trying to enjoy the red moon here." i muttered again.

hoseok took his flops off and stood hovering above me from behind. "well, jin and ava are drunk, so i went to take a walk. it's not like i intentionally came to see you."
i chuckled. "then why aren't you drunk?"

"im not pretty when im drunk." he surprised me by sitting down on the sand next to me and pulling out two cokes from a plastic bag he had been hiding. hoseok handed one to me and cracked open his.

"why aren't you getting drunk?"
i opened my coke and took a small swig. "i don't drink. peyton would kill me if i did."
"peyton's not here right now."

"he'd know." i sighed. "he always knows."

.

5:30 AM

usually when people wake up in the morning, they hear their alarm clock.
other times, it's the sounds of the lover grunting and moving around in bed, the sound of the birds chirping outside.
the sound of their infant crying for god knows what, the sound of something knocking over in their room from possibly a ghost.
or even if just the sound of their air conditioner filling the room with its coldness.

i woke up to a very peculiar sound, however. skin slapping against marble, sharp breathing and aggressive music playing at a very low volume.

i got up from my bed and woke myself up for a second before pressing my ear against the wall, the source of the sounds on the other side.
the heavy breathing and grunts were louder now, every few seconds, more skin slapping against marble floor.

i got out of bed and slipped on my shorts and flip flops before walking out to examine the room beside mine.
the door was shut, but i could hear the music more clearly now. it had emotion, rough rapping, a raspy voice.
hoseok.

i creeped the door open and poked my head inside to watch as hoseok defied all laws of gravity on the floor.
dropping to his knees to emit a loud thud, his hands flowing to his chest and down to the floor like water.
i was in a trance, the music playing was definitely once of their songs. whatever it was, the lyrics pulled the strings on my heart.

he was an angel. his body moved too well with the music, not to mention his enchanting voice that made the hairs on my skin rise.
i felt a chill run down my spine as he danced with so much emotion, putting down anyone who dared even say a word about the way he danced.
he didn't seem human at that point. he seemed too good to be human, i found myself itching to run and dance with him.

the song came to an end eventually, however, sooner than i had wanted.
i watched in awe as hoseok panted heavily, his chest rising and falling as he stood up to walk to his phone, turning off the bluetooth from the speakers.
"enjoy the show?"

i let out a noise from his sudden awareness. son of a bitch mad it seem like he didn't even know i was there.
i crossed my arms over my chest and grinned as he smiled at me, his face shining from sweat, his once light gray tank top now a darker shade from his sweat.

"you're an okay dancer, hoseok, ill give you that."

i opened the door wider as he walked closer to me. he smelled so nice.
whatever his cologne was, it did a darn good job at concealing his sweat.
"that dance was okay to you, huh?" he shook his head. "i don't know if i should be grateful or offended."

"you could start by taking a shower."

he stood dangerously close to me, one brow up as his pretty pink lips parted, his breathing still manual.
"why do you hate me so much, piper?"

i don't. not even close.

"why do you care?"

he scrunched his nose. "so you do hate me."

"you're annoying, and you woke me up. put the pieces together, dude."

i was expecting him to just scoff and walk off or give me a dumb remark then squeal, but he held his strong eye contact, the air between us growing hot.

"why do you hate yourself so much, piper?"