ᴀʙᴏᴠᴇ ᴀʟʟ ᴇʟsᴇ || ᴍ.ʏɢ + ᴘ.ᴊᴍ ✔️

chapter eight .

Monday, March 10th

As much as he wished he could be excused from PE for the rest of his life, Yoongi sadly found himself changing into his gym clothes at the start of a new week. All pain from his concussion had faded. Physically, he was doing perfectly fine, so there was no reason for his teachers to give him another pass. On the bright side, there wasn't dodgeball today, meaning Yoongi wouldn't have to be extra wary around a certain Jeon Jungkook. On the not-bright side, there was running to be done. Laps for all students around a track longer than the distance Yoongi walked in an entire day.

That wasn't really saying much, but still...

Three laps. It didn't sound like a lot. But Yoongi knew that it was. At least for him. Though this time, if he passed out, Namjoon could come to his rescue, since classes weren't separated for this activity. As it should be, Yoongi thought. Segregation is messed up.

As Yoongi was tying his shoe at the start of the track, he felt a presence looming over him. A shadow cast on his feet. But he didn't lift his head. It wasn't Namjoon. He knew that much.

"Yoongi! I thought I recognized that distinct green hair of yours!"

Oh no. Yoongi froze. He clenched the shoelace in his hand. Pretend you don't notice him. Pretend you don't hear him. Maybe he'll go away.

"Don't you remember me? It's Hoseok! Your coworker?? C'mon, lift that head and lemme see them baby blues!"

"My eyes are brown." Ah, shoot. Why did I open my mouth.

Heaving a sigh of exasperation, Yoongi finally rose to his feet and surrendered to Hoseok's incessant bugging. The redhead wore a pastel green headband that was uncannily close to the color of Yoongi's hair... His arms were on his hips, and as he beamed with the energy of a thousand suns, his tan skin shone with blinding brilliance. Yoongi squinted.

"Gorgeous day to go running, don't ya think so?"

He didn't think so. It was too early for him to think at all, let alone go jogging in circles against his will. Yoongi groaned and shifted his gaze.

"Not into exercise much?" Hoseok asked. "I understand. I never used to be, either. Up until my last year of middle school. Now I go to the gym whenever I get the chance."

He raised his arms in the air and began to stretch. Yoongi figured this would be the perfect opportunity to slip away and go find Namjoon, but then Hoseok opened his mouth again.

"I used to be really overweight, ya know." He pursed his lips and gave a quiet hum. "I still remember getting made fun of all the time, especially in middle school. There was this one guy in particular who already didn't like me very much, and he always used my weight as a reason to beat me up. Don't get me wrong, I love people, but he wasn't a very nice guy. Pushed me down the stairs one time. No fun. Very no fun."

Though he would have liked to think he was listening indifferently, Yoongi found himself wondering how Hoseok could be so open about such a sensitive topic. Not to mention how casual he sounded about it. Did he do this often or something? Did it come naturally to him? Whatever be the case, Yoongi wasn't sure how to respond, or if he were meant to respond at all. So he stood silent and still for a moment, holding his breath.

"You doing okay?" Hoseok leaned slightly to the side to peer at Yoongi's tilted face. "You're pale. Were you always this pale? I'm not very observant so I wouldn't know. Ah! I almost forgot! You were the one who got knocked unconscious by a dodgeball last week, right? That's crazy! How's your head? Still hurt? Man, I don't know Jungkook very well, but the boy must have one heck of an arm to throw like he did. How long were you out? The longest I've ever been unconscious was thirty-six hours."