A dose of Optimism || BTS Jung Hoseok

A Dose of Optimism Episode 5

Hoseok stood sullenly outside of the practice room, his face tightly pressed up against the glass to see his friends practicing. Until he was permitted to practice, by his manager, he was strictly ordered to rest and recover.

"What should I do? I'm so bored. Should I watch a movie? Nah, I promised Yoongi I'd watch it one with him, tonight," he muttered to himself. "I could meet up with friends," he decided, pulling his phone out. It wasn't healthy for himself to stare into a practice room all day.

Hoseok, dismissing himself from the building, wandered around, heading for a quiet place to clear his mind and rest. As he wandered along the brightly lit streets he thought about the past few weeks, "Huh, I run into Claire quite frequently, must be a coincidence," he smiled cheekily. It felt like a fairytale coming true. He abruptly stopped and hissed, as if he ate something spicy, "What if it is? And we get married and have kids?......... I should stop thinking like this, even if we did, I can't tell her what kind of crazy imaginations I had about us. It would be too weird."

He chuckled to himself, swinging from side to side as he walked, entering a crowded shopping strip. He spun around window shopping clothes and eyeing large amounts of food stalls and their pleasant aromas. He stopped dead in his tracks, mouth slightly apart when he spotted a girl with long light orange hair tied in a bun, biting her bright pink lips. She had black shoes, black skinny jeans, and a light sky blue t-shirt that hung loosely off of her. She was trying to grill Korean Beef by herself. Hoseok's cheeks turned red. "What is this?" he thought in a panic, "I see her everywhere I go. I can't stop imagining things that happen in those romance stories. I must be going crazy!" he thought, turning to see if anyone noticed him freezing up over a seeing a girl.

"What if this is Fate?" A voice in his head asked.

"Be quiet!" he whisper-shouted to himself.

The voice ignored him, "Isn't it okay to like her? After all, she's nice, pretty, has a nice sense of humor-"

"Stop talking! I barely know her. You're overreacting," he replied to his brain. His eyes trailed back to the girl flipping the meat on the grill. "She is really pretty though," he agreed with himself. "Argh, you're making me look like an idiot!" he hissed to the voice. All that remained was the evil cackling of laughter fading away. Hoseok smoothed his white shirt down before taking courage, stepping toward Claire.

Claire was a redhead but she had a mix of light, so her hair was naturally bright orange or golden that flowed in perfect waves around her. She had sparkling clear bright green eyes that glittered when she smiled. She was finishing grilling her meat when a shadow stopped by her. She turned to look at who was beside her. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw a shy Hoseok trying to act confident. "H-Hoseok, what are you doing here?" she stuttered, turning around to see if she find the reason.

"I was just walking by when I saw you. Do you mind if I join you?" he asked, indicating he would like to sit across from her.

"Yes. I mean, no! I don't mind," she cried. She mentally facepalmed herself at how stupid she was acting.

Hoseok's smile doubled, causing her heart to ride a rollercoaster, "What are you doing out here?" he asked her, sitting himself down comfortably.

"I'm trying to eat as much food everywhere before I leave," she explained, leaning in close, "and I heard this place was pretty good, so I left work early."

Hoseok chuckled, raising his hand so he could ask for some soju. "Well, if you want a tour, I think my schedule has opened up a bunch. I could show you around if you want."

Claire could feel the heat rise to her face, "That would be wonderful, but I don't want to bother yo-"

"Oh, no. It's not a problem at all. It may serve helpful to my quick recovery," he assured, pouring her some drink before skillfully slicing the meat and placing them on her plate.

By then, Claire's ears were red. "This has to be a dream," she thought. "I hope I don't wake up," she muttered aloud.

There was a short moment of silence before Hoseok leaned in close, turning his head to make sure no one was listening in on them, "Do you mean to say this entire time you were asleep?" he inquired, eyes narrowing.

Claire leaned back in her seat, taken aback by his question, "Er, um-"

"Because if you did, that's pretty cool!" he cried, leaning back in laughter. "I want to sleepwalk, talk, and eat. I would never have to wake up until dance practice."

Clarine giggled while breathing a silent sigh of relief. "Well that was close," she thought to herself. "How are you? There was a bustle of worried people asking if you were okay, seeing as you were sent to a hospital."

"Ah, I'm doing better. Truth be told, for the recent months, I felt as if I was just going through the motions of life, not actually living it. Recently, I've found incentives to guide me to my goals."

"That's a relief. It must be so hard not practicing though. I admire your dedication to how much you work on a daily basis."

Hoseok grinned, "Thank you. I love what I do, so I don't consider it work. However, since I don't think I'll be able to practice anytime soon. Do you have any suggestions to help me recover quickly? I already feel out of shape," he pouted unhappily.

Claire playfully rolled her eyes, "It's only been a few days since you've been released, you're still in shape."

Hoseok popped a piece of meat in his mouth, "I feel like most people would sit around watching movies or playing games all day..."

Clarie's eyes widened, "Oh, but I don't think that would help you recover much!" The words emitting from her mouth froze when he looked into her sea green eyes. "B-because, I think people should go outside and view the life around them. To explore the beauty of the world. I think that would be more helpful in recovering emotionally and mentally," she managed, looking at her lap.

"More helpful? What is that vocabulary?" her brained screamed at her as she winced.

"Huh, that is very logical. I'll give it a try. Do you want to join me?" he asked, reaching over to cut more meat.

Claire was sure her world froze around her. "L-like a date?" her mind screamed.

She shook her head, "Are we friends?" she asked him.

Hoseok paused to look up at her, surprised by the odd question, "Yes. Are we not?" he wondered, beginning to question himself.

"Oh, okay. Then yes, I'd love to join you. I'm sorry, I was just really confused as to where everything was heading," she said, her mouth dry. "I'm going to go scream into my pillow, this is so embarrassing!" she thought, fists clenching at how weird she had been acting.

Hoseok shook his head in acceptance, "Oh, no. I just figured we could get to know each other better. Especially since you seem to know more about helping me recover than myself," he chuckled, drinking a shot.

Claire could only smile and stare at her hands in her lap, fidgeting nervously, "If you really don't mind. I'd be thrilled to be your friend and help you in your recovery as best as I can."