SOPE | Memory

J-Hooooope!

As Hoseok stretched and stared at the screen with wide eyes, he felt something in him waking up. Remembering. He had danced these dances so many times that it was in his muscle memory. Watching his younger self on stage brought peace to him. He loved dance, he really did. 

"You look like a doe," Yoongi commented. Hoseok laughed but kept his eyes on the screen. The video ended. Yoongi reached to replay it, but Hoseok stood up, skirted around Yoongi, started the music, and stood in front of the mirror in his dance room.

"Uh, Hoseokie, you watched it one time, there's no way you can--"

Hoseok started dancing, doing the exact same thing is ten year old self had done, except he was doing it way better now.

"Of course you can. Of course you can, Jung Hoseok," Yoongi breathed, watching in awe as Hoseok slayed the stage. Well, slayed the room, but still. He was amazing. His body was moving in impossible ways, doing impossible things, and he was impossibly amazing.

Hoseok couldn't stop grinning as the moves came back to him. It was almost scary, but in a good way, how well he knew the dance, how easily he could conjure it up from the hazy puddle that was his childhood. When he finished, he started again, but he added his own moves in. Yoongi looked about ready to worship the air Hoseok breathed.

"OHMYGOD OMIGOD!" Jimin screeched from the door. Hoseok laughed but kept dancing. Jimin ran into the room and sat down. "Your parents invited me over, but OHMYGOD!"

"He memorized it from watching the video of himself from six years ago doing the dance. One time. He watched it one time."

"WOW!" Jimin yelled, and all three of them were grinning. "ALL HAIL THE DANCE KING, HOSEOK HYUNG!"

"He needs a stage name..." Yoongi thought out loud.

"HOPES AND DREAMS OF THE FUTURE!" Jimin shouted, unable to keep his voice down. Hoseok finished the dance again and sat down with them, laughing.

"Hope?" Yoongi suggested.

"No, Hopie," Jimin said. Hoseok smiled. It sounded like Hobi. "Hoseok Hope? H-Hope? Jung Hope?"

"J-Hope!" Yoongi said, grinning. It had a ring to it.

"That's cool--"

"J-HOOOOOOOOOOPE!" Jimin and Yoongi yelled, leaving Hoseok rolling on the floor laughing. Yoongi noticed the slightly uncomfortable look in Hoseok's eyes.

"Jiminie, how about you go home and finish your homework, then go hang out with Tae and Kookie?" he asked, putting a hand on Jimin's shoulder.

"But I just got here," Jimin pouted. Before Yoongi could repeat himself, Jimin was already standing up. "I just remembered I'm hanging out with Tae and Kookie at the park later, sorry hyungs, gotta go!"

"Bye Jiminie!" Hoseok said, sitting up.

"Bye!" Jimin called, racing out the door. Hoseok collapsed onto Yoongi.

"You didn't have to," Hoseok said, swallowing to keep the acrid taste of puke from rising to his mouth.

"You looked sick," Yoongi said, pushing Hoseok's bangs out of his face. "But that was really amazing, Hoseok, it was."

"Thanks... it was a really smart idea," Hoseok said, still smiling, but Yoongi saw the tension on his face.

"Do you need to throw up?" Yoongi asked. Hoseok shook his head. "You look like you need to." Hoseok took a deep breath.

"Headache."

"Oh no, no, no," Yoongi hissed. "Up." He pulled Hoseok up and led him up the stairs to his room.

"Ow," Hoseok said lightly.

"Hoseok, this is really bad, I don't want you screaming right now, I don't ever want see you in pain," Yoongi rambled, gently pushing Hoseok down onto his bed.

"I'm fine," Hoseok said, but his smile was tight.

"Should I call Dawon?"

"No, it's okay," Hoseok assured Yoongi, biting his lip. "Don't make her worry."

"Okay... how bad is it?"

"It's good," Hoseok mumbled. "For real, it's good. It's better when you're here."

"That's sweet, Hoseok, but it's still not normal to have headaches like this," Yoongi said. He saw the pain starting to build in Hoseok's eyes.

"You have them too," Hoseok replied, blinking fast.

"I don't scream. They aren't half as bad as yours."

"You could never know. I'm probably just weak... I can't take this much pain when there's people out there taking much more--"

"Stop it, Hoseok. Stop it. You're strong," Yoongi interrupted. He could tell by the way Hoseok shook, by the pain in his voice and eyes, that Hoseok really was strong to be able to deal with his pain.

"I don't want this, I really don't want it. I don't want to make you come to the hospital with me all the time, I don't want to scream every night, I don't want this," Hoseok said. His voice was soft, but Yoongi could tell how much he really meant it.

"It's okay, it'll go away. I promise," he said, patting Hoseok's head. He paused, then continued. "If you stopped dancing, how did you deal with dance at school?"

"I just told the teacher I wasn't feeling good..." Hoseok said, closing his eyes and trying to take deep breaths. Mistake. His lungs lit on fire and he gasped, which only made it hurt more.

"Hoseok!" Yoongi cried.

"F-Fire," Hoseok hissed through clenched teeth.