Sope One Shots

Not Feeling Very Wholesome

Yoongi sat on the sofa, staring at the dark wood floorboards. His phone was resting on his upturned palms, it's face blank. His face blank too. He was wearing his old navy blue sweatpants and a grey shirt. Makeshift pyjamas. The sun shone weakly through the window as he let time wash over him. He vaguely heard a key in the door.

"Hey!" Hoseok said as he wandered into the living room, tossing his jacket onto the back of the couch next to Yoongi and taking off his heavy bag. "Don't you have a class right now?"

Yoongi nodded.

"Why aren't you there?"

Yoongi shrugged.

Hoseok sighed. "Baby..." he sat by Yoongi on the couch and went to ruffle his hair. Yoongi flinched away.

"I'm sorry I... I'm not feeling very wholesome today."

Hoseok frowned. He hated seeing Yoongi like this. He used to feel so ashamed, guilty, angry when he got like this. He used to press him for what was wrong, what had happened. But now he knew nothing had happened. It was a funk he got into sometimes, and it wasn't Hoseok's job to get him out of it. But that wouldn't stop him trying.

"I'm making you some chamomile tea." Hoseok announced, rising from the couch expectantly. "And you're going upstairs to change."

"I don't want to wear real clothes." Yoongi pouted.

"You don't have to. Just put on different sweatpants and a clean shirt and underwear. You can't wear the same thing you wore to bed in the daytime."

Yoongi sighed and heaved himself off the couch. He slouched up the stairs as Hoseok boiled the kettle.

"And don't be afraid to take a shower too!" Hoseok called after him.

Yoongi returned, with wet hair, in a red shirt and grey joggers. Hoseok noticed how his not-quite-dry body made the fabric of his shirt cling to him slightly. He looked damn good. But he'd look even better with a smile.

Yoongi passed him a steaming cup of chamomile. Yoongi took it with both hands. Hoseok noticed the veins under his skin were showing slightly, and the hair on his arms was a little too alert.

"You need a sweater, sweets." He said gently. Yoongi grunted slightly, staring into his tea like he might fall into it at any moment. Hoseok quickly darted into their bedroom and grabbed a huge hoodie. The kind with nice long sleeves to make sweater mittens.

"Here you go, my love." He passed Yoongi the sweater. Yoongi put it on slowly. It was like everything was in slow motion. Inside his head, everything seemed like chugging gears. He could see his mind trying to come to a conclusion, trying to process anything. It wasn't doing a good job.

Hoseok decided to make some soup. Chicken soup. Thin soup. More like a broth. That would help Yoongi.

When he was little, Yoongi used to have to go to his Grandma's when he got ill, because his parents both worked and there was no-one at home to take care of him. And she used to make him this thin chicken soup and he used to call it "come out ears soup" because he loved the taste so much he wanted to eat it until it came out his ears.

Hoseok tried his best to recreate it. Yoongi sat at the counter, still staring into his tea and trying to make sense of his broken mind. Hoseok stood opposite him, a chopping board, knife, and small heap of vegetables at his disposal. He started with the onions, moving onto celery and carrots, garlic and red pepper, slicing and dicing them as thinly as possible. He loved this. There was something immensely satisfying about using a sharp knife to cut veggies incredibly thinly. In some countries, especially around the Mediterranean, how small you chopped the vegetables in a salad was a sign of how much you loved the person you were making it for. And Hoseok loved Yoongi so much. That's why he could stand by him through his worst episodes.

He quickly pan fried the chicken and garlic in soy sauce, then boiled it and the veggies in stock for a while. He got a steep-sided blue willow pattern bowl from the cupboard. He used to love blue willow when he was little. He was obsessed with the romantic tale for a long time.

Hoseok took Yoongi's now cold tea out from under his nose and replaced it with the soup. It was like the steam from the soup warmed Yoongi's features. Just a little.

"Come-out-ears soup." He said, with a hint of a smile. Hoseok handed him a spoon.

After his bowl was empty and his stomach full, Yoongi felt the warmth of the food and the love with which it was made spread throughout his whole body. As Hoseok outstretched his hand to take his bowl to wash up, Yoongi caught it, and held it too his face.

"I'm sorry. I know it's hard for you, when I'm like this. I love you. Thank you for looking after me."

Hoseok smiled, and ruffled Yoongi's hair with his other hand. "Of course, my love. I'll always be here."

(A/N Hey guys I'm not feeling very wholesome today :( but writing this made me feel much better! Feelings will pass, and sometimes your brain isn't the nicest place to be; sometimes you need to be your own Hoseok and look after yourself, take a shower, go for a walk, and have some come-out-ears soup and things will feel much better <3)