Best Of Me || Taekook

Two

"So tell me again how you know Jungkook?"

Hoseok and I were walking to the dorm where Jungkook was living, which was on the opposite side of the campus from our rooms. Normally I didn't mind such a long walk, but tonight it felt like I was walking towards my execution.

Hoseok seemed unaware of my discomfort, or just chose to ignore it. He was walking like his normal joyous self, ready to have a fun night with his friends and dance and drink till it was so early in the morning the sun was already coming up. I was always up early and had heard Hoseok come back late many times. He had proudly told me once that he was always the last to leave the party. Which didn't give me much hope for returning early tonight.

"Didn't I tell you before?"

I shook my head. Hoseok talked a lot but I had never heard the story of how he had met Jungkook. I had always wondered about it, since the two seemed to have nothing in common.

"You know where the dance studio is right?"

I nodded. It was not too far from our dorm, right next to the other sports facilities of the university. I only went there if I had agreed to meet Hoseok there, I wasn't really a big sports fan myself.

"Well, then you might also know that the basketball court is right next to it. So one day I was in the dance studio till late, practicing a new routine I had come up with. When all of the sudden the power went out."

I enjoyed listening to Hoseok telling a story, he used his whole body to give depth to what he was saying. You could see he was a dancer, just by looking at the way he moved while he talked.

"I was the only one left in the building, so I went outside to see if the dance studio was the only building that had lost power. Apparently the whole sports area was hit, and the basketball team was training late because of the big game they had to play that weekend."

I didn't need to know the rest of the story to figure out how this was going to end. Hoseok was someone who talked to everybody, and everybody liked him immediately. He was just one of those people who you feel comfortable with from the very start.

"So I saw Jungkook and the rest of the team come out and went to ask them for help. And I don't know, the next time I saw Jungkook he invited me to hang out with him. We've been friends ever since."

I loved Hoseok, but sometimes I hated him. He didn't understand what it was like to be bullied or have trouble talking to other people. I could sometimes get so angry at how easy everything came for him. But then he would do something so incredibly sweet and considerate that I would hate myself instead for getting so envious.

We had arrived at the dorm were Jungkook lived and I could already hear the music banging through the wall and the sharp smell of alcohol penetrated my nose, almost making me gag. Hoseok didn't seem to mind and pulled me inside by my arm.

The music inside was so loud my eardrums started ringing. How could you ever have a normal conversation when you couldn't even hear yourself think?

All this time Hoseok had held my by the sleeve of my sweater and dragged me through the crowd. I supposed trying to find someone. Finally we stopped standing besides a group of guys sitting casually on a worn out couch, which seemed to have outlived countless parties and had the smell to vouch for it.

"Hi guys, I want you to meet my friend Taehyung! You know, that one I was telling you about earlier."

Suddenly six pairs of eyes were focussed on me, and I wished I could disappear right then and there. Why on earth had I agreed to come to this? I hated talking to other people. I hated talking in general.

Even though I had gotten rid of my accent, by countless nights of studying, I never got rid of the fear of speaking in public. I was still afraid I would somehow forget how to pronounce something, and people would start making fun of me again.

So instead of saying something I just sheepishly raised my hand. Hoseok raised an eyebrow at me, but quickly filled the awkward silence.

"Taehyung doesn't really say much, at least until you get to know him. When I first met him two years ago he looked like a lost puppy in the hallway. It took him a good twenty minutes before he said something else than his name," Hoseok grinned.

The guys on the couch laughed. The biggest guy in the group stood up and offered me his hand. For a second I was frozen before I did the same and shook it.

"Nice to meet you Taehyung, I'm Jungkook. It's okay if you don't like to talk that much, my friend Yoongi here used to be quite shy too. Although now he is probably the most annoying one in the whole team."

The guy who had sat on the right side of Jungkook playfully kicked his friend. He was visibly the smallest of all of them. I wondered how a tiny guy like Yoongi got to play in the basketball team. I had always thought people who played basketball were tall.

"Don't listen to this prick. He might be the team captain, but he's the most immature baby I have ever met."

The playful teasing between Yoongi and Jungkook made me feel a little more at ease. Their smiles were contagious, and I could feel the corners of my mouth creep up into a grin. I had never expected the infamous womanizer Jungkook to be such a nice guy. Jungkook gestured to a couple of empty chairs for me and Hoseok to sit in.

"Come sit with us. Tell me, why haven't I ever met you before if you're such good friends with my man Hobi here?"

I let out a short laugh hearing Hoseok's nickname. I didn't realise there were more people who called him that. When I had first started using that name for him, he absolutely hated it. But apparently he had now grown to love it.

"Hobi huh? I didn't know anyone else called him that."

I looked at Hoseok who pretended to be surprised. I knew I caught him now.

"Yeah, I knew how to pronounce his name because my parents are from Korea too, but most of the guys in the team didn't. So Hoseok told us we could call him Hobi, because it was easier."

I started laughing. Jungkook and the others didn't seem to understand what was so funny. Of course they didn't, they didn't hadn't heard the story. So I explained how Hoseok had gotten the nickname "Hobi".

"Don't start getting too full of yourself now Tae. It was just for practical reasons."

Hoseok's grumpy face made me laugh even more. If there was one thing Hoseok hated, it was admitting someone else was right. So admitting he liked his nickname was about the worst thing that could happen to him.

The incident had made me feel ten times lighter than when I had stepped into this party. Perhaps Hoseok had been right, perhaps I would enjoy myself. The second that thought crossed my mind, the universe decided to prove me wrong once again.

"So, I heard from Hobi you were here because of some girl?"

Fuck, really Hoseok? You couldn't just keep your big mouth shut this once. Talking about Luna to Jungkook, who were well known to be close friends, was about the last thing I wanted to do tonight. But everyone was staring at me, and I could feel Hoseok elbow me. Dear god, here goes nothing.

***
Hello lovelies,

I hope you all haven't forgotten about this fanfic. I am very sorry for putting it on hold for so long, but I was so busy with uni and now my internship that I couldn't find the time to continue. I also wanted to finish I Need U before coming back to this, so I could focus on this completely.

As I said before in my author's note, I didn't really have an idea of where to take this story. But today I was brainstorming, and I honestly have come up with the best storyline (I am still very excited with what I came up with). So I am very motivated to write this story. It will be much less dark and painful than Save Me and I Need U.

I hope you guys will enjoy the story as much as I look forward to writing it.

Love Mel💜