Crossing Over

Eighteen

The entire right side of the house had needed to be scraped clean of paint, primed, and repainted. It had taken Jin the whole day. The sun had long since set when he finished cleaning up the last of the supplies he'd used. The tree branches that had been brushing against the house had been removed as well. He took a step back to admire his handy work. He briefly wondered if Joon and Dae had fed themselves but since they hadn't come looking for him, he was sure they had.

He trudged back through the house, careful to take his shoes off to keep from getting dirt in the clean carpet. He didn't want to have to vacuum again the next morning. His footsteps were quiet on the stairs and he approached the second floor landing. Dae's door was shut and the lights were already off. Hopefully that meant she was already asleep.

Jin tiptoed down the hall past Joon's room. The door was shut there as well. The light shone under the door but he couldn't hear anything from inside so he continued to his own room. There was light sobbing coming from the other side that caused him to pause before pushing the door open.

Hoseok sat against the wall with his knees pulled to his chest. His face was buried against his legs, resting on his arms. His shoulders shook with each breath. Jin hesitated for only a moment before he softly closed the door behind him.

"Hey," he softly cooed, "What's the matter?"

Hoseok looked up at him with swollen watery eyes. He shook his head quickly before shoving his face back into his hands. The sobbing continued more harshly than before. "C-Can't," was all he got out.

Jin sank to the floor beside him and awkwardly reached out to pat his back. "It's alright. Just let it out. It never hurts to have a good cry."

The slightly smaller male relaxed against him and continued to cry. Jin sat in silence unsure of what to say. It was easy to comfort Dae and Joon. He'd known them their entire lives. Hell, he had practically raised Dae with Joon's help even though the two were only a few years apart.

"You know, you can talk to me if that would help," he offered once the crying began to ease up.

Hoseok pulled away finally and laid his head back against the wall. His face was stained with tears. "I'm just.. I hate it here. I'm so ready be done with it all. This world was never kind to me," he breathed out.

"What do you mean?" Jin looked over at him curiously.

A sharp laugh left him. "Typical tragic backstory. My mother was a junkie. She sold herself out to whichever man was desperate enough to buy her. She didn't even know my father's name." He stretched his legs back out against the floor. "I found her. After she had overdosed. Trust me, the irony isn't lost on me that we both took the same way out." His shoulders shrugged before he glanced over at Jin. "What about you? Where are your parents?"

Jin chewed on the inside of his cheek before answering. "Car accident. Around seven years ago. I'd just turned 18. Dae wasn't even 14 yet so Joon was around 16. It took a lot of convincing but the courts let me keep them with me."

Hoseok regarded him quietly. "They're lucky to have you. Not to have a pity party, but I wish I'd had someone like you around. I wouldn't have ended up here strung out on medications that I didn't need." He laughed again but there was no humor behind it. "I was a wreck. Worse than I am now actually. I was terrified of my own shadow, barely ate, and never hardly went outside. I was a pale scrawny little thing who looked every bit as sick as Mrs. Sinclair portrayed me to be. I actually thought that she was helping me. She started out being so kind to me but that was just when the social worker was making weekly visits. I quickly found out that it was all for show."

It felt as though Jin's heart had dropped to his stomach. "How old were you when they took you in?"

"I was seven when my mom died. I bounced around between a few orphanages so I think maybe nine when they got me. I was so happy at first. I thought I had a home. Turns out they only wanted me for money. Then they took in Yoongi a year or so later then Tae, but I'm guessing you already know about that."

Jin nodded quietly. "Yeah, Jimin and Jungkook told us. Look, I'm sorry Hoseok. I really am. I hate that something like that could happen, especially to kids."

"Hobi."

"What?" Jin asked.

"Call me Hobi. It's what the boys call me. Only the Sinclair's called me Hoseok."

"Alright, Hobi. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure you guys can get out of here. Maybe when you finally get to move on you can be happy," Jin patted his arm again before standing up and stretching.

For the first time since before he'd taken his life, Hobi smiled. "Thank you."