Color of My Pain

9| Lavender

Hoseok was ecstatic. His history class was visiting a museum in Ulsan. It was very near the giant red circle of yarn on his corkboard map. His soulmate would be so close. He had it all planned out.

Plan
•Get in group
•Leave group
•Sneak into red circle
•Find SoulMate
•Get back in time for head count

He just needed Namjoon to cover for him. That wouldn't be a problem, of course he would!

"I'm not covering for you."

"Huh?"

"I'm not getting in trouble just so you can meet him. You'll be all mopey til you see him again anyway."

Hobi just stared at his friend with disbelieving eyes. "I'll go ask Jin."

"You can't ask my partner to be your partner, Hobes."

"You're his partner!" Hobi's distress multiplied and he threw his hands in the air before effectively banging his head on the table. Black surfaced beneath his skin and a snatch of lavender worry struck in his head.

"Oops." He mumbled. "Fine I'll go ask Jimin."

"Better hurry," Jin suggested, plopping down his tray. "Chanyeol was on his way to ask him."

Hobi groaned.

* * *

In the end, Jimin agreed to cover for Hoseok. He was scandalized by the thought of a secret mission of love.

"It's so sweet, hyung. Your soulmate is really lucky to have you! Oh, I'm so excited!"

* * *

When the day finally dawned, Hobi felt an immense weight lift off his shoulders and a new blue settle in its stead. His baby needed him more than ever. The abuse had caused Hoseok to miss 4 gym classes in the last two weeks.

And the Blue. What if he didn't find him in time? What if his soulmate turned out to be just like Jin's uncle Minhyuk 's? Straight??? What if he didn't find Hobi attractive? WHAT IF IT WAS ACTUALLY A GIRL? Would she be okay with a platonic soulmate relationship?

So he dressed quickly, trying not to be too insecure about his looks. Just black skinny jeans and a black long sleeved shirt. All the while his mind working, filling with lavenders and blues.

He'd stay for the head count, then slip away. He wasn't sure how he was going to find him. He needed to be in pain obviously.

He decided to figure that out later.

* * * *

Yoongi awoke to an empty house. The slip had been signed some time before he'd gotten up. Hopefully, the day would border on boring.

There were still patches of mauve where his ribs and arms were still recovering. Since his mom's visit, Yoongi's dad had gotten angrier, his abuse- more harsh.

He was looking forward to a quiet museum trip. But not the strangers, that part of it didn't sit well.

Yoongi dressed nicer than usual, which just meant a button up over his tee. He waited on the front steps of the school where his classmates were congregating. Taehyung was nowhere to be seen and Kook was probably with him. So, he let the flow of traffic carry him to homeroom.

He put his permission slip on the edge of his teacher's clipboard and took his seat in the back.

"In the future, Mr. Min," she sniffed snootily, "permission slips are to be handed in no later than the day before the trip."

Tae and Jungkook mocked her as they made their way to Yoongi, fingers intertwined.

"Before the trip, Mr. Min." Jungkook whispered.

Yoongi and Taehyung laughed along. No, this wasn't Kookie's homeroom, but he's Taehyung's soulmate. It's like an automatic '+1' for every occasion. Jungkook parked in Taehyung's lap and Yoongi listened to them talk while they waited to load the buses.

* * * *

Namjoon and Jin slept on each other's shoulders, Jin's legs were draped over Joon's. Hobi couldn't sleep. Couldn't even think about it. He swore he could feel the microscopic ebbing of the mauve that his baby had covering his ribs. He was closer than ever before and the wheels kept turning, kept carrying him forward.

His leg bounced up and down with nerves and he kept flipping through the pages of his book. He wasn't reading the words.

A pair of headphones were snapped onto his ears. Jimin was grinning at him, eyes twin crescents of dark brown.

"Just relax, Hobi hyung."

"Relax. O-okay. I'm relaxed."

Jimin turned on some of Hobi's favorite music. And Hobi fell asleep.