Bittersweet

27

You frowned. Hoseok was pointedly ignoring you. You had no idea what you did to deserve a silent treatment. You were incredibly confused, but also really, really hurt. Hoseok was one of your closest friends; someone you really enjoyed spending time with. You were not happy at all at being ignored.

You nudged Jin, who was single-handedly hogging all the food that he'd cooked and brought for you and Ji Woo.

He paused mid slurp, the noodles hanging out of his mouth awkwardly. You leaned in, your voice soft.

"Oppa, could you leave Hoseok and I alone for a moment, I'd like to talk to him."

That, for some reason, made Jin nervous. However, he still nodded, slurping up the rest of his noodles. And then, he proceeded to chew his mouthful of food for a good ten minutes. You waited impatiently, your fingers tapping on your leg.

Jin, with his mouth finally free of food, literally grabbed Ji Woo's attention. He clapped his hands to either side of her face, pulling her face closer to his.

"JI WOO-YA!"

Puzzled, Ji Woo frowned at Jin. Jin stared at her seriously.

"There's a secret I must show you. It's a secret ingredient that only attractive people like us are allowed to see. Come with me, and I'll present it to you."

Without waiting for a response, Jin practically dragged her out of the room, whispering to her about his actual reason in a very not subtle manner. You sighed.

Hoseok was not facing you. You could see his very precise and very aesthetic side profile, but his gaze was fixated straight ahead, away from you.

"Oppa?"

He hummed in response, still not meeting your gaze. You bit your lip slightly, unsure of how to proceed.

"You seem... angry with me. If I said or did something wrong, I'm really sorry. Just... tell me what I did."

Hoseok finally turned to look at you, his face uncharacteristically dull.

"I'm not angry at you, Y/N-ah."

His gaze softened into such a melancholic one that you badly wanted to give him a hug.

"I-I'm more mad at myself. And, I suppose what I was doing was some sort of way to punish myself. I didn't realize it would hurt you too."

You offered him a small smile.

"So, you're not mad at me then?"

He shook his head.

"I could never be."

You sighed in relief. Scooting over to him, you wrapped your arms around him. You could feel him stiffen under your touch.

"Whatever it is, you're upset about, I'm sure you didn't do anything wrong. You're one of the most sensible people I've met. You would never do anything wrong."

Before Hoseok could reply, the door slammed open and Jin and Ji Woo stepped in, grinning at you both smugly. You gave Hoseok one last, reassuring squeeze before sliding back to your previous position.

-----------------------------

If anything, Hoseok felt even more heart-achy than before. He hadn't been expecting you to hug him, but once you did, he found himself craving your touch more and more. He wanted you to scooch back over, wrap your arms around him and never let go again.

But that wouldn't happen.

His anger had melted away the moment you'd spoken to him. Everything about you was so lovable that he just couldn't stay angry around you. It was true; he was mostly mad at himself for assuming that you were confessing, though you had come nothing close to a confession, but he was also frustrated.