strangers | sope

one

Hoseok

He pulled the soft baby blue hoodie over his cold, almost numb hands while pacing down the empty streets. The rain pattered lightly around him, the splashing of the odd car enough to be calming but luckily the rain didn't fall hard enough to soak him.

Not aware of how long he had been walking for his feet continued to pull him forward with no destination. This was a mindless activity he did often.

He had left his shared apartment at around 10 pm that night with his phone tucked tightly into the jean pocket and only a few dollars just in case; he had been doing this for a while unbenost to his roomates. Sometimes it's just necessary to walk alone in the middle of the night.

Jung Hoseok, the most caring, hopeful and brightest person everyone around him had ever known; which led to the nickname of Hope. His closest friends would also refer to him as their sunshine. He didn't mind it, in fact it was warming and sweet but that didn't mean he was always as happy as they thought.

Whenever he was alone he felt this overwhelming sadness that he couldn't seem to shake. He cried countless times, screaming silently into his pillow through the late hours of the night way into the early morning.

Which is the reason twenty one year old Hoseok would take himself out for walks when he was sure everyone was sound asleep.

After a while of being caught up in his thoughts, Hoseok noticed that he had made his way to a children's play park however, it wasn't one he recognised.

He noticed a figure sat alone occupying one of the two swings on the set and curiosity got the better of him. Hoseok made his way over the small swingset and took the free seat.

Being next to him, the view of the boy was clearer albeit not by much. He looked to be no older than 25 and had brightly coloured hair in the captivating shade of mint green which due to the rain had stuck slightly to his forehead.

"Hey," he began, not really knowing why he decided to talk to the stranger next to him.

"Hi." The response was cold and blunt, exactly what Hoseok was expecting to receive.

With a light sigh the stranger spoke again, "Can I help you?" Hoseok chuckled softly, his feet gently pushing his weight back and fourth on the swing.

"Probably not. Here's a better question, can I help you?" It wasn't so much a whisper but something along those lines, not entirely sure what was pushing him to be so bold tonight. 

"And what makes you think I need help?" The Mint boy asked with attitude; his eyes never left the black painted night sky, freckles of bright stars filling the space.

"I think we all need a little help sometimes, whether we decided to admit it or not."

"Maybe, but why the hell would you want to help me?" He snapped, the roughness of his tired voice shining through.

"Because, I want to see you smile. I like it when people smile, it makes me happier when I know those around me are happy." Hope admitted.

It was silent for a while, Hoseok had joined the older boy's gaze upon the pretty sky.

"What's your name?" The stranger spoke again suddenly, catching Hoseok off guard.

"My friends call me Hope, apparently I'm their sunshine." His lips tugged into a small smile when remembering his friends.

"Y'know Hope, even the sun has to set sometimes." The boy said, Hoseok still didn't know what he looked like, only that his hair was obnoxiously bright.

"That's true, but I don't want to let them down." He admitted.

"Mhm. I get you."

"What's your name?" Hope asked not really expecting an answer.

"Not telling. I guess it wouldn't hurt to say that my Rap name is pretty sweet." He laughed to himself at the pun. Hoseok just nodded, although it wasn't visible.

They ended up sitting in comfortable silence for another while, before Hoseok broke it.

"Say, do you ever wonder why?"

"Why what?" He mumbled, if Hoseok hadn't been as close as they were he most likely wouldn't have heard it.

"Why anything, why do we exist? Why is anything even worth it? Just why?"

He hummed with understanding, in fact, he had thought about why; unfortunately though he never came up with an answer that was good enough to recite to the boy next to him.

"What if there isn't a why?" He spoke, more to himself than anything. "What if we're just here to exist without purpose?"

"Then what's the point in existing in the first place?"

"There isn't one." He guessed, his lips rambling the words before his brain could process them.

A light chuckle was heard from beside him, it was wasn't necessarily happy but it was amused.

"Then what's the fucking point?" He shrugged. "Some people are just born to be happy I guess, and I am not one of them." Hoseok sighed, he had a hard time admitting to himself that he was in fact unhappy but with him it felt easier.

"Maybe but, I think that you, Hope, you really deserve to be happy. It may take a while and if we ever meet again somehow, somewhere then I promise to help you." His heart fluttered at the thought of meeting the Mint boy again, he wanted it but another part was scared- too scared.

"Thank you."