There was a timid aroma in the air.
"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you?" Miyeon asked carefully. "You don't have to answer," she added.
Yoongi had removed his coat and slug it over the chair's spine, the once clean and elegant garb was now rumpled and dingy. He knew he smelt bad, but Miyeon did not mention it.
He clutched the cup of tea Miyeon had brought him close to his chest, the warmth from the cup chased the bite of winter, that he had so desperately tried to escape, away. And his ravenous appetite had been tamed for the time being after he consumed the small sandwich Miyeon gave him all too quickly.
The question was expected, yet he did not want to tell her the truth, but she had been so kind to him he could not fib. When their eyes met, he quickly averted them when the guilt weighed his shoulders to the ground again.
"I know I shouldn't ask, but you look terrible. You were just discharged from hospital and you look like you're on the doorstep again."
"I just...messed up everything."
"How so?"
Yoongi hung his head low, filled with guilt. His bottom lip trembled when he remembered the expression on Hoseok's face after he had irrationally kissed him. He squeezed his eyes shut in hopes to stop the tears that threatened to fall.
"Does it have to do with Hoseok?" She asked slowly.
He found his bottom lip caught between his teeth, but nodded and inhaled deeply before he confessed. "I-I...I kissed him."
"Well, that doesn't sound like a bad thing."
"He didn't want me to. I shouldn't have..."
"Wait-he didn't hurt you, did he?" Miyeon's eyes grew wide.
Yoongi almost scoffed, laughed even. Hoseok could not harm a fly, so why would he hurt him? The thought was completely absurd.
"No, he's never. I just...it was me." Yoongi sighed. "He was so nice and I misunderstood and I just couldn't stop myself. I'm the one who screwed up."
Miyeon bit her rosy lip and passed him some napkins to wipe his tears. She looked at him for a moment, and said, "Somehow I really doubt that."
He wanted to protest, to tell her how much he had messed up, but he could not. She stood up and dusted herself.
"Are you still hungry?" She gathered his trash and sauntered towards the counter. "Let's get some more food in you, you're skin and bone. Then you can tell me more, okay?"
Yoongi barely noticed the other customer who exited the coffee shop, but he knew he should follow suit and leave. He knew he should get out of there before he could take advantage or her kindness the way he had done previously with Hoseok, but the thought of food was enticing.
He ate his second sandwich with modicum dignity, ate slowly and truly tried to savour each bite.
"You're homeless, aren't you?"
Yoongi was caught off guard, so much he even jumped a little. A memory, as sharp as day, hit him like a battering ram to the chest. It was a different table, a different voice, but the same words laced with the same pitiful timbre. He could never forget Hoseok's face when he realized his situation. And he could never forget the words he had spoken afterward, words that he clung to and mentally repeated as though it would be thought into existence, even though he knew it were impossible.
"Why are you determined to help me?"
"Because I know you're worth it, even if you don't think so." He had said, so genuinely.
YOU ARE READING
VERTIGO HEART | SOPE ✓
Fanfiction[completed] ✎＿Min Yoongi was a man who remained within the safety of shadows and used his dexterous fingers for survival. However, during a Christmas rush hour, he unexpectedly encountered an odd man as bright and bubbly as the sun, which left him c...
