I Need You to Run ✔️

48. New Chances

(Same Morning)

Hoseok took a sip of his iced coffee as he stared down at his phone, waiting patiently for the dance class to finish up before making his entrance. Although the class still had about fifteen minutes to go, he didn't mind waiting, instead keeping himself occupied with an intense game of flappy bird.

He had been trying to beat the taunting high score of 40, for the past few days and deep down in the very pit of his gut, he knew it would finally happen today. Within the next fifteen minutes to be exact.

"Damn it." He swore, as his bird smashed into a brick wall. "Come on dude. Give me something I can impress Poppy with." He begged, tapping the screen as the multicolored bird he had spent way too many coins on bounced across the screen.

In all honesty, the high score wasn't even his. Poppy had actually given it a go a few days ago, effortlessly achieving the impressive score on the first try. That was all it took for the stupid game to take over his life.

After smashing into only the third obstacle and a golden "five points" displayed, Hobi looked up with frustration, fighting back the urge to throw his phone across the empty street. Taking a few therapeutic deep breaths and counting backwards from ten, he looked at the time before focusing his eyes on the row of parked cars across the street, a small object catching his attention.

Hoseok instantly shoved his phone into his pocket, giving up on the stupid game and crossed the street, his eyes falling over a young boy crouched between the cars.

"Hey kid, are you okay?" He asked, attempting to get a view of the child's face. "Where are your parents?"

The little boy looked up from the cement below his feet, tears streaming down his face and snot covering his upper lip.

Hobi's eyes instantly widened as he knelt down and gathered the end of his sleeve in his palm before wiping at the boy's face. "Are you lost?" He asked, brushing the kids hair back and out of his face as he nodded in response. "Did you wander off from them?" He asked, trying to narrow down his possible search location.

Again, the boy nodded.

Hoseok stood to his feet and tugged on the kid's hand, pulling him out of between the cars and onto the sidewalk. "When you're lost, you should always make sure you're in a spot they can see you. If you hide like that, your parents won't be able to find you." He taught, smiling down at the boy before looking towards the streets for any sign of a distraught parent. "What's your name kid?" He asked, kneeling back down to be the same height as the child. The poor kid couldn't have been more than four years old.

The little boy sniffled, rubbing at his eyes. "Sung-Ho." He stuttered.

"Well Sung-Ho," Hoseok started, giving his most calming smile. "When I was a little boy, I used to get lost a lot. I had to learn to not be scared or cry. Do you know what I did instead?" He asked, brushing the kids hair out of his face once again.

Sung-Ho shook his head, nibbling on his lower lip as he stared back at Hoseok with watery eyes.

Seeing the fear in the small child slowly begin to disappear, Hobi continued. "I made sure to make myself super big so I could be found."

"But I'm l-little." Sung-Ho mumbled, looking down at his feet before staring back up at the older man.

"Yes, you are." Hoseok confirmed, patting the kids head, his smile growing and how adorable the boy's voice was. "That's why you have to practice being big. Like this," Staying on his knees, he stretched his upper body, extending his arms into the sky and moving them back and forth.