Venatus

-41-

Hoseok removed the VR from around his head and put it aside. He was panting hard but he didn't stop doing his work. He still had to get Yoongi and Jimin out of the game. He turned around and abruptly stopped when he saw  Taehyung leaning on his table. 

"What are you doing?" Hoseok asked. 

Taehyung stood up straight, looking at Hoseok with a bored expression. He stared at the brunet for while before walking outside. The brunet looked over to FireCrystal's  station and found it empty. They had left already.

Hoseok shrugged it off and worked to turn the BMIs off. He quickly removed the lids for the both of them and turned to save their progress. Jimin gasped, rolling off the pod and onto the ground. His chest heaved up and down as he took in deep breath. His eyes immediately flew off in the direction of the silver head's pod. Yoongi too was gasping for breath, but he was a lot calmer than Jimin. But the terrified look was present in both of their eyes.

"Jimin?" Yoongi called out. He still hadn't spotted the younger behind him.

Jimin stood up, gulping to wet his dry throat, "I'm here"

Yoongi sighed in relief, "Oh thank god"

Hoseok handed them over their clothes before switching off everything, "We need to leave. The other teams will be here soon"

Jimin and Yoongi nodded, swallowing down the storm inside them. They were scared, it was visible but they couldn't let other teams see them like that. One sign of vulnerability can be dangerous for them.

As Yoongi was walking towards the door, he felt a soft tug on the hem of his shirt. When looked behind he saw Jimin holding on to a fistful of his cloth. The elder could see Jimin's hand shake, even though it wasn't clear. 

"Come here" Yoongi pulled the younger beside him and interlocked their hands together. 

He pressed a soft kiss on Jimin's forehead before they walked out of the room. Outside the train had already arrived and Hoseok was waiting for the other two. They quickly got up. The whole ride back was quite. Hoseok kept his eyes closed and tried to tone down the echoing sounds in his head. While Jimin and Yoongi stuck as close to each other as possible.

The brunet leaned on the edge wall of the roof. He sighed feeling the autumn breeze carrying fine drops, each one a promise of the rain to come. As newly chilled air moves the clouds, streaks of brilliance break through from a patient sun. Hoseok let his eyes rest for a moment, feeling the ambiance of street, hearing the sounds, taking in the aroma, letting my brain be still.

Trying to bury down the voices and calm his mind. But at the same time he couldn't help but wonder, if it hurt so much just to hear their cries, how much would it have hurt them to see it in front of their eyes?

He shuddered when the memories. 

"Hey" The brunet turned around to see Bon-Hwa standing behind him with a smile on his face. Seeing that, Hoseok felt a smile tug on his lips. 

"Hey"

Bon-Hwa walked up and stood by the brunet, "How was today's game?"

Hoseok sighed, slumping his shoulders and looking away, "It was... exhausting to say the least"

Bon-Hwa hummed, "You do look tired. Why do you go back to your chambers can take some rest?"

Hoseok shook his head, "Nah, I just... I just need to clear my mind for a while. Let's talk about something else"

"Oh, we got to Stage two as well" Bon-Hwa grinned. 

Hoseok looked at the other with shocked and confused expression, "You're not supposed to say anything about your progress"

"Yeah, I know. But since everyone knows about your team's progress, I figured it will only be a little fair if I tell you ours"

"But what if your team gets to know about this?" 

Bon-Hwa shrugged, his eyes shifting towards the view afar, "Well, they can't kill me. And things cannot possibly get worse than it already is"

Hoseok's gaze soften. He knew a little of what Bon-Hwa was going through and even though he wanted to help, there wasn't much he could do about it. He realized at that moment, just how helpless he has been so many times.

"I'm sorry"

Bon-Hwa patted his back, "Don't be. There is nothing you can do about it"

"But-"

"Shush, there is no buts here. Even if you had been in my team you couldn't have done anything about it. It's not you could do something but you aren't. Sometimes, it's just out of our control"

Hoseok sighed and nodded. They were a comfortable silence between the two.

"Alright, you don't get to be so wise" Hoseok murmured nudging the other. 

Bon-Hwa laughed poking Hoseok and accidentally  hitting his tickle spot. Hoseok cackled out loud, and wriggled away. They two momentarily stared at each other with wide eyes,  without speaking a word.

"No, no, don't" Hoseok warned but Bon-Hwa looked at him with a mischievous smile.

"Shit" Hoseok started running with Bon-Hwa after him trying to tickle the brunet. Sometimes, he could get his hands on the other, tickling until his face was red but Hoseok would somehow manage to get out of grip.

"Stop, Bon-Hwa stop! My stomach hurts! Ah" Hoseok managed to speak out in between his laughs.

But instead of stopping Bon-Hwa laughed in mocking evil manner, "No! The tickle monster has chosen its target and it shall not stop!"

However this time, Hoseok managed to grab both his hand and stop him from moving. He stared at the other with a smirk on his face. 

"I'm trouble now, aren't I?" Bon-Hwa asked, knowing that it was time for Hoseok's revenge.

Hoseok grinned wider and with that started a tickle war between the two players. 

"How far?"  The disembodied voice dripped with malice.

"Soon sir" Came the answer in the voice of a male, "They have no idea"

Someone chuckled muttering 'idiots' under their breath. But a harsh glare shut him up.

"But sir, they are ahead of everyone" Someone else noted, "What if we run-"

"Oh, no need to worry about that. Doesn't matter if they are ahead of everyone. It's inevitable for them"The disembodied voice interjected, chuckling by the end of the sentence.

~

This chapter is bit chaotic and poorly written. I know. I couldn't think of anything better to write in this chapter. 

I'm sowwy.

You'll like the next chapter. Yeah, it's that chapter. I'll give '***' as warning right before it starts. So Minmin, you can skip from that part. I don't think the other readers will skip it. Anyways, if you don't want to read that part, you'll know where to skip from.