Twisted Life, Thorny Love

39. Shock? Horror?

Hoseok was dripping buckets and buckets of sweat. He was disgusted by his own smell. He wanted to run back home and shower immediately, but two of his students had stayed back to correct their steps and Jimin had work with Yoongi and thus had to go back early. 

It was almost eight in the night when the students finally left. He went back home and showered and flopped onto the couch. He had nothing to do for the night. Nothing at all. 'Aish, another boring night' he thought when his phone rang. 

He reached for it, hoping that it was his girlfriend, but it was Namjoon. 

"Hey"
"Hey"
"Ssup?"
"Are you free?" 
"Yeah, why?"
"Can you meet me at the Chill Night?" 
"Sure. Why?" 
"Something happened. I just want to talk to someone and couldn't think of anyone else" 
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Just slightly upset"
"Ohh. I'm on my way"
"Thank you"
"No problem" he said and hung up. 

He put on his jacket as the night was cold and walked out of his flat, glad to have something to do. He was almost going to start his bike when his phone rang again. 'Damn! Looks like someone's impatient' he thought as he pulled it out, but it was Jungkook this time. 

'That's new' he thought. Even though all of them were close, he and Jungkook never actually had much contact personally. It was always in group except for a couple of times. 

"Hello?" he answered.
"Hobi hyung!"
"Hey, man! Ssup?"
"Hyung, are you free?" Jungkook asked. 

'Wow! Everyone asks me today itself, huh? Why can't they do it on different days so I can have less boring days?' he thought.  

"Not exactly. Namjoon said he was upset and needed someone to talk to. I am meeting up with him in a club. You wanna join?" he asked. 

"N-No, it's okay. It can wait" he heard Jungkook stutter. He tilted his head to the side and frowned. Now that he thought about it, Jungkook's voice sounded tight, as if he had been crying for a long time. 

He was just about to ask if everything was alright when he heard Junha cry. "P-Papa, don't c'yyy". 

'He is crying? Jungkook is crying? Damn, how bad did he cry for Junha to cry asking him not to cry? What's wrong?' he thought as he heard Junha's cries. He was crying loud enough to twist Hoseok's heart.   

"Hey, Jungkook? Is everything alright? Why are you crying? Why is Junha crying?" he asked. "I-It's okay, it can wait. Bye, hyung" Jungkook said and hung up. Hoseok could clearly hear how badly his voice broke. He was sure he heard a sob in the end. 

He frowned as he brought his phone down. Something was really wrong. He was sure. He was sure Jungkook would never cry in front of Junha. But how badly must he have cried for Junha to cry like that asking him to stop crying? He felt concerned for the younger, but Namjoon was already waiting for him. 

So he drove to the club. "Hey, Joon" he called out the second he spotted him. "Ohh, Hi" Namjoon waved back. He could literally see how upset Namjoon was. It was written all over his face. 

"Hey" he said again as he sat right next to him. "I know you said you are upset about something, but there is something I need to show you cause I think it is urgent" he said, taking his phone out and attaching earphones so that Namjoon could hear his call with Jungkook without all the loud noise in the club. 

"What is it?" Namjoon asked as Hoseok handed him the earphones. "Jungkook called me just now. Listen to that" Hoseok said, playing the automatically recorded conversation. 

Namjoon's eyes widened as he heard Junha's cries. But somehow, there was something else in those expressions. It was not just concern or worry. It seemed as if he was realizing something. He stood up abruptly.