Whipped Heart | Namgi

Chapter 24

🌘ᴛʜɪɴɢs ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ🌒

Hoseok was at the front desk drawing circles on the countertop. It was around 10:00, so Seokjin should be there at any moment. Opening the door to leave the cloudy weather.

There was a joke that his friends out of the cafe had about him where they would call him the weatherman. Backing it up by saying how any emotion he had that day would almost always be what the weather was outside. Hoseok never really believed what his friends would say about it, but he wouldn't deny that today it was like he and the sky were thinking and feeling the same way.

All he really wanted was for another day where Seokjin would walk in with a smile that parted the clouds. It was crazy to him how it had barely even been a week since he last saw Seokjin smile, and he wasn't scared to admit he missed it. He missed it more than stargazers miss the stars on a cloudy night.

Hoseok humorlessly chuckled to himself as he rested his hand on the table.

Right afterwards, he heard the bell dingle and a door open and close. Hoseok looked up from his hand. "Oh. Hey hyung."

Seokjin only nodded and walked into the back, ignoring his vacant words like he always spoke in that manner.

Hoseok frowned and went over to the back door to see what he was doing. He opened it just a little bit. Jin was sitting on the couch not doing anything, frozen in place as he stared at the ground.

"Hyung. You're going to have to work." Hoseok told him, opening the door further to see his response.

Jin looked up at him with the most blank expression Hoseok had ever seen from him. "I don't feel like it."

Hoseok sighed and opened the door a bit more. "So you're going to have me work alone? What happened to before when you loved working here?"

"I guess things just change whether we like it or not." Jin shrugged.

"Want to talk about it?" Hoseok offered with a small smile.

Seokjin shook his head. "We can't leave the front empty, remember?"

"Jimin will be here in thirty minutes." Hoseok mentioned. "How about then?"

Jin thought for a moment before reluctantly nodding. "Fine."

"Great." Hoseok smiled and gave him a thumbs up before closing the door again.

He turned back around to face the front. He didn't know what to do with this time.

For the entire thirty minutes only two customers came. One to go and the other stayed for around five minutes before leaving. Then finally Jimin came in.

"Hi Hoseok hyung." Jimin greeted with a smile once he got to the front desk.

Hoseok smiled back. "Hey Jimin. How's Taehyung?"

Jimin perked up and a warm smile spread on his face. "He's doing good."

"I'm going to go to the back, if that's alright." Hoseok said.

"Oh, that's okay," Jimin made a small hand gesture to back it up, "Is Seokjin hyung here?"

"Yep. He's in the back." He pointed over to the door. "I'm just going to talk to him for a bit then I'll come back to the front."

Jimin nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

When Hoseok got into the back room, Seokjin was still sitting on the couch. His elbows rested on both his thighs as he once again stared down at the ground. There was something about his aura that seemed so empty. Like he was hiding the fact he was human too by only showing vulnerability and sadness.

Hoseok closed the door and went to sit next to him. The feeling of the couch lowering got Seokjin to glance over at him before looking back down again. How empty his eyes looked at that moment was something Hoseok won't forget.

He smiled and placed a hand on his back to try and comfort him. "Did something happen?"

Seokjin shook his head.

"Is it because of Namjoon and Yoongi-ssi?"

Seokjin nodded.

Hoseok sighed and moved his hand up to Jin's shoulder to slightly push him closer, both of them feeling better from the warmth that they shared. They had two separate feelings that Hoseok knew they had to figure out. Jealousy, and love. Seokjin's feelings were more important at the moment, so that's what Hoseok's first target was.

"You know, it's okay to feel jealous." Hoseok told him. "Everyone's experienced it. I've experienced it too. It's nothing but natural."

Finally, Seokjin looked at him. "I get that. But I love Namjoon. I can't just get over that."

There was a smile on Hoseok's face. The true meaning behind it is something he'll never tell a soul. "I know that. Believe me. Getting over love is some difficult act. I'm not saying you have to get over it, I'm saying that the way you're handling your feelings isn't the right way, because you're not handling them at all."

No words after that. Almost a minute had passed when Hoseok felt arms wrap around his waist and Seokjin's head hid his face on his neck. Soon after, soft sobs were heard from him as he tightened his hold on his waist. And still, no words were spoken. All the sadness that had been released held all the words in the world in disregard.

Hoseok rubbed his back with his hand once again and placed his head on top of Seokjin's trembling one. Some words saying, "It's alright" and, "Everything will be alright" had barely hit the walls of the room. Hoseok hoped to provide him with comfort, and that's what he succeeded in.

"I-I'm so sorry..." Seokjin struggled to say through his uneven breaths, sniffs, and hiccups.

"Breathe, hyungie." Hoseok told him. "There will still be room to talk. I won't leave."

"Stop trying to m-make hyung in-nformal." Seokjin tried to say while weakly hitting his thigh with his fist. Hoseok smiled down at him as he pet his hair.

He stopped petting his hair once he noticed Seokjin calm down. Instead, Hoseok moved his hand back to his shoulder and gave a small sign for him to move. But he didn't, leaving Hoseok confused.

"I should get over it, shouldn't I?" He asked, a forced chuckle parting his trembling lips. "I barely even touched the bird, yet somehow I feel like I pulled out all its feathers. I can tell that Namjoon cares about him. If he's happy with someone else, I should make him be with them as much as possible."

Hoseok felt his lips pull into a smile. A feeling of proudness rushed into him. He couldn't be any more thankful that Seokjin had realized this on his own after a month or two of it lasting. He pulled Seokjin's shoulder towards himself, causing them to sqush together as he playfully squealed. There, he saw the smile that he missed for the entirety it was gone.

"I guess you were right all along." Seokjin admitted. "Never thought that would happen. I'm used to always being right."

Hoseok pushed Seokjin away from him, laughing once he fell back onto his shoulder.

"You were right about one thing." Hoseok mentioned.

Seokjin perked his head up. "Which is...?"

"Things change whether we like it or not."

The two smiled at one another before Hoseok stood up, mentioning that he still had to work with Jimin. Seokjin gave him a thumbs up just before he left.

And Hoseok walked out to see the sun shining between the clouds.

🌘🌒