Book 3: 24/seven | A Jung Hoseok BTS Fan Fiction

Regrets

At a quarter past eight, the bell on the door of the Magic Shop chimed. Aiko came in and Nira greeted her from the counter. Looking around, she saw Hobi sitting at the far end of the room. He waved and walked towards her at the counter. "Can I get you anything?" he asked. She seemed nervous and shy, but her eyes smiled when she greeted him. After deciding on a grapefruit slush, Hobi asked for the same and they walked towards the table Hobi selected. She looked very pretty. He liked the way she carried herself. He took note of what she wore. Her choice of clothes was very feminine, but she added a distinct flair to it by pairing her dress with the unusual choice of Converse sneakers. Just like when they first met, Hobi mused. He pulled the flowers from behind him and gave them to her. She was surprised and thanked him.

"Thank you for coming to see me." Hobi smiled as he pulled her chair out for her. She bowed and took the seat. When he sat across her, he pointed at his mask, asking permission if she was comfortable in taking hers off as well. She unhooked hers from behind her ears and so did Hobi. He tilted his head and smiled at her. She blushed which gave him some confidence.

It took a moment, but Aiko collected herself and smiled back. "How are things?" she asked.

"Good, good. I did end up being a dancer." Hobi nodded.

She tilted her head too and smiled, "I know." She admitted. "I see you everywhere." Hobi was glad she was upfront about it.

"I'm at a disadvantage then. You know things about me, but I don't know how things turned out for you." Hobi sat up to get comfortable on his chair and crossed his legs, resting his hands on his knees.

She looked down shyly and tucked her hair nervously behind one ear. "I uh, I did become a writer. If you remember we talked about that before?"

"I remember." He nodded. Nira came with their drinks. She set it on the table and excused herself. Hobi liked how she turned to Nira and said thank you. She had a gracious way of doing it.

"Do you work in the area?" Hobi asked.

"Well, sort of. I've been visiting bookstores lately, that's why I was in the area."

Hobi nodded. Should he ask what she writes about? Hobi asked himself. He didn't want to make things awkward. He quickly thought of another question that will give her more space. "What do you do in bookstores?"

"Well," she said, sitting up herself, "I'm a self-publisher. I have written a couple of novels which I raised the money to print, and now I'm promoting my work."

"Oh, wow. That's amazing." Hobi was visibly impressed. "So, you have your own business?"

"I do." She nodded, "But I worked for a publication for a while and learned the ropes before I started my own." Her business seemed to make her proud. She was confident talking about it.

The obvious next question was to ask her what she wrote about already, wasn't it? Hobi's internal voice asked. "Things must be doing well for you if you're visiting a lot of bookstores." He said instead.

She smiled and tilted her head side to side to answer that she was doing alright. Hobi laughed. He remembered her responding this way before and thought it was cute. It was nice to see that she hadn't changed much except perhaps for her features which had grown more refined.

Asking about her business seems to have broken the awkwardness. She eased up and Hobi was able to ask more about her. She talked about doing workshops to help aspiring writers and mentioned that it was one of the reasons why she had been going to bookstores to secure calendar days. Hobi found himself quietly listening to her plans. "Is this what you always wanted?" He asked. Her gaze turned up before she shrugged and said, "Yes. I think so. I always liked writing stories. Did you always like to dance?"

"I did." He nodded, "Though I never imagined getting where I am today."

"Do you have any regrets?"

Hobi paused to think. He couldn't think of any. "Not that there is, but I do wonder sometimes what I would be doing now if I did turn my back on the team. I almost did at one point."

"When was that?"

"Actually," Hobi recalled, "That was around the time we met. I went home to make a decision." At that moment, Hobi started to think back on Hopi's story. In front of him was Aiko who had written the story and that was pretty amazing in itself. Hobi admitted to himself that if he was Hopi, it would be nice if Aiko was Emiko. He wouldn't have minded living the life she had written for them. It was a life he never knew he wanted until he read it in her book.

"Hoseok-ah, thank you for spending that day with me." She smiled.

Hobi laughed, "I was terrible company!"

"No, I don't remember it that way. You took care of me."

"I hardly said a word to you, and I kept looking at my watch."

"But you stayed with me until I found my friends. It was a great inconvenience."

Hobi's dimples appeared as he smiled shyly. There was a pause. Aiko looked around the room to break away. Hobi, on the other side of the table, took the moment to look at the counter where he spied Jeongguk kissing Nira on the forehead. This made him smile wider. Domesticity, he thought.

"Hoseok-ah" Aiko said gently. He returned his gaze back at her. "Don't look out the window." She told him.

"What?" He was about to turn and look when she called his name again.

"Don't look out the window."

Hobi's back straightened, "Wh-why not?"

Calmly, quietly, she told him, "There's a mouse outside the window."

Hobi's eyes widened a little, but he did his best not to jump. "Is the window closed?" he asked levelly.

Aiko giggled. "Yes, it is." When Hobi exhaled deeply in relief, she asked, "Do you want to move tables?"

No prompting needed, Hobi grabbed both their drinks quickly and led her to the farthest table. When they sat down, they looked at each other and started laughing. Hobi shivered and shook his head which made Aiko laugh some more.

"Ya, How did you know I hate mice?" He asked her.

Aiko was caught off guard and embarrassed with the question. She blushed again, realizing she had given away knowing more than she should about him. "Everyone knows." She tried to explain.

"I'm flattered." Hobi smiled. "Thank you for reading up on me."

Aiko covered her face and started shaking her head. "Aish." She cringed making Hobi laugh. He stood up and sat down in front of her chair. Slowly, he pried her hands away. He laughed again when he saw her eyes were shut tight. So cute, he thought.

"Aiko-yah." He said her name gently. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at his bright smile. "I remember one regret." She didn't say anything but waited. "I regret not being brave enough to ask for your number." Aiko looked down at Hobi's hands still holding hers on her lap.

Jeongguk pulled out his phone and snuck a quick photo. He sent it to the members with the caption: There is Hobi.