The Bouquet

Chapter 4

Hoseok had spent the rest of his day in bed with the curtains drawn closed tight. The second he had hit his mattress, he was out. And even as he slept, his dreams were plagued by you. Namjoon has successfully poisoned his thoughts because now he couldn't stop thinking of what it would be like when he saw you next. He couldn't help but picture himself and you in the place of Namjoon and his wife. Is that what it would be like? Is that what it was supposed to be like? He didn't think he felt the way Namjoon did about his wife. He had met you one time, one time you had caught his attention. Hoseok new lust, seduction, and sex. He didn't know love, he wasn't capable of it.

No, you were just interesting. That could be the only explanation.

And, as promised, he found himself back at your house that night. What he said was true, he needed to watch you to make sure you didn't go squealing. But he also couldn't deny that his own curiosity was influencing him as well as Namjoon's words. What harm could come from testing his theory?

He sat in the driver's seat of his car parked across the street from your house. He could see that the lights were still on in one room of the house, the rest were completely black. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel in anticipation, debating if he should get out of the car and investigate further. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to test the doors and windows and see if one had been forgotten, left unlatched for him to enter. He shook the thought from his head, squeezing his eyes shut as he attempted to think of something else.

He knew he had a long night ahead of him, he had slept the day away and now his inner clock was completely fucked. He took another breath before he opened his eyes and drew his attention to the single illuminated window of the house. At first, he didn't see anything and he could feel the anticipation gnawing at him as he waited for you. And then, you were there. He could see you moving around your room in the late hours of the night and he was instantly drawn to you. He had forgotten how pretty you were to him, the first time he had seen you he hadn't thought much about it but now it seemed like the only thing he could think about.

A part of him wondered if it was your innocence that pulled him in, how blunt and trusting you were. In his line of work, there was no one like that. He could remember your wide innocent eyes staring into his own, the shock evident on your face when he had pinned you up against the wall. You had been surprised, but there was no fear. He would be lying if he said he wanted you to be afraid. In that moment he had first met you, that was what he wanted. He wanted you to be scared so he wouldn't have to kill you and so he could get a reaction out of you for his own twisted amusement. He wasn't a good person, that much he knew. For a long time, he had derived happiness from others' pain. But now, he didn't want you to be afraid of him. He knew he wanted you to need him, and need him you did.

Perhaps Namjoon's influence had been stronger than he had previously thought. Whereas meeting you had planted the seeds of desire, Namjoon had coaxed them to branch out and envelope him. Maybe he was sicker than he knew, now all he could think of was taking you for his own and corrupting you. There was a part of him that wanted to rip the wings from his angel and trap her in the underworld with him. But there was also another part of him that wanted to protect her from everything and everyone. It was a dark dichotomy, and he was scared to find out which side would win.

His eyes trailed over your form as you crossed your room, pulling open drawers and removing clothes from them. You threw an oversized shirt on your bed and ran your fingers through your hair tiredly as you yawned before dipping your fingers down to the bottom of the shirt you were wearing. He knew the right thing to do would be to look away, to stop violating your privacy. But Hoseok rarely did the right thing, and now wouldn't prove any differently. He watched you slide your shirt over the length of your stomach, the curve of your ribs, and the top of your chest. He could feel his grip tighten on the steering wheel as he watched you. How had he been relatively unaffected by you yesterday, but now became an animal at the sight of you removing a layer of clothing?