To Find Something True

※ fifty-nine

Stressed, Hoseok had been holding his hooded red-head since the morning. His elbow on the table, his head facing down, his eyes were closed. Everyone thought he was sleeping. But when Yoongi went to his office to send some paperwork, Hoseok's voice broke through the silence, requesting a cup of coffee, still in that position.

The sudden request caught Yoongi off guard. Still, he went to the pantry to make the boss a cup of coffee.

Everyone was aware Hoseok's ideal cup of coffee was two. But he had taken more than two in a day. Yoongi, the one who had been making him coffee, had grown concerned.

Hoseok heard Yoongi talking to Amber in the next room. He uttered, "you should talk to him or he will rot his kidneys."

The clicks on the keyboard grew faster and louder. Amber exhaled quickly in the midst of the noise and said, "he won't listen. I'm not the boss anyway."

"Noona," Yoongi groaned.

"You talk to him and see if he'll listen," Amber said sarcastically.

Sighing, Yoongi pushed the door of Amber's office and walked to the office next to hers. Under Hoseok's office doorframe, he announced emotionlessly, "your human coffee machine is out of service."

"Hyung," Hoseok called, halting Yoongi from walking away. The squeak between the corridor's tiled floor and Yoongi's sneakers signifying that he had turned to face him. "What does this boutique's name mean?" Hoseok asked.

"The boutique's name meaning?" Yoongi asked, scratching his head. "Don't know. I only joined the boutique a few months after it opened."

Both of Hoseok's fists curled on his clothed head slowly.

An index finger was still busy clicking the mouse, Amber butted in from the next room, "to live with purpose. To be true."

Hoseok lifted his head to look at Amber. His dark circles and stubbles on his philtrum became prominent under the bright, white light. His lips cracked, begging for moisturization.

Amber turned her head to look at him. She said, "do you get it?"

"No," Hoseok spoke softly.

Finally, Amber turned her chair to have her body facing him. She uttered, "your sister lives up to her name. Your parents used to tell her, Jiwoo in her name means 'to live with purpose.' She added more meaning for herself and the boutique, and that's 'to be true.'"

"I don't understand how this can relate to fashion," Hoseok said.

"Your designs are all with sparkly beads and cotton and chiffon and nothing else. Is it just dresses you can think about? Just because it has Jiwoo's name?" Amber asked, mockingly. She scoffed. "There, you got a hint. Think of a design with the message 'to be true.' Be creative, be daring, will you?"

Yoongi sighed in the background. He said, "you're being hard on him, noona."

As Amber's feet went under the table, she pulled herself nearer, glaring at Hoseok. "He has always been hard on himself. He better figure it out," she said, her eyes returning to the desktop screen.

Hoseok could not hold back anymore. With eyebrows creased, he snapped, "what's with the people here and punishing? Lee Jiah will never do this to me!"

Amber snorted, "You thinking of her now?" One of her eyebrows raised, one corner of her lips tucked up. "Jung Hoseok," she uttered, shaking her head and snorting again, "huh!"

"Noona," Yoongi groaned again.

"You, shut up! You sound like a stressed grandpa," Amber retorted.

Sighing, Yoongi gave Hoseok a final glance. As he walked along the corridor, he muttered, "I'm missing Seokjin hyung now."