UNIVERSE / BTS.

21: we need to talk / namseok

WE NEED TO TALK
( part 1 )

WORD COUNT 1.9K
OVERVIEW namjoon just wants to help hoseok ( tw: anorexia - it's the main theme, please don't read if you could get triggered, stay safe )

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IT DIDN'T GO UNNOTICED to namjoon that his friend wasn't particularly healthy looking. jung hoseok's eyes were dull, his appearance skinny and frail, his skin pale as paper. namjoon wanted to say something, anything, but he couldn't. why couldn't he?

simple. he was kim namjoon. one of the most popular kids at the college he frequented - a fact that he hated - and that meant he couldn't speak to people like jung hoseok, who was the metaphorical bottom of the food chain, along with the boy he hung out with, min yoongi. but namjoon had more or less befriended jung hoseok, after a few times talking at the library or exchanging thoughts during psychology, and his stupid popular friends had no clue. namjoon didn't care about popularity.

namjoon was worried about hoseok, and he supposed that was what spurred him to sneak away from the shitty basketball game he wasn't even interested in, to go find hoseok and yoongi at the spot they always sat in. a gazebo, tucked away in the corner of campus. namjoon had seen hoseok running there, from his dorm room window, and then spending hours either dancing or talking with yoongi, who would smoke cigarette after cigarette.

namjoon's feet felt too heavy as he walked down the concrete path, the campus streetlamps illuminating the way in an orange glow. he could see yoongi, standing with his back to namjoon, cigarette smoke around him. hoseok stood next to him, hunched over, in an oversized sweater - that seemed to be all he wore.

yoongi's head turned at the sound of footsteps up the gazebo steps, and he raised an eyebrow, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

"look who it is," he chuckled drily, voice raspy. "the fuck are you doing here?"

hoseok turned around, placing a hand on yoongi's shoulder, as if to tell him to back off. "h-hey namjoon," he said timidly, his voice as quiet as it always was. "aren't you watching the game?"

"basketball's boring," namjoon shrugged, taking off his backpack and sitting on the little bench in the gazebo. "i'd rather come and hang out with you two."

"well isn't that fuckin' sweet," yoongi rolled his eyes, crushing the cigarette underfoot. hoseok had a faint blush on his cheeks, but yoongi just looked pissed off. "i hate to be a killjoy, but i've got a boyfriend to fuck, so bye. don't choke on his dick, hobi."

with that, he left, hoseok coughing and almost choking on air at yoongi's words. namjoon rolled his eyes, patting the the seat beside him as an invite for hoseok to sit down. the fragile boy did so, not looking namjoon in the eye as the younger boy dug around in his bag, producing two packets of dried fruits. hoseok's head flicked up at the crackle of the packets, and he seemed to pale.

"i figured you might be hungry," namjoon had figured out hoseok was anorexic, possibly bulimic. it was obvious, just from his appearance; he wasn't 'just skinny' like namjoon's friends had scoffed when he asked them what was up with hoseok, he was severely underweight. "i didn't see you eat at dinner."

in fact, namjoon had seen hoseok eat dinner a total of two times in the two months he'd known him. the first time, hoseok had eaten a quarter of the single taco he bought at the cafeteria. the second time, he had one bite of pizza and a can of cola. the rest of the time, he just sat with yoongi and the boy namjoon supposed was yoongi's boyfriend, who ate and talked, while hoseok just sat there, occasionally joining in.