In His Dreams - JiHope

Fallout

Half an hour later

Jimin burst through the studio doors calling out "Hoseok-Hyung?"

There was no response. He took a deep breath, straightening his back and making his way to the office door.

"Hoseok?" he nudged the door open. He could see the red haired boy sitting on his cot, his knees drawn up to his chest, and his eyes wide open and staring at the wall as tiny sobs escaped him and tears flowed freely down his cheeks.

Jimin stepped into the room, kneeling on the cot, facing the older boy "Hobi? I'm here baby". Jimin winced as he realised what he'd said, but Hoseok hadn't seemed to notice, so he let it go. Reaching out towards the older boy he gathered him into his arms, the same way Hoseok had done for him in their dorm. He stroked the older boys hair back from his eyes , playing with the ends of it and listening to the others sad little whimpers.

Slowly he felt the older boy relax and his breathing slowed into a more regular pace.

"Jimin?"

"Yeah"

"Why am I the only one upset here?"

Jimin smiled ".... Not the question I expected"

"Hmmmm" Hoseok hummed, still waiting for his answer

Jimin thought about how much he should tell the older boy, he was still worried that Hoseok would use the information against him. But Hobi was crying for HIM. No one had ever cried FOR him before, and he hadn't even realised that Hoseok knew how to cry. Maybe he deserved some honesty.

"Well," he began, settling Hoseok a little more comfortably in his arms "First of all, this was a long time ago, I've had a few years to get over what happened. This was right after my audition for Big Hit"

He sighed again "Secondly, I loved him... he was and still is the most amazing person, under the drugs and alcohol, and my father almost destroyed him - loving ME almost destroyed him. He was right – you know – it WAS my fault."

Hobi looked up at him in surprise, his eyes still glassy with tears. "That's not true... it wasn't you-"

"Yes it was" Jimin interrupted putting an end to the coming argument before it began. "I'm responsible for how he ended up. It's why I was saving for his surgery, why I considered that sleaze balls offer to be a stripper....  In the end he needed more help than I could give him, although it took another year for me to realise that."

Hobi had finally stopped crying as he listened to Jimin's soothing voice and now his eyes were starting to get heavy. But he wanted to stay awake, needed to hear what Jimin was saying.

Jimin looked down at his band mate, who was back to pressing his face into his chest. Jimin continued to stroke his hair, as he drifted into a fitful sleep.

When he was sure he was out he whispered "Underneath it all, Hobi, deep inside .... I need someone to know .... I'm screaming for someone to save me"

They fell asleep like that, with Hoseok wrapped tightly in Jimin's arms.

The next day

Hoseok woke up feeling warm, comfortable and surprisingly safe, considering the nightmare he endured the night before. He could hear the steady slow beat of Jimin's heart under his ear, and the younger boys arms were still wrapped tightly around him. This wasn't the first time that they had woken up in the same bed, their friendship had been really close in the beginning, and sharing a bed with his friend wasn't unusual.

But this time felt different. For one thing there was a lot more touching involved, and he wasn't sure how he felt about that. It wasn't unpleasant, but it confused him. Hobi slowly shuffled away from his friend to look up at the younger boys face.

He studied the sleeping boy's features; he looked like such an innocent Mochi when he slept. Remembering the nightmare from last night, Hoseok shuddered, and wondered where Jimin had found the strength to continue living every day.

Jimin's eyelids fluttered before slowly lifting, his gaze unfocussed for a moment. The younger boy looked down to see Hoseok lying on his arm, staring up at him.

Jimin quickly let go, pushing away from Hoseok and scrambling to his feet. Hoseok stood up just as quickly, feeling uncomfortable on the bed with Jimin standing over him, and not really sure what to do in this situation.

Jimin looked around the office, awkwardly shuffling his feet. Hesitantly, Hobi whispered the other boys name "Jimin?"

"We're not talking about it"

Hoseok's head dropped, and he stared at Jimin's feet "OK"

Jimin started to say something, but stopped, his shoulders dropping, he turned and walked away.