Wonder; Euphoria 起 [DISCONTINUED]

~Hoseok~

The six boys had waited for Yoongi, but he never showed, making them all disappointed, but Hoseok understood that he needed his time alone, just like everyone else. And crowding the kid was probably the last thing he wanted. By the time the rest of them left it was around 5 o'clock. Hoseok knew he had to get home, he couldn't skip dinner with his mother because that was the only time she was sober, then he had to do his homework and if he was lucky, he would be able to visit his dad. Everyone started walking but then Hoseok cleared his throat, stopping everyone in their tracks. 

"I-I um, I have to get home to see my mother, so I'll see you all tomorrow?" His voice came out unstable, fortunately, the only one who noticed was Jin. He could always see through everyone and right into their souls. The eldest turned around and walked towards the brunette, patting his shoulder and then pulling him into a quick hug, these caring acts were the only time that Hoseok was loved by someone and Jin knew that as well. Hoseok showed them all a quick smile before scampering off down the street to his house, into a scary part of town. 

He made a few sharp turns in random directions to make sure he wasn't being followed by anyone, then he slipped through a hole in an abandoned building to where his mother was cooking in their makeshift kitchen. A picture of Hoseok's father sat on the kitchen table, a vase with dead roses beside it, petals from the wilted flowers lain askew on the battered wood. With a frown he scooped them up and threw them into the trashcan, a little perturbed that his mother had forgotten again to water them. As he set the table she brought over the food, admiring her handy work. She turned to her son and ruffled his hair, to which he made a face at, but was jumping with joy on the inside.

"So how was school today Hobi? How is that one girl you like? Are you excited for your first year of high school?" Hoseok cringed and turned away, sitting down at the table, while trying not to look at his frail mother.

"Mom, I'm a sophomore and I've already told you I'm asexual, I thought I liked that girl in 8th grade" His mother frowned but started to eat her food anyways.

"Oh I'm sorry, you know I'm forgetful sometimes" She giggled, making her son's heart hurt for her. He remembered before his father died, how when they actually had someplace to live and him and his mother would dance around the house while his father sang. But things went down hill quickly when he lost his job after someone replaced him and then he had a heart attack when he was only 38 and they didn't have the money or insurance to save him. Shortly after, his mother got addicted to heroine and then they lost their house, car, their possessions when she sold it all to the drug dealers. Eventually they had to run away after owing an enormous debt to the other side of Seoul, where they lived in this abandoned building tucked among others and in a dangerous place. Now his mother is always in her dreamland but manages to pull herself together enough to cook dinner for them. Hoseok gets around 20,000 won ($17.66) each week from his grandparents who barely even remembered that they had a daughter and grandson in the first place. Hoseok never liked them even when his father was alive, because his grandparents never liked his father or mother. The young boy at the time couldn't understand why parents would hate their children but then one day he was told that his mother wanted to be an architect and she was definitely smart enough to do it, but people scared her out of it so she never went to college or got a job, but she believed in her husband and when he died, she lost all hope. 

Hoseok went over to the sink and cleaned off his plate, making sure to clean off the dish well so he wouldn't leave any spots, he placed it on the drying rack and then left his mother and their "house" to go see his father.

The walk was always interesting on the way to his father's grave. Since they couldn't afford the plot they buried him under an old Japanese maple tree that was in the forest a ways away from the neighborhood. On his way, he greeted the old man that always sat on his front step and smoked a pipe, he waved back at Hoseok and just continued on smoking like he always did. People in his neighborhood liked Hoseok and his mother, even though they didn't see her very much and for the most part, Hoseok liked the neighborhood. It wasn't always calm of course.

BANG! POP-POP-POP! BANG! BANG!

He ran much faster than before trying to avoid the sounds of gunshots. When going into the forest he had two paths that he could take. The first one was shorter, but he had to run like hell to avoid the murderers, kidnappers and escaped criminals, but the other path was longer and filled to the brim with twists and turns that just seemed to tower over you, making you unwilling to escape their clutches. Down that path were rapists and sex offenders, that was what the street was known for and if you took that road, you were sure to never escape and Hoseok made that almost fatal mistake only once, and he would never take it again as long as he lived.

"Murderers it is" He chuckled to himself as he came to that fork in the two streets, the sounds he could hear every time shook him to the core. There was always someone that needed saving in that damned neighborhood, but no one would ever help them, for fear of being dragged into hell along with them. Finally he made it to the forest with minimal scratches, this place was safe compared to the slums, and he appreciated that. 

After walking through overgrown trails, over mossy tree roots and around scum filled ponds, he reached the tree.

He placed down a new set of flowers he had picked and knelled down beside his father, wiping the stone in the ground free of debris.

"You know, you really do make a lot of trouble for me dad, do you know how much I have to get through to get here?" Hoseok laughed and leaned against the tree, feeling connected to the forest somehow.

"Yoongi yelled at Jin and Namjoon today, I felt really bad after they told us that at lunch. I'm not exactly sure what happened but I don't blame Yoongi I guess, his parents are always pushing him about something. Same with everyone else's parents too, they all have some type of bullshit going on. Sometimes I feel like we all got scammed ya know? Like we're supposed to be serving a punishment for something we did in our past lives." The sun was getting lower in the sky and Hoseok slipped off his school bag, getting out his homework and working on his science problems. Even though Hoseok didn't know it, his father was watching him and sitting next to him at that moment, admiring how much his son was growing up and turning into a fine young man.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be there for you....all this time" His whisper came in the wind, causing Hoseok's head to shoot up and search for where the sound came from. 

"Who's there? Show yourself!" The young boy's patience was growing short, he saw nothing and gave up, sitting back down again to continue his work. His father smiled and walked down towards the pond in front of them, sitting by the water's edge and looking around at the bittersweet beauty of nature.

===============

What a sad chapter

:')

{UNEDITED}