Through Sunshine and Rain//JHS✔️

Chapter 4// All Things Familiar

The next day she awoke to the early rays of sunlight peeking through the blinds and her blaring light blue alarm clock. Saturdays were usually for sleeping in, but this one wasn't. This morning Hana was making breakfast for Hobi and whoever else he planned on bringing along with him, but Hoseok had a habit of not telling her how many he was going to be bringing. Hana didn't want to repeat the last breakfast fiasco where she'd cooked twelve pancakes and Hoseok had brought five of his friends.

The pancakes had been devoured in seconds, and the young men had then turned their pitiful gazes on the flustered Hana. She was reminded of the scene in Oliver Twist when he begged for more porridge.
Hana had spent the next hour cooking pancake after pancake only to see them disappear before her eyes.
She shuddered at the memory and messaged Hoseok to ask how many she was cooking for.

   Once she'd ascertained how many were coming, she began to prepare. First and foremost she put some tunes on; cooking was so much more enjoyable when listening to music. Her favorite type of music was soft rock, and she sang along to the words as she went from her stove to countertops. Hana spent the better half of the next hour slaving away in the kitchen over a huge breakfast. Once it was finished, she surveyed the full table with a proud smile. Surely this much food would be more than enough for Hoseok and his friends.

He'd told her he was bringing four friends with him, Yoongi, Seokjin, Jimin, and Taehyung.
Hana didn't have a problem with Hoseok bringing so many of his friends. She found each of them to be pleasant and thoroughly enjoyed when they came over with Hoseok.

Hana had met Yoongi only a few times as he was often busy with his photojournalism career. He was a quiet, soft-spoken, and thoughtful guy but he was also quite funny and Hana enjoyed joking with him.

Seokjin was a local actor and Hana had first met him at one of the plays Hoseok had taken her to watch. She found the attractive man's dad jokes to be hilarious and she appreciated his love for cooking.

Jimin was a sweet guy who had a flirtatious way of joking and the cutest eye-smile she'd ever seen. Hana loved to feed into his playfulness because Hoseok always grew so agitated with the younger man's flirtations. It wasn't as if anything was really between her and Jimin; the two of them just really liked to push Hoseok's buttons.

Taehyung was an aspiring actor who often worked with Seokjin. Hana found him to be the perfect balance of mature and playful. His polite, somewhat old-fashioned manners reminded her of home.

It had been hard to meet so many of Hoseok's male friends when she first moved to Seoul, but she had gradually grown comfortable around them. She liked to see how much more energetic Hoseok grew when he was around his friends.

It made her smile.

   However, her smile faltered slightly when the savage men arrived and quickly devoured every bit of the food she had prepared. Right in front of her eyes all of her hard work disappeared. Even so, it was worth it.  For an hour or so her quiet and neat apartment grew loud with laughter and conversation. The stress of the work week disappeared even though she hadn't been able to sleep in. Hoseok and his friends just had that effect on people. They were enjoyable to be around.

Hana had discussed the upcoming musical with Seokjin and had learned that Taehyung had been given a small part. Taehyung had blushed when she'd congratulated him warmly. He'd asked her to help him run lines whenever she got the chance, and Jimin had taken the chance to tease both of them.

Hana and the other guys laughed at the cheekiness of the blonde-haired guy as Hoseok scolded him.

With Yoongi she discussed the recent student boycotts of a certain movie theater that he and his partner were reporting on.

The conversations were light-hearted, but also meaningful. Hana loved interactions like these because they made her feel more like a connected whole and not just a part.

Each of the guys had left smiling and full of food. Being the sweethearts they were they had cleaned up the kitchen, something Hana had been quite grateful for, before leaving with many thanks. Everything was just as it had been the last time Hoseok had returned.

   Hoseok stayed behind to spend the day with Hana. Laughing and joking at the table with the group of guys had been fun, but a quiet day with just Hobi seemed like a very nice prospect to her.

   Sitting on the couch, the pair spent the rest of the morning watching a movie. The two were quiet, both tired from the morning's excitement and the workweek's busyness. Hana didn't feel uncomfortable in the silence though, she and Hoseok didn't have to talk constantly to maintain their friendship. Morning turned to afternoon and the two hadn't stirred much from the couch. Instead of having a productive day to clean her apartment or grocery shop, Hana laid her head on Hoseok's shoulder and snuggled into her hoodie and watched their favorite films. This was safe. It was familiar. Hana could stay here watching old films with her best friend day after day. Time could stand still for all she cared.

   However, life could not and would not stop for the two of them just because Hana wished it to.

   It was mid-afternoon and the two of them were discussing ordering take out when Hoseok was called away to begin his aid work debriefing. This was familiar to her too, routine. Hoseok could only spend broken fragments of mere hours with Hana between his work schedules. Which, in all honesty, seemed to be never-ending. He'd always been a tireless worker, and not much had changed through the years. His hard work had earned him a lot of respect and responsibility in his organization, and he deserved every inch he'd taken.

   Hana knew that even more hard work and long hours would be given in order for Hoseok's work to continue.

   This was harder to accept at times like this. Times when she had to order take out for one instead of two. The times when Hoseok had just left, taking his loud and frequent laughter with him. Times when the apartment felt alarmingly quiet and lonely and his smile no longer warmed the space. The times when she had to sit on the couch alone and watch TV silently.
However, when these times came, she just sighed and carried on, knowing that if Hoseok was happy, she should be happy for him.

A/N:  Please eat well and take care of yourselves

(Edited June  2019)

*Novi*