jangmi (장미) ● taejoon

f o r t y t w o .

"You got this, Jungkook!"

Yoongi cheered, sitting on a lawn chair in the backyard under an umbrella. Jimin crosses his arms and leaned against the backyard sliding door, holding a beer bottle with slightly drunken lips. Meanwhile, Seokjin inventively watched Hoseok and Jungkook.

Hoseok and Jungkook had taken off their shoes and spared on the backyard grass. The younger had began to glisten with sweat and hunch over as his clothes began to streak with green. Meanwhile, Hoseok hadn't even started panting.

"G-Go easy on me, Jjang!" Jungkook pleaded, ticking his head to the side frustratingly. "When I said a sick day, that didn't mean i wanted to train!"

Hoseok took his fighting stance once more. "Show your brother what you can do," he says, "This is as easy as it gets."

Jungkook groaned, hesitating but going back to his stance. He held his fists up, and tried to go for another punch - which Hoseok easily dodged.

The older took Jungkook's arm, yanking him forward and kicking the back of his knee. Jungkook went down in an instant, stumbling down face first into the grass.

Yoongi let out a little laugh. "... Don't break him, please!" he says.

"He still has a lot to learn," Hoseok hums.

Jungkook rolls onto his back. Panting, resulting to starfish style as he laid there. Hoseok holds out a hand - Jungkook grabs it, but pulls him down beside him.

Hoseok lets out a small grunt before laying beside him. His skin soaking in sweat and the sun's gaze, he could hear the trees bristle and  random creaks of the outside world. He hovered his hand over his eyes to keep them safe from the sunshine's burn. First he saw the sky, next he saw Yoongi lean over to look at him.

"... I guess you both lose," Yoongi says, hovering two water bottles over the two boys.

"Sunbathe with us, hyung," Jungkook smiles, grabbing a bottle. "... You need it."

"... Jin-ah," Jimin nudged the oldest's shoulder, and Seokjin snapped out of his daydream once more.

Seokjin wiped the sweat off his own temple before replying. "Sorry, sorry. Hm?"

"We need to rewatch those camera tapes again," Jimin says quietly, "... I hate to break this day off, but if you want to get him back as fast as you can then we should go back to if now. You know I can't stay on your side for long, I have to go back to my boss. Let's not forget..."

Seokjin cleared his throat. "... Yeah, let's go inside. Those three deserve a break..."

Jimin nodded, and followed behind Seokjin as they went back inside without saying a word to the others.

"... Hey, Jjang. Do you think your mom and our mama would be friends if they ever met? Like how we are right now, if they were the same ages as us..."

Hoseok was laying between Yoongi and Jungkook, playing with Yoongi's hand. "... I don't know," he says softly. "I don't remember what my mother was like. She disappeared after sending me to a boarding school in Spain when I was, I think, five?"

Hoseok continued to draw shapes on Yoongi's palm with his thumb till the man took Hoseok's hand into his, intertwining fingers. Hoseok looked back at Yoongi, only see that he covered his eyes with his arm from the heat. Hoseok doesn't pull his hand away from his, but rather squeeze gently. Yoongi looked like he fell asleep.

"... You know," Jungkook says, "You never told me your story about Spain..."

Hoseok sighed, pursing his lips as he smiled sympathetically. "... It's a lot to explain, and pretty painful to think about sometimes..."

Jungkook nods.

"... I know that feeling."

[unedited]