Bargain (Not Met) (JungHope)

Interlude - Gift

There wasn't much Hoseok wanted to do. He went to work, chatted with his visibly concerned coworkers, and went home. Day in, day out. An endless cycle that Hoseok was starting to believe he could get used to.

He was cleaning up his cubicle. His desk was a cluttered mess, and what wasn't immediately deemed trash, was shoved into the various cabinets and drawers.

He held a handful of blueprints, drafts, loose-leaf papers with half-hearted ideas and editing, and was about to shove them into one of the only desk drawers that wasn't ready to burst when he spotted it: the USB drive.

Suddenly, the numbness that Hoseok had lulled himself into shattered, and he couldn't choke back his broken wailing.

He was dismissed for the day because the manager that had replaced Taehyung was as kind and gentle as he was, and Hoseok just cried even harder.

After crying under his bed's covers long enough for the moon to make its quiet presence known, Hoseok managed to dial Yoongi's number despite the tears that still blurred his vision.

"Kid?" Yoongi's voice was familiar despite the distorted tone, and Hoseok choked out another sob.

"What's up?" Yoongi continued, voice soft with concern. "It's midnight over there, right? Having a rough night?"

"Hyung," Hoseok wailed. "I-I found your drive."

A sharp breath cut through the receiver, crackling through the frigid air like thunder. "Did you want to keep it?" Yoongi asked after a moment's contemplation.

Hoseok startled.

He hadn't thought about keeping any possessions that reminded him of Jungkook's deal. There wasn't much point in holding onto memories that would only make him collapse to his knees as regret and grief drowned him. It would only hinder his progress like it had done that day, so he shouldn't—he couldn't keep it.

Right?

"...It's yours," Hoseok argued, voice weak and raw.

"It's music, kid. I can always make another one."

Hoseok shook his head. Because he knew that Yoongi would never be able to recreate the feelings, the sheer amount of emotions he had put into the tracks in a vain attempt to get Taehyung back in his life. The desperation and affection were trapped, eternally, in the drive that Hoseok had a death grip on between his balmy palm and fingers.

"Are you sure?" Hoseok asked because he wasn't sure if Yoongi would take too kindly to his persistence.

"Keep it, kid. Maybe it'll help you more than me."

Hoseok smiled wryly. "It's already been a year, hyung."

"It's only been a year."

Hoseok hung his head between his legs. "Right..."

Silence overtook them. The receiver brought life to the white noise surrounding Yoongi: rowdy neighbors, singing birds, and the AC's sputtering. Hoseok drank it all up, desperate to keep himself from falling into that chasm of thoughts, thoughts of the past, of the hazy future that Hoseok was far too afraid to face alone.

"Keep it," Yoongi repeated, voice just as soft as before, and Hoseok looked at the blinking screen of his phone when he hung up.

Hours later, just shy of three a.m., Hoseok mustered the courage to plug the drive into his computer.

He startled when he noticed an extra track.

Begin.

"What..." Hoseok breathed, finger clicking the file before disbelief could stutter his movements.

His computer faltered for a brief moment, his breath catching in his throat, before the speakers crackled to life with the first haunting, melancholic notes.

The track continued with a distortion in the rhythm, before smoothing out into a quiet melody. Hoseok waited for lyrics, for some form of vocalization, but even after the supposed chorus hit, after the tempo picked up speed and faded into hopeful silence, not a single word was uttered.

And yet, Hoseok's vision blurred as sorrow overcame him. Because he knew.

Jungkook had left him a final parting gift.

A/N - i figured i should stick with the Wings' album tracks, so i didn't use Euphoria. sorry.