blue | lhs

05

Hoseok's penthouse is almost just like you imagined. It's wide and spacious, the walls lined with giant glass windows disguised with heavy blue curtains. Looking at blue again makes you feel nauseous, but you swallow down the feeling and follow Hoseok as he guides you through the vicinity toward the stairs. There's a crystalline chandelier hanging above you, showering its light onto the space below where the equally blue couches and glass coffee tables sit upright on top of velvet rugs.

Your fingers trace the steel railing of the staircase, feeling the way it glides beneath your palm and branches out into the landing of the second floor.

Hoseok takes you through the hallway decorated with framed photos of people in various settings. There's a photo that catches your eye in particular and you stop to take a closer look.

There are four schoolboys, leaning against each other and smiling widely at the camera in front of a tall building labeled: Seoul Institute of Excellence. You don't hear Hoseok stopping to turn around and look at you as you lean in and squint at the figures in the picture.

"What are you looking at?" Hoseok's voice frightens you and you jump at the sudden close proximity.

"That," you point at the leftmost boy, "That's Minhyuk, isn't it?"

Hoseok takes a look and then smiles, a faraway look in his eyes, "Yeah."

You move your finger across the photo, "And that's you?"

"Yeah."

Hoseok takes your hand and drags your finger to the other boys, "That's Yoo Kihyun, one of our closest friends, and that's Hyunwoo, who's like an older brother to us. He's closest with Kihyun but he left to study abroad last year, which left Kihyun in a sort of pissy mood. I think you two met at my party."

Oh, yeah. You remember him. The one who mistook you as Minhyuk's hookup and proceeded to insult you at the same time.

"He's not always a brat. He just cares too much sometimes." Hoseok hides his wry smile with a chuckle, his fingers tightening around your hand. You turn to stare and he turns too, and suddenly you're both jumping away from each other in embarrassment. Hoseok fumbles with the sleeves of his sweaters, the pinkest blush scattered across his cheeks like fairy dust.

"Uh, so let me show you where you're going to be staying."

"Yeah, yeah. Okay." You blow your hair out of your face and follow after Hoseok, fingers fidgeting restlessly at your sides.

He takes you into a capacious room. There's not much inside, just a bed that's probably the size of your apartment kitchen, a bedside table, a desk, a lamp, and a chair. There's an ensuite off to the side, painted in black tiles, a stark contrast from the white marble flooring that layered the rest of the penthouse.

"Is it okay? Do you need more space? Anything in particular that you need? Is the lighting alright?" Hoseok launches a flurry of questions at you and you hold out a hand to slow him down. You're slightly endeared by his nervous antics, but you try to push that thought down.

"If you ever need anything, let me know, okay? I'm on the other side of the hall."

You nod and Hoseok exits the room, leaving you alone. Things are quiet now, although the sound of flashing cameras still echo distantly in your ears. Your feet drag across the cold floor toward the bed and you fall forward on what feels like cottony heaven, and for the first time in weeks, you find it in yourself to really smile. You didn't want any of this to happen to you, but the revelations that came out of it surpassed your expectations.

Sitting up, you stroke your injured knee where your fingers come into contact with a soft bandaid placed onto your skin, and suddenly, you recall the way Hoseok carefully held the back of your knee in the backseat of the car, fingers meticulous and careful as they lathered disinfectant onto your injury before sealing it with the bandaid. You remember the way his fingers shook, the way his fringe swayed as the car headed down the road, his lips pulled into a taut line in concentration.