The Long and Winding Road || A Vhope FF ||✔️

Chapter 25

Hoseok took one deep breath, and then another.

The urge to go to the bathroom and escape through the window there was strong, but he knew that he couldn’t do it. No matter how tempting the idea of doing that was, he knew that things would just get worse if he took the coward’s way out.

So he took another breath, and then walked outside.

There weren’t as many fans milling around the restaurant as he had feared there might be. That was comforting, but barely. The real reason that there probably weren’t as many fans as there could be was because there were long hours between Hoseok and Seoul, where most people were probably expecting him to be.

“Oppa!” one of them from the back called, and as if they were automatons, everyone’s head turned toward him at that.

“Oppa!” Hoseok heard another one cry, and he tried to smile.

“Why aren’t you at home sleeping, or studying?” Hoseok asked. He could feel himself slipping into the caring idol persona that he had lived in for so long. Most of the time, he didn’t have to fake it, because he actually cared.

But at that moment, every inch of him was lying. He did not want to have to be doing this right now. He wanted to be eating dinner with Taehyung and Yoongi and Jimin, not speaking to fans who were trying to consume him, as if they couldn’t bear that he hadn’t done anything that they could see in a month and a half.

“We missed you!” another one called, and her voice sounded like metal screeching against metal.

“I was just taking a break,” Hoseok managed to grind out, even though he was still smiling. His face hurt. He wanted to go home now. Home as in Taehyung’s house--with its big bed, and leaky sink, and Yeontan’s soft warmth, and Taehyung’s fond smile.

Not home as in Seoul, where he would be going. His apartment with its stunning view of Gangnam, and sleek appliances, and designer clothes in the closet, that all seemed so cold now that he knew what true tenderness was like.

Before anyone could say anything else, Hoseok heard a familiar voice come from the side.

“Hoseok-ah,” he heard Taeyeon call. She waved at him, smiling as if this was a tea party in the garden instead of Hoseok trying desperately to keep his composure in front of people who had stalked him. “There you are. We’ve been waiting for you.” She placed her hand on his arm and then smiled at Hoseok’s fans. “Sorry, but we’re going to take Hoseok with us, okay?”

It was only then that Hoseok realized that Juhyun was several steps behind Taeyeon, and that she looked worried. But when she noticed that everyone was looking at her, she smiled too, though not nearly as convincingly as Taeyeon did.

“But-” one of the girls said, taking a step closer. Before any of them could get any closer, though, Taeyeon was whisking Hoseok away. Hoseok blinked, and suddenly he was back at what he assumed Juhyun and Taeyeon’s car.

“Where do we need to take you?” Juhyun asked. She was sitting in the driver’s seat, while Taeyeon was in the passenger side.

Hoseok had shoved himself into the backseat, which had a baby seat in the behind the passenger side, and all sorts of baby toys in primary colors. He picked up a stuffed clown and squeezed it, watching its nose light up.

“The old Kim farmhouse, right?” Taeyeon asked. She had turned around and was looking at him then, her eyes wide, and full of pity.

Hoseok bit his lip. “Yeah,” he said finally.

“Okay.” Taeyeon glanced at Juhyun, who was facing forward, so he couldn’t see her expression, but he imagined the look was as pitying as Taeyeon’s was.

“Do you think any of them will follow us?” Juhyun asked suddenly.

Taeyeon looked back at him. “You know your fans better than I do,” she said.

“No.” Hoseok shook his head. “I don’t think so. I hope not.”

“So should I definitely just drive around for a while, with no particular stop in mind?”

“Sure,” Hoseok answered finally, because it was true. He didn’t really know what to do, but that sounded like a good idea. He didn’t think that anyone would follow them, but he also didn’t think that he’d have fans that would follow him all the way out to the middle of nowhere either. “I should call Yoongi, though, so he knows where I am.”

Yoongi answered after the first ring. “Hey, hyung,” Hoseok said, wondering if his voice sounded as dead as he hoped it did. He hoped not, but he also didn’t have the energy to muster up anything else. This was about how he felt right now.

“Hoseok, where are you? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine. I’m with Taeyeon and Juhyun noona right now.”

“Taeyeon noona...as in...Kim Taeyeon?”

“Yes. She lives here now. Did I not mention that before?”

“No you didn’t-” Yoongi cut himself off and took a deep breath. “That doesn’t matter. Just, are you okay? They’re taking care of you, right?”

“Yeah, they’re great. We’re going to just drive around for a while to make sure that no one is following us, and then we’re going to head back to Taehyung’s house.”

“Alright, I’ll tell him.”

“Is he with you?”

“He’s standing right next to me. He didn’t want to leave until he knew that you were alright.”

“Oh.” Hoseok bit his lip so hard that it hurt. “Can I...can I talk to him?”

“Yeah, of course, Hobi.” Hoseok could hear the sounds of a rapid conversation happening above him. He could hear the wind through the speakers as the phone was passed over.

“Hyung,” Taehyung breathed. “You’re alright, right? Everything is fine? You’re fine? The noonas are taking care of you?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Hoseok answered again, even though he was sure that Taehyung knew everything that he told Yoongi. “Are you alright?”

“No one even looked at me,” Taehyung told him.

“Good.”

“You’re coming back home, right?”

“Yes.” Hoseok sighed. “It’s like I said before, I have to get all of my stuff.”

“And say goodbye to Tannie, right? He’ll, uh. Miss you.”

“I’ll miss him too,” Hoseok said, and his eyes were burning now. He had to stop talking to Taehyung, or else he’d start crying for real now, and he didn’t want to do that in the back of Juhyun and Taeyeon’s car. “Look, I have to go.”

“Okay.” Taehyung held on for a moment longer and Hoseok, who didn’t want to hang up on him, stayed on the phone even though there was nothing else that he had to say. “I’ll go to the house now, then, and wait for you.”

“Bye,” Hoseok said, his voice a whisper this time, but it was too late. Taehyung was already gone.

>>>>>>>>

This story is copyrighted to @moonsuns in Ao3.

THE STORY IS SOON COMING TO AN END!!!

GET READY FOR SOME WHOLESOME DRAMA BISHES-