To Find Something True

※ thirty-nine (pt. 1)

Jungkook butted in, "He did. Dang, he looks cool with red hair. I wanna dye my hair red too!"

"Wait, wait. That is not the point!" Seokjin protested. "What happened? I can't understand what's happening to him! I'm not used to this development. What demon possessed him?"

His staff was gossiping about him. It was bold of them to assume that he didn't hear them. He wasn't even in his office yet.

"Jiah isn't coming to work either. Did he fire her?" Jisoo asked.

"Nah, Jiah told me Hoseok gave her a day off. Something is fishy," Seokjin muttered.

Hoseok walked back to the main area, leaning on the wall with his hands in his pockets. "Bold of you to assume that something is fishy," he said.

Everyone got startled by his voice. Seokjin exclaimed, "Oh meh gosh! You almost gave me a heart attack, boy! How dare you appear like that?"

"Like what? I simply stood here. None of you noticed."

"Hold on. Did you just comfortably speak to me?" Seokjin exclaimed, his eyes widening. "Is the world ending? Am I dying? Am I dreaming? Is this my parallel universe? Jisoo, pinch me. Hard!" His sister pinched him. "Ack! Don't pinch me like that!"

"You told me to pinch you hard though!" Jisoo retorted.

"You pinched me with your fingernails! Are you trying to dig into my flesh?" Seokjin retorted back, and his sister made a face.

On the other hand, Yoongi came out of the pantry with a cup of coffee in his hand. He said, "Amber will be pleased to hear something about you today. I can report to her that Jung Hoseok came in a T-shirt and jacket. No hoodies." A light smile spread across his face.

"Report to her whatever you want," Hoseok said, smiling wide.

The crimp-haired man let out a soft chuckle. With his lips frowning downwards, Yoongi raised a thumb.

"Oh, hyung! When is she returning?" Hoseok asked Yoongi.

Swallowing his coffee, he lifted both of his shoulders and said, "She didn't say anything about returning when we last talked."

"Really?"

Yoongi nodded, and Hoseok nodded back.

Hoseok couldn't comprehend why he felt uneasy at the idea of Amber's return. Ironically, he had been the one eagerly awaiting her quick return. Looking around the boutique, he observed that nothing had been damaged. It was evident that everything had been meticulously taken care of.

The tension in the air between the Kim siblings and Jimin was still lingering. But that wasn't the issue. He could brush them off as long as they didn't cause any trouble.

He tilted his head, hating the questions that his mind had, then turned to head towards his office. Retrieving his sketchbook, he flipped through the filled pages. A partially completed sketch caught his eye, prompting him to grab a pencil and start sketching.

A few minutes after he started drawing, the peace in his office made him feel antsy. Exhaling a quick sigh, he put down his pencil and looked at the table on his right, which was occupied.

Jiah was absent. He started to regret giving her a day off. But he wasn't going to call Jiah and ask her to come to work. She was so drunk last night that he couldn't wake her up when they reached her house. The fresh fish carp bread that he bought for himself was given to Jiah's father, not wanting her father to think of him in the wrong way just because he brought Jiah back in a drunken state.

And he couldn't shake off the memory of hearing Jiah cry herself to sleep. Crying for him, saying she pitied her boss, feeling sad for him that he hurt himself. She repeated those words over and over until her face turned red and veins formed on her forehead and temples. This wasn't the first time he saw her cry, but this time, it was entirely because of him.

He had never seen Seokjin, Yoongi, or Amber cry for him. Jiah cared a lot about him, and he knew that. He appreciated it. But if it was to the point where she got hurt too, he didn't think that was pleasant.  Perhaps, his assumption was true. His sister would never return. If that was how much he hurt himself, if that was how it hurt the people around him too, he learned that he had better stop—or at least lessen it.

He signed. Looking down at his T-shirt and jacket, he knew he had made some effort to not dwell on the idea of punishing his sister. Raising his head to look at his reflection on the glass wall, smiling, he said, "Jiah will be happy to see this."

Coincidentally, the phone rang, and Jiah's name appeared. Hoseok wondered why she called him. Nonetheless, he slid the green button and brought the phone to his ear. Jiah's cheerful tone made him smile. She said, "Good morning, boss!"

Hoseok chuckled and answered, "Good morning. Didn't I tell you not to call me 'boss'?"

"You are my boss, though," Jiah said.

"I feel uncomfortable being called 'boss'," he said.

Then, he heard Jiah laugh, "I was teasing you." Hoseok chuckled again and smiled wider. She asked, "Is everything at the office alright? Did you get your coffee? Is the email checked and organized?"

"Don't worry. I just got to my office," Hoseok said.

"Oh. You clocked in late. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm alright." Hoseok leaned on his office chair and looked at the ceiling. "In case you're worried about last night, I was sober. You were the one who got drunk."

He heard a hiss and a soft curse. His smile widened. Jiah stuttered, "Was I?"

"Yeah."

There was a brief pause. Then, she asked, "Did I do something weird?"

"You didn't."

"I can feel that you're lying," Jiah uttered.

"I swear you didn't do anything weird. I was guessing you were tired too; you slept peacefully," he lied. He had to cover up the fact that Jiah cried for him.

Jiah hummed briefly. "That's fine then. Oh! Did my father say anything to you?"

"Well," he paused, looked up as he tried to recall. "Nothing."

"What's with the fish carp bread?" she exclaimed.

Hoseok raised his eyebrows. He did not expect Jiah wouldn't like that he gave her father the bread. "I thought it was impolite not to give him something. Besides, I came with his daughter drunk. I didn't want to give him the wrong idea about me. I have a reputation, Lee Jiah."

"Oh," Jiah whispered. "Right!"

Hoseok softly chuckled and asked, "How are you today?"

"Fine. I'm fine," she drawled.

"How fine?"

"Fine enough to stand without my head spinning. My father made me hangover soup. He got me the hangover drink too."

"I don't think you're fine if you drank both," Hoseok said. "I'm going to give you another day off if you're lying." He wished he didn't say that. He would like it better if Jiah would come to work the next day.

"Nah, I didn't drink both," Jiah laughed. "The soup was enough. I kept this drink for you. Are you sure you're alright?"

Smiling, he said, "Yes, I am."

Silence followed, yet they didn't end the call. He played with the tip of his sketchbook. It didn't seem like they had anything more to say. Still, he chose to say, "You're coming tomorrow, right?"

The woman snorted, "Of course."

"Can you come early?" Silence again, but Hoseok quickly broke it, stuttering, "I-I mean, not for work. T-there's nothing urgent at the moment. I just want to... treat you to a meal. You treated me with the late-night snack. I thought I should do the same. With breakfast."

The woman hummed, signifying she was thinking. Then she said, "Alright! The others coming too?"

"No. Just the two of us."

He heard a soft thud in the background before Jiah uttered, "Got it!"

Hoseok beamed at the response.