Tell Me Without Telling Me || Sope

Chapter Twenty-seven

For awhile, Hoseok just watches, listening to the maths babble Yoongi is spouting, watching Yoongi move his finger along the page, occasionally stopping to write something here or there. the student can't be more than fifteen, if that. The realisation makes Hoseok feel stupider than ever about his reaction in the kitchen, but also there's something incredibly endearing about seeing Yoongi with a kid, calmly working through their questions, finding different ways to phrase things when they look confused.

"Okay, try doing these questions on your own now," Yoongi says, pushing himself away from the table.

He smiles when he sees Hoseok and pads over softly, motioning for Hoseok to step into the hall, pulling the door too behind them. "Hey, how was work?"

Hoseok's heart tap dances in his chest. "Y-yeah, work was good. H-how's... how's..." He points to the closed door.

Yoongi smiles sheepishly. "Good, too. Sorry. I don't usually teach here while you guys are here. but times got mixed up—my fault, so..."

"It's okay," Hoseok says. "I was just wondering if she's hungry or thirsty... dinner's almost ready if...?"

"Oh, no, her parents are on their way to pick her up. Don't worry about it. Thanks, though, that's... thanks."

"Do you want a drink?" Hoseok asks.

"If you haven't drunk all the peppermint, I wouldn't say no to a cup of that," Yoongi says, pulling the bobble out of his hair. It fluffs around his face.

"Sure," Hoseok mumbles, rubbing his hands together. "I think we have some."

"Thanks. That would be great," Yoongi says, massaging his temples with a grimace. "Got any headache tablets? Think the heat got to me while I was tutoring this one guy—we sat outside. I didn't have a sunhat."

"I can find some. Y-you should get yourself a sunhat. Don't get heatstroke. It's not healthy. You should... be healthy." He blushes furiously, staring at the floor. Of course he would say something this stupid. He doesn't know the right thing to say like Yoongi.

Yoongi chuckles, folding his arms over his chest. "I'll get a sunhat if you get some suncream. Sunburn isn't healthy either."

Hoseok touches his nose self consciously, ducking his head. "Is it really that bad?"

"No, you just look a bit pinker than normal. But it's going to get hotter next week, so be careful. Get yourself a sunhat too."

"Okay," Hoseok says, pleased and flustered. He takes a step towards the kitchen, swinging his hands uselessly. "Um, well, dinner's almost done. I'll get tea and the headache tablets. Um..."

At the door, he pauses uncertainly and crosses the small space back to where Yoongi is standing. "Can we talk tonight?"

Yoongi's eyebrows shoot up. "You want to talk?" he asks gently, eyes combing over Hoseok's face.

"Something up?"

Hoseok looks around, like he might find his words somewhere other than in his head. "No, not really. Not with me, anyway. There's just some stuff I wanted to ask."

"Okay," Yoongi says, nodding. "Yeah, of course we can talk. Whatever you need."

Hoseok smiles, letting out a breath. "Thanks. I-it's not serious, you don't need to worry."

"Okay. I won't."

"Okay. Thank you." He kind of loves saying thank you to Yoongi, to any of them. "I'll put the kettle on."

* * *

Later, after Yoongi's student has gone home and they've cleared away their plates, Hoseok and Yoongi go upstairs first, leaving the others to drink and make noise.