a drop in the ocean • JUNG HOSEOK

Part 9.

700 reads?? Huh? How?❤️

  ~+~+~+~+~+~+~    

Awesome Splashy Hoseok Day is bizarre. Jin makes a caramel salt cheesecake, and you happily bring mini confetti bottles to burst, and only the best sparklers you could afford. You both collectively sit on the beach with glow in the dark beads around their necks and play classic oldies music from Jin's bluetooth speakers.

"This is strangely different from holidays I've had." Hoseok says, his tongue licking up the caramel that spilled onto his palm. It would be a wonderful rarity if he could stop sloshing pond water on his dessert plate. At least he hadn't managed to accidentally drop his glow in the dark beaded necklace that somehow you made into a alluring blue halo around his head into the water. Consequently, you purposely picked out the blue ones, to match his tail. It was his Awesome Splashy Hoseok Day after all.

"Sucks you celebrated the wrong kind of holiday." Jin pipes, before humming along to some Elvis.

Hoseok shares a look with you, shrugging back and eat another bite of cheesecake, washing it down with some rich banana milk you found while shopping with Jin for ingredients to make the cake. It was lame of you that you never had a chance to ask Hoseok's favorite flavor of anything, so you took the liberty of the salted caramel and hoped for the best. Not that you were freaking out internally trying to overcome the possibility of Hoseok hating the stuff you brought for him.

"I suppose I can't win a fight with cheesecake and Elvis." Hoseok bellows ironically, trying his absolute best to suppress a passing smile, and fails.

"I don't think anyone can." Jin grins in a positive response.

"I like it better than any christmas and my own birthday put together now." You extract knowingly. "Let's make it a permanent holiday!"

"We can make it a day where you gotta bring beaded necklaces to our neighborhood merman." Hoseok suggests, adjusting the beaded crown over his head. "I think it'll work."

"Of course, it's gotta catch on! We can celebrate it like fourth of July in America, with fireworks, sparkles and banana milk." You giggle, frantically showing off the box of sparklers in front of Jin's face for exaggeration.

"I feel like that's almost nowhere near what fourth of July is to americans, but you do you boo." Jin teases affectionately.

Hoseok asks through a small bite of cake. "What's special about fourth of July?"

"Fuck." Jin mumbles, completely forgetting the brief american history they were taught, as you give him an absurd look.

"Yeah know, the American Independence? Breaking away from England?" You explain. Then, halfway through, your voice threading away at some concern. Hoseok could feel his throat have difficulty swallowing his cake at the look you give him.

"I-I don't know much about that." Hoseok mutters under his breath, trying to casually sink lower in the water, he rather not have you see his blush and horrid face of embarrassment. He can feel his cheeks coloring. He was relieved on how much fun you were all having so far, but now he felt dreadfully bleak.

"Its some history, um," You say, trying quickly to be considerate of his lack of intelligence, but Hoseok still feels like there's something wrong with him. "You didn't go to school when you ..." You trail off, your face compressing as you give a sensitive stare at Hoseok. Of course, it had to only be you that ruined the fun, again.

"No, I never finished." Hoseok hints at, not wanting to discuss this any further, he was beyond uncomfortable. Abruptly, he dropped his entire plate into the ponds water. "Ah shit." He sighed aggressively more so than he indented. Not that he intended too anyways, he was just so caught off guard and anxious now.

"Hey, hey, it's alright." Jin utters smoothly, putting down his stereo from his lap and heading to the water line. "We can tell you all about modern history that you want to know, catching up and teaching the good ol' neighborhood merman."

"Come on, I suck at modern history, I almost failed that, remember?" You groan, almost sounding somewhat distraught. Hoseok can doubtlessly empathize with you.

"Almost failed is good enough for me!" Jin declares, smacking his hands triumphantly together. "I'm an expert. Let's start with the split of North and South Korea. A bit sensitive stuff, but hey what isn't?"

"I know some things. Er, how about we do American history instead?" Hoseok replies, because he's not a complete idiot, but he may or may not be shivering with the plate of watered cake in his hands.

Jin nodded, dipping his legs into the water to exchange a new cake with the soggy one. "Sure."

"So americans pioneered and colonized north america, I know that part." Hoseok mumbles, swimming up nearer. He can feel your eyes on him, yet not really locking on to each, Hoseok wonders if it's on purpose. He doesn't want either of you or Jin to think he's dump, especially you.

"Yeah, there ya go, around the 1600's or something." Jin begins discreetly, waist deep in the water. "So, the country of Spain and Columbus screwed up the Indians big time-"

"We should bring a book next time." You reply faintly, and Hoseok sneaks a look at you, finally your eyes lock onto each other. Hoseok wants to swim over to you, to be able to hold you and you do the same in return. He tries not to imagine thoughts like that, but there's nothing he could do at this point to halt them anymore. "Jin has good knowledge, but his commentary is shit."

Hoseok nods, smiling a little, even though it's all so bad. "Thank you both, for all of this." Hoseok sighs happily, his cheeks flushing a light pink. You make him feel human. You remind me of how far I am from being human, he wants to desperately tell you. He instead clutches the sun necklace from around his neck under the water. "For everything. You're great."

"You're the coolest merman I've ever met." Jin compliments easily, stealing a bit of cream from Hoseok cake.

"I'm the only mermaid you've ever met."

Jin shrugs contently. "Doesn't matter, you're cool."