Roses & Tattoos |A Sope FF|

Chapter 13: Hidden

I felt my eyes droop closed as I turned the key, unlocking the door of my shop. My feet shuffled inside, my eyes barely able to keep themselves open. I sighed as I saw that some of my flowers wilted overnight, the leaves falling off of the stems and landing on the floor. I shut the door and walked to the back, setting down my keys and grabbing the broom, sweeping up the mess. I continued to go through the motions of setting up for the day, making sure the register had enough cash in it and making sure that the arrangements all looked presentable. With a heavy sigh, I flipped the sign over to "open," and sat myself on a stool behind the counter, resting my head on the palm of my hand, waiting for a customer to enter, but secretly praying today was a day filled with no customers. 

I could feel myself drifting off when the chimes above the door woke me up. My eyes widened as I saw Yoongi walking towards the counter, two cups in his hands.

"Mmm... Good morning Yoongi." I mumbled, wishing I could drift back to sleep.

Yoongi chuckled. "Didn't sleep well, huh?"

I shook my head. "I-I've been sleeping at my friend's place, and his couch is rock hard and it makes it hard to sleep on."

He nodded, setting down the cups on the glass counter. "I walked by and saw you practically falling asleep so I brought you a coffee."

My eyes lit up as I reached for the cup, drinking almost half of it in one sip. "God, thank you so much. I really needed a pick-me-up."

"You know..." Yoongi began, leaning against the counter, taking a sip of his coffee. "I also have a couch that you could crash on. It's pretty comfortable. My friend sleeps on it whenever he comes to visit."

I sighed at his words, a light smile coming on my lips. "First you buy me coffee and then you offer your couch for me to sleep on. Min Yoongi, do you actually have a heart and soul?"

He rolled his eyes and smacked my arm. "Hush or the offer will be taken away."

I bit my lip and nodded. "I would absolutely love to crash on your couch tonight. Thank you."

He scoffed as he stood up straight, grabbing his keys from his pocket. "I need to go open up. I will see you tonight."

I watched him walk off with his coffee in hand, my lips forming a smile. He seemed tough when I first met him, but I'm finally getting to see bits and pieces of his fluffy insides, and it made me proud to see him opening up after so long. 

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Yoongi POV

Later that night, I watched Hoseok lay down on my couch, curling up in a ball with the blanket I had provided him. I couldn't help but smile at how squishy his cheeks got when he was laying down like that. My eyes drifted to his ankle, causing me to frown as I noticed that his tattoo wasn't visible. I shook my head, choosing to leave the matter alone as Hoseok had had a very long day. I turned off the lights and made my way to my bedroom.

As I lay in the dark, staring at the ceiling, I couldn't stop picturing his face. He really was beautiful, and the fact that Jimin would hurt someone as sweet as him made me even more angry at him. Hoseok didn't deserve this. I almost feel worse for him than I did for myself after Jimin broke my heart. 

I pictured Hoseok's smiling face, something I hadn't seen since he walked in on Jimin. Now, all he wore was a frown with dark bags under his eyes. When he did smile, I knew it was fake because he no longer had that sparkle in his eyes. Hoseok needed a friend now more than ever, and I was determined to play that role to the best of my ability. 

I finally closed my eyes and tried to force myself to sleep, knowing that tomorrow was another night of DJing, requiring my complete focus. 

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"Sir, you really need to sit still if you want this tattoo to come out well." I said in a sharp tone, rolling my eyes at the old man who wouldn't stop squirming underneath the needle.

The door opened, and I immediately caught sight of Hoseok. I felt my lips turning upwards into a smile.

"Good morning, Hoseok!"

"Morning." He yawned, stumbling as he sat down on the stool next to my work station. He had been coming to visit me for a few minutes every day, just to say hi.

"Do you have a lot of appointments today?"

I cleared my throat, shaking my head. "Sir, please." I groaned before looking at Hoseok. "Only a few. I might be able to get out of here early."

Hoseok nodded, that brightness that used to fill his eyes now a dull glimmer. "Mmkay."

"Why don't I give you a minute to relax before we get back to work?" I had lost all patience with the customer, who only nodded shyly at my request as I stood up. I leaned against the counter next to Hoseok. "Why were you asking?"

He shrugged, unable to meet my eyes. "I just wanted to know what time you were going to be home."

I sighed. "When do you plan on taking back your apartment from your scumbag ex?"

This made him look at me with a nervous expression. "I-I-I can't face him yet."

"Hoseokie, it's been two weeks of you crashing on my couch. I love having you around, don't get me wrong, but it's unhealthy. It's your apartment, and he did the crime. You shouldn't be suffering like this."

His eyes started to get watery. "I-I'm sorry if I'm a bother to you." He started to stand up before I grabbed his shoulder, leaning close to him so he could hear me clearly."

"You. Are. Not. A. Bother." A tear fell down his tanned cheek, making me sigh again. "Come on, pal, you know I'm not a hugger, please don't cry."

He shook his head and apologized as the tears started flowing. I took a sharp breath before wrapping my arms around him. It was our first time hugging. He had found out early on that I am not a huge fan of physical contact with anybody, so he had learned to stop trying to hug me whenever he saw me. Now, here I was initiating him in a hug, and I found my lips curling up into a smile at his warmth as his hands found my waist. My head rested on the top of his, since he was still sitting on the stool, and we were like this for a few minutes until the weak-ass customer cleared his throat. I groaned, rolling my eyes as I pulled back, my eyes once again meeting Hoseok's. 

I wiped a few remaining tears from his cheeks and gave him a closed-mouth smile. "You'll be okay, Hoseok. I promise." 

He nodded, not providing any other sort of response. I noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. 

"I need to get back to work. I'll see you at home?"

He nodded again and stood up to leave. I once again noticed the lack of tattoo on his ankle and frowned. 

"Hoseok?"

He turned to face me, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Please stop covering up your tattoo."

His shoulders slumped. "It reminds me of him."

I scoffed while motioning for the customer to get back into a good position. "Then don't associate it with him. Associate it with me and the damn good job that I did on that thing."

This made him laugh as he nodded, exiting my shop and walking next door to his own. I couldn't help but chuckle myself at how adorable he is. 

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Wow this chapter brought a lot of writer's block for me but I finally made it through and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.