Strawberries and cigarettes

24-Hoseok

He was woken by the sound of something breaking right next to his bed. Within a second, the brunette sat up and jumped up, looking right and left to see what was going on. The adrenaline was kicking in and he felt ready to run for his life or fight off any intruder as soon as he got a hold of the situation. It took another moment until he understood what was going on, seeing Yoongi in their shared room. The older had his hands clenched to fists, teeth pressed together, and a fierce stare in his eyes. The breaking sound had come from the glass of water that Hoseok had standing next to his mattress which was now shattered on the floor, liquid spreading slowly. There would be a wet spot in the material for sure, no way for them to fix this afterward.
He had to admit that even though his friend looked like he was in a terrible emotional state he himself was relieved to see him here. At least it wasn't another kidnapper or whatever else might have happened to him with a stranger in his room in the middle of the night.

"Yoongi, what's-"
His question was interrupted by a frustrated groan from his elder and when he lifted his hand which was holding his phone, Hoseok barged forward and grabbed him.
"Are you insane? Calm down before you break something for real this time!", he shouted probably a little too loud. Hopefully, none of the teachers heard him now, that would be more than uncomfortable.
"Let go of me.", Yoongi sighed with a weak voice and Hoseok loosened his grip. He hadn't expected him to sound this vulnerable and broken. Apparently, he wasn't angry and aggressive about something, he was frustrated and hopeless and it reached his sympathetic heart at once. He felt incredibly sorry for Yoongi when he turned on a small light and saw the tearstains on his face. He'd cried and wasn't even trying to hide it.
With a sigh, the brunette pulled him onto his bed and wrapped his arm around him to comfort him, pressing their torsos together gently.
"I've got you, don't worry.", he cooed and buried his face in Yoongi's shoulder to show just how much he was trying to be there for him. Normally, the older wouldn't allow himself to be sad or broken so he couldn't do anything wrong right now. He wanted him to know that it was okay to be weak and show flaws so he held Yoongi until he felt his heartbeat calm down.

"What is it? Tell me what's going on!"
"I don't know...", he whispered and let go of Hoseok's back. He sunk into him like a pillow and sighed which made Hoseok smile a little bit. It showed him how strong their trusting bond was by now despite all the fighting – maybe because of all the fighting in the last few weeks.
"I went to drop off the money.", he started to tell his story of tonight and Hoseok lifted his eyebrows. He knew that Seokjin had given him the money but he felt slightly betrayed that he hadn't asked him to come along.
Was he insane to do something this dangerous on his own?
"I took Jungkook with me and we saw who took it."
Yoongi lifted his chin and they locked eyes.
He knew that he wasn't able to hide his jealousy but at the same time, the brunette was glad that he didn't go all alone. Why Jungkook, though? Sure, he was taller than him but they didn't have anything in common and he couldn't honestly think that he could trust him instead of his best friend. He understood that Namjoon wasn't supposed to come with him since the white-haired didn't like the fact that the ransom came from Seokjin but why hadn't he asked Hoseok?
"Are you okay?", Yoongi asked after they looked at each other for a while. The younger had to swallow and broke their eye contact in embarrassment. He was pathetic for being like this. They were just friends and there was nothing Jungkook could change about that. He was still closest to Yoongi so he shouldn't make a scene.
"I'm fine. Everything's fine. Now tell me what happened."
He still didn't dare to look at him again when suddenly, he felt Yoongi reach out to cup his cheek.

"I know I'm not the most sympathetic person but that doesn't mean I can't tell when there's something wrong with you. Are you mad or something?"
"No, it's just... Why didn't you tell me you were going tonight?"
Yoongi's eyebrows were furrowed and he put on a little pout.
"Of course I was going tonight. It was the day they told us to give them the money. I thought you didn't want to be part of it so I didn't even ask. Did you want to tag along? Is that why you're acting like this now?"
Hoseok sighed, feeling his face heat up. He knew himself that it wasn't the most rational reason to get upset and this wasn't even about him but at least this seemed to distract Yoongi from his own struggles so he sighed and agreed after a moment of silence.
"Okay well, get over it, I don't have to tell you everywhere I go just because we're- Ah you know what I mean.", Yoongi hissed and freed himself out of Hoseok's arms. At once, he shivered and felt goosebumps appear on his arms because of the missing warmth from Yoongi's body.

"I'm sorry, forget about it. Now please, what happened there that made you so frustrated?", he tried to put the focus of their conversation back to where it had been originally. Yoongi ran his hands through his hair while he got up from Hoseok's bed and then started walking up and down on his mattress that lay next to the bed.
"Well, I wanted to see who was fucking with me and... let's just say, I don't have good news."
"Spit it out Yoongi, I won't drop dead if I know the truth."
"It's Shelsey... He's behind all this bullshit. Well, not really him but his twenty-something-year-old son. That motherfucker is the one who took our supplier from us and is trying to kick us out of the game in Daegu. I don't know if his father knows about it but the way he's looking for us, I bet you that he is and this is all just a game to them."
Hoseok's jaw dropped when he heard his words and it took a moment until they arrived in his brain.
Shelsey...
Shelsey, their teacher.
That sucker was behind all of this?
"Fuck", was all he could get over his lips and Yoongi agreed, dropping back down on Hoseok's bed next to the brunette. They locked eyes and a cold shiver rolled over his back, staring into this cold, exhausted gaze.
"We're done for.", the older sighed and then finally broke the distance between their faces, bringing their lips together for a hungry and frustrated kiss.

-

A few hours later, Hoseok was standing in the hallway, thinking about whether or not he was supposed to ring the bell of the apartment he wanted to enter or just pick the lock. It wouldn't be this hard anyway, right? This was an old door and he was sure that Taehyung didn't mind. Okay, maybe he did but he really had to talk to the younger and he was afraid he wouldn't open up if he just rang.
As expected, it only took him a few minutes to get the door unlocked and Hoseok sighed, taking a few soundless steps inside. On the one hand, he would have to wake Taehyung anyway so why would he care about being quiet but on the other he didn't want to scare the black-haired and therefore he sneaked his way into their bedroom. There, he found who he was looking for, peacefully sleeping in the top bunk of the bed that he shared with Jimin. Hoseok tilted his head, trying to remember something since he found this situation a little strange, realizing after a moment that the top bunk was actually Jimin's and not Taehyung's. It made him smile but only slightly since it meant that he must miss his best friend a lot. They had such a close relationship that it warmed his heart but at the same time, it was terrible what was happening to them. Hopefully, they would be able to sort this out soon.

"Taehyung....", he whispered and gently tapped his shoulder.
He didn't move.
"Hey, wake up. Taehyung!", he tried one more time but louder, and finally, he blinked and a groan left his lips.
"What-", he began to mumble but Hoseok cut him off.
"Shh, don't worry, it's just me. Look, we need to talk, can you get up please?"
The younger needed a moment to understand the situation but then he sat up and stared a Hoseok with his big round eyes. His freshly dyed hair was messy but still shimmered healthily and when he ran his hand through it, it was brushed down immediately. Taehyung seemed to really take care of himself which relieved Hoseok a lot since a few days ago, he'd still been starving himself, not sleeping, and in general not doing anything anymore. Apparently, he was getting better at coping with the situation.

-

About twenty minutes later, Taehyung was fully dressed and waited for Hoseok to finish his cup of coffee that he'd poured for him. They'd talked about Jimin and what was going on, Hoseok informing him about the latest developments of the kidnapping. He had gotten a new set of polaroids, showing Jimin entirely drained of energy, standing in the swimming pool with the water already reaching his hips. On the back of the pictures, they had found a new message, threatening his death and telling them that Yoongi had gone too far to go after the red-haired boy. Of course, the grey-haired hadn't really reacted to those threats and just given the polaroids to Hoseok with a blank expression on his face but he knew that he was actually pretty upset about it. Yoongi might not express it often but he cared about people and the brunette was starting to think that Jimin had a special place in his "cold" but actually just closed-off heart.
"Now are you going to be finished or do we let the others wait for another hour?", Taehyung spoke up for the first time without being asked and Hoseok put down his cup. He blushed slightly but it was too dark in the room for the younger to see, still, it was uncomfortable that he'd taken so long for his coffee. The black-haired must be way more upset and nervous than him because of Jimin, Hoseok hadn't thought about that at all before which made guilt rush through his body at once.
"Sorry, let's get going.", he said and walked past the other, leaving the apartment with quick strides, hoping that Seokjin was already waiting in the car there so that they could get going as quickly as possible.