Seren watched him at a safe distance, keeping her antsy hands above her bouncing lap. He cut up another fresh half of cucumber, garnishing the plate like how Seren was supposed to do. She then realized that he made black bean noodles for the two of them, the scent tying together when she saw him pour the paste over them.
"You made jajangmyeon?" She speculated correctly as he brought the two plates over to the table.
He set hers down. "Yup. Is that an okay choice?" Hoseok cautiously questioned, glancing mindfully at his date.
"Oh, it's great! I love jajangmyeon." Seren insisted, preparing her utensils. "My family and I used to always eat it. Well, my brother and I, actually. We used to always make it for ourselves." She corrected in a murmur, her cheeks crimsoning.
"Ah, then I hope I did a good job with the recipe." He expressed with a gentle grin, drying his wet hands with paper towels. "I have an expert trying my food."
She waited for him to sit, chuckling at his comment. "I'm sure you did great, everything looks good, and the smell is amazing." She praised him earnestly.
He sat across from her, making sure she took her first bite before he began eating.
"Is it good?" Speculation washed his tone, waiting for her opinion.
"It is really good." She answered, licking paste off the side of her lip.
He lowered his head as weight lifted off his shoulders, his cheeks engorged. "I'm glad." He simply said, returning to the food on his plate.
It was silent for a moment, and Seren guessed it had to do with their love for food, wanting time to eat and save their discussions for later.
Regardless, it wasn't an uncomfortable silence that fell upon them.
"I didn't know you had a brother?" Hoseok suddenly asked, making Seren snap out of her thoughts.
"Huh?" She looked up at him, her head tilting. "Really? I haven't mentioned him?"
He shook his head, sipping his sprite.
"I just have one sibling." Seren explained further, setting her chopsticks down. "His names' Jimin, he's eighteen. He's still pretty young, though he's much taller than me." She muttered, sparking a giggle out of Hoseok.
"It was always just the four of us. Including my parents." She removed her eyes from his, never quite enjoying a conversation where her parents had to be included. "What about you?" She cleared her throat, stirring a question for Hoseok.
"Oh, I just have one sibling. A sister." He informed, setting his drink down. "Though, I don't always see my family." Hoseok told honestly, shrugging his shoulders.
Her tongue poked the inside of her piercing. "I only ever make time to see Jimin. I really don't make time for my parents. I mean, I only do it so I can keep hanging out with Jimin."
She could see confusion and specs of amusement glimmer in his irises, interested in hearing about her past, and the predicaments she encountered.
Although talking about her parents was always an uncomfortable topic for her, she didn't quite feel that way when talking to him. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he never saw his family either, and she felt comforted to create a related ground with him.
Or, maybe it was his swirling dark brown eyes that clung to her like thick syrup, holding her hostage in her seat. It put her in an imperishable trance, willing to pour herself to him without a second thought to hold her back. All to satisfy his ravenous curiosity.
"Just- I always had issues when it came to them." Her lips began moving, whether she liked it or not. "I was never the ideal daughter, Jimin was always the favorite, and I was just the-"
"Letdown?" Hoseok assumed correctly, his shoulders and elbows hovering above the table in deep appeal.
Seren nodded, her fingers finding the ends of her hair. "Exactly. It's why I did everything I did. Why I got all those piercings, tattoos. Just so I can get some attention. I didn't care if it was good or bad."
"They hate where I work, and I can't blame them. But, they don't offer to help me." She shook her head, irate pricking through her skin the more she thought about it.
"We must have went through the same childhood." Hoseok determined looking down at his food. "Actually, my mom loved us. It's a very long story. But, I went through neglection a lot. Everyone said I was weird when I went to school because I didn't have much friends."
Her eyes widened, unable to keep her surprise contained. "Really?"
"Yeah," he stated, almost too nonchalantly, accepting his desolated childhood. "But, I didn't really care. I liked being the mystery person– as strange as that may sound. I just did my own thing."
Acceptance was part of maturing, and Seren marveled at his way of accepting his unfortunate childhood.
"How old were you?" She mimicked him, hovering closer to the table.
He hummed, looking up at the ceiling. "I was twelve. It was all of middle school, until high school."
Curiosity bared its fangs at her, urging her to ask why kids didn't want to be his friend. What was so strange about Hoseok that they didn't want him in their cliques? Kids were brutal, and she went through her own rejection from many friend groups when she was a child, too.
Being the pariah was the worst experience. Seren didn't make genuine trusting friends until Yoongi and Namjoon entered her life.
"Can I ask why you were left out as a child?" Curiosity bit her, its venom poisoning her tongue.
"I just had different interests." He kept it simple. "I was into things other children weren't into. For one, I really loved school. I loved science, I guess that's what was different about me?"
It seemed even Hoseok himself was unaware of why he was the ostracized boy in his school.
"Kids are brutal. I didn't have real friends until my years in high school." Seren took a sip of her water, watching Hoseok finish his plate of food.
"Do you still talk to them?" He questioned, covering his mouth full of food.
She giggled at his muffled speech. "I do. I try to talk to both. But, the other is in Seoul right now, busy with a new lifestyle." Seren looked down at her plate, shutting her eyes for a moment.
"Are you not happy with that?" He read her like a book, sensing the fragrance of despondency that leaked through her pores.
"Oh, no. I am." She quickly raised herself. "I just miss when it was the three of us together. Like our days in high school."
She was elated for Yoongi, happy that he was living his dream life and doing what he loved most. Living out an interest was the life everyone desired, to love their job and have an interminable passion for it.
She wanted that, too.
"Of course, it's only natural that you miss what you had before." Hoseok reasoned, his tongue running against the inside of his cheek. "We don't realize we're in the good times until we're out of it. It's sad, but true."
"That's... so true." Seren drawled, infatuated with the way he worded things so effortlessly.
He looked at her, the corner of his lips rising into a smirk. "How was the food?" Hoseok asked, collecting his napkins into his plate.
She perked up, forgetting all about their solemn topic. "It was amazing. I'm glad I agreed to let you cook for us, this time."
He smiled, pleased to hear she enjoyed everything.
"Here, I'll help you." Seren stood from her seat, collecting their mess. "I can help you wash them." She offered, already heading to the sink.
"Are you sure?" Hoseok asked, placing the dishes in the sink.
She turned the water on, setting it at a hotter temperature. "Yeah. It's the least I can do. You can rack them while I wash them."
Seren wanted to make herself busy, to help clear the mess and leave Hoseok with his house clean.
As they washed the dishes, conversations continued. They were mostly on the brighter side, laughing together at the arbitrary jokes they told. An imperceptible weight of peril lifted from her body when she was with him, making her feel safe in his home — a home she had never been in. Happiness flowed right through her, his spirited laughs trickling to her.
"Who knew washing dishes would be so entertaining." Seren muttered, shutting the water off.
"Right." He chuckled, drying his hands. "Though, I wish it lasted a bit longer." He placed his hand over the counter, leaning into it.
"Do you enjoy washing dishes?" Seren wondered out loud.
"No, I meant I wish our date lasted longer." Hoseok turned scarlet, looking down at the gap between them.
Seren gave a soft smile, his rosebud cheeks awakening something in her that was difficult to shake away. She wanted to stay longer there with him, too. Their date did seem to fly past them fairly quickly. Seren would stay there longer, under Hoseok's permission, but she still had to complete a six-hour shift that night.
"I wish it did, too, Hoseok." She whispered to him.
After making sure they washed all the dishes, and cleared the table once as before, Seren was seeing her way to the door.
"Yeah, don't forget your purse." Hoseok chortled, grabbing her ignored purse from his couch.
She laughed, grabbing it from him. "Thanks, Hoseok. It would have just given me an excuse to come back."
Hoseok unlocked the front door, opening it for Seren.
It was almost sundown, their timing couldn't have been more perfect, giving Seren an hour and a half to get ready for work and arrive fifteen minutes early.
The cold winds whisked against her arms, granting shivers down her body.
"Come, I'll walk you." Hoseok politely offered, shutting the front door behind them.
Seren followed closely beside him, his heated figure offering her the warmth she needed to will through such a bitter evening. She felt as their hands skimmed each other, his soft skin turning her heart into a dancing ballerina, spinning gracefully as it struck her chest.
The edge of her lips pulled, her cheeks engorged with blood, looking down at the pavement.
That was part of the reason why she wanted to walk near him, to have the unplanned opportunity to hold his hand while he walked her to her car that gorgeous day.
Hoseok's larger hand enclosed over hers, getting her hint and acting dauntlessly to her silent request.
His hand was like a space heater, warming up her cold hand in mere seconds. Her clenched jaw relaxed, ready to melt into thin air within his delicate hold.
Both blushed in silence, shying away at their actions.
It made Seren feel like a young girl in the midst of adolescence who just held hands with her longtime crush. It was something she only ever experienced once, it wasn't something she couldn't easily disregard, not accustomed to having such empowering sentiments linger in her chest.
"I truly enjoyed having you over." Hoseok spoke, breaking their abashed silence. "I hope the injury didn't ruin too much of our time together."
Seren chuckled, shaking her head. "No, it's okay. It's nothing too severe. I still had a great time with you." She eased his worry, stopping at the driver's door.
"And I would stay longer, but I have work." She sighed, releasing his hand to unlock her door. "Let's hang out again, soon?"
"Of course, I was just going to say we should see each other again." He muttered, holding the top of the door open.
She embraced him, reaching at the tips of her toes to keep her chin placed above his shoulder. His arms wrapped over her shoulders, keeping his hands at a respect level that Seren appreciated.
His chest rumbled against hers, wishing to speak. "Do you think we- can I kiss you?" Hoseok changed his approach last minute, thoroughly intimidated to ask his precious question.
Seren's expression lightened with awe, sweeping her hands to the nape of his neck as she pulled away from him.
"Of course. Hoseok, you don't have to ask." She told him slowly, staring deep into his dark caramel eyes that glistened like the enchanting milky way.
Both reached, their lips brushing against one another before falling into the trance, his top lip sitting like a perfect mold against her bottom lip. Though there were no pastries to accompany his lips, they were just as sweet and gentle as before, the scent that percolated off his chest had such a pure citrus musk, it tied her appeal for him.
He released her, against her wishes, wanting much more of him.
Seren laid a small kiss on his cheek, latching their heartwarming moment with both his warm cheeks in her hands.
His smile lines worked, his white teeth revealing themselves yet again, making her smile back at him.
"Thank you for everything, Hoseok." She muttered, grabbing his hands to squeeze them one last time.
"No need to thank me." He expressed, watching her enter her car. "Please, drive home safe. Have a nice night at work."
Seren never wanted to leave Hoseok and his comforting presence behind on any of their former dates, but this time, that sense of comfort felt deeper. Maybe it was because he tended to her small injury. Or maybe it was because he took her mind off a lot of her unnecessary worries.
Whatever it was, he had become such a comforting soul in her life.
☾