Hoseok is beside himself. He's angry, sad, frustrated, scared, anxious, and so fucking fed up with everything.
No one is talking anymore. Namjoon can't give any more updates on the investigation. Jin knows just as little. Nari has been under Leo's close eye to the point where she can't even go out on Sundays like she normally does.
The color in Hoseok's skin is fading. The brightness in his smile is dim. He doesn't even provide his own sound effects to his daily activities as he always does. His weight is decreasing and it's starting to show. More than he realizes.
It isn't until Thursday night when Nari finally breaks down and cries at the sight of him that he realizes how much he has stopped caring for himself. She wouldn't serve him alcohol all night and frequently urged him to go home and get some rest.
Once she closed the bar and began cleaning up she dropped everything and broke into tears. Hoseok rushed to her aid holding her tightly in his arms.
"Hobi," she cries into his chest. "You look awful."
"What?" He asks.
"You're not taking care of yourself. I can tell you're not eating or sleeping, babe I'm worried about you." She squeezes his torso tightly letting her tears soak through his shirt. "I know you're worried about me, I know, but please, my Hobi, you have to take care of yourself."
He looks down at her and he can see the pain spilling from her eyes. He knows he hadn't taken care of himself the way he should, but he didn't care. In his eyes he needed to take care of her more than he needed to take care of himself.
"Please take tomorrow off," she begs. "Don't come here all weekend. You need to take care of yourself."
He wants to push back. He's fine. So he thinks. She could just be overreacting. She's been stressed herself with Leo keeping a much closer eye on her, and trying to spend as much time with her as possible. Maybe she's just emotional right now.
He can't fight her though. He can't push back when she looks at him with tears in her eyes. He can't say no to her pleading. He can see how much she cares about him and for once he realizes he needs to put as much care into himself.
"Don't cry, love," he says wiping the tears from her face. "I'll try to take it easy."
"Please eat."
"I will."
"And get plenty of sleep. Drink lots of water and relax in a warm bath with lots of bubbles," she says. "Please, Hobi. I don't like seeing you like this."
"I know. I thought I was doing ok."
"You look sick, babe."
"I guess I wasn't doing as good as I thought."
"You're not. Go home, ok?"
She gives him one more squeeze and kisses him. He doesn't want to let her go but he can't hold on to her forever. He wipes another tear from her cheek and promises once more to take time off and rest.
When he gets home he lays across his bed and wonders how he let himself get to this point. He knows it's been hard for him to sleep lately, and maybe he's skipped a meal here and there, but how did it get so bad so fast? Bad enough to bring Nari to tears. That's the part that breaks him the most.
He can't stand to see her upset. He never wants to be the reason that she's upset. Never again. Just before drifting off to sleep he tells himself that he has to do better. He needs to be strong for her and he can't do that if he's not taking care of himself.
The next morning he does just as Nari said and takes the day off from work. He makes himself a strawberry smoothie and draws a bubble bath, then puts a mask pack on his face for added relaxation from the cucumber scented serum. He allows himself to soak a while clearing his head and sipping his smoothie. He lets his muscles relax and tries to keep his mind focused on nothing at all.
After his soak he orders himself a meal. He realized he hadn't gotten groceries in a while so takeout was his only option. When it arrives he makes himself comfortable on the couch and decides to start watching a new drama. If he's focused on the show then he won't worry so much about Nari. It's not a foolproof method but at least it helps a little.
By nighttime Hoseok feels a little better. This was a self care day he desperately needed but didn't realize it. He almost wants to run to the bar to see Nari and tell her how nice his day was, but he promised he wouldn't go there all weekend.
Saturday he does more of the same until Taebin asks if she can come over. She's back from Brazil and after getting her internal clock readjusted to Seoul time she wants to tell him all about her trip. It's a perfect way to keep Hoseok's mind occupied.
She greets him at the door with a big hug and her arms full of bags. Suddenly whatever awkwardness he thought he would face when seeing her again is completely melted away. It's as if nothing changed except their title. She's still bright and bubbly making it hard for Hoseok not to smile.
She starts off by telling him about the food and drinks in each place she visited, the sights she saw, and the many people she met. She then opens the bags and pulls out all of the gifts that she brought back for him. A bottle of local rum, more than enough coffee to last a few years, and a carved wooden figurine of a squirrel that she says reminded her of him.
"So," she says smiling. "Now that I've told you everything and brought you stuff back does that mean you don't hate me?"
"What?" Hoseok laughs. "I told you I could never hate you. Actually," he says taking a deep breath. "I want to thank you. You helped me notice things that I couldn't see on my own."
"You really had no idea you were in love with your best friend?" She jokes. "I thought you were smarter than that."
"I guess I thought so too," he laughs. "But, you said you loved me. Did you mean that?"
"Of course," she smiles. "You're easy to love. But I realized that was the type of love I'd normally have for a family member, not a lover. Honestly, I had thought about it a while, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up to you. I talked to Seokjinnie and we both realized that you definitely have deeper feelings for Nari. After that I planned my trip to Brazil and that was it. I wanted to give you time to realize it, and I wanted to give myself time to sort out my own feelings."
"Oh," he chuckles. "I love you too. In the way I would a family member, not a lover."
"You're the best, Hoseokie oppa," she laughs hugging him around his waist.
It feels like so much weight has been lifted from him. To know that Taebin and him are on the same page about how they feel about one another makes him feel so much lighter. He's happy that she's understanding, and even encouraging of his relationship with Nari. She listens to him when he vents about everything going on and offers her support.
Having Friday and Saturday to relax and not worry so much makes Hoseok feel much more revitalized by Sunday. He starts his day with a cup of Brazilian coffee thanks to Taebin. He makes himself a bowl of cereal and gets comfortable on the couch flipping through channels on the tv.
Jin calls him and suddenly his self care weekend has been lit to flames. Jin tells him that one of Leo's friends, Fox, robbed an ATM last night, but he fled on a motorcycle and got away from police. They don't know where he went, and police won't say how much he got away with, but Jin is certain this may have been ordered by Leo.
Hoseok thinks back to the last note they received from the mystery man. It mentioned that Leo needs money and would do anything for it. Is he losing money because his friends are all getting arrested? What does he plan on doing with all the money? More importantly, is Nari ok right now?
He knows the odds are slim for him to get an answer from Nari, but he sends her a text anyway asking how she's doing. At the very least she could respond with one of their code words so he'll know. He waits all day with no word from her.
Monday he tries texting her again and he checks his phone every few minutes to see if she responded. The waiting is sucking every bit of life out of him that he gained over the weekend.
He's nervous going to the bar Tuesday. He tried to talk himself down reminding himself that he has nothing to worry about. But he can't stop the pang in his heart when he pulls into the parking lot and sees a single car there but it's not Nari's. He looks around a moment before stepping inside making sure nothing looks out of the ordinary.
He's relieved to see Nari standing at the counter smiling back at him as she always does. There's no one else in the bar and Hoseok can't help himself. He walks right behind the counter and gives her a long warm kiss. It's only been four days since he saw her, but it's been four days too long. And with Leo keeping her on a shorter leash he hasn't had much time to hold or kiss her or simply shower her with love the way he wants to.
"I missed you too," Nari blushes.
"How did you get here?" Hoseok asks not ready to remove his hold from her waist.
"I drove," she says tilting her head. "Why?"
"Where's your car?"
"It's out there," she says averting her gaze. Something she always does when she knows Hoseok may not like what she's about to say. "I got a new one."
"A new one?"
"Leo...bought me a new one yesterday."
"He bought you a new one? Just out of the blue?"
"He's been doing a lot lately. Like he's been really nice and buying me things. He said I deserved a better car so he bought me one."
"Really?" Hoseok asks furrowing his brow. "Did he tell you that car was probably bought with stolen money?"
"I don't know where the money came from," she sighs. "I heard about Fox being chased though. Leo wouldn't tell me much, but he told me not to worry about it."
"Do you know where Fox went?"
"He told me not to worry about it."
"Did you even try to question how he got the money for a brand new car? You know you could be in trouble if you're driving around in it knowing that it was bought with stolen money, Riri."
"I don't know where the money came from." She sounds like she's just repeating a recorded message. Hoseok knows she knows that car was bought with stolen money, but it's like she was trained to plead ignorance to make sure no one figures it out if they asked.
Hoseok understands why she may do that to save herself, but he's upset that she's doing that with him. Why is she talking to him like he can't be trusted?
"Riri," he says breaking his hold on her. "Why are you trying to protect him?"
"I'm not."
"You are," he says starting to feel his chest swell with anger. "You're lying to me. Why?"
"I'm not," she repeats. "I really don't know, Hobi. What do you want me to say?"
"Are you thinking of staying with him?"