-FOUR
"No, this exemplifies the parallels between her and birds, because her death leads her to freedom, similar to how birds' ability of flight allows them to be free-"
"Damn, you're good at this."
"Yeah, I like reading." Yoongi smiles and leans in, whispering, "Sometimes, if no one's looking, I'll completely stop shelving the books like I'm supposed to and just read one of them."
Hoseok laughs. "I'm not surprised. I can tell by the way you talk that you like reading."
"What's wrong with the way I talk?"
"Nothing," Hoseok says hastily. "I like the way you talk. You use fancy words."
"Fancy?" snorts Yoongi. "Hardly."
Shaking his head, Hoseok protests, "No, remember that word you used earlier? Eff- Eff something."
"Effulgent?"
"Yes! What does that mean?"
"It's a synonym of radiant." He grins teasingly at Hoseok. "Do you know what radiant means or do I have to tell you that, too?"
"I know what that means, asshole."
"Yoongi-ah! There are still some more books over here."
Yoongi sighs, peering over his shoulder at the old lady beckoning him over. "Coming, Mrs. Lee." He turns to Hoseok with a pout. "I guess I gotta go."
"Have fun."
Pulling a face at Hoseok and swatting his arm, Yoongi shuffles over to the woman and takes the cart, vanishing into an aisle. Not long after, Jimin hurries up to him.
"God, I thought your boyfriend would never leave."
"He's not my-"
"Anyway, I have bad news." Jimin sinks into the chair across from Hoseok. "I think Taehyung thinks I'm annoying."
Hoseok shrugs. "Nothing much you can do about that."
"Hyung," Jimin whines, "you're not helping."
Hoseok shrugs. "Just stop being annoying, then. Offer to buy him lunch or something. What'd you even do to annoy him?"
"I was asking him all these questions about the topic Mr. Cha was explaining because I didn't get it," Jimin says in an anxious haste, the words tumbling out of his mouth in an almost indecipherable mess at some points, "and I think I was bothering him because he was just staring at me and he wouldn't stop looking at me and he looked kind of scary and I was worried and I said never mind because I didn't want to bother me and he just shrugged it off all calmly and now I'm worried that he thinks I'm annoying or stupid or-"
"You- Are you even listening to yourself?" Hoseok leans over and flicks Jimin's forehead. "You need to calm down. I bet he was just spaced out or something."
Jimin blinks incredulously. "Are you saying he was high?"
"What-" Hoseok shakes his head. "I wasn't even- Never mind."
"Rip Mintae."
"You even made a ship name for you two? God, you're whipped."
"I really am."
❤︎
"You okay there, bud?"
Hoseok drowsily looks up at Yoongi when he feels a soft pressure on his shoulder. "No, I'm exhausted."
Shooting a quick glance behind him to check that no one is watching him, Yoongi slips into the seat next to him. "It's hardly past six thirty, how are you tired?"
"I had two hours of sleep last night," Hoseok answers, letting his eyes fall shut. "I'm so sleepy."
"Poor Hoseok," laughs Yoongi. an amused twinkle gleaming in his eyes. "Come on," he says encouragingly, "the library closes in a half hour, finish what you can and then I'll buy you some fried chicken and soju."
Hoseok beams at Yoongi gratefully. "Really?"
"Yes, really, now hurry up."
Thirty minutes zooms by much quicker than Hoseok had expected it to. He manages to finish his project (or rather his part of it; hopefully the others in his group finish their own sections) and hastily puts the books back before packing up his things. As he leaves, he smiles and bows to a cranky middle aged woman who looks much too irritated about Hoseok staying in the library just two minutes after seven.
Yoongi is waiting for him by the entrance, and they exit together, into the breezy late autumn evening.
"Let's get turnt!" Hoseok laughs, and a dark red immediately colors his cheeks. "Sorry, that was weird."
"Yeah, you're very bizarre," says Yoongi, and Hoseok thinks he's being completely serious before he looks up and sees that familiar amused glint in his eyes. The two laugh as they walk down the road, and Yoongi leads him to the "fuckin' amazing" place.
They get to the restaurant-type area and once given their food, they devour it in silence to appease their growling stomachs with sips of soju in between.
"This really is amazing," Hoseok says as he's finishing the last of his chicken. "I can see why you said that." A light pink flush, partially from the alcohol consumption and partially from the way Yoongi is grinning at him, is illuminating his cheeks.
Yoongi downs the remnants of his soju, wiping his mouth clean. "Yeah. Now hurry up," he adds.
"Sorry," Hoseok mumbles, quickly chewing the meat and gulping down the drink. A few minutes later, he says, "There, I'm done. We can go now."
So after paying, the two begin to wander the streets. "To be honest, I'd rather stay out here with you," mumbles Yoongi.
"Really?" Hoseok stumbles over his feet. "You're so nice."
Yoongi snorts. "Barely."
A comfortable silence lapses between them before Hoseok breaks it, questioning, "Do you- What do you think of stars?"
"Stars are beautiful," Yoongi starts, clearly choosing a more roundabout and more descriptive way of explaining his answer (which Hoseok doesn't mind; he enjoys listening to Yoongi talk). "They're all different shapes and sizes while most people assume they're all this single five-pointed shape since they're always interpreted that way. Same goes for humans. We all assume that they're something they might not be." Hoseok stops walking, trying to process those words in his alcohol-muddled mind as Yoongi adds, "To answer your question, I love stars."
"What the hell, Yoongi," Hoseok mutters, rubbing his face and knocking his glasses askew, "you always make me seem dumb."
"You're not dumb." Yoongi turns and walks back towards Hoseok, straightening out the male's glasses with a flick of his finger. "I'm just intelligent."
Hoseok scoffs. "You're such a pretentious asshole sometimes. It makes me wonder why I even- why I even put up with you."
"I'm just an irresistibly charming young man." Yoongi beams.
"Okay."
"Well, it's true," Yoongi says. "I mean, you don't like me for nothing, right?"
"W-What?"
But before he can get another word out, Yoongi disappears around a corner, leaving Hoseok alone in the dark to mull over his thoughts.