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Hoseok is walking from the biology building to the bus stop when a body falls down barely ten feet away from him, a little boom and a flash of light accompanying it, followed by a soft thud.
"Holy shit," he shouts, jumping back on instinct. He looks around wildly to see if anyone else saw, but no one else is around. Of course, no one else would be; it's way too late for even the regular night owl grad students to be at the labs. Hoseok's only here because he left his wallet and keys in his locker, and needed them to get into his apartment. Now he wishes he had just gone home straight and hoped Jimin was there to let him in.
Slowly, Hoseok inches toward the row of shrubs the body had landed behind. Unbelievably, they seem mostly undisturbed, leaving it looking eerily as if nothing happened. Hoseok drags his hand down his face. He could have imagined that, right? Maybe he's just sleep deprived, or—or maybe it was just an owl or something flapping its wings that sounded like—
No. No, he knows what he saw.
"Goddamnit," he hisses, rushing forward. He comes around the shrubs and gulps when he sees a human-shaped figure lying motionless between them and the wall. "Please don't be dead, please don't be dead," he mutters as he edges closer.
The figure groans, twitching a little, and Hoseok heaves a sigh of relief. He falls to his knees beside them, nudging their shoulder gently. "Hey." Another groan, almost a whine, of irritation. Hoseok scowls, shoving the shoulder a little harder. "Hey."
Their head was turned away from him all this time, but at that, it flops around to face him. Hoseok gasps. The mouth and nose are just barely covered with a face mask hanging from one ear, which isn't strange on its own, except that the eyes are covered with a domino mask, like something out of a cartoon. "No way..."
Hoseok's heard the rumors, of course. That there's someone, maybe even a student, going around campus and the surrounding parts of the city and fighting crime. He didn't believe it at first when he first about it a year ago, but then a couple of his friends told him they actually saw the guy, and Hoseok had decided it might be true, but it didn't matter—because he didn't intend to get involved with any vigilantes. Now, faced with the proof before him, Hoseok doesn't know what to think. A part of him just wants to leave this guy here, but he can't do that. It wouldn't be right, and besides...this is what Hoseok's training for, right?
"Hey," he calls again, soft but firm. It's the same voice he uses when his younger friends are hungover or his baby cousins get hurt and he has to fix them up. "Hey, buddy, wake up."
"Mmmhuh? What?" Behind the mask, the vigilante's eyes slit open, blinking slowly a few times before clearing a little. "My head..." He squirms a little, as if he's trying to get up.
"Shh, stay still," Hoseok commands. "I don't know how hurt you are yet."
He shakes his head, and the face mask flutters a little. Hoseok's fingers twitch with the urge to adjust it back into place, but he doesn't. "'M fine. Used my power to—" Hoseok leans closer to hear the mumbled explanation "—to break the fall, so it...wasn't that hard."
Hoseok frowns, unconvinced. "You were passed out, so you're clearly not okay."
"I got hit in the head earlier," he replies, voice gaining a little strength. "Might be...fuck. I can't remember the word."
"Concussed?" Hoseok guesses, trying not to be amused.
"Yeah, that." His eyes open fully for the first time, taking Hoseok in. Suddenly, they widen. "I don't need any help though. I, uh—I have some friends I can call to come get me, you don't have to stay or—"
"Shut up," Hoseok snaps. "I understand why you might not want a hospital, but I'm taking you back to my apartment so I can look you over properly. We can call your friends from there."
"You really shouldn't," he replies weakly, but Hoseok has authority and a non-concussed brain on his side.
"Can you walk?" He tugs on the guy's arm. "Here, let me help you up."
He closes his eyes, but allows Hoseok to lever him up. "I'm sorry," he says quietly, and Hoseok frowns.
"What? Why are you sorry?"
The guy shakes his head, and that movement seems to be the last straw for his face mask, which slips off his ear and flutters to the ground.
Hoseok jolts. That nose, that jaw—those lips. Even bloodied, he recognizes them instantly. He's had dreams about those lips. "Namjoon?"
He gives Namjoon his hoodie to wear and gives him a spare face mask that was in Hoseok's backpack, so as not to draw too much attention on the bus. Namjoon rests his head wearily on Hoseok's shoulder the whole ride, hand tucked neatly into his arm. If it weren't for literally everything about this fucking bonkers situation, it would almost feel like no time had passed since they were last together. Only that time it was alcohol, not a concussion, that had Namjoon pressed into his side, handsy and giggly. Hoseok had been the same, making a pretense of fighting off Namjoon's hands while sneaking in a few gropes of his own. They'd barely made it back to Namjoon's dorm before—
Not the time, Hoseok instructs himself sternly.
"You doing okay? Feeling nauseous or anything?" he murmurs, low so only Namjoon can hear him. If anyone happens to be eavesdropping, hopefully they'll just think Namjoon's drunk or sick.
"Little bit," Namjoon replies, hand tighting around Hoseok's elbow. "Not gonna throw up though."
Hoseok nods. "Good. Let me know if that changes, okay?" Namjoon hums an affirmative, closing his eyes.
They get off two stops later, and Hoseok keeps his arm around Namjoon's waist for the three minute walk to his place. It's both eerily familiar and entirely new, Namjoon just that little bit taller and more muscled than he was the year before. Hoseok wonders if it would be as noticeable if he'd been seeing Namjoon regularly since then; then he wonders if this, the vigilantism, is why he hasn't been.
Inside the apartment, Hoseok drops Namjoon onto the futon in the main room before going to the bathroom to grab his small first aid kit. He's digging around in the cupboard when he hears the bedroom open, and tenses.
"Hyung?" Jimin asks blearily, rubbing his eyes. "What're you doing?"
"Go back to sleep, Jimin-ah," Hoseok replies evenly. Too evenly, it seems, because Jimin straightens, going fully alert in a second.
"What's going on?" He turns to look over his shoulder at the other room. "Is someone else here?"
As if on cue, Namjoon calls, "Hoseok-ah? I think I'm gonna puke after all, sorry."
Hoseok swears, rushing back out to find Namjoon with his head bowed, face twisted in a grimace. He grabs the trash bin that sits at the edge of the room and slides it in front of Namjoon. "Here, Joon-ah," he says, keeping his voice soothing and warm even as Namjoon bends over and throws up into the bin. Sighing, he pats Namjoon's back, barely stopping himself from brushing his fringe off his forehead tenderly. "You're okay, you're okay."
"Hyung?" Jimin comes to stand next to him, holding a dampened paper towel in one hand and the first aid kit in the other. "Why's Namjoon-hyung throwing up on our futon?"
"You know each other?" Hoseok asks, startled.
"He's Taehyungie's roommate," Jimin explains. Hoseok frowns, wondering how it's possible that he hasn't seen Namjoon in almost a year, when he's rooming with the guy Hoseok's best friend is dating. Tries not to feel like he's been deliberately avoided all this time.
Namjoon finishes, straightening with a groan before gratefully taking the paper towel from Jimin's hand. He wipes his nose and mouth with it before dropping it in the trash can, grimacing. "Hi, Jimin-ah," he says belatedly, still managing a dry smile even with how exhausted he sounds. "Sorry about all this."
"It's okay," Jimin says easily, sitting down next to him. "Go throw that away, hyung," he tosses Hoseok's way, "I can start cleaning him up."
Hoseok takes the out, lugging the trash bin over to the front and tying off the bag within before shoving it in the larger trash bag sitting by the door, waiting for him to take it down to the dumpster in the morning. He puts a fresh bag in and lugs it back, setting it down by the futon again, then grabs a glass of water and a couple tylenol from the kitchen. By the time he returns, Jimin's already got out the disinfecting wipes, dabbing the scrapes on Namjoon's face and hands clean. Namjoon hisses when Jimin touches his split lip, and Jimin winces. "Sorry, sorry."
Shifting awkwardly in place, Hoseok clears his throat. "You said you had someone I could call for you?"
"Oh, yeah." Namjoon grimaces. "I, uh—left my phone at home, but Jimin, you have Seokjin-hyung's number, right?"
Jimin nods. "Yeah, I do."
"Can you ask him and Yoongi to come get me?"
"Sure," Jimin says, standing up and heading back to the bedroom to grab his phone, leaving the two of them alone.
Namjoon takes the tylenol and drains half of the glass of water, then stays silent for a moment before slowly tipping over onto his side with a weary groan. "My head really hurts," he pouts.
Unable to help himself, Hoseok snorts. "Yeah, I wonder why," he quips, and his heart beats a little quicker when it makes Namjoon grin up at him, boyish and silly. He seems to be doing okay, Hoseok notes, which hopefully means he's not that badly hurt.
"How've you been, Hoseok-ah?" he asks softly. "It's been a while."
Who's fault is that, Hoseok fumes internally, thinks pettily that it wasn't him who repeatedly turned down Namjoon's offers to hang out until finally he gave up. "Good," he says, instead of any of that mess. "Studying a lot, trying to find a professor who's doing projects on powered biology that I can work with. I finished EMT training a few weeks ago."
Namjoon lights up. "Really? That's great, congrats!"
Hoseok rubs the back of his neck, embarrassed but pleased. "Thanks, I—I'm pretty proud of it."
"You're not in the dorms anymore," Namjoon points out. His eyes curve with amusement. "I like Jiminie a lot better than your last roommate."
"Looks like you moved out too," Hoseok replies. "Taehyung never mentioned you by name so I didn't know."
Namjoon nods, then grimaces when it must make his head spin. "He's a great roommate. A little messy, but so am I."
Hoseok snorts. "I remember," he says, thinking back to how he used to scold Namjoon for it whenever he would come over. "How'd you two find each other, anyway?"
"Yoongi-hyung introduced us," Namjoon says, and Hoseok tilts his head, remembering Namjoon saying the name earlier.
"Yoongi?"
Namjoon freezes. "Ah. My boyfriend, Min Yoongi."
"Oh." Well, that explains a few things. Hoseok feels like an idiot. Of course that's why—
"I know what you're thinking," Namjoon says quietly, and Hoseok jolts. "That's not why I've been avoiding you."
Hoseok bristles. "So you have been avoiding me!"
Namjoon's mouth twists uncomfortably. "Yeah," he admits. "But it's not because of him, he and I—we only started dating a few months ago."
"Then why? Even if you didn't want to hook up anymore, Namjoon, I thought we were friends."
"We were!" Namjoon sits up a little, expression painfully sincere. "That's why I couldn't...I don't know. I couldn't bring myself to lie to your face about all of this, with my powers and everything, but it didn't seem fair to get you tangled up in it, so I just thought it would be better this way."
Hoseok scowls, crossing his arms. "That's pretty shitty, Joon-ah."
Namjoon's face falls. "I know, and I'm so sorry. But you know now, so maybe...we can be friends again?" he asks, hesitant and hopeful.
Before he can reply, Hoseok's cut off by Jimin coming back into the main room. "They're on their way, hyung. Jin-hyung's driving, so they should only be maybe ten minutes." Belatedly, he looks between the two of them, and his eyes widen. "Uh—let me get you some water, hyung," he says, and vanishes into the kitchen.
"I already have a glass," Namjoon laughs, but it comes out sounding wrong.
Hoseok sighs. "Hey, Namjoon-ah," he says, crouching down in front of him. Namjoon won't look at him, so Hoseok touches two fingers under his chin to get his attention. "Of course we can still be friends, you big dumbass. I don't know about you, but to me, we never stopped."
Namjoon relaxes, a shy smile settling on his face. "Same here." Hoseok's chest twinges, and he stifles the irrational urge to rub his hand against it until the ache goes away.
By the time Namjoon's friends—friend and boyfriend, Hoseok corrects himself—arrive, Hoseok's gotten him rinsed off in the shower and into a clean set of clothes. Namjoon, bright red, tries to send him away while he strips in the bathroom, but Hoseok puts his foot down, saying that he needs to be there in case Namjoon falls. Hoseok's sweatpants aren't long enough, he knows from experience, so he gives Namjoon a pair of shorts instead.
Exposure, that's all he needs. He just needs to get used to it, and then he can get over it.
Jimin goes down to let Seokjin and Yoongi in, and Hoseok finally remembers to check his phone for the time. Good god, is it really almost two a.m.? Hoseok isn't tired at all, but he supposes that must be the adrenaline. Hopefully he can get Namjoon out of his apartment before the crash, he thinks idly, as the front door opens again.
"Hi, sorry to intrude," one of the newcomers greets, bowing politely. "We're here for the reckless dumbass in your bedroom."
Hoseok cracks a smile, hooking a thumb over his shoulder in the direction of the bedroom. "Head on back, he's just lying down. I'm Jung Hoseok, by the way."
"Hoseok-ssi! I'm Kim Seokjin." Seokjin purses his lips thoughtfully. "Your hyung, probably, if you're Namjoonie's age."
Smiling broader despite himself, Hoseok says, "Isn't it a little soon for that? It's only been," he mimes checking his watch, "forty seconds or so."
Seokjin laughs, an unexpectedly raucous and infectious sound, heading for the bedroom, Jimin following behind him. "I'd say this incident's probably brought us close enough that we can drop some formalities, wouldn't you?"
The other guy, hanging back by the door, snorts. "You're too forward, hyung," he scolds, though there's no heat in it. "You'll scare him off."
"I'm not so easy to scare," Hoseok teases, and then realizes who it is that he must be teasing.
As if sensing his sudden tension, Yoongi comes forward, offering his hand for Hoseok to shake. "Min Yoongi," he says, then rolls his eyes with an air of fond exasperation. "Also your hyung, I guess, since Jin-hyung's decided for all of us."
He is, Hoseok thinks, someone that it's easy to imagine Namjoon with. Their height difference is charming, and there's an intelligent spark in Yoongi's eyes, behind the fringe of his hair, that Hoseok recognizes. He has a baseball cap tugged low, but Hoseok can see that he's handsome, in a quiet way, features a pleasant mix of sharp and soft. He looks within himself for jealousy, for anger, and only finds the first.
Yoongi frowns a little, eyes going sharp. "Are you okay?" he asks. The way he speaks is matter-of-fact in its kindness, a trait Hoseok can see Namjoon finding attractive. "You've been taking care of Namjoon all this time, but I'm sure tonight was a shock for you, too."
Hoseok, warmed by Yoongi's concern, manages a smile. "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired! You probably want to see him, so if you want, you can—"
"Hyung!" Namjoon greets from behind him, and Hoseok closes his mouth. He steps back out of the way swiftly, giving Namjoon room to hug Yoongi. Yoongi hugs him back, expression melting into one of relief—though not before he sends Hoseok another quiet searching look. Hoseok shivers a little, unused to feeling so transparent in front of a stranger.
"Thanks for taking care of him," Seokjin says, standing beside Hoseok and shoving his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. He smiles dryly. "I'll keep a better eye on him next time, and hopefully we'll never have a repeat of tonight."
Hoseok shrugs. "I'm more than happy to help out," he offers. "If he does get injured, I mean. I'm not a doctor, but I have some training, and I imagine it would help to have someone who already knows about his secret identity."
Seokjin studies him for a moment, before finally he nods. "Yeah," he says. "That would be convenient, wouldn't it. Okay, I'll talk it over with him and see what he thinks."
"Thanks," Hoseok says, fidgeting restlessly. "I don't really like the idea of him being out there by himself."
"Yeah," Seokjin says, more serious than Hoseok's heard him sound thus far. "Me either."
Namjoon pulls away from Yoongi, coming over to wrap Hoseok in a tight hug. Hoseok freezes, before tentatively wrapping his arms around Namjoon's waist. "Thanks, Seok-ah," Namjoon whispers. "Sorry about everything."
"It's okay," Hoseok replies. He pulls away. "Just make it up to me by staying out of trouble, okay?"
"I'll do my best," Namjoon says cheekily, joining Yoongi by the door, Seokjin following him. Jimin, uncharacteristically silent, comes to stand by Hoseok, and Hoseok leans against him gratefully. "Thanks again, Hoseok, Jimin. I'll see you around, okay?"
"See you around," Hoseok replies, and then they're gone.
There's a moment of silence, and then Jimin breaks it with a tentative, "Hyung? You okay?"
Hoseok exhales loudly. "Why is everyone asking me that? I'm fine, Jimin-ah, it's just been a long-ass night and I'm more than ready for bed."
Jimin, bless him, knows when to drop it. "Me too," he agrees. "Can I take the bathroom first?"
"Sure." Hoseok rubs his tired eyes with one hand. "Can you put away the first aid kit? I'm gonna make myself a cup of tea."
"Okay," Jimin responds, and a minute later the bathroom door closes behind him.
Finally, Hoseok's alone. He leans heavily against the wall for a moment, knocking his head against it with a weary sigh. There's the crash, he thinks, as shivers of exhaustion travel down his spine.
He's blowing on a cup of tea when he gets a text.
Unknown Number
[2:03] Thanks again. Make sure to get some rest.
Hoseok could reply and ask who it is, but he already knows the answer. He smiles without even meaning to, chest warming.
[2:04] It was no problem!
[2:04] Sleep well, hyung, call me if you need anything
His phone buzzes again just as he's setting his empty cup down on the counter.
Min Yoongi
[2:07] Sleep well, Hoseok-ah