TWENTY FOUR - "A FAMILY DINNER"

                                    

                                          


-
                          
hoseok had no 
idea how he 
found himself 
sat in a restaurant, 
surrounded with 
people laughing, 
eating, slurping 
drinks. 
                          
instead of joining 
in, hoseok was 
slumped forward, 
eyes staring forward 
dully at the filled 
plate in front. 
                          
he couldn't seem 
to grasp the reason 
as to why they 
were celebrating. 
                          
jimin had in 
fact cheated on 
yoongi, hoseok 
had revealed his 
darkest secrets to 
everyone and yet 
seokjin still dragged 
the group out of 
the house, turning 
into a fancy restaurant 
and ordering the 
most expensive wine. 
                          
hoseok didn't eat. 
                          
he skipped the 
starter, stared at 
his main meal and 
refused dessert. yet 
no one even noticed, 
everyone far too 
bothered in their 
own small 
conversations. 
                          
seokjin made 
a joke, everyone 
laughed, their 
faces bright and 
eyes crinkled. 
jeongguk was 
telling a story 
only for namjoon 
to hit on the back 
of the head, 
deeming it 
too personal 
to share. 
                          
but hoseoks 
gaze never left 
the place in 
front of him, 
the white cloth 
being revealed to 
him before yet 
another plate 
full of steaming 
food was placed 
in front of him. 
he didn't even 
have the energy 
to lift the wine glass 
situated just 
beside him. 
                          
dawon had a 
pursed smile, 
still annoyed at 
hoseoks remark 
of seokjin being 
his replacement. 
it was true, she 
knew it was. 
deep down 
beneath her 
whole i'm always 
right facade, 
she knew that 
seokjin was in 
fact a replacement 
for the young 
sunshine they'd lost. 
                          
but a pair of 
eyes were 
trained on 
the younger 
the whole meal, 
watching how 
his face dropped 
as each laugh 
was a stab to 
his poor aching 
heart, lips pursed 
and dry from 
not daring to 
move and inch 
in case he 
broke down 
in tears. 
                          
yoongi kicked his foot. 
                          
hoseok glanced 
up. feline eyes 
meeting his as 
he finally showed 
an emotion, 
confusion written 
all over his face as 
he cocked his 
eyebrow. 
                          
yoongi acted like
 it wasn't him. 
a playful facial 
expression as 
he acted innocent, 
his mouth barely 
being able to 
hold back a 
smile as he saw 
hoseoks own 
twitch into one.
                          
he kicked his 
foot again, hoseok 
glancing up at 
yoongi, a small 
smile displayed 
on his lips. he'd 
finally cracked 
the younger. 
yoongi smiled 
back, before 
turning away 
so their interaction 
didn't look 
too suspicious. 
                          
"i'm glad that 
everything is 
out in the open, 
and now we can 
all move on." 
naphat smiled, 
raising his glass 
in there. 
                          
"what?"
                          
everyone was 
shocked, hoseoks 
voice for the first 
time that evening 
spread across 
the table. 
                          
"you seriously 
think we can 
move on?" he 
scoffed, pushing 
back his chair 
and standing up. 
"i've had to sit 
here and listen 
to all of you act 
like nothing ever 
happened. well it 
did. i was allowed 
to be striped of 
my innocence by 
the man sat on 
this very table, 
i was replaced 
by someone 
everyone loves 
dearly. how can i 
just sit here and 
accept that?"