fmv: taekookhobi

Hoseok and I arrived together at the meeting place where Mark was already waiting for us. As expected, he chose the table away from people's focus. Dressed in a yellow hoodie, he had his head down to avoid anyone who might recognize him. He kept the hood of his jacket of his head and it made me sad that he has to hide away from the public's away. Why did he prefer to live his life like this? If he didn't leave back then, wouldn't he be just as happy? I was happy. Once upon a time, with him and Sydney.

Hoseok tugged at my hand, breaking my attention from Mark. I gave him a small smile as I lead him to the table at the back. He looked up at us, seeing Hoseok for the first time.

"Mark , this is my boyfriend, Hoseok." I said, cringing at the word boyfriend, but it felt alright after a few seconds when Hoseok moved closer to my side and I could feel his body on me.

Hoseok offered his left hand to Mark, leaning more towards my side. I couldn't help but bite the insides of my cheek when I came face to face with the movements of his manly Adam's apple as he spoke to Mark, "Hey, what's up man? Name's Jung Hoseok."

"Mark Tuan." Mark replied with pride then his eyes flickered to me and on the undeniable blush on my cheeks as Hoseok sat down again beside me. "You're not lying about this, right Venus? For all I know this could be all pretend."

"Why would I do that? You're just so full of yourself, aren't you?" I glared at him and he just stared blankly at me. "Move on because I have."

I took Hoseok's hand that was on top of the table and linked our fingers together. I wanted him to see it for himself. I wanted Mark to remember it, the feeling of getting left behind. I still liked him, never stopped liking him but I told myself that I will never ever go back to him. I will not let myself fall stupidly in love again, like before, when he smiled at me and told me all those promises that he never meant to keep in the first place.

He eyed our hands and sighed, "Okay. One last request." Mark looked at Hoseok then at me, "Let's talk in private."

"Um, excuse me, am I invisible here? Last time I checked I haven't died and became a ghost." Hoseok successfully broke Mark's momentum, earning a smile from the guy who broke my heart.

"Right. Sorry. I forgot." Mark relaxed a bit and so did Hoseok as he smiled back at him. They stared at each other for awhile. My armpits are starting to sweat. "But I wasn't talking to you so can you not butt in? It's rude."

"You being here is rude." Hoseok fired back. Mark's gaze intensified. They were both leaning back against their seats while glaring at each other as if they're about to grab at each other's throats, "Vee is with me. You being around my girl without my permission is downright rude."

"Who needs your permission when she's in love with me?" Mark said, his sharp tongue cutting through the tension between them.

"I'm not in love with you." I cut in. "And even if I still am, you know we can't have a future together. You're not just mark anymore. You're famous. Everybody knows you. Unless you're willing to quit your career for me."

Mark found met my eyes and it's as if he was asking me to take it back. I almost did. I almost gave in if it weren't for Hoseok squeezing my hand in his, "Oh right, you can't. I know. Since that's the reason why you left me before, to pursue your career and that's also why I can't be with you. I'm done, Mark."

He stared into me for a whole minute before he broke his gaze away from me. Mark took his jacket before he stood up, "Alright. But for the last time, I just want to let you know that I did not stop loving you. Not even for a single second. I loved you everyday that we were apart, Venus Yoo."

I was silent since Mark left. Hoseok just sat beside me, waiting for me to speak but I was in deep thought. Suddenly, there's this feeling in my chest. The hollow part of me is finally starting to heal. I needed to let him go. I loved him but we weren't meant to be.

I was walking out of the diner with Hoseok and then suddenly he grabbed my elbow and I was pulled back to his chest just as a bicycle almost ran me over.

"Hey, you alright?" Hoseok worried, turning me around to face him and then putting his hands on my shoulders.

The sudden action put me back into the right mind, "Y-Yeah. Sorry. I was-"

"Spacing out?" He gave me a meek smile.

"I was, wasn't I?" I gave him a weak laugh as we face each other on the sidewalk, people passing by us like a river current.

"Hey, since our date is far from over." Hoseok trailed as he checked the time before looking up at my face again, "Would you like to go somewhere else with me? It's a place I really like. You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all. If anything, I'm glad you asked because I really don't want to go home yet." I replied with a smile.

"Great." Hoseok beamed as he tugged on my hand, leading me to the spot where parked his motorcycle.

"Whoa, you ride that?" I stood before Hoseok and his awesome motorbike. Somebody help me cause my heart is weak for bad boys.

"Yeah.. I don't really take him out often." Hoseok replied as he mounted the bike, "Figured today would be a good time."

Hoseok watched me as I took a step closer then he offered his hand to help me get on, "Here, let me help you." I took it and he carefully guided me, "Step on that with your left foot. Yeah, that's it then swing your right leg over."

I was so close to him, my chest is touching his back and my thighs against his. Out of the blue, his hand hooked around my thigh, "Your leg goes here. You can step on that so you won't get hurt."

I was blushing when he realized what he just did, "Oh shit sorry. I didn't mean to touch you."

"No, it's okay. Don't worry." I gave him a smile but my heart has been beating like crazy.

"Are you ready?" Hoseok asked when he warmed up his motorbike. I gripped on his sides to be safe because it's my first time to ride a motorbike. I didn't realize that I was gripping too tightly until he asked me, "Vee, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah. Of course." I laughed weakly, loosening my hold on him a bit. "I'm just nervous. It's my first time."

He chuckled melodiously as he kicked up the stand and supported the bike with his feet. "Don't worry. You're with me." Hoseok glanced back at me then he placed my arm to wrap around his torso, "Hold onto me."

🌸

"The beach!" I marveled, grinning when I got myself a wonderful view of the sand and the sea. Hoseok helped me dismount before he got off himself. He left his bike by the sidewalk and then we both headed to the shore.

"I thought you needed something to cheer you up." Hoseok said as he watched my overly excited face.

"Thank you. I really like it." I looked at him, standing beside me, and flashed him a warm smile, "Hey let's take off our shoes!"

I kicked my shoes off then we folded our jeans above our ankles and went to the water. The waves welcomed us, the warm water felt nice between our toes. Hoseok and I played for awhile like little kids, spraying water at each other and then getting ourselves wet afterwards.

Then we decided to walk along the shore and collect seashells as we carry our shoes. I found a shell and picked it up, showing it to Hoseok, "This one looks weird. It looks like a- ah!!"

Hoseok laughed at my face when something came out of the shell and I dropped it, "You are so mean. You just disturbed his sleep. Poor little guy."

"I didn't know it was occupied." I crouched dow to watch it dragging its shell, walking really slow. "I wanna help him."

Hoseok chuckled as he tugged on my arm, pulling me up beside him, "You have to let him do it on his own or else he won't know how to survive."

I stared at his side profile, the sunlight hitting his face beautifully, "Wow, that was deep." I said and then we both laughed.

We then headed to a bunch of big rocks by the end of the shore. Me acting like a child, wanted to come up so I carefully mounted the small rocks first then stepped on other rocks to get to the top. I felt so free to be doing these things again.

"Be careful. The rocks are slippery." Hoseok kept saying behind me. I smiled as I step on another rock, almost losing my balance but I regained my footing. "I told you." He added.

"I'm fine, mother duck." I told him, rolling my eyes playfully at him and making him smile. I was about to brag again about my excellent balancing skills when my foot slipped on top of a rock covered with moss. I fell back, seeing Hoseok holding his hands out to catch me.

I felt his hand coming against my back and the breath that I thought I had lost, returned to my lungs again. I sighed in his arms, laughing like a mad woman who nearly escaped death while Hoseok was squatting behind me in an awkward position.

"Princess, aren't you getting up? My thighs are about to split apart." Hoseok joked in my ear.

"Oh right, sorry." I said as he helped me up again.

We came down to the ground again and walked back to where we came. Tracing our footsteps in the sand. We were waiting for the sun to set before we leave the beach. The two of us sat in a shaded bench, kind of like a bus stop but by the beach. It looked cozy enough.

There we let our feet dry. I was wiggling my toes and Hoseok did the same, "Yours look so funny."

"Yours look so small." He said as he put his foot beside mine, comparing the difference in our sizes. "Like a baby's."

"You're exaggerating." I laughed then turned to face him. He was smiling. I've always liked seeing his smile. It makes me feel really calm like his smile is the answer to every problem. I don't know why but Hoseok has that effect on me.

"Thanks for this. I had fun." I told him as we both waited. I stretched my legs out and then we stared into the setting sun.

"Me too." Hoseok said and then he closed his eyes and breathed in the refreshing air. He opened his eyes and then turned his head towards my direction, "Let's do this again sometime."

🌸