“if love is a trap, i might as well be it's slave—”

Hoseok had a silly smile on his face when he woke up, the events of last night fresh in his mind. The smile carried through the day as he got busy with his gruelling schedule but he couldn't feel anything except the butterflies in his stomach that took off every time he thought of her.

Migyung.

He sighed, falling down on the dance floor, his breathing hard and sweat drenching his light shirt. Wiping his hand down his face, he forced himself to calm down but he couldn't, not when he remembered how she had given him a long hug and a lingering kiss on his cheek before he left her apartment.

The way she touched him, the way she felt in his arms and the sparks that seemed to flow from her to him had been too much. So much that it had been hard to leave her, to find the control to not cross boundaries he could still see separating them.

They weren't dating, he was sure of that. Hell, he didn't know how to date a woman like Migyung or if she even needed the extra emotional baggage that came with dating. But last night had proved to him that it wasn't one-sided and no matter how much his heart and body screamed at him to coddle her and protect her from everything that hurt her, he couldn't do it.

She had to fight her own battles, that he was sure of and all he could do was stand behind her and cheer her while she fought and get her to stand up again when she was too weak to do it on her own. He didn't know if he was the best person for the job but now that he knew her, he couldn't let anyone else be beside her. He was hooked, sinker and liner.

"Is love at first sight possible?" Namjoon's voice drifted over the work desk from across him. The man's brows were pulled so close in concentration as he bent over his notebook, that Hoseok thought they would become one in the next minute.

"Why not?" came the maknae's response from beside him. Everyone knew Jungkook was every bit a hopeless romantic, almost close to Jimin who had been hung up over one woman for almost half a decade.

"You see a shirt of your favourite brand hanging in the glass display of some shop and fall in love with it instantly." Or maybe not, Hoseok thought with a chuckle, looking down at his phone, going through Twitter to see what was happening today.

"No, Jungkook," Namjoon sighed, "I'm not talking about clothes. I'm talking about people, a human. If yes, then how would you describe it?"

"Like being struck in the face by a cold, big hammer that wakes you up so hard and fast, you have no option but to pay attention to everything and nothing at once when the person stands before you," Seokjin's voice was calm and steady even as he kept his eyes on his phone, a laugh bubbling out of his lips now and then.

From the corner of his eyes, Hoseok watched Namjoon scribbling furiously in his notebook. He was almost reminded of Migyung's friend, Hwayoung. It had been the oddest sight ever because he didn't think he would ever sit on a closed toilet seat, head bent over a diary and ink smudging his fingers while his friend shivered because of a fever. Maybe, it was just her way to cope with stressful situations.

Nonetheless, his mind takes him back to Migyung and the first time they met. He had been struck that night too though it had been a certain woman's pretty hand instead of a hammer.

What a unique way to start a story, he thought with a grin.

"That is oddly specific but agreed," Taehyung's thoughtful voice broke the silence and Hoseok looked up in time to see Seokjin shooting a finger gun at the second-youngest along with a wink.

"Is that why you were such an ass with Aera?" Jimin questioned with a smirk, his eyes curved mischievously. "Were you struck so hard that you lost all your brain cells and became a yapping piece of shit?"

"Oh, puh-lease," Taehyung sassed, narrowing his eyes at Jimin. "It's at least better than looking like a love-struck, stuttering fool. Did you have fun while Anika looked at you as if you were a psychiatric patient?"

"Asshole," Jimin muttered with a scowl, showing that it was a sensitive topic for him. But then, everything related to a specific camerawoman fell in the sensitive category.

"Hey, you started!" Taehyung refuted, blind to the fact that his friend was barely holding his sanity when it came to her. But someone else did see.

"That's enough, guys. Go back to whatever the hell you were doing before. You are ruining my nap time," Yoongi grumbled from the couch he was sprawled on a few paces away.

"Sorry, hyung," the friends said in unison and went back to glaring at each other silently.

"You are awfully silent today, Hoseok," Namjoon said, breaking the trance the said man had been in as he watched his bandmates interact. "Is everything okay?"

Hoseok grinned at his friend and shrugged, leaning back in his seat. "Never been better."

Namjoon's eyebrow raised in curiosity seeing him smile like that. The last few times he had returned from meeting Migyung, he had been thoughtful and almost brooding. His cheerful friend had started to lose himself in his thoughts a lot since he met her. But today seemed different. Something had changed.

Namjoon didn't say anything about it though. Seeing how no one except him knew about Migyung, he didn't think Hoseok was ready to talk about her yet with everyone. Judging by what he knew about the woman and what the internet said about her, he could only imagine how hard it would be to explain everything. But he would be sure to ask when they were alone.

"She's going to quit drugs and alcohol," Hoseok declared before Namjoon even had a chance to ask.

The leader was stunned, his fingers freezing on his computer as he turned towards his friend in the studio who was positively beaming. It almost hurt to look at him but his happiness made his dimples pop as well.

"Man, that's so great to know. You really did it," Namjoon commented, genuinely happy to hear his friend turning around another person's life. But Hoseok shook his head, his smile softening as he leaned back in his chair, the chair creaking under his weight.

"It wasn't me, Namjoon. It was all her. I never asked her to stop, I just sat beside her and lost playing the Go game."

Turning back to his computer, Namjoon could only chuckle and go back to work while his friend hummed happily behind him. Whatever the reason, he was happy to see Hoseok happy. Sure he was known to be a ball of energy to everyone and he was but there was a depth to him that many failed to notice. That depth of his thrived on other people's happiness and well being and despite what he said, he was sure Migyung was influenced by it somehow.

Hoseok didn't see it yet but he would come to know sooner or later.

A few minutes later, Namjoon jumped when Hoseok clasped his shoulder. Looking up, he saw him grinning and said, "Love can't happen at first sight, I believe. You can't love someone whom you don't know. It's a process and the duration differs from person to person. You love someone for real when you make peace with every flaw of theirs."

"Oh," he let out with round eyes and watched Hoseok leave. Once again shaking his head, he scribbled what he had just heard and went back to editing.

Love at first sight or not, love in itself sounds like a lovely concept, Namjoon thought to himself.

~~~~

A/N:

It's been forever since I updated this. I'm so happy to update today.

Also, I've written a chapter fully including only the boys after a long long time, so it feels like a good change.

Let me know what you think of this chapter and what changes you have noticed in the characters.

I still have an exam left, the final one, so I can't say how consistent I will be but I'll try not to take long for the next update.

Thank you for reading ❤️❤️