"Time to part ways, I guess." Mirae made a clever mention of the fact, a corroborating smile blooming on her lips. "That, over there, is my lane," her index finger pointing in a specific direction.

"Sure, sure. Not gonna lie, I had lost track of time talking to you. It was an interesting chat, makes me wanna look forward to more of such." Hoseok returned, though probably went a little overboard doing so as his face also exhibited the realisation. "And I'm sincerely hoping right now that you don't view me as a busybody because of the statement I just spoke."

Mirae released a muffled chuckle, possibly finding his clarification amusing. "Well, if that brings busy and your name in the same sentence, then why not?"

The female could not refrain from being amazed at herself for having hurled an exceptionally insensitive jibe at someone who had been shoved into that abject condition because of her own deeds. Parallel to this epiphany also surfaced a flustered expression that ended up eclipsing her features, embarrassment surging within her. Mirae could have efficiently fended off that startling ambush orchestrated by her conscience had it not been for Hoseok's gradual yet unsettling facial reaction that was now fully laid-out for her to register.

"Was that a deliberate self-sabotage or a slip of tongue? Because you look a thousand times more humiliated than I do at the moment." Hoseok quizzed, his grimace thawing into an impish grin.

"That was to bring us to an equal footing, as simple as that." Mirae spluttered, rolling her eyes to chuck the awkwardness out of her head and rightaway proceeding to glide down the steep slope that marked the beginning of her locality.

Hoseok's eyebrows did fly up when the female had suddenly announced her intentions of departing by those blatant actions of hers, but that was about it. He let a benign smile maneuver his lips, intently watching Mirae as she hastily strode towards her home. He did not stray his gaze away from her rapidly diminishing figure until it was absorbed by the darkness that had instantly shrouded her, casting a cursory glance at the bricked-pavement beneath his feet as he exhaled sharply.

Although it was only the third time that Hoseok had struck a proper conversation with Mirae, he could gauge, as a matter of fact, that she was someone whom he would not regret trusting if he chose to go ahead with that. That was an effortless deduction, for nor had he encountered that emotion during the first two rendezvous as well. For some reason, he did not even require a multitude of conjunctions while having an exchange with her— which was quite unlike of him provided how he was never counted amongst natural speakers.

Every thought, every word had rolled off his tongue in a fluidity that made him wonder if his head and mouth had surprisingly decided to synchronize with one another. However, assigning the entire credit to a familiar stranger would plainly imply the underestimation of his own capabilities. What if he had always had it in himself, and that, he just did not know how to harness it?

"What's the use, though? It's not like my livelihood depends on my schmoozing skills anymore." Hoseok snickered in disappointment, sauntering ahead as he tugged his heavy heart along.

Slipping his hands inside his pockets, he did not expect his phone to be vibrating already when it had usually stayed defunct at this point in time on other days. Impulsively yanking the device out of there, he was prompt in discerning that the caller ID belonged to his sister's name. Nevertheless, before he could swipe the screen up and thus connect himself with her, the call had already ended. A boy with a snapback hat and baggy overalls appeared instead, postured as if ready to intimidate others with his boogaloo walkout.

The picture was treasured by Hoseok like none other. He was around fourteen years of age when got clicked pulling out that trump card of his. Although he had mastered all the isolation and techniques that together comprised popping, he remained to be the undisputed king of the boogaloo walkout until circumstances had forced him into relinquishing dance altogether. Since then, he had convinced himself that staring at that photo and feeling grateful for all that he used to have back then, ought be the most that he did pertaining to dance.

"Yet, being the clown I'm, I crawled back to it on all fours once the first opportunity arose." He mumbled, lips pressing into a thin line. "Oh, right..." He dragged his speech in absentmindedness when the icons flooding his notification bar caught his attention at last.

Flicking open his call logs, Hoseok swore he had never felt so discombobulated as he did right then. Massaging his eyes from over the lids with his spare hand, he attempted at reviewing whether what he had forsooth comprehended in the swift glance that he had rendered, was a mere illusion or something that had actually occurred. Because Jung Injae had never given the impression of being this desperate to communicate with Hoseok.

His phone being swamped with a dozen of futile calls from her side just did not make sense from any angle, no matter how hard he racked his brains for it.

An exasperated puff was elicited by him as a consequence, as he simultaneously advanced with what Injae had been doing all this while— trying to obtain the explanation behind what she did only to listen to the tethering tone die out with a beep.

Hoseok groaned, stomping his foot in frustration. The next conduit for the unleashing of his irritation would have been the tousling of his hair with his own hands had his phone's screen not glowed up and Injae was not the one causing that phenomenon.

"Injae, what's wrong? Why did you leave so many calls for me? Is everything alright?" Hoseok jabbered, overwhelmed with fret.

"Is this Mister Jung Hoseok that I'm speaking to?" An unidentified voice replied much to Hoseok's dismay, triggering his anxiety to leap beyond the bounds.

"Who are you? What's Injae's phone doing with you? What do you want?" Hoseok's snarl, though from the other end of the line, could be clearly heard.

"It is the Golden Nest Hospital this side, sir. Your sister, Miss Jung Injae, was admitted here early in the day, but nobody from her contact list has agreed to claim her yet. Moreover, we've been trying to reach you as well all this while, but you were seemingly not available until now." The female voice paused for a second, and so did the commotion in her background.

"She's at the risk of getting de-bedded if no one within twelve hours of her treatment pays what has been owed to the hospital. I was charged with the responsibility of informing you about it. A quick decision is, therefore, urgently expected from you, sir." She finished, but Hoseok emitted no sound to dwell in that silence.

"Sir, am I audible? Is Mister Jung Hoseok still on the line—"

"Yes, I heard you. I'll be there as soon as possible."

✧

Hoseok's forehead was glistening with noticeable beads of cold sweat, the excess perspiration over there making it difficult for him to hide the consternation that had been eating him inside out ever since the news regarding Injae being present in a hospital was first divulged to him. Even though he had tested out everything in his range in order to curb the exacerbating perturbation— be it his rhythmic breathing method or reciting numbers till hundred in his head— not one had excelled the way it was supposed to.

He could not recollect a single event when performing such procedures had mitigated his worries all at once.

Why even bother coming up with coping strategies then, when all of it would prove to be in vain at the end of the day?

Continuously barrelling through the hospital hallways, and entering and exiting numerous elevators just to land in the correct floor, had surely exhausted Hoseok, but that had been ruled out by him from being considered as one of his concerns until Injae was tracked down by him. He would breathe as if it was one function that could be overlooked by him only after he had seen his sister with his own eyes. Till then, no degree of recklessness by his own self would be condoned by him.

He was not as privileged to have availed that luxury currently.

As primed by the same receptionist in another brief call, Hoseok had straightaway aimed for the fourth level of block B of that hospital. There, seated behind a wide desk adorned with PVC paneling, he spotted the female who presumably was the one whom he had been talking with over phone. Dazed, he cruised towards the very counter, unmindful of the couple of nurses whom he had unintentionally bumped into in the process.

Upon recognizing Hoseok's arrival, the nurse's lips tugged into a friendly smile, "Good evening, sir, how may we be of help to you?"

"I'm here for Jung Injae. Where is she? Can I go and meet her?" Hoseok scrambled, shutting his eyes closed once he realized that he had been spiraling. "Though first things first, what precisely happened to her?"

"Ah, you must be Mister Jung Hoseok, then," the nurse exclaimed with a shallow delight. "Miss Jung Injae was admitted by one of her customers while they were having their meal at her diner. After examining all the tests that we've conducted on her so far, it turns out that she had collapsed under severe exhaustion. She was extremely dehydrated and mildly famished. Does she tend to overwork? Because her stress levels don't seem good either."

"I had no idea about that..." Hoseok drawled in uncertainty, his brows knitting into one. "I mean, she does put her health at line by working like a mule all the time, but never to this extent. I'm the one at fault though, should've been there to take note of that."

"Exhaustion isn't something that germinates overnight, Mister Jung. It's months and months of negligence that assists it in getting built-up. But it's okay, y'all can take care of her once she's discharged. Make sure that it doesn't lead to this point again though, it can be detrimental in the long run." The female advised, abruptly shifting her line of sight to the computer screen planted before her, as if the information scribbled on it held utter significance.

"They've processed the bill, one point seven million Won it says. How would you like you pay?" She resumed, the sweet smile never abandoning her face.

For a moment, she could not decipher if Hoseok's impassive face had emerged due to his inability to wrap his head around what had just been imparted, or the limited extent to which he could twist his face in accordance with a situation. The strained corners of his lips had drooped, eventually revealing a straight line in its place. His pupils, though mildly trembling, were eerily fixated at particularly nowhere at the same time.

It was comprehensible— even through a fleeting look— that Hoseok had zoned out.

Because what were the odds that being injected a pathetic glucose drip could cost such a fortune? Unless it were those redundant assessments that Injae was subjected to— perhaps without her consent on top of that?

"Did you insert gold into her instead of glucose? How—How could it cost so much? It doesn't make sense!" He yelped, stirring the pair of nurses behind the desk to furrow their brows in displeasure.

"I'm sorry, sir. In case you speculated that we dispense full body tests for free of cost, let me tell you that it isn't so. We're not a charity, sir. I hope you understand." The nurse's riposte was succinct, her stern voice feeling like a looming rain-cloud to Hoseok.

✧

a/n

i have a little tmi (the irony lol) to share today hehe. ik there are a lots of books centering 'dancer' hoseok. the only reason why i, despite of that, still decided to proceed with the trope was bcs it's pretty recent that i gave up on dance too. y'know, writing about boogaloo today induced a bittersweet feeling to surge within me. altho i'm more of a hiphop dancer, i still remember how thrilling it used to be for me whenever dancers of different dance styles presented their specialty so... effortlessly in those underground dance battles. yup, i'm definitely saying some parts of this book are extremely personal to me🥲 alexa, that's it, play 'black swan' by bts right fkn now!!!🥺😭