It was hilarious how despite his situation being much more antipathetic to him than how it had been two years ago, Hoseok could not exactly single out the very factor that may corroborate the premise. After all, not much had changed in this particular period of time. The monotony of his everyday life had squeezed every trace of glee out of him, leaving him snowed under an excessive amount of despondency to wade through.

He would have persevered just fine had a cash inflow remained promised to him as a compensation for all this misery that he was made to encounter. But an unprecedented development two years back- which involved him giving preference to what he actually was fond of doing over what he was supposed to- divested him of the sole incentive that had succeeded at galvanizing him from the outset.

The cursed dance battle that he was persuaded into participating for, had engendered a butterfly effect that ended up blustering away every remnant of his vapid reality that used to instill sanity into him. He ought to have considered the possibility, the moment the prospect of him having to visit the venue for two continuous days was first suggested to him- that his untimely proclivity for dance would result in an inimical outcome one day or another. Though as was usual, he chose not to heed the advice that the tiny voice in his head had been struggling on to deliver to him.

Just one of those few instances where Hoseok would forget how to adopt a multi-faceted perspective and not just focus on the one aspect that seemed like the most feasible to him.

And thus, the consequence that materialised for him was him having to gracefully accept his termination letter and resort to job-hunting for one more time. However, the ordeal did not simply cease for him at this point, for a whole set of seven hundred and thirty days had already passed without him catching a moment of relief.

In fact, those with a subsistence strategy had now begun to appear like superhumans to Hoseok.

"I can break my limbs a thousand times over now just so I don't go to that competition from two years ago." Hoseok grumbled, walking past a street-post that was hued in the colors of autumn. "Although it hurts to admit, it appears that job was definitely the peak of my career."

As much as Hoseok's heart clenched at the sight of his money getting squandered on needs such as food, he was also aware that it was a portion of his daily expenditure that he just could not turn a blind eye to. He would bitterly smirk whenever his elder sister- Jung Injae- reminisced about his adolescent phase where dance always had to lose to his appetite for the delicacies that their mother used to prepare, spurning the apparent memory without any second thoughts.

The fact that the siblings had to raise themselves up on their own, and yet could not afford a comfortable life after years of toiling, had always managed to stir Hoseok up.

"What did we even do to land in His bad books so irredeemably?" He snickered, tossing a derisive glance towards the sky, as if addressing the Heavens.

The sandwich in Hoseok's hands was seconds away from being degraded into crumbs, regardless of only half of it being feasted upon. However, when the male finally acknowledged the barely conspicuous deterioration, he pounced towards a roadside bench, putting it on the surface with utmost caution while he unzipped his bag to fetch another piece of tissue from it. The search though, notwithstanding the utter lack of time on his hands, took longer than what he had envisioned, causing him to ultimately bury his head into the bag instead of merely raking his hand through it.

That was when he unintentionally allowed the antagonistic forces hovering above him to descend and unleash the chaos that he did not remember asking for- at all.

What felt like a brushing gust of wind at first, would possibly not have bothered Hoseok had his line of sight instinctively not fallen upon the spot where his missing piece of sandwich was carefully placed by him some moments prior. Floored at the shocker, his eyes gradually widened to such an extent that they came to cover a notable portion of his face; lips parting in disbelief as he shook his head with eyes closed to register what all had transpired in a flash.

When his vision subsequently whisked in the direction which his peripheral abilities had instructed him to zero in towards, a blinking male figure was resultingly caught by him endeavoring to scoot away as quickly as possible. Hoseok's nostrils flared in displeasure, his teeth gritting in a manner that would have had him wound up with pulverized version of them had the epiphany pertaining to trailing the man not struck him in time.

With arms starting to swing side by side in coordination, Hoseok's fists balled up in what could be perfectly termed as the quintessential representation of the colossal rage that had been powering his system right then. His legs followed soon after as he pounded his way through the cramped sidewalk, somehow balancing the clambering and the pursuit of his uninvited offender in an efficiency that had never accompanied him until now.

Tiny puffs of fog would vaporise before him every time he respired amidst the chase, a nebulous cloud thereafter originating from them and blearing his visual range. But Hoseok was not one to be unnerved by such glitches. If anything, hurdles only seemed to kindle the sparks constituting him, into searing flames. That had to be the only ground why his mission of grabbing his sandwich mugger by the collar had panned out the moment he pictured himself drowning in the repugnant waves of defeat.

Hoseok was the kind to put his finger on the very object that he had had swirling in his mind, even with a thick blindfold on, and there were no two ways about it.

Stupendously paced up by now, he extended his arm till the extent that he could not anymore, leaping for his prey as he prepared himself for the decisive dive. It was just a matter of time that a comparatively well-stitched piece of fabric clashed against the hold of his palm, immediately leading him into clutching onto it as if his life depended on it. However, once the laws of motion did rise above their intricate play of variables, a sudden yank was experienced by the two males, which later induced them into stumbling along to the edge of the same pathway.

Nevertheless, with them reeling as if gravity had given up on them for good, also occurred that incident which Hoseok would not even dare wish upon his archenemy. The other man gulped in subtle horror, in addition to the glaring cluelessness that had been leisurely petering out from his face. Exchange of properly amicable glances between them was already a matter of outrageous hope that such a dramatic development unfolded and thereby ensued a towering wall of abhorrence to surface between them from Hoseok's side.

From the corner of his eyes, Hoseok shot a glance brimming with limitless judgement- meant specifically for the young boy. After all, why had he even traversed such lengths when at the end of all of it, dropping the bone of contention- the damned, two-penny sandwich- so recklessly was to be the moment that would eventually seal his fate for the day?

"You've got some guts there, kiddo." Hoseok rumbled, clicking his tongue in annoyance.

Though when his gaze deflected towards the dismembered bread and the skimpy vegetables that one would never have guessed were there in the first place, suffocation began to rip his lungs apart. An unexpected muzzling sensation emerged in his throat as his hands instinctively slapped across his own mouth, gaze alternating between the friend he had just lost, and the sworn enemy he had just gained.

"I'm sorry, it was all a part of one stupid bet." The younger male pushed the words out of his mouth only to regret them instantly after.

✧

"I'm telling you, it's not like how it sounds." The boy defended, gesticulating to convince the cop-on-duty through any method possible. "I don't mean to say that I'm squeaky clean, but this mister right here is blowing this whole thing out of proportion. Why would I steal a half-eaten sandwich? Do I look that desperate? Does that ring as reasonable to you?"

"Still didn't do the magic. Maybe an apology and an appropriate compensation would work? Who knows?" Hoseok shrugged his shoulders, quirking his brow when he perceived a grimace unfurling on the boy's features.

"This is too juvenile," the policeman muttered to himself. "Leave or else I'm gonna book you for crimes that you didn't even commit. You both have been wasting my time for over an hour now, and for what? A mere sandwich? Are you kidding me?"

"Excuse me, sir, that sandwich was anything but mere. It was my lunch, for crying out loud! Privileged people like you may not understand, though-"

"There, there. Onto his blame game again. You can't take this person seriously, Officer, unless you want a blunder to stain your entire career. You won't throw that away for him, right? That'd be- oh, again- a blunder." The youngest remarked, complacency visible on his face.

"This is it. No more bickering. Now go away before I turn my words into actions for real. You wouldn't want that, trust me-"

"Kangmin!"

The police officer would have conclusively issued the warning to those two, had an unfamiliar voice not interrupted his addressal. Bearing a feminine touch to it, the owner of that voice did not have to struggle drawing the attention towards her- the three figures promptly swerving their heads in her direction. And although the intrusion was as much redundant to the trio as handfans on a windy day, the assortment of reactions that were spurred out of it was comically contrasting.

While the cop could not have given two damns about it, the boy's- apparently named Kangmin- countenance exuded sincere gratitude, an expression that was plainly at variance with Hoseok's.

Because Hoseok presently looked like someone who would offer anything in order to satiate the burgeoning curiosity in his heart.

Was he only hallucinating, or was it really not his first time chancing upon this female who- for some unknown reasons- had been grinning super brightly at him for the past one minute now?

✧

a/n

extremely sorry for the late update huhu. i hope some of y'all have been waiting for the new chapter? so for those special few, here's a present from my side🤗 enjoy!🤍 do vote and comment if you found the chapter worthwhile. also, issa double update!👀 scroll down to read the next part. thank you <3