Stuck In Between | ot7 | Two

 Pair: Sope x f!reader ; Ot7 x f!reader

Summary: What does it take for a life to be changed forever? For you it was running into one of Bangtan’s seven –the most powerful street gang in all of Gwangju. It was only supposed to be a steamy one night stand after night out, but after being targeted by Bangtan’s number one enemies, you find yourself interlaced with seven dangerous men. Can you get your old life back? Or will you stay stuck in between what you believe to be good versus bad? 

Chapter warnings: You get a house-call from one of your favorite furry patients! 

 WC: 5.8k

The sun was filtering through the window of your bedroom, hitting your bed and half of the desk you were working on. You loved the lighting at this time of day, when it wasn’t so early in the afternoon and the sun started making its way down, and it made even specks of dust seem magical. 

Or maybe you were just so tired that you were starting to get a little delirious at this point, which made you take a sip of your hand dripped coffee to make your brain wake up. 

You had barely slept the night before, as you kept hearing noises and waking up, thinking someone was in your house. Of course it was just the annoying neighborhood cat that sometimes jumped on your roof to hunt whatever-the-fuck it was after, but being alone in such a big place made you hear things sometimes. 

It didn’t help that the house was also pretty old, so everything creaked. 

You didn’t live in a mansion by any means, but it had been left for you after your grandmother’s passing, and you had grown up within these walls ever since you were a baby. Selling it would give you enough money to buy a tiny apartment in a nicer part of town, but you were attached to this place. 

Although the kids in the neighborhood were a very big incentive as now they had moved on from zip ties, to tying red strings on the short iron grid that surrounded the front of the house. 

You seemed to finally be able to focus on the screen of your laptop, trying to understand the effects of certain poisonous house plants on cats, when your phone started to buzz on top of your table. 

You wished you could say you didn’t know who it was that was calling you, but you didn’t get a lot of those. Outside of your best friend, you only ever got calls from work; and since you weren’t expected to come into the clinic until tomorrow morning, no one would be calling you unless there was an emergency. 

You cogitated sending the call to voicemail and texting Ji-hun that you’d talk to her later, but you could use a little break from your studies. 

“Heeeey.” you chirped as you accepted the call, leaving the phone on top of the table as you took the pause on your studies to check your emails. 

“What are you up to?” came her happy voice from the other side. 

“I'm studying. You?” 

“Boringggg, I thought that was your day off?” Ji-hun groaned and you could just picture her laying on her couch, upside down like in the movies, with her feet up against the wall. 

“It is my day off at work, which means I have more time to study.” you pointed out. 

You had been out of university for a few years now, but in your field, there was always more to learn, so you were trying to further your education by joining a post-graduate course. But for that you had to go through an exam, which is what you had been studying for for the last few months. 

“Ugh, you're something else, I really admire you for your strong will.” the woman laughed, which made you shake your head and smile. 

“Thanks.” you laughed as you heard her say something to someone on the other side, not able to pick up what it was as her hand muffled the phone. “Where are you?”

“Ah, I'm home but my brother is here with his annoying friends, hang on.” you heard your friend get up and the background noise quiet down as she yelled: “Yo, can you keep it down?!”

“He’s giving you a hard time again?” 

“As usual. Can't wait for him to be gone.” she said and you could tell she was rolling her eyes. Sometimes you envied your friend for having siblings, but not during times like these, where she couldn’t wait for him to leave the house. “Anyways, you got any plans for tonight?”

“Nothing besides studying. Might order takeout later. Wanna come over?”

“Can't, I'm stuck with these idiots. Just called to ask if you wanna go out this weekend.” Ji-hun countered. 

“Sure. Maybe a movie?” you agreed, attention leaving your computer screen after you checked that there wasn’t anything too serious waiting for your attention on your email folder; only a few results from patients, but nothing urgent. 

“Nooooo, let's do something more fun than that.”

“We could go to the bowling alley–”

Ji-hun cut you off with a scoff: “We can do this all day, but you know where I'm getting at.”

“Yes, I know you want to go to S7VEN, but that's not happening.” you leaned back against your chair, trying not to smile too big when memories of last weekend unavoidably made their way into your tired brain. 

“Why noooooot–”

“You know why.” you whined.

“Because you met a gorgeous gang member, and had hot sex at a fancy ass penthouse?” she deadpanned and your cheeks burned. “That's enough reason for you to want to go back there!”

Sometimes you really regretted telling her so much, but when you only had a handful of friends, things got boring. Besides, meeting the Bangtan member and sleeping with him must have been the most interesting thing to happen to you all year, so you had to talk about it. 

“Going back to that club two weekends in a row looks like desperation and Hoseok was good, but not enough to make me desperate.” you stated, hoping she wouldn’t keep up with her insistence. 

“Hoseok?”

“Oh, shit I hadn't told you his name, had I?

When walking you to the lobby of his building, to wait with you while you ordered a paid ride, Hoseok didn’t tell you that you were forbidden from ever mentioning his name, or telling anybody that you met him. But you still had the finesse of not mentioning his name when you told your friend about that night. 

Until now. 

Not that she’d be able to pinpoint who he was in the first place, but still. 

“It's a sexy name.” she mused. 

“He's a sexy guy.” you sighed, but cut yourself off before it turned dreamy. 

“Not enough for you to want to see him again?” Ji-hun tried and you were shaking your head as if she could see you. 

“You know, as my best friend you shouldn't be encouraging me about this.” you started with a laugh, taking your phone as you got up from your desk chair to stretch your legs.  “You should be telling me to run and not mess with his kind.”

“His kind? He's in a gang, that's not a contagious disease.” she chastised, and you didn’t expect anything else from the girl. 

“All I'm saying is you should be pointing out that he's trouble.” 

“Well, it's nice to get into trouble every now and then.” Ji-hun giggled and you knew she’d tease you for the smile you were sporting. 

“You're impossible.”

“I love you and I want the best for you, and if that comes in the form of a hot guy with tattoos, then I'll learn to live with it.” 

Ji-hun might have showed up in your life only three years ago, but she felt more like a lost twin than a friend at this point. She came into your life at a time you really needed someone, right after the passing of your grandmother, and in her you found someone to confide in, someone to send a way a little of that loneliness you were so used to feeling. 

But before you could get sappy on her and thank her for going along with anything that ever happened to you without judging you for it, the phone in your hand showed that you were getting another call:

Incoming call: Mrs. Jung

“I'm getting another call and it might be important so I'll text you later.” you told your friend rushedly. 

“Kay, but let me know about saturday–”

You ended the call with your friend and picked up the new call, bringing the phone to your ear instead of using the speaker feature. 

“Hello?” 

“Dear, thank god you answered–” 

“Is everything okay, Mrs. Jung? How’s my favorite grandpa doing?” you spoke softly to the woman, trying to calm her down as you could feel the stress in her voice. 

“His stomach is acting up again, and he’s not keeping the medicine down, so I don’t know what to do.” she explained. “I’m worried, so I called the clinic to ask if I could bring him in, but they said you were off work today. And I really wouldn’t have called you if it wasn’t serious, but you know I don’t trust the other doctors.” 

“Yes, I’m not working at the clinic today, but I can come over to take a look at Micky, if you don’t mind?” you offered, hearing the woman’s breath of relief. 

“Would you really do that, dear? Oh, please, we’re waiting for you!” 

“I’ll be right over, Mrs. Jung.” you agreed easily.

“Thank you, thank you so much.” 

Working at a veterinary clinic meant that you met lots of owners and lots of animals, but you still had your regulars. That small group of pets that really took a liking to you, allowed you to properly examine them without making much of a fuss. And the happier the animal, the happier the owner. 

You met Mrs. Jung a good five years ago, when Micky was younger and a lot healthier than he was today. You saw him through regular checkups, for yearly vaccines, and the occasional upset tummy. But as he grew older his health started taking a bit of a turn that made you see him more often. 

Mrs. Jung wasn’t the kind to call you during your private time, nor did she bring Micky in for silly reasons as some of your more overreacting tutors, so when she asked you to take a look at the dog, you did your best to help out. And sometimes that meant having to do a house call in the middle of your day off. 

You were knocking on the door of the familiar suburban house only twenty minutes after the call, having changed your pajamas for regular clothes and grabbing your case that contained your work paraphernalia. 

The door swung open not a minute later, but the person who opened it made you do a double take and look around to see if you had the wrong house, even though you had been here a few times before. 

“Hobah, don’t just stand there, let her in!” Mrs. Jung was pushing Hoseok out of the way and holding your hand as you bowed to her. “Hi, dear, come on in, thank you for coming.” 

“Hi, ahjumma.” you walked into the house, slipping your feet off your shoes and into the house slippers you knew were left there for guests such as yourself. “You know you can call me anytime you need.”

“You’re always so sweet, my dear.” 

Mrs. Jung was shorter than you, hair a mix between dark brown, gray and white. She always had the softest of smiles on her heart shaped little face and warm eyes that were surprisingly alike to those of the man watching your interaction.

As Hoseok, not so subtly, scratched his throat, the woman seemed to remember to introduce the two of you. 

“Dear, this is my son, remember I told you about him? He’s been kind enough to visit me today.” Mrs. Jung told you as she waved the man over, in a little jab that you understood. 

Mrs. Jung had a son and a daughter. Jiwoo, her oldest child, lived in Seoul, but you had seen her once or twice over the years. Her son, however, was very much a mystery to you. All you ever heard about him were good things and the occasional complaint that he worked so much he barely had time to visit his old eomma. 

“You’re Micky’s vet?” Hoseok asked with surprise in his voice, but if it bothered him to see you again, he didn’t show. 

“Have been for a while now.” you nodded, trying to prove that you didn’t just show up out of the blue. “Where is the grandpa, by the way?” 

“He’s in the living room, let me take you.” Mrs. Jung was oblivious to the little bit of amicable tension between you and her son. Her arm wrapped around yours as she guided you down the hallway and Hoseok was right behind the two of you. 

The Jung family home was very pretty; all light colors, minimal decor and pictures on the walls. All of them had the Jung kids as children and babies, none of them as adults, which explained why you would never have guessed the man you met last week was the son of the woman you’ve known for years. 

When you made it to the living room, you spotted the brown and white Shih-Tzu sleeping on his bed, but upon hearing voices, his little head moved. You left your case on the floor before walking to the puppy and sitting next to his bed, offering your hand for him to sniff. Micky’s eyes weren’t as good as they used to be, so he had to scent you in order to recognize you and jump off the bed to happily wag his tail in recognition. 

As you used an unattractive baby voice to greet the puppy, you heard Mrs. Jung say:

“Hobah, why don’t you go finish dinner?” the woman waved her son off, absolutely mortifying you as she said: “Put more meat into it, we have one more to feed.”

“Oh, Mrs. Jung, please, I don’t want to interrupt family time–” you turned around with wide eyes, looking at Hoseok for help. 

“You don’t interrupt, dear, it’s the least I can do after calling you on your day off!” the woman waved you off, making her son gasp.

“Eomma! You called on her day off?” Hoseok all but hissed, making the woman stammer. 

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” you assured him, even if being here took away your resting and studying time, you quite liked his mother and the dog. 

Mrs. Jung and Hoseok seemed to be having a silent conversation with their eyes and you knew you weren’t privy to it, so you focused on taking a look at the dog in front of you instead. 

“How are you feeling, grandpa?” you asked him quietly, as if he was going to answer you. 

 Hoseok [18:09]: I’m getting home a little later than I thought. 

Joonah [18:11]: Everything okay? 

Hoseok [18:11]: Yeah, Micky’s not feeling well lately, so eomma called the vet and I don’t think I can just leave before everything is done 

JayKook [18:12]: Did eomma make more of those buns, by any chance? 🥺

Hoseok [18:13]: Yes, I’m bringing some for you 🙄

JayKook [18:13]: Yeeeeeesssss 

Hoseok [18:13]: Yoongi-ah, have you eaten? I can pack some dinner to bring you 

Yoon Hyung [18:14]: Thanks, I’m okay. Tell eomma I said hello? 

Hoseok [18:14]: Already did. She’s sad you didn’t come along this time :( 

Yoon Hyung [18:14]: Next time, I promise. 

Hoseok knew Yoongi hyung wasn’t one to ever break his promises, but if he told that to his mother, she wouldn’t let him leave the house without setting up a date and time for their next meeting. And, with what they did for a living, having things scheduled like that was trickier than for most. 

Slipping his phone back into his pants pocket, Hoseok ignored the text messages from Taehyung asking to bring him some of the dinner he just cooked. The yukgaejang was ready to be eaten, and the smell of it alone was making his insides groan. All he had to do now was to call his eomma to eat. 

Well. His eomma and you.  

It’s not as if Hoseok thought he’d never see you again; Gwangju was a small town, and he did hope he left a good impression enough that you’d eventually go back to S7VEN. But he didn’t think he’d meet you again this soon. And under no circumstance did he entertain the possibility of seeing you at his parents’ home. 

Hoseok was quiet with the way he padded to the living room, leaning against the archway to watch you and his mother talking. He liked the way you calmed his mother, when she had been so worried about their family dog being sick, and how you explained things patiently –something he lacked at the best of times–, but you didn’t belittle the simple woman. 

Micky seemed to like you as well, resting his head on your leg even though you had just given him an injection. 

“Are you giving him any kind of vitamins, Mrs. Jung?” 

You asked the woman, who shook her head. 

“I’m going to prescribe Micky some supplement pills that will strengthen his liver, okay? It’s normal for dogs his age to be a little more fragile, so to make sure he’s able to take any medicine without any problems, we’re going to protect his little organs.” you explained to Mrs. Jung, trying to leave out any words that might scare or worry her. “You did the right thing by calling me here today, but the intravenous medicine I gave him tonight will last for a couple of days, so you don’t have to worry. If by Monday he starts feeling sick again, you can bring him to the clinic for me to run some tests, alright?” 

“Yes, dear, thank you so much.” the woman really looked so thankful whenever you took care of her dog. 

No matter how many times you told her it was your job, she was still grateful. You had a soft smile as you scratched behind the dog’s little ear, lifting your gaze as you caught movement at the corner of your eye. 

You almost forgot Hoseok was in the house. 

Almost. 

You could hear him moving around in the kitchen as you examined Micky and talked to Mrs. Jung, but every time you thought about sitting with him –and his eomma– to eat dinner, you grew a little nervous. 

Hoseok had seen you naked. And his head was between your legs at some point. 

But that night, your hair was done, you had make up on your face, and you were wearing a pretty dress. Today you were in jeans and a t-shirt, hair up in a wonky bun and not a single drop of eyeliner. You weren’t trying to seduce the man, nor did you have any unrealistic expectations, but this is not the image you wanted him to remember you by. 

“Dinner is ready.” he called with a friendly smile, which seemed to excite his mother. 

“Let’s eat!” Mrs. Jung waved her fists in the air cutely and you helped her stand up from where you had both been sitting on the floor. “You like spicy beef soup, right?” 

“I’ll eat anything.” you nodded. “I’m not picky.” 

“Have a little faith in me, come on.” Hoseok laughed, letting the two of you follow him into the kitchen. 

If the smell that was taking over the room was anything to go by, the dinner would be delicious and you had nothing to worry about. As Mrs. Jung sat down on the table, you and Hoseok walked deeper into the kitchen. The man started serving bowls of the stew as you washed your hands in the sink. 

“Small world, huh?” you said in a low voice, but the kitchen was large enough that you doubted the woman would hear you. 

“So you do remember me.” Hoseok spoke as quietly as you, with a small smile on the corner of his lips. 

“Worried you might not have left a lasting impression?” you teased, pretending to busy yourself with helping the man serve dinner. 

“More like disappointed that the mark on your neck didn’t last.” he said and you had to bite back the urge to touch your neck, where you had found a teeny tiny hickey when you looked at yourself in the mirror the morning after the club. 

“The one on my hips did.” 

You avoided his eyes as you admitted it, knowing your face would be flushed. You brought one of the bowls to the table where Mrs. Jung was patiently waiting for you and her son, placing the food in front of her first. If she found it weird that you took a couple minutes too long, she didn’t say. 

“Isn’t Mr. Jung joining us tonight?” you asked as you sat down across from her. 

“Yeobo is on a school field trip right now, he was picked as one of the volunteer teachers to chaperone the kids.” she told you with a fond smile as her son joined the two of you on the table. 

Hoseok placed one bowl in front of you and the other at the head of the table, where he sat down while passing around the cutlery. Now that you really looked at him, in normal clothes that were void of sparkles and mesh, and now that his face didn’t have any makeup and his hair was fluffy after a shower, you could really see the resemblance he had to both of his parents. 

His eyes absolutely came from Mrs. Jung, and Hoseok and Jiwoo had the same pointy nose as their father. The sharpness of Hoseok’s slender face was all his, however. 

“That’s so cool, I used to love school trips.” you commented, which seemed to make Mrs. Jung happy to talk about her husband. “Where did he go?” 

“They went to Gyeongbokgung palace in Seoul.” she was also very proud to state it. 

“That’s where I went for my school trip too!” you chirped, remembering the day where you and all of your classmates got to wear pretty Hanboks and pretend to be royalty for a day. 

“Where did you go, Hobah?” his mother asked the man, which gave you time to dig into the spicy beef soup. 

“We went to Jeonju.” Hoseok spoke behind his fist, pulling a face as he chewed, as if the stew was too hot. It made you want to smile, but you refrained. “Appa was a chaperone then too, so I had to behave.”

“You were your dad’s student?” you asked with wide eyes. You knew Mr. Jung was a literature teacher, but you never made the connection that his kids were probably his students too at some point. “How did that go?”

“I had to act responsible.” he said with a roll of your eyes as you blew on your food and swirled the spoon around it to cool off. “Didn’t do the best job at it all the time, but I tried to do well in exams.”

“Did he ever give you extra points?”

Your question had him scoffing a laugh. “If anything, he made me work harder.”

The two of you focused on eating the dinner he had cooked for the three of you, under the watchful eyes of Mrs. Jung. You had to spill praises as it was absolutely delicious and he admitted that his mother had been the one to do the heavy work. 

Out of curiosity and wanting to learn more about him without being too nosy, you asked:

“Where did you go to school?”

“Gukje High School, that’s where appa still works to this day.” he told you with a frown. Hoseok was full of faces as he ate, you came to find out.

“Oh my god, I was right across the street!” you squealed, covering your mouth to avoid any possible food between your teeth. “I went to Jeonnam!”

Jeonnam was an all girls high school, on the same block as Gukje, just on the other side of the street. You weren’t particularly sheltered growing up, but being raised by your grandmother, she wanted you to go to school at the same place she did. 

“We used to gawk at the boys from Gukje all the time, it was our favorite pastime during recess.” you admitted with a laugh. 

“You think you might have seen Hobi?” Mrs. Jung asked you with a sparkle in her almond eyes. 

“I don’t really remember anything from back then, it was at least a decade ago.” you answered quietly, but upon seeing she looked a little said, you tried to fix it: “But maybe?”

“I don’t think you would have given me a second look back then.” Hoseok’s laugh was small and aimed at his food.

“Oh don’t be hard on yourself, darling!” his mother chastised. “You were a little awkward growing up, but who isn’t?”

“I wasn’t just just a little awkward–”

“I had weird braces until senior year in high school.” it was coming out of your mouth before you thought better of it. “It didn’t help that I picked different colored rubber bands every time I had to change them.”

“I’m sure you were still cute back then.” Hoseok said. 

You thought that might be the end of it, but of course Mrs. Jung didn’t let it go. 

“Don’t you think she’s cute now, too?” she asked, and you stared at your bowl.

“Yes, eomma.”

“And isn’t Hoseokie handsome now?” the second question was aimed at you. 

“Yes, Mrs. Jung.”

That seemed to satisfy her for the rest of the dinner. 

The three of you ate in light conversation and after everyone was done, you offered to wash the dishes, but Mrs. Jung insisted the washing machine could do it. You took one last look at Micky and gathered your things back into your case, getting ready to leave.

“Are you sure you don't want to stay any longer, dear?” the woman asked you behind a yawn. 

“Oh no, I already overstayed my welcome, but thank you so much for the lovely dinner.” you smiled at her softly. Having a warm meal in good company definitely beats your initial plans of eating takeout on your own. 

“At least let Hobah walk you to your car?” she insisted. 

“That's not necessary, I didn't drive here.” you explained while pulling your phone from your pants pocket. Mrs. Jung looked like she wanted to know more, so you said: “I’ve had some problems with it this week? So I took it to the mechanic and the guy said someone was messing with the carburetor... or the breaks? I don't know the terms he used. But he's taking a look at everything before I get it back.”

“Oh my, this town is getting more dangerous by the day, I swear.” she gushed with a shake of her head. “People are stealing car pieces now?”

“Seems like it. I’ll just call up a ride.” you told her, not wanting the nice lady to worry and avoiding looking at Hoseok at the mention of how dangerous Gwangju really was. 

“I’m leaving now too, why don't I give you a ride?” Hoseok offered. 

It caught you by surprise, but 1) his mother wouldn’t let you say no, 2) you weren’t one to deny free rides, and 3) you wouldn’t mind being alone with Hoseok. You weren’t trying to make anything happen tonight, but you had questions to make that you guessed he wouldn’t want his mother to hear. 

So you said yes. 

And five minutes later you were sitting on the leather seat of his bright red 1973 Mercedes 450SL, after having told him your address. 

The car was a vintage model on the outside, but the cream leather seats were brand new, as was the panel, where everything was digital and high tech. The GPS was built in and connected to his phone, and despite having a modern sound system, it also had a cassette tape player embedded, which gave the vehicle personality. 

Hoseok didn’t move to turn the radio on, or play music, but the quietude between you was nice as you watched Gwangju go by outside the tinted windows of the car. 

“So.” you started quietly, trying not to break the peaceful tension. “I really like your mom.”

“She seems to really like you too.” his reply was matched with a smile as he drove with only one hand; the other resting on his thigh. 

“I was surprised to see you there today.” you admitted, which was the full truth. “The way Mrs. Jung always talked about you, she seems so–”

“Proud?” he completed and you smiled, because she was clearly proud of her kids. Then his next words made you frown: “And you didn’t think that she should be proud of me?”

“Don’t project your insecurities on me, Hobi. I was just going to say ‘normal.” 

You spoke candidly with him, after tonight and the laid back dinner you had, plus the amount of stories you’ve heard about this very man, from his mother, made you feel like you already knew him more than you actually did. 

You even caught the little twitch of a smile as you used his nickname.

“Does she know?” your question was soft spoken, as if you were afraid people might hear you, as if you were sharing a secret. 

“That I’m a gang member?” his voice, on the other hand, was leveled, strong, uncaring. You nodded and he carried on: “Nah. She just knows I own S7VEN with the guys.”

“A businessman, huh.” you grinned, watching his sharp profile as his eyes were on the road. 

“At least she never asked to visit me at my workplace.” Hoseok laughed with a little shake of his head that made dark brown hair swoosh. 

“If she does, please let me be there too.” you giggled, resting deeper into the surprisingly comfortable seat. “Bet Mrs. Jung got the moves.”

“God no.” Hoseok wheezed out a loud laugh, most likely picturing the same thing you were. 

“Come on, you must have gotten them from somewhere.” you teased, looking at him in time to see his smile come and go. “Your mother told me once you were a dancer growing up.”

“Yeah, that’s what I wanted to do for a living.” he nodded and looked at you with a smug grin as the car stopped at a red light. “Was pretty damn good at it too.”

“What happened, then?”

“You mean what went wrong?”

You shook your head and rolled your eyes, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. “There you go, projecting again. If you should know one thing about me, it is that I say what I mean.”

“Mmhm. You’re just like hyung that way.” there it was, the hyung again. You didn’t know how many of Bangtan were older than him, or if every time he mentioned the honorific, Hoseok meant the same guy, but you were intrigued. “But yeah, uh. A girl happened. So it changed my path a little.”

“Going from dance competitions to becoming a dance teacher is changing a little.” you pointed out. “Going from dancing to… what is it that you do, again?”

“Maybe I’ll tell you about it one day.” he laughed, and you knew he wouldn’t tell you anything else. 

“So mysterious.”

Your ideas about someone never changed so much so fast, as they did today. Yes, you still thought Hoseok was more dangerous than what meets the eye, and his mother didn’t have the full truth about him; only really seeing what he allowed her to see. But instead of the handsome stranger who just happened to be part of a gang and who fucked you so good you were walking funny the next day, Hoseok was now just a man, too. 

A man who was adorably cute as a toddler, who did dance competitions all over the state, and who stole his sister’s dolls one Christmas, making her cry. You had heard so many little comments and stories over the years you took care of Micky, that it was impossible to separate the ‘Mrs. Jung’s son’ you had in your head, from this charming man driving you home. 

“You have someone waiting at home for you?” Hoseok asked you as you drove into the familiar neighborhood you lived in your whole life. 

“Ah, no, I live alone.” you shook your head, reaching to the floor of the car to pick up your work case. “I’d invite you in, but–”

“Hey, I’m not that sly, I’m not expecting you to.” he assured you, but it didn’t diminish the strong beating of your heart. “Can’t I want to know more about you?”

“Sure.” you offered him a small laugh. “I’ve lived with my grandma, but she passed away three years ago, so it’s just been me.”

“I’m sorry. Can I ask what happened?” Hoseok didn’t seem nosy, just genuinely curious. 

“Old age, but she lived well until her last day, which I'm thankful for.” 

“And your parents?”

That subject was a sore one for many years, especially during your pre-teens as you went through an emo phase, but you were well past that, so you told him: “They weren’t fit to raise me, so my grandma did it. I’ve been with her since I was four so I don’t remember them or my life before that. Which I think it’s a good thing.”

Hoseok nodded, but didn’t ask anything else. The GPS on his phone showed him your house was a few meters away, so he slowed his car down to a full stop when you pointed to your gate.

“This is where I–oh shit, I’m gonna kill those boys.” 

You were rushing out of the car before Hoseok could even say goodbye to you, in such a rush that he worriedly followed you out. 

Hoseok wasn’t all that comfortable being here, in this particular neighborhood, but thankfully you didn’t notice his uneasiness the deeper he drove into Dogsa territory. He also didn’t think anyone saw him being there, but getting out of his car might not be the smartest move. 

But he was glad that he did, or he might have missed the signs. 

Like the zip ties on the front gate, the numbers scribbled in chalk in a hopscotch on the sidewalk to make the code blend in, and, more worryingly, the big, red X painted on your front door. 

“How long has it been there?” Hoseok asked you as he leaned back against the side of his car, hands in his pockets as he looked up and down the street. 

“It wasn’t there when I left this afternoon! The neighbors will get an earful in the morning.” you complained, pushing open the gate to walk into your front yard. “Oh, right–hey, thanks for the ride! And dinner.” 

“Have a good night, doll.” Hoseok gave you a little tilt of his head in reply. 

“It's gonna be so much trouble cleaning that up–” you were mumbling as you walked further and further away from him. 

You were in trouble alright. 

You just didn’t know how much. 

Bringing his black phone to his year, the call being picked up in a second, Hoseok spoke:

“Hey, Kook. I need a favor.”