nine // jae hwa

Jae Hwa hadn't seen Hoseok in a while. It wasn't like she wanted to see him though. It just felt like a piece of the boys were missing without him being present.

The change of mood during the days where he wasn't around was unavoidable; it was quiet and not much fun. She wondered why. If he had some sort of complicated life, he couldn't share with anyone else. Maybe he was having trouble with something. Either way, it would not leave her alone.

"Where's Hoseok?" Jae Hwa asked Taehyung. She had grown closer to all the boys lately, except Hoseok. It was almost as if he didn't want anything to do with her. He was always harsh and grumpy whenever she was around. Jin had told her earlier that he was not anything like that normally. Hoseok was the type of person that smiled and laughed a lot. He had told her that he sometimes thought he was born happy.

His big brown orbs looked into hers. They were shining with worry and confusion. She didn't know if that was because she asked after Hoseok or if it was something else, but it almost looked like he didn't know himself. Maybe he didn't. Maybe that was why they had been so different lately. There sure was something weird going on between them all. She decided not to ask him any more questions. It wasn't her business after all.

Later that day Jae Hwa made her way to the library. Who would have thought she hung out at a place filled with books and knowledge? She had to find something, and she knew very well that if she did not find it her whole grade would suffer. How difficult could it be to find a book? She really needed it to finish one of her projects.

She sighed as he ran her fingers across the spines of the books, some of them were new, and most of them were not. The library was dark and smelled old and dusty, which she liked very much. She thought about that period she used to go to the library frequently, reading all the books she could find.

She sighed when she moved towards the section she hadn't visited in years. It was dark and empty as always. She didn't blame the kids for not daring to come over here though. It was not exactly her favourite place either, but she grew to like it quite a lot.

Her eyes scanned through the endless rows of books; maybe, just maybe she could find it here. A grin spread across her lips when she spotted the title of the book, hidden in between the rest of the useless paperbacks in this section. She reached out to grab the book when she heard a weird sound from behind her. She jumped in surprise.

She slowly turned around to see someone lying on one of the couches in the back of the room. She hadn't even acknowledged the person before now. How could someone be so quiet? She remembered how many times she found herself falling asleep in one of them when she was younger,dreaming herself away in her own fantasy world. They sure were comforting.

"H-hello?"Jae Hwa stuttered, inching closer to the shadow in the corner. "Are you okay?" She got no answer. She was getting worried. She took a deep breath as she bent down to check if everything was okay.

"Please be alive," she whispered as she poked the person. No response. She panicked. "Please," she whispered again, shaking the person fanatically.

She gasped in surprise when the body turned over and she felt the weight of her body tilt her backwards. She was almost one hundred percent sure she would hit the ground, but right before she got the chance to move anywhere, an arm wrapped around her waist, making her fall on top of the person on the couch. She prayed for it to be a cute guy,and not some old dude, but her luck was not the best.

"Could you-," she heard a familiar voice speak out. She knew who this was. She couldn't stop thinking about this person. The only person she'd ever been worried about. She didn't dare to open her eyes, but she knew she had to open them. It would look stupid if she didn't,and she did not need any more awkward moments.

She slowly opened her eyes to face Hoseok. He was the person she thought was dead. She couldn't believe he hid here. If she hadn't been looking for that book, she probably wouldn't find him. She guess that's what he figured out too.

He was watching her questioning, his arm still wrapped around her waist, pinning her down to his body. She couldn't move, and she felt the panic build up inside her. His face was inches from hers. Jae Hwa had never realized how beautiful he was until now. Sure, he was attractive, but she hadn't had the time to study him up close before now. He was just lying there watching her, and she did the same thing.

"I think you should get up," Hoseok spoke up, letting go of Jae Hwa's waist, making her roll of the couch and hit the ground. She groaned in pain and displeasure. How could she have thought for one single second that she might have thought wrong about him, judging him before getting to know him? She sighed as he stood up facing him.

He was over a head taller than her, but he didn't intimidate her. She knew he wouldn't do anything to hurt her, or maybe she didn't, but she hoped he wouldn't. He looked down at her with a blank expression."Shouldn't you be with Jin? What are you doing here?"

Jae Hwa furrowed her brows. Jin? What did he have to do with this? She didn't understand. She didn't know much about Hoseok, but she knew he was really confusing.

"Why are you spending your time on this lousy couch? The boys are worried about you. You should tell them you're doing fine. I thought you were in trouble. Do you even realize how worried you made us?" she scolded at him. He looked up from his feet in surprise. She face palmed herself as she realized what she had just said.

"You worried about me?" he had one of his famous smirks playing on his lips. Jae Hwa rolled her eyes. She knew he would do this. It didn't surprise her at all.

"That's not what I said!" she hissed crossing her arms over her chest. He just chuckled in response, and she was close to connecting her fist with his jaw. She had to control her temper. It didn't take much to trigger her, and she knew he was aware of that. It didn't exactly help the fact that she wanted to punch him.

"That's obviously what you said, but if that helps you sleep at night then okay, let's say you didn't," he let out a loud chuckle, but this time his eyes squinted as well. She remembered what Jin told her. His smile really had some sort of way to brighten up the people around him.

"Please, just talk to the guys. They would have appreciated it a lot," she added with a smile before patting his shoulder. His smile faded, and was quickly replaced with his blank expression again. "I'll see you at school," she said before picking up the book that still was lying on the cold dirty floor, and disappearing out of his view.