for you. yoonseok

knights

AGE EIGHT

and the sun did come back.

now that it is months later, yoongi and hoseok are best friends again and almost inseparable. hoseok had invited yoongi over to his house to play. so the two little boys are aimlessly rolling around on the floor, happily playing with hoseok's toys.

"wahh!" hoseok yells as he and yoongi's figurines' fake swords collide. they laugh and shout as their toys continuously clash against each other because that's how kids have fun apparently.

"yoongi, hobi! i brought some apples!" hoseok's mother hollers from the kitchen.

"pow, bam!" the boys blatantly ignore her and continue their game, lost in their own little world. yoongi's knight figure falls onto the floor with a dramatic cry.

"oh no! the evil king has taken over!" hoseok exclaims in terror.

"min yoongi! jung hoseok! come over and eat an apple!" the mum shouts.

finally, the two boys reluctantly place the figurines down. they quickly dash to the kitchen, where the mother is waiting with freshly-cut fruit for them.

as the boys climb onto the stools and start eating, hoseok's mother beams at the two before asking, "so what are you boys playing?"

"nothing because we are eating apples," yoongi replies sassily.

hoseok smacks yoongi's shoulder. "we're playing castles mummy!" hoseok says instead.

"aw! i remember when you two dressed up as little knights! stay here, i have a photo!" the mother hastily rushes off to her study room and comes back with a photo album. she hands the book to the boys, who immediately accept it and start rifling through the pages.

as their eyes scan picture after picture, yoongi spots a photo of the two from a year ago and breaks into a gummy smile.

"hobi hobi! remember this last january?" he exclaims, tapping his shoulder to show the polaroid.

hoseok glances at the old photo of the two before snickering, "you were such a little drama queen last year."

"hey!" yoongi protests, pouting as he put the photograph down. "i forgave you!"

"of course you did," hoseok grins playfully, poking yoongi's cheek, "because you love~ me"

yoongi swatted his friend's hand away with a harmless eyeroll. "mhm, whatever," he says...

— last year —

yoongi had avoided hoseok for days, much to the other's dismay.

it wasn't a full-fledged ignorance from him, more like a certain strange avoidence of eye contact and short meaningless replies to hoseok's questions.

it really did break hoseok's heart.

to see his favorite person treat him so... coldly and irritably. it was like yoongi was a whole new person. a joyless, bleak child hoseok didn't like seeing. he liked — no, loved yoongi.. as a friend. it hurt him a lot.

yoongi wasn't acting like himself. he didn't feel happy anymore, and felt only emptiness in his heart. he missed and longed for hoseok, but was far too stubborn to accept the boy's many apologies.

so, after constant annoyance from hoseok, yoongi snapped.

"what?" he spat as hoseok trailed closely behind him.

"why are you still mad at me!?" hoseok asked in a whiny, saddened voice.

yoongi quickly looked down, muttering "go away" under his breath.

"yoonie!" hoseok cried, "i'm so sorry!"

"no." the smaller boy grunted, shaking his head and avoiding eye contact. he hastily runs away from hoseok and over to namjoon at the other end of the hallway.

namjoon glared at him the second yoongi arrived, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"what?" yoongi grunted while catching his breath.

"you gotta stop this yoongi, hoseok is all torn up inside because of you."

"i-i don't care!" yoongi lied through his teeth.

"you know what – fine! here, here's a note from hoseok, hopefully it'll make you actually realize how horribly you're treating him." namjoon shoved a crumpled note into yoongi's arms and angrily stormed off, muttering under his breath.

yoongi scowled at the retreating boy before yanking up the note — nearly tearing it in the process — and bitterly unraveling the thin paper.

the note was written in hoseok's messy handwriting and read:

it's ok that you ignore me yoonie.
i'm sorry i was bad :(
even though you don't like me i love u.
ur still my bestest friend ever!
love, hobi!

yoongi blinked a few times, gripping the paper indecisively.

after all of that. after the glares, ignorance, and rudeness yoongi's shown towards him...

"h-he still loves me!" yoongi wailed finally, his eyes watering with tears of guilt.

namjoon, who is watching from afar, pressed his lips into a tight line and nodded, sighing softly.

"of course... he always has and always will..." namjoon murmured, inching closer to the two once again. he was tired of the drama; he just wanted his friends to get along again. yoongi held a grudge easily, but hoseok forgave in a heartbeat. sometimes namjoon questioned how two children so different could live in harmony and happiness — well, besides now of course.

yoongi is scouring the halls, peering into every crowd and corner to find hoseok. he held the paper slip close to his chest, holding it tightly as if it was a plush toy. chills of terror and guilt coursed through him as he thought about namjoon's words and how every one of his cold actions could have affected a sensitive boy like hoseok.

yoongi finally notices hoseok standing against the wall, his head down in thought.

namjoon observes as yoongi cried in relief and shame and flung himself at hoseok, jumping onto the boy and holding onto him tightly.

"i'm so sorry hobi!" he wailed into the boy's shoulder,  "it's all my fault!"

hoseok, with no reluctance, immediately drops everything and merrily hugs yoongi back, insisting "no, its my fault yoonie, i'm sorry i said our secret!"

"you're both at fault," namjoon suddenly remarked; he had somehow creepily snuck up behind them.

"be quiet namjoonie!" the two boys shout in unison.