Laughing 'til our ribs get tough
Title: Laughing 'til our ribs get tough
Pairing: V/Jhope
Word Count: ~2.2k
Summary: They grow up together.
Taehyung’s memory isn’t the best, he often forgets small and (un)important things. He forgets that his classes start one hour later every second Monday and he often finds himself standing in front of closed gates or he forgets that his football practice is before school on Friday so he’s always late because he hasn’t woken up on time.
But he remembers summer when he was six.
When he squints, he can almost see old ice-cream stand near the fountain in the small park near his house.
Taehyung remembers waving goodbye to his mother before running off and joining other kids on the playground. He remembers her warm smile and gentle words telling him to be careful and not to fight with other boys and girls because she didn’t teach him to be a little rascal. He also remembers changing direction in the last second and deciding that exploring wilderness of the unknown parts of the park was much more exciting than playing in the sandbox or on the swings. He’s still not sure if she noticed or not because she has never told him anything.
Oh… and he also remembers scrapped knees and a boy named Hoseok telling him to stop crying because he’s a big boy.
There’s something about Hoseok that reminds Taehyung of a sun that he saw in the cartoon he watched the other day. The sun was almost like a child, with chubby cheeks and toothy smile and blue eyes but Hoseok’s cheeks aren’t as chubby as the sun’s and his eyes are chocolate brown (Taehyung checked to make sure he’s not wrong). It must be the smile, Taehyung decides with a nod of his head, black locks bouncing on the spring breeze and Hoseok laughs once again, pink gums and white teeth.
First grade is scary and Taehyung finds it a little too hard to let go of his mother’s hand when they approach the classroom at the end of the long hallway. Hoseok isn’t with him today because Hoseok is older and he can’t attend Taehyung’s classes. They had a very serious conversation about it which resulted in Taehyung pouting in the corner of his room until Hoseok said that he had to go and waved goodbye.
Taehyung’s palms are sweaty when he finally lets go and taking a deep breath he enters the classroom. His mother is right behind him and while she talks with the teacher, Taehyung’s eyes roam across the room. He’s nervous and small teeth are sinking in his bottom lip as he watches other kids. He remembers few of them from the playground in the park but he never really talked to them and their names are still a mystery to him and his mom is saying goodbye and he really wishes that Hoseok is here as well.
“Be good,” his mother says with a smile.
“Can I go home with you?”
“Not now.”
“But mom…”
“I’ll come for you in few hours, okay?”
The words Taehyung hears aren’t convincing enough and he can feel tears in the corner of his eyes.
“You’re a big boy, everything will be fine,” she smiles one last time before leaving and kisses his cheek. “Bye sweetie!”
Four hours seem too long to Taehyung. The clock above the blackboard is so slow and the teacher is telling them something he doesn’t quite understand and the girl sitting beside him keeps playing with crayons and why his mom isn’t here yet!
When the bell finally rings, Taehyung can smile again because his mother is waiting for him at the school gates and Hoseok is with her as well.
Before the first week of school ends, Taehyung meets his first school friend. His name is Jimin and he lives few streets away and soon they end up going to school together.
As they grow up, Taehyung realizes that he doesn’t know as much about Hoseok as he wants to. Sure he knows Hoseok’s favorite color and cartoon and that he dislikes apples and carrots, but he doesn’t know where Hoseok lives or if he has any friends in school and which subject he hates.
Lazy Saturday mornings are perfect for staying in bed until noon, eating pancakes for breakfast and playing video games all day long.
“So, how’s school?” Hoseok asks just at the moment when Taehyung is about to finally beat his ass in a game.
“Not now,” he murmurs, all attention on the screen, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. All he needs is a one good move. Just one move but then Hoseok pulls his hand, his fingers messing with commands and…
“Shit!” Taehyung cusses, word slipping through gritted teeth.
Hoseok looks at him in surprise, an amused smile forming on his thin lips.
“I… I… didn’t mean it,” Taehyung stumbles over his own words, his fingers playing with the buttons of the controller, nervously pressing here and there even though the game is over.
“I’m sorry, hyung.”
He’s flustered and Hoseok finds it kind of cute. Taehyung looks at him with a sheepish smile, lips already bitten too many times over the last few hours when Hoseok beat him in every game they played.
“It’s okay,” Hoseok says after a while, still fighting with laughter bubbling up in the back of his throat.
Taehyung’s voice is small when he asks, “You’re not mad?” and Hoseok just ruffles his hair.
Eight years of elementary school pass by in a blink of an eye and Taehyung gets caught between dreams of elite highschools and sad reality that some of his grades are.
Jimin will attend dance academy in Busan and few days after the last school bell has rung, Taehyung is at the bus station waving goodbye to his friend. He waves as long as he can see the bus and for the first time in years he feels a bit lonely.
“He’ll come back for winter vacation,” Hoseok says.
“He won’t.”
Taehyung rides the bus with his knees pulled in. He was supposed to get off at the second stop, but didn’t.
The bus is almost empty, the driver is listening to obnoxiously cheerful songs and Taehyung is looking outside. The scenery is a blur of dead autumn colors and rust on metal roofs, the sky is painted with unattractive shade of grey and it’s been days since he saw sun shining through heavy rain clouds.
He pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jacket. No new messages, no missed calls. Jimin has forgotten him.
“You won’t leave, right?”
Hoseok isn’t sure if he heard him correctly, but he still replies, “I won’t.”
“Promise?”
Hoseok looks outside as well, noticing children playing on the corner of the street, noticing a small boy playing by himself few meters from the rest of the kids. “Yeah…”
Taehyung’s favorite book is “Peter Pan” because in Neverland nobody grows up, nobody leaves, there are no real worries, no stress sitting on his shoulders whether he’ll pass an exam or not. Everything is fun and games and adventures and friends are always beside you.
Hoseok’s favorite book is “The Little Prince” mostly because Taehyung with his hair dyed strawberry blonde reminds him of the main character (and maybe because he’s more similar to the fox than he’d ever admit).
Highschool is a scary place, Taehyung concludes after first few months. Nobody pats you on the back for a correct answer, nobody congratulates you when you get a good grade. Instead, they look at you with jealousy in their eyes. They see you as a threat, an opponent, an enemy and Taehyung finds himself sitting in the back rows of the classroom, avoiding people because majority of them thinks that he’s weird and they wonder how he managed to enroll in an elite highschool. He sees his grades slipping through his fingers like grains of sand and his future is becoming more uncertain with every day that passes.
His 17th birthday comes unnoticed and when he returns home late in the evening, he leaves his backpack by the doors of his room and collapses on the bed.
“Hey birthday boy!” Hoseok calls out and Taehyung almost rolls off the bed in shock. Hoseok is sitting on his desk, chocolate muffin with a lit up candle in his hand. He has that too familiar mischievous smile on his face and Taehyung isn’t sure what to expect.
“Since it’s your birthday, I brought you a cupcake. Happy birthday!” he exclaims. Taehyung smiles for the first time in days and instead of asking Hoseok what kind of black magic he used to sneak into his house, he gets up and makes a wish before blowing the candle out. Hoseok smears a bit of chocolate filling over Taehyung’s face and pulls him in a tight hug, bone-crashing hug.
“My boy is growing up so fast,” Hoseok says in a high-pitched voice mimicking every protective mother in the world and Taehyung can’t help but laughing.
Hoseok comes and goes as he wishes. There are no goodbyes or seeyousoons but Taehyung doesn’t mind it because he knows (and he’s not sure how he does) that Hoseok will come back when he needs him the most.
There are few reasons why summer is Taehyung’s favorite season. There’s no school, he can sleep as long as he wants, his grandparents spoil him to no end during two months he spends with them and Hoseok doesn’t leave his side or better yet his house because apparently Mrs. Kim makes the best pancakes in the world.
“If you had the chance, you’d sell me for my granny’s pancakes, wouldn’t you?”
“Well yeah…” Hoseok mumbles between bites.
They’re sitting on the floor in Taehyung’s summer room. There’s no air conditioning except for an old fan on the ceiling and it took them probably ten minutes to find the best spot on the wooden floor.
Hoseok’s plate is almost empty and every few seconds he seals a piece of pancakes from Taehyung who doesn’t really mind because no matter how much he loves pancakes, having them for breakfast for three weeks is a bit too much.
“You can have it all,” he finally says and hands the plate to eager Hoseok.
“What have you planned for today?” Hoseok asks after a minute of silence.
“To beat your ass in Mario Kart.”
“Really? No going outside, swimming or something?”
“Nah, you’re going down today,” Taehyung threatens.
And Hoseok does go down, under the weight of Taehyung’s limbs, when he tries to cheat.
They’re so different that Taehyung often wonders how he and Hoseok get along so well. They don’t like the same ice-cream flavor, Taehyung always preferring chocolate over everything else and Hoseok liking vanilla the most. They never can agree on what video game to play or who’s better - The Simpsons or Family Guy, but they can agree that Sponge Bob is the best.
Hoseok is a morning person, always cheerful since early hours. Taehyung is a night owl, heavy curtains over his windows until noon. Hoseok is always in a good mood, Taehyung can’t remember the last time he saw Hoseok grumpy. On the other hand, Taehyung is a bit bipolar sometimes.
But in the end, Taehyung doesn’t ponder about it too much because Hoseok’s smile makes him forget all his so-called flaws.
Senior year isn’t anything special to Taehyung. Everyday he goes to school, studies, tries to listen what the teachers are saying (but sometimes he falls asleep during chemistry or history for not particular reason except the fact that those classes are his first on early Monday mornings).
He hasn’t seen Hoseok since summer and often wonders what he’s doing even though Taehyung knows that Hoseok is a university student now and that he probably doesn’t have as much free time as he used to. Taehyung tries to convince himself that he’s not missing Hoseok’s smiles or his stupid remarks and failed puns.
He doesn’t succeed.
With winter comes snow and December 30th. Taehyung hopes that this year he’ll receive something more than a chocolate cupcake even though he still remembers its taste. His parents are away once again, they were supposed to come back a day before his birthday but due to snow, they couldn’t make it. Nobody remembers the last time it snowed so much.
Taehyung looks outside and tries to guess what is under piles of snow - a car, a trash can, a tree? He has never liked winter or cold, and when a snowball hits his window, he almost jumps out of his own skin. Another one hits it, this time with a bit more strength, and Taehyung really isn’t in a mood for dealing with neighbors’ kids so he opens his window and before he can protest, a snowball hits him straight in the face.
“Come down here!” somebody yells and the voice is too familiar. “And sorry for hitting you in the face,” Hoseok sheepishly apologizes.
Ten minutes later, after dressing warmly, Taehyung comes outside.
“Happy birthday!” Hoseok exclaims before Taehyung has a chance to say anything.
“Thanks, but you’re a bit early, my birthday is…”
“Today! It’s already midnight, Tae.”
Hoseok smiles, all pink gums and white teeth, and Taehyung’s heart skips a beat.
~ happy bday to my cutiepie! ^^
~ fluff isn't really my thing... OTL
~ not beta-ed
~ written with lorde's "ribs" and "buzzcut season" on repeat
Pairing: V/Jhope
Word Count: ~2.2k
Summary: They grow up together.
Taehyung’s memory isn’t the best, he often forgets small and (un)important things. He forgets that his classes start one hour later every second Monday and he often finds himself standing in front of closed gates or he forgets that his football practice is before school on Friday so he’s always late because he hasn’t woken up on time.
But he remembers summer when he was six.
When he squints, he can almost see old ice-cream stand near the fountain in the small park near his house.
Taehyung remembers waving goodbye to his mother before running off and joining other kids on the playground. He remembers her warm smile and gentle words telling him to be careful and not to fight with other boys and girls because she didn’t teach him to be a little rascal. He also remembers changing direction in the last second and deciding that exploring wilderness of the unknown parts of the park was much more exciting than playing in the sandbox or on the swings. He’s still not sure if she noticed or not because she has never told him anything.
Oh… and he also remembers scrapped knees and a boy named Hoseok telling him to stop crying because he’s a big boy.
There’s something about Hoseok that reminds Taehyung of a sun that he saw in the cartoon he watched the other day. The sun was almost like a child, with chubby cheeks and toothy smile and blue eyes but Hoseok’s cheeks aren’t as chubby as the sun’s and his eyes are chocolate brown (Taehyung checked to make sure he’s not wrong). It must be the smile, Taehyung decides with a nod of his head, black locks bouncing on the spring breeze and Hoseok laughs once again, pink gums and white teeth.
First grade is scary and Taehyung finds it a little too hard to let go of his mother’s hand when they approach the classroom at the end of the long hallway. Hoseok isn’t with him today because Hoseok is older and he can’t attend Taehyung’s classes. They had a very serious conversation about it which resulted in Taehyung pouting in the corner of his room until Hoseok said that he had to go and waved goodbye.
Taehyung’s palms are sweaty when he finally lets go and taking a deep breath he enters the classroom. His mother is right behind him and while she talks with the teacher, Taehyung’s eyes roam across the room. He’s nervous and small teeth are sinking in his bottom lip as he watches other kids. He remembers few of them from the playground in the park but he never really talked to them and their names are still a mystery to him and his mom is saying goodbye and he really wishes that Hoseok is here as well.
“Be good,” his mother says with a smile.
“Can I go home with you?”
“Not now.”
“But mom…”
“I’ll come for you in few hours, okay?”
The words Taehyung hears aren’t convincing enough and he can feel tears in the corner of his eyes.
“You’re a big boy, everything will be fine,” she smiles one last time before leaving and kisses his cheek. “Bye sweetie!”
Four hours seem too long to Taehyung. The clock above the blackboard is so slow and the teacher is telling them something he doesn’t quite understand and the girl sitting beside him keeps playing with crayons and why his mom isn’t here yet!
When the bell finally rings, Taehyung can smile again because his mother is waiting for him at the school gates and Hoseok is with her as well.
Before the first week of school ends, Taehyung meets his first school friend. His name is Jimin and he lives few streets away and soon they end up going to school together.
As they grow up, Taehyung realizes that he doesn’t know as much about Hoseok as he wants to. Sure he knows Hoseok’s favorite color and cartoon and that he dislikes apples and carrots, but he doesn’t know where Hoseok lives or if he has any friends in school and which subject he hates.
Lazy Saturday mornings are perfect for staying in bed until noon, eating pancakes for breakfast and playing video games all day long.
“So, how’s school?” Hoseok asks just at the moment when Taehyung is about to finally beat his ass in a game.
“Not now,” he murmurs, all attention on the screen, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. All he needs is a one good move. Just one move but then Hoseok pulls his hand, his fingers messing with commands and…
“Shit!” Taehyung cusses, word slipping through gritted teeth.
Hoseok looks at him in surprise, an amused smile forming on his thin lips.
“I… I… didn’t mean it,” Taehyung stumbles over his own words, his fingers playing with the buttons of the controller, nervously pressing here and there even though the game is over.
“I’m sorry, hyung.”
He’s flustered and Hoseok finds it kind of cute. Taehyung looks at him with a sheepish smile, lips already bitten too many times over the last few hours when Hoseok beat him in every game they played.
“It’s okay,” Hoseok says after a while, still fighting with laughter bubbling up in the back of his throat.
Taehyung’s voice is small when he asks, “You’re not mad?” and Hoseok just ruffles his hair.
Eight years of elementary school pass by in a blink of an eye and Taehyung gets caught between dreams of elite highschools and sad reality that some of his grades are.
Jimin will attend dance academy in Busan and few days after the last school bell has rung, Taehyung is at the bus station waving goodbye to his friend. He waves as long as he can see the bus and for the first time in years he feels a bit lonely.
“He’ll come back for winter vacation,” Hoseok says.
“He won’t.”
Taehyung rides the bus with his knees pulled in. He was supposed to get off at the second stop, but didn’t.
The bus is almost empty, the driver is listening to obnoxiously cheerful songs and Taehyung is looking outside. The scenery is a blur of dead autumn colors and rust on metal roofs, the sky is painted with unattractive shade of grey and it’s been days since he saw sun shining through heavy rain clouds.
He pulls his phone out of the pocket of his jacket. No new messages, no missed calls. Jimin has forgotten him.
“You won’t leave, right?”
Hoseok isn’t sure if he heard him correctly, but he still replies, “I won’t.”
“Promise?”
Hoseok looks outside as well, noticing children playing on the corner of the street, noticing a small boy playing by himself few meters from the rest of the kids. “Yeah…”
Taehyung’s favorite book is “Peter Pan” because in Neverland nobody grows up, nobody leaves, there are no real worries, no stress sitting on his shoulders whether he’ll pass an exam or not. Everything is fun and games and adventures and friends are always beside you.
Hoseok’s favorite book is “The Little Prince” mostly because Taehyung with his hair dyed strawberry blonde reminds him of the main character (and maybe because he’s more similar to the fox than he’d ever admit).
Highschool is a scary place, Taehyung concludes after first few months. Nobody pats you on the back for a correct answer, nobody congratulates you when you get a good grade. Instead, they look at you with jealousy in their eyes. They see you as a threat, an opponent, an enemy and Taehyung finds himself sitting in the back rows of the classroom, avoiding people because majority of them thinks that he’s weird and they wonder how he managed to enroll in an elite highschool. He sees his grades slipping through his fingers like grains of sand and his future is becoming more uncertain with every day that passes.
His 17th birthday comes unnoticed and when he returns home late in the evening, he leaves his backpack by the doors of his room and collapses on the bed.
“Hey birthday boy!” Hoseok calls out and Taehyung almost rolls off the bed in shock. Hoseok is sitting on his desk, chocolate muffin with a lit up candle in his hand. He has that too familiar mischievous smile on his face and Taehyung isn’t sure what to expect.
“Since it’s your birthday, I brought you a cupcake. Happy birthday!” he exclaims. Taehyung smiles for the first time in days and instead of asking Hoseok what kind of black magic he used to sneak into his house, he gets up and makes a wish before blowing the candle out. Hoseok smears a bit of chocolate filling over Taehyung’s face and pulls him in a tight hug, bone-crashing hug.
“My boy is growing up so fast,” Hoseok says in a high-pitched voice mimicking every protective mother in the world and Taehyung can’t help but laughing.
Hoseok comes and goes as he wishes. There are no goodbyes or seeyousoons but Taehyung doesn’t mind it because he knows (and he’s not sure how he does) that Hoseok will come back when he needs him the most.
There are few reasons why summer is Taehyung’s favorite season. There’s no school, he can sleep as long as he wants, his grandparents spoil him to no end during two months he spends with them and Hoseok doesn’t leave his side or better yet his house because apparently Mrs. Kim makes the best pancakes in the world.
“If you had the chance, you’d sell me for my granny’s pancakes, wouldn’t you?”
“Well yeah…” Hoseok mumbles between bites.
They’re sitting on the floor in Taehyung’s summer room. There’s no air conditioning except for an old fan on the ceiling and it took them probably ten minutes to find the best spot on the wooden floor.
Hoseok’s plate is almost empty and every few seconds he seals a piece of pancakes from Taehyung who doesn’t really mind because no matter how much he loves pancakes, having them for breakfast for three weeks is a bit too much.
“You can have it all,” he finally says and hands the plate to eager Hoseok.
“What have you planned for today?” Hoseok asks after a minute of silence.
“To beat your ass in Mario Kart.”
“Really? No going outside, swimming or something?”
“Nah, you’re going down today,” Taehyung threatens.
And Hoseok does go down, under the weight of Taehyung’s limbs, when he tries to cheat.
They’re so different that Taehyung often wonders how he and Hoseok get along so well. They don’t like the same ice-cream flavor, Taehyung always preferring chocolate over everything else and Hoseok liking vanilla the most. They never can agree on what video game to play or who’s better - The Simpsons or Family Guy, but they can agree that Sponge Bob is the best.
Hoseok is a morning person, always cheerful since early hours. Taehyung is a night owl, heavy curtains over his windows until noon. Hoseok is always in a good mood, Taehyung can’t remember the last time he saw Hoseok grumpy. On the other hand, Taehyung is a bit bipolar sometimes.
But in the end, Taehyung doesn’t ponder about it too much because Hoseok’s smile makes him forget all his so-called flaws.
Senior year isn’t anything special to Taehyung. Everyday he goes to school, studies, tries to listen what the teachers are saying (but sometimes he falls asleep during chemistry or history for not particular reason except the fact that those classes are his first on early Monday mornings).
He hasn’t seen Hoseok since summer and often wonders what he’s doing even though Taehyung knows that Hoseok is a university student now and that he probably doesn’t have as much free time as he used to. Taehyung tries to convince himself that he’s not missing Hoseok’s smiles or his stupid remarks and failed puns.
He doesn’t succeed.
With winter comes snow and December 30th. Taehyung hopes that this year he’ll receive something more than a chocolate cupcake even though he still remembers its taste. His parents are away once again, they were supposed to come back a day before his birthday but due to snow, they couldn’t make it. Nobody remembers the last time it snowed so much.
Taehyung looks outside and tries to guess what is under piles of snow - a car, a trash can, a tree? He has never liked winter or cold, and when a snowball hits his window, he almost jumps out of his own skin. Another one hits it, this time with a bit more strength, and Taehyung really isn’t in a mood for dealing with neighbors’ kids so he opens his window and before he can protest, a snowball hits him straight in the face.
“Come down here!” somebody yells and the voice is too familiar. “And sorry for hitting you in the face,” Hoseok sheepishly apologizes.
Ten minutes later, after dressing warmly, Taehyung comes outside.
“Happy birthday!” Hoseok exclaims before Taehyung has a chance to say anything.
“Thanks, but you’re a bit early, my birthday is…”
“Today! It’s already midnight, Tae.”
Hoseok smiles, all pink gums and white teeth, and Taehyung’s heart skips a beat.
~ happy bday to my cutiepie! ^^
~ fluff isn't really my thing... OTL
~ not beta-ed
~ written with lorde's "ribs" and "buzzcut season" on repeat