This story is a drabble of fluff with the adorable Hoseok. It is based on the One Direction song, "All These Little Things." Enjoy!
~Bubble Tea and First Meetings~
“Hoseok, look! Bubble Tea!” her voice rang through the noise of the bustling streets of Seoul; her hand grasping mine, interlacing our fingers.
Perfect. They fit together perfectly, filling in the spaces like the teeth of a zipper. The palms of our hands sliding against one another cozily, creating a delightful friction and warmth as they clasped and she led me in the direction of a quaint tea shop.
With her, there was only ever one direction though: her direction. I blindly followed wherever she went, like a lost puppy some might say, but hey I was ok with it as long as I was hers. I just loved watching that smile light up her face in a way that shamed all of the bright lights of Seoul itself. It was breathtaking—truly.
Smiling down at her, I picked up my pace as she rushed toward the sign promising bubble tea, “I’ll never understand your obsession with this stuff.”
Her dark hair flew over her shoulder, cascading down her shoulder blades, as she shot me that stunning smile, “Don’t you remember? The first time we met?”
Bobbing my head, I recalled the exact moment, extracting it from my memory, which sent an immediate smile to my lips, “Yes. I ran straight into you at that little shop that Taehyung just had to drag us into. I knocked that tea you were drinking all over your shirt—the blue one I like,” sighing I drug one hand over my face at the embarrassment I still felt from the incident, letting out a small chuckle, “I felt like such an idiot, and then when I looked up at you…”
I paused. There were those words again, begging me to let them escape, but I kept tight lipped. I couldn’t be in love, not yet. It was all too fast.
Quirking one eyebrow, she nodded, finishing for me, “And you apologized immensely because you’re a total sweetheart,” then with a cute giggle, “Remember how you attempted to clean it with those napkins on the counter? How they ended up just tearing and making an even bigger mess?”
“Oh yes, please keep doing that! Tell me more about how embarrassing I was that day. That’s great,” I teased, reaching forward to grip her shoulder and pull her toward me so that I could plant a kiss on her cheek.
Hugging her arms around my ribs, she tiptoed to reach my own cheek and kissed it gently, “I thought it was adorable, not embarrassing. That day when you spilled my tea all over me, it was more than just a cup of tea, it was bubble tea. That’s why I love it so much; it reminds me of that beautiful day, and how you and I began this.”
Reaching up, she brushed her lips against mine in a chaste embrace, and then smiled, “But, the taste doesn’t hurt either.”
“Is that the little dipper?” I asked, pointing at a random cluster of stars, closing one eye to improve my focus on the tiny white dots painting the sky brightly.
Laughing, I felt her roll closer to me, taking my hand in hers and moving it to a different spot entirely, tracing the shape of a small group of stars in the sky, “This is the little dipper, see?” then she moved our hands once again, “And here is the big dipper.”
“Ohhh…,” I still wasn’t entirely certain I actually saw any ‘dipper’, but I nodded my head as if I did anyway.
“You didn’t see it did you?” she giggled, slipping her hand to rest upon her stomach, turning her head toward me and shooting me a smile that glimmered brighter than all of those stars combined.
She loved this. Lying here in the softness of the grass as the frogs made their symphony accompanied by the crickets, gazing up at the starlit sky, pointing out constellations. I never understood it, until that moment, when a new constellation appeared, one with pink lips and dazzling eyes. In that instant I finally connected with her love for stargazing, but the constellation scattered behind her lips was the only one I was truly interested in.
Brushing one thumb over the apple of her cheek, I nodded again, staring into those sparkling eyes, “Oh, I saw it alright.”
Another constellation formed there in her mouth just for me.
We were swimming in a sea of white sheets, tangling our limbs, kissing patterns across patches of skin. Sweet nothings, breathy sighs, and promises of forever filled the room with a symphony of our own making. Chest to chest, I could feel that familiar rhythm hammering between us as our hearts became harmonious, beating together as one singular heartbeat.
The dim glow of light from the one lamp we had bothered to leave on only made her look more ethereal above me: skin glimmering with small beads of sweat; eyes shimmering; hair tumbling loosely down her back. It all added up to one thing: perfection.
She was flawless. Everything from the crinkles by her eyes as she smiled into my kisses, to her stomach and thighs and hips sitting exactly where they were meant to be. Holding her in my two hands, I wondered how it was that I had been so blessed to be able to call something so truly beautiful mine.
Standing, she stretched lazily, looking feline as she made her way to the small bathroom adjacent to the bedroom, those feminine curves swaying all the while. My eyes immediately located the feature that drove me absolutely wild: the dimples at the bottom of her spine. I loved pressing my thumbs into them, noting how they fit perfectly within, as if they were carved just for me.
Glimpsing over her shoulder, she raised one elegant eyebrow, “What?”
Lifting one side of my mouth into a half-smile, I shook my head, “Nothing.”
“Mm…Hoseok, not too much salt, you’ll ruin the flavor,” she murmured, rolling across her arm on the pillow.
Grinning down at her sleeping form, I massaged her scalp gently, sitting there enjoying our secret conversation that even she would not know of later. These were the moments I looked forward to each night. These little conversations between us as she slept. I loved deciphering the little murmurs and sighs that escaped her lips.
“I won’t ruin it. Salt is my favorite, there’s no such thing as too much,” I laughed quietly, brushing her hair from over her forehead and back into its spot.
“Mmm…Too much sodium is bad,” she sighed gently, her face relaxing peacefully.
“Alright, fine, no more salt,” I nodded, as if she could see me.
“Good boy,” she patted at her pillow cutely, “Ngh…Hoseok?”
“Yes?” sleep was starting to cloud my eyes as I scooted down to lay by her, wrapping one arm around her waist as I shut my eyes.
My eyes flew open then, very much awake. Those words again. What should I say? It was still too soon to tell, so I simply kissed the freckled skin of her shoulder and drifted into dreams of her and me.
“So, you had a good performance then? How is Japan treating you?” her voice was soft on the other line; the perfect end to my hectic day.
Stretching my legs in the hotel bed, I found myself yearning for her presence, for her skin to be brushing mine as she lay beside me. I pushed the feeling aside, and made my heart promise not to make me think about those three little words again. Not now. Not in this moment.
“It went well, thank you baby. Japan is great, very friendly, it has everything!” I replied, thoughts of the busy streets and all of our loving fans flashed through my head making me grin.
“Oh, Hoseok, that is wonderful! I am so happy for you; for all of you! Tell the other boys I said hi and send my love," and then, "So, what all have you seen there? What is this "everything" you speak of?” she teased, and I could imagine vividly the devious little smirk painting her lips and then the bubblegum tongue parting them as she stuck it out playfully.
“I will. They all miss you and your cooking, by the way,” she laughed heartily—gosh, I missed her—and I added, “It has everything! Anything you can think of…but there’s one thing missing.”
I could hear the smile in her voice, “Goodnight, Hoseok.”
I fell in love with how she said that word: goodnight. It was always more of a promise of tomorrow. Our tomorrow.
“It needs more salt,” I said, dipping a finger in the sauce, tasting it experimentally.
“No,” she giggled, swatting my finger playfully away from the pan.
Pouting, I puffed out my bottom lip, attempting to win her over with a puppy dog stare, “Please~!”
Sighing, her mouth lifted into that heart-warming smile, as she gave in and tossed some extra salt into the dark sauce, “There, you big baby.”
Grinning, I hugged her from behind, letting my hands rest on her stomach, craning my neck down and trailing wet kisses down the skin of her neck and shoulder. I felt her relax into my embrace, exhale slowly and continue her efforts to cook us dinner. She tossed more spices into the mix, and checked the small rice cooker.
As she turned in my arms, that feeling—those three pesky words—hit me again all at once, and I felt myself giving into my hearts wishes. It began quivering there beneath my chest as her hand came to rest right over it, holding the very thing she had won. How had she stolen my heart so easily?
Then I remembered all those little things; all of those moments that made me love her. It was time to tell her. To confess my adoration.
Mustering up my courage, I looked into those bright eyes, “I have a secret I want to share with you.”
A shade of pink dusted her cheeks prettily, “Me too.”
My eyebrows lifted in surprise as I let my hands fall back to my sides, “You do?”
Shaking her head, she looked at me in a way I had never seen before, “Yeah…”
I gestured for her to go on, and she took one shaky breath before blurting, “I love you.”
Her hands came up to cup her mouth nervously, as if willing the words safely back into her mouth. I breathed heavily, letting those words wash over me like one giant wave, pounding me into the sand below, waiting to rise up for air. Her eyes began watering, shining in a way I’d never seen, one tear running down her cheek. I wiped it with my thumb, and shook my head at her as I relearned how to breathe, “Don’t.”
“But, you—you didn’t say it back,” she sobbed, more tears dripping down from her eyes, washing over my thumb.
Leaning down, I brought my trembling lips to her ear, whispering, “Do you want to hear my secret now?”
Her head barely nodded, I smiled against her lobe, kissing the soft skin tenderly, “I love you too. You and all your little things.”
So this is love…Why did it take me so long to accept it?
Kissing her there in the kitchen, murmuring those words over and over again, holding her in my arms, I felt for the first time ever: complete.
