Soo Emi

"Namjoon-ah, you said you were going to swim with me." Hoseok peeks through the sliding doors. "You should keep your promises, bro!"

I quietly scoffed. "Not everything's about you."

"Not everything's about you either, sweetheart." He replies with a slight slur.

I turned away and faced the wall.

Namjoon stood up from his chair. "If it's alright, Em."

"It's cool. Go ahead. I'm not your mother, I'm not gonna stop you." I held up my hands and stood up too. "If you wanna swim, then swim. We had our talk, I got what I wanted, didn't I?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Come on, darling, why don't you come swim with us?" Hoseok offers with a cheeky smile.

"And why would I do that?"

"Because the water's nice...and I know how much you love good scenery. The view out here is magnificent."

I crossed my arms, trying not to give in to such a convincing argument.

But I do love a good view.

"I-I don't have a swimsuit, though, so I can't." I quickly denied and grabbed my bag.

"Namjoon, don't you have extras in the pool house?"

Our eyes went to Namjoon, who jumped at our sudden gazes.

"We-Well, yeah, I do." He coughs.

"Why do you have extra swimsuits in the pool house?" I asked.

"For pool parties." He coughs again.

"There we go. Your needs have been met, babe. You coming out?" Hoseok holds out a hand.

I walk straight past him, through the sliding doors, ignoring his hand. "Only for a bit."

I hear him chuckle behind me as I walk to the white-colored pool house right of the pool.

"Uh, the women's bikinis are in the closet! Next to the men's shorts!" Namjoon shouts.

"Are you kidding me? Bikinis?"

"I am still a man, Emi."

I rolled my eyes and stepped into the closet.

*

I walked out with the simplest black bikini I could find in there.

I always knew Namjoon was good at picking out women's clothing, but bathing suits too? What does that man do in his free time?

I walked out and Namjoon and Hoseok were chilling in the hot tub, 5 feet apart cuz' they're not gay.

"Hey, Emi! Looking like a snack!" Namjoon hollers and waves me over. "Come join us!"

I didn't bother to look at Hoseok. Knowing him, his expression right now could either be "lustful" or "expressionless".

I didn't care anyways.

"It's getting hot out. I'm going into the pool!" I shout back.

I stepped onto the diving board and jumped a few times. On my third jump, I fly into the air and did an amateur front flip into the water.

I swim back to the surface and did some mini laps around the rectangular pool.

Within a few minutes, Hoseok and Namjoon come jumping in, splashing me with waves of water.

"Geez! You almost took out my head!" I screamed and covered my face.

A pair of hands wrap around my stomach and I was submerged into the water.

I tried to rip the hands off, but failed, and I was brought back to air.

I turn around and see that Hoseok was the one who attempted to drown me.

"Namjoon! Look! Did you see that? Hoseok tried to kill me!" I pointed to him and screamed.

"Chill out, babe, I wasn't trying to drown you. I was just messing with you." He chuckled and swam towards me.

"Same thing." I mumbled and climbed out of the pool.

Moments turned into a couple of hours and the afternoon finally rolled around.

Namjoon and Hoseok went inside to change, but I stayed outside to look over the view from his backyard.

I've been to this house a thousand times and I've seen this view a thousand times, but I will never get tired of how amazing it looks from up here.

It's just refreshing because of the breeze it offered too. It was like breathing in pure air.

A towel was suddenly thrown over my shoulders and I turn around.

Hoseok walked to my side and kept his eyes on the city view too.

I cleared my throat and looked away. "Thanks."

He only nodded.

I bit my lip and tried to focus on the view in front of me, instead of the view standing besides me.

He was still shirtless, but he was dry now. His hair seemed to look blow dried and his forehead was exposed.

"I know you're staring, Emi. Care to share why?" His voice sweetly mocked.

I gulped and looked away again. "It's nothing."

I heard his breathing next to me. It was calm and heavy.

Ugh, just standing next to him made me tense up inside.

"It was good seeing you again, Emi. After all these months, I mean." He says and rests his hands on the railing.

"Yeah." I hummed.

"How's your father?" He asks.

I sighed. "If you're asking that only to make some horrible joke about him or us not having any money, then you can just kiss my ass, Hoseok-"

I could see him looking at me through the corner of my eye. His expression softened, like he wasn't expecting me to burst out like that.

I usually don't, but Hoseok has done that too many times for me to just let it slide.

"I-I actually mean it, Emi. How is he doing? Is he alright? Is he feeling well?" He repeats, quieter.

I shrug, fighting back the urge to just rant about all the things I'm worried about.

No, he's not alright.

No, he doesn't feel well.

If I said that out loud, I would just start balling my eyes out, so it's best to keep that in.

"Have you seen him at all these past weeks?" He asks, leaning closer as he spoke.

"He went away on a business trip last week. He said he didn't know when he'll be back...and he said not to wait up on him." I frowned. "Like he always tells me. He's been gone so many times, I don't...I don't really notice."

Even though it's all I think about.

"Father's gone again."

"There he goes."

"Goodbye, father."

"Come back soon, father."

"I'll miss you a lot."

I ignored his concerned glances and just focused on the afternoon sky.

I will not be weak.

I will not be weak.

Just breath. Just breath.

"You should go inside and dry up." Hoseok places his arms on my shoulders.

I let him guide me to the entrance.

We enter the living room and Namjoon was sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"What? I thought you were taking a shower." He gaps.

"I was just outside looking over the ledge. I'll be taking a shower now. Thanks." I replied with a soft smile.

Wow.

That conversation about my father really brought my mood down.

I always worry about my father, but this time it really feels like I'm losing him.

Hoseok led me upstairs even though I told him multiple times that he can just go down.

I held the towel around my half naked body and stood in front of him.

"You can leave now." I said.

"Do you know how to turn on the shower?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm not stupid, Hoseok."

"Just making sure. Don't you think it's best I ask you before you strip?" He gently pats my cheek.

I blushed and faced a wall. "If I did need help, I wouldn't be asking you."

"But I've already seen you naked, babe. It wouldn't be anything new."

"Hoseok, let me have privacy. Leave or I will kick you where it hurts most!" I threatened.

"Be careful. You're gonna need two hands on that towel, or it'll fall." He chuckled.

Thankfully, he left without another remark.

I let out a breath and entered the bathroom.

*

I changed into the clothes I was in before and headed downstairs to join the boys.

"Hey, Emi. We were just talking about you." Namjoon motioned me over.

"What?"

I looked towards Hoseok and he didn't look as happy as he was before.

"What were you talking about?" I asked.

"Hoseok asked me about your father and I mentioned your struggle with wanting to help him earn money." Namjoon says.

I opened my mouth. "So, we're spilling concerns now? Ok, fine, Namjoon is concerned about this rash he has on his-"

"Ok, whoa! That's personal!"

"Fine, fine."

"As I was saying...I was telling Hoseok- Ok, first of all, that rash is not anything weird! It's normal for a human man-"

"Namjoon, we don't need details! Just tell me what you were saying!" I held up a hand to stop him. "Gosh, Namjoon."

Hoseok holds back a laugh with a hand besides his mouth.

"........so, I was talking to Hoseok about this thing I wanted to tell you." Namjoon looks towards Hoseok. "But Hoseok thought it wasn't a good idea."

"What thing?" I cocked my head.

"You told me about how you wanted to find a place you could work at and be paid a good amount of money, but you couldn't because your father knows almost every buisness here, right?"

I nodded.

"There was an opening at this very well known company. We happen to know one of the best employees there." Namjoon smiled proudly.

"But if it's well known, my father will definitely find out. There's no use."

"The employee we know can help with that."

"I still don't think this is a good idea." Hoseok shook his head. "Emi wouldn't be a good fit in there."

I raised my eyebrows. "Maybe I will, you don't know."

"I do know, Emi." He replied, sharing a strong stare with me.

"You just want to me stay struggling, so you can make all the fun jokes you can!" I argued with a finger at his face.

"ANYWAYS!" Namjoon pulls me back. "I'll get you a meeting with him tomorrow. Just to see how it'll go."

"What? Tomorrow? Shouldn't I do some research or-"

"You'll be fine, Emi. I've known him for years. He's a good man. Right, Hoseok?"

Hoseok grunted and turned away from us.

I shrugged. "Alright! Thanks, Namjoon!"

"No problem."

I got up to text Jennie and I overhear Hoseok whispering to Namjoon.

"I still don't think this is a good idea, Namjoon." Hoseok says.

"Calm down. You know it's just a rumor their competitors made up to shame their reputation. It isn't true. He said it himself." Namjoon responds.

My phone rings and the caller read "Jennie".

I pick up, totally disregarding that sketchy conversation.