"I've never seen you so focused on your phone before, what's up?" you asked puzzled as you sat on the couch with Hobi's head laying on your lap as you played with his hair. He'd usually drop everything for some good scritches, specially after a long day at work.

"They are about to drop the announcement about our relationship and I want to make sure I'm there for ARMY" he commented and you nodded.

"Are you worried about the reception?" you were to be honest, you had heard some scary stories from the other girls on Hobi's birthday and apparently there were worse ones.

"I just feel like it'll sound so cold, I want to post something along with it on Weverse and comment on some posts. I want to hype the positive ones, though the staff will be monitoring to delete any hateful or inappropriate posts,"

"The guys have posted about their girls, haven't they?" you thought you'd heard something of the sort, but you weren't sure.

"Barely, but enough to satisfy ARMY's curiosity. It's our private platform after all, so those posts are kept to a minimum. Some fans are very supportive and are happy to see those updates, but things can get ugly on other social media,"

"I heard some of it, were some really chased down by sasaengs?" they were simply for being in a relationship with them, what if they were homophobic as well? Would it be worse?

"Yes, at some point one of the members had to step in and personally post a warning so people would stop. It seemed to do the trick for a bit, but it's inevitable that hate keeps coming in waves. We try to ignore it and stick to Weverse where it's friendlier,"

"The photo at the hotel is still going around, I'm worried about that. Once it's up on the internet, there's no way to take it back" you commented in a lower tone and Hoseok looked up at you worried.

"I'll hire a bodyguard if it makes you feel safer" he suggested and you pressed your lips together hesitating.

"Wouldn't that attract more attention?"

"Not necessarily, they can dress informally to pass off as an acquaintance. Or even stay at a fair distance to keep an eye on you without making you feel uncomfortable" Hobi explained and you looked a little less doubtful.

"That makes sense, okay. Thank you, baby" you brushed the hair off his forehead and leaned in to kiss it softly.

In that very moment, he got a notification on his phone and sat up abruptly, head-butting you accidentally, and he heard you curse for the first time.

"Sorry! Are you okay, naekkeo?" Hoseok said putting the phone aside and holding your face to look at your nose once you took your hand away.

"It's fine, Hob-ah, check your phone" his eyes went to it and then back at you as he hesitated, but you pointed at it insisting.

He finally decided to take it and lay against the back rest as you laid your head back on it hoping your nose wouldn't bleed or swell.

"Would you be okay if I posted a picture of us?" you side-glanced at him with a raised eyebrow trying not to move.

"Um, sure, if you think it's a good idea. Maybe one of the day of our anniversary? Since there's pictures of that going around already,"

"Oh yes, with our matching outfits and jewelry. Good idea," he typed a short message and attached the photo*. After reading it and re-reading it, he hit send and put the phone to a side looking pained.

Hoseok covered his face and cried out leaning against you, he was not prepared for the replies, the good ones or the bad ones. It was all out now and he felt so many things all at once. It was scary, it's like you were not just his anymore*². You chuckled at him curled up in a ball and patted his thigh.

"It's okay, baby. I'm here for you. Do you want me to read some comments at random for you?"

ARMY had said multiple times that they were excited for him to find someone. Once they got used to the members announcing their milestones with their significant others, they started looking forward to the news. Some of them truly wanted them to be happy, the real fans.

"No, I'll look. We can look together if you want" he wasn't sure if he wanted to let you go through them on your own. Some people could be really cruel and mean.

Blindly reaching for his phone, he brought it to his face and unlocked it to look at the replies. There were tons of them already and they looked good. Lots of purple hearts, many had caught on to the little bird emoji he had chosen to add.

Since they had identified him with various animals along the years, he had decided to identify you with one instead of telling them about your nickname. At least for now. It was all so recent to go in detail and he kept forgetting about it.

At thirty three years old though, he wasn't wasting his time with a relationship that wouldn't last. He could see a future with you and he was hopeful that it would come true. Nevertheless, it was hard to ignore his fears, that you wouldn't make it to the first year, that you'd be too overwhelmed by his fame and all the attention it would bring, that you'd feel it was all a huge burden.

There were countless posts coming in and he kept refreshing to read the messages and comment appreciatively here and there. There were a few long posts and he read them carefully, it was nice to see that some were so excited for him they felt compelled to write small letters. Their heartfelt well wishes made him smile, they were so touching.

For a second he saw the photograph of the kiss and the message*³ that came with it: 'it looks just like her, does Hobi know?'. Then the feed reloaded automatically and he lost it. His heart had stopped and his thumbs hovered over the screen alerting you.

"Everything okay, baby?" he'd been scrolling and typing constantly, then all of a sudden he had frozen in place.

"Uh, yeah, fine. Fine." Hobi blurted out and resumed his browsing trying to pretend he actually was okay.

Knowing you'd agreed to have a bodyguard he felt a little less anxious at least. They would protect you if they tried to hurt you thinking you were cheating, gay or if they were just jealous of you being with him.

The photograph had been talked about during his private meeting with Bang PD and the head of the company. Hoseok had asked them to find whoever was responsible for this photograph he had been tagged in at a suspiciously appropriate time. It had caused so much damage and just thinking about it made his blood boil.

The company usually initiated legal proceedings against anyone who came after their artists and, if they could find out who did this, he wanted them to pay the consequences of their actions. He didn't care if the intent was malicious or not at this point, it was not a photograph that was meant to be taken and your privacy was violated. If it affected you, it affected him, so Big Hit would have to take care of it.

Hobi hoped that they'd have some news about their progress soon. These rumors had to die down eventually now that they had made the announcement. He just had to be patient.

Right?

-

^ Two seconds before getting head-butted 😂

* I had made an edit to post the photo as well, but I didn't want to ruin the mental image each of you had in your heads as this is a reader-insert even if I usually talk about Hobi's girl in third person.

*² This and the title are a reference to Daydream. Hobi's feelings about sharing this very personal aspect of his private life are mixed because the line between his two halves is blurred. There's no escape now, the world knows about his girlfriend so, in a sense, she's not part of his daydream anymore.

*³ There's an option to hide posts from artists, I kept this in mind. I don't know if the guys know about this feature as they have a different kind of account to post. Basically this person was asking other ARMY and it could be that they forgot to hide the message as it didn't look ill-intentioned.