hope world- jhope

~Hoseok's POV~

He didn't pull away from you until he heard fireworks popping in the distance, loud enough that their sound couldn't be drowned out by the midnight tidal waves. He was still holding you close, but he moved away from your lips, allowing you both to look up at the colors exploding in the sky at a distance.

"They're prettier than I remember," you said quietly, your hands wrapped snugly around his middle.

"The fireworks?" A soft breeze blew through, sending small shivers up your arms. He held you a little closer, concerned that you might be cold.

"It's been years since I've seen any. They're prettier than I remember them being." Yet despite the clear admiration in your voice, you stopped looking at the sky and tucked your face back down into Hoseok's neck.

"Are you cold?" All he wanted was for you to be comfortable.

"Yeah, but you're warm. Like always," your words came out soft and quiet. So much so that Hoseok strained to hear them all. He was having trouble comprehending much anyway. He was too wrapped up in pleasant shock that you were this close to him, and that you wanted to be this close to him. The confession of his feelings tonight hadn't exactly been planned, but that hadn't stopped him from constantly wondering over the past few weeks what your reaction to the confession might be.

It was better than he could've ever hoped for.

He stood there like that with you for quite a while longer, until the fireworks completely ceased.

"Should we go back to the others now?" you shifted away from him, seeming reluctant about doing so.

"Probably...I don't really want to, though."

"Me either."

"How come you don't want to?" he gently threaded his fingers through the ends of your hair. It was soft.

"I don't know...I'm not ready to let this moment pass yet, I guess," you easily shifted back against him. Your arms tightened around his waist and your face pressed against his chest. "What are we gonna tell the others?"

"The truth."

"And what exactly is the truth?"

He pulled away, wanting to see your face. "The truth is that I care about you, I want you around, and I want you to be mine. That's the truth."

"You're making me blush," you laughed, "But that's my truth, too."

"Nothing to hide from the others, then."

You stood briefly on your tip-toes, pressing a quick kiss to his mouth before retreating, settling for holding his hand. "Let's go."

☼☼☼

~YOUR POV~

Upon returning to where the others were hanging out, you and Hoseok saw something that was completely and utterly surprising to you both.

"You see them too, right?" he asked, stopping his tread, stopping you too because you were still holding his hand. You looked in the direction where his eyes were glued, your jaw practically dropping. Mia and Kai were off by the shore together, standing alone. Even at a distance, with no context of the type of conversation they were having, it was surprising.

"Well, it's not Lea and Felix because Lea is alone over there by the bonfire," you said, pointing in Lea's direction with your free hand.

"My mind is actually blown right now."

"Mine, too." The thought that Kai was being that friendly with someone he just met was incredibly foreign to you and Hoseok both.

"Wasn't this your plan all along? To get Mia to soften Kai up?" Hoseok laughed, beginning to walk toward the bonfire and pulling you along with him.

"Yeah, that was the plan, but I never expected it to actually work."

"Woah, what's happening here?!" Lea exclaimed upon your approach to the fire. She stood, proceeding to quickly bridge the gap between herself and you and Hoseok. "Are you guys holding hands?!" She gushed excitedly, impatiently waiting for an explanation.

"Yes, we're holding hands. Use your eyes, Lea," Hoseok teased.

"No need to be so sassy," you scolded him, "We're somewhat of an item now," you gave her the explanation she was obviously desperate for.

"What do you mean 'somewhat of an item'?" Hoseok let go of your hand, snaking his arm around your waist to pull you close to him instead. "You're my girlfriend now, and I'm your boyfriend. We are an item."

You weren't prepared for him to be so blatant, and his words caused you to blush so much that you couldn't even muster a decent response.

"This is SO cute!" Lea cooed, "I'm so happy for you two! Now we just need to get Kai a girl!"

"I think he might already be finding a girl for himself," Hoseok smirked, looking back over at where Mia and Kai were still by the water.

"You might be right. He's been awfully interested in her tonight," Lea said, sitting back down.

"How do you mean?" you tugged on Hoseok's sleeve, wanting to sit down next to the bonfire with him. You were cold.

You sat down beside Lea and Hoseok followed.

"I've literally never seen him act this way around a girl. He's been the opposite of his usual self. Super talkative and attentive to her. He must think she's hot," Lea explained, "Kaylen and Felix left to go get more fireworks out of the garage, and Kai asked her if she wanted to go take pictures of the moon. They've been standing like that for at least fifteen minutes."

"I can't believe it," Hoseok laughed, "I mean, I'm happy for him. But I can't believe it. He's just usually so cold."

"I know, it's weird. Good thinking bringing her along tonight," Lea nodded at you.

"I figured it was worth a shot," you shrugged, "I'll bring her along more often."

Felix and Kaylen walked up a moment later, both carrying more boxes of what you presumed to be fireworks.

"Where did you two run off to?" Felix smirked, setting the box down.

"We were making out down the beach," Hoseok replied, and you nearly choked.

"Guys, I'm standing here!" Kaylen complained, "I don't wanna hear about that." He faked a gag.

"Go run over there and tell Kai to come help you with the fireworks then," Hoseok stuck his tongue out at Kaylen, and he rolled his eyes before heading toward Kai and Mia.

"So, I was driving back over here, I had a thought," Felix sat down beside Lea, lazily draping his arm over her shoulder. In the light of the flickering flames, you were able to admire Felix's simple beauty. He and Lea really did look good together.

"A thought about what?" Lea asked.

"I think we should go hike the Na Pali coast. We'll get permits, spend the night in Kalalau Valley. It'll be great! Lea and I have never done the full 11 miles, and you haven't either, Hoseok. Y/N obviously hasn't done any of it, and she's really missing out," Felix's whole face was lit up with excitement.

"It's actually not a bad idea," Lea agreed, "I'm down to go if you guys are. We'll take Mia and Kai too if they're up for it."

"What do you think about this?" Hoseok turned to you, "It's okay if you want to say no. Or if you want to think about it. It's not an easy hike, but from what I've seen, it really is worth it. We'd be gone a couple of days."

"I mean, is it safe?" you were interested in exploring more of the island, especially with the rest of the group. But, you couldn't ignore some of the doubt and fear that crept into your mind. You'd never done anything like this.

"Relatively." Felix grinned.

"Don't freak her out for no reason," Lea rolled her eyes at him, "It's pretty safe. We'll bring all the right supplies, and if one of us gets hurt, it's really not the end of the world since we'll all be in a big group."

"She's right. There'd be six of us together the whole time. Seven if we bring Kaylen," Hoseok reassured you.

"Alright, I'm down to go. But you guys have to make sure Mia and I are prepared, like tell us what to bring and stuff," you said, feeling both genuine excitement and nervousness about the journey that was to come.

"Perfect. When do you guys want to go?" Felix asked.

"Next week? Is that far enough out for us to get the permits to camp?" Hoseok said.

"I'm not sure. I'll ask a buddy of mine about that tomorrow."

"Do you guys want to set off more fireworks or no?" That was Kai who was suddenly at the bonfire alongside Kaylen and Mia.

"Sure," everyone mutually agreed to set off another box worth of fireworks.

"Do you and Mia wanna do the Na Pali coast hike?" Hoseok asked.

"Like to the beach? The full 11 miles?"

"Yup."

"I'll do it. What do you think?" you swore you saw a slight blush on Kai's cheeks as he turned toward Mia.

"I'll go if Y/N goes," Mia said, offering Kai a smile. His face grew even redder.

"I'm on board to go," you confirmed.

"It's settled then," Felix clapped his hands together, "This is going to be amazing."

☼☼☼

The group didn't leave the beach until about four o'clock that morning. You were exhausted, having missed out on a whole night of sleep, but you weren't irritated or bothered by this. Missing some sleep was absolutely worth what the night had to offer instead.

Riding in the back of the truck on the way home, tucked into Hoseok's arms as he attempted to keep you warm against the cold night wind, you felt happy. You felt excitement. Most of all, you felt free.

You weren't thinking about how you were going to lose all of that happiness in two months. You weren't thinking about how you'd have to move back home. You weren't thinking about how you would eventually have to return to a Hawaii-less reality.

You weren't thinking about how you would eventually have to lose Hoseok.

All of that worry could be dealt with another day.