Archive of Our Own

You walked carefully through the tall trees, looking around for any sign of movement. Above you could hear the birds singing and monkeys chattering, but here on the ground it was still and quiet. A broken branch and a muddy track gave you an idea of where to go next, pushing the large leaves to the side, stepping carefully over the large roots at your feet.

This world of deep green foliage with its moist air and exotic sounds must look like a paradise to most people. It was a postcard perfect view of the jungle. All around were plants in different shades of green, and the trees reached like brown pillars into the sky. You took a deep breath and felt the earthy smell filling your nose. This truly was an amazing place to be.

Sadly you didn’t have time to stop and enjoy it. There was a job to be done, and you needed to hurry to complete it before it got dark and the jungle would get that much more dangerous for a lone tracker like you. Not that you were supposed to be here alone. Your team would get furious once they found out you’d gone without them. But as long as you got the work done there wasn’t much they could do about it.

You’d found traces of the tiger you were supposed to track not far from the small village where it’d last been seen. A villager had tried to scare it off by firing at it with a gun. It was something that often happened when the locals came in contact with the wild animals. You couldn’t blame them since they feared for their family’s safety. But the shot hadn’t killed the tiger. It’d just wounded it, and now it was your team’s job to find it and transport it to the animal hospital in the city.

Or at least it was your team’s job to try. The team that found the tiger got paid. Those were the rules. You knew there were many similar teams working nearby. It wasn’t easy to find a tiger in a huge jungle after all but the money was too good to pass up on. Jobs like this didn’t come as often as you needed them to, so when the boss had suggested you’d sit this one out and let your teammate recover from an unfortunate twisted ankle you’d protested wildly.

“We need the money!” you’d said, and you could tell some of the others agreed.

“But you also need to keep your lives”, your boss had said firmly. “A tiger is a big job, not just with tracking but also transporting. You need a full team or it might sneak up on you. How will you be able to earn us money if you’re dead?”

You hadn’t said anything more but you couldn’t help going to at least look around the village. Maybe having a track to follow would change their mind? So when you’d found it you’d called your boss immediately. Sadly he hadn’t even listened to what you had to say, and instead ordered you to return to your base. That’s when you’d decided to go rouge. Again.

Your team knew too well what you were capable of and it wouldn’t be the first time you got reprimanded for going out alone. As long as you brought home the money they couldn’t really fire you anyway. Once you’d found the tiger and sedated it you’d call it in and then they could yell all they wanted. It wasn’t like they were going to leave an injured and sedated tiger in the jungle. That’d be both cruel to the animal and stupid considering the money that awaited them once they delivered it to the hospital.

Suddenly you heard a branch break a few meters to your left. Swinging around you raised your gun and peered into the green, but it was just a mongoose scuttling over the roots in a hurry. Nothing to worry about.

Lowering the gun again you noticed something was off with it. Why was it this light? Opening the chamber you realized you must’ve forgotten to load it before you left; a clumsy mistake that could’ve cost you your life. It was a good thing you noticed it before you actually found the tiger you were looking for.

Opening your pouch however you made a horrible realization. It didn’t have the usual extra tranquilizing arrows in it. Your boss must’ve removed them to stop you from going into the jungle alone. He knew you a little too well. Sadly he didn’t know you enough to know you’d trust its content and not check what needed restocking since your last mission. Since you hadn’t needed to shoot anything then, you’d simply trusted that it still contained the usual extra ammo before leaving base this morning. How could you know someone would steal it from you in the middle of the night?

And now you were far out in the jungle with no ammo and a tiger somewhere close by. For a moment you considered turning back. With some luck you might return to the camp unharmed. On the other hand it might’ve been a good idea to call it in first. Then they’d at least know where you’d gone to and someone could meet up with some more ammo. But they’d never allow you to continue tracking the tiger then…

You’d been tracking it for many hours already. If you left now there’d be no chance to catch up with it. Tigers were fast and going the next day wasn’t an option. It’d be far away by then, if it remained alive at all. Also they’d keep an extra eye on you if you admitted to having gone out alone. There was no way you’d be able to sneak out again. What if one of the other team’s caught it? You wouldn’t be able to live it down. Not when you’d gotten this close.

The tracks had contained drops of blood a little here and there. The tiger was likely already worn down quite a bit. What if it was already unconscious, just a few meters away from you and you just left it there to die alone? If it was unconscious you wouldn’t need any ammo either…

Said and done, you kept walking into the jungle, following the track as best you could. It might be a terrible idea but you’d rather risk it than come back empty handed. What was stopping them from firing you right there on the spot if you did? So with a resolve unlike ever before you kept going.

You walked for another hour or so when you suddenly heard another branch crack. There was a loud bang from a gun and a shout: “Look out!” before a large thud of something heavy falling only a meter or so behind you. Turning you saw the thing you wanted to see least of all in the entire world.

Hoshi was walking up towards you, rifle in hand and his eyes set not on you, but on the large tiger he’d shoot that was lying unconscious only a meter away from where you were standing. A second later and it would’ve probably torn you to shreds. Owing your life to your arch-nemesis was not the way you’d wanted this day to end. Not when you’d gotten this far.

“Y/N!” he greeted you with a gleeful smile. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Oh no, Hoshi! Not this time!” you protested. “You tracked me here, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about”, Hoshi said innocently, but the gleam in his eyes suggested otherwise.

“I’m not doing this again”, you said warningly. “You can’t just sneak up behind me and take the credit for my tracking. You always do this! Just learn to track on your own already!”

“For your information I’m a great tracker. You just happened to find the trail first”, he huffed. “And I can’t help that it’s dead easy to follow you. I could’ve found the tiger alone but I didn’t have to. The trail you leave behind is kind of insulting to my skill level; much easier than the one of a tiger. It’s like tracking an elephant!”

“You shut your mouth!” you shouted and lunched yourself at him, only for him to grab your wrists and swing you around so you fell on your ass on the ground.

“Wow, you’re feisty this morning!” he teased. “Did someone skip breakfast again? You know, it’s the most important meal of the day. And we both know when you don’t eat it you end up so cranky.”

“Hoshi, I will kill you!” you growled.

“Will that be before or after my team comes and picks up the tiger?” he said lightly. “Because I really must call that in as soon as possible. We don’t want it to suffer in vain, now do we?”

He winked before raising his radio to contact his base. You launched yourself at him again, but he easily sidestepped you and pressed a few buttons on the large black radio telephone. You could hear the static before he started speaking in codes into the box. It was too late for you to do anything now so you waited. No answer came. He spoke again, but all that could be heard back was static. Now that was interesting.

You stood up and crossed your arms, suddenly looking smug at his conundrum. He turned to face you with a sheepish smile, before trying a third time.

“Iota, do you copy, this is Eta-Sigma, do you read me?” he said in a louder voice but there was no reply.

“Oh no, did Hoshi go out into the jungle without checking for backup? All by himself?” you teased, ignoring the fact that you’d done the same.

“Jun will pick up any second now”, Hoshi protested. “He lives with that comm. He even sleeps with it in his bed.”

“Then why isn’t he answering now?” you asked pointedly.

“Maybe he went to take a leak”, Hoshi suggested.

But it was all in vain. A few more tries, and Hoshi’s team was still not responding. Time was running out for him.

“Just say it, you need my help”, you said, beginning to get impatient.

“I don’t”, Hoshi protested. “I won’t let you steal my tiger! Not when I was the one who shot it!”

“So what are you gonna do? Wait here until it wakes up?” you cooed. “Or maybe you plan to drag it home yourself?”

“No…” he said and then finally sighed and gave in. “Fine! You call it in and I get half your reward for it.”

“Half?” you gasped. “Why do you get half? I tracked it all the way here. I called it in. All you did was shoot it.”

“Exactly!” Hoshi said, now sounding triumphant again. “I shot it, right before it gobbled you up. So I suggest you show a little bit of gratitude. You’d be dead if it wasn’t for me!”

Darn it, you had to admit he was right.

“Fine!” you said and took out your radio to make the call. It went fast, and even though the boss sounded furious, he agreed to send the staff to pick it up. You didn’t mention your lack of ammo or Hoshi saving your life though. Those were things you preferred to keep to yourself.

“Sooo…” Hoshi said once your call was finished. “What do we do now?” He looked around as if expecting to see an arcade game or a carnival nearby. Of course all there was were trees and leaves, and an unconscious tiger. Still that didn’t seem to deter him. He started going around, picking up dead branches from the ground.

“You ever play pick the stick?” he asked.

You didn’t think you’d heard him right, but you had. Soon you were both engaged in a heated game of picking sticks without letting the other sticks fall over or move. It ended when Hoshi cheated by stomping hard on the ground close to the pile, that fell over, insisting that he’d seen a flesh-eating ant. Since those didn’t even live in this jungle, you considered it highly unlikely and demanded a replay.

You were just about to start playing again, when the leaves rustled a few meters to your right. Hoshi instantly drew his gun, but all that came out of the bush was a bird taking flight into the air. He sighed deeply and you felt the relief as well, until he looked over at you and furrowed his brow.

“Why didn’t you draw your gun?” he asked in confusion. “You expect me to save you every time from now on?”

“No”, you lied. “I just didn’t have time to react.”

“You didn’t have… Y/N, you think I’m an idiot? What’s going on?” he asked again.

“Nothing’s going on”, you insisted, but he was already leaning over and as he caught you off-guard he’d soon managed to wrestle your gun from your holster. “Don’t!” you warned, but he ignored you completely.

“It’s empty”, he mumbled before he turned to you slowly. “It’s empty?!” he shouted at you, suddenly realizing what that meant. “You’re out of ammo?!”

You just looked away, not even knowing what to say to that.

“You’re out of ammo and you still tracked the tiger down?!” he continued to shout. “Are you insane?!”

“No, I just didn’t want my work to go to waste…” you mumbled.

“So if you got killed it would’ve been less of a waste?!” he said, looking at you like you’d gone crazy.

“I hoped it wouldn’t get that bad”, you tried, but as you were saying it you realized how dumb it sounded.

“So what, you were just hoping that once you caught up with the tiger it’d fall down at your feet and beg for help? Or were you planning on knocking it out with a stick or something?”

“I was hoping it was already unconscious from the wound”, you said.

“Wow…just… wow…” he breathed, his mind clearly running in circles. “So I really did save your life, not just by shooting it but also by following you. If I hadn’t shown up, you would’ve been dead for sure. You owe me your life!”

He looked over at you with a new light in his eyes, like he’d just realized he was a superhero or something.

“Yeah yeah, thanks, that was really nice of you”, you said sarcastically. “You saved my life and I’m truly grateful. Now can we drop it?”

“But seriously though, who goes out into the jungle without extra ammo?” he said, seemingly unable to let it go. “What would you have done if I hadn’t shown up? I mean, I knew you were rash and overemotional, but I didn’t know you were this stupid!”

“Hey!” you protested. “I didn’t know I was out of ammo when I left, obviously. My boss stole it from my bag when I was asleep. I didn’t think I’d have to check it an extra time in case it had walked out of my bag during the night, so I got pretty far in before I noticed it.”

“What kind of dick steals a team member’s ammo while they’re sleeping?” he asked, now seeming angry too.

“I know, right?” you agreed, happy that the blame had finally shifted from you.

“He must know you really well though, if he thought the only way to keep you out of the jungle was to take away your ammo”, he chuckled.

“Maybe”, you admitted.

“Why were you tracking it anyway?” he asked. “If your boss didn’t want you to go?”

“Because I knew I could find it”, you explained. “And if I know I can do it, then why shouldn’t I?”

“Because you’re boss told you not to?” he suggested.

“Would you have stayed behind?” you asked. He didn’t even consider it for a second.

“I didn’t”, he confessed. “That’s probably why they aren’t answering now. They’re tired of me going off on my own when I’ve been told not to.”

“So you’re the same as me, huh?” you laughed.

“Don’t flatter yourself, I’m a much better tracker than you are”, he scoffed.

“Is that why you’re always following me around to steal my thunder?” you teased.

“No”, he protested. “It just kinda happens that way.”

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say you follow me around because you have feelings for me”, you joked. Hoshi spluttered and stared at you like you’d gone properly crazy now.

“Like I’d have feelings for you!” he huffed. “In your dreams! If anyone has feelings for the other it’s you. Playing damsel in distress and letting me rescue you like that. One might think it was staged or something.”

“Staged?!” you gasped. “Are you saying that I went into the jungle all alone without ammo and almost got eaten by a tiger, just to catch your attention?! Now who’s the crazy one!”

“Still you”, he said. “But just how crazy remains to be seen.”

You huffed back and the conversation was dropped. Instead your radio started making noises.

“[Beep, beep] Y/N?!” it said and you recognized your team member Seokmin’s voice.

“I read you, Seokmin, where are you?” you answered.

“It’s gonna take a while…” he answered. “The jeep won’t start. The mechanic’s working on it, but we don’t know how long it’ll be. Maybe you should just try and find your way home. Leave a tracker behind.”

“NO!” you protested. “I’ll wait here. I’m sure it’ll be fine.” You weren’t going to let Hoshi steal the tiger and the money. Who knew when his team would answer and come get it?

“But what if the tranquilizer wears off?” he asked, sounding worried now. “You need to get far away or the tiger will track you down.”

“It’ll be okay”, you said. “You’ll get the jeep running in time. I trust you.”

Seokmin didn’t seem happy but accepted it.

“Okay then, over and out!” he answered and then it was only you, Hoshi and the sleeping tiger again.

“Maybe you really should leave”, Hoshi tried. “At least I have another shot left, but you’ve got nothing. Don’t worry! I can stay behind and guide your team to the tiger.”

“In your dreams”, you hissed. “I’m not letting you steal it just because of some broken jeep. It’ll be okay. I know my team and they’ll fix it. I trust them.”

“Alright then”, Hoshi sighed. “Just giving you the choice, as your guardian angel and all.”

“Sure”, you said sarcastically. “Because you’ve always been so concerned with my wellbeing.”

“Of course I have”, he said, trying to sound innocent. “I’ve seen you grow up in this job, and blossom into a beautiful woman - never mind, I can’t even say that without shivering all over. I’m a terrible liar, you know. And this would be a big lie to sell. Ouch!” he complained as you punched his upper arm with your fist.

“You’re a selfish ass and you’ll always be one”, you stated firmly. “I don’t expect you to change so don’t go pissing me off needlessly.”

“Oh I would never!” he said, and his eyes blazed with anger.

“Good!” you said angrily too, and then you were both silent.

It took a long time for either of you to talk again. Time felt like it moved at snail speed now, and after all the hours of tracking and walking through the jungle you felt your stomach scream for food. Opening your pouch you fished out a candy bar, tore open the plastic cover and started chewing into it. Hoshi stared at your sudden snack time with a look of disgust.

“Don’t eat that here!” he whined. “You’ll attract animals. That thing smells like a whole bucket of honey. Is it made of pure sugar or what?”

“You’re just jealous that I have food and you don’t”, you teased. “You want some? Because you’re not getting any so dream on.”

“As if I’d eat that!” he grimaced. “So gross! Just make sure to eat it fast so we don’t get attacked by a hoard of monkeys or something…”

He didn’t have time to say anything else before there was a loud crack from above and something big came swooshing down towards you.

“Watch out!” Hoshi shouted and then you were pushed aside, your back thrust into a couple of very hard roots. You let out a whimper of pain before you had time to register at all what’d happened. Beside you lay a large dead branch with sticks pointing out in all directions like sharp spikes, ready to tear your body apart. Under it lay what was left of your candy bar, now just a mush of sugar and plastic.

You were okay though. You’d been pushed out of the way, and now you were lying on the hard ground, a heaving Hoshi hunched down on top of you. He was looking between you and the branch as if he was checking that you weren’t crushed by it.

“Are you okay?” he said, before he noticed the way you were watching him in confused fascination. “What?!” he protested.

“Will you get off of me, please?” you said sweetly. Seeing as he’d just saved your life again it seemed important to stay civil.

“Oh!” he said and quickly moved away so you could sit up properly again.

You rubbed your back and grimaced at the pain. That would leave a bruise for sure, but at least you were alive. You could feel your heart jump in your chest, from the shock you reckoned, but you tried to ignore it.

“Are you hurt?” he asked and to your surprise he actually seemed concerned.

“You worried for me, Hoshi dear?” you teased, and even more surprisingly he didn’t bite back.

“Of course I am”, he said seriously. “A big ass branch fell over us and almost killed you! I told you that candy bar would attract monkeys!”

“Are you saying that a dead branch falling off a huge tree like 50 meters above us is somehow my fault?!” you protested.

“Of course it is!” he said. “Some monkey probably caught scent of that candy of yours and got so excited it started climbing down without checking its footing properly!”

“Oh my god!” you let out, huffing in disbelief. “You really hate me that much, huh?”

“I don’t hate you!” he interjected. “If I did, why would I keep saving you?!”

He had a point, you had to admit. In the span of a day he’d managed to save your life not once, but twice. That wasn’t really something a hater did. Also if he’d failed to push the two of you far enough, that branch would’ve hit him instead of you since he was the one on top. Was that why he’d crouched above of you like that? What’d happened to the greedy bastard you used to know? Did he suddenly grow a hero complex after saving you that first time?

“So am I still a selfish ass?” he muttered when he realized you weren’t going to answer.

You didn’t have time to say anything before your radio started to buzz and you could hear Seokmin’s voice on the other end amid the static:

“Y/N, are you there?”

“I read you, Seokmin. How’s the jeep doing?” you answered, feeling a little relieved that he’d helped you avoid Hoshi’s question.

“It’s working again”, Seokmin said happily. “We’re on our way to you now, so just sit tight. We’re tracking the signal and should be there in about an hour. You have another shot in case the tiger starts waking up, right?”

“Yeah!” you said, avoiding Hoshi’s annoyed stare as you referred to his ammo as yours. “Don’t worry, I’ll just wait until you get here then.”

“Good!” Seokmin said happily. “And Y/N, don’t be too hard on Hoshi, okay? He’s not as bad of a guy as you think. Over and out!”

“Wait, what?!” you shouted back, looking over at Hoshi who was now the one to avoid your eyes. “What did you say? Seokmin?! SEOKMIN?!”

But no answer came. You instead turned your attention to Hoshi, who now seemed deeply interested in his finger nails and the dirt under them.

“What is going on?” you said, trying to sound calm and patient but failing miserably. You could tell you’d struck a chord by the way his nostrils quivered nervously in response. “How did Seokmin know you were here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe he’s good at guessing?” Hoshi offered innocently, still fully focused on his finger beds.

“Don’t give me that crap!” you said, now a bit more forcefully. “You obviously know something. What aren’t you telling me?!”

His gaze moved to meet yours for a fleeting second and then looked away, making you sure you were on the right track. Moving into his personal space, you grabbed him by the collar and pushed your face close to his.

“Don’t you dare lie to me!” you hissed. It took only a second for Hoshi to crack.

“When you left this morning, Seokmin got worried and called me”, he confessed. “He told me you were most likely going after the tiger and asked me to follow you and make sure you were okay. It didn’t take me long to track you down, and considering you turned out to be without ammo, you should feel grateful about that really. Seokmin and I saved your life!”

“Grateful?” you spluttered. “Is that what I should be? One of my coworkers and friends went behind my back and contacted the guy I can’t stand, just so he could follow me and take credit for my tracking again? Is this what’s happened all of those other times too? Is it Seokmin who’s been tipping you off?”

“No!” Hoshi protested. “Maybe once or twice…” he confessed when he saw your stern face. “But it was just because he cared about you, Y/N-ah! He was worried about you! You shouldn’t have gone out into the jungle like that, all alone! It’s dangerous!”

“I can’t believe this!” you sighed miserably. “My coworker and my enemy, making deals behind my back!”

“Enemy?” he said, and you could feel the hurt in his tone. “Am I really your enemy? I mean, I didn’t expect you to call me a friend, but enemy, really? Is that how you feel about me?”

“How else would I feel about you when you sneak up on me and steal my jobs like that? When you make secret deals behind my back?” you said, trying to sound assured but somehow not really feeling it.

Before today you would’ve said it without hesitation, but after he’d saved your life like that, and after he’d seemed really concerned about you… You were still pissed off that he’d gone behind your back, but the way he’d asked if you were okay before hadn’t seemed like an enemy at all.  Maybe all of those times running into each other had made you grow closer.

No, that was an absurd thought. This was still Hoshi you were talking about, and that guy wouldn’t care about anyone but himself. He’d found a way to profit from your coworker’s lack of faith in you, and he’d taken it. Saving your life once or twice couldn’t fix that.

“I just felt like I should profit from it somehow”, he muttered. “I risked my life and followed you into the jungle, over and over again, just because you’re too rash to follow your team’s rules. And then the second I showed up, you started mocking me and treating me like crap; like I was some kind of horrible person! But I never did anything to make you feel that way, Y/N! I even let you have the animal the first time! But you still berated me and treated me like garbage! So I figured if that’s the kind of relationship you wanted, then that’s what you’d get. I could’ve been helpful and nice, but you didn’t even give me a chance! And if I was gonna follow you and protect you despite you treating me like crap, I was at least gonna get something out of it. So I stole your finds! I admit it! I did! A whole bunch of times! But I also saved you from being attacked a bunch of times too. And I made sure you came home alive. I never got so much as a thank you for that by the way! Not once! Who’s really the bad person here, huh?”

With that Hoshi stormed off into the jungle, only to turn and walk back a few seconds later.

“I’d forgotten about the tiger, and me being the only one with ammo!” he confessed irritably, before sitting down heavily on a big root and staring angrily into the distance.

You looked at him, and if it hadn’t been for the angry rant he’d just unloaded on you, you would’ve been laughing at his silly behavior. Now you weren’t laughing though. Not even smiling. What he’d said wasn’t true, was it? Had you really treated him that badly?

You thought back on the many times you’d run into each other in the wilderness. Sometimes he’d seemed a little distant, like he was preoccupied with something else. And when you thought about it, hadn’t it taken a few times before he’d answered back at your playful banter? Then it really was true! You’d been the one to make your relationship this way.

Being from another team, you hadn’t trusted him at first. And even though it might’ve seemed cold, you’d only meant to tease him anyway. It was a way for you to test him, and bring him out of his shell. Maybe he’d play along or maybe he’d snap, and then you’d know what kind of person he really was. Either way you’d done it and now look where you’d ended up. He was clearly very hurt and angry with you.

Not that he’d snapped the way you’d expected. Working with hunting wild animals in dangerous terrain (even if they only got sedated and saved in the process) attracted people of a certain kind. They’d often have a type of hubris you’d seen up close in way too many former team members as well as rivals. If they didn’t get it their way they’d turn violent or mean, and the only way of surviving a person like that was staying as far away from them as possible. Spotting them early helped, hence the testing.

But Hoshi wasn’t like that; not at all actually. He was sitting only a few meters away, despite being furious with you; and you knew it wasn’t just for the sake of the tiger and the money. He was genuinely worried about leaving you alone without ammo. Why else would he have thrown himself on top of you before when the branch fell? Why else would he have been around and helped you all those times before that you’d been trying so hard to forget?

You’d been so focused on taking care of yourself; of being successful in your job and of being independent. When your team contradicted you or your boss said no to you going alone, you took it as a challenge; a sign that they didn’t trust you ability to do your job. So many men with hubris had pushed you around over the years, and laughed at your height or the look of you holding a gun. It’d gone to your head, and you’d become reckless. This time you’d even tracked down a tiger without any ammo in your rifle. And for what? Your hurt pride? The need to feel successful and good at your job? Was that really worth more than your life?

Not only that but you’d also turned into a rude and selfish person. Hoshi was right. All those times you’d gotten help, you’d never thanked anyone; not him or your team members or anyone! Like somehow they owned you that much for even being around you. How was that any different from the hubris of all those other people you’d met! You needed to make it right. You couldn’t become one of those bastards!

“Thank you!” you said and when Hoshi turned around and looked at you in disbelief, you smiled a little and approached him slowly, sitting down on the roots next to him.

“Thank you for saving my life”, you said again and gave him a shy smile.”You’re right. I’m not very good at saying stuff like that. I can be mean and rude sometimes, even when I just mean to be casual or friendly. And sometimes I’m mean on purpose just in case they’ll be mean to me. I’m not very good with other people I guess. Not anymore. But I’ll try to get better at it. And I really am grateful that you saved me.”

Hoshi watched you a little suspiciously, before answering: “Well, I guess that’s a good start.”

“I’ll make it up to you…somehow”, you added, trying to ride on this wave of positivity.

“Really?” he said, and raised an eyebrow in doubt.

“Yes, really!” you insisted. “What do you want? Name anything, and I’ll do my best to give it to you!”

“Anything?” he asked, still clearly not buying it.

“Anything!” you answered, nodding encouragingly. You were expecting him to name a sum of money, with the rest of the reward from the tiger as a start. You did not expect this…

“A hug”, he said completely seriously, even though you searched his face for any sign that he was messing with you. You couldn’t find anything.

“Really?” you asked hesitantly. “A hug? That’s really what you want?”

“Yeah”, he answered and now he smiled a little. “If you’re really serious about making it up to me and starting over, then I think a hug would be the perfect start.”

What was happening? You weren’t sure, but you didn’t really have any reason to protest so said and done you stretched out your arms and leant towards him. He reached out his arms too and held you against him, sighing happily somewhere close to your ear. That unnerved you a little bit and you started moving, trying to discreetly show your intent to break free. He ignored it and held you even tighter for a few moments before finally letting you go.

You felt your body shake a little bit with some undeterminable feeling. Was it fear? Or was your heart just fluttering anyway? Maybe you were nervous. Either way your heart was beating very fast now, and the back of your neck was sweating in a very uncomfortable way.

“See, that wasn’t so bad”, Hoshi mused and gave you a happy smile, his eyes disappearing into thin angled lines.

“No”, you lied. “It was okay.”

“You’re freaking out, aren’t you?” he teased.

“I’m not”, you lied.

“Oh really?” he asked. “Wanna hug again then?”

“No!” you answered a little too quickly. He started laughing.

“You’re so easy to read sometimes”, he said while continuing to laugh. “Don’t worry, I won’t hug you again. It was nice, but I’m not gonna push my luck.”

He smiled at you and you were just going to smile back when suddenly he grabbed you and pushed you off the roots. You didn’t have time to react before you heard a shot and then silence. This time there was no Hoshi checking if you were okay. It was just quiet.

Sitting up, you quickly looked around before getting to your feet and hurrying over to the unconscious man on the ground. The tiger must’ve woken up because it was now lying in a different place than before, and its big paw was splayed out over Hoshi’s torso. Had it hurt him before it dozed off?

Using most of your strength you heaved the enormous paw off him. His shirt was bloodied so you pulled it up to assess the damage. It wasn’t that bad. The claws must’ve scratched him only in the passing as they both fell, because the marks weren’t deep and it almost looked like he’d fought a house cat, except the marks being so far apart from one another.

Suddenly Hoshi stirred and let out a whiny moan. You leaned forward and looked at his pale face in concern.

“Are you okay?” you asked, trying to assess his pain level from his expression.

“I’m… I think so… My head hurts”, he whined before trying to sit up. You pushed him down again.

“Don’t move”, you told him sternly. “You might have a concussion. Here, let me check your head for bumps.”

You grabbed his head as lightly as you could and ran your fingers over the back and top of his head. As you expected there was a bump at the back of his head. Maybe he slipped and fell when he tried to avoid the falling tiger.

Under you, Hoshi was silently watching you work. As you opened your bag and brought out a disinfecting wipe, he followed your movement with his eyes. Then you started lifting his shirt again and he squealed and tried to squirm away from you. You wouldn’t let him though, grabbing his shoulders and putting you leg over his hips to keep him in place.

“Why are you undressing me?” he protested in embarrassment and you could see the pink starting to show in his cheeks again.

“You have some cuts”, you explained unceremoniously. “They need to be cleaned. Don’t be such a baby!”

As you carefully cleaned them, Hoshi whined at the stinging sensation.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” he whined.

“Enjoying?” you protested. “Why would I? You think I like playing your nurse?”

“I do actually”, he said in-between whines. “I think you like pinning me to the ground and tormenting me like this.” He winked teasingly and you shook your head in disbelief.

“I see you’re all better already”, you teased. “Back to being as obnoxious as always. Such a whiny baby!”

“You like calling me baby, huh?” he said smugly.

You scoffed, and finished up your work on his torso, band-aids and all. Then suddenly his tone changed.

“Y/N!” he hissed. “Step away now, slowly.”

You turned to look behind you slowly. A snake was creeping up Hoshi’s leg and from the vibrant colors it looked very poisonous. There was only one thing to do.

You slowly climbed off Hoshi’s hips and turned towards the snake. Then you reached out and grabbed it by the middle part, carefully lifting it up and away from Hoshi, before you tossed it as far away as you could manage. Hoshi stared at you in shock.

“That snake was really poisonous!” he said seriously. “And you just grabbed it with your bare hands! It could’ve bitten you!”

“Yeah, but if I didn’t it definitely would’ve bitten you”, you said simply. “So I guess it’s 2-1 now, huh? Only one save left and we’ll be even.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to that”, Hoshi said weakly, before slightly sitting up.

“I told you not to move”, you protested and moved closer to try and help support him. Together you managed to prop him up against a nearby tree. It took a moment before you realized how close you were, your faces only inches apart.

“So you really do care about me…” Hoshi said in a low tone, and you couldn’t quite make out if he was teasing you or being serious. Before you had time to answer or move away he’d grabbed your chin and leaned forward to kiss your lips. Your head spun and your stomach fluttered in the most unexpected way, but it was nice, great even, and you couldn’t help but want more of it.

Instead he broke away from you and looked a little sad.

“Sorry”, he said. “I shouldn’t have done that. Maybe it’s because of the concussion. I got confused.”

“Do it again”, you said, going with your gut feeling. His eyes lit up even if his face still seemed hesitant and uncertain.

Slowly he leaned forwards, meeting you halfway and then you were kissing again. The feeling was so sweet that you felt yourself grow slightly drunk with it. Moving to sit across his hips, you grabbed his neck and shoulders and pushed yourself up against him, letting him kiss you deeper and more passionately. Somehow you felt like you were leading him, escalating it further and further and that thought made you want it even more. His hands were tracing your back and your fingers were running through his hair. A slight moan escaped his lips and you blushed with the heat it was spreading through your body.

You wanted more and you probably would’ve gotten it too, if a voice hadn’t interrupted you both.

“When I said not to give Hoshi a hard time, this wasn’t really what I meant”, Seokmin laughed behind you and you both broke apart, blushing and looking guiltily at the ground. “It’s nice to see you two finally getting along though I guess, but would you mind taking a break from that to help us load the tiger onto the jeep?”

“Hrrm, yes, yes of course”, you said and stood up, correcting your clothes and avoiding everyone’s looks.

Hoshi also slowly got up, and with the help from a team member, made his way to the jeep. The heavy work of transporting the tiger started, and maybe it was better that way. Something to keep you from thinking too much about what’d just happened.

When you left the animal hospital though, the cheeky smile on Hoshi’s lips was enough for you to smile back. As you dropped him off by his team’s barrack, you decided to get off too, “just to make sure he gets inside safely”. The knowing smile Seokmin gave you was unbearable and you exited the jeep as fast as possible.

“So…” Hoshi said and peered at you with a grin, once the jeep had left. “You got any plans for the rest of the day?”

“Not really, why?” you asked, trying to remain casual. Who knew where he was going with this.

“Well, you see, I’ve got this concussion and I’m not really supposed to be left unattended in case I fall unconscious or something like that”. His grin was reaching his ears now and his eyes were shining with happiness.

“I guess I could babysit you, if that what you need…” you said nonchalantly.

“As in: Baby, I wanna sit on top of you again and make out some more?” Hoshi teased.

“If that’ll make you feel better, sure”, you offered. “You did save my life after all.”

“That’s true”, he agreed. “And saving my life by keeping me conscious and awake would even the score.”

“I guess I’ve got a few ideas of how to keep you occupied”, you said casually. “Maybe we should go to your room and discuss them?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea. Follow me!”