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sunriseyg · 8 years ago

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Hey! I have a lot of trouble when it comes to writing dialogue (it doesn't matter if it's canon characters or OCs, I'm just really bad at it) and was wondering if you had any tips for how to work on that.

Dialogue can be really hard so don’t fret! It takes a lot of practice to pick up and articulate speech patterns in writing. When I first started getting into writing it was in one of my high school drama classes and we were writing screenplays. Obviously dialogue is a huge part of that so I, personally, have always felt that my dialogue is stronger than my prose.

I think– and this is probably obvious– the biggest thing with writing a characters voice is understanding how they speak. When I’m trying to get into character or get muse for a specific character its about voice for me and finding that voice. What helps me do that is listening to them speak or if you have an original character even finding a vocal reference that you feel sounds closest. Like find interviews of an actor or actress, etc. whose vocal pattern and cadence most closely resembles the voice of your character and listen to that to get a hold of just that sound and their pattern of speech.

Another thing that helps me with dialogue is remember that people say dumb things, that is a fact of life. Sometimes they say things that don’t make any sense, or things that absolutely have nothing to do with the current topic. People get off track, people bounce around topics. It’s okay if your character is not 100% coherent 100% of the time.

Also, people’s vocal patterns tend to change based on how they’re feeling. If they’re angry, they may be prone to raise their voice or stumble over their words more than they would when they speak normally. When they’re sad, sick, tired, upset, they’re not going to speak or sound the same way they would when they’re just fine. Their speech might be more slurred, lower, choked, throaty, garbled. Finding different patterns for different moods or states of being is another part of writing dialogue.

I always find it easier to write dialogue when I mouth it or even read it out loud to myself after I write it. That kind of just helps to solidify it and how it’s spoken. It’s okay to rework dialogue a couple of times until it flows properly. Just write it the way a person would say it.

Another important thing is that your characters speech doesn’t necessarily have to reflect how smart they are. Some people want to beef up their character’s dialogue with big words and terms to express their character is smart… you don’t necessarily have to do that. If that’s how they speak, more power to you, but a lot of intelligent people don’t use gigantic words all the time in their daily vocabulary. To use my own OC as an example, Chris is really incredibly smart, but he’s also a fucking nerd and half the time is dialogue is… what you’d expect from a teenage boy living in the 80s. He’s a geek, he’s a dork, he says ridiculous things that aren’t always 100% sensible. That reflects in his dialogue and his intelligence in dialogue is generally only tapped into when relevant to the conversation and even then he has his own specific pattern of speaking that doesn’t necessarily SOUND like he’s intelligent. I don’t know how to explain that properly, but you don’t always have to reflect your characters smarts in dialogue. The point is, intelligence does not always impact how your character articulates something.

Dialogue is really hard now that I’m actually trying to explain it oh gosh. It’s a very abstract thing when it comes to articulating how it works. The biggest thing is just practice, listen to your character speak or find a vocal reference ( it could even be someone you know, so long as their voice matches how you imagine your character speaking ) and then translate that pattern into writing.

Some things to think about when writing their dialogue are things like:

Do they have lapses in their speech?

Do they pause a lot to think?

Everyone has an accent, what is theirs? ( It can be a neutral accent, American neutrals are still accents, they’re just… neutral, you can google these for reference ).

Do they speak their mind or do they tend to filter themselves?

Do they act differently or speak differently around different people?

What is their mood and how does that impact their speech?

How would they respond to this situation?

How would their response to a situation impact their speech?

Do they sometimes have trouble expressing their own thoughts?

Do they get tongue tied a lot?

Do they speak slowly, quickly, average?

What is their vocal pattern?

How can you translate that pattern into writing?

One other thing you need to keep in mind is that sometimes characters genuinely don’t have anything to say. Sometimes dialogue is most effective to articulate how they’re feeling / thinking when they don’t say anything to reflect that. Your character doesn’t always have to say something in response to something else if it’s in their nature not to. In the event that happens, you can write something in its place.

Example:

A character is in a fight with someone and they’ve just dealt a low blow, they don’t know how to respond so they don’t say anything.

What you could write for this is something along the lines of:

“She was seething with rage, no words forming as tears trailed down feverish cheeks. There was nothing left for her to say.”

It’s about articulating what your character is thinking or feeling. Sometimes there’s nothing left for a character to say and that’s okay! It’s more realistic to break it off in silence than to have your character continue. That’s okay. You don’t need to over do it.

Don’t info-dump with dialogue unless the story and your character absolutely call for it. Info-dumping is when you character reveals a ton of information about themselves in one piece of dialogue. It can become easily contrived and difficult to follow and you have to tread carefully when you do it. There are obviously times when that’s appropriate to do, but sometimes you can lose the audience so you have to be careful. It’s best to have your character begin with dialogue and then cut it off with something like “She explains the rest of her situation.” obviously that’s just an example, but it’s okay to articulate that your character is speaking while not writing out all of their dialogue. That avoids info-dumping and retains the real, true to life feel you want with dialogue. Just don’t give the whole thing, you can give a part of it and then break back into prose and explain what your character articulated in prose.

Another thing is, if it’s not in your character to say too much, don’t say too much. Real people in real life don’t tend to drag on a situation or a conversation longer than it needs to go on. It’s okay for sentences to be terse or for your character not to answer all of someone’s question. For example if another character has just asked your character a lot of questions all at once, it’s okay for your character to only answer one or two of them. It is all dependent on what they would do and what they would say.

It’s also okay for you to write dialect. I know there’s a lot of controversy about that, especially in the RP community but it IS okay to write their accent if it’s thick and heavy. If it’s a more general, neutral, or easily understandable dialect or accent you can write it normally. But lets say, and this is from an artistic point of view just as much as it is a writing point of view, your character has a very thick accent or dialect… It’s okay to write it that way. And inversely if your character is speaking to a character with a heavy accent or dialect, it’s okay for them to be confused or to have not heard them properly. You can have your character respond in a way they would if they haven’t understand it. Some characters might ask them to reiterate, other characters might go along with it and pretend they understood it, the point is dialects and accents are fine to write and it’s even okay if you don’t understand what’s been written. In a roleplay setting if you’re writing with someone who writes a character with a heavy dialect and you don’t understand what’s been written because it’s heavy, you are at liberty to ask what they said and what it meant, and it’s also okay for your character to ask what was said or what they meant, it’s also okay for your character to mishear them or misunderstand them which brings me to another thing.

It is absolutely okay and true to life for characters to misunderstand something another character has said, to mishear, to interpret it wrong, and it’s okay for them to respond appropriately to that misunderstanding. A lot of the time that keeps things fluid and realistic, it helps build tension and development among characters. It’s okay for your character to not understand or mishear something and react the way they’d react to that.

Some characters talk a lot, other characters keep it terse, that’s something to keep in mind. Where does your character fall and how does that impact their interaction with other characters?

With dialogue, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS begin on a new line for each new person that is speaking, and if your character stops speaking for a while and then you have your prose, but then your character starts speaking again, if it is a new thought, it’s okay to start that on a new line as well. Everything doesn’t have to be contained to one paragraph and it makes it easier to read and understand when you break it up appropriately.

That’s about all I can say, this got longer than I even expected but the biggest thing is practice and picking up patterns. Practice a bunch, practice patterns of speech you’re not used to, patterns that you have the hang of, it’s all about understanding and getting into that mindset to be able to articulate a pattern in writing what they’re saying. I know that’s kind of vague and not very helpful, but that’s what I did and that’s how I got better about writing. It’s about flow while retaining a pattern. That’s it. It’s a lot easier said than done, but I think knowing what you have to do and then going from there is really helpful.

Unfortunately I’m probably not the best person to explain that because I’ve always had a really easy time writing dialogue and how characters thing. If you need clarification on anything feel free to message me, and if you want you could message me off anon and I could explain individual things if you’re confused or need help with, because I honestly think a back and forth discourse might help explain what you need explained better. I’m not that great at explanations LOL but a personal back and forth might help with specifics, so feel free to contact me.

#reference

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sunriseyg · 8 years ago

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kairos

so, i already put this on my ao3, but i thought i'd post some stuff on here too.

pairing: yoonseok word count: 5103 genre: fluff, mild angst?

summary: The sunsets are beautiful, not quite like sunrises, although they have their own appeal. But sunsets are way more soothing, and to Yoongi they look even better when Hoseok’s warmth is accompanying them.

KAIROS:

Ancient greek – (n.) The perfect, delicate, crucial moment, the fleeting rightness of time and place that creates the opportune atmosphere for action, words or movement.

The sun is still brightening up the sky, slowly getting closer to the horizon. Dusk isn’t there yet, but the air is filled with longing and Yoongi finds himself waiting, expectation prickling at the back of his thoughts. Sitting on the little hill, surrounded by daisies and dandelions, Yoongi watches as the grass spreads in front of him, all around him, until he cannot distinguish the flowers from the ground anymore. When the other boy sits next to him, Yoongi fails to see where he has come from and, even if he were to find out, he wouldn’t know what to do with the information. The field around them is too big for him to attempt walking it, miles behind them just a small forest that Yoongi is always too scared to look at, let alone go through. “Where do you think you will be in five years?” The boy asks and Yoongi doesn’t dare to look at him, but he can feel his presence is positive, reassuring.

Just like every time, Yoongi doesn’t feel like he’s in danger, he doesn’t feel scared, but he does feel some kind of distance between them, despite sitting right next to each other. Yoongi shakes his head, dark hair covering his smiling eyes, and a chuckle escapes him as he thinks of an answer. “I don’t know. Probably I’ll be here still, waiting for the sunset. Maybe I will have a dog, I've always wanted one.” Yoongi finally turns to him and he is not sure he stopped looking at the sun at all. The boy’s smile is bright as he meets his eyes, blinding even, and it somehow matches the warm feeling in Yoongi’s chest. “You should, dogs are great.” His voice reminds Yoongi of salted caramel, the perfect mix of sweet and salty creating a unique flavour. Yoongi likes mild things and the boy’s voice is mild in every aspect, yet never boring. If Yoongi had to assign him a season he would choose spring, when flowers seem to be keen on growing everywhere, brightening up the day, and everything is calm, right, balanced, but also colourful, different, unexpected. Their eyes eventually go back to the horizon, the sun still playing games with the few clouds, although now a slightly darker hue of blue is painting the sky; time always seems to go faster when they meet. “What about you? Where do you see yourself in five years?” Yoongi’s question is faint, a whisper in the vast field that could easily mix with the light wind blowing through their hair. Seconds pass – maybe minutes, Yoongi isn’t sure, it feels like an eternity regardless – but eventually, the boy parts his lips and the smile that Yoongi admires so much accompanies his reply. “I don’t like thinking too far ahead. Yes, one could say five years isn’t a long time, but it’s still…five years.” He seems to choose his words carefully and Yoongi tries hard to catch every single one of them, almost scared that if he doesn’t pay attention the other boy is going to stop sharing the thoughts that Yoongi is so interested in. A sigh precedes the rest of boy’s answer and Yoongi’s eyes focus on the purplish tint of the sky. “You could do so much in five years. You could turn your life around, really. So- this might sound cliché, but… I don’t focus too much on what the future holds. I’d rather see what I can do with my present. And right now this, whatever this is, it feels like I could be here for a while.” Despite his words, the boy doesn’t stay for long and Yoongi is almost disappointed. But he leaves with the promise of coming back and walks away right as Yoongi nods him goodbye, his silhouette standing out against the grass that’s now a darker colour, just like the sky.Yoongi doesn’t look at his back for more than five seconds and fights the urge of running after him, instead, he keeps on looking at the sunset until the stars are visible and the half moon is the only thing that keeps him company.

A dandelion is blown away by the wind, stronger than usual but still pleasant. It forms patterns on the grass that Yoongi would try to decipher if he didn’t feel so tired, although he can’t remember doing anything that effort worthy before going to the hill. He feels like he’s been there forever, really. Once again, Yoongi is sitting and waiting for something, the anticipation in his chest extends to his fingers as he strips a few strands of grass from the ground to twirl them in his hands. When one of them breaks, Yoongi lets the whole bunch go, only to repeat the action shortly after.

It’s not time for the sunset to arrive yet and Yoongi wonders if maybe the right hour is the key to their encounters. But he then remembers all the times they met at night, or at dawn, or in the middle of the morning, and his theories are gone just as quick as he formulated them. Yoongi lets a sigh out, gaze falling on another dandelion next to him, still unscathed by the breeze.

Just as he’s about to grab the delicate flower, a shadow covers the sun and Yoongi looks up, meeting the eyes of the usual visitor that he’s come to like so much.

“Hope you haven’t been waiting for long!” He is beaming and Yoongi can’t help but compare him to the big star lighting up the sky once more. “What makes you think I was waiting?” Yoongi’s reply is met with a sweet laugh and, as the boy sits next to him, Yoongi widens his eyes as a revelation hits him. They don’t know each other’s names. They have been meeting like this for so long, but they never introduced themselves.

“What’s your name?” Yoongi questions suddenly, eyes full of hope and curiosity.

“Huh? Don’t you remember?” The boy replies with a surprised tone, yet seeming somewhat amused.

“I…don't. I’m sorry.” Yoongi is sure he has never asked the boy for his name, but maybe he is wrong. Embarrassment fills him as he realises that maybe he just made a fool of himself, maybe he did tell him his name once and he just forgot. He doesn’t understand how because Yoongi is sure he would remember the name of someone so beautiful. How long has it been since they know each other anyway? The sunset arrives and they’re quiet, Yoongi doesn’t dare speak again in fear of making things worse, but the boy doesn’t seem to mind. .

Sand.

It’s everywhere, it covers his feet as he slowly uses them to dig holes in the golden specks. This time they’re meeting on a beach and the sea’s waves create one of the most calming noises Yoongi has ever heard. There’s no one else around him and the sun is almost gone behind the horizon, drawing a landscape in the blue sky that amazes Yoongi each and every time. No matter how many sunsets he looks at, every single one of them is different and he likes to admire them all.

The boy sits down next to him, but Yoongi wouldn’t have noticed hadn’t it been for his words.

“So, did you remember?”

He always greets him with a question these days, Yoongi notices, leaving him baffled and prompting him to look for words when he’s less prepared for it. Yoongi turns to him and his breath gets caught in his throat as he just looks more handsome than always. He’s wearing a dark blue plaid shirt over a white t-shirt that seem to fit incredibly well with the colour scheme of the scenery. And just like that, Yoongi remembers.

Hoseok.

He is sure that’s his name and, as Yoongi says it out loud, he realises that he had known it all along. It sounds like toffee in his mouth, like candy that pleasantly melts at the touch with the tongue, and Hoseok’s smile is brighter than ever while he nods vehemently. “Yeah! Well done, Yoongi.” They just smile at each other for a while and Yoongi thinks his heart is going to fall right out of his chest if he doesn’t stop getting so happy over these small gestures. Remembering his name just now is something that, in Yoongi’s opinion, Hoseok should be at least a bit upset about, but there’s no trace of sadness in his eyes, he seems just plain… happy. Yoongi can feel blood creeping up his neck and filling his cheeks, so he turns away, hoping that the sound of the water crashing on the shore will calm him down. It doesn’t help much. .

Every time they meet it’s like the first and the last in just one encounter. Yoongi doesn’t expect Hoseok to show up, and he doesn’t know if he will be back when he leaves. But he does, every single time he comes back, and Yoongi feels his lungs hug his heart a little bit tighter, just a little bit more, as if to stop it from getting too big and spilling from his mouth.

He thought he loved the colours of the sky, he thought he loved the light of the stars, but there is nothing he loves more than sitting there and sharing all that with Hoseok, because there is nothing he likes more than seeing him smile.

“Someday we could travel,” Yoongi says after they’ve been silent for a long time, the light wind being almost as quiet as them. “We could see the world, maybe live together. That way we wouldn’t have to meet like this.” His head is close to Hoseok’s as they lay on the grass, as they observe the starry sky above them, specks of light flickering in their eyes and forming constellations of their own.

Hoseok turns his head to look at Yoongi’s profile, but the other boy doesn’t turn around, not until he can sense something is not right in the way Hoseok is looking at him. Then, he does, and what he sees almost destroys him. He was expecting Hoseok to smile, brightly as ever, and to tell him that yes, they could, hell, he wanted him to say that they should have done that right now, left town for good, never to be seen again.

But Hoseok’s frown is far from a smile. Mouth agape, like words should be coming out of it, but got lost somewhere along the way, Hoseok stares at Yoongi with empty eyes and the other boy just doesn’t understand. He doesn’t understand why Hoseok looks so… sad. Crestfallen. Like a person who’s about to tell a very expectant kid that Santa doesn’t exist. Like someone who’s thinking of all the lies in the world, while knowing he has no choice but to tell the truth. Like, as much as Hoseok wants to agree with Yoongi, he just can’t do that.

“Yoongi…” Hoseok starts, and Yoongi knows that he doesn’t want to hear it. He doesn’t want to, he wants him to shut up already, he wants to grab his hand and run away into the forest, no matter how scary it looks. With Hoseok he feels like he can do anything, but not if he keeps on talking, not if he says those words Yoongi is sure he is going to hate. But he’s petrified under Hoseok’s stare, and all he can do is hope that his perception is wrong and maybe he will say yes. Maybe they will run away together.

Hoseok’s phrase stops there, though, and Yoongi stares at his lips as the other boy closes them in a faint, small, smile. Hoseok nods, but his eyes are still sad. Yoongi ignores that, he ignores the feeling in his gut yelling at him that they can’t run away anytime soon, that his hopes are impossible, even though he doesn’t really understand why they are so. He ignores all that, and ignores the fluttering in his stomach, the pounding in his heart, as he grabs Hoseok’s hand and holds it tight.

He can feel Hoseok’s surprised look on him, but Yoongi’s eyes are back on the stars, trying to ignore the blush he is sure is appearing on his cheeks too. .

How long has it been? Minutes? Hours? It might as well be years because Yoongi can’t tell the difference between a second and a day now, he only knows it’s been too long. Too long since he’s been waiting for Hoseok, too long since the sun has set and the night has taken over. He glances at the stars and he realises how much he got used to Hoseok’s presence next to his, how much he feels like leaving that empty space on his side is just not right. Yoongi sighs for the umpteenth time as he grabs some grass strands and fiddles with them, thoughts of Hoseok’s smile filling his mind.

Over time they have bonded quite a lot, but Yoongi feels like he doesn’t really know who Hoseok is, despite the sensation in his gut telling him that they’ve been knowing each other for a very long time. They kept on meeting, asking each other questions that varied from their opinions on life, passing for opinions on sunsets, and even on what kind of music would bees like. Yoongi catches himself thinking about the one time he had asked Hoseok about his family and he had animatedly talked about his younger sister for a very long time, yet Yoongi didn’t mind at all and just enjoyed the fond smile on Hoseok’s face.

Maybe he’d gone too far. Maybe he should have shut up. Maybe, Hoseok had finally gotten tired of him and left him for good. The grass strands break in Yoongi’s hands and an angry grunt escapes him. .

Sunlight hits his face almost like a flashlight pointed directly into his eyes, and Yoongi shields himself with a hand as the cloud that was obscuring the sun just a second before moves away and makes space for the rays to come through. Yoongi feels exactly like the sky above him today, a bit cloudy, looking tense and uncertain.

His hands find the rocks underneath him, and he grabs a few, looking for the right one. A lake spreads in front of him and its water looks like an even and neatly polished piece of glass, still and calm like few things Yoongi has seen in his life. Then, a rock skips on the water, breaking that perfect surface, and then another, and another, and another. Yoongi throws rocks and some skip like he wants them to, some don’t, until he’s run out of rocks that work and he just tosses them, listening to them flop and sink in one brief moment.

“Havin’ fun?” He almost jumps at the voice, but he doesn’t really get the chance to react because Hoseok is sitting next to him and smiling so widely and oh god, the sun is shining again.

“I–” Yoongi only manages to trail out, rock in his hand as his arm slowly lowers back to the ground. His eyes are stuck on Hoseok, as the other boy grabs his hand and opens it, taking the rock in his own palm. Then, he puts the rock back on the ground and interlocks fingers with Yoongi, smile yet to fade from his face. Yoongi is baffled, he’s dumbfounded, he’s every synonym in the world that express how fucking shocked he is to see the other boy there. But he’s also in love, oh, so much, and he’s realised that just now, right in this moment, as Hoseok looks at him with the same glint in his eyes, the same fondness Yoongi thought another human being never could have had for him.

“I’m sorry. I should have come back earlier. I just got scared– and things came up–“

“It’s okay. You’re here now.” Yoongi smiles and squeezes his hand tighter; there’s no way he’s letting go anytime soon.

When they kiss it’s sweet, and long due, and everything Yoongi was waiting for. Doubt is still trying to make space at the back of his mind, but he pushes it away and enjoys Hoseok’s embrace. His heart is a peaceful lake and Hoseok is skipping rocks on its surface, creating beautiful patterns Yoongi will never get tired of. .

The meetings start again, and Hoseok is always bright, always calm, always what Yoongi needs, when he needs him. One day he brings him flowers, and Yoongi doesn’t know what to say except why?

“They reminded me of you. Freesias are so pretty and delicate.” Hoseok explains, like he doesn’t understand how Yoongi couldn’t come to such a simple conclusion.

“Thank you.” The words are almost stuck in his throat, but they fight to come out and they seem to make Hoseok grin wider as Yoongi grabs the bouquet and smells the flowers.

Freesias are really pretty. .

They’re back on their hill, a little bit closer to the forest this time, and Yoongi feels anxious about it. He doesn’t know why, but no matter how calming Hoseok’s presence is, that forest creeps him out. The other boy seems to notice as Yoongi frantically turns back to check that the forest is there, unmoving and silent.

“What’s wrong?” Hoseok asks, worry painting a picture on his features that makes Yoongi’s insides squirm. He doesn’t like to see him frown.

“Nothing.” Yoongi looks again towards the horizon and scoots a little closer, until Hoseok’s arm wraps around him and he can lean his head on the younger boy’s shoulder. “I just feel like something might come out of there and grab us.” He explains, realising how Hoseok’s thumb is slowly caressing circles on his upper arm.

“Don’t worry, that forest only has trees and maybe some birds and insects in it. Nothing will harm you.” Hoseok presses a kiss to his temple, and Yoongi has never been much for prolonged skinship, but he feels like he could stay like that forever. .

The sunsets are beautiful, not quite like sunrises, although they have their own appeal. But sunsets are way more soothing, and to Yoongi they look even better when Hoseok’s warmth is accompanying them.

“I thought that maybe you’re right. Maybe we can leave here.” Hoseok says all of a sudden, and Yoongi did not expect that at all. He thinks that maybe Hoseok likes to surprise him more than he likes to be surprised, but he can’t help a smile as he tilts his head to the side in a curious stare.

“Soon. I feel like soon we’ll both be ready to leave and live our life like we always wanted.” The other boy continues, once more like there’s only one easy solution to every question Yoongi has. And Yoongi doesn’t ask more, that’s all he needs for him to believe again that yes, they can make it out of there. .

The forest starts scaring him less. He still likes sitting away from it more. .

Nothing cheers Yoongi up more than hearing Hoseok’s laugh, and it cheers him up even more when he’s the one to make it happen. Every time they meet it’s like time freezes over and speeds up at the same time, because thousands of sunsets could go by, and even more sunrises could fly past them, and Yoongi would want to spend every single one of them with Hoseok without ever getting bored of it. He is sure of it like he’s sure that the moon is going to shine, he’s sure of it like he’s sure of his love for Jung Hoseok. So he tells him.

“Yoongi, I…” Hoseok’s smile could obliterate the stars and Yoongi feels like he might get at least a first-degree burn from the blush on his own cheeks, so he fiddles with the grass strands – it’s a habit now –because Hoseok’s eyes on him suddenly became too much to handle. “… I love you too. I- I’ve known it for a long time, actually.”

The other boy’s hand finds Yoongi’s easily and it untangles his fingers just like the kiss they share melts the knots in Yoongi’s stomach. Once again, Yoongi can’t believe this is really happening to him, he can’t believe he’s really living this moment because it’s too perfect, too right, too everything. And yet, Yoongi feels like nothing could ruin it. .

. It happens one day when Hoseok is just a little late and Yoongi doesn’t really mind– he trusts him now; he knows he will be there soon. He’s sitting on the grass, the hill is peaceful, and he’s mindlessly counting down the minutes until Hoseok shows up.

Except a dog shows up instead.

It almost scares the lungs out of Yoongi, because he is absorbed in picking the grass around him as he usually does when waiting for Hoseok, and then he feels something nuzzling at his neck. He jumps up and almost falls over right after, but the dog is sitting there, looking up at him with big eyes and dangling tongue. It’s big, and white, and fluffy, and Yoongi would be cooing if it wasn’t for the minor heart attack he’s trying to recover from.

It barks softly at Yoongi after he has stared at him for maybe too long, and it starts nuzzling at the boy’s legs. Yoongi assumes he’s demanding pets, so he reaches out a hand and slowly pats the dog on its head, at first carefully, then the dog seems to get more excited as a chuckle escapes Yoongi, who crouches down and starts petting the dog with more confidence.

Then the dog gets up and barks at Yoongi again, still with the same energy, that demanding way that dogs have when they want attention. Yoongi doesn’t understand, he has been petting him for the longest time, and yet the dog doesn’t seem satisfied with that anymore. It’s looking at Yoongi like it has a secret that it wants to reveal and when Yoongi realises that he’s following the dog into the forest it’s too late. He’s right in front of it now, he could reach out a hand and caress the bark of the first tree, but the feeling in his stomach stops him. The dog is next to him, it barks once more, waking Yoongi from his thoughts.

“I can’t go in there, it’s too scary,” Yoongi tells the dog, feeling somehow it can understand his words despite the species barrier. “Hoseok will be here soon too, I can’t leave.”

The dog just nudges Yoongi’s leg again at that, and Yoongi throws it a worried look. When the dog nudges him and whimpers, Yoongi crouches down to caress a hand into its soft fur.

“I understand that you want me to go, but why?” Yoongi looks the dog in the eyes and really feels like it could speak back to him at any moment. “This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to it.” He murmurs, eyes trailing back to the deep coat of leaves. He can see between the trees, he can see the ground covered in leaves and rocks and bushes inside. He can see how the sunlight gets filtered through the branches and he can see the patterns that get formed by the shadows. He is in awe and he is terrified and he is doubting all of his fears and he feels them simmering inside him. Nothing will harm you. Hoseok’s words echo through his mind as he looks back to the patch of grass he was sitting on before. Maybe he can do it. Maybe he can take a few steps in and go back right away. Then Hoseok will be happy to know he managed to get close.

The dog barks again and this time it comes from in front of him. Yoongi eyes its white paws walking on the leafed path between the first trees and he’s suddenly scared for it. But the dog walks a bit further inside and then stops to look at Yoongi, expectant glint in its eyes.

The sun is setting and Hoseok isn’t there yet, but something is pulling Yoongi inside the forest now.

Just a few steps. He’ll take a stride until he reaches the dog and then he will walk back.

One last look behind his shoulder and then Yoongi takes a breath. Clenches his fists. The dog is still there, patiently observing his every movement.

And then, he’s walking past the first tree. Yoongi doesn’t return to the grass patch.

Every time Hoseok leaves the hospital there’s a part of him that stays there, his mind travelling back to how cold Yoongi’s hand seems, and how his heart accelerates when he sees him laying there, eyes closed and only a beeping monitor indicating that he’s still alive. He hates it and loves it, that beeping, that constant sound. It’s repetitive and static and Hoseok knows it’s the only thing guaranteeing him that Yoongi is there, he is right there. Yet, he wishes he could get some other response when he talks to him and not the cold, distant, beeping of the machine.

“I’ll be back tomorrow,” Hoseok tells him, squeezing his hand and kissing him on the forehead, like he always does when he leaves that cold room, the only thing to brighten it up are the flowers that he had brought him. Freesias wer– are his favourites.

Hoseok knows there might not be a tomorrow.

So he kisses his lips too this time, chastely, while holding back tears because he can’t let Yoongi see him cry, he won’t allow it.

Yoongi has been in a coma for two years and for two years Hoseok has been yearning for him, waiting for him to wake up, to reply to his calls, to open his eyes and hug him and tell him that it’s okay. It’s okay, they’re together, it’s okay. That they don’t have to hide anymore, Hoseok doesn’t have to pretend to be “his best friend” anymore, they can just leave and love each other and be who they want to be. Hoseok had a dream once, where all of that happened, and they were in a field and it was beautiful and perfect because there was no one but them, looking at the sunset like it was the most precious thing in the world after the embrace that they were sharing.

Hoseok knows that’s not happening anytime soon, because Yoongi’s parents told him they’ve been considering putting and end to it, and there’s nothing Hoseok can do to argue.

“He wouldn’t want to live like this.” Is the only reasoning they gave him. Hoseok wanted to yell, to argue that he would want them to believe in him, to believe that he can live at all, he would want so many things and he wouldn’t want them to give up. But he didn’t. He swallowed his tears like he learned to since he was a kid, and nodded.

“We know you care about him, and we appreciate all you’ve been doing so far. But we’re letting go and so should you.” Yoongi’s father had put a hand on his shoulder, a gentle look in his eyes, almost as if he knew. Yoongi’s parents have always been more understanding than Hoseok’s, they know and they accept their son for who he is, but Hoseok wishes they also understood how wrong wanting to make that decision is.

He cries when he gets home, and then cries some more, until his lungs feel sore, just like his heart has been feeling since Yoongi got rushed to the hospital. He curses, and yells, and he lets it all out until it’s the middle of the night and he realises he hasn’t had a proper meal yet. Hoseok doesn’t care, he’s not hungry.

He’s losing all hope, he’s losing everything, and he feels like he’s about to lose his mind too because he suddenly can’t believe his ears and eyes. His phone is ringing, and it’s Yoongi’s mother, and he’s scared.

“Y-yes? H-hello?” The words come out dragged, like he really doesn’t want to say them and instead there’s a small thread forcing them out from his throat until they fall out. “Is everything o-okay?”

“Hoseok.” Yoongi’s mother's voice seems just as tired as his, but he can’t decipher it, he can’t figure out if she’s about to say something incredibly beautiful or incredibly horrible.

“He’s- He is-“ She chokes up on her words and he still doesn’t understand. He is what? Awake? Alive? Or… no, Hoseok doesn’t want to think about it.

“Just get here.” This time is Yoongi’s father talking, and that’s all he needs. There’s hope in him again, he doesn’t know what has happened, but maybe it’s not bad news. The call is over before he can ask, and in his heart there’s fear and longing and anticipation and worry. But he runs, he runs out of the house, he runs to get a taxi, he runs to the hospital. He doesn’t care about what it is that the nurses are telling him, he doesn’t care about getting his name signed down, he doesn’t even care about his scarf getting lost somewhere along the way because all he cares about right now is Min Yoongi and whether he’s alive or not, whether he can hug him again or not, whether he can see him smile and hear him laugh and talk or not. It’s the middle of the night and Jung Hoseok can feel his heart thumping louder than his own thoughts, but when he reaches the door to Yoongi’s room, he needs to stop and catch his breath.

Every moment he’s ever spent with the other boy comes back to his mind. The first time they held hands, the first time they kissed, the first time they realised they were each other’s everything. Hoseok treasures every second he’s passed with Yoongi, even the bad ones, even the ones where they thought they hated each other and especially the ones where they were proved wrong. He can feel tears coming at the back of his throat, but he swallows them down.

Finally, Hoseok holds his breath and pushes the door open.

#ughhh it's kinda scary to put this here somehow #but anyway #hope you liked it #yoonseok #yoonseok fic #bangtan fic #don't know how else to tag this tbh

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