•••

"Hey, is something wrong?"

Namjoon looked up from his lyric book, to find Hoseok giving him a concerned gaze. He straightened from his slump position and faced the boy who was sitting beside him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Namjoon said, tapping his pen on the book. Hoseok furrowed his eyebrows.

"Did something happen to (y/n)?"

Namjoon jolted at that, looking at Hoseok weirdly.

"What? No, it's um," Namjoon tried to lie, but he couldn't anymore. He sighed. "Yeah. She, uh, she fell into my arms when we were at the park."

"Oh wow, the old cliché?" Hoseok said, amused by it. "Don't tell me it worked and now she is hopelessly in love with you."

Namjoon groaned, faceplanted on the desk and mumbled, "I wish. I think it made something awkward in us."

"You can't be serious, Namjoon-ah," Hoseok said, shaking his head. "C'mon, it's pretty obvious she likes you too."

"She does?" Namjoon raised an eyebrow, turning to press his right cheek on the desk so that he can face Hoseok. "Doesn't seem like that to me. She likes me, but as a friend."

"And you want more," Hoseok said with a knowing smile. "You know how to achieve that? Ask her out."

Namjoon rolled his eyes before putting his chin on the desk, facing the front of the class where the teacher was grading assignments while the class had free period.

"Hyung, have you ever loved someone so much, that you would be just friends with them just to keep them in your life?" He asked the other quietly. Hoseok pretended to think.

"Nope," he said, popping the p loudly. "Look, I think you should grow some metaphorical balls and just give it a go."

"And what if she rejects?" Namjoon interjected. "Things will be awkward between us and we will lose whatever friendship we have between us."

"Namjoon-ah," Hoseok pulled at his shoulder, to make him sit up. Namjoon eyed Hoseok with surprise. "If you live on what-ifs, I assure you, you are never going anywhere. If you trust me, you will confess. I have seen the way you look at each other; if you don't hurry up, Jin-hyung and Ji-soo-ah are going to go ahead of you two."

"I, thanks, Hobi," Namjoon smiled the other, using his nickname. "It's very nice of you to be concerned about me, and for you wanting me to be happy and dating. But do you really think she will say yes?"

Hoseok raised an eyebrow at the statement. Namjoon tried not to show his nervousness, but Hoseok caught it; they were friends for years, after all. Hoseok smiled at him.

"Do you think I would suggest you to confess if I wasn't sure?"

Namjoon froze at that. He knew Hoseok. Hoseok always cared for them; he would never lead them on false hopes. He was the true hope, after all. Namjoon grinned at that.

"Call the others. We have a plan to hatch. I have an idea."