The Baggage You Carry • Jung Hoseok

Part 10 • Hoseok

Friday, March 20
9:03pm
Myeongdong Night Market, Seoul
Hoseok

"Y/n! Over here!"

Hoseok glanced up and looked at Namjoon like he was a complete maniac and was, to put it lightly, a little startled. But, to be fair, who wouldn't be when someone you're having a peaceful conversation with starts yelling and waving at a random person in the middle of a busy night market. If you haven't been in that situation, Hoseok would be the first to tell you how embarrassing it is.

Apparently, it wasn't just embarrassing for him, the two girls Namjoon was currently waving down looked a little sheepish as well.

Regardless, the two girls made their way over and one of them waved slightly at Hoseok's tall, slightly awkward friend. If he didn't know that Namjoon was tutoring one of them in Korean (he assumed the one who waved), he would've just expected them to be two tourists and he felt a little bad for passing that judgement.

The girls were now in front of Namjoon and the one who Hoseok assumed was Y/n seemed to be introducing Namjoon to her friend. After her introductions, Namjoon turned to Hoseok and introduced him to Y/n and her friend, Lucy. Y/n tried to say (what Hoseok thought was supposed to be) 'nice to meet you' in really broken Korean, but Hoseok smiled and said 'nice to meet you too'.

Namjoon and Y/n spoke for a little more with Lucy interjecting every now and again while Hoseok stood and played with the strap on a bag that was on display. He observed the interactions and although he felt a bit awkward by not understanding everything that was being said, he still observed.

Y/n for some reason intrigued Hoseok and he couldn't pinpoint why - overall, she was pretty average. Like sure, he guessed she was pretty and he barely spoke more than 10 words to her but he felt connected to her for some goddamn reason and it was pissing him off.

The rest of the boys found Hoseok and Namjoon in the bag shop, and Hoseok was taken by surprised when Jin Hyung suddenly exclaimed:

"Oh, Y/n! Nice to see you!" Hoseok had to hand it to Jin - he was extremely confident in the minimal English that he knew, but how the heck did he know Y/n?

Namjoon introduced Y/n and Lucy to the rest of the guys and invited them to join in boys night (not before checking with said boys that it was okay first) and they headed out of the bag shop and down the street.

As it turns out, Lucy was actually pretty fluent in Korean so she was easily able to fit into the conversations that the boys were having. Y/n however was a different story - the poor girl was obviously feeling uncomfortable in the conversations and spent most of her time playing with her hands. Hoseok felt bad, but he couldn't really do much because, you know, he didn't really know much English - but he tried.

"So, what do you, uh, work?" Hoseok cringed at his attempt at English but he couldn't let this poor girl suffer alone, so he might as well suffer with her.

Apparently, his feeble attempt seemed to help break the tension a bit because she broke out in a relieved smile. "English teacher. You?"

He couldn't help but smile back at her - he was grateful she kept her answer short and sweet because at least he can respond back to her.

"Dance uh, teacher." He hesitated a bit (he wasn't sure if he said it right) but he knew what he said made sense when Y/n smiled and uttered out a 'cool.'

Lucy made her way back over to Y/n and looped her arm through hers and started chatting animatedly with her about things Hoseok couldn't even comprehend so he made his way back to chat with the guys instead.

"So, Y/n's the one you've been teaching Korean to, Namjoon Hyung?" Jimin asked his taller friend. Namjoon nodded and took a sip of the Chilsung cider he bought not too long ago.

"Yeah, she's nice right? Her friend is nice too." Namjoon commented and Taehyung hummed.

"Yeah, they both seem nice. Y/n seems kind of shy though." Taehyung thought out loud as he grabbed the cider from Namjoon's hand and took a swig. Hoseok chuckled at the pissed off look on Namjoon's face.

"Well, to be fair, she's one of the only people in this group who doesn't know Korean - her friend even seems to know a fair bit so she probably feels a bit left out." Namjoon responded, snatching his drink back from Taehyung's hand. Taehyung immediately started pouting, which Jungkook noticed and placed a sympathetic hand on his youngest Hyung's shoulder.

"We should get her and her friend to hang out with us more! Maybe that would help with Y/n with learning Korean. You know, more exposure to the language and all." Jimin suggested as he handed Taehyung his drink in order to console his best friend. "Besides, it'd probably be more fun for her than listening to Namjoon Hyung for hours on end." Yoongi, who was standing next to Hoseok held in a chuckle at the joke made at poor Namjoon's expense.

"Hey! I take offence to that. I'm a good teacher." Namjoon pouted, and Jin laughed loudly which drew the attention of the two girls. He smiled and gave a thumbs up at them, and they smiled back and returned the gesture.

"Of course you are, Namjoon. But being immersed in a group that speaks Korean might be easier for her, paired with tutoring. Practicality is better than theory for learning languages." Yoongi pointed out thoughtfully
and gently patted Namjoon's back to comfort him.

"Yeah, I guess so." Namjoon was still pouting, even though what Yoongi Hyung said made complete sense. Hoseok laughed brightly (it had only been a day, but he felt like he hadn't done that in forever) and clutched onto Namjoon to keep him upright when his laughter racked through his body.

Namjoon couldn't help but smile at his friend, happy to see him smile after such a difficult day and he gently patted Hoseok Hyung's back.

"Well it's settled," Namjoon said with the pout no longer on his face. "We'll start inviting Y/n and Lucy out more and give them the full local Seoul experience!"

All the guys were happy, especially Hoseok. He couldn't deny that part of him wanted to get to know Y/n a bit more, so he was excited to see what could possibly happen.