The Baggage You Carry • Jung Hoseok

Part 23 • Y/n

Monday, June 15
8:34pm
Hannam-dong, Seoul
Y/n

You walked to your apartment after tutoring looking pretty calm and composed on the outside, but on the inside you were screaming. Tutoring had taken a little longer because your mind was completely reeling and you were honestly not paying attention to Namjoon at all.

He was definitely confused when he walked into the coffee shop and saw you and Jimin actually speaking, considering it was the first time you both had ever spoken alone. Once Namjoon approached the table, Jimin acknowledged him and grabbed his stuff, saying he had to be on his way. When he was leaving the cafe, he looked over his shoulder and told Namjoon that he'd see him at his, Hoseok's and Yoongi's apartment later on, and left.

Jin came over and placed a coffee in front of Namjoon while he had asked you what all that was about. Namjoon was obviously aware of your strong distaste towards the dancer and so seeing you being actually polite was very surprising. You just brushed it off by saying that you both were settling your differences, and it was nothing to be worried about.

Your subtlety didn't last for long however, because you soon asked Namjoon:

"Is Hoseok interested in anyone?"

The question made Namjoon choke on his coffee, and he coughed while you awkwardly passed him napkins. Based on his reaction, you would say the answer was probably a 'yes.'

"What made you ask that?" He said, once he finally removed the liquid from his esophagus and was able to take a deep breath. You shrugged your shoulders and played with your pencil.

"I don't know, just wondering I guess." You muttered in response. Namjoon couldn't have bought that, but he didn't push the topic and he continued the lesson.

You were extremely relieved to finally make it to your apartment, because as soon as you walked through the door, your calm and collected persona fell and in came the highly excited Y/n that had been suppressed for multiple hours.

So the minute after you dropped your bag and kicked off your shoes upon returning home, you screamed in complete happiness and started jumping around. It was a moment that made you appreciate living alone, because this would've been extremely embarrassing if someone had been living with you.

However in your joyous celebration, you seemed to have forgotten that you had an Australian friend who happened to live next door to you, and your volume at the present time was excessive.

Lucy came barging through your front door in the next 30 seconds and caught you in the middle of dancing and jumping around. You abruptly stopped your celebrations and looked at Lucy. You quickly stood up straight to fool her into thinking that you were normal, as if she didn't just catch you showboating.

"Yes?" You asked in the most neutral voice you could manage, while Lucy was looking frantic.

"Are you okay?" She huffed, clearly distressed about something. "I heard screaming."

Oh. Whoops.

You laughed and rubbed the back of your neck and you could feel your cheeks turning red. "Oh, yeah. Uh, that was me." You responded, but apparently it didn't help Lucy calm down.

"Why were you screaming? Did someone break in?" She started making her way around your apartment, looking to make sure none of the windows showed signs of forced entry and that everything was still in its place.

"No, nothing like that." You said as you watched her, feeling immensely happy to have a friend who cared so much for you.

"Well then, what?" She asked as she turned to look at you. She seemed to calm down drastically upon seeing the (sort of) peaceful look on your face. The smile you were trying to hide broke through and you couldn't help but start bouncing up and down again.

"Apparently," You started and your excitement was really starting to show now that you were about to actually talk to someone about the cause of your euphoria. "Hoseok is in love with me!" You said (almost shrieked actually) and looked excitedly at Lucy.

What you didn't expect was her to be looking at you, looking almost unimpressed.

"Oh, that's it?" She said, looking more bored than frantic now.

"What do you mean 'that's it'?" You were almost offended. Lucy knew how much you were into Hoseok so why was she not more excited for you at finding out that he was into you as well?

"This isn't new, Y/n. Honestly, I thought you knew." She mentioned as she sat on the couch and you were so confused.

"What do you mean that it's not new?" You questioned and your mind was really trying hard to catch up and process the news that Lucy just spilled. "Wait - you knew?"

Lucy looked at you unimpressed. "Y/n, everyone knew that you two were into each other. Except apparently you two." She said and your jaw dropped. But then, something went off for her. "Wait, how did you find out?"

"Jimin told me." You muttered and Lucy shook her head in shock.

"Wait, Jimin told you? Since when are you two talking?"

You then launched into a full explanation of what exactly transpired that afternoon while Lucy paid close attention. Every now and again, she would ask the occasional question and you would do your best to answer. By the end of it, you both were sitting at the table, waiting for your takeout that you had ordered in the middle of story time.

"So let me get this straight," She said and scratched her head. "Jimin told you that Hoseok was in love with you?" You nodded in response. "Well, that's a kind of douchey move." She commented, and you stopped. For the first time since he told you the news, you started to consider that despite the fact that Hoseok was in fact in love with you, it wasn't his place to tell you.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." You muttered as you looked at the clock and were surprised to see it was almost 10pm - you didn't realize how much you had been talking apparently. Luckily, Seoul had ample 24 hour restaurants.

"So, are you prepared to ask out Hoseok?" Lucy asked and you choked on air.

"Pardon?" You gasped out and she looked at you.

"Well, just because you know about his crush on you, it doesn't mean he knows about your crush on him. So, are you going to ask him out?" She said and you were thankful you had a friend like Lucy to remind you of other circumstances.

"Well, shit. I don't know." You said, and all of a sudden, there was a knock at your door which you assumed was your food. You made your way to the door while continuing to look at Lucy. "I guess I never really thought about it."

"Well, you better start thinking. Don't expect him to show up on your doorstep with roses and ask you on a date." She said as she grabbed plates from the kitchen. You mentally agreed with her and opened your front door and gasped in surprise when you saw who was actually there.

It was Hoseok in a nice pair of fitted jeans, a button up shirt with his hair pushed back to expose his forehead. He looked nervous, but goddammit if he didn't look absolutely stunning as well. In his hand, he held a bouquet of pink roses.

"Hoseok, hi." You said as you looked at this radiant man in front of you, still surprised to see him at your apartment.

"Y/n, hi." He responded back to you and he gulped. "Uh, sorry to bother you this late at night." He said in damn near perfect English and your heart started racing.

"No, no. It's okay!" You smiled at him, and luckily that seemed to work in calming him down because he smiled back at you. "What can I do for you?"

"Uh, okay. I'm sorry, I'm a bit nervous." He said in English and you smiled at how cute he was, until the next few words flew out of his mouth. "Y/n, will you go on a date with me?"

Your mouth dropped and you heard some plates break from inside the apartment and all that came to your mind was 'holy shit, Lucy must be able to see the fucking future.'