The Baggage You Carry • Jung Hoseok

Part 30 • Hoseok

Sunday, September 20
Hannam-dong, Seoul
10:13am
Hoseok

It's been three months.

Three months since Y/n and Hoseok went on their first date. Three months since Hoseok kissed Y/n for the first time and three months since he called her 'bud'. It's been three months and Hoseok can say with 100 percent certainty that he has never felt happier. Ever.

Of course, right now Y/n and Hoseok were still in the 'honeymoon' stage of their relationship and were, to put it frankly absolutely disgusting to be around but did they care?

Not at all.

Actually, Hoseok was pretty sure that Jimin was really regretting telling Y/n about Hoseok's true feelings towards her at this point. But again, Hoseok couldn't care less. After all, even though he did forgive the guy, he figured a little harmless revenge never hurt anyone.

Regardless, because their friends have complained so frequently about how unbearable it was to be around them, Hoseok and Y/n decided to mostly spend their excursions and dates, just the two of them, which was for the best anyways. This way, they could be as disgustingly cute as they wanted to be and no one to judge them - unless you count random people in the streets.

Sundays were the day of the week Hoseok enjoyed the most since getting together with Y/n.

Before her, he would usually spend Sundays in the studio, running through the choreography for his classes for the week, and messing around and choreographing different numbers for upcoming showcases or performances.

Since starting a relationship with Y/n, Sundays have turned into their day.

The day would start with going to a new cafe for a breakfast date, and then they would explore Seoul together.

Today, Hoseok was planning on surprising Y/n with a trip to the aquarium. He remembered her mentioning a while ago at how her major in school was Marine Biology, and he wanted to see her in an environment she was passionate about.

Hoseok knocked on Y/n's apartment door, and waited patiently for her to answer. While he waited, he smiled softly as he looked at the chipped paint on the arch of her door. He had figured after three months, the nervous feeling would go away but his stomach was still afire with butterflies.

The butterflies didn't go away when he heard the door open and saw the answer to all of his prayers standing before him.

She was wearing a green sundress with a jean jacket, and looked completely stunning, and Hoseok gulped.

He was in love with Y/n - he knew it, their friends knew it and he wouldn't be surprised if even Y/n knew it but he hadn't found the right time to tell her. So instead, his feelings just stewed, waiting for the perfect moment to burst.

"Hi," Y/n smiled at Hoseok and Hoseok grinned before leaning down and softly kissing her.

"Hey baby." He responded and held out his hand for her. "Ready to go?"

———

As Y/n and Hoseok walked hand-in-hand through the streets of Seoul, Hoseok was lost in thought. If you had asked him four months ago where he would see himself in four months time, walking around with the love of his life (who he was in a relationship with) would've been the last thing on his list.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Y/n asked Hoseok, pulling him out of all his thoughts. He smiled down at her and took his hand out of hers to put it around her shoulder instead. He pulled her gently into his chest and kissed her forehead.

"Thinking about you." He muttered and Y/n playfully tried pushing Hoseok away with little success.

"But, I'm right here." She laughed and Hoseok smiled massively at her.

"You invade all of my senses at every point in the day, bud." Hoseok said and Y/n laughed hysterically, and Hoseok's heart soared at the sound.

"Come on bud, we're here." Y/n said as she pulled him into the cafe.

They both got the counter and ordered their drinks, and Y/n pulled out her wallet, insisting that she pay for the two of them. As she put her wallet back, Hoseok couldn't help but notice the bag she had brought along.

"Nice bag." He muttered, marvelling at the familiar material and style. He was going to have to ask her where she got it.

"Oh thanks. I've been looking forever for one like this since my last one disappeared." She muttered and Hoseok looked at her curiously, almost asking her to continue. "Oh, did I not tell you the story?" She asked and Hoseok shook his head. "It's actually really embarrassing."

"That's fine." Hoseok said as they made their way to a table after getting their drinks. Y/n sighed and glanced down before speaking.

"Back in March, I was waiting for my train in the morning and I took my bag, at least I thought it was my bag, but it wasn't. It was a stranger's bag! And now, I'm a bag thief and I've been too ashamed to tell anyone." She giggled but Hoseok noted the red in her cheeks, indicating that she was extremely embarrassed.

"What did the bag look like?" He asked because his interest had peaked. What if....

"It literally looked like this one." Y/n said, indicating the bag she had. "But! It's not the same bag I stole. I've felt way too guilty to even look at that bag so it's stored in my closet. I don't even know who it belongs to." She pouted and Hoseok felt his heart pick up pace a bit.

"You aren't a thief. You just made a mistake." He muttered, and his mind was racing.

"I am a thief though! I've had this random person's bag for 6 months and they've had mine and, gosh! I don't even know what I'd say to this person if I saw them." She said and Hoseok gave her a small smile.

He had a gut feeling that the bag in question was actually his bag, but he didn't want to tell her. At least, not right at this moment. She was obviously pretty cut up about it and Hoseok didn't want to ruin what was sure to be a fantastic day with her, so he put the thoughts of the bag at the back of his mind for now.

During Hoseok's entire Monday morning commute, he couldn't stop thinking about the bag that had been in his locker since March. The more he thought about it, the more the pieces started to add up - Namjoon had even mentioned that the student that he was tutoring in Korean lost her bag and as far as Hoseok knew, Y/n was the only one Namjoon was tutoring.

Gosh, why did it take him so long to figure it out?

When the train doors opened, Hoseok sprinted out and ran to the dance studio, eager to confirm all of his suspicions.

He got to the dance studio and completely blew past Jimin on his way to his locker, which obviously took Jimin by surprise. So, he followed Hoseok.

Hoseok quickly threw the combination on his lock and all but tore the door of his locker open in his desperation to see the bag.

"What's gotten into you?" Jimin asked as he watched Hoseok dig around his locker frantically.

"Remember in March when I told you someone took my bag at the train station?" Hoseok said, slightly out of breath, and Jimin nodded in response. "I think that someone was Y/n."

Jimin's eyes widened at Hoseok's confession. "What?" He muttered but Hoseok didn't pay him any mind. He pulled the bag out of his locker and started frantically looking at it, looking for something, anything. And that's when he saw it.

The enamel shark pin on the lip of the bag that Y/n had told him about. Her mom bought it for her as part of her graduation present. And all Hoseok could do was just stare.

Holy shit, after 6 months, Hoseok realized that the girl he was in love with was the same one who he hated for taking his bag.

What a turn of fuckin' events.