Chapter Text
this beautiful mood board was created by @sopeblossom
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"Find everything you need?"
Yoongi watches as Yesoon shuffles up to the register. The raven-haired elder is a regular at the bookstore, coming in once a week to browse the new releases and spend hours sipping on tea from the coffee bar and flipping through random magazines.
She smiles and nods, and Yoongi knows that's about as much response he's ever going to get from her. He's certain she's only spoken a handful of words the entire time he's known her, opting instead to communicate through small smiles and head nods.
The gold bracelets on her wrist jingle as she hands Yoongi a copy of a recently published murder mystery and a cookbook by a celebrity chef who lost their relevancy years ago.
"Hyung-nim!"
Yoongi looks up at the front door and sees barista Jungkook waving at him on the way out.
"The bar's all set, so I'm heading out," Jungkook says.
"Thanks for your hard work!” Yoongi shouts back. “See you tomorrow!"
Yoongi finishes ringing up Yesoon and hands her her receipt. "Thank you for stopping in. I hope you have a great evening."
Yesoon returns his smile and slowly makes her way out of the shop.
Yoongi checks his watch. He has just enough time to clean and lock up before heading straight over to the volunteer meeting across the city. It’s been a long day, and as much as he’s dying to go home to his tiny studio apartment and continue binging How It's Made, he’d already promised himself he was going to fulfill a goal he had made a year ago.
He locks up the register and makes his rounds through the bookshelves, restocking and tidying up. Just as he's grabbing his bag from the backroom to leave, he feels the familiar vibration of his phone in his pocket.
"You called earlier than usual," Yoongi answers, throwing his bag over his shoulder and walking to the front of the store.
"I have a date soon, so I figured I'd call beforehand in case it goes well," the familiar lilt of Jieun's voice responds on the other end.
Jieun is one of Yoongi's closest friends from back home. They have known each other since primary school, and she was one of the few people in his life he felt comfortable enough to come out to in his early 20s. They grew up in a place where everyone was expected to think the same, live the same, want the same things. Yoongi had decided to move to the big city a year ago in search of a more welcoming place.
Yoongi shuts off the lights and locks the front door before heading toward the subway. "Oh yeah? Who's the lucky guy?"
"Some fisherman I met on an app. He seems nice enough," Jieun sighs. "Any plans for you tonight?"
"Nothing as exciting as that, but yes."
"Oh?"
"Remember how I was telling you about the Pride events here?"
"Yes. You need to take me next year. Go on."
"Well, I found out they need volunteers to help with the festival at the end of the month, so I figured I'd go to the information session tonight."
"Yoongi-yah!" Jieun exclaims excitedly. "Are you telling me you're finally going to make some friends?"
Yoongi passes a group of young people dressed up for a night out. They are all laughing at something on a phone screen and carrying on like they aren't taking up the majority of the sidewalk while other people have places to be.
"I have friends," he mumbles.
"Not nearly enough. And you need friends there. Gay friends. Our weekly long-distance calls can't be the only thing keeping you going," Jieun teases.
"I have JK."
"He's an employee. You need friends who aren't on payroll." She pauses. "Wait, he's gay?"
"Bi."
"Oooh…so I still have a shot?"
Yoongi laughs. "I don't think he's your type."
"I've seen photos, Yoongi-yah. He's everyone's type."
"You're shameless."
"I never claimed otherwise," Jieun jokes.
Yoongi smiles. "Well, I'll try to make some friends. For you."
"Good! Just don't replace me. I couldn't bear it if my best friend left me high and dry for some city folk."
"Couldn't replace you if I tried. You'll call me tomorrow to tell me how your date goes?"
"You know I will. And I want to hear about all the friends you meet tonight, OK? Have fun! Be gay!"
"Goodnight, Jieun-ah."
・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・
Yoongi checks the address on his phone again before heading into a nondescript three-story building. A sign right inside the front door that reads "WELCOME VOLUNTEERS!!" in rainbow-colored lettering reassures Yoongi that he's in the right place. Down a hallway and through a set of doors, he's greeted by a young woman in lavender overalls and is directed to a large conference room on the second floor.
Yoongi enters the room to find a few rows of chairs in the middle and a table with beverage dispensers and cups in the far corner. There are already people there—some sitting, some standing around the edges of the room. All are chatting at the moment, and most are talking in a casual manner that implies they already know each other.
As silly as it sounds, Yoongi hadn't considered the fact that all the volunteers might already know each other—that maybe the same group of people worked the festival each year and, thus, were already close. Could his plan to meet people be impeded by the fact that cliques have already been established?
Fuck, he just remembered how much he hates small talk. Maybe this was a bad idea, he thinks.
Yoongi beelines it for the refreshments table and pours himself a cup of green tea. He finds a nice section of unoccupied wall to lean against and sips the warm liquid while watching more volunteers slowly filter into the room.
As the volume of overlapping conversations increases, Yoongi is no longer able to eavesdrop as easily, so he pulls his phone from his jeans pocket and decides to thumb through dozens of unread spam emails just to keep himself occupied.
So maybe he wouldn't be making any new friends here after all. No matter, his true goal was to help with the Pride festival anyway.
“Hey.”
The voice startles Yoongi, and he snaps his head up to see a man with a toothy grin and kind eyes standing in front of him. He's a couple inches taller than him with olive skin and dark brown hair that falls across his eyes. The man gives off an air of confidence that both puts Yoongi at ease and makes him question what he's doing with his life.
Yoongi looks over his outfit—multiple layers of clashing colors and patterns which absolutely shouldn't work together but somehow look cohesive on him. Yoongi feels woefully inadequate in his plain white t-shirt and dark jeans.
“Hey.”
“Did you come alone?” the man asks.
“Uh, yeah." Yoongi looks around the room.
The man's put-together appearance gives the impression that he's one of the event managers, but judging by the fact that the rest of the volunteers are still chatting amongst themselves, Yoongi suspects that he’s not.
“Oh thank god,” the man says, exhaling and clutching his chest. “I was worried I was the only new one here.”
“You're a volunteer?”
“Yeah. Oh wait, are you not? I just assumed—”
“I am," Yoongi responds. “I was just surprised. You're…dressed up.”
The man looks down at his clothes, as if he doesn't remember what he's wearing. “Oh, well, occupational hazard.”
Yoongi has no idea what that means, but he doesn't feel like talking about work right now, so he lets it go.
The man moves to stand next to Yoongi and leans back against the wall. And after a few moments of silence, Yoongi goes back to scrolling on his phone.
“So are there any Pride events you're looking forward to?”
Yoongi sighs. He doesn't mean for it to sound like he's bored with the man next to him, he just suddenly feels the exhaustion of the workday wash over him, and he'd much rather be face-down on his couch right now.
“So are you just one of those guys who prefers to be a loner? Or do you naturally repel people with your excessive phone use?”
Yoongi looks at the man and is met with a slightly mischievous smile. He scoffs and responds, “You came up to me, you know.”
“Yeah, well, I saw you, and I thought, ‘Hey, look there's a cute, awkward guy standing off to the side. I bet we could be fast friends.’ But if you would rather be alone…”
“I look awkward?” Yoongi asks, sincerely.
“That's what you got hung up on?” the man laughs. “No, actually, you look pretty cool. It took me a minute to work up the nerve to introduce myself.”
Yoongi huffs out a laugh. “But you haven’t, actually.”
“Ah, right. Well, I guess I’ll do that now,” he says, holding out his hand. “I’m Hoseok. Jung Hoseok.”
Yoongi takes his hand. “Min Yoongi.”
“So this is your first time volunteering for the festival.”
“Yeah, first time,” Yoongi says. “I moved here a year ago—the day of the festival, actually—so, I missed that one. You?”
“Ashamed to say I’ve gone to the festival many times, but I never thought about volunteering until this year.”
Yoongi nods.
“So how do you like the city so far?” Hoseok asks.
“It’s good. I like that there is a big queer community here. It’s different where I’m from. I mean, there are queer people there too, just not so…open, you know?”
“I get it. I’m from a smaller town too. I moved here for college and ended up staying.”
Their conversation is cut short when a man and woman step into the room. They're both wearing Pride Festival shirts, leaving no room for confusion about who they are, as they call everyone to take a seat.
They explain how the festival works and what to expect during the event. The volunteers are then asked to sign up for specific dates and time slots. Hoseok insists on choosing the same time as Yoongi despite having met only ten minutes prior. Yoongi doesn't know if he should be flattered or scared.
As they are leaving the building, Hoseok stops Yoongi.
“Hey, so, I impulsively made the decision to go to as many Pride events as I can this year, and since you’re newer here, and all my friends are either too busy or lame to go to everything…would you want to join me?”
“Is it really impulsive if you're already planning out the month ahead?”
Hoseok just silently stares at him.
“What were you thinking?” Yoongi asks.
“Let me show you,” Hoseok says, pulling his phone from his pocket and bringing up the Pride Month calendar Yoongi had looked over earlier in the week.
“There’s the parade and party at the end of the month, of course, but they also have a bar crawl and a movie night and drag shows…there’s so much. I was thinking at least a couple events each week?”
Yoongi wonders if he'll regret this, but he can hear Jieun cheering him on in his head.
“Well, I don't really have much in the way of plans besides working, so you can just let me know when you want to do something."
“Great! Here.” Hoseok hands Yoongi his phone. “Add yourself, and I can text you to coordinate.”
Later, on his way home, Yoongi replays his interactions with Hoseok in his head. He doesn’t quite know what to make of the man yet. Yoongi would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in learning more about him though. He seemed nice enough. Interesting, even. Definitely visually appealing. At the very least, it’ll be nice to have someone to go to events with.
.
.
.
Wait, did Hoseok call him cute?