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Today was a sunny Tuesday afternoon. Hoyoung is leaning against a nearby tree, waiting for Yeonho to meet up with him. Feeling thirsty, he drinks a water bottle to refresh himself, occasionally checking his phone to see if Yeonho sent him any messages. Just as he was about to walk around, he heard a voice call out his name.
“Hoyoung!”
He turned around to see who was calling for him. It was Yeonho. Slightly caught off guard, Hoyoung waved at him from afar, watching as he took his time walking towards him. He put away his phone that he was holding into his pocket. “What took you so long?” He asked, since he waited for Yeonho to show up for about 10 minutes.
“I wasn't that late now,” he replied. “I forgot I had people coming over to fix something in my home.”
“I almost thought you weren't coming.” Hoyoung sighed, taking a sip of his water before talking. “Do you want to go thrifting?”
“Oh, I’d love to!”
“Alright, let's go.”
Yeonho puts on his wireless headphones as he follows Hoyoung, watching his surroundings as music plays softly in his ears. He turns the volume up slightly to hear his music better, occasionally humming to the melody. Hoyoung turns around to look at Yeonho, giving him a warm smile before looking ahead. Yeonho didn’t notice him as he was more focused on the buildings they were passing.
He felt his arm getting tugged slightly from Hoyoung, prompting him to look in his direction and move his headphones down to the back of his neck.
“We're here,” Hoyoung said, smiling at Yeonho. He opens the door for the both of them, entering the large store. “Where do you want to check out?”
“The music section, maybe?” Yeonho suggested, his mind thinking about the CD’s he'll possibly find in here. “I want to see what they have in there.”
Hoyoung follows Yeonho as they both head to the music section of the store, taking note of the variety of physical media in stock.
“That's a lot of CD’s,” Yeonho said, stepping forward to browse through the jewel cases.
“Is there anything you're looking for, specifically?” Hoyoung asked as he looked at the movie DVD's that stood beside the CD’s, taking his time looking at them.
“Not exactly,” Yeonho hummed. “I’m just curious to see if they have anything in here. It's kind of something I do when I go into stores in general, really.”
“Ah, I see.” Hoyoung nodded, browsing other nearby shelves.
After a couple of minutes of Yeonho looking through the CD albums, he walks up to Hoyoung empty handed. “I found nothing.” He sighed.
“That's fine. Let's look at the other things in here.” Hoyoung said.
The both of them make their way towards the men's shorts section. Hoyoung browses through the section and picks out a pair of khaki shorts. “What do you think of these?”
“They look alright. Probably a bit too short.” Yeonho watched as Hoyoung turned to a nearby mirror and held the shorts below his waist, trying to see if it was a great fit for him.
“You're right,” Hoyoung looked at his reflection, holding the shorts. “It does look a bit too short.” He hands it to Yeonho, who also holds it below his waist.
“This looks like something Dongheon would wear.” Yeonho chuckled, turning his head to face Hoyoung who nodded along in agreement, smiling. He puts the khaki shorts away and browses through a couple of more shorts before he stops.
“Found nothing?” Hoyoung asked, standing beside Yeonho as he watched him browse.
“Yeah,” He sighed. “I don't know where else to look at, though.”
“We can look around the entire store, if you're up for it?”
"Doesn't sound like a bad idea.” Yeonho smiled.
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Hoyoung and Yeonho spent an entire hour browsing different sections of the store, only for Yeonho to find nothing. However, Hoyoung is holding a small black cat plush.
“Do you want to leave already, or..?” Hoyoung asked, staring at the small line for checkout.
“Actually, I want to go back to where the CD’s are.”
“Again? You already did that though.”
“Well– yeah, but I just realized that I haven't looked close enough at the selection.”
Hoyoung shrugs his shoulders. “I mean, we can check it out again before making my purchase.”
The both of them walk over to the music section. Instead of the area being vacant as usual, a tall man with a blonde buzz cut was there; browsing in the CD section as well. Yeonho stood beside him, browsing more carefully at the CD’s. He moves a little closer to where the tall man stood, checking the other albums. While browsing, Yeonho noticed that the man was holding a CD that looked oddly familiar. Taking a closer look, he realized it's a certain CD album that he had been searching for some time.
Surprised, Yeonho glanced at the album while he continued browsing. Even after he looked through each and every individual CD album, none of them really caught his eye like the one the blonde haired man had. Yeonho watched as the man walked away from the aisle with the CD still in his hand.
“You found nothing again?” Hoyoung walked up beside Yeonho, giving a friendly smile before looking down at the plushy in his hand. When Yeonho didn't give an immediate response, Hoyoung looked up at him again. “Well?”
“.. There was this guy that had this CD album.” Yeonho finally answered, his eyes glued to the blonde man who was now on the other side of the thrift store.
“What about it?”
“I kind of want it.”
“Why didn't you get it when it was on the shelf?”
“I didn't even know the album was there!” Yeonho exclaimed, running his fingers through his hair. “I don't think I had looked closely enough.”
“How bad do you want the CD album?”
“Really bad..?” Yeonho mumbled, moving his face away from Hoyoung.
“You should ask him, then?”
“What– No!”
“What do you mean no?”
“There's no way I’m walking up to him!” Yeonho looks at the tall man again, who is now browsing in the men's shirt aisle. “He looks pretty intimidating.”
“Where is he?”
“He's over there,” Yeonho points in the man's direction. “Right where the clothes are at.”
“Oh, he does look quite intimidating.” Hoyoung commented. “It won't hurt to ask him, at the very least.”
“I don't want to be the one walking up to him.”
“Well, I’m not the one who wants the CD." Hoyoung sighed. “You know what– Let's play a couple of rounds of rock paper scissors, and whoever loses can walk up to him.” He moved his black cat plushy and held it in his left hand, using his right hand to form a fist.
“Fine.” Yeonho puffed. He also moved his right hand into a fist, preparing for a few rounds of rock paper scissors. After playing for about three rounds, Yeonho ended up losing with a score of 2-1. He sighs in defeat.
“You can do it.” Hoyoung smiled wide. “I’ll be over here waiting for you.”
Feeling slightly nervous but determined, Yeonho nods. He walked over towards the clothing section, where the blonde man stood. The closer he got, the more his heart raced. Somehow, the man's facial expression looked just as intimidating as his tall presence alone. Yeonho walks over and pretends to browse through the clothing rack, while occasionally glancing at the guy next to him.
After about a minute of standing idle in the clothing rack, he finally walks up to him. Yeonho cleared his throat before speaking, his palms already starting to feel sweaty. “Hey, excuse me?"
The tall, blonde man turned around and looked down at Yeonho's direction, his expression hardened slightly. “Me?”
“Yeah,” he nodded. “I noticed the CD you were holding, and I was wondering if I could buy it from you? It's something I've been trying to find for some time and–”
“Oh yeah, you can have it.” The man's expression immediately softened, catching Yeonho by surprise. “I can even give you some cash so you could pay for it.” He reaches over to his right pocket to grab his wallet.
“Wait– Really?”
“Yeah, man.” He grabs out 5000 KRW in cash and hands it to Yeonho, along with the CD album he'd been eyeing. Surprised, Yeonho just stares at the CD and cash in hand before accepting it.
“Thank you so much!” Yeonho smiled wide, showing his snaggletooth.
“No problem,” the man smiled warmly. “The name's Sang Lin.” He reaches out to give him a side hug.
“Ju Yeonho,” he replied. “I really appreciate it, man.” He puts the cash away, still keeping the CD in hand. Sang Lin nodded, putting away his wallet.
“I’ll have to get going now,” Sang Lin said, ready to turn the other direction but not before turning to face Yeonho again. “Nice headphones.”
“Thanks!” Yeonho replied. “I like your haircut.”
“Oh, thank you.” Sang Lin smiled, putting both of his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “Have a nice day.”
“You too.” Yeonho said, walking back to where Hoyoung stood. He watched as Hoyoung looked at his direction, smiling proudly at him once he noticed the CD in hand.
“Wow, you actually got it!” He said in surprise, turning his body to face him. “So, how'd it go?”
“He was actually very friendly,” he recalled, his eyes glued to the CD. “Not as intimidating as I thought. He even gave me some cash to pay for it!”
“That's cool,” Hoyoung replied. “Let’s go pay for these.” He watched as Yeonho nodded in agreement as they both made their way towards the cash register.
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By the time they left the store, the sun was starting to set. Given the warm weather, Hoyoung and Yeonho walked for a couple of minutes into a small park that isn't too far from the thrift store, both of them holding a cup of ice cream. Hoyoung is holding a bag with their items as Yeonho looks through his phone for a brief moment.
“So, do you want to do anything after this?” Hoyoung asks, sitting down on a nearby bench.
“No,” Yeonho shook his head. “I want to sit down and listen to this album.” He tossed his now empty ice cream cup into a nearby trash.
“Do you have something to listen to it with?”
“Yup.” Yeonho reached for his left pocket, grabbing a portable CD player. He reached for the fabric bag Hoyoung held in his arm, grabbing his album. Carefully, he pulls out the disk, opens his CD player, and inserts the disk inside before closing it. “Do you want to listen to it with me?”
“Yeah, I don't mind.” Hoyoung moves closer, watching as Yeonho grabs the wired headphones connected to the CD player and puts one on his right ear, while he gives the left one to him.
“Is there a song you want to listen to first?”
Hoyoung shook his head, taking a small bite of his ice cream. “I’m not familiar with any of the songs.”
“That's fine,” Yeonho shrugged, staring at the tracklist of the album before grabbing the CD player to type a number. “I’ll just pick a random song and we'll listen to it.”
Hoyoung continues to eat his ice cream, as Yeonho holds the CD player, adjusting the volume before placing it down his lap. The song he selected soon plays through the wired headphones.
“This is actually a pretty nice song,” Hoyoung said quietly, finishing his last bite of ice cream before turning to Yeonho. “Where's your ice cream?”
“I finished it.” Yeonho replied, staring at the sunset.
“Oh,” Hoyoung hummed. “I didn't notice.”
“That's fine,” Yeonho sighed. He laid his head on Hoyoung's shoulder, letting himself relax slightly before feeling the weight of his head lay on top of his. Feeling content, he smiled softly to himself.
“Why are you smiling?” Hoyoung asked, a huge grin plastered on his face.
“No reason,” Yeonho looked up, not realizing that he'd been smiling until Hoyoung pointed it out. “I’m just enjoying this moment.” He watched as Hoyoung gave him another smile before resting his head on top of his, the both of them listening to music while staring at the sunset.