Chapter Text
The slender frame of the brown-haired boy was unsteady as he stood outside the bedroom door. The edge of his sweater clutched in a death grip. As if that held a fragile tether to the reality unfolding right then.
“I’m sorry…”
“Jeongguk… don’t…” the boy whispered. Voice paper thin.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. You…you deserve better, trust me you do.”
“Jeongguk-ah, don’t please. Please…!” the first note of desperation creeping into the usually sweet voice. He was now taking unsteady steps towards the front door. Right hand outstretched in a plea. The door to the apartment opened and an eager gust of ice-cold air gleefully hit like a ton of bricks.
“I’m sorry Jimin…I…”
The sentence remained unfinished as two bags worth of luggage was picked up and taken out briskly by its owner. Walking farther away and disappearing round the corner without a backward glance. Leaving the door of the now hollow apartment ajar, to the onslaught of the unforgiving wind.
The brown-haired boy fell down on his knees like a feeble house of cards as a tiny sob escaped along with a name, still cradled on his tongue like a reverent prayer.
“Jeongguk…”
-
1 Year Ago…
Jeongguk met Jimin four weeks before Christmas on a bus.
He was a third-year photography major, with all the requisite baggage of an angsty 21-year-old, bustling around, trying to build a career while also working to pay for his livelihood in New York City. And even though his school tuition was entirely paid for by his acquired scholarship, he still had to get by day to day and he absolutely refused to rely on his parents’ money.
Which is why he was on a bus, travelling to the elite Upper East Side on a Saturday afternoon.
Jeongguk had his headphones plugged in, elbows on the window sill, palm resting on his chin as he drummed his fingers against his cheek to the beat, watching the woollen clad city outside blur past him. The bus lurched a little and slowed, indicating the approach of a stop. After a few minutes the empty seat beside Jeongguk was occupied and the first thing he felt without turning his head from the window was a generous whiff of citrus. It was such an oddity to smell something that can only be associated with warmth and summer. Whoever sat beside him, smelt of summer, in the dead of winter.
A few more minutes passed. Jeongguk, never one to partake in being the chatty passenger on a commute, was minding his own business. That is until his co passenger finally spoke.
“You like Queen?” the stranger asked with a certain eagerness.
Jeongguk opened his eyes which he had closed for a bit, and turned around incredulously towards the stranger, a young man, who probably must be about his age. Also, to be momentarily blinded by the shocking mop of red hair.
“Excuse me?”
The stranger pointed towards his headphones and giggled a bit.
“You play your music really loud.”
Jeongguk felt a bit dazed as he stared at the young guy. Suddenly noticing that the man can easily be called beautiful. The striking red of his hair, so unnatural yet being pulled off by the owner with elan, paired with that dazzling smile that seemed to be in proxy for the sun which was currently busy behind the gloomy winter clouds. His cheeks retained a lovable baby fat around the cheekbones but was juxtaposed with a sharp jawline. The red head was wearing a green turtle neck with a long black trench coat, paired with black denims and boots. His eyes were still crinkling with mirth which made them charmingly look like two tiny upturned moons.
Jeongguk snapped out of it as the bus hit a road bump.
“Oh yeah, um…” he mumbled unintelligibly before pausing the song, which indeed was blasting at an unhealthy volume through his headphones, an old, bad habit.
“So, ‘Somebody To Love’? I adore Queen, always wished I was born during their era so I could have seen Freddie in action!” the beautiful stranger happily rambled on without paying much heed to the fact that Jeongguk hadn’t really given him an entire sentence yet.
“Yeah, well, that’s one of my favourites.” Jeongguk said, referring to the song the stranger mentioned. And almost as an afterthought offered him a smile, which may have seemed a little odd. But Jeongguk was a top-class introvert and the little interaction that he was carrying on right then in itself was a novelty.
The stranger seemed perfectly at ease and beamed at Jeongguk which, if possible, amped up his sunshine meter by a few more notches.
“I’m Jimin by the way. Jimin Park.” He offered a gloved hand to Jeongguk.
Jeongguk was still feeling a bit out of it at the ridiculousness of the situation that was happening. Normally he would have absolutely despised this small talk ritual with strangers in buses and trains and categorically ignored them by turning his back and pointedly fixing his headphones, clear indications that he is not interested. But somehow this cheerful Red Head was anything but despicable. And in the frigid temperatures, the warmth emanating from the stranger, Jimin, was rubbing off on Jeongguk.
“Jeongguk Jeon.” Jeongguk said reciprocating the handshake.
“Wait…!” Jimin’s eyes widened as if he just heard that life was discovered on Mars. “You’re Korean?”
Jeongguk smiled at the comical disbelief of the man and responded, “Last I checked, yeah.”
Jimin clapped his gloved hands together and near about squealed at this information. An act which might have come off as cringey for a grown man to do but somehow the Red Head managed to make it endearing.
“Well in that case, I’m Park Jimin.” He declared with a big smile, cheeks getting bunched up in the process. Jeongguk blinked.
“Jeon Jeongguk.” He said with a slight smirk.
“You’re not very talkative, are you? That’s okay though. My friends always tell me I am capable of compensating someone’s unresponsiveness by my own verbal tendencies. I hope I’m not chatting your head off?” Jimin shared all in one breath, asking the last bit with a slight hesitation. Which made Jeongguk think if someone had called Jimin off for being too overbearing. Jeongguk though, was highly amused by this pretty stranger and even more so, surprised at himself for putting up with it. However, something about Jimin made it oddly easy to sit there and indulge his bubbly nature.
“No, that’s okay. I usually get companies of old grandmas around this time. So, it’s refreshing.”
Jimin seemed happy with the response, although at this point Jeongguk wondered if there was anything at all that could make the boy upset.
“So, you go to school here?” Jimin asked.
“Yeah, I’m a photography major. What about you?” Jeongguk asked, as it was only polite to ask him something in return since the conversation so far was flowing on Jimin’s sheer enthusiasm alone.
“Oh great! You’re an artist. Mine is pretty black and white though. I go to med school.” Jeongguk felt inwardly happy at being called an artist, because most people saw his line of study as some fancy hobby of rich children, which was obviously very far removed from the truth. But then Jimin being a medical student intrigued him, because he wasn’t sure what he had expected but a doctor wasn’t one of them. But perhaps that was Jeongguk being judgmental at Jimin’s hair colour choices.
Suddenly Jeongguk had this image of Jimin in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck, giving candies and smiling cheerfully at children at his clinic. The image made him smile even though he had no idea why his mind conjured such an image in the first place.
“You should have introduced yourself as Dr Park, in that case.” Jeongguk said fixing his own gloved fingers with a slight smile. Jimin on the other hand fell into a bright laughter and if his smile was rivalling the sun, his full-fledged laughter had church bells ringing and ice bergs melting in the ocean. And once again Jeongguk found himself feeling slightly breathless as he looked up and found himself staring at Jimin’s brilliant countenance.
“You have a quiet sense of humour, Jeongguk,” he said smiling now, and Jeongguk couldn’t deny that his name from Jimin’s lips sounded ten times better than it did on others. “But I am not a doctor yet, I’m on my last year, you can call me that once I graduate.”
The way Jimin said the words seem to hold a promise of some sort of friendship which would enable Jeongguk to be around him after he graduates so he could address Jimin as such. And that idea uncharacteristically made Jeongguk look forward to it, and he found himself questioning his lifelong introverted nature that did he really just bond with some random stranger on a bus? Something that was probably the very last thing he pictured himself doing.
“I’m sure you’ll be an amazing doctor Jimin.” Jeongguk said sincerely, although he had no idea where such ardent sincerity was coming from, he truly believed that Jimin would be one. As someone so unabashedly honest and transparent it would be a shocker for him to not be so.
Jimin’s face lit up, clearly pleased with the compliment, “Thank you Jeongguk, I really hope I can do my bit.”
In the midst of their tete-a-tete, the bus had stopped once and neither of them had really noticed until at a particular lull in the conversation Jimin looked out the window and shrieked, startling an unsuspecting Jeongguk.
“Shit! I missed my stop!” he exclaimed hurriedly getting up from his seat, as the next stop was approaching.
Jeongguk suddenly panicked seeing as Jimin was clearly leaving and somehow Jeongguk was certain that he did not want this to be a little anecdote about a chatty passenger encountered one December afternoon. He wanted to have more conversations with the effervescent Red Head.
“Wait!” he called and got up leaving behind his bag and headphones on the seat, as Jimin was already speed walking towards the exit. The next stop approached and Jimin began hopping down the stairs as Jeongguk rushed towards him.
“Hey! How do I see you again?” he yelled frantically, as Jimin got on the ground and turned back to him. The bus began moving slowly, the sparse passengers were all shooting exasperated looks at Jeongguk who paid them no mind.
Jimin began jogging with the bus and yelled back, “I take this route on this bus every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Same time as I boarded today!” he was practically running by now as the bus rapidly picked up speed. Jeongguk’s heart lurched painfully to see Jimin finally unable to keep up and stop. Bending over with his arms supported on his knees and catching his breath. But he was still looking at Jeongguk.
Jeongguk lifted his hand and waved at Jimin, and even as Jimin’s figure increasingly became smaller, Jeongguk could see him waving back madly with that same blinding smile on his face. Jeongguk stood there till Jimin got lost as an unrecognizable silhouette among countless New Yorkers and then he made his way back to his seat. Feeling sombre. He was reprimanding himself for not asking for Jimin’s number. Granted, that he had never done nor did he think he’d ever do something so impulsive, but Jimin, with his incorrigible red hair and unadulterated persona, had somehow managed to leave an indelible mark, in an incredibly short time. And if Jeongguk were to be very honest, he found himself a little dumbfounded.
He slithered back into his seat, and was instantly hit with the remnants of that summery citrus aroma left behind by the Red Head. Jeongguk put on his headphones again and resumed ‘Somebody To Love’, making a silent decision to schedule a tri-weekly journey on this bus in fervent hopes of getting to see that smile again.