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“Wa-wait stop!” Jungkook is calling after a taxi. Luckily they see him flailing his arms in their rearview mirror and stop to let Jungkook in. The driver gets out to help Jungkook load his small bags into the trunk and then they’re soon heading to the train station.
Jungkook is leaving his small studio apartment in Seoul for a weekend to visit his parents in Busan. He has only been gone for a couple months on his own, and he hasn’t told them he’s coming to visit. It wasn’t really that he’s having trouble adjusting, but it’s just been hard being away from everything he knows. Okay so, he’s having a little trouble adjusting.
But it’s just a weekend. Then he’ll be heading back and he’ll, hopefully, feel better and be able to focus on his studies more.
He reaches the train station only a few minutes before the train leaves, so he’s grateful he bought his ticket on his phone from inside the taxi.
He makes his way, hurriedly, onto the train. I should not have travelled at 3pm on a Friday, he thinks. The train is crowded. He hurries up and down the train to find a seat, and when he does, he’s unsure if he’ll be able to survive there for three hours straight.
In the seat next to the only empty seat he could find was an angel sent from heaven. This man is hot. The closer Jungkook gets to the seat, the more attractive this man gets.
He’s wearing a fitting black long sleeve shirt, highlighting the muscles on his chest and arms. Jungkook really might pass out at just that.
He’s wearing glasses, and his eyes are scanning the pages of a worn book, almost like an antique. Suddenly, his eyes are looking up to Jungkook, who realizes he’s just been standing near the seat staring at this stranger.
“Uh, I-,” he stutters, “do you mind if I sit here?”
The stranger stares at Jungkook for a moment before smiling up at him. Oh god, Jungkook thinks, please kill me right now.
This man has dimples. Jungkook really may not survive this.
“Of course, please,” the stranger says calmly, motioning to the empty seat. Jungkook forces himself to put his bags above the seat slowly and calmly, not to reveal his nervousness to the other.
When Jungkook sits down, he sees the other has resorted back to his book, so he calms down despite the other’s presence. Jungkook had woken up extremely early that morning to pack, because he will never not pack last minute. Jungkook’s eyes start to feel heavy, and he doesn’t realize he starts drifting off to sleep.
The stranger, however, does notice eventually. Jungkook’s head had slowly fallen to the side, right onto the stranger’s shoulder.
Cute, he thinks.
About a half hour into the trip, Jungkook’s eyes flutter open. He slowly realizes he fell asleep, and begins to panic when he realizes he was on the stranger’s shoulder. Jungkook looks over to him in concern, and starts to apologize when they make eye contact.
“Don’t worry,” the stranger giggles, “I thought it was adorable.”
Jungkook’s concern turns into shock in an instant. The stranger notices, so he continues.
“I’m Namjoon, by the way. What’s your name?” he asks.
Namjoon.
“I, uh, Jungkook. I’m Jungkook,” he says, failing again to keep his cool, but Namjoon smiles again.
He has since put his book away, and now it seems he is putting all his attention on Jungkook.
“What are you reading?” Jungkook was able to speak first. Namjoon looks confused, then looks down to his bag where his book is. He slides the book out and holds it out to Jungkook.
“It’s Carl Jung’s Psychology of the Unconscious. He talks about how our ideas and thoughts in our unconscious mind can determine or change our behavior in our conscious mind. I’m not studying psychology, I just think it’s really interesting how we can be influenced by our memories and deepest held thoughts, without us really thinking about it at all,” Namjoon rants.
He looks back towards Jungkook, who’s watching and listening with a small on his face and stars in his eyes.
“That’s so interesting. I never really thought about that before. Do you read a lot?” Jungkook asks, anticipation growing in his chest. Intelligence is so sexy, Jungkook thinks.
“Yeah, I try to. I’m a music producer in Seoul, so I try to read or visit art museums for some kind of inspiration. That’s actually why I’m going to Busan, the Busan Museum of Art is one of my favorites,” Namjoon giggles, slightly embarrassed at the detail he’s giving a stranger on a train.
“That’s so interesting! Oh my god. I’m actually a student at SNU, I’m studying music composition. I’m from Busan, and I’m just visiting my parents for the weekend. And the Busan Museum of Art is beautiful. That’s so interesting,” Jungkook rushes through his words, stumbling slightly to get all of his thoughts across.
They continue talking for a couple hours about music and school and life. Namjoon tells Jungkook that he had gone to college studying music and minored in several things related to history and science and everything you could possibly think of. Jungkook discusses how he finally left home, but how it’s not that different from living in Busan, another city. He’s such a homebody though. He’s used to being around his family, and living in a studio apartment by himself is very different.
They allow themselves to be vulnerable with each other. They express how music has affected each of their lives, and how music and art in general is such a comforting phenomenon.
After some time of comfortable silence, Jungkook asks quietly, “Do you think we’ve ever crossed paths before? I just feel like, with everything we have in common, there must have been some other time we were in the same place, or passed by each other.”
Both are deep in thought, but Namjoon says, “I think that’s exactly why we’re sitting next to each other right now. Whether we did or did not cross paths before, it was inevitable that we would eventually.”
Jungkook nods, growing silent once again. His nervousness bubbles in his chest before he says, “I know this might sound strange. And you can totally say no because I know we just met and-”
“Jungkook,” Namjoon giggles, allowing Jungkook time to reorganize his thoughts. He smiles back at Namjoon.
“Uh, there’s actually a Fireworks Festival tonight in Busan. I used to go with my family when I was young. But again, I know we just met and--”
“I would love to,” Namjoon says quickly, maybe too quickly.
Soon, they are grabbing their bags and getting off at the same train station. They share an Uber and keep telling each other how crazy it is that they’re doing this, but how excited they are at the same time.
As they approach the festival, they see thousands upon thousands of chairs set up, waiting to seat the guests. The pair make their way towards the beach, avoiding the large crowd of people in the chairs.
The festival consists of laser light shows and, of course, the beautiful fireworks show. They hear the other attendees “oooo” and “ahhh”. The show had everyone amazed, including Jungkook and Namjoon.
As time went on, the pair were moving closer and closer to each other, until Jungkook felt the courage to let his head fall on Namjoon’s shoulder, identical to the position from the train. Only this time, Jungkook doesn’t feel the need to apologize, and Namjoon lets his head rest on Jungkook’s.
Hours later, the fireworks show is over, and the two stand up from the sand. When they finally make eye contact eye again, they both become flustered and break into a fit of giggles.
“The show was beautiful, thank you for inviting me here,” Namjoon says shyly.
“Thank you for coming, this was really fun,” Jungkook’s cheeks hurt from smiling. They start to head back towards the road where they were dropped off.
“Jungkook, I think this has been the most interesting end to a train ride I’ve ever experienced. I’ve never felt so comfortable with someone right away, and I can’t fathom the idea that I would never see you again,” Namjoon says, admiring the flow of Jungkook’s hair in the breeze, and the way he scrunches his nose every time Namjoon flusters him.
“You couldn’t get rid of me if you tried, Joonie,” Jungkook says confidently, the nickname making Namjoon’s heart race a little faster.
They exchange phone numbers and shy glances. They both call an Uber for their respective locations.
Jungkook’s car arrives first, and he decides to hug Namjoon quickly, not wanting to let go. They smile at each other and say goodbye. They smile at each other through the window until they can’t see each other at all.
Jungkook slumps in his seat, smiling at the memories of the past seven hours. When he reaches his parents house, he gets a text notification on his phone.
joonie
So when can I take you out again?
10:47 pm