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donghyuck loves routine. routines allow him to turn his brain off for a while, and lets himself operate on auto pilot mode. it’s one of the few things that allow him to not overthink and not get consumed by his anxiety.
like any of the things that he loves, there is an outlier. for the routines he built over the years it was his commute routine. he absolutely hated it.
he hated it when he was in high school, he hated it even more when he was in college, and by the time that he’s already part of the workforce he needed a word stronger than hate to describe it.
and it’s not out of pure kaartehan that’s why he hates it - it’s because of how dehumanized he feels in the public transport system in the metro afterwards. and it’s not like he has any other choice, he didn’t want to drive everyday and pay the skyway toll and spend at least half of his salary on gas and parking fees.
“hoy.” he looks back to see jeno smiling at him as he calls out to him. “di ka pa uwi?”
“mamaya na. palipasin ko lang rush hour.” he answers him going back to his laptop instead. “ikaw? ‘bat andito ka pa? kanina pa kayo pinauwi ni Ate Wendy ah.”
“sabi ko antayin kita eh.”
he turns to look at the man now sitting beside his work station, wearing the prettiest smile he’s ever seen on anyone. “hatid kita.”
ever since their newbie days in the firm, it was always the two of them together. there was an instant connection between the two of them everyone else could see. since they acknowledged whatever it was between the two of them, donghyuck and jeno had been on a few dates here and there. there was nothing official yet. he doesn’t know what he’s waiting for, and he doesn’t know if there’s something jeno’s waiting for too but he knows that there is something.
“siraulo ka ba? anong oras ka na makakauwi sa inyo pag hinatid mo ako.”
“sus, diba malapit lang? sakay ng mrt pa-one ayala, tas sasakay ng bus, tas tricycle pagbaba.” jeno recites his commute route that he’s memorized as donghyuck complains about it to him every time.
“jeno lee, friday ngayon.” he counters. it’s why he was waiting out the rush hour too. uwian na. parang bituka na sigurado ang pila sa one ayala pa-batangas. donghyuck thinks to himself.
“ano naman?” jeno challenges him, a teasing smile on his face. “kasama naman kita.”
“jeno sayang sa gas, ang mahal pa ng toll.”
unlike donghyuck, jeno has always taken his car as he lives near their ortigas office. the 3 days a week commute wasn’t a problem for him at all.
“ni-recite ko na nga sa’yo yung commute mo. samahan kita mag-commute.”
“paano yung kotse mo?”
“safe yon sa parking.” jeno seemed prepared for every argument donghyuck will throw at him and donghyuck just sighs in defeat. “alam kong di ka papayag na ihahatid kita gamit yun, nakausap ko na si kuya ramil na mapapatagal ako.”
“hanggang mrt na lang.” donghyuck tries to bargain while packing his things up, and jeno just shakes his head. “one ayala?”
jeno stands up from where he was seated as donghyuck stands up too, “sto. tomas, batangas.” he answers him, not backing down.
it’s 5:30 in the afternoon now and donghyuck would’ve waited longer in the office since it was nearing the peak of the rush hour now, had it not been for jeno. they usually get off at 5 and the crowd going home has started brewing by then, so he usually waits it out on fridays.
the mrt line isn’t as bad as he thought it would be by now, but he’s sure they won’t make it to the next train. “ok lang ba sa’yo, pila na ako dun sa loob? bibili ka pa ng ticket diba?”
“may beep card ako ‘no.” jeno proudly says pulling a blue/violet card from his wallet and donghyuck gasps with a chuckle. “may laman pa!” he adds which adds to donghyuck’s laughter as well.
they make it past the turnstile, and the younger one’s still sure they won’t make it to the next train. “dapat pala inantay na natin.” he mumbles unknowingly.
“kaya nga nagtataka ako bat tumayo ka na eh.” jeno answers his musings. he just shakes his head and smiles.
the truth is donghyuck wanted to make sure jeno would be at least able to get home at a reasonable hour. if he waited till 8pm, and jeno insisted on bringing him home he’s pretty sure the older’s not gonna make it to the last trip of the bus back to the metro. he didn’t want him to go home jeep to jeep until he reaches the calamba terminal where it’s open 24/7. though, he was sure as well that buses operated till only 10pm provincially, and he’s not cruel to let jeno spend the night at the terminal.
the train arrives and people start getting antsy. donghyuck holds on tight onto his backpack placed in front of him with his left hand and his right hand grabbing jeno’s. as expected, past cubao station the train is already filled up, and only about 1/4 of the passengers get off at ortigas station. somehow, they still make it inside squished and pushed together.
donghyuck grabs onto one of the handles above, then placing jeno’s hand on his shoulder to make sure they stay upright and stable as the train moves. he looks to him, their faces inches apart. jeno smiles at him, squeezing his shoulders. “kapit ka lang.” he tells him.
the train gets filled up with more people each station, with people barely getting off. by the time they arrive at guadalupe station, jeno’s hands find donghyuck’s waist and hold on there as he guides him not to be squeezed by the people passing by.
“isang station na lang.” donghyuck breathes. “ok ka lang?” he turns to him and one push from anyone in the cramped train would make their faces meet.
jeno smiles still. “ok lang.”
when they finally arrive at ayala station, as soon as they make it past the turnstile out, they both stretch out their arms and legs laughing at each other. donghyuck takes notice of jeno placing his backpack on his back as they walk towards the mall. “di mo pa iniwan sa kotse mo ‘yan.” he points it out.
“nawala sa isip ko eh.” he sheepishly answers scratching the back of his neck.
once the breeze of the mall’s ac hit them, both of them breathe a breath of relief. “ready ka na ba sa pila ng bus?” donghyuck giggles. “pwede mo na ko iwan dito, promise.”
jeno ignores him and continues to walk down the same path as him, going down to the terminal of buses. once they get hit by the heat of the terminal, donghyuck winces and instinctively grabs his portable fan from his bag.
as they fall in line, he puts the fan in front of jeno’s already sweating face and the latter just mutters a silent thank you smiling, then proceeds to turn the fan’s way back to him. “may tubig ka pa?” he nods. “gusto mong fries? or anything na kakainin?” jeno asks.
the line is quite long already but by his estimation, they could make it in the next bus that arrives. he taps the person in front of them asking when the last bus had left, “nako, kaka-alis lang. malamang matagal tagal pa bago yung susunod, alas sais na rin kasi.”
he sighs, turning back to jeno. “ok lang ba?”
“oo nga.” jeno whines half heartedly, his smile still on. he grabs the handkerchief from his pocket and dabs it on the younger’s face and neck. “potato corner?”
“baka mahaba pila.”
“sus, saglit lang yan. coke din ba?”
donghyuck doesn’t answer but jeno can already tell the answer, he chuckles. “balik ako agad.” he tells him, handing him his handkerchief.
a little over 10 minutes later, jeno returns to the now longer line, donghyuck still standing in his place. his face all scrunched up portable fan in front of his face and the handkerchief he gave him earlier on his other hand dabbing across his face.
“akin na yang fan, kainin mo muna ‘to.” jeno tells him as he grabs everything he is holding to give him the paper bag containing the fries.
donghyuck grabs on to it, and gives the first piece to him, “ah?” jeno opens his mouth and eats the fries giggling.
the line for the bus stays still as it grows longer by the second. they share a bucket of (giga) fries, donghyuck feeds it to jeno, while jeno holds on to his portable fan to cool them both off, and when they’re through with it, the latter tells him where his pack of wet wipes is in his bag to clean his fingers off of the powder flavor that stuck on to it. jeno lets donghyuck get his fan back while he gets the younger’s tumbler from his bag so he can drink the water while donghyuck empties the bottle of coke he bought.
as they wait some more, they continuously talk about a variety of topics ranging from work and up to the latest family drama in each of their homes. donghyuck doesn’t notice how it’s already been almost an hour since they finished the fries when the bus finally arrives.
they get seats somewhere in the middle which is just right since donghyuck told him he gets off at the first stop in sto. tomas. jeno lets him take the window seat and as they settle down, the other hands him the right side of his wired earphones, which he gladly takes.
“ako magbabayad pamasahe natin ah. ikaw na nagbayad nun fries at coke.” donghyuck immediately declares. “pag umangal ka papababain kita, sige.” they chuckle.
the bus leaves almost immediately with a few people opting to stand, but haechan thanks the heavens above at least it isn’t so cramped and the person standing right by their seat chose to lean the opposite side and he wouldn’t have to worry about jeno getting bothered by the bag of the man standing.
once they receive their tickets and settled their fares, donghyuck slowly gives in to his drowsiness from the long day. he falls asleep leaning his head on the window beside him, and jeno carefully maneuvers his head to rest on his shoulder instead making sure he wouldn’t get a stiff neck.
he wakes up in that position, jeno fully asleep too, right as they drive past the star toll. donghyuck peeks at the time on his phone and it’s almost 9pm already. na-traffic siguro sa may bicutan at calamba kanina. he thinks to himself. bukas ko na papauwiin si jeno. he looks up to see the person he's thinking of's face, calm as ever as he sleeps, head leaned on to his and their shared wired earphones in between them. he smiles to himself, gently tapping jeno’s left cheek to wake him up.
“lapit na tayo bumaba.”
it takes only about 15 minutes more till they’re already descending from the bus and walking to the tricycle station. donghyuck usually doesn’t take the special trip, but he does this time since it’s already late and he was hungry for a proper meal already. there’s also jeno whom he’s sure is as hungry as him too.
when they arrive at donghyuck’s house, the lights are on in the living room, a teleserye playing on the TV and his mom seated at the sofa. it feels warm inside as jeno strides behind donghyuck.
“ma, dito na ako.” he announces, and it’s some minutes past 9 already.
his mother turns to them by the door and smiles widely when she registers donghyuck had brought someone home. “aba’y ito na ba si jeno, hyuki?”
jeno turns to him a little surprised his mother knows him and donghyuck smiles, turning to his mom nodding. “nako! bukambibig ka netong batang ‘to!” jeno giggles as he approaches the elder, doing the mano. “‘kay gwapong bata nire hyuki ah.”
“pipili ba naman ako ng panget ma?”
they all laugh at his answer and jeno feels his cheeks heating up. “hala sige, kumain na kayo. ang haba ng biyahe niyo.”
donghyuck’s mom serve them the sinigang that he apparently requested before he left for work earlier. they share the meal quietly, savoring each sip of the hot soup. “‘san ka pa uuwi niyan hijo?” his mother asks suddenly as she takes a seat with them in the dining table.
“sa pasig lang po.”
“nako! bukas ka na umuwi’t anong oras na. kasya naman kayo sa kama niyan ni hyuki.”
“ah tita hin-“
“si mama desisyon.” donghyuck jokes and he gets hit playfully. “joke lang ma, dito ko na talaga patutulugin yan.”
“teka, kuhanan kita ng unan at kumot ‘nak at sugapa sa kumot yang damulag na yan.”
“MAMA!”
jeno laughs as donghyuck’s mom walks away from them. “pauwiin kita eh!” the younger whines, and it’s an empty threat jeno knows that much.
“pwede naman ako umuwi talaga.” he replies even though he knows donghyuck wouldn’t allow that no matter what, and there he is right now shaking his head vehemently.
“wala ka ng aabutang bus sa terminal. wag ka makulit, tulungan mo ko maghugas ng pinggan.”
when they’re done with the dishes, his mother usher them to his room to rest. this isn’t the first time they’ll be sharing a bed, but it is still the first time they’d be sleeping on another’s own bed. there’s a worn out ben 10 bolster on the younger’s bed which jeno laughs out loud at. “epal mo.”
as they finally settle in, donghyuck reaches for the other’s hand, squeezing it. “thank you.” he says sincerely.
“kahit every friday pa kita ihatid.” jeno answers, kissing the younger’s palm.
“siraulo.” they laugh together, and donghyuck scoots over to cuddle him. “goodnight. salamat pinagaan mo commute ko ngayong araw.”
jeno hums, running his fingers on donghyuck’s back. “goodnight, hyuki.”
donghyuck slowly falls asleep with a smile on his face.
his usual commute routines involve a lot of patience and a lot of enduring shit alone. like what people say, misery does love company - though, he wouldn’t consider this misery at all. he got to spend more time with jeno after a long stressful week and finally got to introduce him to his mom. he also didn’t need the patience for most of this routine since he didn’t notice time anyways. lastly, he didn’t have to endure everything alone.
it may be too much to ask, but he really could get used to this.