Chapter Text
The first time Seonghyeon noticed him, it was raining.
Not the kind of dramatic movie rain. just the annoying kind that soaked your sleeves and made the stairs slippery.
Thursday evening.
Exit three.
Seonghyeon hated Thursdays
Practice always began late, his legs ached, and the station near the building was crowded with people who walked too slowly and stood too close. He kept his hood up and his headphones in, even though nothing was playing.
That was when he saw him.
Black hoodie.
Standing beside a machine.
Not doing anything.
Just… there.
Seonghyeon almost walked past without thinking about it.
Almost.
But something felt strange.
The boy looked familiar.
Not familiar in the normal way. More like a face he’d seen before without paying attention.
Seonghyeon glanced again.
Dark hair peeking from beneath his hood. Silver ring on his finger. Hands shoved into his pockets.
And the second Seonghyeon looked, the boy looked away.
In fact, way too quickly.
His steps slowed.
Interesting.
He didn’t think much of it until the following Thursday.
Same exit.
Same time.
Same hoodie.
This time the boy stood farther back near the convenience store, pretending to scroll through his phone.
Seonghyeon noticed immediately.
He also noticed something else.
The phone screen was black.
No brightness.
No movement.
He almost laughed.
That was when curiosity started.
Not fear.
Definitely not fear.
Just curiosity.
Because Seonghyeon had always liked predictability.
People revealed themselves through repetition.
And this one was repeating.
By the third Thursday, he started paying attention on purpose.
Not obviously but just enough.
He took the longer way, the staircase, instead of the escalator.
The boy still appeared.
He stopped to buy snacks he didn’t want.
Ten minutes later, he saw black sleeves reflected in the convenience store glass.
Not close.
Never close.
Just present.
That was what made it interesting.
The boy wasn’t reckless, he was careful.
Seonghyeon found himself wondering how long it had been happening.
Maybe weeks.
Maybe longer.
The possibility should’ve unsettled him
Instead, it sat heavy in his chest, impossible to ignore
He never told anyone around him, mostly because he already knew what they’d say.
“Ignore it.”
“It’s probably a coincidence.”
“Be careful but don’t worry too much.”
But a coincidence was never something you could plan for.
And Seonghyeon knew that.
So he started keeping notes.
Thursday.
Around 6:40.
Station exit three.
Black hoodie.
Silver ring.
He caught himself looking for him now.
Which was stupid.
Still, every thursday, his eyes drifted toward the same corner before he could stop himself.
And it so happened that, the boy was there, every thursday.
His name came later.
A small mistake.
The cafe was crowded that evening.
Seonghyeon had gone in mostly because he wanted to confirm something.
The boy stood near the pickup area, hands tucked into oversized sleeves while he waited.
Up close, he looked younger than Seonghyeon expected.
Prettier too.
That surprised him.
There was nothing intimidating about him.
He looked nervous more than anything else.
The barista called out
“Keonho?”
The boy looked up immediately.
And there it was.
Keonho.
He took the drink and left without noticing Seonghyeon watching from two tables away.
Seonghyeon stirred melting ice in his cup.
Keonho…
The name stayed in his head.
Later that night he typed it into his notes app, just so he wouldn’t forget.
Keonho
black hoodie
silver ring
iced latte
thursday station
He stared at the list.
Then locked his phone.
And drifted off to sleep
Keonho noticed him noticing.
That was the problem.
He sat near exit three pretending to drink coffee while his thoughts spiraled.
He shouldn’t have come again.
He knew that.
But Thursdays had become a habit.
At first, it was just a coincidence.
Then curiosity.
Then a routine.
And somewhere along the way, the routine became harder to explain.
He liked watching people, not in a dangerous way, it’s just, people made more sense from a distance.
Especially Eom Seonghyeon.
Everyone else saw confidence.
Keonho noticed details.
The way he rolled his shoulders after practice.
How he kept headphones in without music.
How he lingered outside the station like he hated going home.
Keonho never got too close.
He wasn’t stupid.
He knew what it looked like.
Still, he liked knowing Seonghyeon existed somewhere in the same city, that alone felt comforting, which was embarrassing to admit even to himself.
Then Seonghyeon began to start looking back.
And suddenly things felt different.
Worse.
Or maybe better.
Keonho hadn’t decided.
His stomach twisted whenever their eyes almost met.
It happens more often now.
Too often.
Sometimes he wondered if Seonghyeon recognised him, the thought made him nervous enough to consider stopping.
But Thursdays kept coming.
And so did he.
The first photo happened accidentally.
At least, that was what Seonghyeon told himself.
Rain began to pour again.
Keonho stood outside a pharmacy while traffic blurred past.
His hood was down, head tilted toward the street, and the light caught his profile strangely.
Without thinking, Seonghyeon lifted his phone.
Click.
The sound barely registered.
Keonho didn’t notice.
Seonghyeon looked at the photo.
Then he looked again.
Dark brown hair.
Tired eyes.
Soft expression.
It looked too intimate for something taken by chance.
He should’ve deleted it.
Instead he added it to his hidden photos, not because it mattered, but just because he wanted to keep it.
That thought sat strangely with him.
He locked his phone, and decided to ignored the feeling.
Later that night, boredom made him curious and curiosity made him reckless.
Finding Keonho’s account took less time than expected.
People always left trails.
Tagged cafe posts, Shared locations, Mutual follows. Keonho’s account was almost empty.
Private.
Nothing of him, just odd photos of train tracks, rainy sidewalks, the blurry city lights.
Seonghyeon scrolled through the preview.
It felt oddly personal.
Then his thumb stopped.
One photo.
Rain soaked ground reflecting the station lights.
Exit three.
His chest tightened.
He clicked it.
And before thinking, liked it.
The red heart appeared.
Seonghyeon stared.
Then immediately removed it.
Too late.
A second later, Keonho went offline.
Silence filled the room.
And slowly Seonghyeon smiled.
So Keonho was watching too?
However the following Thursday felt different.
Not because anything had changed.
But because now they both knew.
Keonho stood near the station railing, the drink untouched in his hand.
He looked tense.
Seonghyeon noticed that immediately.
The dark circles beneath his eyes.
How often he checked his phone.
Cute.
He approached without warning.
Close enough that Keonho startled when he spoke.
“Waiting for someone?”
Keonho turned too fast.
His expression made Seonghyeon pause.
Not angry.
Not defensive.
Just caught.
Like he’d been pulled out of a dream.
“I—”
“You’re Keonho, right?”
The colour drained slightly from his face.
“How do you know my name?”
Seonghyeon tilted his head.
“You follow me every Thursday.”
The words landed between them.
People brushed past.
Station announcements echoed overhead.
But neither moved.
Keonho looked down.
“…Sorry.”
That made Seonghyeon blink.
“You apologise fast.”
Another pause.
Then quietly, “You noticed?”
There it was.
The question.
Not are you angry?
Just—
you noticed?
Seonghyeon looked at him carefully.
“Eventually.”
Keonho looked embarrassed, almost disappointed.
And for some reason, Seonghyeon found that harder to understand than fear.
Then his gaze dropped to Keonho’s hand.
Silver ring.
Same one.
Without thinking, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.
Keonho frowned, then froze.
The screen showed a photo.
Rain.
Pharmacy lights.
and…. Keonho.
His breath caught instantly.
“I took one too,” Seonghyeon said.
The station suddenly felt quieter.
Keonho stared at the screen, visibly unsettled.
And for the first time Seonghyeon realised something.
He wasn’t the only one who had spent weeks watching.
The difference was that Keonho had expected to remain unseen, Seonghyeon never did.
He slid his phone back into his pocket.
Then looked at him again.
“You were wondering if I knew.”
Keonho said nothing.
His hands shook slightly around the drink.
And Seonghyeon, to his own surprise, thought that was kind of pretty.