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It was cold, the chill biting through Hongjoong’s thin jacket and hoodie. He shivered at the thought of having to sit at the bus stop for another 40 minutes in the dead of night.
Band practice had run late; they just couldn’t get the songs right, everyone was out of sync and not listening. Hongjoong sighed, remembering how his electric guitar screeched with every strum and how his finger tips ached by the end. Even now he could feel the dull throb and his hands tightened into fists, making little crescents in his palm out of frustration.
And now he had to sit at one am at this fucking bus stop, freezing his ass off, just to get home.
Fucking hell.
He slumped backwards, letting his head roll back as he shut his eyes and let the music play through his headphones. After a few songs, Hongjoong’s eye lids grew heavy and his breathing shallowed. He was just on the border of drifting off asleep when something tapped him.
Hongjoong jerked awake, yanking his headphones out and making the stranger next to him jump back a little.
“Sorry I— umm, can I sit down?” Skittish, shy. The boy’s cheeks were dusted red with frost and wisps of black hair peaked from beneath a giant white hat . He had a winter coat and gloves on, but Hongjoong could see a school uniform beneath it. Must have been a student from a school near by. Finally, Hongjoong looked at the bench and realised his guitar case was taking up the space beside him. With an awkward smile he grabbed it and pulled it to his chest. He’d never let it touch the dirty ground.
The boy smiled at him one more time and it was far too bright for how sour Hongjoong felt. He was just about to shove his headphones back in when the boy spoke again, turning to look at him.
“Which bus are you getting?” A harmless question, but Hongjoong didn’t particularly feel like talking to strangers at random bus stops in the middle of the night.
“The 32.” Curt. He hoped it would get the message across but the boy only seemed to light up more, his blinding smile growing wider and his eyes sparkling.
“Really?! Me too. What a coincidence. How come I’ve never seen you here though?” Internally, Hongjoong sighed.
“Band practice ran late.”
“Oh, that’s really cool. Wait— not that it ran late, that you’re in a band.” And now the boy was turned fully towards Hongjoong. “You play the guitar?” Followed by a small nod at the case in Hongjoong’s arms. It was battered and old, his dads’, and there were more stickers than actual case. It probably looked a little pathetic, but the boy looked at it with such wonder. How did he do it?
“Yeah, I’m the lead electric guitarist.”
“Oh my god, that’s so impressive. I’ve always wanted to learn how to play an instrument but I suck, can’t even read the notes.” That made Hongjoong crack a small smile, remembering how hard it was for him at the start. “What’s your band’s name?”
“Star Walker.” It was a little bit of a cringe name that they came up with when they were fourteen, but it stuck and Hongjoong wouldn’t change it even if he was given the option.
“That’s really poetic. Is there a meaning behind it?” The boy leaned closer, something sparkling in his eyes. It made Hongjoong’s breath hitch. Unable to meet his eyes, Hongjoong twisted to look up at the vast sky that stretched past the glass roof if the shelter.
“It’s supposed to be a reference to the one who walks amongst the stars, someone who is destined for great things. I guess it became sort of like a remainder for what we are aiming.” There was a beat of silence before Hongjoong turned away from the stars and looked back at the boy. Hongjoong had expected him to look up as well, but instead the boy was intently staring at him. It threw Hongjoong off a little bit. No one had ever looked at him like that.
And then the moment was gone, the boy rapidly blinking and smiling again.
“I think it’s a really cool name.”
“Thanks.” Hongjoong’s ears were alight. In the corner of his eye, he could see the boy begin to fidget with his sleeves.
“Sorry if I’m asking a lot of questions, I normally don’t talk to strangers,” a small laugh, “but I was just so surprised to see someone else here.”
“It’s okay.” And, surprisingly, it was.
“Have you released any music, or do performances or something?”
“We sometimes perform in bars and stuff, at small gatherings. It’s usually covers but we have music on YouTube.”
“Nice, I’ll check you guys out. What’s your genre?” He pulled his phone out, wrapped in headphones, and started typing. Hongjoong reacted before he realised what he was doing, covering the boy’s phone with his hand and making the boy freeze and glance up at him. Like this, their faces were only a few centimetres away.
“Uh— sorry,” and he began to move away, “I’m kinda shy so.”
“Oh, right, right.” The boy laughed once more and turned his phone off.
“Anyway, we’re mostly rock, I guess we have a bit of a heavy vibe.” Hongjoong muttered while the boy nodded. Hongjoong saw how his face grew crimson, must have been because of the cold. “What about you? What are you doing out at this cursed hour?” Hongjoong surprisd himself a little with the question.
“Dance practice. I’m part of a dance club and we always finish at one am on Tuesdays.” That’s when Hongjoong finally noticed the black sports bag on the floor.
“That must be really intense.” But the boy only smiled, no trace of exhaustion.
“It’s okay, I’m used to it. Right now we’re preparing for a festival, so our schedule is more busy.”
“The festival? The one at the end of January?” Hongjoong sat up from where he was slouching.
“Yeah. That one. Are you going?”
“Yeah, we’re performing there as well.” Hongjoong couldn’t believe the chances.
“No way, that’s awesome. I’ll make sure to come and watch. When’s your time slot?” The boy asked, already unlocking his phone to note it down.
“I think between three and three thirty PM.”
“Okay cool. All written down!” Turning off his phone, the boy turned to look at Hongjoong with a blinding smile. “I’m Seonghwa by the way, just realised I didn’t even introduce myself” Seonghwa laughed with an awkward chuckle.
“Oh, right, I’m Hongjoong.”
“Nice to meet you, Hongjoong. I’m surprised we haven’t crossed paths at school though.”
Now that Hongjoong thought about it, he has never seen Seonghwa either. “Huh, true. Maybe our schedules don’t clash.”
“Yeah, probably.” Silenced stretched between them before Seonghwa looked somewhere behind Hongjoong and exclaimed, “oh, our bus is here.”
Seonghwa jumped up, grabbing his sports bag, and began waving the bus down while Hongjoong stood up with a groan.
Seonghwa went in first, greeting the driver as he scanned his card and then walked towards the back. The bus was empty apart from another woman tucked away in the corner and Hongjoong couldn’t imagine why this bus even ran this late. It was clearly lacking clientele. He scanned his card and was about to go sit somewhere near the front when Seonghwa waved at him.
Reluctantly, Hongjoong walked over and sat opposite him, propping his guitar up on the seat beside him. Outside, it was pitch black and only his reflection looked back at him.
“You know, it’s actually always the same driver. I’ve been taking this bus for over two years and it’s always him. Isn’t that crazy?” Seonghwa whispered, leaning forward so Hongjoong could hear him better.
“Yeah,” he answered and glanced towards the front, “poor guy though. He must be the only one who’s willing to work the night shift.”
“The pay must be super good. That’s the only reason I’d take a job like this.” Seonghwa continued, shooting glances at the driver.
Hongjoong could only hum in return, suddenly so much more tired. Across from him, Seonghwa must have picked up on it because he leaned back and started rummaging in his bag. Finally, he pulled out a small case and opened it to reveal two small Bluetooth earphones. Putting one in, he then nudged Hongjoong, who’s eyes were slipping shut, and offered him the other. Wordlessly, Hongjoong accepted.
He watched how Seonghwa yanked out his wire headphones and then tapped aggressively at his screen a few times before something gentle started playing. It was a nice song, one he had never heard before and he closed his eyes, letting his head hit the cold glass.
The songs kept playing and Hongjoong was pulled to sleep by the faint rumbling of the bus. Sometimes, he’d wake up with a jerk when his head knocked painfully against the window but he paid it no mind. Other times, his knees would knock against Seonghwa’s own and he’d pull them back with a quiet apology, but then, at some point warm knees touched his and he didn’t have the energy to move. They stayed like that the rest of the way.
Seonghwa woke him up gently with a little shake, whispering that his stop was next.
Confused, Hongjoong only furrowed his eyebrows and tried to understand the words.
“My stop is next Hongjoong, I need to go.” And then Hongjoong noticed the case Seonghwa was holding, with one of the earphones still missing.
“Oh, right,” he mumbled and then sat up, returning the earphone. For a second, they just sat there, neither saying anything, before a shy smile split Seonghwa’s lips.
“Do— do you want to exchange numbers?” He asked quietly.
“Uh, yeah, I’d— um— love to.” Internally he face palmed himself at how stupid he sounded, voice still hoarse from sleep, but then Seonghwa giggled a little and his smile grew wider, and Hongjoong found he didn’t care as much anymore.
He returned Seonghwa’s phone just in time for the bus to come to a halt with a screech. Seonghwa got up, and with a smile turned to him.
“It was nice meeting you, I’ll see you around? Text me!” And then he was gone with a short wave towards the driver.
The rest of the night, Hongjoong couldn’t keep the grin off his lips.