Title: Thursday Train Rides
Prompt-#: 112
For:@ holyhock23 
Pairing: Minho/Jonghyun
Author: Anonymous
Word count: 2324 words
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: language
Summary: Thursdays are Kim Jonghyun’s worst enemy, but this unbelievable tall student might just change his mind.

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Wednesdays were Jonghyun’s favourite days. Wednesdays meant sleeping in. They meant lazy mornings and long showers along with doing whatever he wanted.
Mostly meaning staying curled up on his couch, watching silly dog videos on his phone or just listening to music.
Wednesday was the best day of the week.
Thursdays on the other hand were a nightmare.

Which was exactly why the blonde-haired male let out a loud groan the moment his alarm clock rang on yet another grey Thursday morning in late autumn. A quick touch and the alarm at least was switched off, but judging by the drizzling noises he heard from outside his window Jonghyun could safely assume that it was raining today.
Great.
His day just got better.

Not.

Anyway. Just like any other Thursday, he had to get ready for his shift at the pet shop. Which wasn’t a bad thing per se – he loved his job and especially the animals he cared for – but Thursdays meant that he had the early morning shift that required him to use public transportation when half the population of Seoul was doing the exact same thing.
Which obviously resulted in crowded spaces and, honestly, this was something Jonghyun couldn’t deal so well with.
Putting his comb aside, the blonde let out a small sigh.
Well, there was no way around it. He could pay a taxi to get there, but he rather saved that money for something he really needed.
Going by taxi every Thursday would empty his wallet faster than he would like. So this was a necessary evil he had to tackle on these days.
Sometimes, he got up extra early to avoid the rush hour, but he didn’t manage that every time.
So here he was.
Dressed, messenger bag slung over his leather-clad shoulder and absolutely not ready to face the day.
Or more, the subway ride.

Let’s just get it over with, he mused as his feet carried him to Dongdaemun Station where he descended to the platform on the dark blue Line that would take him the six stations to Sinimum. Most of the people waiting at the platform were students going to Hankuk University and sometimes Jonghyun wondered how university life would have been like.
He shook his head, averting his eyes from the throng of people and focusing his gaze back on his phone, where he flicked the player to the next song.
Three minutes later, the popular jingle announced that the carriage was arriving and Jonghyun stepped back slightly as some people disembarked.
He swallowed thickly as he realised that it was indeed one of the bad Thursdays today, with barely enough space to move.
The blonde shook his head and before someone else could push him from behind, he stepped inside, trying to move through the crowd and find some space for himself. Which wasn’t all that easy sadly, and no one felt the need to move aside either or to at least keep their elbows to themselves.
Jonghyun dodged the rucksack of a student that came swinging his way, but that caused him to bump against something solid.
“Excuse me!” he said, fighting the urge to bow to the tall male he had run into as there wasn’t enough space to do so. He would just get into trouble with the next person behind or next to him.
“Don’t worry” the male said, a deep baritone meeting Jonghyun’s ears.
The blonde blinked, looking up – really up – to meet the person’s eyes. Dark chocolate looked back at him and damn that guy was really tall… and… hot.

Jonghyun swallowed unconsciously, going mum for a moment.
Then, realising he had been staring, nodded in gratitude and brought his gaze back to his feet.

, he mumbled in his thoughts, why did he manage to embarrass himself in front of a good-looking guy like that? That was just his luck…
Had he mentioned that Thursdays really were not for him? Because if he hadn’t then yes, Thursdays were horrible. The blonde let out another sigh that turned into a yelp the moment the subway departed, sending him stumbling in the opposite direction, as he didn’t have anything to hold onto.
Sadly, the law of inertia didn’t show any mercy on him and sent him – once again – directly at the tall stranger he had bumped into a mere minute ago.
“Ah, !” he hissed, his one hand grabbing onto his bag’s belt in false hope of purchase, while the other instinctively buried itself at the male’s shirt.

Jonghyun landed face first against a firm, warm chest.

His eyes went wide and he immediately steadied himself, straightening his back. This was absolutely mortifying! He had bumped into the same gay twice. Into a student too, judging by his looks and the bag that had the logo of Hankuk University scrawled over the front flap.
He felt his heart thundering in his chest, his cheeks growing hotter and hotter with embarrassment.
“Sorry” he whispered, not meeting the guy’s eyes who had the guts to chuckle at him.
Jonghyun grit his teeth together.
Did that male think he was doing it on purpose? Because he bloody wasn’t.
“It won’t happen again” he added and just as he wanted to steady himself, did the train cause him to go wobbly in his knees once again as the carriage shook and leaned sideways in the curves that they passed.
“Whoa!” he let out, fighting to keep standing and not push anyone around him.
No one appreciated that.
He knew that first hand.
Damn.
Jonghyun tried his hardest not to face the tall male in front of him, who effortlessly held onto the hand strap dangling from the upper metal bars. Of course.

The blonde grumbled under his breath. He was reminded of his small stature once again and though he usually didn’t mind being on the shorter side, it was instances like this where he truly felt upset about it.
He should have tried to get a spot near the doors, then he could have held on to one of the many metal bars provided, but no, of course he was stuck in the middle, squeezed between people.

Thursdays.

Maybe if he tried hard enough, he might reach the strap a little to his right.
He would have to stretch, but he might have a chance of reaching it. Jonghyun nodded to reassure himself and steadied his stance as the train stopped at the next station.
He reached out, higher and higher but his fingertips only managed to brush against the fabric of the strap once.
“Damn you” he growled, knowing very well that threatening the strap wouldn’t do him any good – yet, doing it anyway made him feel slightly better regardless of the senselessness.
He narrowed his eyes, but as the doors closed behind the people who had pushed their way in, he gave up.
Great.
Jonghyun let out a sigh and braced himself. If he concentrated hard enough, he might be able to not make a fool out of himself this time.
The train departed with a heavy forward and the blonde tried his hardest to stay on his own feet. He toppled slightly, but luckily didn’t bump into someone this time.
A sigh of relief left him at that and his lips pulled into a small smile that immediately thinned out when he heard a snicker coming from above.

Above meaning from the tall stranger in front of him.
Jonghyun frowned, but lifted his gaze to face the male who was grinning down at him.

Not fair, the smaller complained inwardly. He barely reached the dark-haired male’s shoulders. No wonder that guy looked so utterly relaxed, with his hand securely intertwined with the hand strap.
Then again, he also had long legs and could probably balance himself better than Jonghyun.

Why was he staring like that again?
He was just fuelling this male’s ego by doing that! That guy was already smirking and though it looked really damn handsome did it cause Jonghyun to feel inferior in this moment.
Nausea settled over him as he felt like being ridiculed and he once again lost his footing as the train stuttered to a halt.
This time however, there was a strong arm that steadied him in place.

“What?” the blonde blinked, utterly confused at what had happened and how exactly he had ended up pressed against that guy’s chest again.

The only thing he remembered was the feeling of nearly going vertigo, but here he was, a warm arm keeping him in place.
His eyes travelled upward, finding the taller male’s eyes looking at him with a worried glance, the grin wiped from his face.
“Are you ok?” the guy asked and Jonghyun wanted to be swallowed whole.

Had that guy just…?

He nodded then, slowly distancing himself from the stranger and focusing on his own balance again. The male’s arm left him and the smirk was back in place a moment later.
“I thought you didn’t want to stumble again?” the guy said, his deep voice doing unspeakable things to Jonghyun. Things like accelerating his heartrate and making his legs wobbly without any impulse of the carriage.
“I…”
And now he had gone speechless.
Wonderful. The blonde gaped, trying so hard to close his mouth and failing for another minute, before he could finally shut it.
“I’m sorry?” he eventually pressed out but the male just kept on grinning.
“I don’t mind” he answered easily and sent him a wink.

A wink.

What was happening here?
Jonghyun couldn’t really believe that this university student was trying to flirt with him. Nope, no, that couldn’t be happening.
Why hadn’t they arrived yet?

Leaving the train and leaving behind everything that had happened here sounded like a good plan to him.

“Still.” Jonghyun mumbled then and was about to turn away when a hand grabbed his wrist. The blonde looked at the taller, who was smiling at him. His eyes flicked to the hand that held his lower arm. With an uneasy feeling in his stomach, Jonghyun nodded reluctantly and let the stranger guy guide his hand to the male’s biceps.
He blinked.
What… was that supposed to mean?

The blonde’s hand was holding onto the dark-haired male’s upper arm now and it took him a moment to realise why the other had done that.
Oh.
Jonghyun tightened his grip slightly, feelings his cheeks heat up again.
“You can hold on to me” the guy said and sent him yet another wink.

The blonde had no idea what to say to that.
He felt embarrassed yet again, because this only happened due to his short height. Yet at the same time… he kind of felt good because this male was being nice to him.
And as he had already established was this stranger really good-looking.
Yes, he was a student, which meant he was definitely younger than Jonghyun but…
Who cares?

“Thanks? I guess…” he trailed off, trying his hardest to keep his embarrassment hidden.
“Minho” offered the dark-haired male and Jonghyun blinked, his brain needing a moment to realise that he had been told a name.
“Minho. Yeah. Thanks. I appreciate it… Sorry for being a burden.”
“You’re not” answered Minho quickly, shaking his head, “You’re cute” he finished and this time the blonde couldn’t stop the blush from blooming on his cheeks.

.
What?

Jonghyun swore that his heart was going to jump out of his chest any moment.
“W-what? Cute?”
Minho nodded, grinning down at him.
“I’m older than you… “ Jonghyun threw in but the stranger just shrugged his shoulders. The blonde grumbled, but had to tighten his grip to keep himself steady as the train pulled into a halt.
Just two more stations.
“And?” Minho replied, not impressed by his argument.
“You can’t just call your elders cute… or stuff like that!”

“But I just did”
That caused Jonghyun to shut up. And damn that smirk… wasn’t it illegal to look like that? And to flirt that openly?
“If… you say so” he answered, completely at a loss about what to say next so he chose to keep his mouth shut, lest he embarrassed himself again.
At least did he not topple around anymore as Minho was an excellent metal bar substitute.

“Sorry, this is my stop” the dark-haired male announced and Jonghyun blinked as he came back from his trance.
“Oh… yeah. Thanks again… Minho.”
“No problem…?”
“Jonghyun” the blonde filled in and the taller grinned.
“Jonghyun. I see you around.”

And then the moment was over.
The doors of the train carriage opened and most of the people left the cabin. Minho was among them.
Jonghyun felt like he was able to breathe again and yet at the same time, it felt like he had been woken from a very surreal dream.
“See you around…? That guy doesn’t make sense…”

How should that even work?

Jonghyun shook his head, trying to erase the student from his mind.
His station came up next and he let go of the metal bar he had moved to after Minho had gotten off the train to disembark now as well.

He shoved his hand into his pants pocket to get his phone out and found something there that definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago.
Jonghyun pulled it out, looking at Minho’s stoic face.
“His student card?!” he exclaimed utterly shaken at the fact that the taller had gone this far as to put his own student card, that had his address written on it, into his pants pocket.
When had he even?

Jonghyun swallowed.

So that flirting hadn’t been for fun?

Well, there was only one way to find out, Jonghyun guessed and this time fished out his phone. He opened the Naver app and typed in the address mentioned on the card.
Friday seemed like a good day to drive to Incheon.

FIN