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Jongin goes up into the bus alone in small placid steps. Yawning, he sat by the window near the center of the vehicle. He rests his head on the backrest.

The bus heading towards Eulji-ru is almost vacant most of the time. Not many people go towards the rural town. It’s an agricultural village, nothing much of a tourism prowess to attract people from Seoul. Jongin supposes that there’s that big mansion near his house that still ferments kimchi on old earthenware that some students go to learn the culinary past of their country, but it’s mostly just a fast stop-over. That’s just that. Even the population of the town is measly and sparse, many opting to continue their parent’s legacy on the farm instead of pursuing a degree in Seoul. Jongin did not even know what he was thinking when he enrolled on a business school in the city, he must be tired of his monotonous life and seeing the same set of faces from when he was still a child. The tennis scolarship he got also helped with the expenses.

That day though, the bus was almost full. Jongin had overheard from the conversation of two highschool students sitting behind him that there’s a festival happening on a town before his. When the bus stops on a waiting shed and a family entered, Jongin places his backpack beside him hoping to offer it to a certain someone when his stop will be reached. He wouldn’t want this certain someone to stand or wait for the next bus which would not arrive until after another hour.

Jongin busies himself on his phone with a puzzle game but then a notification dings displaying that there’s a reply to a tweet he made. It is curious, he barely tweets and have lesser engagements. It was not a personal account, he does not have a personal account on the site. It was mainly a profile he made to follow meme accounts, certain youtubers he watches, and other random people he follows back who followed him first.

The reply came from someone with a penguin display picture who uses his full name as his handle.

@DohKyungsoo

“Doh Kyungsoo” Jongin murmurs, checking first the name before the reply. When he checks the reply though, his mood sours. It’s a reply from a comment he made about how the developer of the Pokémon games are getting lazy at making the games, settling for a mediocre repetitive formula. This Doh Kyungsoo guy is one of the company’s avid defender.

Jongin’s fingers furiously types a fast reply. 

“Be my guest if you want to buy a game that is half-baked on a full price.” Jongin replies. He would normally ignore conversation that would lead into an inevitable argument but Jongin is bored so he took the bait. 

Jongin looks up and saw that the stop of the person he’s waiting to arrive is getting close. He nicknamed this stranger ‘Cactus’ because the first time he saw him, he was holding a pot of cactus. Not much of a backstory with the name but Jongin stick with it. Jongin developed a crush on Cactus fast once he started realizing they take the same bus every Friday night. Jongin had started anticipating seeing him on the bus and would be happy just by seeing a glimpse of him. It was just a happy crush, nothing serious.

There’s still some empty seats left but Jongin still put down the bag he placed beside him hoping that Cactus would choose to sit beside him. When the bus started loading the passengers, his phone dings with another notification probably from that company defender, but Jongin was busy scanning the faces of the people that enters. There’s a lot more than usual but that’s to be expected. A girl is about to sit on the seat beside him but Jongin, on reflex, places a hand on the seat.

“Sorry, this seat is taken.” Jongin says with an apologetic smile. The girl did not mind, walking forward to go to an unoccupied seat behind the bus. The last to enter was the cutie he’s been crushing on. Jongin scans the bus one last time and he thanks the heaven that the only remaining seat unoccupied was the one beside him. Cactus’s face was buried on the phone on his hand, walking aimlessly. When he looks up, his eyes lands on his. There was a flash of recognition on the boy’s round orbs and then a blush emerges. It was fast but Jongin and his ego saw it. Jongin smirks on his head. Cactus sat beside him, no words exchanged between the two. They are still strangers.

Does it count as an acquaintance if they don’t know each other’s name but already are familiar with each other’s face?

Maybe not.

Still strangers.

This was the only time they ever get to meet, on the bus ride home. His crush’s stop would be on the town before his. The one where the festival is happening. Cactus is garbed in a uniform from one of those academy in Ulsan (Jongin had quickly asked his friends when he saw some of those students wearing the exact same uniform visiting their school). Cactus is also wearing the roundest glasses. It makes him look too soft and Jongin has a thing for soft boys.

Cactus is just a happy crush that preoccupies his time on the bus but sometimes Jongin would wonder if he did ask him out. Cactus has a habit of latching on his mind even on non-Fridays. He had plans to talk to the boy, maybe ask his name and for his number. Maybe he could ask him out for a coffee? Does he like coffee,  maybe he’s a tea person? Would that be too forward? Even if it’s not, it does not matter since Jongin is too much of a wimp to follow through with his plan. His confidence is inconsistent, sometimes he’d be so arrogant and think he’s the , but sometimes he would feel like .  What would he offer Cactus anyways? He’s just a broke college student from a small farm town.  Judging by the school his crush is going to, he is well off and could easily find a better boy or girl for him with his looks. One that is not as financially unstable as him who has an aimless future. He doesn’t even know if his crush is straight or gay or bi. Even if he likes boys, there’s no guarantee that feelings would be mutual. 

Right now though, even if he’s sitting beside Cactus, Jongin still has no courage to initiate a conversation. His mind formulates for a good opener.

“Do you play Pokemon?” He is supposed to hate that brand for now.

“Nice weather isn’t it?” That’s too lame.

“Hello, my name is Jongin.”  That’s too awkward.

“I heard that there’s a festival on your town.” That...that is actually a good conversation opener. Not too revealing of his intention. Jongin repeats the sentence on his mind, practicing it again and again. He hopes he wouldn’t stutter. He had nonchalantly asked cute guys to dates before, so why is he stressing about this? This was their first time sitting beside each other and this is his golden opportunity. He would regret it if he would not act out now.

“I heard that there’s a festival on your town.” Jongin finally speaks. The hard part is over, initiating the conversation is half the job. Jongin waits for a reply, and then waits, and waits.  However, it did not come. Jongin slighty looks to the side and realizes that there’s an earphone plugged on both of Cactus’s ears. His attention is fully on his phone. He is watching a cute puppy video. Jongin sighs, head leaning down to the window beside him. There’s no way to talk to cutie now. Jongin bits his lips and went back to his phone, disappointment nesting in his gut. 

There is a reply from this Doh Kyungsoo guy that he almost forgot.

“I will buy the game and I will enjoy it. I’m not a bitter bandwagon hater.”

There is also another reply after that and it was a series of angry emojis. Jongin rolls his eyes. He’s sure that he’s talking to a 12 year old, and he would not want any more of his time wasted. He decides that t