For TheHannaMymiLicious + LuRong_ship + seokyushipper

Arkansas Corepsis

The morning rush was something that Luhan could never get used to. Waking up was hard enough, but the hour commute to and from work was agonising. Even though he caught the same train every day since he had gotten his job at the advertising firm, there were some days when the carriages were so packed that he couldn’t move around, on some days, there would be very little people on the train, and on those lucky days, which he believed to always coincide with his birthday, his friend’s birthday, his parents’ anniversary or on a day that would finish off in a really bad way, he would get the last available seat. Turning up the volume on his phone didn’t distract him from what was going on around him, and they certainly didn’t deter people from asking him questions or trying to start a conversation. Even his shades and stand-offish appearance didn’t prevent anyone from disturbing him – he wanted to get through the ride peacefully, go to work, come home, and then repeat – until he got his break on the weekend – but  even the week repeated, and he couldn’t escape.

On one especially bad Monday morning, he had woken up ten minutes late, which ruined his whole morning routine. He would have to speed up eating, showering, cleaning and run to the station if he didn’t want to be late. Luhan was already in a bad mood by the time he stepped into the train, and it didn’t help that it was one of those days when it was full of people, possibly late from the weekend that they had. He was pressed up against one of those tall business guys, who was wearing a striped button down, black pants and one of those shiny black pointed shoes, hair gelled to the side, one side of the earphone dangling from his ear, phone in the pocket and reading the paper. Luhan was so crammed that he couldn’t reach into his bag to retrieve his headphones – another thing that he had forgotten to do in his rush – so he resorted to pass the ride by reading over the guy’s shoulder.

Contrary to his outer appearance, the male was reading the comic strips in the paper. Luhan scanned the rest of the page and found that there was a section where people could send in comments, but when he took a good look, there were some that were saying “to the guy who gets on at the station in the morning and carries a bright blue bag, I like you” or they said “to the brunette who smiles whenever the announcer calls out the station, you’re really pretty”. He found it funny, thinking about the slim chance that those people would actually read those things, recognise that it was for them and look for the person that wrote it. He looked around and saw that others were reading it too, and then he changed his mind, and thought that it could happen. He checked the guy’s watch and saw that he still had another ten minutes before he got to his stop, and now the train was less full, but there were still no seats.

The doors opened two stops before his, and a beautiful girl walked in, the wind caught in her hair. She was shy and looked down so Luhan couldn’t get a good look at her face, but her side profile and the pink dress that she wore told him enough to know that she was quiet and cute – just his type. The train ride sped up and Luhan had to get off, but he really didn’t want to. Most people got off at his stop and he’d be able to take one of the seats (hopefully next to her), but his phone rang and it was his boss, Suho, telling him that one of his clients had shown up early and he needed to get into work. When the doors opened, he took a furtive glance at the girl, but she was looking down at her phone. He really hoped that she would be one of the regulars on the train, and see her the next day.

When Luhan woke up the next morning, he was ten minutes ahead of schedule. This morning, he put emphasis in getting ready, combing his hair to the side, adding a little bit of gel, and bringing along a pair of shades so that he could take a look at the girl without having his eyes blatantly wandering towards her. He even arrived to the station early and purchased one of the papers and took another look at that comments section. One of them caught his eye. Apparently one of the girls had read the paper and was replying to the guy that had sent in his comment, and promised to meet at the platform. Luhan thought that he should send in a comment, but he needed to make sure that she read the papers.

On this day, he was able to get the last seat, and he was anxiously waiting for her stop. He released a breath when he realised that she got on the train. He was going to offer her his seat so that he could have an excuse to talk to her, but when he got up, and old ahjumma took his seat, and he lost his opportunity. Luckily, at the next stop, a sudden influx of passengers got on, and Luhan moved from one end of the carriage to the other end where she was, and it became packed. The people were stuck to each other and Luhan was excited to think that his arm was currently brushing hers. When the train stopped, the people standing up moved along, and Luhan bumped into her. She looked at him and he stuttered out an apology, looking into her eyes, and she just smiled politely at him, saying that it was okay. He got off the train, feeling very happy, and looking forward to future interactions on the train.

For the rest of the week, Luhan though that his ‘relationship’ with the girl had progressed quite fast. After bumping into her on that Tuesday, Wednesday let him have his first conversation with her, and he found out that her name was Chorong. Thursday, let him sit next to her on the train, and Friday, he found out that she read the paper. Weekend came, and Luhan was depressed that he couldn’t see her, but he sent in a comment for the newspaper and made a plan to ask her out on the Monday.

On Monday, he woke up a half hour early. He went directly to the station after grooming himself, purchased the paper, scanned it and found that his comment had made it in, took the first train available and got off at her stop. He waited for her by the bench that she sat on, and his heart began to beat loudly when he saw her approaching. She seemed surprised that he was there, but she sat down next to him, nonetheless. Luhan handed her the paper, opened to the page of comments, and even circled the article in red. He watched in anticipation as her eyes flicked over the words, and he could tell that she was reading it multiple times, but he was relieved when she looked up at him with a really bright smile and nodded.

To: the cute girl that gets on at the station named Chorong

Thanks for making my mornings and train rides the best part of my day

Give me a chance to make you happy?

From: the guy you said looked prettier than you…

P.S. I’ll prove my manliness to you on our first date ;)