100 Miles

 

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When Kyungsoo wakes up in the morning, it’s already half past twelve. Panicked, he shoots out of bed, and having slept in his clothes, picks up his bag and rushes down to the lobby. It was a good idea to pack everything the night before, or so he tells himself, but really, what was there to pack? Everything he owns in the world fits into a small knapsack that he slings across his back.

 

The woman in front of him at the front desk turns out to be the slowest person he’s ever had the misfortune of encountering. She rummages slowly through her bag and mutters unintelligibly to herself, glasses perched precariously on her nose. The hotel clerk watches impassionately. Kyungsoo fidgets behind her and taps his feet impatiently, glancing at the wall clock every so often.

 

12:45

 

Finally, the lady finds what she’s looking for and moves away. Kyungsoo checks out in a flash and is out the door, running as fast as he can to the east, where a certain train at the station is soon to depart. It’ll do no good to call a cab, for the heavy morning streets are clogged thick with squat vehicles that snort and pump out smoke.

 

As he runs past pedestrians, he spots in a blur several pairs of confused eyes follow him. Mothers push their children behind them, watching him warily, and a small path soon clears in front of him. He doesn’t blame them: he can only imagine how he looks right now, with his patched clothes and wild eyes and dusty hair.

 

On the next block, the sidewalks give way abruptly to a wide stretch of road, and then there’s the station beckoning to him. The guard at the entrance glances at him and then steps aside to let him in. Kyungsoo keeps on running: past the clocks in the waiting room, past the other platforms, all the way to the end, where the last platform is waiting.

 

12:59

 

And just when he’s reached the gate and pulled out his ticket, he hears the trailing sound of the train whistle as the long black train slowly pulls away from the station.

 

1:00

 

“No!”

 

The ticketer at the gate shakes his head.

 

“You can go through, but it’s too late. I’m sorry, sonny.”

 

Kyungsoo ignores him and rushes onto the platform, coughing and rubbing away the dirt that gets into his eyes.The moving train makes the wind rush into his ears, and he looks up just in time to see a small, familiar face pressed up against the window, watching him with a look that makes Kyungsoo’s heart wrench.

 

“Jongin...”

 

The face looks out at him until it’s too far gone. Kyungsoo watches the train all the way until it disappears into the misty horizon.

 

A couple minutes later, the train whistle sounds mournfully. It is already distant and muffled, speaking of promises that will never be made, and stories that will never be told.

 

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if you miss the train I'm on,

 

you will know that I am gone.

 

You can hear the whistle blow

 

one hundred miles.

 

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