He takes the 804 bus six days a week, once in the morning and once in the evening.  He has big, expressive eyes and he is always reading a new book each week.  The one time that Taemin actually got the courage to sit next to him, he could smell the taller man's faded cologne at the end of the day.  Taemin's never been in love before, and he has never believed in love at first sight, but he can't help thinking that maybe this handsome stranger on the bus might change all of that.  He knows it's a ridiculous thought, but with a forty minute commute on a bus every morning and evening, Taemin doesn't think there is anything wrong with indulging his fantasies a little.

It's funny, really.  Taemin was never one to let his imagination carry him away, yet just looking at the guy on the bus who reads books in Spanish and books about romantic fiction and scifi makes his heart thunder within his ribcage.  At first, he was embarrassed about his little fantasies.  They weren't anything racy or overly ual; they were just plain embarrassing.  With each passing day, he found his imagination conjuring up the strangest stories. 

At first, Taemin just wanted to know the stranger's name.  He imagined that it was something cool and mysterious, like Hans Bullet.  Of course, that made exactly zero sense considering they were both Korean and living in South Korea.  Taemin wondered what kind of underwear the man wore.  It wasn't anything erse when he first thought about it; honestly, he just wanted to know if the guy liked boxers or briefs (heaven forbid such an Adonis went for tighty whities).  That was when the curiosities became fantasies.

Taemin started imagining himself and the handsome traveler bumping into each other at the clothing store.  He imagined them both dropping their clothes on the floor and scrambling to pick everything back up.  He imagined them both blushing a little (and suddenly he really wanted to know what this man looked like when he was flushed and embarrassed) while they exchanged apologies politely.  Taemin allowed himself to wonder what the man's voice sounded like.  No matter what it was, he was willing to bet cash money that the sound would vibrate through his soul and make his boxers wet.  The guy just looked like the type to have a voice made of .

Then Taemin started imagining himself and the stranger going shopping for underwear together.  That escalated to clothes shopping; he wanted to model clothes for the man and laugh with him when things look horrifyingly hideous.  He wanted to walk out of the store with bags full of clothes for the both of them.  He wanted to get lunch with the man and talk about those books he was always reading on the bus.  One thought flowed right into the next and before he knew it, Taemin was beginning to imagine his entire life being sewn together with the stranger's.  He wanted to share things with this man, intimate things.

Taemin wants to spend time with this attractive bastard, he realizes, doing things that he doesn't even like doing on his own.  He wants to go to the grocery store with him and pick out the ingredients for the dinner they would make together.  He wants to run his run his fingers through that man's hair as they read books idly on the empty bus.  He wants to complain about his overbearing mother to this man, and he wants to know what this man's parents are like.  He wants to be there when this stranger comes home from a particularly rough day at work.  On those days, Taemin wants to rub his back and kiss his neck and hug him tight and make promises that he doesn't think he can keep.  Taemin just wants. 

Thirteen months of nothing but watching and thinking have led Taemin to this moment right here, right now.  He feels ready to take their nonexistent relationship to the next level.  He wants to actually talk to this handsome er. 

Taemin knows it's ridiculous, but he feels like he already knows this man.  He knows that he's dangerously close to falling for the man his mind conjured up in order to pass the dull minutes on the bus every day, but he won't let that stop him.  There is an absolutely gorgeous specimen of man sitting across from him on the bus twice each day and it would be certain insanity not to take advantage of that.  Maybe this will lead to something, maybe it will lead to nothing.  Maybe Taemin will end up with a new friend to talk to on the bus.  Maybe he'll end up with a best friend.  Maybe he'll end up with someone to share his life with.  Maybe he'll end up with a one-time, two minute conversation with a stranger on the 804 bus. 

"What are you reading?"

"Book for my Spanish class."

"Oh, you speak Spanish?  You any good?"

The man grins to himself and shakes his head.

"I've been studying for four years and I still ."

Maybe this will turn into something.  Maybe it won't.  Maybe Taemin will go home and replay this conversation over and over again in his head as he makes dinner.  Maybe he'll go home and fall asleep as soon as he hits the couch.  Maybe he'll take a cold shower and laugh to himself, because he was totally right about the stranger's y voice.  Maybe he'll talk to this man again tomorrow morning.  Maybe he'll start bringing books of his own and they can read together in contented silence.  Maybe he'll marry this man. 

Maybe, maybe, maybe...