It was the autumn of his last year in middle school. His memory of the exact date had faded with time but he remembered that day being an especially cold rainy morning as he took the train to school. The train he recalled, that departed his station at 6am sharp every single morning. Too early, it seemed for the rest of the public because the train remained relatively empty to board throughout his whole school term.

Hoya was not usually one to let his eyes linger around his surroundings, but fate had it that he did so that particular wet morning. That morning he saw him. He could not help but he stared, gazing at the stranger’s hair dampened from raindrops shimmering against the bright lights of the train, and he let his eyes continue glancing down to his slightly soaked suit from the rain.

Somehow during that process Hoya’s eyes met his. Those eyes felt too small against the stranger’s fair skinned face, almost like a thin slit but that was enough because Hoya’s attention was captured. Surprisingly, the stranger maintained eye contact with him, and very slightly let out a small smile.

Disastrous morning huh? We’re both awfully wet.

The stranger spoke across his seat to Hoya. He forgot that he too was drenched from top to bottom, his uniform sticking harshly upon his skin. He wanted to respond, but realising that he was unable to find his voice, Hoya could only give an awkward nod as his ‘companion’ flashed a lop-sided grin.

And at that moment something began to change inside him, like an awakening of certain unknown emotions. Hoya failed to understand what those emerging feelings were then, but looking back now he could fathom what it meant.

Love at first sight. His first love had started. It was baseless; it probably made no sense if he narrated this to someone else. But weren’t all first loves like his, built from the slightest things or from nothing at all?

That was all Hoya saw of the stranger’s eyes though, for during the next morning and every subsequent morning he boarded the 6am train, the other would be sleeping. But still he persisted, entering the same carriage at the same time every morning, knowing the other would be seated at the exact same spot, with his eyes closed and his head tilted slightly it almost but never touches the window. And Hoya would also sit at the same spot their eyes met that rainy morning, as it gave him the best view of the man’s sleeping posture.

So Hoya was able to continue taking in the stranger’s features, from his well-defined jaw line, to his baby cheeks, to his fringe swept with a slight messiness across his forehead, covering just the top arches of his left eyebrow.

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Through his observations he was further able to find out more about the his stranger.

Day 5; an office worker judging from his attire, a neat black suit and tie.

Day 11; an office worker working for an Accounting firm (Hoya knows this having strained his eyes to make out the company’s name on his lanyard that he carries carelessly in his right pocket).

Day 12; an office worker working for an Accounting firm located near Busan’s City Hall station (Again, Hoya knows this because he searched desperately online about that firm the moment he returned home and also because that was the station his stranger alighted every morning).

Hoya did not understand why he was doing what he was doing; his brain told him that he needed and wanted nothing from the man, however his heart and actions proved otherwise. His heart seemed to always yearn for just a little more knowledge about his beautiful stranger, and he reassured himself that he would become content with just a tiny bit extra of what he could gather.

Day 21; finally a name. His person of interest had decided to wear his lanyard around his neck that morning and Hoya was finally able to catch his name on his company card, together with a portrait of his face, complete with a slight smile. The smile that Hoya found himself reminiscing of ever so often.

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Author's Note: Guess who? 

In case it isn't clear, this is a flashback, something like his first memory of love. 

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