“Damn Kyungsoo-hyung and his solo schedules.”

I pulled the hood of my oversized jacket over my head, shoving a mask across my face before stepping out into the open and my bare legs immediately shivered under the onslaught of Seoul’s summer breeze. Shutting the door silently behind me, I silently walked (read: ninja-ed) my way out of SM’s compound littered with waiting fans and made my way over to a bus stop. My knees trembled again when another bout of breeze blew through the open space and crap, it blew off my hood.

Cursing under my breath, I hurriedly replaced it but thank goodness, it was well past midnight and the people that shared the bus stop with me were either plugged into their phones, engrossed with it, or halfway to dreamland. I tugged on my hood, fingers gripping onto the fabric as yet another summer gale ripped through the space, threatening the balance of its occupants. If my legs could talk, I think they’d probably be swearing aloud right about then while shivering in the merciless wind.

“It’s all Kyungsoo-hyung’s fault,” I began to mumble, eyes momentarily lighting up as a bus pulled into the stop but my gaze quickly dropped to the ground when the numbers didn’t reflect the one I had to take back to the dorm. “Taking one van for his own and the other one just had to break down today.” I scuffed my worn-out sneakers against the rough cemented ground, not bothering to flinch when a small part of the sole broke away. I had to get a new pair anyway. “Just my luck, really.”

A loud horn startled me just then, and an inquisitive expression on the bus driver’s face as the door swung open greeted me. My eyes quickly darted up to the numbers and a smile crept onto my face as I stepped on and tapped my card against the card machine. Throwing myself into an empty seat, I realised that all of the seats had been occupied. A rugged snore came from my left and a man’s sleeping visage was all I saw before I decided to discreetly edge myself away from him and his head which kept knocking onto the window as the bus ran on. Slumping into my seat, I sighed in pleasure as my entire body began yelling on the inside in happiness as the vehicle’s warmth seeps into my clothes. Maybe it wasn’t so bad that both vans were unavailable and that I didn’t have enough money on me to take a cab. I hadn’t realised that I had missed being a twenty-one-year-old young adult doing what people my age should be doing. I had missed being normal.

It was probably a few bus stops after I boarded when the bus suddenly lurched to a stop and the bus driver’s pointedly loud curses broke the quietude of the night bus ride. Nonetheless, he opened the door and while I thought of him throwing dirty glances at the person who had flagged for the bus too late, I didn’t expect him to get out of his driver’s seat, rushing forward with his arms outstretched and moments later, they emerged with a little boy.

“Aigoo,” The driver cooed as he directed a fond smile at the wee lad, the smile widening further when the boy smiled in return and a tiny hand patted the old man’s cheek gently. An adult boarded the bus then, tapping a card against the machine and its loud ding brought the driver back to reality. “Cute kid you got there, miss.” He said while handing the boy back to the adult and he clambered back into the driver’s seat, the smile still etched on his wrinkled face. The adult, a seemingly young lady, returned the favour and made the kid in her arms do a curt bow. The boy did it adorably, and I barely stopped my aww, so cute! from slipping out as I smacked my hands over my mask-covered mouth.

The kid clapped his tiny hands together, his cherubic face lighting up for reasons unknown as the door clacked shut and the driver gestured for the lady to take a seat. Her eyes swept the vehicle and the corners of her lips tugged downwards slightly after seeing that all seats were occupied. The old woman seated in front of me began to stir and after peeking ahead, eyes seeing her hands trying to hold onto all her numerous plastic bags, I realised that she was trying to offer up her seat. “I-It’s okay!” I hastily placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder, wincing when my palm met with hard, sharp bones instead of flesh, and I stood up. “You can have my seat.”

My eyes left the old woman, whose toothless smile further warmed my body, to look at the lady who made her way over and gingerly sat down. After arranging the boy to sit comfortably on her lap, she tilted her head upwards and said, “Thank you.” Under the soft lighting of the bus, her eyes twinkled and just brightened up her countenance, making the grateful smile on her face beam much more than it was supposed to. I could only mumble a “You’re welcome, miss.” before I had to look away, shoving my face into the crook of my arm as I held onto the handlebar, and the bus finally went on its way.

I think I spaced out, eyes focusing on nothing in particular, ears not paying attention to the soft bustle of the streets of Seoul as the bus traipsed on the tar. I was only brought back to the situation of being an idol taking public transportation back to his dorm by a rather strong tug on my jacket. I stirred, reluctantly moving my face away from my arm to look down at the hem of my jacket where a chubby, tiny hand gripped onto it. A much larger hand with svelte fingers appeared seconds after, and the lady’s voice gently but urgently tore down the walls of the vehicle’s silence. “Let go. Let go of his jacket!”

It really and probably wasn’t in my position to interfere, despite the object so firmly gripped in the boy’s hand belonging to me, so I just stayed still and watched them. The lady’s fingers enveloped the tiny hand easily, as she tried to pry those stubby fingers off the fabric with little success because the boy’s other hand decided to join the party. It should have been easy to get the boy’s hands off, but I guess she wasn’t trying hard enough. Something about that made my chest constrict in a pleasant way, as I continued to watch her futile attempts. Though, her tone gradually got harsher as she kept trying to remove the kid’s hands with her own. “Let go! Hyung is going to scold you if you’re not going to let go of his jacket.” It’s funny to hear yourself being described in a third-person perspective so I couldn’t help but let slip a chuckle that attracted the attention of the adult and once again, her eyes gazed up at mine. Twinkle.

“Oh my gosh, I am so sorry.” She began to apologise, the twinkle in her eyes vanishing briefly before reappearing when a gleeful giggle came from the baby in her lap and she averts her eyes to him, fondness for the child washing over her.

“It’s okay,” I found myself saying without knowing that I had and two pairs of eyes looked up. I almost forgot to breathe when I let my eyes flit to the ones I’ve seen twice, the same sparkle twinkling in them still. “He can grab onto my jacket. I’m not due to alight until almost at the end of the route anyway.” I smiled, forgetting that I had my mask on, and I foolishly added on, “I’m smiling, by the way if you can’t tell.”

She laughed, and her laughter sounded like twinkles too. Not that I’ve heard how twinkles (whatever they are) sounded like before, but you get what I mean. Hearing his mother laugh caused the boy to laugh too, or what sounded like one even though I reckoned it to be a cough that transitioned into delighted laughter.

“I know,” She said, hand reaching up to her kid’s head and she absentmindedly tousled his locks. “I can tell.” The smile that formed after her laughter stayed even as the bus lurched forward for the second time since I boarded, and the boy in her lap almost slammed his head against the seat in front of him. Instead of complaining, she dipped her head to his and started to comfort him with words that I couldn’t quite hear. The boy’s hands remained on my jacket, but I didn’t care. In fact, I didn’t mind at all.

“Why are your hands still not tired, Jongin-ah?”

“H-Huh?” I dumbly muttered to no one in particular. “Someone called me?”

“Um,” A familiar voice replied gingerly and I instinctively looked downwards to find the lady looking up at me, a puzzled expression on her face. “Nobody called you, but…” My eyes gazed at hers, noticing the same twinkle in those orbs for the fourth time in less than thirty minutes since I boarded the bus. I then dropped my sight to her lips, taking them in, wonder washing over me as a familiar shape greeted my eyes. Ah, they’re the same shape as that hyung who needed one van for his own use. I might have been too taken with them, that I hadn’t really heard her next sentence until I felt a strong tug on my jacket and