"Shownu hyung, where are you?" A worried voice from the other line said. Shownu sighed, knowing he's gonna have some explanation to do again.

"Not know, kihyun." Shownu heaved out a sigh as he stared blankly as the bus driver starts to call out passengers. "I'm gonna explain, some other time, just not now." He nodded as if the person he's talking to is with him.

"Ah, 'kay. Its your loss." Kihyun, referring to their club's annual celebration, which is again held this time at Starship, the place where they usually hang out and perform their gigs.

Shownu ended the call as he motioned towards the seat near the window. He grabbed his headphones in his pocket, scrolled through the top 100 monthly chart and just played the first song that caught his attention. The bus ride felt lonely as almost all the passengers were sleeping but nevertheless the music ringing in his ears made him felt alive. He has been always drawn to music ever since he was a child, he would volunteer to be the leader of any singing, dancing and performing projects at school. Since he's an auditory learner, he also know how to play a lot of instruments. Every summer, he would take dance classes, be it hip-hop, ballet, modern, jazz or folk dance. He even tried chacha once! Everyone who knows him can't help but to admire him for his talents and his overflowing charisma when he's doing the things he's passionate about. People who knew him had been surprised and dismayed when he turned down an offer from Julliard and took up mechanical engineering in Seoul University. But little did they know, that he’s doing this for the only family that he has left, his grandfather.

Back in the day, his grandfather would tweak cars and different machines in their garage. Little Shownu would ask him about such tools and would offer to help but would end up messing up, delaying grandpa in fixing machineries. “Aigoo~ Our Hyun-ah, what are you doing? Are you really trying to help or are you messing it out in purpose for me to have a hard time?”,with a smile, grandpa knelt next to him and scooped him into his arms.

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The remaining 2 hours had been a bore for Shownu, his eyes couldn’t fall back to sleep as his stomach’s rumbling. “Must have been nice even if I bought a cup of ramen. Aargh!”, He thought to himself. And luckily, as if the bus driver heard his thoughts, they came to a stop. He quickly grabbed two of his all-time favourite kimchi ramyun and without hesitation Shownu sat down in a 2-seater table near a window when his phone rang.

“Hello? Son Hyunwoo-ssi?” As by reflex action, Shownu set aside the large paper cup bowl which contains the ramyun that he was about to eat. “Yes, this is Son Hyunwoo speaking.”, he calmly said. No one calls him by that name now, well, except for his grandpa, so he thought it was weird. “This is from the police station. By any chance, are you related to Son Han Jae? He made a ruckus at the town hall today, screaming and protesting like a madman but calmed down when his neighbors saw him and talked to him for a ‘lil bit. But the people said that he’s fine and doesn’t need medical treatment. The townsmen said he’s fine but still, they want you to go see him. You know, he’s-”, the man explained. “Oh...” Shownu just shrugged and lightly scratched the back of his neck, not knowing how to properly respond to the man’s litany. “Okay, thanks for the info. Honestly I’m on the way now there but the bus just made a stop.”, he continued. “Ah! Thank God, honestly I pitied the old man very much. Don’t worry, I will not make a report out of this so you better take care of grandpa, ayt kid?” Shownu chuckled at the man’s concern. “Thank you for taking care of him.”, he finally said then hung up on the phone.

The call almost took up the time intended for Shownu’s eating, he’s internally complaining but managed to finish the meal. After that, he bought some extra food that he can eat on the trip and galloped to the bus when he heard a familiar voice calling his name.

“Hyunwoo-hyung! Here!”

“Seriously, what’s with people calling out that name today.” he thought but that came out like a spoiled brat complaining. Just when he was about to turn around, a boy just as tall as him came out of nowhere,. The boy was sheepishly smiling at him and his eyes were throwing a look of “hi-you-remember-me-don’t-you”.

And of course, Shownu remembers but he tried to tease the young boy. With his innocent smile, he bowed to him in a 90-degree angle. “Yah!”, the young boy flicked Shownu’s forehead and started laughing. Shownu started laughing too and tilted his head slightly, “Whoa, Hyungwon why did you grew up so fast?”

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For the remaining travel time, Shownu didn’t have to plug in his earphones or sleep or eat some chips because the rest of the bus ride was filled with him and Hyungwon catching up with each other. Chae Hyungwon is the pastor’s only son and his childhood friend, they exchanged quite a lot of stories because ever since Hyungwon transferred to a community college, they haven’t contacted each other that much. Funny to think that the world is already in the 21st century but Shownu’s still having a hard time using a smartphone and as for Hyungwon, he was quite busy doing his part-time job as a server in the day and a bartender at night. The younger also told him about the whereabouts of his grandfather and Shownu answered him with a timid nod explaining that grandpa’s dementia is getting worse day by day. The two exchanged several questions to each other, not realizing that darkness already crept in and that they have arrived to their destination- the small town of Deux.