Gift for DaKatZr

Gift from ???

Title of the gift: Train. Coincidence. Fate.

Pairing(s): Markjin

How many words: 3,825

Rating: 13+

Warnings: -


Note to my giftee:

Hellow!! ^-^ I really, really hope you like this! Actually, this it was going to have another ending, but… it’s Christmas so I did a happy ending hahaha Oh and I’m sorry for any grammatical errors.

Whatever, I hope you enjoy this :3

Merry Christmas!

Train. Coincidence. Fate.

The train arrived at 9:05 am.

Always at the same time, with perfect precision.

Mark always arrived in time to get on that train exactly. There were days when he arrived much earlier, with enough time to take another train but he preferred to spend time sitting on the platform, waiting until 9:05.

Mark, from Monday to Friday, took exactly that train, never one earlier and of course, never one later.

The truth was that he didn’t need to take it at that hour so accurately and, to be completely honest; he didn’t even need to go so early, since his first class started until 11:00. But he had a good reason for that, or so he thought.

On the train he took every morning, he meets him.

The first time he had seen him, it was some random day during the first few weeks of the previous semester. As soon as he put his foot in the wagon and saw him in one of the seats, staring into nothingness, he felt something.

Like a sudden arrow shot that made his heart pound.

The first obvious thought was that it was just an instant attraction, which used to happen very often with all people. Walking down the street, entering a convenience store, a class or the subway wagon; See someone who looked somehow handsome and felt fleetingly attracted.

And with this person, it was frankly easy to feel attracted. Black hair, white skin, big eyes and beautiful smile. In Mark's eyes, this person was perfect.

Of course, the first time, it was just that common situation, bumping into someone handsome on the road and nothing more.

The next day, he saw him too and saw him every day of that week, in a row. A coincidence, he thought, good karma that rewarded him by putting that person in front of him every day.

But a month later, he kept seeing him from Monday to Friday just at that hour and Mark began to ask to himself if it was really just a coincidence or good luck. Maybe it was a little more than that, maybe it was fate.

Of course he didn’t know if it could be called fate if he manipulated it a little at his convenience. He pleaded guilty to handling these coincidences a bit when he got up at the same time, to the same car and entered the same door in the hope of seeing him, which always worked.

So; Chance, coincidence, fate or whatever that was, it became part of the routine for Mark.

Over time, the ‘instant attraction’ he felt for that guy, turned strangely into something else. Mark could feel it, yet he couldn’t explain it.

It was not just attraction, but he couldn’t say it was love either; it would be kind of pathetic.

What he could say with certainty was that he loved to take the train in the morning, just at that hour, to get up through the same door that he had done for the last few months and sit in the same seat in front of him.

His heart beat expectantly as he waited and jumped excitedly inside his chest to see him there, sitting staring into nothing, seeing something on his phone or reading some book that, from the reactions he had while reading seemed to be quite interesting.

And Mark loved to see him.

Mark liked to see that little smile that was painted on his lips as he moved his thin fingers with agility on the keyboard of his phone and the furrow that formed between his eyebrows as he read and he was fascinated by the glitter in his eyes while listening to music as he moved his lips to sing, though he made no sound.

Maybe if he had to catalog it, Mark would fall into the category of ‘love at first sight’. Because, what else could it be the like for a boy he didn’t even talk to, if not that unjustified and unexplained feeling?

Jackson mocked him the first time Mark tried to explain the story whit this guy, looking for some advice that might be helpful, though he didn’t even know what kind of advice he sought from someone like Jackson. He should have foreseen that all he would get from his best friend would be a lot of taunts.

"Man, you don’t even talk to him!" He had said in the most mocking tone he was capable of "You don’t even know his name, how can you even like him?!"

And of course, Mark didn’t have a valid answer for that. Deep down he knew that feel whatever he felt for a stranger was pathetic, illogical and even stupid. He already knew everything of that and he didn’t need Jackson to remind him.

On the other hand, sometimes he felt that this guy wasn’t a complete stranger to him, even if he didn’t know him.

He knew the station where he went down every morning, though he didn’t know exactly where he was going. He knew he drank a lot of coffee (The cold latte was the one he drank the most, so Mark supposed it was his favorite) and from the type of clothes he wore, he knew he had good taste in dressing.

He didn’t know what kind of music he was listening to, but he felt that he knew him a bit because of the titles of the books he used to read. Sometimes when he read a book that Mark had already read, he felt some kind of pride and warmth inside his chest, knowing that they had common tastes.

And there was something Jackson was wrong about, because he actually knew his name.

Jinyoung.

He overheard it, one morning when he wasn’t alone.

A pretty boy with a big, dazzling smile was sitting next to him talking about something that seemed to be super funny because his train guy was laughing out loud, covering with one hand and with the other, hitting the boy to silence him.

"Youngjae, shut up!" he shouted at him, trying to hold back his laughter. "Seriously! Enough!"

"And that's not the best part!" Shouted the Youngjae boy hugging his arm and reaching for his ear but the other guy turned around to give him his back "Jinyoung hyung! Are you ignoring me?!"

And after that, Mark stopped listening to the rest of the talk. He stayed in a limbo, fascinated by the idea of ​​finally being able to know his name. Jinyoung. In Mark's ears, the name sounded as perfect as his whole person.

It was excellent to finally put a name on his face, to call him Jinyoung instead of ‘The beautiful guy on the train’. Thinking about him by that name and talking about him referring to ‘Jinyoung’ made him feel good. At least he didn’t feel so stupid talking about a person he liked and didn’t even know how to call him.

"And what good is it to know his name, if you don’t talk to him anyway?"

Jackson always did his best friend job by throwing all of Mark's hopes down, bringing him back to reality, because after all, his friend was right. It was no use.

"You have to stop being such a coward Markie! If you really like him as you say, I don’t know what you’re waiting for! You just have to say hello!"

Of course, it was easy for Jackson to say that. He was super sociable and could easily be friends with everyone. Mark on the other hand, it was just the opposite.

Talking to another person was never easy for him, he was more of a quiet and reserved type of person and he could imagine himself when trying to talk to Jinyoung. He knew himself well enough and it was simply not a situation in which he would gain something.

Although he didn’t have much to lose either. It was not like he was going to lose an invaluable friendship or something. If he talked to him, he definitely had a lot more to gain than the things he could lose.

But if he spoke to him, what could he say? - Hello Jinyoung, I’m Mark. Surely you don’t know me but I've seen you on the train lately and I don’t know, want to go out with me? It was definitely not a good choice in a million years, it sounded crazy.

"Don’t be stupid Markie, one day instead of sitting in front of him, sit next to him, smile or something and start a normal conversation!"

Mark always rolled his eyes and sighed with annoyance whenever Jackson suggested something like that, because although it didn’t sound like a complete stupidity, and in fact, it seemed quite viable, he knew himself unable to even sit by his side.

And boy did he try it many times before, but there was always something that prevented him from completing his mission successfully.

At first, he convinced himself that he preferred to sit in front of him, because he could see him without seeming strange. He just sat there and pretended to see some indeterminate point in the front as he watched his movements carefully. But sitting next to him, it would be most strange and obvious that he would turn round to see him.

But in the end, he was overcome by reality and that was that he didn’t do it because he was a coward.

The first time he took enough courage and entered the train decided to sit next to him, that seat had already been occupied.

The second time, Jinyoung was staring at him from the moment he set foot in the car and immediately flinched when he felt his gaze on him.

And the third time, the Youngjae boy was there, talking about something, with his head on Jinyoung's shoulder and his fingers playing with his. Jinyoung nodded softly as he listened to the other boy and didn’t seem to be disturbed by the closeness.

It was there when Mark realized. Someone like Jinyoung couldn’t be single. And stupid of his part to make illusions if he didn’t even have the courage to sit next to him.

But there were small details, as when Jinyoung looked back at him, when he looked up slightly (and only for a few seconds) from his book when Mark got into the train and when, sometimes, he used to smile softly at him, that made Mark think for a second that somehow unheard of, Jinyoung had also noticed him.

And though Mark swore he didn’t hallucinate those smiles, seeing Youngjae as that made him think that probably Jinyoung already had a relationship and possibly it was with that boy and even if it wasn’t with him, surely he would have someone else.

*

*

*

The day Mark decided to talk to him was the day he discovered that he still had a chance and couldn’t sit back and squander it.

It was the first time he had meet with Jinyoung after a week that he disappeared with no explanation. Maybe he was sick or had a vacation from whichever place he went by train. Nor was as if he could ask, either.

At first, Mark thought that it was only his good Karma ending there, but that day, as he entered the accustomed wagon, and without actually expecting it, he saw Jinyoung sitting in his usual seat and felt something saying (shouting) that indeed, Jinyoung It was not just good luck and could be something else.

When he got into the train, marveling at the idea of getting Jinyoung back in front of him, he couldn’t help but look at him without any caution. Jinyoung looked back at him and smiled at him. And this time it was not a small, discreet smile like before. It was a big, bright smile and completely addressed to him.

His heart bounded inside and this time he wasn’t so dumb as not to return the smile. He even had an adrenaline rush, something that pushed him from within to finally approach and speak to him but he realized almost immediately that Jinyoung wasn’t alone.

For a change, Youngjae was there trying to get Jinyoung's attention. And as was his custom, Mark sat down in front of them, with a feeling of heaviness appearing suddenly.

But to his surprise, this time there was a third accompanying the image. This other guy was there, talking to Jinyoung about something Youngjae wanted to be a part of, but he was being ignored by the other two. But that was not important.

The really important thing about that image was that this new boy had one hand hugging Youngjae's waist, possessively sticking him to his body and the other hand holding his hand carefully, gently caressing his skin with his thumb.

It was a very intimate position, and to tell the truth, Youngjae seemed too comfortable in the other's arms and vice versa, as if it was something they were more than accustomed to.

On that day, Mark didn’t put on the earphones, wanting to hear Jinyoung's voice a little more, and flaunting his stalker self, also wanted to hear if there was anything, a little clue that told him that all this time he had been wrong with that idea that he had been made of Jinyoung and his friend.

His answer came soon;

"It would have been great if you had gone with us! Jaebum hyung got tickets for the dolphin center!" Youngjae's happy voice echoed throughout the subway car and the boy identified as Jaebum smiled with superiority, as if he was happy that Youngjae boasted something like that

"Youngjae, I couldn’t go and ruin your honeymoon" Jinyoung rolled his eyes but there was a tone of mockery in his voice.

"That wasn’t our honeymoon!" Shouted Jaebum turning as red as a tomato "Yet…"

"If you say so, lovebird" Jinyoung's mocking smile made Jaebum upset, giving him a murderous look and grunting something undecipherable

"Don’t get so angry hyung," Youngjae told to Jaebum, turning to embrace him. "It's just that Jinyoung's single is very jealous"

And that was the only thing Mark needed to hear.

Maybe Jackson was right, he wasn’t going to win anything sitting there letting go of the opportunities as if it was something he could buy at the corner store. He had to stop being so silly and so pitiful.

If he really liked him, something had to be done.

*

*

*

The train was late.

Mark arrived at the station in time, as usual.

He had all the movements and words in his mind that he would tell Jinyoung once he saw him. He foresaw all possible scenarios (if the seat next to him was occupied or available, whether he would be alone or accompanied), he had an argument for all the possible answers Jinyoung could give him.

He had gathered all the courage he had lacked, and his determination was unshakable this time. He was prepared and even the smallest detail was in place.

That day was going to be a perfect day.

But the train never arrived.

He waited 5 minutes that become half an hour. The station guards ran from side to side and were preventing anyone else from entering the station but refusing to answer any questions. Some people started receiving calls and slowly everything became a chaos.

People screaming there, desperate, running, wanting to get in or out but the guards avoided any movement. No one came in and no one came out.

Mark watched everything around him in silence, watching them all run and he didn’t know what was happening, because no one stopped to answer his questions.

He didn’t know if he had to run either, or if it was better to just sit there as the guards were shouting at them. He tried to call Jackson but didn’t have much success. He tried to enter Facebook but the internet wasn’t working very well and people kept pushing each other to get out of there.

And then he received a call that luckily he managed to answer.

"Are you okay?!" Jackson shouted into the speaker, without even saying hello "Why didn’t you answer the phone?!"

"I'm fine, what's going on?" Asked Mark confused.

"God, you scare the out of me!" But even so, his friend didn’t sound more relaxed

"Jackson, what happened?!"

"Dunno, there was an accident Mark, a big one! The only thing I know is that two trains collided and it was terrible! Get out of there, dammit!"

The call was cut off after that, and then he understood why the people were hysterical. He himself was frightened. He tried to get out of there, as Jackson told him to, but his legs no longer answered.

He heard someone shout that the accident happened in the previous station and something about fire starting to consume the tracks. And then the guards were no longer enough to control the masses, in the blink of an eye, people were at the exit pushing and struggling to be the first to flee and everything was out of control.

At the first opportunity he had, Mark also ran from there, the streets were full of people and on the giant monitor in one of the buildings, the news channel was on.

A frontal collision between two trains that were diverted from the tracks, being completely destroyed and the rescue work they were initiating, an alarming number of dead and injured people.

Mark sent messages to all his friends, to make sure they were okay and one to their parents so they wouldn’t worry when they saw the news. And then, suddenly, he reminded Jinyoung.

And he began to be alarmed. What if Jinyoung took the train and was in the accident? He needed to know that he was okay, that nothing had happened to him.

His first reaction was to call all the hospitals where they were sending the injured people to look for him. But who was he kidding? He was not the only Jinyoung in that country and without a surname it was going to be completely impossible to find him.

*

*

*

Mark didn’t take the train again after the accident.

He got a little paranoid and although the government swore that the repairs were successful and wouldn’t happen such an accident again, he chose not to do so, at least until it spent a reasonable time to assure himself that he wouldn’t die if he took it.

He thought of Jinyoung often, too. He wanted to believe he was fine, he hoped he would be all right. Sometimes he wanted to force himself to get on the train to try his luck, but what he feared the most was not seeing him there.

"Sure is fine," he told himself every day as he pass by the station, but he kept walking to the bus stop where he waited for Jackson to pick him up and take him to university.

And so began his new routine, one that fortunately didn’t include any ‘love at first sight’.

That day, after school, he went directly to the cafeteria near his university, where he worked part-time and now that he was about to enter an internship, he dedicated his day to train a new boy to take his place when he be gone.

The new guy was actually a bit clueless and although Mark used to be quite patient with him the other workers weren’t so friendly and easily despaired, so in the end, Mark was the official manager of all the boy's training.

That meant for him many more hours of work, but since the pay wasn’t so despicable and it was his last weeks, he agreed to stay with the new boy all afternoon to teach him again and again everything he was supposed to know by now.

That day was a particularly quiet day and Mark used it to teach Yugyeom, the new kid (for the third time that week) the correct portions of water, coffee and ice for the frappucinos and forcing him to attend to every client who came in to learn how to make drinks.

"I'll be right back" Mark told the boy when his phone started ringing, with his father's name on the screen "I need to answer"

"NO! And if anyone comes?" Yugyeom held his arm and had a frightened expression

"Don’t worry!" Mark smiled, putting the phone to his ear, heading for the back door "You'll do it fine"

After nearly 20 minutes, when he finally hung up and went back to the cafeteria, he found Yugyeom fighting with the coffee pot and a glass with too much milk for any coffee.

"What did they ask you?" Asked Mark, helping Yugyeom with the coffee machine.

"A cold latte" whined Yugyeom, showing him the ticket with the written order

Mark smiled softly and helped him, reminding him the simple steps he had to follow to make it perfect. Once it was ready, Yugyeom turned to the counter to call the owner of the drink, while Mark cleaned up the mess that had been left in the machine.

"Jinyoung!" Yugyeom shouted twice before this person approached to pick it up

"Thank you"

As soon as Mark heard that soft, familiar voice, he turned to him instantly, his eyes wide with surprise and his heart pounding in his chest.

And there he was, as perfect as the last time he'd seen him. His Jinyoung was there in front of him, looking at him with the same surprise that Mark was looking at.

"Jinyoung?!" exclaimed Mark, unable to help himself, his face painted red

"It's you!" Jinyoung smiled softly, though his cheeks were as pink as Mark's and his heart was beating at full speed "The one in the train"

"Then you noticed..." he felt distressed but didn’t even need the answer, his behavior was quite obvious. Jinyoung's grin growing bigger, he nodded slightly lowering his gaze.

"I..." Mark didn’t know what to say anymore, walking around the counter and approached to him. He was in shock, he wanted to hug him so much "Are you okay?"

"I am, I thought you... the accident" Jinyoung looked at him and Mark could see his hands shaking slightly

"I wanted to look for you but..."

"Me too! I was worried and..."

Mark did not need to hear anything else; he came up and hugged him tightly. He felt Jinyoung's arms around his waist with the same force he was holding him.

"I wanted to see you again," whispered Mark in his ear, feeling his heart beating rapidly and uncontrollably inside his body.

Jinyoung smiled, moving far enough to meet his eyes; "I knew I would see you again"