Every mroning at 6 am sharp, Lina stands patiently waiting for the subway. She enjoys riding the subway trains. Something about trains charmed her, whether it was the ride itself or the inevitable quiet time that accompanied the ordeal.

 

Exactly on the dot, her train arrives at 6:17 am. Lina jumps on quickly, the morning crowd of working men and high school students pushed her along into the train. Once on the train, she automatically moves near this boy. Lina doesn’t know him, per se, since they go to different schools and get off at different stops. After months of unintentional observation, the only thing she knows about the boy is that he attends a different high school and gets off two stops after hers in the morning. On the way back from school, the roles reversed with Lina on the train before his arrival. Other than that, the brunette remained a mystery. Nonetheless, with each shared train ride, they occupied the same space. Neither knew the reason about why it became this way for a lengthy period, it just did.

 

This particular Friday morning, Lina accidentally overslept. Her phone never charged the night before due to her forgetfulness and so she almost slept through the morning. Luckily, her body still remembered and forced her up with a jolt. Rushing through her morning, Lina nearly missed her stop. She wiggled her way into the train cart seconds before the automatic doors closed on her. Unknowingly, her legs took her right next to the boy. Dainty hands darted up to smooth down her jet black locks. When the train took off, Lina’s body fell forward from the change in momentum but caught herself in time. The extra step she took got her just a bit closer to the boy.

 

Fetching her earphones from the left blazer pocket underneath her felt coat, slim fingers came back out with the tangled contraption. A frustrated huff escaped from Lina. This morning proved presented itself as a difficult obstacle, unlike her typical days. A stop had passed by and her digits still hadn’t managed to untangle the mess she had created.

 

All of a sudden, another pair of hands lifted the jumbled earphones from her petite hands. Her eyes followed the movement, watching as the pair of manly hands worked efficiently to unravel the mess. Curious to see who the hands belonged to, her brown orbs peeked through her bangs and looked up.

 

It was the high school boy.

 

Wow. Lina hadn’t noticed how close she had stood next to him. One wobble the right direction and their arms would brush each other. Her mind normally never allowed them to stand this near to each other, for fear of creating an unnecessary awkward and creepy tension.

 

Just as the train came to the next stop, his stop specifically, he already unraveled Lina’s earphones for her. The guy grabbed her palms and placed the item on them, lingering for a second too long. His face contorted to a bright smile, and he sauntered out of the train with a quick nod. The empty spot beside her quickly got replaced by some other person. Lina’s jumbled mind attempted to process the odd events that just transpired moments earlier.

 

Lina was left in such a confused daze that when her stop came next, she nearly missed it again. For another time that day, she pushed her legs to run out of the train before the doors locked her in. As she walked towards her high school, the mysterious brown-haired boy followed each of her footsteps.

 

 

Monday rolled by quickly and swept Lina back on the train. The time never seemed fitting for an apology, and the words ‘Thank you’ weren’t said. Her mind urged her to say thanks but just wouldn’t utter the words. Nonetheless, the two high schoolers followed the routine of sharing each other’s companionship silently on the train. The only changed aspect of the routine were the exchanged greetings. Whenever one or the other positioned themselves next to each other, a smile or a nod greeted the other. The same goes for when one of them departed, making sure to leave behind a goodbye gesture.

 

Following suite, Thursday popped up just as quickly as ever. With the first ring of the last school bell, Lina’s friends swiftly pulled her aside.

 

“Are you free today, Lina?” Yerim questioned. Yerim is the cute 5’2” girl who enjoyed going out. Her shoulder length and chocolate-colored hair framed her soft, feminine features perfectly. Lina’s other friends, Ahyoung and Seungyoun, circled around her. Ahyoung is the athletic one of the group. Standing at 5’7”, her toned arms proved themselves useful in volleyball courts as a spiker. On the other hand, Seungyoun is a bit more similar to Lina. The two girls stood around 5’4” and both nursed a passion for the performing arts. Seungyoun kindled her talents as a cellist in a local youth orchestra while Lina sings for leisure.

 

Lina paused for a heartbeat before replying, “Yeah, I got nothing to do. Why?”

 

Her friends looked at each other and three smiles broke out.

 

“Well, we were going to do a group date meeting but we’re missing one more girl,” Ahyoung cheerfully hinted at her.

 

Lina paused longer this time. Did she want to go? Group meetings never tempted her curiosity enough for her to experience one.

 

This time, Seungyoun took Lina’s hands into her own. “Please? You’ll enjoy it, I promise.”

 

Taking a deep breath, Lina gave in and nodded with a small smile. Her three girlfriends jumped up in joy and began to drag her along with them.

 

 

The four girls ended up in Sinsa-dong, sitting in a cozy cafe. On their side of the table, Lina sat at the inner corner seat with Yerim, Ahyoung, and Seungyoun sitting in that order from her left. They chose a table facing the front of the cafe, with the door in clear view. The guys who they were supposed to join them had yet to arrive so the girls ordered drinks to buy time. Lina learned that the meeting was Yerim’s idea and that the guys attended another high school. However, she didn’t bother questioning for more answers.

 

Shortly after her warm chocolate chai tea arrived in front of her, the doors open with a twinkling ring. Cupping her drink, Lina peeked at the door. Sure enough, four guys walked in. In front, a tall guy leads the jubilant group of four guys. They paused momentarily and scanned the cafe for their table before making their way with a smile.

 

When the guys made their way over to their table, Lina recognized one of the faces. The guy from her train was one of them. He seemed to recognize her too, judging from his widening smile and that he took the seat directly across from her. As the guy settled in, a slightly awkward silence settled among the teens.

 

The guy seated at the end, across from Seungyoun, broke the silence first. “Sorry for making you girls wait, I blame Minseok. I’m Park Chanyeol,” he blurted out with a toothy grin. His large hands moved up and rubbed his neck slightly. His statement earned a smack from one of his friends, assumingly Minseok.

 

“And I’m Byun Baekhyun, the Taurus of the group,” said the guy next to Chanyeol. His face featured a toothy grin and an adorable eye smile.

 

“Kim Minseok,” the following guy said simply. Just like the others, his countenance showed a soft smile. Lina saw a slight resemblance to a chipmunk from his facial features. Her brown eyes then followed to the last guy, who she was most curious about.

 

“I’m Kim Jongdae, and we all go to Sunhwa Arts High,” he said. She finally learned the name of the guy that she shares her train rides with for a few years.

 

After the guys introduced themselves, the girls followed suite. Seungyoun, alike Chanyeol, spoke up first, “We’re from Chungshin. I’m Lee Seungyoun.”

 

Ahyoung and Yerim looked at each other as if asking who wanted to go next. Yerim signaled for Ahyoung to go. “Park Ahyoung, a volleyball player,” the girl said with a baby grin.

 

“I’m Song Yerim, and the shortest one out of here,” Yerim joked, earning her a chuckle from some of the guys.

 

Lina cleared , her heart accelerating by a few beats. “Han Lina,” she managed to mutter out. It came out clipped due to her nerves. Luckily, Yerim cut in.

 

“Do you guys want to order something?” And with that, the guys’ attentions were shortly diverted. Yerim fetched a menu and handed it to the guys who fought on what on to order. It didn’t last long, however, as they decided quickly and made Baekhyun go up to order for the guys.

 

“So, uh, what do you guys like to do?” Chanyeol peeped out.

 

Yerim answered almost immediately, “I have a green thumb so I’m growing a small garden, or well trying to.” She snorted softly at it. The guys nodded and Ahyoung spoke up before any of them could utter a response.

 

“As I said earlier, I’m a volleyball player. But I’m not as talented as our musician Seungyoun and Lina.”

 

Baekhyun arrived by this time and took his position at his seat once again. “Oh, nice. Do you two play something?” He inquired. Upon Ahyoung’s statement, the four guys showed a perky interest. Lina figured it was due to the fact that it was because they attended a performing arts school.

 

“I play the cello,” Seungyoun stated simply as the guys nodded.

 

“I sing, a bit. It’s more something I do for fun, though,” Lina spoke up, expressing the ghost of a shy smile.

 

This time, Chanyeol added in a response, “These guys sing too. I’d say the same, but I can’t sing a note to save my life.” The guys laughed and agreed with the tall guy’s statement. The conversation started to flow from then as all eight of them settled in a comfortable ambiance.

 

 

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