Song: Signal by KAT-TUN

Kpop or Jpop: Jpop

Ship: Myungyeol

Type of AU/Universe: Just your everyday life AU

Rated?: Nope :3 this is pretty harmless

Idea: Can you guess it?? Yes, this is one of those written when I sat down on my chair and was like "Ok, time to get done!" and this song came on shuffle and yeah lol My itunes shuffle seems to like reminding me of my 2005/2006 obsession with KAT-TUN lol Well, this piece is a mix of this song's MV (which is situated in a type of futuristic subway) and this one time a guy blew me a kiss from across the train tracks at a subway station; Pretty simple, tbh. I liked the result for its simple nature, but I'm a little bit disappointed in my power to input some more dialog in this :( It was supposed to be longer than this, with some of their encounters over the tracks told in more detail, but nothing sounded right, so I gave up lol oh well. I hope it's still enjoyable :3

Feedback please?

The first time it happens, Myungsoo isn’t sure if it’s his sleepy brain making him see things or if that was actually happening.

But then one week later, it happens again. And then again. And again. Soon, what was supposed to be an one-time coincidence becomes a vital part of his morning commuting routine.

The first time it happens, it’s a normal Wednesday like any other. His alarm clock goes off at 5PM sharp – too early for the night-person Kim Myungsoo is. He gets out of bed either mumbling or huffing, takes a shower, gets changed, eats some fruit and yogurt (it might not be the best choice of breakfast, but his stomach is too sensitive to handle anything else right after fasting for a few hours and he doesn't want any unnecessary accidents happening so early in the day), grabs his bag and out of the apartment he goes.

Unfortunately for him, a new employee at a marketing company, his pay doesn’t cover living expenses on the central area of Seoul, where the office he works at is located. Also, he doesn’t have anyone to share the rent with, so the apartment he managed to find in one of the farther neighborhoods from the city's center has to do for now. Which means that to start the day, he needs to take a bus, then a train, and then walk a few blocks to his destination. Hooray. Lucky him.

Myungsoo drags his feet slowly towards the bus stop to wait for his almost empty bus, earbuds firmly on his ears as he tries to find comfort from the cold of the outside world with a good song. At this ungodly hour in the morning, not many people are out and about in the streets, which is a good thing, because his face is probably still swollen and he must look grumpy as hell, and he hates when people see him like that. But then again, if he didn’t have to wake up so early five days a week, that wouldn’t happen. Most times than not, Myungsoo wonders if having this routine is really worth all the pain and tiredness it brings to his soul. He sighs heavily at the thought and gets on his bus.

At least the bus ride is quite nice, and almost the only thing he somewhat likes at this time of day. Myungsoo enjoys the sight of the small streets and alleyways passing by him through the bus' window, the restaurants and convenience stores starting to buzz with life as they open, and the sun slowly rising in the distance – baking everything with faint warmth. Looks at the whole picturesque scenario lazily, as his brain finally begins to truly wake up. Sometimes Myungsoo takes the opportunity to hold his professional camera (or just his phone, if he couldn't be bothered to bring the heavy and expensive equipment with him) in between his hands and takes some pictures of the calmness of these early mornings. But this morning, he just sets for taking out his hairbrush from his bag, finally having the decency to do something about the unruly strands of black hair atop his head.

He is presentable and almost eighty percent ready to really start the day when he arrives at the train station. Myungsoo passes by the turnstile with a flick of his card and a big yawn between his lips. He stops in front of the drinks machine by the wall before making his way over to the small train line. His fingers grasp the hot can of coffee he just bought from the machine, the warm liquid trailing down his throat and slowly giving him the last kick he needs to reach a hundred percent awareness and become a functional and conscious human being again. He sighs in pure bliss. Definitely, this is the best part of his tragically long commuting routine.

However, just as he finishes the holy contents of the metallic can with a pleased smash of lips,  Myungsoo starts wondering if he is getting too used to the machine’s coffee as a scene unfolds in front of his eyes a few moments later (and he is not sure if it’s real or if he is in fact, still dreaming).

He is standing facing the platform now, peacefully changing the song being blasted through his earbuds on his phone's screen, when he hears a weird noise between the silence that follows the end of a song and lasts until another picks up. Myungsoo rises his head and looks around, searching for something out of place. And it’s when he looks straight in front of him, to the other side of the double train tracks, that he sees a tall (and quite handsome for so early in the morning, he might add) guy with bright red hair frantically waving his arms around, apparently mouthing something directly at him. Myungsoo taps the stop button on his phone’s screen and takes one of his earbuds off his ear, narrowing his eyes quizzically at the stranger. The red haired male seems to notice the action, breaking out into a huge charming grin right afterwards.

“Finally! You’re more difficult to talk to than a statue!” The guy says loudly from the other side of the tracks, patting his coat’s pockets. Myungsoo is about to answer back with a not-so-polite what do you want when the stranger screams Catch! and suddenly, a small object is flying over the tracks towards Myungsoo’s face. He only has a second to process what’s going on before the item hits him in the face, but he’s definitely still only ninety-eight percent awake and just too confused and caught off guard to react fast enough. Fortunately, he doesn’t let go of his phone in the whole ordeal, but he cannot say the same about the surprised yelp that manages to slip out of his mouth the moment the fluffy item makes heavy direct contact with his nose.

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to hit you!” He hears the other shout, rubbing his hands together in a sheepish apology. “But could you buy me an iced americano from that machine behind you?”

Myungsoo proceeds to put his phone back in his pocket and grab what seems like a dog-shaped pencil case now lying at his feet as he asks the other. “Couldn’t you come here and buy it yourself?” He swears he normally isn’t as rude and cold as he’s sounding like right now, but then again, getting a stationery item thrown at his face at 6:50 in the morning is not a normal occurrence in his morning routine.

“I can’t! My train is going to arrive in like, three minutes! I don’t have time to go around the station!” The tall male replies in a whiny tone. “Please! You can take some coins to buy yourself something as an apology!”

He takes a moment to let the whole situation sink in. After a few good seconds of staring at the expectant face of the other man, Myungsoo sighs and approaches the drinks machine again, buying the beverage requested with some coins he finds inside the cute pencil case. Is Myungsoo a little pissed by the disturbance of his peaceful morning commuting and the slight throbbing sensation on his nose and in between his eyes? Yes. Is Myungsoo’s train going to arrive at any moment now and he probably should go back to the edge of the platform to wait for it? Yes. But is Myungsoo also taking pity on the guy opposite of him, who is currently bouncing off from one foot to the other, sparkly eyes looking excitedly at the iced americano he just bought? Also yes.

He faintly remembers his colleague Sungjong telling him he is way too soft for his own good as he goes back to the edge of the platform and feels the wind switch around him, indicating a train is coming.

“I’m going to throw it back!” He announces before putting some force onto his arm to launch both the coffee can and the pencil case far enough so the items could reach the other side. The tracks are wide enough for two trains to pass by in different directions, and he doesn’t want either of the guy’s belongings to be crushed beneath the force of the trains, after all. Especially the dog stationery. It’s too adorable to have such a cruel fate.

He throws the items from what he deems is a good angle, and watches as they leap through the air, almost reaching the other side. But before they can fall in the dark pit of the train tracks, he sees the tall male successfully grabbing the two falling items in the air with his long arms. Myungsoo is vaguely drifting back to his own thoughts on how good the other man's reflexes are when he notices the guy is still talking to him. As he focuses back on the red haired male, Myungsoo hears an excited thank you followed by a kiss being blown in his direction. Fortunately for Myungsoo, his train rushes past his line of vision and  stops on his side of the station, entirely blocking the bright red blush he is sure he's sporting at the moment from the other man’s view.

Myungsoo doesn’t see the weirdly handsome stranger the day after, and his routine goes back to normal. Until the following Wednesday, that is.

And from that moment forward, both of them form a weird type of morning routine every Wednesday (more like, the other man seems to make it his mission to take the canned coffee's job of dragging Myungsoo out of his morning slumber).

As weeks pass by, Myungsoo learns the red-head’s name is Lee Sungyeol, a freelance model who just managed to land a big gig that requires early morning photoshoots every Wednesday. That doesn’t only answer Myungsoo’s unspoken question on how the hell can someone look so good at six-something in the morning, but toys with Myungsoo’s inner photographer – What kind of photoshoot is it? Why is it always so early? How does Sungyeol look behind the eyes of professional camera lenses? What kind of poses does he make? How do his eyes confront the camera?

He shudders at the thought, because really, thinking about looking at those big and expressive eyes through the camera’s lenses excites him a bit more than it would be deemed as normal and healthy, considering they are just strangers that share a couple words once every week. Myungsoo does nothing about the slight crush he seems to be developing towards the red headed stranger, however. Hm, scratch that. He actually is – contrary to his nature, Myungsoo starts setting his alarm ten minutes earlier on Wednesdays so he can make sure he'll arrive at least with his hair not sticking out at weird angles and his face not looking too puffy and tired.

They also start this weird tradition of exchanging drinks over the train tracks while they talk for the few minutes they've got before Myungsoo’s train arrives and cuts them off – or more like cuts Myungsoo off. Sungyeol always manages to make a funny face, or blow kisses, or shower Myungsoo with winks, or wildly dance to some girl group choreography, or – on his daring days – wiggles his eyebrows suggestively at Myungsoo’s direction before they're separated by the metallic transport. And before he knows it, Sungyeol hasn't only managed to change his morning habits once a week. Soon enough, Myungsoo also finds himself looking for different canned coffee every time he steps into a convenience store or a supermarket, wondering if the model has tasted that one yet. He also starts to realize how much of an impact Sungyeol’s cute and funny – and sometimes weirdly y – gestures and faces have on him when he begins to eagerly anticipate Wednesday to come even if it’s in the middle of the week. And Myungsoo starts to question the size of his infatuation over the other male as he notices he doesn’t drag his feet anymore once he steps out of the house (and heck, he even heard a convenience store employee mutter why is he skipping so early in the morning towards his direction this one time as the reached his bus stop) and when his coworkers start to compliment his happier demeanor and ask him if he got himself a lover.

As they mention his relationship status, Myungsoo feels the urge to ask Sungyeol out. But he hesitates. Just because they are casual train station buddies, or whatever the hell their situation turns them into, doesn’t mean Sungyeol is ok with going out with him. Just because they have a great time each week (at least he does) for some fleeting minutes, doesn’t mean that they’re going to workout. Jeez, he doesn’t even know what kind of photoshoot the model is doing, let alone know if he’s gay.

Sungjong scoffs at him when he asks for advice on the matter. You’re afraid that he isn’t gay and that he doesn’t like you?, the younger asks. Please hyung, give me a break. He winks and dances just for you at six in the morning every week, aren’t those signals enough?, Sungjong sighs, and proceeds to ignore Myungsoo’s what ifs (But Sungjong, what if I'm reading the situation wrong?!) for the rest of eternity.

This situation has been going on for three months now. And Sungyeol casually tells him one morning that his gig is going to end soon.

With that information running around in circles inside his head ever since it left Sungyeol's lips, Myungsoo finds himself marching over to the train station with confident steps the next Wednesday, a limited-edition can of coffee with Girl’s Generation Taeyeon’s face on it secured in his grip. Sungyeol hadn't ever told him directly, but Myungsoo could guess the red headed man's crush over said girl group idol on his own as Sungyeol would always dance to Hoot more than all the other girl group choreographies, shooting arrows in the general direction of Myungsoo’s chest. He really hopes he hasn't read the situation wrong and that note attached to the can is not too much.

Today is the day he is going to make his move and see how it goes – and maybe the day he finally gets revenge as he accidentally hits Sungyeol on the face with the can, making the redhead rub his nose with a scrunched face and grab the metallic item from where it landed on his feet, his eyes scanning the note.

Sungyeol quickly looks back at Myungsoo, and the photographer manages to smirk before the train cuts Sungyeol’s star-struck expression from view.

Want a new modeling gig over at my place?