It was a nice chilly morning. But there you are, sulking in the corner of train with thoughts around your mind. Everyone was in hurry and pushed you to the corner, and you weren’t able to move your body. The train was awfully full that day. And you wished he was around, but he’s not.

He is a senior from high school. A member of student council and basket team. He’s popular, for sure. A nice and sociable guy. And he’s smart, of course. Your teacher told everyone about his great ability in Maths and Science.

You know almost everything about him. His favorite food. His addiction to bubble tea. How he hates dogs. Where he lives. What station he takes his train from. What time he leaves home. His schedules.

Your phone vibrated. Oh, how happy you were to see text message from him.

From: <3 oppa

Dongsaeng..sorry, I skip classes ^^”

To: <3 oppa

Huh? Are you sick? ><

From: <3 oppa

Uhh..I’m not.. Just a bit busy.. Minah wants a date. Besides, I only have one class to attend today. It won’t hurt to skip today ^^”

Ah..you felt something pierced your chest. The thing you can’t control and you don’t like it. The fact that he’s dating and you’re jealous of his girlfriend. The fact that he only sees you as his dongsaeng. The fact that you hopelessly fell in love for years yet he never realized it. The fact that you two are close but not close enough.

You sighed to ease your heart and failed. You texted him back, though.

To: <3 oppa

Ara..I’ll tell Hae sunbae about it. Have fun..

You put your phone back to your pocket and you closed your eyes, blocking yourself from the world. You already missed him. It’s just 20 minutes ride, but you realized that he always makes it fun. Maybe because he’s fun and talkative. Or maybe because it’s him, you feel happy.

You jerked forward in surprise when the train stopped so suddenly, waking you up from your imaginary land. You cursed in your mind as you bumped your face to something hard. You looked up and saw an apologetic smile. You thought you might be too nice cause you unconsciously smiled back at him.

So you shifted back to give more space, trying to bury and mold yourself to the wall. A wave of people getting in and you stuck to the wall more. You saw another apologetic smile then realized that his arms were next to your shoulder to support himself, trapping you.

‘Uhh..sorry’ A deep voice came from him and you nodded, smiling a little. It must be hard on him as well.

You closed your eyes again, trying to think about oppa again. But then you realized it’s too painful to think about him, so you tilted your head and looked out the window, somehow enjoying a presence in front of you.

For the first time, you experienced the feeling of someone being that close to you. You’re taking an advantage from the stranger, you know, but it feels nice. In your imaginary land, you think people see you two as a couple, with his arms trapping you and protecting you from other passengers behind him. Being lovely dovey and he say sweet things to your ears.

The moment broke when you shifted and realized that you almost reached your transit station. He shifted a little as well and looked uncomfortable.

‘Going off at next station?’ The voice startled you and you looked at him, nodding timidly.

He helped you getting out the packed train when it stopped for a while at the transit station. You thought for seconds if you should thank him for helping before. But when you turned around to do it, he already walked away. You pouted in disappointment but walked slowly to other train, thinking that, well, he’s a nice guy.

You were still busy with your thoughts as you walked in the train that will take you to the college. You wouldn’t meet the stranger again. Think about one in a million chance that it would happen. Well, you don’t really believe in fate, but you thought you will if you somehow meet him again.

Then there he was, with his tall and blank face, staring at you from the seat next to the door. You could only stare at him before he slid to give a space for you, which you took gladly.

And he smiled at you. All thoughts about oppa, fate, college, and everything else just disappeared, or you just didn’t want to think about them at that moment. Oh, well, a new friend will be nice. You smiled back at him.

‘Hi. Thank you for before.’