Chorong paused at her usual end of the bus stop, settling herself beside a tall lanky man with the zebra suit just like every other day for the past four years she'd been here. Glancing momentarily at the group of people standing idly by a few distances away, Chorong deduced that they were indeed the same little group of strangers she had been standing by with for the same few years.

Chorong felt the corner of her lips curve ever so slightly at the thought of such familiar strangers.

Zebra man, tall hat, bunny ears, tapping foot, and lady shades, she recalled by their nicknames that she'd never dare to say aloud.

It was odd, when Chorong thought about it. How years went by and despite the fact that she could easily recognize their faces anywhere else, (she was sure they could do the same) not one of them actually knew the other. Sure, a few hello's were shared as well as how's it going? But other than meager greetings, none of them bothered to go any further of acquainting themselves.

Chorong hadn't either of course (she wasn't sure how to initiate conversations, much less keep them alive without wanting to kill herself for the awkwardness that always came afterwards) and perhaps her little group of bus stop strangers weren't thinking that much differently either.

If that were the case, it'd be nice to be friends with them. Too bad they'd be too much like her to have that ever happening.

Chorong winced at the sudden gust of wind, tightening her hold on her shoulder strap bag as she curled back stray locks of onyx hair behind her ear. She should've brought a warmer jacket than this cream colored cardigan that did poorly at masking the shivers that crawled over her skin. Chorong thought she'd be fine with black jeans and a white long sleeved polo shirt beneath a sweater that she thought was more than enough to fend off the slight chill in the air.

Chorong almost let out a squeal at another sudden breeze, her arms curling up so she could hug herself and form some sort of mock barrier against the cold.

She eyed her watch attached to her wrist, noting that it had only been five minutes since she'd been waiting. The bus wasn't arriving until three minutes more. If it wasn't running late, of course.

Looking about, her fellow group of strangers werent faring any better, considering how fidgety they were from where they stood.

Chorong rubbed her arms in an attempt to keep warm, absentmindedly glancing forward to check over the bus stop just across the street.

There were only four people standing by at the other end, not looking any different from her fellow comrades beside her. Chorong would've considered them just as dull as her own groupie if it werent for the one woman standing cozily still against the bus stop pole, her bright red neon scarf a sharp contrast to the bleak grey sky this early Monday morning.

Chorong squinted from where she stood, the distance between her and the other bus stop being large enough that she needed to strain her eyes (which was horrible to do, actually). 

The woman had on a large black jacket with matching track pants lined with white stripes as well as a black duffel bag slung haphazardly over one shoulder, her white headphones and red scarf the only items differing starkly in color covering half of her face.

Her eyes would be the only thing Chorong would see if it weren't for the fact that she was sleeping snugly from where she stood against the bus stop pole.

Before Chorong could process anything else on the girl (though in the back of her mind she wondered why she was even bothering), her bus paused in front of her stop, blocking her view of the sleeping girl.

Chorong didn't think much of her after settling herself in her usual seat by the window, which just happened to be facing the sleeping girl.

When the bus moved forward, and the figure of the slumbering stranger got smaller and smaller, Chorong hoped the girl wouldn't miss her bus.

/

Chorong yawned once she stopped at her particular spot, the zebra man acknowledging her presence with a curt nod before following her example, covering his mouth with one hand.

Today wasn't particularly any different from yesterday, except that thankfully there was no cold breeze lingering in the air.

Chorong brought her wrist up to look at her watch -10 minutes early - before bringing a hand up to again for another yawn. She was exhausted from yesterday's lab exam. It wasn't that it was particularly difficult - she had busied herself with book after book so there was no problem with the content itself - she was just tired because her brain was tired.

Absently, as if her eyes needed something different to look at other than lady shades wearing her giraffe patterned sunglasses, Chorong turned her gaze towards the bus stop across the street, recognizing the same small group of people from yesterday; with the exception of the sleeping girl.

Did she sleep in? Chorong thought amiably, before spotting a woman appearing from around the corner and striding towards the opposite bus stop. It was her. Sleeping girl.

Without realizing it, Chorong began to take note of the stranger's appearance. She was now wearing ripped blue jeans, a grey crew neck, black duffel bag swinging over her shoulder from every step she took, and the same white headphones over her ears. Chorong never realized how smooth her hair flowed from every bounce of her stride.

Before she knew it, the girl had paused beside her bus stop and turned towards her.

They were like chocolates. The sweet kind, where it was usually paired with almonds and made it taste all the better.

Chorong never noticed how frozen she really was until the stranger herself smiled so her chocolate eyes would disappear behind a pair of crescent moons. Once she realized that she was staring, Chorong blushed, immediately looking away so she wouldn't have to see those smiling eyes.

How did she even get carried away?! They were just like any other Asian eyes - dark brown. Hers just happened to be... whatever, she wasn't even going to bother with the technicalities.

They were honestly the usual brown. The shade was just a tinge different than others. She was sure of it. It seemed to... shimmer?

Chorong hesitantly glanced back towards the girl on the other side, surprised that the stranger was still looking at her, but with a curious tilt of her head as her brown eyes - which looked so much like her favorite almond chocolates, she could've sworn - returned her gaze.

Even when the stranger's eyes were open, they seemed to still be smiling.

There it is again, Chorong thought, they're shimmering.

It took Chorong a few seconds to notice how the stranger was pointing her fingers towards the side, as if indicating that something was coming. Chorong merely blinked before registering the fact that the stranger was telling her - mouthing - to turn her head.

And suddenly all Chorong could see was the staircase of the bus. She blinked her surprise away before hurriedly shuffling in and seating herself beside the window, hurrying so she wouldn't lose a spot where she could look at the girl after such an abrupt ending to their .... Communication.

When she stared out through the window pane (almost too enthusiastically for her taste), Chorong watched those chocolate eyes curve into crescents again, the girl's smile lining across her lips as she held up a hand and waved.

And for reasons unbeknownst to even herself, Chorong couldn't help but return it. So with a shy hand, she waved.

Pearly white teeth and those deep chocolatey eyes were what kept Chorong's mind occupied even after her bus turned the corner.

/

For some reason, Chorong was looking forward to today. Even the weather looked as bright as she felt, the spring sky as blue as it could be, with a few clouds here and there. The sun was on the rise and despite it being only 7:30 in the morning (her bus would be arriving in ten minutes and it never hurt to be early) Chorong felt unusually cheerful.

She wouldn't attribute her happiness to those chocolatey eyes that turned into crescents - of course not. It wasn't like those deep brown pools had anything to do with her mood and anticipation for waiting at a bus stop. Not at all.

Chorong's cheeks reddened when she met those same chocolate eyes that had been keeping her up last night (for reasons still alien to her, though she'd blame it on the fact that it reminded her of chocolate almonds), and immediately looked away because she knew she was staring.

Chorong coughed into her hand to ease the flush in her cheeks as well as dismiss the weird gaze the tapping foot boy was giving her.

She must look silly in front of these familiar strangers. But that didn't stop her from looking back.

After regaining whatever pride she had left (because she wasn't the type to be flustered and here she was - flustered), Chorong timidly turned her head and told herself to grow some backbone.

So she attempted to steady her gaze and look nowhere else but at the girl with the brown eyes. Chorong could feel the heat slowly crawling its way back to her face, and the girl sending her a small wave of her hand wasn't helping the matter either.

"Good morning," the girl mouthed, her lips enunciating every syllable so that Chorong could understand what she was trying to get across.

Chorong replied with a small smile of her own (once she got over the idea that she shouldn't be such a nervous wreck), waving a hand at the girl as she mouthed her greeting back.

"Are you older than me?"

Chorong paused at the girl's silent question. She wondered for a moment whether she should be offended that the girl was asking if she was old but realized that perhaps she wanted to straighten out formalities and such.

To answer her question, Chorong raised up the numbers for the year she was born in, making sure the girl understood by having her mimic her afterwards.

The girl began to nod her head, as if to show she understood and mouthed,

"Hi bus stop unnie,"

Chorong merely blinked in surprise before the nickname fully processed. She could feel her face heat up. She didn't think that such a simple - not to mention unappealing - name could sound so endearing. Even if she never actually heard it literally.

"Name's Bomi. And you are?" the stranger mouthed eagerly, her eyes bright and glowing. 

"It's Cho -" Chorong attempted to tell the girl her name, but the bus came startlingly early for the other stop that it was now Chorong's turn to watch her go.

Chorong couldn't help but feel disappointed at the sudden end to their silent conversation. It didn't stop Bomi however, as the girl continued to mouth words whilst settling on a seat by the window closest to Chorong. Chorong strained to read the words that formed on the girl's lips as the bus moved forward, getting distant.

"There's always tomorrow," Chorong mimicked the words that Bomi had said - mouthed, really - before she disappeared around the corner. And the girl was right. 

As Chorong walked up the steps to her own respective bus a few minutes later, settling into her usual morning routine of finding her seat by the window, a curve of a smile began to form on her lips, the girl's words playing gently in her mind.

There was always tomorrow.