Monday the 5th, Nov 2018

The distance between the dorms and the University was not as from the distance of one shore to another; in that it was pretty walkable.

But Namjoon liked buses.

He liked the way the world sped up on both his sides as he remained static in a seat, the way the wind woke up his hair follicles and sent them around in a frolic sway about his face, and... people. He liked being around people.

It made him feel a part of a family of civilisation; humans being humans with four limbs, two eyes, lips beneath a nose; stuff like that. It made him feel contained, and well, he liked having others relate to him. And he was sure the other people in the bus felt at home with others that owned four limbs, two eyes, lips beneath a nose and so, just like he did.

And Taehyung was indifferent about those sort of things.

Walk? He walked.

Bus? He rode.

Private jet? Well soon, he hoped, in a broad way future.

So the boys took the bus that Monday morning too, their four or five classes for the day tickling the fore of their minds loomingly with every metre.

And soon enough, only a few minutes later, they were climbing up the stairs to sit in their treasured middle row.
Jin was already sat, his eyes running over the screen of his phone.

'Boo', boomed Joon in Jin's ear, and the latter flinched so hard, his phone slid from his hands and dropped to his lap.

Jin looked up at the younger, and his face lit up a few watts.

Namjoon slapped him on the back and sank down onto the seat next to him. 'Hello Seokjin.'

Taehyung took his seat beside his brown haired friend. 'Hey.'

Jin waved in response.

Namjoon wanted to ask, but Jin brought it up first, much to his gratitude.

'Ah—', began Jin, and he unzipped his backpack to take out a polythene bag. 'I didn't forget.'

Joon eyed the bag and took it, before peering inside. Then he looked back at Jin and raised an eyebrow.

'Convenience store snacks?'

Jin nodded, his lips twitching in a genuinely seeming smile. 'Everybody loves those, right?'

Joon stared at Jin for another moment, and then shrugged, before unzipping his own bag and throwing the polythene in.

'I guess. Thanks.'

Jin crossed his arms and laid back into his seat, his lips in a content stretch.

Taehyung stared at him.

--

The third class for the day ended at 3pm, which gave way to a two hour break before the last one. Mondays were hectic like that, which would have been alright by them, if the last class didn't end so late at 7'o clock.

But still, it was a great preferment to the horrid almost midnight day endings they had to go through when they were in their last year of high school; where attending mandatory study academies made them finish for the day after 10pm. And that was every weekday, not Mondays alone.

But adjustment made the brain lazy, forgetful, even, and those times that seemed strenuous in the past get tossed out the mind, and focus is brought to the current days, where even if are much better, still allow room for complaining about the things that made them seem bad, no matter how little.

Brains worked interestingly like that.

Namjoon had wanted to eat on the fields, like he did sometimes when he didn't have classes with the others, and so he made them buy their food in to-go boxes to spread on the grass.

He also made them take selfies and unconsciously pose for candid photos, because he wanted pictures of his friends before they'd be inevitably buried in books and putting their full trust in the ink of pens.

Jin felt a little strange, but he let it happen either way.

Taehyung didn't mind. Once he got to eat before the break was over, it was all good by him.

And so the three sat on the fading brown grass; where the chilly air slapped itself all over their skin and sniffed at their meal.

Mimicking his food, regret churned itself in the pit of Namjoon's stomach.

'This was a bad idea', he said, as he felt the breeze wiggle itself through the crannies of his coat and tickle him. 'I'm sorry.'

Jin shrugged, and Taehyung did the same.

'But hey', he continued, gesturing to their to-go boxes, 'it's hot, so its warming, right?'

Taehyung shrugged, and Jin did the same.

Namjoon looked from either boy, his lips set in a straight line. Then he let his spoon drop to stay in his plate, his hands acting out of bewilderment. 'Is there a reason we're supposed to stay mute and shrug?'

Jin looked at him straight in the face and shook his head.

Namjoon turned to Taehyung for his answer, but Taehyung was looking at Jin.

'Seokjin?'

'Great', Joon cried, picking his spoon up again. 'Go ahead and just ignore me like that.'

Jin turned to look at Taehyung, and Joon drove his spoon to his mouth.

'How's your twin doing? You never told us anything else since the time you said you weren't going to do the test.'

Namjoon stopped, spoon in mouth, and looked from boy to boy. Gears spun in his head, and he wondered how neither of them had thought to bring that up earlier. 'Actually that's a good question I also want to know the answer to.'

Jin stared at Taehyung; the way his eyes stayed a calm static, the way his back conspicuously hunched over his belongings. There was this feel to him; this feel that made Jin's pulse go a little faster, this feel that Jin hoped wasn't what he thought it was.

The hand he held his spoon in had begun to clam up with sweat, and so he dropped it and wiped his palm on his jeans, before guiding it to the back of his neck.

'He... went back. Last week. To Busan. He finished his work here already, and so he left to continue at school.'

Namjoon was looking at Jin as he chewed a small piece. 'He's a Busan boy?'

'No no', Jin said—almost threw out. 'He's from Gangneung, but he goes to University at Busan, and he was only supposed to be here in Seoul for a year to complete an engineering job as work experience.'

Joon scrunched his nose up incredulously. 'He finished up in October? That's pretty early. Usually a year's a year, and it ends in December. That's how it went for Tae's older sis and my mom's friend's son, remember?'

'Things work according to how things work where they are, Joon', replied Jin, and gave the younger a knowing look.

Taehyung stared at Jin, nodding slowly. Then he picked up his spoon and resumed digging through to reach the bottom of his plate. He felt the cold air hit him through his coat like it had done Namjoon, and he pulled it closer to himself. 'We should do something like that too.'

Namjoon nodded. 'We'll be in our third year soon. It won't be too late.'

Jin nodded too, and he dropped his hand from his neck to begin to use his spoon again, but Taehyung's encore question paused him.

'You both keep in contact, don't you?'

Jin shook his head, his hair slightly bouncing on his forehead. He stared behind Tae at the grass beyond, before shifting focus back unto his face. 'No, we don't. He's a busy person, and I don't have anything relatively important to say. It'd be weird if I called him every time just to say hi.'

Joon scooted in a little closer, his plastic container in one hand and his spoon in the other. 'So you've never called him since'?

Jin shook his head again.

Namjoon placed his container on the grass. Then he reached out to Jin's bag and threw it at him.

'Do it now then. I'm sure he wouldn't mind.'

Jin looked from Joon to Tae. Tae gave a small nod, and Joon's arrhythmic tapping with his spoon was enough to spur him on.

And so he took out his phone and dialled the number, putting the speaker on and holding the phone out to the middle of their triangle.

The other two leaned in, their ears craning to listen.

But the ringing soon died out, just as it had begun.

'He didn't pick up', Namjoon said, his eyebrows wringing against each other as he leaned back. He picked his container up, ready to eat again. Taehyung moved in Control V.

'I told you he's a busy guy', sighed Jin, and turned his phone off. He threw it into his bag and tossed it back to Joon, who flung it to meet their little pile right beside him.

Jin met Taehyung's gaze once more, and he couldn't suppress the feeling— that feeling that rose to the brink of his throat, ready to choke him.

But again, he didn't show it.

Tae shrugged, and Jin shrugged back.

--

There were times Taehyung felt extra human.

Those times included that Monday night; when he realised he had to go out because he had gotten back to the dorm and opened the little fridge to eat some fruit, only to realise they were out of groceries.

Groceries were important to Taehyung. They were a necessity, because he needed them available to eat.

And he needed to eat to live.

And apparently so did his roommate, who every time he had whipped something up magically for them to eat, hadn't found it worthy to mention anything about the fridge gradually fading into destitution for the past week.

Said roommate wasn't going to be back till a few more hours had made their mark in the day.

So Taehyung knew he had to go out, or else... well, or else he wouldn't have his strawberries.

He made a little list of more necessities in his mind, before grabbing the puffy coat he had worn earlier in the day and stepping back into the chilly air of the pre-winter night.

He was good at doing things like that, but Joon was better. The brunette was a mom—sort of, only he couldn't do anything "mom-like" other than making third generation edibles.

Taehyung didn't mind. Once he got to eat and not get a tummy ache afterwards, day in day out, it was fine by him.

There were multiple convenience stores in the building of his dorm, but Taehyung felt like walking farther, and so that's what he did.

Soon enough, he had arrived at the convenience store that stood a block away from the dorms, gotten all he needed, and was trodding his way back to his room again.

The cold stroked his hands in a bid to get him to pick up pace.

Taehyung didn't listen.

Instead he people watched, and road watched, and sky watched; liking how everything blurred together to create a reality that was familiar in his head—a reality he lived and was used to.

Again, he felt human. Very human.

And he liked it. It was his familiar reality, after all.

A bus zoomed carefully down the road, and the people in it were visible to the pedestrian walkway for about a second and a half.

Taehyung felt the hairs at the back of his neck stand on edge.

He knew it was the cold wind on course again, but it didn't feel like so, at all.