Today feels like no other.
Title: Today feels like no other.
Rating: G
Pairing: OT12
Summary: Different strangers in different places.
Park Chanyeol jumps out of bed at 11:53am, leaving his pillows and quilt on the carpeted floor. He pushes the ‘on’ button on the sub-par coffee-maker and prepares coffee for two as he rushes over to the showers, knowing his roommate, Minwoo, will need a cup of coffee, lukewarm or not, if he manages to get up before the sun sets.
By 12:00pm, Park Chanyeol makes it to the bus stop, gasping for air as he leaned on the pole. “Fuck,” he whispers to himself as he glances down at his watch.
A man walking past stares at him strangely but Chanyeol is too relieved at the sight of the oncoming bus that he does not bother apologizing.
-
‘Fuck’ is not really the first word Kris wants to hear in the morning. This morning, especially. He chugs the can of Red Bull in his hand, wincing with every gulp. The caffeine briefly washes away the taste of soju still rancid in his mouth. His credit card bill tells him he should not have spent so much at that club in Gangnam last night, but whatever.
He walks further and further away from the bus stop with no destination in mind. Strolling on the pavement, he wonders what will happen if he decides to throw himself in front of a high-speed train. Or bus. Or a car, even. “Unidentified man commits suicide,” the headlines will read. The euphoria of the thought occupies his mind as he drops the can on the sidewalk.
-
Maybe it is his Economics textbook, the 500 paged monster in his backpack that is weighing him down. Or it is his laptop, thick and heavy, unlike the ones his classmates own. But whatever. Whatever it is, Jongin simply can not walk straight this morning. Rubbing his eyes, he -
Crack. The next thing he knows, he is lying face-down on the sidewalk, his backpack crushing him down. His precious laptop remains safely in the crux of his arms, thankfully unharmed.
He looks down at his feet and kicks away the stupid can of Red Bull that tripped him. He curses the bastard who left it there, seriously wishing that he would just fall dead in the middle of nowhere. Jongin makes it on the bus on time, thanking the bus driver. As he shuffles towards the nearest unoccupied seat, his backpack bumps into a doe-eyed stranger.
-
Luhan accidentally bumps into a stranger as he walks onto Bus 32. He nods, a pathetic excuse for an apology, but in his defense, he is not too familiar with the local language to offer an apology. Luhan has friends who mastered the Korean language merely months after relocating to Korea, but here he is, a full year later, still finding it a challenge to differentiate between the syllabuses.
Five stops later, he gets off the bus and turns right. Referring to the folded paper in his hands, he remembers to turn right again after the ‘pink-colored elementary school.’ Except there is no pink-colored elementary school in sight. His heartbeat picks up. That is it. Luhan is going to miss his first interview in Korea and he will be left poor and homeless. His roommate will kick him out and show him no mercy.
He crouches down and the wild thoughts occupy his mind. This is it. This is it.
“Excuse me, do you need some help? I can help you. It’s a nice thing to help someone out. Do you need help?”
The stranger takes a glance at the piece of paper Luhan holds up and points towards the Southwest direction.
“There, it’s just a minute away. I’m glad to have helped you. Have a nice day. Before you go- ”
-
The stranger rushes away before Zitao could complete his sentence. Fuck, that means an additional hour of detention. Why did that stupid teacher have to set-up this ridiculous system, when he would much rather sit in that grey room and blank out until the teacher tells him it is time to leave. The Good Deed card in his hands remains empty, taunting him for his incompetency.
A stranger brushes past him, seemingly muttering to himself, looking around. Zitao approaches him. He needs help.
-
Kids these days, Minseok thinks to himself as a stranger in school uniform walks towards him. He pretends he cannot hear whatever he is saying. Too busy, he is too busy. The files shift about in his briefcase. The suit jacket hangs loosely over his shoulders and his belt color does not match his socks but it does not matter.
“I will get this job, I will get this job,” he continues muttering. A random hand juts out from nowhere, offering him a flyer. He ignores it and sustains his momentum.
-
Sehun rolls his eyes as he throws a flyer behind a stranger’s back. Will it hurt him to take just one piece of paper? As he is standing in that spot next to the bus stop, desperately trying to get rid of all the flyers in his hands, the afternoon sun shows him no mercy.
He squints and tells himself to press on because this minimum wage job is all he has to fund his new Gucci wallet. That classic monogram with that gorgeous leather zip. He can feel it in his hands already.
The next stranger picks up his flyer and shoves it immediately in his Joyrich backpack. Sehun scoffs. Rich bastards.
-
Junmyeon barely takes a glance at the flyer before putting it in his backpack. He hears the kid giving out the flyers scoff behind his back. Years before, back when he was younger, he was in that kid’s shoes. In that exact same location, he gave out flyers advertising the newest club around Gangnam. It was slightly pathetic, a 20 year old giving out flyers for a club he set up himself. Thankfully, he knew what he was doing.
He scrolls through the notifications on his phone, reminding him to show up for this interview and respond to that other email interview.
He scans through the local news. The headline at the top tells him an unidentified man killed himself near Incheon, by throwing himself under a subway train headed towards Myeongdong. He winces at the thought of being that man, vulnerable and hopeless, and wishes he actually knew that guy, so he could have helped him.
-
“Sorry for the inconvenience, the train has been delayed. “ The monotonous voice repeats itself for the nth time. Baekhyun curses the voice and whoever it was that caused such a delay. Whoever it is, it is his fault that he is going to miss his blind date. His mom had told him about his prospect the day before. He can already see her maroon hair, fair skin and perfect double eyelids. They would meet and fall in love immediately, no questions asked.
Except at this rate, he is never going to meet her. Frustrated by the pace of things, Baekhyun leaves the subway station and walks towards the nearest bookstore. If he is going to meet Minhee, he better brush up on his general knowledge. No, pop culture. Or something. Girls like that, apparently.
He stands next to a man flipping through a foreign (Chinese?) magazine like his life depends on it. He raises an eyebrow but goes back to his latest issue of High Cut quickly after.
-
Page 16, page 16. Yixing flips through the magazine, his hands shaking as he finds page 16. At the bottom right corner, he sees his album cover. He skims through the review and almost screams. The top music magazine in China gave him a five-star rating. Five stars. Perfect. Flawless.
He empties the shelves, picking up every copy of that magazine available. One copy is going to his mom, his dad, and his cousin. Of course, another copy will be sent over to his previous record company’s office, the one who cancelled his contract because he was ‘too bland’. That will show them. He pays for the huge stack of magazines with joy and skips out of the bookstore.
-
“Jongdae, we need more copies of that Chinese magazine you insisted we import up front!”
Jongdae smirks at the request, he had read articles about this on Naver before, the Chinese music industry is up-and-coming indeed. He sings along to the latest Jay Chou song as he rushes to the storefront, hands filled with copies of that Chinese magazine.
He collides with somebody as he arranges the shelves, bopping along to Mayday’s latest single. The stranger apologizes as he reaches over for a magazine. That Chinese magazine that Jongdae brought in the store with his magnificent taste.
“Hey, you like Chinese music?” He strikes up a conversation easily, after all, people with mutual interests bond much faster. They exchange numbers and engage in a conversation about Mayday’s latest concert movie and Show Luo’s latest singles until the stranger, who he now knows is Kyungsoo, says he has to leave, or else he will be late for classes.
-
Kyungsoo leaves the bookstore with a smile plastered on his face. It is rare that he meets someone with similar music tastes. He is so happy he is less than bothered by the train delay and heads towards grabbing a cab instead.
He reaches his Calculus class on time and settles down on his seat. At 1:00 pm, the lecturer walks in and Kyungsoo still has that smile on his face, as if he is looking forward to the lecture ahead. He takes down his notes on Maclaurin’s Series and for the first time, he is actually enjoying class. He feels the light-bulb in his head light up as he finally understands that difficult expansion and he gets ready to answer the lecturer’s question when - boom. The doors to the lecture hall swing open as a lanky boy walks through. His hair is disheveled, he has a messy hoodie on that looks three weeks unwashed. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at the stranger, the only thorn in his day.
-
“Hi, I’m Park Chanyeol! This is my first day! Please take care of me!”