3 Paths to Love

Chapter 34

Myungsuk stared at the card in his hands. "I've never had a train card before," he whispered, his words muffled by his mask.

"Will you be okay?" Insoo asked. Myungsuk couldn't hear him through his noise-cancelling headphones, but he read Insoo's lips and nodded.

"Yup." Myungsuk wrapped his arms around Insoo's. "Let's go."

He followed Insoo to the platforms, humming as he looked around. After rush hour and before lunch was the least busy time and while seats would still be scarce, he'd be fine with Insoo.

"Okay, you have to let go. We can only go one at a time," Insoo said.

Myungsuk pouted and stared at the machine. The gate was small and Insoo's arms were long. "Can we hold hands?"

Insoo cracked a smile and nodded. "Sure," he said, sheepishly, glancing around.

Releasing his arm, they held hands as Insoo scanned his card. With a beep, the gate swung open and Insoo walked through. Insoo leaned over on his toes, keeping them connected. Myungsuk's heart fluttered from the tiniest compensations Insoo did for him.

With an assured nod, he scanned his card, watched the green checkmark appear before sprinting through the gate and straight to Insoo's chest.

"Oof!" Insoo stumbled back before wrapping his arms around Myungsuk, kissing the top of his head."You did great."

Grinning, Myungsuk stood on his toes, tapping their noses together. "Thank you for holding my hand."

Insoo pecked the top of Myungsuk's cheek. "Of course," he whispered before pulling back. "Let's catch the train."

Myungsuk tightened his grip and ran with him, a flurry of giggles escaping his chest. They hurried down the stairs as the train pulled up to the platform and they sprinted, stumbling into the train car victoriously. 

They laughed; Myungsuk took longer to catch his breath as he stuck close to Insoo, looking around. Frowning at the lack of seats, Myungsuk looked up at Insoo.

"Why don't you hold onto me," Insoo said and held the overhead railing.

Myungsuk nodded and slipped his arms under Insoo's open button-up, nuzzling against the cotton t-shirt underneath. He nodded. "This is good," he said. The train started to move and Myungsuk stumbled, Insoo tightening his grip around him. Gulping, Myungsuk closed his eyes.

In this proximity, he could smell Insoo's pheromones. Warm and inviting. With no one else's scent to interfere, no noise and nothing to see, Myungsuk relaxed. It was just Insoo and him. As it should be.

The train stopped five times and as it slowed down for the sixth stop, Insoo patted Myungsuk's backpack. "This is us."

Myungsuk peeked up and blinked, shocked at the crowd around them. Nodding, he held Insoo's arms and squeezed his shoulders in to avoid bumping into everyone as they headed out the opened doors.

This platform was much busier with no place to run. Insoo kissed his head and Myungsuk's attention snapped up to him. "We're almost there."

Nodding, Myungsuk followed him, bouncing up the steps towards the street, across from the hospital.

The waiting room was dull and sterile. The chair wobbled underneath him and Insoo didn't seem to have much luck by his readjusting either. Myungsuk rested his chin on his bag, tapping his feet against the tiles.

He took Insoo's hands and fiddled with Insoo's long, slender fingers, tracing them with his own stubby ones. Myungsuk then pressed his palm against Insoo's and giggled. His hand was half the size of Insoo's.