Town of Trains

Chapter 5

Kyungsoo felt like the station was closing in on him. He felt as though everybody there was trying to get close to him. "I can't do this. I can't" he whispered to himself as he stopped suddenly. He closed his eye and gritted his teeth together. His heartbeat was loud in his ears, and he could feel it beating faster. 

Yixing had been gleefully watching Kyungsoo walk towards the counter. "Is this finally it? Is he finally going to talk to me?" was all he could think. He tried not to stare, but he couldn't help it. So he was the first one to realize that something was wrong. The man suddenly stopped. His cheeks flushed and he closed his eyes, his face twisting up. He looked like he could be in pain. So Yixing did what he felt he needed to do. 

"Xiumin, I'll be right back, I promise" he practically yelled to his coworker before rushing out from behind the counter. 

Kyungsoo was trying to calm himself down. He was focused on his breathing now. He desperately wanted to just get out of there, but he knew he would have to calm down a lot more before he could. He suddenly felt a hand around his waist and another lifting his arm over someone's shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw that it was the ticket man. In a normal state of mind, he would have pulled away and ran out of there as quick as he could. But the man was pulling him to one of the benches, and it was clear he was just trying to help. He sat down and continued to focus on his breathing. 

"Do you need anything? Water? Food? Do you need me to call anybody? Are you sick? Do you need medicine??" Yixing blurted out as fast as humanly possible

"Um. Water. Water would be good.."

"Okay! stay here, I'll be right back!" 

Kyungsoo could feel himself calming down, and he was brought back to reality. "Idiot" he thought. "I must have looked like a complete idiot.. what the fuck is wrong with me?" He was tempted to just leave, but he really did want that water, and he felt it was fair to at least talk to the man that helped him. 

"Okay, here it is!" Yixing said as he offered him a bottle of water

"Thank you.." Kyungsoo said quietly 

"It's no problem. So, I don't want to bother you too much, but is there anything else you need? I can try to help you in any way I can." Yixing said warmly

"Listen, I don't mean to be rude, and I do appreciate your help, but I would like to get straight to the point. I was here a few weeks ago. You came up to me and asked me why I come here sometimes, sit down and then leave. It's a long story that takes some time to explain fully, so I can't do it right now. I would like to go out to dinner or something with you, if that offer still stands, so I can explain it all. I apologize for being so rude last time we spoke, but I'm not used to talking to people I don't know." Kyungsoo said while staring at the floor 

"Alright! Great! Of course my offer still stands. I'm probably shouldn't have asked you straight up like I did. I'm just a naturally curious person. As for dinner, I'll let you choose a place. It doesn't have to be today. I work Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and-"

"Hold on," said Kyungsoo, chuckling, "I don't even know your name yet. What is it?"

"Oh, sorry" Yixing said, blushing, "My name is Yixing, but you can call me whatever you want. Most of my friends call me Xing, if you prefer that."

"Okay. Yixing it is. Nice to meet you. I'm Kyungsoo. I don't like nicknames, so please don't try it. I have to check my own schedule before deciding a time for dinner, so lets just exchange numbers and plan it later, okay?"

"Kyungsoo. What a nice name. Okay, numbers it is."

The two exchanged numbers and both went their separate ways. Kyungsoo sighed with relief as soon as he stepped out of the station and continued home. 

Yixing couldn't wait for his shift to be over. He couldn't get Kyungsoo out of his head. His voice, his face, his smile, everything. He could feel himself falling for Kyungsoo, even though he knew he shouldn't be. He couldn't wait for "SooSoo" to text him. He knew he shouldn't have given him a nickname in his phone, but he couldn't help it.