F A T E D [PJM & JJK]

o n e

"How long are you gonna be gone?"

Jeongguk looked through his shoulder bag, making sure he had all he needed in order to board the train that would take him to his hometown of Busan where he would be attending his older brother's wedding. Ticket, check. Laptop, check. Journal, check. Phone and phone charger, check. All good to go. He turned to face his friend who had come to send him on his way, "The reception is in two days, but my mom wanted me to come down earlier to keep my brother's nerves in check since he's been freaking out. So, I'll probably be back on Monday." 

Taehyung nodded in response, his hands buried deep in the front pockets of his jeans. Jeongguk could tell the older was upset that he would be gone for a few days, they were rarely apart so it was always gloomy when one of them had to go somewhere without the other. The only time they had ever been apart for more than a day was when Taehyung had to go to Daegu for his grandmother's memorial. That was a really difficult time for both of them, Taehyung more so than Jeongguk obviously but regardless it was hard to be apart especially knowing that one of them was dealing with the loss of someone that meant the world to them. 

Shaking the depressing memory from his mind, Jeongguk perked his head up as a voice spoke over the intercom, "Next train will be arriving on track six shortly, that is the Busan bound train. I repeat, next train on track six, heading to Busan. Thank you."  He did one last inventory check to make sure he had access to the things he would need during the trip and grabbed his suitcase from Taehyung who had been sitting on it while they waited just as a train horn could be heard from down the tracks signaling that it would be arriving soon. "I won't be too long, you'll be so busy with finals that you won't even notice that I'm gone." Jeongguk spoke to his visibly discontent friend trying to comfort him. 

"Oh, don't even remind me about that. I still have to cram all this useless information into my head before then." Jeongguk chuckled at Taehyung's words as the train pulled into the station, its speed slowly decreasing until it stopped completely, the doors hissing as they slid open allowing all the previous commuters to pour out of them and onto the platform. "I guess this is you," Taehyung sighed, pulling his left hand out of the pocket it had been jammed into so he could pull Jeongguk into a one-handed hug. Jeongguk returned the gesture before having to pull away due to the warning bell that the train's conductor had rung, telling all passenger's to get on the train before it left. "Alright, get out of here before you miss your ride." Taehyung instructed, pushing Jeongguk in the direction of the train.

"Ya! Don't forget-"

"To water the plants, I got it. Now go!" 

Jeongguk stepped onto the train, turning around to face his older friend, "Good luck on your tests, hyung! I'll be back in a few days!" he exclaimed as the train doors slid shut. He felt the engine stir and soon the train was rolling away from the station and Taehyung. Jeongguk entered the closest car and headed down the aisle until he found a row of empty seats where he placed his luggage on the overhead rack before plopping down in one of the red leather upholstered seats. He proceeded to fish his phone out of his bag and saw that he had a text from Taehyung that read 'have a safe trip~~ call me when you arrive~' to which he replied 'i will!' and then set his phone down in his lap so he could pull out his laptop. 

"Oh excuse me, pardon me, sorry."

Jeongguk lifted his head up to peek over the seats when he heard a voice from within the car. He spotted a rather smiley guy try to get through the thin walkway with a large duffel bag on his shoulder that kept bumping other passengers. The man looked around Taehyung's age and he had a very big apologetic grin on his face, his hair a caramel shade that bounced with each step he took due to its impossible volume. Jeongguk continued to view the spectacle, ducking back down into his seat when the gleaming stranger made eye contact with him and waved to the confused kid. He didn't know the guy so why was he waving at him? "Um, excuse me?" Just ignore him and he'll go away. "I'm sorry but is this seat taken?" he heard the strange man ask again, this time after tapping his shoulder.