Paradise | Min Yoongi

Paradise

Foreword

The bus station was almost empty except for the few people sleeping or simply checking the time every now and then, making sure that they wouldn't miss the bus. After all it was almost six in the morning which was an ungodly hour to be awake on Saturday after a long and hard week of working or studying.  

Yoongi was in the dark isolated corner, watching the sunrise, waiting for the warmth of the sun beams to embrace him and cover him like a blanket in the chilly morning. His face was covered from the black hoodie he was wearing but the wind could still ruffle some strands of his inky hair that had fell out of his cowl. The young man was reconsidering his rather impulsive idea, thinking of other alternatives, but, being his stubborn self, ended up sticking to his original plan. Without a second thought he went straight to the ticket reception.

The employee had fallen asleep which caused Yoongi to knock a couple of times on the glass that was separating them to, hopefully, wake him up and catch his attention.

"Hello, how can I help you, sir?" The worker asked sleepily after standing up from his previous position and ruffling his dark brown, almost black, hair. He seemed young, his skin was light and smooth yet some pimples were visible on his right cheek. There were big dark circles beneath his eyes - a sign that the boy had spent many sleepless nights.

So had Yoongi himself by that time.    

"A ticket for the next bus," Was all the black-haired man answered, not even sparing a glance at the person he was talking to. Being polite that early in the morning was hardly ever an option for him. 

"Any specific destination?" 

"No." 

The young man's thin lips were now pressed due to him concentrating on typing something on the computer in front of him, his eyes unconsciously wandering off to check out the unknown person. Maybe it wasn't his clothes, neither his pale skin, which many would've found too pale, that was strange about him. It was something about his presence and the way he was avoiding eye contact, keeping his head down most of the time, probably looking like a criminal scared of being recognized from his mugshots in the newspaper.

Yoongi took the ticket from the youngster, giving him some money in exchange but while turning around, ready to walk back to his own shady corner, he caught a glimpse of the boy's name tag. It said "Jeongguk".

Unlike everybody else, Yoongi didn't have a lot of baggage - just a simple backpack that was hanging on his left shoulder, not even full. An idea this random didn't even require him to pack properly, all he wanted was to leave. Or at least that was what he was trying to convince himself. He had no idea what was his purpose nor what he wanted it to be. That's why Yoongi had reached the decision to do something instead of nothing, and that something was to run away from his problems, both mentally and physically. He was yet again running blindly without any direction.  

A man, around Yoongi's age, sat beside him on the old rusty metal bench. His expression was serious yet happiness could've been seen in his brown eyes. The person's silver-colored hair caught Yoongi's attention but the thing that surprised him the most was that the stranger had no baggage at all, not even a phone. Neither was he holding a ticket.

"It's quite rude to stare, you know...," The silver-haired man trailed off, apparently not knowing what to say or how to start a conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," Yoongi mumbled in response, turning his head to the opposite direction after realizing that he's been staring at the stranger for too long, way too long to be considered normal. "Where are you heading to, though?"

"My name's Namjoon," The silver-haired man introduced himself before continuing talking. "Actually, I'm not going anywhere. I just come here, watch people leave and come. It's interesting because behind every arrival and departure there is a story."

And was the stranger right. Tenths of people starting or ending a journey here daily, each coming or going with a different purpose. But the least Yoongi had expected was hearing this from someone sharing his bench at the bus stop. 

A quite tall someone, to be exact, his skin a bit tanned and rough. The silver-haired one was wearing round glasses, smeared fingerprints visible on them due to the lighting, and a casual outfit - a plain black T-shirt like the ones Yoongi had in abundance.

"I'm Yoongi." 

"And what's your story, Yoongi?" A question that made the man think about the real reason why he was willing to leave everything and everyone behind him. Was there a reason at all and what was he even trying to run away from?  

A while ago Yoongi had started feeling strange as something in his life was missing. It was so much easier when he was younger and the only thing he had to be worried about was his grades in school. After that everything became complicated. He had to find a way to earn what he needed to live on his own but his job was nothing more than a source of boredom. He had started working a few months ago and he was already sick of it. This lifestyle was way too tedious for his liking and he couldn't get used to it.

"I don't have a dream," Yoongi answered. "Is that wrong?"

"What did you dream of last night? Or even the night before that? Isn't that a kind of a dream?"

"That's not what I'm talking about. I mean, what am I going to do with my life? I don't want to stay in a stuffy office and write e-mails till I die. That's just not my thing," Yoongi trailed off, lowering his voice with every word, as if speaking up embarrassed him. 

"You're making it sound more complicated than it actually is. You don't have to plan your whole life from now. Like, come on, you're still young. Look at him for example," Namjoon said, pointing at the ticket reception.

"You mean Jeongguk?"

"Yeah. Why do you think he's taking the extra shift in the morning? He wants to buy a new laptop but he needs the money. That's his dream," Namjoon sighed. "Your dream doesn't have to be something big, nor grand. It's enough to be a plan for the future that you should work on."

"But if I don't become someone in the world, then why the hell am I existing?"

Yoongi was, unfortunately, still confused. Could it be so easy? He's always been told that it's impossible for everybody to achieve their dreams but the silver-haired man was telling him the exact opposite.

"It's better to become anyone than to be no one. You don't need to be someone in this world. Reality is different from what's promised and it's always rough for us, the new generation, 'cause people never teach us how to dream. I don't know if you can see what I'm talking about-"

Namjoon's words were cut off by the echoing voice announcing the departure of a bus which made Yoongi look at his own ticket - that was his bus. The black-haired man was hesitating whether to go or to stay and listen to a complete stranger. It sounded ridiculous but Namjoon indeed had a point. 

If it was really that easy, couldn't he give dreaming a try just this once?

"Are you going?" Yoongi's thoughts were interrupted by a deep and a bit husky voice - Namjoon's voice.

"Actually... I'm not going anywhere."

"Why did you change your mind so quickly?"

"I don't know. I've always wanted to write."

P.S. Dedicated to the boy who taught me how to dream.

- Min Yoongi