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A bright Green bag.

That was the first thing Jungkook noticed as he stepped into the crowded subway. He had already left work late, spilled his coffee, forgotten his earphones, and the crowd was not helping one bit, but that bag somehow made it easier to breathe. Jungkook hated crowds as much as the next person, but sometimes the subway crowd felt more out of control than usual. People bumped into him without so much as an 'excuse me'. Others tried to force their way through the cart when everyone was already partially immobile. Yet, more people still tried to squeeze inside.

He was weirdly overheating even in the middle of winter, hyper-aware of every single person who bumped into him or breathed too loudly. He was hyperaware of where every exit and emergency exit was, and how long the doors stayed open at each stop. He knew who took this subway every day and who was new. He was aware of every single sigh and groan. Yet, the crowd around him didn't seem to notice the new additions. The Green was violent against the sea of gray. Yet, no one so much as blinked at it. It's ridiculous, really.

He moved all the way to this absurdly big city for an insanely underpaid job, just to endure this overcrowded cycle of unawareness every day? Yeah, He made a huge mistake. Well, calling it a mistake was perhaps a little bit harsh. He had no choice after his stepmother all but threw him out of his ancestral home. Claiming him a danger and somehow convincing his own father to cut him off. He can still see the horrid look in her eyes as she whispered those words to him. After that, she never looked at him the same again. He never meant for it to go that far. He was simply trying to make a point.

Apparently, he did, in fact, make a point. Just not the one he wanted to make. People often overreact. They always did. Yet, he wished his stepmother would have just listened to him before she all but panicked. If she hadn't, nothing would have escalated, and he would still be at home, playing with his little stepbrother. Not here, in this moving oven they dubbed a subway.

Back to Mister Green in the crowded subway. He noticed it when the guy stepped into the car seconds before the door closed. Jungkook was convinced that the only reason he even looked at this guy was because of that deliberate bag. The shade was wrong for winter. It was too visible, too deliberate for this monochrome environment. No one would ever choose that color except to be seen. That and how he acted on the subway. There is a general culture around subway use. You either play on your phone, sleep, or listen to music. This guy, who is very tall and very good-looking, has no phone out, is standing without any headphones, and is staring directly at Jungkook.

Which in itself is weird. Nowadays, everyone is absorbed by social media or music, especially in public, but this guy... he was aware of the people around him. Naked in the face of attention. His eyes were slowly sweeping over Jungkook as the train moved from stop to stop. It was fascinating, really. Fascinating until those dragon eyes made direct eye contact with Jungkook and stopped moving. They pinned him in place, observing, absorbing. Then, he had the audacity to smirk slightly, revealing a set of dimples. A green bag, no phone, is good looking and has dimples? Like truly is unfair.

Generally, people would hold eye contact for a normal amount of time before breaking it. But Jungkook held his gaze. If Mister Green wanted a challenge, he chose the right person to stare at. Jungkook loved a challenge. Just as he was being studied, he studied back. The guy was young, with a sharp jaw and thick-rimmed glasses, dressed in all black except for that stupid bag.

This guy was not like the people around Jungkook. He was aware, held his posture straight, and avoided distractions. He took in his environment with a practiced ease that suggested he wasn't commuting. He was assessing.

Normal people, as Jungkook liked to call them, would not blink twice at something odd or unfamiliar. They were usually easily distracted by pretty lights or fast-moving pictures and videos. Most moved through the world without truly seeing it. Head down, drowning in the doom scrolling.