Don't Fear The Reaper [A Ravi Fanfiction]

Ride Back Home

A few weeks passed before Kim was able to stop thinking about Wonshik, and about how mysterious he had been that morning they chatted for the first time. She couldn’t decide what to think of him, and the fact that he hadn’t been to the shop since that afternoon was a little baffling for her.

She decided to put her attention on something else the day she got a mail from her parents, saying that they would be visiting her someday in the near future. Excited, she started making plans and schedules to show them around Seoul and to get Jia to meet them too. She was focused on the fact that she wouldn’t be so alone there anymore, and that’s what made her happy the most.

“Oh God, yes, I told you hundreds of times: I am going to meet up with your parents, please stop now,” Jia said from behind the counter while she cleaned some cups. Kim couldn’t stop talking about how wonderful it was going to be when her friend met her family, but Jia was starting to get fed up with her constant blabbering. “Come on, it’s late and we need to close now, help me here. It’s Thursday and you know I’ve got to get out of here as soon as possible.”

Sticking out her tongue, Kim made her way to Jia and started helping her with the different mugs and plates that were left unclean. She felt the necessity of start chatting again but she knew she’d only get a negative response from her already tired friend.

They were almost done when Jia’s phone rang, and she ran to take the call. Listening closely, Kim could hear her almost squealing, and immediately she knew she was talking to Seunghyun. She was saying something along the lines of ‘I’ll be there as soon as I’m done, I can’t wait’, but as much as she wanted to ask what was going on she knew it would be a bad idea, so she let her finish the call in peace.

When she returned, there was a big smile on her face but she didn’t seem to want to talk about it. They were done with the shop in half the time thanks to Jia now being in a hurry. Once outside and having already closed the shop, Kim had to stop her before she walked away to say goodbye, and receiving a small ‘sorry’ in return, she sighed at her friend’s attitude as she watched her walk away fast.

That Thursday night was warm for a late autumn night. The streets were packed, and she had to dodge most of the people to make it to the bus stop. Seeing that there was a free seat, she sat and relaxed there, feeling the warmth of the air around her. A few minutes passed before she saw her bus coming, and while the few people in the stop got up she opened her bag and took out one of her most precious books, Carrie.

Once on the vehicle, she found her favourite sit to be empty, and took it as soon as she saw it. Putting her bag in between her feet, she decided to start reading right away, to not waste any time until she got home. A few moments later, the bus suddenly stopped, making her almost drop her book but never taking her eyes off the page.

“Do you mind if I take a seat?” concentrated in her reading, she got scared when she heard a voice that she recognized in a second. Raising her head from the words of Stephen King, she met a pair or brown eyes and a smile. Returning it, she nodded and proceeded to close the book after making a small mark on the page she was reading.

“Hello, Wonshik-ssi, what a surprise to see you here,” she started, feeling something like butterflies appear in her gut but trying not to sound too enthusiastic about meeting him again. “How have you been?”

“Everything’s been as good as could be,” he said, looking to the front of the bus. His hair was a little bit messy and his hoodie was slightly misplaced, and Kim wondered if he had to run to catch the bus. “What about you?”

Kim thought for a while; she felt the need to say that she had been waiting to see him at the shop again, but decided it wouldn’t be such a good idea to talk about it right now. “Oh, everything’s fine, too. I’ve just gotten out of work and now I’m heading home.” She smiled at him when he looked back at her and then the thought that she had never seen him in that bus came to her mind; she took it every week, surely she should’ve seen him sometime. “Hey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take this bus; is it the first time?”

“Actually, yes, it is,” he said, taking a small package from his pocket, “I had to buy something for a friend; you know how birthdays go, I was there for some hours trying to find something good.” She nodded but didn’t try to dig deeper into the topic. They sat in silence for a while, and her sight drifted to the outside, making her feel sleepy as the bus approached her destination. “Are you okay?” Wonshik’s voice took her out of her little trance, and she turned her head back to him. She nodded sheepishly, and he gave him a slight smile.

Looking out the window once again, she noticed that the next stop was hers. Getting up, she told him, “Well, this has been fun, but I have to get down in the next stop. It was great seeing you again, Wonshik-ssi.” She looked at him once again and, as him waved goodbye and the bus came to a halt, she bowed lightly before getting out of the bus.

She had already walked a few steps before someone calling out her name stopped her. “Wait!” Kim turned around and saw Wonshik running towards her, her bag in his hands; she nearly facepalmed after realizing that she had forgotten it under her seat in the middle of her happiness. “You sure are forgetful, Kim,” he said while catching up to her and giving her the stuff with a laugh, “make sure it doesn’t happen again, you might not have the same luck as today.”

“Thank you,” she muttered, feeling herself blush. “I guess I was just lucky today. Most of the people would’ve left it there, or worse,” she said, feeling chills down her spine, “probably someone could’ve stolen anything. It was a very nice gesture.”

“It was no problem,” he said, lowering his head in apparent embarrassment. She thought he looked like a child, and laughed lightly. “Well, since I got off the bus one stop before mine, I think I can walk home with you?” he added, raising his head again with a look of hope in his eyes. Her house wasn’t very far, and for some reason she felt safer with him there. Nodding, she put the book back in the bag and hung it in her arm.

It was shorter than she would’ve expected; it was the only time she wished she lived further from the bus stop. They reached her building in a few minutes, and when they arrived at the door, an awkward silence filled the space between them. She fiddled in her bag for a moment, pretending to be looking for her keys. “Will you be returning to the café sometime?” she asked, after finally opening the door. “We… would love to see you there again.”

“Yes,” he replied, surprised at the sudden question but laughing it off afterwards. “I wanted to go back this week but I had no time, but I’ll definitely visit next week, I promise.” She felt a pinch of delight when she heard those words, and she bowed once again with a smile. He bowed back and turned around to leave, but then went back to her just as if he had remembered something. With a sly smile, he added, “Oh, I almost forgot; you don’t need to call me ‘Wonshik-ssi’, just call me ‘oppa’.”

His expression when he said that was the first thing that came to her dreams that night. Opening her eyes softly, Kim rolled on the bed and with his smile in mind she wished he could keep his promise and meet her again the next week. Looking at the bedside table, she noticed the framed picture of a younger her with her parents, and also remembered the fact that they would be around for a few weeks soon, too. Rolling to the other side, she sighed deeply as the thought of family and work coming together to make her weeks even busier flooded the rest of her night. The next morning, she was thankful that she couldn’t remember her dreams fully, and as she got ready for the day she tried her best to focus in something else than the days ahead.

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Finally, the third chapter is here! I'm not sure if anyone was waiting for it but just in case here it is. There was some major lag in my head this whole week as I've been sick, but I don't want to put that as an excuse. I'm just really sorry that it took two days to upload this single chapter. Anyways, I just hope you guys enjoy this and thanks for reading! We're close to 100 reads already, and I couldn't be more thankful ♥