당신의 이름

6 months later...

The train was crowded. It seemed that the whole population of Seoul had been squeezed in a tiny place that same afternoon, their bodies packed to one another with limbs unable to move. Completely annoyed and silently raging, June couldn't reach to grab the support pole hanging just above her head. Not because her height didn't allow so, but rather because a tall man was doing the same.

The man's slender hand wrapped around the silver pole, his knuckles going white, his feet probably too from trying to stay glued to the floor beneath.

And June cursed the ride for the way they'd all been moving and rolling from side to side in the train like bags of old potatoes. Now she was almost sure she hated taking the train.

The excuses for feeling that way were understandable, from getting almost killed by it to the fact that the smallest inch of personal space completely vanishes when she steps inside the same train.

Though she dared not to think more, not to complain because that's how she met Namjoon.

On a slow and rather painful late afternoon commute, Namjoon was the one sitting next to her that day, asking her to join her company and meet new people, to get out of the bubble she'd created for herself.

June couldn't complain, even if the train was crowded and her lungs squeezed by the people around, she was still on time, still content. Ready to see her friend's first performance as a solo contemporary dancer.

All of sudden, the train screeched to a stop. As the brakes are pressed, causing the fall of unsteady passengers, their bodies squeezing a bit more, the sound of metal against another metal filled June's ears and she almost starts to rethink the whole giving the train another chance thing.

In the midst of it all, she could feel a slight breath brushing the skin of her neck. And she winced, awkwardly trying to jerk her body away from the tall man next to her but she couldn't move anyway.

Embarrassed, she finally looked up, small gaze locking with hair and eyes made of the same color. The man's cheeks, however, were flushed in a bright shade of red but he smiled regardless.

''I'm sorry'', he said, apologizing for the fact that his body might've collided with hers a bit too strong.

''It's okay.''

Out of nowhere, her legs felt weak and she struggled to remain cool, to stay normal, so to speak.

The man stood right next to her, so close that she could feel the beating of his heart since his chest was pressed against her ear. Head above hers, he was eyeballing a flyer June was holding in her hands, fingers playing with the edges of the freshly printed paper.

He's staring.

''Aha, a dance performance. Are you going alone?''

Immediate warmth spread through her cheeks.

''I'm going to see my friend Jimin. This is his first solo ever.''

He nodded. ''Moral support, I see. Well, he's lucky to have someone like you.''

Another hot breath traveled through his nostrils, hitting right at the surface of June's skin. She started sweating, not because of the warm air in the midst of summer but because his body was unnervingly close to hers.

When the train took a sharp turn to the left, the people kept toppling over each other but the man's hand suddenly wrapped around June, preventing her from colliding with an ahjumma sitting across. The old woman didn't really mind it all. Head hiding underneath a hat, she couldn't care less for the two young people and their bodies almost glued to one another. 

Four pm and June argued with herself again, looking down at her phone once, twice, hoping for the clock to change, hoping to get out of this train. A deep inhale. It'd probably be better if the remaining inches of awkwardness between the two of them were filled with much despised small talk.

''So, are you from Seoul?''

''I'm currently living here, yes,'' he said, ''but it's not my hometown if that's what you're asking.''

Now she was the one nodding her head. ''You're a student?''

Though the man chuckled softly. ''No, no.'' And he shifted his weight onto a leg. ''I'm here for work.''

''What do you do?''

The very question caused the man to blush. Maybe she shouldn't have asked that.

''I-I'm sorry, it's none of my business.'' 

'No, no, don't worry,'' he waved it off, ''it's a long story. I wouldn't want to waste your time.''

Then there was silence, one much needed for the man to look around, probably realizing that his next stop is in ten minutes. Better to say something than listen to human breathing and bad train music.

''I'm not in a rush.'' Said June, still playing with the edges of the flyer in her hands.

And a loud gulp allowed him to speak. ''Promise not to laugh?''

''Promise.''

''Alright. I'll tell you a secret, but you can't tell anyone.'' Then he waited, building suspension in the already thick air. ''I haven't graduated. I dropped out of university and my ma, a lovely woman might I add, couldn't handle the fact that her son will be the only member of the whole family that didn't graduate.''

''Strict parents?''

''Very'', he laughed. ''I grew up working in a small shop downtown, selling whatever supplies a household might need, from skincare to bandages and neckties. We even had those hot water boilers ready to go for cup ramen. Ack, those were so good. You could just peel back the lid, fill up the cup with boiling water, and wait for the noodles to do their thing.''

Shaking his head, he dived a hand in the pocket of his light brown coat. ''Ah, you know the Shin ramen? That thing costed more than I was able to earn as a kid. And I wasn't allowed home if I didn't earn at least a thousand won after a day and the cup ramen sometimes costed even more than that. So I'd steal from the cash register just to be able to get it. But being the son of a CEO and having a dossier does not good to a company's reputation, trust me. Ma found out about it, so it was either move to aunt Eunhee's place or face the slipper slaps.'' 

''The slipper slaps?'' June giggled.

''Those were terrifying, trust me. My siblings and I dreaded them. But as I got older, I stopped being scared of them, stopped being scared of getting caught in the act as well. Which, as expected, made my ma furious. Then I got fired, of course, finished high school and didn't do much. I did nothing at all, which made me the only kid in the family that didn't meet our father's expectations.''

That perked June's interest and her pupils widened a bit more. ''What were his expectations?''

''You know, the usual, become a doctor, lawyer or follow the family business, but none of that was what made me excited.''

''And what does make you excited?''

The man hesitated a bit, as if ashamed of the words that were about to leave his mouth but oddly enough, he continued the story. ''Acting.'' He scratches the back of his head. ''I'm a part-time actor and a model, actually.''

Quickly he laughed, not giving June a chance to react while he was reminiscing, smile still there.

"I know what you're thinking right now, you have the same face my mother did the moment I told her the exact same thing."

He paused, clearing his throat.

"Modeling? Really? That's not a job! That won't pay your bills. Once you grow older, you're only going to get as ugly as your father and you'll lose the job immediately. That's not going to put bread on the table for your kids or your wife! Think about your family, what will they think? Dear god, how am I ever going to tell aunt Eunhee. The woman almost had a full-on mental break down in front of me.''

June's lips were pursed in a firm line, trying to keep her cackles in at the fact of the man trying to mimic his mother's voice. ''Sounds like you had a lot to go through.''

''Ah, you don't know half of it, darling.''

It seemed that the man has big dreams, always had. He told June that at a young age, he thought of himself as the town's casanova. The kind you see in those old movies, with the sleek black tuxedos and a woman's hand wrapping around each sleeve.

Ever since middle school, that had been a dream of his, but before he could share more of his life adventures and tell about his mother's many breakdowns and his father being absent from his life most of the times, the train stopped moving abruptly.

And the doors slid open, the people started leaving the train.

''Well, this is my stop,'' said June, ''It was nice talking to you. Good luck with your acting!'' Her small frame was trying to wriggle her way out of the crowd.

A single step was all she made before a hand grasped her wrist, somehow pulling her back. Her rational side would've told her to keep on walking, to ignore whatever the man wanted more, but something made her look back, and she wished she didn't do so.

Stubborn and unpredictable she was, like the month that shared her name, she turned around and gazed back at the man whose face now felt like home. Like the casanova he envisioned himself to be, his face was young, smile triumphant and a heart full of adventure.

Tough the mole on the tip of his nose was what caught her attention.

''I didn't catch your name!'' His hand left hers.

''It's June.''

Afterward, there was a whoosh of air and she was standing on the floor belonging to the station before her voice boomed among many others, creating something like a song traveling in the early summer air.

''What's yours?''

"It's Taehyung! Kim Taehyung!''

And the train doors closed.

The end.