Frankly speaking, Jiwon could walk home and it would take roughly the same amount of time needed for the 725 school bus to reach his stop. From there, Jiwon still needed to walk for another three to five minutes. It wasn’t like there were no other buses. In fact, there were a couple regular buses which took shorter routes to where Jiwon lived. Students were equipped with student bus passes, therefore money was never an issue for taking a regular bus.
DK questioned Jiwon’s choices towards the 725. In the morning, the 725 would go straight to their school as other school buses would. In contrast, the afternoon 725 route could be considered a detour since they would drive to the city, picking kids from another school, before turning back to Jiwon’s school’s direction. Living in the same neighborhood with Jiwon, DK only took the 725 when: 1.) he was late in the morning, since the bus reached their stop at 8.30, while other buses would come at 8.15 or earlier; and 2.) when there was nothing to do at school in the afternoon and he didn’t want to sit around at school waiting for later buses since the 725 would take off at 15.10. For similar reasons to DK’s, not many people chose to take the 725 on a daily basis. That excluding Jiwon, of course.
June looked out the window as the bus was making its way downtown. Having moved from the city hustle, the suburbs seemed so empty and lonely. Tall buildings were a rare sight. The school he’d just moved into was considerably small compared to his old school. There were more parks than shops on his way home. He could see almost as far as the horizon. The sun seemed to be able to touch almost every part of the road. No buildings were taller than the trees on the sidewalk. June could throw his sight as far away as possible, yet, there was nothing to see besides roads and houses. It wasn’t exactly empty, but it felt like a wasteland for June.
The closer to the city center, the number of tall buildings grew as did the houses and the-well, people. If the houses near the school were mostly one to two story houses with wide lawn, the houses near the city center were denser and taller. The bus stopped at a junction. Up ahead, he could see where the city center would be. Tall buildings, dense trees, city lights, people walking on an afternoon stroll, people cycling on the cycling track, people. It was to June’s disappointment that the bus turned right. He wished he wasn’t living in such a lonely place.
June remembered Yunhyeong telling him that there was nothing he could do in this small town. Yet he never imagined that it would throw him to a place that felt so big and empty. The bus drove past a stadium. The stadium stood tall with its blue-red colour. It was huge but, yet again, emitted those lonesome feelings.
After a few turns, the bus stopped in front of a highschool. June looked out the window. He saw a number of people rushing into the bus, with a teacher yelling at them to be careful.
June heard a grumble from behind. He turned to the window, angling his sight so that the window reflected the face behind him. Bobby, June remembered the name. Something so unfitting to his tired face, he thought. Bobby was putting his earphones on. The kids who just boarded the bus were talking loudly to each other. June proceeded to do the same thing Bobby did, and started playing music from his phone to block the noise.
June looked up, a seemingly older student stood in the aisle next to where he was sitting. He was startled that someone might know him in this place. To his relief-or is it disappointment?- This person was apparently referring to the person behind him.
“Yo,” Bobby answered. June didn’t dare look, but he knew Bobby took an earphone out. The two talked behind him, and June wasn’t planning on listening.
The 725 closed its door with a loud “pssh” sound. June peeked at his phone, it was 3.40 PM. June remembered how Yunhyeong said he was dumb for taking that bus. He sighed. June leaned his head on the window, closing his eyes.
June felt a tug on his shirt.
“hmmm….” another minute, he thought.
Again, a tug. He shook it off.
June opened his eyes, startled. He saw Bobby’s face next to his.
“Where do you get off?” He asked.
June blinked a few times, not getting the question, trying to regain consciousness after his sleep.
“Where do you get off? We’re the last ones here.” Bobby repeated.
June looked around. It really was the two of them and the driver. He scanned through the neighborhood. Something seemed familiar, but he reckoned it was still two stops before his.
“Not yet,” he finally said.
“Okay, well, it would be troublesome if you missed your stop,” Bobby stood up.
“Let’s sit up front, it will be easier for you to see, everyone is already gone anyway.”
The two made their way up to the front of the bus. At the front, June watched the bus pass the stop before his and stood up to press the stop button.
But someone beat him to it.
June looked up, Bobby already pressed the button.
“What do you mean? I get off here.”
The bus hit the break, much to June being speechless for countless times today. The door opened. Still lost, June said thanks to the driver and followed Bobby out.
They stood before each other. The bus drove past the two as they looked at each other for a second. June couldn’t find anything to say and Bobby wasn’t planning on sticking around to find out.
“Well, stop dozing off,” Bobby said, turning around and walking away.
He waved his hand above his head as he walked further away from the bus stop. June shook his head, still not processing everything that happened when his phone suddently rang.
“Chicken is here!” it said.
June put his phone in his pocket and rushed home.
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