eye smile
➳ In which you accidentally zone out after a tiring day, and the cute stranger beside you on the metro thinks that you are staring at him.
➳ Characters: Seoho x reader/you
➳ Genre: fluff, romance, slice of life
➳ Words: 3.2k
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It’s been a long day… Not to quote that famous song because that would be way too sad given your actual circumstances, but it had actually been a long day. Starting your first job after graduating from uni, having to pay extra attention to every new task and detail and order, trying to fit in during lunch breaks, and wanting to figure it out if this is actually something you would want to do for a living… Well, that was a long list to fulfill each and every day, and the new environment and the pressure to do well from the start did wear you out.
No wonder you were feeling tired after leaving the office and heading towards the metro station, wanting nothing more than to indulge yourself in your favourite weekday drama and a bowl of warm soup. Or hot tea. Or anything warm because the late fall weather wasn’t kind to you, and if it hadn’t been enough that your hair had looked like a mess because of the extremely windy weather by the time you had gotten to work, it had been raining all day, raindrops dotting the windows ever so frequently like patches on a canvas, covering the sky in gloomy grey.
All of these combined made your early morning enthusiasm evaporate, and now you were more than thankful that you could hop down on an empty seat on the metro, mindlessly zoning out and letting your wandering thoughts circulate around you, not attacking your conscience every other minute. Even though the vehicle was full of the after-shift buzz, you blocked out nearly every kind of noise because your brain just couldn’t process what was going on.
Except a certain male voice’s exciting chattering beside you.
“How did he manage to kick into the shower cubicle and break his pinky toe?” he shrieked, exasperated. “I swear to god Keonhee will end up dating a nurse because at this rate, he’s like a VIP guest at the hospital,” he chattered joyfully, and even though he was a tad bit surprised, it seemed that he wasn’t actually that surprised. Given his words, you assumed that this certain Keonhee was a living disaster, unexpected (and unpleasant) events always happening to him.
“Yeah, I can imagine that. Dongju may be younger, but he seems like he’s more mature than Keonhee. Well, most of the time, you know, so I’m not surprised. Keonhee is lucky though that he was there in the flat because as much of a drama queen Keonhee is, I’m sure he would have called someone else first instead of the ambulance,” he continued with a beaming giggle that was so pleasant to hear after a whole day of listening to mainly the keyboard’s sound or your co-workers’ chattering. It was light and soothing, similar to the cracking of wood at a bonfire night and the birds chirping when nature awakens at the beginning of spring.
You were ready to listen to his mellow voice even more, letting it soothe your nerves when he stopped in the middle of his next sentence, and somehow you could feel his eyes on you, so you snapped your head back at him, locking eyes with him, and in that moment, you realised that you had been zoning out, and it must have seemed like you had been staring at him.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to stare, I was just zoning out,” you justified with an awkward smile, and you didn’t know whether it was actually polite to talk to him while he was talking to someone on the phone, but he merely dropped a friendly smile, his eyes smiling along with his lips, and gosh, if it wasn’t the cutest sight, what was it? Dimples showing, eye smile on full display, chocolate-brown orbs twinkling with mirth, slightly curly locks sitting a bit messily on top of his head (well, the wind was cruel to everyone, it seemed)... He was so cute, your heart literally skipped a beat.
The boy merely mouthed an ‘it’s okay’ seeing your embarrassed antics, and waved his hands in front of him in an attempt to soothe your nerves.
“I’ll call you back later, Hwanwoong… Yeah, keep me updated on Keonhee’s condition… Yeah, thanks. Bye!” He finished the call with the same enthusiasm as he had started it, and you were so guilty that you looked away only to be addressed by him in the next moment. “Had a tiring day?” he inquired gently and curiously, and when you averted your eyes back to him, all you could see was sincerity.
You weren’t the type of person who striked conversations with strangers on the metro, but it was your fault that he had taken notice of your presence, so you felt like it was your duty to answer him. Not to mention that he was nothing but kind so far.
“Yeah, quite,” you mumbled, unsure of how much to say to him and to what degree he was actually curious about your answer. You would be naive if you assumed that he had hung up because of you, so you didn’t even dare to muse over such matters. However, you couldn’t help but wonder whether he was that interested in your answer, or he was merely the type who was good at initiating conversations with random strangers. Though technically, you had been the first one to speak up.
He hummed hearing your answer, chocolate-brown eyes turning a shade darker. He must have taken notice of the weariness in your tone and your slightly disheveled state because the air turned a bit solemn for a moment. Thus, you were ready to dive into your own self-pity, but he wasn’t one to let you do so easily.
“I mean, I would have felt flattered if you had been staring at me because you wanted to, but I get that it was just because you were tired,” he explained jokingly, his tone light and playful. Even though there was nothing akin to flirty in the way he looked at you, you felt a blush creeping onto your face, and it definitely didn’t help your already frazzled up nerves.
“Sorry,” you croaked out, but you felt like punching yourself in the face right away. Why would you even say sorry for that? Gosh... you were so awkward.
The boy was taken aback, too, but he let out a lighthearted giggle instead, one that indicated that he didn’t deem the situation embarrassing, more like amusing.
“No need to say sorry. I’m really not that self-centered. I’ve just figured you could use some joy in your life. Or well, in your day,” he noted gently, and the way he saw right through you warmed your heart. His eye smile was already enough to soothe your frazzled nerves, but his behaviour was really nothing but supportive and understanding so far, so you didn’t see the point in doubting his words.
“It worked,” you let him know with a tired albeit grateful smile, and he smiled back, his eyes turning into little crescents, dimples invited into the corner of his lips yet again. He was like a sunflower, turning towards the warmth of the sun, and thriving on it, showing its most radiant colour when he was being all happy and joyful.
You couldn’t enjoy this moment any further because the next stop was announced, and the boy bolted up as if he had woken from a daze, but turned back to you before he would get off:
“Hope the rest of your week will go well! Keep going!” He wished wholeheartedly as he balled his hands into fists, giving you one last radiant smile before the metro’s doors opened and he disappeared into the crowd.
You blinked after him, confused at what had just happened, but thankful nevertheless that there were still people like him who were there to genuinely brighten someone else’s day.
You didn’t think too much into the encounter with that cute stranger because you weren’t delusional, and the more days passed by, the more hope you lost that you might see him again. You were more preoccupied with your internship anyways, and it was enough to keep your thoughts at bay. You were getting better and better at executing your tasks, and your boss even complimented you the other day, so you felt like you were starting to get the hang of it.
Half a year had passed by in an instant, and if it weren’t for the orange-haired boy looking up and catching your eyes when you took a seat beside him on the metro, you were sure that you wouldn’t have noticed that it was the same stranger with the eye smile from before because obviously, he looked different with his orange locks. You wavered a bit in the movement of sitting down, and he kept his eyes on you too, so you had a feeling that he remembered you just as well, but you couldn’t be sure, so you pulled yourself together, and sat down as quickly as possible.
You sat in complete silence for about a minute, and you couldn’t help but wonder if you could have mistaken him for someone else, but then again, you wouldn’t be able to forget that adorable eye smile of his, so you were sure that it was him. He merely didn’t recognise you.
“Sorry…” The orange-haired boy spoke up after clearing his throat, and you averted your eyes to look at him. Your heartbeat picked up its pace as you locked gazes with him, and you could feel a blush creeping onto your face. “Have we met before?”
It would have been a cringey pick-up line if it had been for other circumstances, but there was clear confusion written on his face, and you knew that you had indeed met before, so you nodded, not keeping the answer to yourself.
“Yes. We’ve met on the metro once,” you let him know gently, your lips raised into a smile when you saw that the realisation dawned on him, confusion erased from his features as if sand had been swept off by the ocean waves.
“Now I remember! You were the girl who apologised for staring at me! I mean, for not staring at me,” he explained a bit clumsily, and you both let out a little chuckle by the end. It could be seen that he meant no harm with his words, and you could really not blame him for slipping on his words like that. You were merely relieved that he remembered you.
“Yeah, that’s right.” You nodded, feeling suddenly anxious about the continuation. What were you supposed to say? What was right to say in this situation? Did you even have to say anything more?
Your undulating thoughts kept you back from actually doing anything, thus you let yourself be sucked in by those warm chocolate-brown orbs that were resembling little crescents on the night sky, his joyfulness painting stars around his eyes. When you looked into those eyes, you felt comforted and safe, as if someone was covering you with a blanket and handing you a cup of hot tea on a particularly cold winter night. You didn’t know how he did that, but you immediately felt your heartbeat going back to normal, and you could breathe again: wholly and with relief.
“You had longer hair last time, right?” he broke the silence, curiosity lacing his words. You were taken aback that he remembered such a small detail about you, but you were more grateful than shocked.
“Yeah, I cut it shorter when spring began. Having long hair is a hassle when the weather is warm,” you explained to him, and he chuckled a bit. “But you dyed yours!” You pointed it out, and his laughter became louder, his dimples more prominent.
“Oh yeah. That was because I lost a bet, so my friends could decide what colour I should dye my hair.”
“Orange isn’t the worst colour they could have chosen though. It kinda suits you,” you blurted out without thinking twice about it, but you immediately wanted to take back your words. Not because he wanted to take advantage of your compliment, but because you didn’t want to sound creepy or outright flirty. What could you do though when it was true?
The boy’s eyes became almost miniscule, and a blush was painting his cheeks in a pinkish shade which was absolutely adorable, but you had a feeling that if you were to comment on it, he would become even shyer. He was definitely still really cute, and your heart was wishing to capture this moment, putting it away in a separate box, so whenever you felt down, you could open it and look at it.
“Thanks. I wasn’t really sure about it, but kids especially seem to love it,” he shared with you in a friendly manner, and hearing that, you raised an eyebrow, wondering if he had anything more to add to it. So he did, telling you about that one time when he had walked by a group of kindergarteners, and they had stopped him because they had wanted to take pictures with him, thinking that he might have been an idol with his orange-coloured hair. On top of that, his friends liked to call him orange-head, but he didn’t mind. He only had a few more days anyways until the bet would be over, so he could dye it back soon.
He seemed like a fun-loving guy, and hearing about his friends yet again, you could guess that they were an equally lovable bunch, so your smile was ever so genuine as you were listening to him. However, just like last time, you didn’t have a lot of time to spare because he was getting off sooner than you would, but now he notified you in time, so you had time to say goodbye to him.
“I’m glad we met again. It was…” You started, searching for the right word to say. “A lovely coincidence.”
“Fate,” he said at the same time as you, and your cheeks were heating up yet again, going well with your burgundy blouse. He tried to laugh off his words, but you could see that he hadn’t really expected to blurt out such a thing, so he was a bit ashamed, trying to make up for it with his next question. “Anyways, do you want to maybe... exchange numbers? You know, if you want to talk more.”
“Sure.” You nodded without much hesitation, not minding getting to know him better. Due to the short time you had left, you were quick to save each other’s numbers in your phones before you would arrive at his stop. You just managed to finish with it when the metro’s doors opened, and you waved him away, a smile plastered onto your face.
Before he would get off completely, he looked back and exclaimed:
“Oh and I’m Seoho!” He introduced himself with a wide smile, and as the doors closed in front of him, you could only giggle to yourself, watching his fading silhouette still waving in your direction.
After you had exchanged numbers with Seoho, you began messaging each other on Kakaotalk. It began with mere ‘how are you’ messages, then turned into funny memes and then turned into deeper, less casual conversations about your past experiences, dreams and the life lessons you had already learned. There was a lot more to Seoho than you could have thought so based on his bubbly personality and adorable eye smile, but you felt like you were looking forward to your days because of him, and it was such a thrilling, heart-fluttering feeling.
In the beginning, you were just messaging each other, but then you started bumping into him more and more at the metro station, and soon enough, you put together the pieces: Seoho always purposely waited for you at the metro station if he was the first to arrive. Otherwise, why else would he be sitting there, looking around, seemingly searching for someone until his gaze settled on you? At first, you thought that it was a silly idea, but the more it happened, the more certain you became.
So since it was evident that he enjoyed spending time with you, and he wanted to spend time with you on purpose, you began to wait for him too whenever you finished with work sooner. Meeting him at the end of your days was uplifting and heartwarming. He was such a ray of sunshine, and even though sometimes you didn’t get his jokes or his weird antics, he always managed to make you smile, and you were incredibly thankful for him. He was like a warm blanket on a windy autumn night or the warmth of the first rays of sunshine after a storm.
No wonder you got closer the more time you spent together, and you liked waiting for his messages just as much as you liked waiting for him (and being waited by him) at the metro station. That’s why you felt this something between you two shifting towards something more serious after a while, but you didn’t want to get the wrong message or rush anything, so you just enjoyed your time with him as it was.
However, when you were just casually talking about movies, and having one that you were both interested in, you didn’t think that the conversation would take a different turn.
“Then, do you want to watch it together at the cinema?” Seoho raised a curious eyebrow as he looked at you, an expectant smile hiding in the corner of his lips. Since you met up mostly while commuting or interacted through messages, it would be the first time you would meet at a different place, so it felt new.
However, you couldn’t say no just as much as you couldn’t have said no when he had first asked if he could have walked you home.
“Sure, I’d love that.” You nodded, gifting him with a wide smile, but there was still some doubt in his eyes, and after he blurted out the following, you knew why:
“Can it be a date, too?”
You felt your cheeks heating up at his suggestion, but you would be lying if you said that the thought hadn’t crossed your mind. Plus, how could you say no to him when he looked at you so adorably, and his eyes were smiling alongside his lips?
“Yeah, sure,” you gave in without giving it a second thought, and as you saw his lips raised into an even wider smile, you didn’t even mind doing so.
It was just funny how a certain stranger on the metro with the cutest eye smile could become something more, but neither of you would have ever thought that life would take such a turn. Not that you complained.