STAY - Against The System | CHOSEN 2 (MINSUNG FF)

EIGHT

2320.12.11

And again, Jisung was the last person left on the subway.

The cold neon tube flickered over his head while the train dashed rattling through the underground and threw shadows on the old posters and advertisements on the windows.

Trains like this one usually didn't transport citizens anymore, the system only used them in the outer districts, where they perfectly blend in with the shabby buildings, tagged walls and piles of waste in the streets.
The system clearly focused on the central districts, the bright and clean ones, the ones the news would show on the internet, the ones that seemed like the complete opposite from where Jisung was heading now.

Today the subway was pretty packed for this time, but typical for a saturday. Many people used the weekends to visit the clubs of the city to escape reality, either the fancy, expensive ones near the center or the cheaper ones, near the outer districts.
Jisung went clubbing only once, with Changbin and Minho. It has been some weeks after Jisung had turned twenty, the legal age for drinking, smoking and going to clubs.
Some people would get chosen before they ever had tasted a sip of alcohol or went a night out.
What a weird system.
Back then the three friends had gone to one of the best known clubs in the central district. It was fun, yes, but thinking of the amount of money they had spent only to pay the entry fee still sent shivers down Jisung’s spine.

The latter left the train at the same station as last time. Today he wouldn’t have to walk that far to reach the meeting point.
It has gotten even colder over the day, at least it didn't snow. Jisung was sure that the system didn’t provide proper winter services to this neighborhood, it would be hella slippery out here. This winter seemed to only consist of these days where the cold kept creeping up to your bones and wouldn't go away for several hours, even if you would take a hot bath or hide under several warm blankets. The boy pulled up the zipper of his jacked as high as possible. He already looked forward to diving into his cozy bed after coming home.
But first he had to deal with this.

Today’s meeting was set next to a bridge that crossed an anabranch of the river that divides the capital in two parts, the north- and the south city. Like last time, Jisung had to cross the old, abandoned highway to reach his destiny, a small park at the riversite. The cool light of the district’s library’s entry sign bathed the porous asphalt under the boy’s feet in a silverish glow and revealed thousands of glittery ice crystals, looking like someone had shattered glass across the whole street. It was indeed pretty slippery, the frozen ground made Jisung almost fall twice. 

Against his expectations the park wasn’t empty. In the sparse shine of some street lights the boy could see some people standing in a group around a small fire in a bin, talking and seemingly drinking. Two men walked down a footpath, talking about their plans to quit their jobs, still wearing their bureau attire after a long day of work. A couple with a child, maybe three or four years old, passed Jisung. The woman was singing a sweet song while the child giggled and grabbed her hand tighter with its tiny ones. The family looked happy and carefree, even though they seemed to live out here, far away from the center, the safe districts, good healthcare and good education.

“Han Jisung.”

Jisung’s gaze left the family and fell on a tall man beside him.
“Oh, Y.”
Y nodded smiling. “It’s good to see you again. Thank you for reaching out again.”
The boy didn’t know what to say, so he just stood there quietly.
“Do you have any questions so far?”

Huh?
Did the guy want to talk about all of that here? At a public park? Jisung was aware of all the people around him, the chatting, the singing, the chinking noises of beer bottles, the sizzling noise of the fire. Did Y really want to talk here?
Y saw Jisung’s worried face and smiled assuringly. “Follow me. If you'd like l, I could show you around a little in one of our buildings."