Familiar Stranger

ONE

Have you ever pay attention to the people you see every day but never talk to? Like those people in the bus, or in the train, or the cashier in a mini mart, or maybe the people living in the same apartment?

Well I may be weird but I like paying attention to those strangers I see every day. I don't stalk them. I just simply watch them do what they do only when they're before me. I know. Weird, ey? It helps me feel less lonely especially since I'm living alone in Seoul while my parents are in our hometown. It's actually fun to know that I can always find familiar faces around me, even if I don't talk to them and they are simply strangers to me.

Like this Granny Kitten sitting beside me at the bus stop. No, it's not her real name. I just call her that because one, she's definitely old enough to be my grandma and two, she always brings her bag with a photo of kittens printed on it. She's actually my neighbor. We always take the same bus every morning. Though we occasionally exchange smiles, she's still a stranger to me. I don't know anything about her besides her kittens-printed bag and the fact that she always gets off the bus two stops before mine.

I step inside the bus and scan my metro card giving the bus driver a little smile. Today's bus driver is Uncle Sleepy Eyes.

One interesting thing about paying attention to these strangers around me is that weird feeling of loss when I don't see one of them. Like what I feel right now that I don't see Uncle Sneezy who always stands near the door holding on to the rails. But then again it's normal for people to not always do things the same way every day as if it's a ritual. Maybe Uncle Sneezy is just late today, or maybe he's catching another bus, or he probably catches a cold or something. There are times when I don't meet Granny Kitten too.

But there's this stranger that I think is always doing things the same way every freaking single day. Like seriously! I always see this girl do the exact same things that I feel like I have come to know them like the back of my hand.

I concluded we live in the same neighborhood since I always see her at the bus stop along with Granny Kitten. Unlike Granny Kitten, though, she never smiles to me. Heck! She doesn't even seem to notice the people around her either. She always comes to the bus stop bringing a plastic bag from a convenience store nearby. Sometimes when I visit the store in the morning, I see her there. She will always grab tuna sandwich and a can of coffee. The order is always like that. Sandwich first, then the coffee. And by always I really mean ALWAYS. Even on days that I don't go to the store, she will always appear at the bus stop with a tuna sandwich and a can of coffee inside the small plastic bag. And when we get on the bus she will take the front seat beside the window. If someone sit there, she will take the seat at the farthest back. And once she's seated, her fingers will immediately be busy tapping on the screen of her phone. She would then get off the bus three stops before mine. Okay, I seriously sound like a stalker right now. But no, I'm not. Her action is just so constant that I can't help but to remember it.

She must've had a boring life, I concluded. She made me curious though. Not that I'm interested in her emotionally (although she's pretty attractive), I'm just curious as to how it feels like to do things the same way every single day. But of course I don't have the chance to ask her that. She's a stranger anyway.

She steps out of the bus after scanning her metro card and I can't help but to eye her through the bus window until she disappears from my sight. She really seems so oblivious to the people around her.

Soon the bus comes to a stop where I need to get down. The day goes by as usual with me studying at a university from morning till afternoon and taking a part-time job at a nightclub as a bartender till around midnight. I didn't particularly like nightclubs, but the tuition fee and other bills won't pay themselves, and with the help of my college friend I got this job with a pretty good pay.