The train moved steadily through the morning.
Fields, houses, and quiet towns passed by outside the window like a moving painting. Most passengers had settled into silence—some sleeping, some staring at their phones, others simply waiting for their destination.
He sat by the window, watching everything without really focusing on anything.
Journeys were strange.
He left one place behind… and slowly moved toward something unknown.
The train stopped at another station.
More passengers stepped inside.
He barely paid attention—until someone sat in the seat across from him.
At first, he ignored it.
But something felt… familiar.
A presence he had felt before.
He slowly lifted his eyes.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Then the other person tilted their head slightly.
"You look like someone who just ran away from home."
His expression didn't change.
"Maybe."
The person smiled faintly.
"Still the same, huh?"
That sentence made him pause.
Slowly, he looked more carefully at the face in front of him.
The voice.
The expression.
The eyes.
Recognition clicked.
"…You."
The person leaned back casually.
"Took you long enough."
He frowned slightly. "What are you doing here?"
The familiar stranger shrugged.
"Traveling."
Then they added with a small grin,
"Just like you."
The train continued moving forward, carrying both of them toward somewhere unknown.
For the first time since starting his journey, he felt something different.
Not boredom.
Not curiosity.
Something closer to anticipation.
Because meeting someone familiar in the middle of nowhere…
Was rarely just a coincidence.