CHAPTER 14: Midpoint

Beijing, November 2017

Seongwoo stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room, wrapping himself in warm clothes and a pretty thick coat. Today he will start the tour of Sean's going around the world! He always wanted to travel from one place to another, seeing the world from all sides. He even had a mind to create a collaboration between New East Tour & Travel with the TV station where Aaron worked to make him a segment of the travel program. I think I'm handsome enough to host a TV show. Seongwoo thought smugly, but in the next second he laughed at himself.

After he got ready, Seongwoo came out of the room and walked to the lobby. There, was already a man who greeted him. "Mr. Sean Ong?" he asked.

"Yup!" Seongwoo replied excitedly.

"Introduce me, I'm Lai Guanlin, a guide from New East Tour & Travel China's branch who is ready to accompany your outstanding journey today." greeted the tall, handsome young man

Seongwoo smiled pleasantly as he patted his arm. "Yeah .. no need to be that official .. I'm a New East employee as well .."

"I have to do it according to SOP, Sir .. Otherwise, my salary will be cut off .." Guanlin ended with a laugh.

"Just call me, Sean .. Or Seongwoo. I guess, now I want people to call me with Seongwoo."

"All right, Seongwoo ssi .. Let's go!"

Guanlin invited Seongwoo into the car to sit in the passenger seat while he sits in the driver seat. The traffic in the city of Beijing was very crowded. Comparing to New York or Seoul, Beijing is much more crowded and polluting. But Seongwoo could understand it since there are 21.7 million inhabitants in the city, making Beijing one of the most crowded cities in the world.

At the beginning of the journey, Guanlin eloquently told Seongwoo about the Great Wall of China, the place they will be visiting today. He said that the Great Wall of China can be explored from few sides. The most visited is the Badaling side because of its closest access from Beijing. But Guanlin suggested to see it from Mutianyu side. Although the access is further, but there are fewer visitors and the scenery is more beautiful. Seongwoo immediately agreed with Guanlin's advice.

Guanlin is quite talkative and friendly. He was also patient enough to pay attention to the lame joking Seongwoo made.

"Lin, you'll walk with me on the Great Wall, will you?" Seongwoo asked casually.

"Of course, how can I leave you alone?" Guanlin replied firmly.

"Yeah, I don't want to go through that wall from one end to the other alone."

That statement made Guanlin shocked. "Excuse me, Seongwoo ssi.. But we're not going to walk on the Great Wall from one end to the other. That's.. pretty impossible."

"Why not? That's my dream, Lin! Help me to make it happen." Seongwoo even added his acting with a pout.

Guanlin chuckled softly. "I'm sorry, you better do it yourself, Sir. First, how long it take to walk that faaar? Second, there are some fragile sides that we can't go through. Third, don't forget it's almost winter. And fourth, not to mention horror stories there! It's more like a deadly challenge than a fun traveling.."

Seongwoo laughed. "That's still pretty light, Lin. Do you know my other dreams?"

Guanlin glanced at him with a questioning look.

"It's seeing the Great Wall of China from space!" Seongwoo answered incoherently.

Guanlin could only laugh while shaking his head. How can a person like this exist in this world, Oh my God?! Maybe that's what Guanlin thought at the moment.

-00-

After traveling for about 2.5 hours, Seongwoo arrived at Mutianyu gate. There, the air was cool, much different from the air in downtown Beijing.

Guanlin guided Seongwoo into the tourist area. Visitors who are in this area still have to move on to reach the Great Wall on the hill. Guanlin offered to use the cable car, but Seongwoo firmly opted for hiking.

The long climb ride made Seongwoo exhausted. But the occasional sight of the great wall that stands dashing, wandering beautifully following the mountain ridge that cultivate among the pine trees, can make him spirited again.

"Are you tired?" Asked Guanlin to Seongwoo when he stopped and leaned back against the pine tree.

"Ah? No way!" Seongwoo lied for the sake of keeping his pride, though his body expressions showed the opposite.

Guanlin could only make a laughter.

They continued the ascent until finally reaching the top of the hill, inside the Great Wall of China which is 175,000 times the length of the soccer field.

Seongwoo cast his gaze to various sides. Wow. It’s... Amazing. The sight he saw was truly remarkable, to his amazement.

The pine forest lied before his eyes, accompanied by a wide blue sky. The rows of trees that he had passed now seemed small, the clouds in the sky also seemed to float low, Seongwoo seemed to be able to reach them both.

Somehow Seongwoo felt to be in the middle of a place connecting heaven and earth. Not to mention on the right of his left, the long roads of the the Grear Wall look like connecting east and west of the world.

This is the midpoint of everything.

Seongwoo paused, closing his eyes, as if to permeate that extraordinary moment. And somehow flashbacks of a series events in his life appeared.

How fate has brought him to meet Euigeon. Whatever others think, even Euigeon himself, Seongwoo never regrets meeting Euigeon. The little boy with a puppy smile had tied Seongwoo's heart tightly, until the distance of New York-Seoul did not break their loves.

Although when they finally met, it wasn't like what Seongwoo expected, it was all just a matter of perspective. Seongwoo remembered the night when Daniel told his point of view. Before it, all he knew was a longing feeling to meet. Never realized that the longing he feel will be a burden for his brother.

But Seongwoo tried to understand Daniel. All of his insecurity, anxious, and guilty feelings were probably the result of a series of unfortunate events Daniel had experienced since childhood. Seongwoo could also guess where Daniel's thinking came from. Maybe he has been so indoctrinated by his mother since childhood. If Seongwoo think about it, he feels what Daniel is thinking of him at this moment is much better than Daniel being depressed.

Destiny is also indeed a mystery. A few days ago, he almost lost his brother. Fortunately God gave His power to Seongwoo to be able to help Daniel by donating his blood. The incident reinforced his understanding that there was no need for the same blood to be a helpful brother. But since Seongwoo was able to understand Daniel's point of view, so he didn't want Daniel to know that he donated his blood for him. He didn't want it to burden Daniel again.

So, Seongwoo decided to budge. Withdrawing from him for a while, that was the reason he never came to visit Daniel at the hospital. But that doesn't mean he didn't care about him at all. Seongwoo watched him from a distance by diligently contacting Jisung to ask about Daniel. He was glad Daniel was also destined to meet his good friends.

Once again, destiny is indeed a mystery. Just like what happened to him now. Being able to stand on the Great Wall of China is also an intervention of God. Long ago, many years ago, he still remembered that the little Euigeon chose the Great Wall of China as the first place he wanted to visit from the many world wonders Seongwoo showed.

Seongwoo opened his eyes and smiled. Wish you were here with me, Geon ah ..

Seongwoo then took the camera in his small bag and then started photographing the scene. He wanted to take a picture every inch of the Great Wall's landscape, so that one day when destiny reunites him with Euigeon again, he can show the photo to him.

Pine forest. Blue sky. The Great Wall wriggles along the ridge.

All he took the photos.

But then he stopped, when he saw someone he recognizes being caught on camera lenses.

Oh? Why does he look like ...

Seongwoo looked up, and at that moment he saw the man approaching.

Slowly he became more visible. And now Seongwoo really believes that person is him.

"Geon ah?"

Daniel speeded his way toward Seongwoo and then hugged him. "Hyuuuung .."

Seongwoo was still stunned as Daniel hugged him with tears in his eyes. "Hyung, I'm sorry ..."

"G-geon ah? How can you? How ... Oh,, Geon aaah .." Seongwoo returned his hug slowly, trying not to hurt Daniel's shoulder.

He then let go of his embrace, grabbed Daniel's face with both hands and looked at him intently, as if he did not believe that the one in front of him was his brother. "How did you get here, Geon ah?"

"I don't want to lose you anymore, Hyung .." Daniel replied full of tears. "How can you leave me again a second time?"

Seongwoo grabbed Daniel in his arms again. "I never want to leave you, Geon ah .." Now Seongwoo is crying. He didn't expect fate to meet them very quickly, at the midpoint of the world, in that wonder-filled place.

-00-

Guanlin guided Seongwoo and Daniel to walk to one of the towers and sat on one of the staircases, giving them a chance to talk.

"Have you recovered? How's your shoulder?" Seongwoo asked worriedly.

"Still aching, but it's okay." Daniel replied before then asking, "How come you didn't visit me at all, hyung? You didn't tell me either that..." He paused. "That you donate your blood to me .."

Seongwoo smiled. "I don't want to burden you, Geon ah .. I now can understand you .. that my presence can make you feel uncomfortable."

"It's not like that, hyung .. at that time I was just being stupid." Daniel answered quickly. "I honestly feel very happy when you come .. it's just .. my mind was in a mess, I don't know what I say .. forgive me .."

Seongwoo nodded still with a smile. "Yeah, I know .. that's why I gave you time to calm down."

"By leaving me?" Daniel asked quickly.

Seongwoo chuckled. "I never intended to leave you, Geon ah."

"But why did you even resign from New East?"

The question made Seongwoo shocked. "Huh? Resign?? Who told you that?"

"Minki hyung .."

Daniel's answer made Seongwoo laugh out loud. "He's really .. I even go here to Beijing with Manager Hwang, for work!"

"Eh?? But Chief Kim also said so .." Daniel was confused.

"Chief Kim too?? Woah I guess they're all playing prank on us." Seongwoo chuckled.

But Daniel was still confused. "Prank??"

Instantly, Seongwoo remembered there was one person who might as well be one their conspirators. He turned and questioned Guanlin. "Lin, do you also know about this??"

Guanlin couldn't help laughing. He chuckled before then replying, "Yup! You've got pranked. Say hi to the camera!"

[scene Seongwoo and Daniel laugh with Guanlin in the Great Wall of China]

#BGM: Wanna One - Wanna Be My Baby

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Author notes:

Thank you so much for all the readers who stay till the end. Sorry if the ending isn’t like what you expected. But I hope you are satisfied with the overall plot, haha. I also hope that this story can be a kind of “alternative plot” for you who are a bit dissappointed with the original mv unfinished story (like me).

I want to give an outro to tell you the whole picture of the story, but it will be some kind of random conversations, I hope you can connect it and understand it, haha.

Here’s the outro. I hope you enjoy it. Thx ^^

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Outro

One afternoon, via telephone line Seoul - Beijing.

"Huh? Are you crazy?" Minhyun asked in surprised after hearing Minki's explanation on the phone about his plans related to Seongwoo and Daniel.

"I also didn't expect it, Man Hwang! I just intend to play prank on him by saying Sean has stopped working.. But Chief Kim came and very naively told him that he goes to China .." Minki explained long.

"Precisely