"Tourist" by Yuna < this story was inspired by this song uwu

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              “Tomorrow.”

 

Sungjong offered his friend a soft smile. He hoped that Myungsoo couldn’t see the quiet pain in his eyes. “I’ve packed everything already.”

 

Myungsoo’s expression was unreadable. He nodded at Sungjong. He blinked and the corner of his lip quirked upwards.

 

“Let’s do something fun today.”

 

 Sungjong’s grin broadened.

 

*

 

 

      Sungjong closed his eyes and fell back into the warm grass of the quiet park. He spread his arms like an eagle and felt his hair mingle with the grass beneath him. The morning sun’s rays radiated against his face.

   

     “Yah, are you just going to go to sleep? We just got here.”

 

     Sungjong didn’t reply. He felt Myungsoo collapse onto the ground next to him. Sungjong opened his eyes, looking straight up into the vast blue sky. Only one cloud. He blew out air, as if it could blow the cloud away.

 

     “What else do you want to do?” Sungjong questioned, tilting his head in Myungsoo’s direction. Myungsoo was on his belly, propping up his chin in his hands, facing Sungjong. Sungjong laid his lazy gaze on Myungsoo, idly watching Myungsoo’s silent thought process.

   

     This was perhaps the last day he would spend with Myungsoo. They were such close friends now that it was hard to believe that the two had only met three weeks ago. Sungjong had been given the chance to take a year before college to tour the world, and he took it. He left his home in the USA to visit, first, many countries throughout Europe, then Africa, China, Japan, and finally, South Korea. It was here in South Korea that he had first met Kim Myungsoo.

 

    Sungjong stayed in a small apartment that belonged to his cousins, who were away at the time. He had met Myungsoo on a quiet visit to  the same local park that they were at now. It had started off a very nice day; the sudden rainfall was a surprise. Sungjong had taken cover beneath one of those wooden structures that children would romp about on a sunny day. He was joined by Myungsoo seconds after his entrance to the small safe-hold. They had stayed there for nearly an hour, and by the end of the unexpected downpour, they knew each other’s stories well. Ever since, they had made it a point to unite with each other every day, if only for a cup of coffee or a brief conversation sitting side-by-side on a park bench.

   

    In retrospect, Sungjong thought that the rain had fallen just so that he and Myungsoo would meet. But today would be the last of what seemed to have been a beautiful--all too quickly passing--dream. Tomorrow, he would have to return to North America and prepare for college.

 

    “We should get some coffee.”

   

    Sungjong snapped out of his reverie to quickly agree with Myungsoo’s suggestion. Myungsoo got up before Sungjong did and offered him a hand. Sungjong couldn’t help but grin a little as he took Myungsoo’s hand and let himself be pulled up.

 

    The small coffee shop was only a few blocks away from the park. On good days, Sungjong and Myungsoo would often take this path from the park to the coffee shop, and from the coffee shop back to the park.

 

    “It’s a pretty day today. Lucky, huh?”

 

    Myungsoo was walking backwards, beaming at Sungjong. Sungjong chuckled back at Myungsoo’s childish demeanor. “You’re going to trip and ruin everything,” he joked.

 

    Myungsoo just stuck his tongue out and grabbed Sungjong’s hand. “There. If I fall, you’ll be here, ready to catch me.”

 

    “What if I fall?” Sungjong knew that Myungsoo would think of it as a silly question.

 

    “Pabo. Why would you worry about tripping if you’re facing forward?” Myungsoo scoffed.

 

    Sungjong disguised his sigh as a breezy laugh.

 

 

*

 

 

    They chose a table in the front corner of the coffee shop, by the window. There were a handful of other customers that kept to themselves at other tables; most were buried in a book, a laptop, a soft conversation with another, or simply their own thoughts. Sungjong came here often; usually accompanied by Myungsoo, and occasionally, solitarily.

 

“Will you miss me?” Myungsoo broke the comfortable silence that had settled between them while they had sipped their still-too-hot coffees. Sungjong set his cup down gently, thoughtfully tapping his finger against the side of it.

 

    “Of course,” Sungjong bit his tongue lightly. “I feel like I’m losing my best friend.”

 

    Myungsoo bobbed his head up and down, then tilted his head to the side. He looked down at his cup. “Me too. I feel like that too.”

 

    Sungjong wondered if he lost control of his expression because Myungsoo’s stare switched from the cup to him in an instant and held Sungjong there for what felt like an hour.

 

    “I’ll miss you. I’ll miss you a lot, Sungjong.”

 

    After that, they finished their coffee quickly. Myungsoo told Sungjong that they should enjoy the rest of the day and not think about tomorrow anymore.

 

 

*

 

 

    They spent the afternoon in the somewhat crowded market area nearby. Myungsoo insisted on buying all sorts of souvenirs for Sungjong.

 

    When Myungsoo emerged from a shop with basket full of paper, envelopes, and colored pens, neither of them said anything. Sungjong already knew what they were for. Later, Myungsoo sent Sungjong to buy ice cream. When Sungjong returned, he did not comment on the new stack of stamps peeking out of Myungsoo’s pocket.

 

    The rest of the evening was spent on the park bench. They sat close to each other, nibbling at their ice cream. Sungjong hoped the sun wouldn’t set. He hoped that, for reasons as esoteric as those that caused the rain on that first day, the sun would stay up for a little longer than usual.

 

    “Wait. Is this coffee or caramel flavored?”

 

    “It’s chocolate, hyung.”

   

    “Oh. Yours is cherry, right?”

 

    “Strawberry, hyung.”

 

    “Oh.”

 

    Sungjong succeeded in keeping a straight face for longer than he thought he would. Of course, his resilience came to an end, and a snort found its way out.

 

    “Yah! Are you laughing?!”

 

    Sungjong let it out. He laughed excessively; extravagantly. And as one who believed in karma would say, it was inevitable that his strawberry ice cream would fall out of the cone. And so it was Myungsoo’s turn to laugh.

 

Sungjong, no longer feeling any stray remnant of humor, pouted and scooted to the opposite side of the bench. He looked at the horizon. Against his wishes, the sun had begun to set. Suddenly, he felt a warm presence scoot up next to him.

 

“Aish, you’re such a kid. Here.”

 

Sungjong turned and was met with Myungsoo’s crooked smile and chocolate ice cream being held out to him.

 

“I’m not a kid. You’re the childish one,” Sungjong retorted before pecking at the ice cream.

 

They shared the rest of Myungsoo’s ice cream between them until the sun disappeared and the stars began to shine.

 

“Hyung, I see your name in the stars.” Sungjong traced his finger through each star of Myungsoo’s name.

 

“And there’s yours.” Myungsoo mimicked Sungjong’s actions, letting his finger glide over the stars that made up Sungjong’s name.

 

They stayed like that for a while, with their heads thrown back, just tracing out ambiguous words and pictures in the stars. Most of the time, they couldn’t really see what the other was tracing in the sky, but that was okay. There, staring up at the dark expanse, Sungjong felt infinite.

 

“A snake.” Myungsoo slid his finger in a straight line against the sky.

 

Sungjong laughed. “You’re really creative.”

 

Myungsoo grinned. “Hey, you were the one who drew a rock.”

 

Sungjong couldn’t argue with that.

 

Myungsoo lowered his chin from the stars and Sungjong followed suit. “Sungjong, it’s getting late.”

 

Sungjong had figured that he would be ready when the time came, but he was not. “Hyung, can you stay, please? We’ve got the whole night.”

 

They stared at the moonlit park area in front of them. Myungsoo was silent. He turned and stared at Sungjong’s side profile for a while. After some time, he smirked.

 

“I’m that great? Okay. Can I crash in your apartment?”

 

“Yea,” Sungjong let the one word answer both questions.

 

 

*

 

 

    “When’s your flight?”

 

    “Eight. In the morning.”

 

    “We’re not sleeping past midnight, then.”

 

    Sungjong sighed, but didn’t disagree. It was nine-thirty, so they had more than two hours left. He scoffed when he saw Myungsoo already setting up the video game console.

 

    Although he didn’t look it, Sungjong was incredibly good at video games. Myungsoo had discovered this two weeks ago, when he and Sungjong played against each other for the first time. The game hardly lasted more than three minutes. And now, Sungjong and Myungsoo mostly played just to see how long Myungsoo could last.

 

    After nearly an hour of mostly watching Myungsoo lose, Myungsoo gave up.

 

    “That last run was the longest you’ve ever survived,” Sungjong congratulated.

 

    Myungsoo chuckled. “I do my best to impress.”

 

 

*

 

 

    Eleven-thirty. The last hour had whizzed by, filled with mostly banter between the two while watching a variety show. Myungsoo had then suggested that they prepare for bed, and agreed when Sungjong had adamantly insisted that even if they were in bed, they didn’t have to sleep until midnight.

 

    Having become good friends, they had of course done this before. Because the apartment was small, there was only one bedroom. The couch, however, converted into a bed. Whenever Myungsoo slept over, the two would share this bed in the living room. After all, what was the point of a sleep over if they were in separate rooms? And neither would let the other sleep on the floor.

 

    “I don’t want to go.” Sungjong bit his lip. He and Myungsoo were lying side by side, staring up at the ceiling as if it were the star-riddled infinity they had been staring at not too much earlier that day.

 

    “I know,” Myungsoo said.

 

    Sungjong tugged on the blanket. “I wish you could come with me,” he said softly.

 

    “I know,” Myungsoo said.

 

    Sungjong tugged the blanket again. Just what did Myungsoo know? Did Myungsoo know that Sungjong was being torn up inside? Did he know that Sungjong wasn’t sure if he could leave Myungsoo without going insane? Did he know that when Sungjong asked Myungsoo what would happen if Sungjong fell, Sungjong was already falling? And did Myungsoo know that Sungjong was still falling?

 

    Sungjong didn’t say anything, but Myungsoo said “I know,” one more time.

 

    Myungsoo fell asleep soon after that and Sungjong didn’t know when he fell asleep, but he knew that it was to the steady lull of Myungsoo’s breathing and the rhythmic beating of Myungsoo’s heart.

 

 

*

 

 

    Morning came almost literally in the blink of an eye; as if Sungjong had blinked and someone had switched the sun on.

 

    After cooking a quick breakfast, Sungjong woke up Myungsoo. The two ate, and Myungsoo made sure that Sungjong had everything, then they got in the car. Myungsoo was driving. He would drop off Sungjong at the airport; Sungjong found himself hoping that there would be traffic, or Myungsoo would get lost, or he would get a notification that his flight was delayed for a few days, as improbable as that was. However, the roads were clear as ever, Myungsoo was Myungsoo, and his phone offered no news but the weather report. The skies were as clear as the roads.

 

    When Myungsoo pulled up at the airport, it was finally the moment that Sungjong had dreaded for a long time.

 

    “We’re here,” Myungsoo said.

 

    “Yea.”

 

    “You have my number?”

 

    “Yea.”

 

    “Email? Home address?”

 

    “Yea.”

 

    “Okay. Text me when you get home.”

 

    This time, Sungjong just nodded. He wasn’t sure why he couldn’t say anything past “yea”.

 

    “Visit as soon as you can. Maybe next summer.”

 

    “Yea.” Sungjong’s voice broke. Now he knew why he was speechless. He forced himself to spit out the words he needed to say: “I’ll miss you.”

 

    His words were broken and Myungsoo pulled him into a hug. Myungsoo let one of his hands tangle itself in Sungjong’s hair.

 

    “I’ll miss you too.”

 

    Too soon, Myungsoo released his grip on Sungjong. Too soon, they uttered empty farewells like “take care” and “goodbye” and Sungjong picked up his luggage and walked away.

 

 

*

 

 

    He didn’t cry on the plane because there was a nice lady sitting next to him and the flight attendants looked tired.

   

    He didn’t cry in the car because his mother was driving and even though he wanted to cry he was still happy to see her and he could tell that she was happy to see him.

 

    He didn’t cry when he began unpacking because he didn’t want to stain all the presents that Myungsoo bought him on that last day. That was just yesterday, he had to remind himself.

 

    When he finally did cry, it was because he found the stack of envelopes that Myungsoo so carefully tucked into the bottom of his suitcase. It was because when Sungjong picked up the pile, one of the envelopes had something in it. It was a piece of paper, folded in half three times. Sungjong wanted to call Myungsoo a pabo because he wasted an entire sheet of paper for just three words:

 

 

    “I’ll catch you.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Well, I wrote this on a whim (after listening to "Tourist" over and over), so I left a lot of ambiguity in there for you to think on (or ignore hehe).