The flight to Paris was long and slightly turbulent towards the end, but otherwise uneventful. This was Woohyun’s third plane ride in less than a week and he obviously felt jet-lagged.

For the most part, Woohyun tried catch up on the sleep he had lost both in Tokyo and Shanghai but he ended up watching the white clouds from the small square window as sleep eluded his eyes.

He had dark circles under his eyes but he couldn’t bring himself to close them and drift off to sleep. The back of his eyelids were working like projectors – every time he would close his eyes, memories of Sunggyu would flash past the dark void.

It’s so difficult without you, and it’s been a week only.

Just beneath his consciousness, he could feel a childish sort of helplessness, almost a fear, that he was afraid to show. But he knew very well the source of that unreasonable feeling.

Sunggyu made me feel like I have more to myself. And now, I don’t…

When the flight attendants came around asking if the passengers would need anything else, he really wanted to say Sunggyu out loud. The word almost slipped from his lips before he controlled himself and shook his head with a smile. After all, that was one thing no one could give him at the moment. He smiled wryly to himself, thinking how this was turning into a treasure hunt, with him flying from country to country, in search of the elusive treasure.

Sunggyu is a treasure, my treasure. And only I have the map to find him.

He liked to think that – that no one knew Sunggyu as well as he did. It made him proud, although he knew it was foolish but he couldn’t help it.

As his mind floated through these thoughts, Sungjong came back to his attention. He thought how horrible he had looked – broken, lost and helpless. Something told him that Sungjong didn’t know what to do, that he was being misled and he was confused about what he was doing and what to do. He was so vulnerable that he would definitely be too easy to manipulate.

He speculated if Youngjae had taken advantage of Sungjong’s mental state. He remembered Youngaje saying he had fixed him with a job and a place to stay after he had come to Shanghai, alone, penniless. Youngaje had been helpful but something about the glint in his eyes made Woohyun ponder.

Youngjae had looked harmless for the most part, but when coupled with Sungjong, he seemed to have a strange power over the younger.

He didn’t look exceptionally excited when I mentioned Youngjae’s name. Only plain recognition had flitted across his eyes, nothing more. And maybe even pain.

Woohyun started to feel uncomfortable – he had seen the marks, yet he had left him there. He could have done something about it if he had stayed longer; he could have actually found out what was going on and helped Sungjong. At any rate, he could have at least been by Sungjong’s side. In the short moment, he had felt a connection with the young boy.

Is it just me trying to reach out to everyone, or is there something else?

He recalled Sungjong’s face when he had apologized to him – the truth was, Sungjong probably wanted to believe, just like him. His heart churned more and he tried to push the thought away – he would come back to him once he met Sunggyu and put an end to whatever crazy idea that had made him run in the first place.

Almost automatically, he brought out the letter from his pocket. It had become a habit, to check the letter every few hours. It was as if he was trying to make himself believe that this was the reality.

No Sunggyu beside me.

As the pilot announced that they would land in Paris in half an hour, he considered how ironic it was that he had come to Paris alone when he had promised Sunggyu that the first time he would set foot in the romantic paradise would be with him. He had wanted to experience Paris with Sunggyu. Now Sunggyu was in Paris, he would be too, only not together.

You would have made this complete.

He braced himself for a lurch in his stomach as the plane began its descent. He had always been a little afraid of taking offs and landings; he would usually clutch Sunggyu’s arm during these times, now he clutched onto the letter.

When did it start, when did it happen, how did he come to mean so much?

Like a faraway shadow, he could see Sunggyu admiring one of the paintings at the exhibition. His eyebrows were knitted together in concentration and he held up one slender finger to his lips, watching with unblinking eyes. Woohyun liked to claim that it was well after that first meeting, after getting to know him well did he eventually fall in love with him. But a part of him knew that he had fallen in love the moment he had locked eyes with him – love at first sight, as many times he had refuted its existence, was very much real.

“Thank you for flying with us.”

Woohyun broke out of his reverie and quickly relieved the overhead compartment form his overnight bag. As he looked out of the window, he could see parts of the tarmac.

I’m in Paris.

He couldn’t believe he had crossed continents. But even more burdening was the fact that Sunggyu had more than a day of head start and he could be anywhere in the city.

Heck, he could even have caught a train to another city…

For now, his mission looked hopeless. But if there was one thing about Woohyun, it was that he didn’t know how to give up. He laughed in the face of despair and as he shouldered his bag, the Parisian air hitting his face as a way of greeting, he knew he wasn’t about to stop now.

I will find you.

At the airport, he was hindered by his lack of proficiency in French. But once he checked out successfully, he didn’t waste any time catching a taxi to the hotel he had booked from Shanghai airport.

“Bonjour Monsieur,” the driver greeted him cheerfully and started to talk rapidly in French. Woohyun tried to interrupt once, making it clear that he couldn’t understand a word he was saying but the driver wouldn’t let him. At last he gave up, and since the driver didn’t seem to mind his lack of response, he simply stared out of the window, planning his next move.

Let’s see, shower and dinner.

Admittedly, he didn’t have any idea how to proceed from there. Sunggyu was somewhere in the city, and he wasn’t aware of Woohyun’s being here. But that didn’t make finding him any easier.

I wish I had someone to talk to…

Kibum’s name whipped into his mind – he had forgotten about calling his friend. So Kibum didn’t even know that he was in a completely different country. Trying not to think about how mad he would be for not contacting him for this long, he decided that the first thing he would do after he reached the hotel was to call his friend.

He is my only comfort now.