Chapter 5

Author’s POV

Arriving at the airport, Kris jumped out of his car and ran as fast as he could inside. It was crowded and not much space for him, so he used his long legs to dash through the mass. There was not a second to lose, he thought. He reached the large signs where it said which plane was going where and from which gate it departed. A heavy feeling drained his heart as he saw that Heather’s gate was on the other side of the airport. Going on a reserved amount of energy, Kris caught his breath before running off again. His heart pounded violently in his chest because he couldn’t think about anything else than missing that plane, missing the girl he loved so deeply. Tears flooded from his eyes, though were dried off quickly due to the speed he went at. Suddenly, he thought he might’ve heard his own name, yelled from afar. But there were lots of people named Kris in this country, could he stop and risk missing the plane in case it was someone he knew who called? When he heard it again, Kris was sure it had to be his name. He slowed down to come to a full stop in a matter of a second, and turning around; Kris looked for the person calling his name. He couldn’t see anyone he recognised. “,” he cursed, ready to dash off again.

“Wu Kris? Is that you?” Kris turned his head again. An Asian looking boy stood in front of him. “I’m Jongin,” the other one explained, smiling. Kris took a moment to collect himself.

“Jongin? Oh... Hi. I’m sorry I gotta run! Heather’s plane-” Jongin’s smile broadened.

“It’s all right. You don’t have to worry. She’s fine,” Jongin said in an assuring tone. Kris furrowed his thick eyebrows together. “Luhan found her in the gate. He explained everything to her and...”

“What?” Kris urged on, demanding knowledge about the situation.

“They’re talking. All three of them. Ai Li, Mi Na and Heather...” Jongin began to chuckle. To Kris, it sounded like a chuckle of relief, out of happiness. “They have already bonded and act like sisters, like we thought they would.” Kris felt the weight lift off his shoulders as he sank down into a hunching position, holding his head with his big hands. A couple of tears left his eyes and Kris could’ve sworn he’d never been more relieved or thankful in his entire life. He rose to his feet, pulling Kai into a tight hug, crying steadily on the almost stranger’s shoulder. But were they really strangers? No, how could they be that? Kris let go of Jongin, smiling brightly at him.

“It’s nice meeting you, Jongin,” he said, holding out his hand. Jongin took it.

“Nice to meet you as well, Kris,” he replied. “Come on, let’s go back to the others! I’m sure Luhan wants to meet you too.” He led the way, Kris walked slightly behind him. It seemed as though Jongin and run after Kris for quite a while since it took some time before Kris could see the face he’d longed to see. He smiled with ease in his heart. Another ‘stranger’ walked up to them. Kris assumed it was Luhan and therefore didn’t hesitate to dive in for a hug, something Luhan thankfully welcomed; a light laughter escaped his mouth at the same time.

“Hi, Kris. I’m Luhan but I guess you’ve already figured that out,” Luhan laughed. Kris nodded. “Heather is over there,” Luhan said, pointing at three figures that were seated a bit further away. Kris smiled at the three girls who were eagerly speaking with one another, tears shining on their cheeks but they weren’t sad, for once.

“I’ve never seen her that happy,” Kris commented. Luhan and Jongin also turned around. They wore smiles just like Kris.

“I said the same about Mi Na,” Jongin said. Luhan nodded his head in agreement. The three girls laughed in unison and all three of them looked up at their boyfriends, smiling at them. “Where they talking about us?” Jongin wondered.

“Surely,” Luhan replied. The three guys lifted their hands to wave when suddenly, the girls got up on their feet. Each of them walked up to their own boyfriend and exchanged glances with each other before all three placed kisses on their boyfriends’ cheeks.

“We want...” Heather started.

“To say thank you,” Mi Na continued.

“And we love you,” Ai Li finished. The three guys looked at one another.

“We love you too,” they said in unison, although each of them said it in their own language. As each couple hugged each other, the three guys, somewhere in their hearts knew that this friendship was crucial to all their lives. Although they’d managed to change themselves as much as each other, all six of them felt like life for once had smiled at them. To the girls, their boyfriends’ love and care for them had been proved to be stronger than any of them thought. While the guys understood that sometimes you don’t have to do everything by yourself. It’s always good to seek whenever you feel distressed. Even a stranger that you’ve never talked to before can be a great help and provide you with answers that you wouldn’t have come up with on your own.

“How about we go home to our apartment and cook dinner together? I think our boyfriends deserve a little treat,” Heather suggested. The other two girls nodded their heads.

“Definitely,” they replied. All six walked out from the airport and whilst the foreign couples got into a taxi, Kris and Heather got into their car. During the ride, Kris could finally apologise to Heather for his behaviour and she could apologise for hers.

“Do you think we can start over?” Kris wondered as he pulled over by their building. Heather smiled and took his hand in hers.

“Absolutely,” she said, giving him a quick kiss before they got out of the car. “Hey guys. Why don’t you take a walk around the park or something while we fix the food?”

“Sure,” Luhan and Jongin answered. Heather grabbed the other two girls’ hands and dragged them up the stairs to the apartment. Kris began to lead the way down to the park that lay not too far from the building.

“So, that went sort of splendid, don’t you think?” Luhan said. Jongin nodded and Kris chuckled.

“Yeah. It couldn’t have gone better than that. I’m really grateful that you managed to stop her from boarding that plane... I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it,” Kris said.

“Don’t mention it,” Jongin responded. “It was the least we could do. It’s actually kind of funny because Luhan and I spotted her almost at the same time and just ran up to her and blurted out all the information at once. I think she got scared at first, but then when we gathered all three of them and told them what they had in common...”

“They frankly burst out in tears and hugged each other,” Luhan continued. “You should’ve seen it. It was rather...fantastic to watch.”

“I bet...” Kris mumbled. “I wish I could’ve been there.” They stopped by a bench at sat down, looking out over the park. People passed them; mothers with their children, businessmen who were late for a meeting, elders who just enjoyed the fresh air. All of them passed the three guys that a few days ago had ever dreamed of meeting. Yet they were friends already.

“It’s strange to see all of these people and not wanting to be one of them,” Luhan suddenly spoke.

“Yeah, it really is,” Jongin complied.

“Though it feels great to actually want to be yourself too. I mean, I wouldn’t want to change anything. Or well, perhaps that I fell asleep...” Kris lowered his head. “That was really stupid of me.” He felt Jongin’s hand on his shoulder.

“She doesn’t blame you for it. You were emotionally drained for God’s sake. It’s not like you did it on purpose to hurt her. None of us ever wanted to hurt them. It just got out of control for us. We couldn’t handle it. That’s why they now have each other; because they can handle it.”

“Isn’t that amazing when you think about it? What we have tried to do – make them feel better – for years, they managed to make happen in a few minutes?” Luhan said.

“How long will you be staying here by the way?” Kris asked. “I just wonder since we might need to change some things in our apartment to fit four other people haha.”

“Uh... I booked two one-way tickets...” Luhan admitted cheekily.

“Yeah... Me too. Is there any way that we can stay here for a while? I don’t want to leave unless Mi Na is one hundred percent happier,” Jongin inquired in a worried but sincere tone.

“Of course. We’ll make it work somehow. It shouldn’t be too difficult. I mean... The girls can sleep in our bed I think and then we’ll just have to fit somewhere in the living room!”

“That sounds good.” Jongin and Luhan smiled. The three of them looked out over the park again. Each thinking