A knock sounded on the door. “Kyuhyun, are you ready to go?”

Kyuhyun quickly folded the letter, which he had spent the last fifteen minutes rereading over and over again.

The door opened slightly and Zhoumi popped his head in. “Kyuhyun?”

“Yes, I’m done.” Kyuhyun slotted the letter into an empty envelope and grabbed his canvas bag on the bed. He removed the bar ring from his right hand and pocketed it. He had thought of returning the ring to Sungmin together with the letter, but he decided against it. He needed the ring for courage.

“Were you… writing a letter?” Zhoumi reached out for Kyuhyun’s bag, but Kyuhyun tightened his hold on the strap, signaling that he doesn’t need help with just a bag.

“It’s for my parents. They will be worried.” Kyuhyun lied smoothly. The letter wasn’t purely for his parents; the latter half was addressed to Sungmin.

“Sure, you can pass it to Teukie hyung later.” Catching on Kyuhyun’s inconsequential persistence, Zhoumi dropped his arm.

“Yah, slowcoaches! If you two aren’t coming out now, I’m leaving you two behind!” Heechul shouted from the main door.

“Hyung! I never complained about all the time you spent looking at yourself in the mirror so far!” Zhoumi shouted back, earning a grunt from Heechul.

Kyuhyun smiled as Zhoumi stuck out his tongue mischieviously.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“It’s 1.50pm already. Are you sure you are not hungry, Kyuhyun? You should grab some lunch before your sister’s flight touchdown.” It was the fifth time Zhoumi was asking.  

Kyuhyun had been rejecting the lunch suggestion in hope that Sungmin would arrive soon. He had wanted to see Sungmin for the last time, but he was running out of time.

Where is he…

Kyuhyun looked towards the entrance again.

It would probably be easier to escape without Sungmin here.

Kyuhyun sighed, convincing himself that he could leave without seeing Sungmin.

“Okay… Lunch.” Kyuhyun got up slowly and dug for the letter in his canvas bag. Stuffing it in the exterior pocket, he ensured that half of the envelope was visible.

“Heechul hyung, we will go grab some food. Do you want anything?” Zhoumi turned towards Heechul while Kyuhyun fiddled with his belongings.

Heechul looked up from the phone. “It’s fine, I’ll wait here.”

“Heechul hyung, the letter is for my parents. Can you pass—remind me to pass it to Leeteuk hyung later?” Kyuhyun clutched his wallet tight.

Heechul nodded skeptically. It was the first time Kyuhyun addressed Heechul directly as ‘hyung’, but since Zhoumi was going to get lunch with him, he had hoped that Heechul would remember the letter when they found him missing. Somewhere deep down in his heart, Kyuhyun held on to that little hope that Sungmin would read his letter and save both him and Ahra in time.

Kyuhyun walked down the row of restaurants, shaking his head whenever Zhoumi suggested a restaurant. He deliberately took his time, considering some of the menus, to hide the fact that he had already planned to go to his old workplace. As they came to the end of the row, Kyuhyun’s heart thumped harder when he spotted the fast food joint he once worked at.

“I used to work there…” Kyuhyun masked it as a casual comment, pointing towards the fast food joint.

“Oh, do you want to eat there then?” Zhoumi smiled.

Kyuhyun nodded in reponse. He had successfully elicited the suggestion from Zhoumi.

Entering the almost-full restaurant, Kyuhyun scanned the place, looking for the ‘old colleague’ Jay had mentioned. He wasn’t even sure whether any of his colleages had continued to work here. It has been close to six years since his family moved out of Busan.

Moving towards the ordering counters, Kyuhyun frowned when he didn’t see any familiar faces among the staff. He would have to ask and bet on a name from his group of old colleagues.

“Have something you want to eat in mind?” Zhoumi asked as he studied the overhead menu boards.

“Set… A.” Kyuhyun randomly chose something off the board.

When it was their turn to order, Kyuhyun have yet to decide on a name to ask.

“Hello, what would you like to order, Sir?” The petite lady staff asked.

“One set A please…” Kyuhyun answered distractedly as he looked behind the counter, searching for his ‘old colleague again’.

To his frustration, he didn’t find someone he recognized. “Is—”

“Kyuhyun-ah!” A familiar voice called from the side. Turning his head, Kyuhyun saw his ‘old colleague’, one of his close friends in the past, now clad in a manager uniform. “Someone left a—”

Kyuhyun panicked, rushing over to hug his friend to shut him up. “It’s been so long, Junhyung! Sorry, can I borrow the toilet please?” He needed to get away from Zhoumi.

Junhyung eyed him puzzledly, but still smiled. “That urgent hur? Sure, follow me.”

Kyuhyun murmured a quick ‘thank you’ and turned to Zhoumi. “Can you collect the food for me? I will be back from the toilet soon.”

Zhoumi hesistated and pondered over why Kyuhyun had chosen to go to the toilet now. “Do you need me to go with you?”

“No!” Kyuhyun realized he denied a bit too agitatedly. He toned down his volume, “I will be back soon. Besides, I think the staff area is out of bounds for customers, right Junhyung?”

Junhyung blinked blankly until Kyuhyun nudged him. “Y-Yeah, I can only make an exception for ex-staff.”

“All right, shout for me if you… need my help, Kyuhyun. I will be right at that table.” Zhoumi pointed to an empty table at the side. He felt insecure to let Kyuhyun go alone, but Kyuhyun is an adult of legal age and have the rights to move freely around. He thought Kyuhyun might have just wanted some personal time to talk to his old friend.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Did someone leave a note for me?” Kyuhyun asked once they entered the staff area. He was too anxious to consider whether he was outside of Zhoumi’s hearing range. With the cover of the noise from the crowd, he hoped that this conversation went unheard.

“Yeah. It was weird because the guy was so sure you would drop by and left before I could reject.” Junhyung handed Kyuhyun a post-it note from his table.

A set of numbers. Phone number.

“Thanks. Can you help me with something, Junhyung?” Kyuhyun pushed the note deep into his pocket.

“Is something wrong, Kyuhyun? You were so weird just now.” Junhyung asked worriedly.

Kyuhyun gathered a weak smile. “Not really, but I’ve been trying to avoid that guy outside. He keeps harassing me. Can you stay here for a while and buy me some time while I leave by the back?”

“Harassing? Do you want me to call the police for you?” Junhyung frowned.

Kyuhyun waved his hands frantically. “No no. I need to meet someone else, but that guy doesn’t want to let me go. That’s all. Please, can you help me please?”

“Of course… It’s no big problem.” Junhyung was puzzled by the way Kyuhyun was begging for such an easy favour, but Kyuhyun was already running towards the back exit before he could ask.

“Thanks Junhyung! I will treat you to a meal next time…”

…if I make it alive.

Kyuhyun navigated his way towards the back exit. To his luck, he found the inner staff area the same after six years.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kyuhyun checked the time on the big digital clock as he sprinted towards the taxi stand outside the airport.

14:05.

He wondered if Sungmin was here already. Kyuhyun apologized profusely when he knocked into someone accidentally.

Throwing thoughts about Sungmin to the back of his mind, Kyuhyun jumped into a taxi, ignoring the passenger that had just gotten off and the protests from the others in the queue. He had to hurry. Zhoumi would realize he was missing soon.

“Sir—” The taxi driver stopped his words abruptly as Kyuhyun held out all the money in his wallet to him.

“Please. I’m in a rush.” Kyuhyun begged.

“Sure, where to, Sir?” It was the first time the driver saw someone in such a rush, but he wouldn’t say no to mon