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May, 2075

 

 

    The room is empty but for Lay, his mom, and the person lying on the bed. It's silent, the usual hospital atmosphere. But in this room, the silence speaks so loud that it deafens Lay to some extent.

    "Looks like we broke our promises... again." the person on the bed rasped out.
    
    "You have always been good at keeping promises. I guess we're old enough for things to be lenient for us, even just a bit." Lay's mom smiles, patting the other person's hand.

    "I'm sorry."

    It was silent again and Lay has this urge to get out of there; it's quite suffocating, hearing all these unsaid words. Yet he felt like the world is on his shoulders, pinning him on the ground he was standing on.

    "You know that no one was at fault." his mother says in a gentle voice. "We all had played our parts. Fate..."

    "Fate was cruel enough to give us that glance at happiness." the other person says. 

    "Fate was so giving that it gave us a chance to experience happiness. Don't be so negative about things. You weren't before, don't be now."

    "Reality made me realize how naive I was."

    "Reality hadn't always spoke the entire truth." she says. "What was important is we had learned, we had grown, and we were happy."

    "I'm glad... that you were happy." the other person rasped. "It was all I ever wanted."
    
    "Of course I was. Because I knew you were too." she smiled. She turned to look at Lay. "We were both happy."

    Lay had always known that his mother had been one of the most beautiful person in the world, inside and out. Seeing the contentment and happiness shining in her smile now, he's blown away once again; no words can ever describe how beautiful the way she was looking at him at the moment.

 

~0~0~0~

 

 

December, 2018

 

 

    "Oh my gosh! Look at the busiest woman in the world! You made it!" Amber all but tackled Aleni into a hug. "I thought you we're too busy for the homecoming!"

    "The flight back to main office got cancelled. The manager in this branch had to have an emergency leave so they are assigning me here in the meantime." Aleni laughs as her best friend lets her go. "How have you been? I heard you've opened up another branch, that's good."

    "Not as good as someone here who had been rising up the company ladder so fast it's like a rocket!" Amber teases. "But yeah, things are going great. Henry's got me a good deal and I'll be settling here for while to supervise until the branch is stable enough. Good timing, right? We'll be hanging out more now, after years and years of webcam chats! Finally!"
    
    "Hey! We're here on business!! We're not just going to hang out!" Aleni chides, but she laughs anyways.

     It's the annual homecoming and everyone is in festive mood, what with the holiday season on the air.

    The two of them made rounds, laughing and catching up with friends and ex-schoolmates. Amber was loud as always, but it's alright since Aleni had been away for far too long and all the video chats and calls can never make up for really hanging out with her best friend.

    Everything was going fine and dandy... until she bumped into the person that she had been both dreading and excited to see.

    "Have you been drinking everything Amber was giving you?" Suho smiled.

    Aleni was dazed at first, wondering how he looked the same even after five years. She had to physically shake her head to clear it off.

    "Uhm, no. I wasn't drinking. Just a little clumsy, as always." she smiles through the nervous beating of her heart. 

    How long has it been? Amber was too busy to keep track of everyone, even with the person who Aleni would have loved to hear from the most. She had practically heard nothin about Suho in the last... four years. Or was it five?

    "I... didn't expect to see you here. I mean, not that I'm not happy to see you, because I am! It's just that--"

    "I got assigned here for the meantime." she cuts him off with a smile because he's so cute when he's flustered, and gosh she shouldn't even be calling him cute because they were both too old for teeneage romance. "I'm stuck her for a little while longer until everything gets settled. But enough about me, how are you? Is business good? You're not turning your family business into bankruptcy, right?"

    He smiles at the teasing. "My father would disown me if I did. But yeah, business is good. We've been trying to settle this deal with another company and I'm crossing my fingers that it would go well because that would mean a lot."

    "Well, you had always been good at what you do. I'm pretty sure you'd nail the deal."

    "Yeah? Thanks!" Suho grins, eyes turning into little slits.

    They settled onto a companionable silence, just observing as a little activity for the alums started.

    "You know, I... I honestly didn't know you were in town." he says. "So I couldn't even call or anything."

    "I arrived just a couple of days ago, and I haven't really told anyone apart from my family and some friends. I wasn't going to stay that long so I didn't really see the benefit of announcing my arrival with fanfare."

    Suho chuckles at he playful tone, "I didn't count as a friend?"

    Aleni went silent for a few moments, "I... I didn't really know what to expect. It's been five years, Suho."

    "And I get demoted to 'Suho' again. I'm not Joonmyun anymore?"

    Aleni looked at him, a little flustered. "Hey, I didn't mean it like that! I'm sorry!"

    Suho grins, "Really?"

    "Really! Of course you're still a friend!" Aleni insisted. And if she could even be more honest, he was more than a friend. Had always been. Maybe always will be.

    "Then make it up to me." he teases. "How about lunch with me tomorrow?"

    Aleni ignored that same sensation of her heart galloping wildly whenever Suho smiles at her, "I can't. I've got an important meeting tomorrow."

    "Too bad." Suho sighs. "Oh crap, I just forgot that I also have a lunch meeting tomorrow."

    Aleni laughs at the expression on Suho's face. "See? You could have gotten yourself in trouble."

    "How about the next day?" Suho asked insistently.

    "It's the 24th, Suho. I'm going to stay with the family. You should too, it's Christmas." she tells him with a grin.

    Something passed through Suho's face, the smile momentarily turning into that of a shock as if he had just realized something. 

    "Are you okay?" she couldn't help but ask. 

    "Uh, yeah! Yeah! I just... I just remembered something. You were right. I should spend it with the family." Suho's smile is back again.

    Aleni frowns though, that smile didn't reach his eyes as it usually does.

    Amber interrupted the two of them and dragged Aleni away. Aleni tried to look for Suho later into the night, but he was gone.

    She must admit, she was disappointed. She might have just missed him a little too much.

    The next day though, she's got the most pleasant surprise she'd ever had in a long while.

    Suho was the one she had lunch meeting with.

    "Looks like fate is playing with us." he smiles at her across the conference table.

    "Looks like it." she agrees. But now is not the time for pleasantries with old friends, who were more than friends! They were on a business meeting and Aleni had always been strict with her work ethics; she leaves her personal life at home.

    "My colleague, Mr. Kim Minseok, is just retrieving some more files, and the first draft of the contract. He will be arriving soon." she tells Suho.

    "That's fine. It means I get to chat with you for a little longer."

    Aleni smiles but didn't say a word, she kept telling herself that she is a professional and personal things can wait until she's out of the office. Luckily, Minseok arrived a few minutes later and the meeting began. Fortunately, Suho kept his professional front, and Aleni felt just a tad bit relieved.

    "We don't have any other appointments today, right?" Minseok asked as they gathered their documnets, the meeting taking just a few hours.

    "I don't think so. Why? You've got anything in mind?" Aleni grins. Minseok and her got close when he was sent abroad as well by the company, a year and a half after Aleni did. Being rookies, they stuck with each other and hence became almost inseparable.

    "I'm craving for some Chinese. What do you say?"

    "Sure. I'll just call home to tell them I would be out for dinner." Aleni says, thanking Minseok when he carried her document bag, which was really heavy to be honest; she should have her files saved in flash drives, carrying too much documents around is a hassle.

    "You two are dating?" Suho suddenly asked.

    Aleni was startled to hear his voice, turning so abruptly to face him that it felt like a whiplash. She thanked the heavens that Minseok was already out of the conference room. She wouldn't have known to explain to him why their client, Mr. Kim Joonmyun, CEO, was asking her such a personal question.

    "Dating?"

    "Yeah."

    It's a little disconcerting hearing that blank tone in his voice. The only time she had heard it before was when she broke the news on him about her leaving.

    "We... we are just friends." she amended. Somehow, a hope inside her comes to life. Was Suho acting... jealous? Could that mean that he... "We used to eat dinner out a lot before. It was a little reprieve from work. I guess it had become a habit."

    Suho stayed silent, his face stoic as he kept looking at Aleni. It's making her a little uncomfortable to be honest. She doesn't know what to think. The two of them may have had a sort of understanding years ago, but then again, things change. She doesn't know what to expect. She doesn't know how much have remained between him and her, if there was still a him and her; or even if it was still worth it to hold on to him and her.

    "Aleni? Are we going?" Minseok peeked through the door, eyes wide in question. "Is everything okay...?" he asked, entering the room once again as he took the silence between Aleni and Suho.

    "Uh, yeah. Yeah. We were just discussing about something. Let's go now. I know you're starving." Aleni smiled at Minseok and proceeded for the door. She turned a little towards Suho and gave him a wan smile, "I'll see you again, Mr. Kim, once the contract is finalized. Have a good night."

    She thinks she heard Suho say goodbye as the door closes.

    "What was that?" Minseok asked as they went for his car.

    "What was what?" she feigned innocence. But who was she kidding? This is Minseok, practically the person who had replaced Amber's position as best friend when she was away.

    "Really, Aleni? Really?" Minseok raised a brow as they got into the car. "Who was he? And please don't tell me that he's just some client because we both know it's a lie."

    She sighs, "He's... kind of a friend."

    "Not an ex?"

    "No!" she retorted rather a little heatedly, only increasing Minseok's suspicions. "We weren't together... sort of...?"

    Minseok laughed at her. "You should see your face right now. It's so red it could pass for a traffic lighht."

    "Shut it, Kim." she warned.

    "But really, Aleni. I'm a man and I know how a man acts around someone who--"

    "We were never together, okay?" she sighs. "At least there was no offficial 'us'."

    Minseok's silence only meant that he wanted to hear the rest of the story. Aleni hates living in the past but she knows that Minseok won't stop until he hears everything.

    "Suho... we... we kind of had thing, back in high school. But then he had to leave for his studies so we couldn't be together even if we wanted to. When he came back, I had to leave for training, so... well, you could say that we never had the right timing."

    "And now?"

    "And now... I don't know. Things have changed. We're not kids anymore. I don't know."

    "Have you talked about it?"

    "I'm scared to talk about it." she admitted. "What if... what if we've have let go of our one chance by taking those planes? What if... what if our forever had already passed us by without us knowing because we were too busy making plans?"

    "Wouldn't it fair to the both of you if you talk things over?"

    "Maybe... but the truth is such a scary thing. Reality could sometimes be our worst nightmare."

    "Have a little faith, Aleni." Minseok says, reaching with his free hand and patting Aleni's  head like he's used to doing, "Besides, whatever happens, I'll always be here for you."

    Have a little faith. It's funny how she used to tell Suho those same words.

    "Thanks. You're really the best."

    "For you, I always try to be..."

    There was a peculiar look in Minseok's eyes, but Aleni was too lost in her own world that she brush it off as just the streetlights playing on Minseok's face.

 

~0~0~0~

 

    "Where are we going?" Aleni just have to ask because it's a freaking Thursday and the meeting with Suho was supposed to be on the next day.
    
    "Lunch? I thought we had already agreed with that." Suho smiles, helping Aleni inside the car before getting in after. "A friend told me about this restaurant that serves the best pasta. I was looking for someone to go with and I thought about you."

    "So you want me to go with you, for taste-testing?" she deadpans. "We haven't seen each other for five years, and the first meal you take me to is for taste-testing? That's low, Suho, just low."

    Suho laughs. The sound of it makes Aleni smile; she missed it. Terribly much.

    "I would have cooked a meal for you but I care too much that I won't risk you to food poison."

    The only thing she head was that part about him caring too much.

    They arrived at the restaurant a little while after, the whole ride full of sharing memories of their respective endeavours in life, sans the parts where they had to leave the other behind of course, that was a subject they both were not ready to put out in the open, at least not yet.

    "Wow, the food is really great." Aleni says as they were halfway through the pasta that Suho had been talking about. "Especially if you're paying."

    "You're such a cheapskate, you know that?" Suho chuckles.

     "You're the CEO here, I'm just a regular employee." she wiggles her brows cheekily.

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah." Suho shakes his head palyfully.

    The two of them continued with the meal, playful banter here and again. Aleni never thought she missed this that much. They never really had much time spent with each other back then, the two of them being forcefully separated by circumstances whenever things started making sense again. She couldn't help but wish that if fate would allow, they could finally have this, finally have each other after waiting and bidding their time for so long.

    Lunch and dinners were frequent ever since that first time Suho kidnapped her for a quick bite. Aleni could never been happier.

    There was no label, they weren't boyfriends or girlfriends. They were just... together, as simple as that. It might just be a word but it meant a lot, so much more.

    Suho makes her happy, and she could see by the way that Suho's eyes light up when they were together that she makes him happy too. After so long of waiting for the right time, she was so thankful that everything was finally getting back on it's track. It doesn't matter that they waited almost ten years for these things that had been going just in the past few months, no matter how tedious and unsure the wait was, they were living the life they had been dreaming of.

    "You're happy."

    "Huh?"

    "You're smile..." MInseok observed thoughtfully, "I have never seen you smile as brightly. You're happy."

    Aleni smiles even wider. "I am."

    "Is it because of--"

    "Yeah. I'd like to think so." Aleni nodded, going back to the papers on the table. Both of her and Minseok had this big deal to prepare for so they had to work on it throughly, bringing files even if they were eating on some cafe or somewhere. At least the atmosphere in this cafe is calming enough that it somehow soothes their tired brains.
    "I'm...glad. I'm glad that you are happy." Minseok says after a while.

    "Thank you." Aleni smiles up at him. "I am too..."

    For the first time in a long while, Aleni understands why people glow like they do when they have someone special. For the first time in a long while, she finally had the chance to fall in love.

 

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a/n: hello there!!! thank you for reading! we're halfway there so hold on justa little longer, okay? :)

please leave a comment because I'd really like to hear your thougts about this... X)