01 We Keep This Love In A Photograph
Jongin/female!Kyungsoo (feat. Oh Sehun and Han Kangwoo)
drama/slice of life, g. 2471 words.
Prompt 1: "I didn't marry the woman I should have married." "What happened?" "We got in a big fight. Then the war came."
Soundtrack: Photograph by Ed Sheeran
Dedicated to Threyna because she threw those HONY prompts at me. I hate you.

2003.

Writer Han Kangwoo has been sitting in this quiet and empty bakery cafe for two hours as he struggles to come up with a basic storyline for his next (hopeful) best-seller. He's been in his corner since two in the afternoon, and although he knows he should be going home soon -- it's almost four, and he has to be home by six in time to help out mom prepare for dinner -- he could not bring himself to leave. Not just because he felt comfortable in his own little world in his corner of the cafe, but because he promised his editor he would get something out, even if was just a basic storyline, by the end of the day.

"This isn't working," Kangwoo berates himself mentally as he groans and slams his pen on the table. "I could really use some inspiration right now, heck, maybe I could even write about the next person who comes into the cafe."

As if on cue to answer his silent prayers, a small bell chime and a soft woosh of air signals the opening of the doors to the cafe, and Kangwoo looks up to see who might be his inspiration for his next novel.

The person who walks in is a man who seems to be in his early sixties. What surprises Kangwoo is that the only telltale signs of the man's age is that jet black hair slightly combed back and peppered with gray streaks, and the fine lines and wrinkles around his eyes. The man is slightly tanned, he notes, and is dressed in a simple cream-colored button up paired with midnight blue slacks. He can tell the elder was once a dashing young man who paid careful attention to his health over the years. Kangwoo sees that he is as youthful and as roburst as ever, his movements quick yet refined, and he is suddenly interested in knowing the lifetime that the man has seen in the years before.

Kangwoo silently observes the younger man that follows after the elder -- a chestnut brown-haired boy in his teens, dressed in an oversized shirt with English print on the front, comfortable jeans and a backpack haphazardly slung over his shoulder -- and finds out that he is the elder's grandson, Sehun. He knows, because he hears the man address him as "Sehun-ah" softly as they settle down at a table near the door, and the boy responds with "What do you need, gramps?". The exchange is soft in volume, yet it was loud enough for Kangwoo to hear from his corner of the cafe. He watches as Sehun animatedly chats with the elder for a while before heading to the counter to place their orders.

Sehun orders an iced cappucino to go, while he orders a hot Americano and some bagels for his grandfather. When their orders arrive, Sehun hurriedly stands up from his seat, and grabs his backpack from the chair beside him. He hurriedly tells his grandfather 'I have to go, gramps, I still have cram school in a bit, I'll tell mom where you are but keep your phone on too,' and gives the elder a quick yet heartfelt side hug. Kangwoo can tell from this exchange that the two men are close with each other, and he briefly wonders if Sehun was the first-born grandson.

Kangwoo waits until Sehun has left the cafe, stuffing his things into his half-open messenger bag, and makes his way towards the elder's table. He wills away his nervousness at having to approach a man several decades older than him, because he thinks he may have the story he is looking for.

"Um, excuse me, ajusshi," Kangwoo starts softly, bowing a little as the elder looks up to meet his gaze. "I know this may be rude, but would it be alright for me to sit with you and, um, talk?"

The man raises a brow questioningly as he takes a sip of his coffee, and Kangwoo feels he needs to explain more. "I-I'm Han Kangwoo and I'm a writer. I'm actually looking for inspiration for my next novel, and I j-just thought that m-maybe you'd have something to share."

A moment of silence passes between them as the elder regards Kangwoo with a steady gaze, and Kangwoo feels as if he might melt under the elder's stare. He secretly hopes he wouldn't be disappointed, and that the man would allow him to stay with him even if just for a little while. After what seems to be an eternity, the man finally gives him a small nod and motions for him to sit down. Kangwoo's lips curl into a grateful smile, and he bows again as he thanks the elder for his time and takes a seat across him.

"Kim Jongin," the elder man murmurs. "Just call me Jongin."

Kangwoo shifts in his seat slightly as he takes in the information, shocked that someone he just met, someone several years older than him would ask to be called his first name already. Jongin gives him a small smile in return -- the first genuine smile Kangwoo's seen on the elder's face ever since he stepped into the cafe -- and nods again. "It's alright, Kangwoo-ssi," he assures. "I think I would be more comfortable if we were to talk as friends, and I'll be able to share more with you if I were more comfortable."

"Then call me Kangwoo, Jongin. Let's be friends as you like."

The two start talking about their interests as Kangwoo prepares his tape recorder, notebook and pen, ready for a few more hours of heartfelt talks. He stops as he remembers to give his mother a call, and lets her know that he would be coming home a little later than usual. 

With everything set and prepared and with no distractions, Kangwoo thinks he is ready to listen to what Jongin has to say.

Kangwoo is surprised when Jongin tells him he is actually in his seventies, and Kangwoo blurts out rather carelessly, 'Are you serious? You don't look your age!' to which Jongin just laughs sheepishly and says he has indeed been trying to keep himself healthy through the years by dancing and eating in moderation. As they get to know each other more, Kangwoo discovers that Jongin actually hasn't married at all, that Sehun was actually his younger sister's grandson. Kangwoo feels he is close to the story that Jongin truly wants to tell him, and presses on, hoping that the older man wouldn't be afriand to tell him more.

"So you haven't married at all?" Kangwoo asks, scribbling a few notes in his notebook. He halts as he watches Jongin pause for a few seconds, a sad smile playing on the elder's lips as he reaches for his wallet in his back pocket. Jongin pulls out a photo from the wallet, the paper already slightly yellowed from decay and dog-eared. It had obviously seen and lived through several years with its owner.

The elder man stares at the photo -- Kangwoo detects a little hint of love in this gaze -- before he turns it and pushes it towards Kangwoo. Accepting the photo, he takes a closer look and gasps as he realizes what the contents of the photo are.

Looking right back at him in black and white is a younger Jongin in his twenties, dressed in traditional Hanbok, and seated next to a woman dressed similarly. What surprises him the most is that he sees the same doe eyes, heart-shaped lips and soft features as he does, in the woman next to Jongin.

"The main reason why I agreed to speak to you, Kangwoo," Jongin starts, breaking him out of his reverie. "Is because you looked like my fiancée, Do Kyungsoo. You reminded me so much of her." Kangwoo remains silent, as if to urge the elder to go on. Jongin takes this as his cue, and continues sharing his story to the younger.

"That was back in 1950. Kyungsoo and I were twenty at that time we were supposed to get married. Our families had been long-time friends before then, so we pretty much grew up together." Jongin stops briefly to take another sip of his coffee, and offers a bagel to Kangwoo, who gratefully accepts. "We were happy with knowing our families engaged us to marry, because we were already familiar with each other."

"But why didn't you get married? Did something happen?" Kangwoo voices the question slowly, fearing what he would hear. He runs his fingers over the photo slowly, as if to burn the image into his skin's memory, as he awaits a response from Jongin.

Jongin sighs as he runs his hands down his face before they landed to rest on the table. "Well, yes. We had a huge fight. Before we could make up with each other, the Korean War started, and our families were separated. Mine fled to Japan because we had relatives there, but we never really knew where the Do family went." Kangwoo watches the elder's hands clench into a loose fist, and at that moment, he feels nothing but sadness, pain, and sympathy for him.

"Soo-ah, how many times do I have to say no?" Jongin whines exasperatedly as he turns to his fiancée, who has her arms crossed and her lips pouted in disappointment.

They've been over this conversation at least a hundred times now. There was no way they were going to have that many guests for their wedding, because they were keeping things budgeted in preparation for yet another possible war. Things were very unstable, the future felt bleak and insecure, but Jongin and Kyungsoo felt they owed it to their families, that they should at least get married and stay together through it all.

"Jongin, you promised we would have a big wedding and we could invite a lot of guests!" Kyungsoo protested, her expression turning into a frown, and Jongin hated seeing that frown on her beautiful face. He made a move to reach for her and to envelop her in a hug, but Kyungsoo was having none of it. Swatting his arm away, she gives him a little 'hmf', to which Jongin groans inwardly yet again.

"Kyungsoo, we can always have a second ceremony later, when things get settled down, and we can invite everyone we can have over to the wedding. Everything's really unstable right now, and we're really just rushing to get married so we can be together through these tough times --"

Kyungsoo cuts him off with a sharp remark. "But that's precisely what's wrong, Jongin. What if we never get to invite everyone we want to have over at our wedding? What if things go wrong and we won't see them anymore?"

Jongin never really liked his fiancée's negativity at times, but he had to admit that she made a point. One that hurt and made too much sense to ignore, given the circumstances surrounding their country at the moment. With a deep breath, he tried to move closer to her, to try and reassure her that everything would be okay. Kyungsoo kept avoiding his grasp. It frustrated him to no end, and he really didn't have the patience for this.

"I love you so much, Soo," Jongin's voice is just slightly above a whisper, yet loud enough for Kyungsoo to hear."But if that's what you want, I don't want to do this anymore. Let's just not get married anymore, Soo."

Kyungsoo lets out a soft gasp in response, but does not say anything else. Jongin turns to give her one glance, one look that spoke of his hurt, sadness, and love for her, before he turned around to leave the room. Kyungsoo does not have the heart to stop him from leaving.

Neither of them knew it would be the last time.

As Kangwoo sits there, slowly absorbing what Jongin has just told him, he feels his heart clench in pain for the couple that could have been. He returns the photo to Jongin, who accepts it and stares at the photo lovingly.

"I've loved her all my life, Kangwoo, and I could never ever see anyone else but her. This is the only remaining photograph I have of us together." Jongin murmurs through the silence. "When we came back to Korea  a few years after the war ended, God knows how long and how much we tried to search for the Do family. We asked everyone we knew, we went around to government offices to ask for their whereabouts, but we could not find a trace of her and of her family."

"Would you happen to have an idea if she ever left the country as your family did?" Kangwoo poses the question to Jongin, and the elder contemplates it for a while, before shaking his head.

"I don't think so, Kangwoo. They never spoke of having family or relatives outside Korea, but I do know they did have another family friend in the Philippines. If they did get there, how they got there, I really don't know."

Their heartfelt talk is interrupted as Kangwoo's phone rings. It is his mother requesting him to come home, and he realizes that it is almost seven in the evening. Kangwoo thinks the elder man had shared enough for the day. This was his cue to begin closing things and say goodbye, and maybe save the next conversation for the next time they're in the cafe at the same time. He thanks Jongin for the time, to which Jongin responds with a genuine smile and a strong handshake, as he stands up to see Kangwoo off.

Something bothers Kangwoo at the back of his mind, though, as he walks towards the door. He turns around to look at Jongin, who is still watching him.

"Jongin, when was Kyungsoo's birthday?" Jongin looks at him in confusion, but answers him anyway. "Uh, January 12. We're just two days apart, I'm on the 14th. Why?"

Kangwoo feels his lips slowly curve into another smile as everything falls into place.

"Let's meet up again next week, Jongin. I'll take my grandfather's cousin with me. I'm not sure if she's the same Kyungsoo you loved, but I know she changed her name when she left for the Philippines to protect herself and her family. Her name is Park Kyunghee, and her birthday is on January 12."

And for the first time in years, Jongin thinks his world is full of hope again.

Author's Note: OMFG I'M DONE!! But before y'all hit me with tomatoes, let me explain that I did a little research into the timeframe. The present time is 2003, when cafe bakeries just started out in South Korea, starting with Tous Les Jours as the pioneer. Jongin's actual age here would be 73, seeing as he was 20 when the Korean War started in 1950. DID I MESS UP MY MATH

Han Kangwoo, by the way, is the name of Kyungsoo's character in his upcoming drama It's Okay It's Love, hence the "looking alike" reference. And yes, it's possible to look like your grandfather's cousin. I'm not so sure what causes the jump in genetics, but, hey, it's genetics.

ANYWAY omfg what is this monster I have created omg 2471 words dfks; HOW WAS IT?? These prompts will be the death of my I swear THREYNA IS THIS A DEATH WISH But, um. Let me know what you think? :) Next in the works is another Kaisoo and a Baekyeol! ♥ Thank you for reading!! Comments will be very much appreciated!! I'm also on Twitter so you can tweet me your thoughts! and encourage me to write more lol @timelessnotes ♥
 

UPDATE (140824): This oneshot is the first of the two oneshots on my Hearts of Seoul: A Oneshot Collection series, and I've been mulling around the thought, but I just finally decided on this today. I've realized the stories can pretty much stand out on their own without being labeled as part of a oneshot series (and that I may discontinue this series someday), so I decided to post the two oneshots currently up on here as individual stories so that I could give each oneshot the equal attention that it deserves. I didn't delete the original story, though, because of all the wonderful comments and subscribers I've received on that story. Hope this setup would work just fine!