Junsu impatiently checked his silver watch for what seemed like the hundredth time since he had been waiting for more than an hour here at the Guangzhou Airport. He had gotten up at 4:30 am and was here by 6:00 am for his flight back to Seoul at 7:30 am- but it was nearly 10:00 am and he hasn’t even gone on board yet. “If only the snow storm hadn’t gone in and ruined my day.” He grunted as he sat down on an alloy, metallic chair and prepared to wait for another few hours.

            Even from when he had slid his curtain to see the weather outside, his eyes remained wide open as he looked down and frosted snow blocked the main road of the apartment he had lived in and it has caused severe traffic; making it nearly impossible for him to get there in time, and even for the flight to depart on time.

            His stomach growled and immediately regretted not having a light snack at least before leaving for the airport, assuming that he would be able to get on the plane as soon as possible and would enjoy some authentic Korean food back home. Junsu leaned forward to scramble through his gray, worn-out backpack to see if any snacks or even just some cheap candy would be able to fill his stomach before he would get on the plane and probably hope even for food to be served on a 7 hour and 3 minute flight or he would probably just cry like a kindergartener again.

            “Thank goodness.” He murmured in extreme relief as he found a container of a peanut butter sandwich he fortunately made the day before in which he should have eaten for breakfast. Junsu peeled out the poorly wrapped plastic that tightly secured the sandwich from any leaks of the peanut butter squeezed inside and devoured it like a predator eating his prey, only that he didn’t forget his manners and that no smears or left over peanut butter was left splattered on his cheeks and on the corner of his mouth.

            He had munched his final bites before he crumpled the plastic wrapper into a ball and walked over to throw it in the garbage can nearby. “I would probably be able to eat 10 more sandwiches and a 16 course meal before they would even start boarding passengers.” Junsu shrugged his shoulders before he sat down onto the cold seat and tiredly brushed his fingers against his chocolate brown hair.

            “Well.. I could probably listen to some music while waiting.” He thought to himself as he bolted up, remembering that he actually brought his iPod with him to the airport. Junsu shuffled for more than 8 times before he was satisfied to actually lay the music player down and be able to play an entire song without being cut off within the first few seconds. A joyful grin was plastered onto his face as he swayed his head gently from left to right as he was really going with the rhythm of the song.

            That was until a young woman in her 20’s came to hesitantly sit next to him, still irritable and uptight to shift his attention from the music even she could hear probably from a mile away. As he was too drawn into the music, Junsu has not felt her presence whatsoever, so far.

She had long, straight charcoal colored hair and dark brown eyes that shone against the rising sun. Her clothing was very simple yet was evidently feminine and preppy despite the harsh, cold weather that has kept most of Asia completely wrapped up in several layers of unwanted clothing.

            A pink scarf clearly stood out in her look; on the contrary, to the ebony colored winter coat and green pants she wore. The scarf circled around her neck and was long enough to be able to reach the bridge of her nose, with only her eyes, obviously visible and certain strands of hair sticking out from her red wine dyed beanie.

            It was only until the first song he had listened to and that the chorus of the second song he had listened to was when he had noticed that someone was already sitting next to him for the whole time. “I’m sorry.” Junsu muttered under his breath in heavily accented Chinese, nervous that he may have pronounced it bad enough for it to mean something totally different or instead offended her with a curse word.

            Instead, she looked at him with wide, shocked eyes and he couldn’t help but feel a sense of panic. “, my Mandarin skills are just horrible.” Junsu cursed to himself in his mind, obviously disappointed with what he had just said.

            “No, no- you don’t need to apologize. It’s just that you have an exceptional and outstanding accent for a foreigner.” She shook her head vigorously while she spoke in nearly perfect Korean, as she cheerfully smiled and took off her thick, wool scarf to be understood more.

            “Your Korean is definitely better than my comprehension in Mandarin, no doubt.” He answered with his mouth wide open in awe, supressing a harmonious giggle while he still attempted to sound more intelligent as he switched back to his native language.

            “I’ve never even been to Korea and my accent does sound out of place, in comparison to someone who’s lived here.” The young woman sweetly complemented him, even if it slightly sounded like she was teasing him at least as indirect for him to decipher for himself.

            “You probably just have a knack for languages. Well, I have been impolite for continuing this conversation without introducing myself. I’m Kim Junsu and I’m a sports journalist and photographer. And you are?” Junsu replied cheekily before he offered a hand out as part of his introduction to this Guangzhou native who probably speaks better Korean than he would speak Mandarin.

            “My name is Zhang Li Yin. Zhang Li Yin. I’m a part-time Korean teacher at a nearby college here in Guangzhou, but I’m mostly a full-time babysitter and kindergarten teacher. ” Li Yin gratefully accepted the handshake with a firm grasp, her eyes squinting slightly as wrinkles around the corners of elevated when she grinned.

            “And I believe you’re supposed to board on the same flight to Seoul as well?” He asked curiously, though a pang of regret hit him inside as he was probably crossing the line of what you should ask someone you met a few minutes before and in an airport of a foreign country he has only spent a year in.

            “Well I guess there’s only one flight to Seoul right now that would hopefully push forward- considering the horrible weather we have today.” She nodded and he even noticed how her hair bobbed around and moved with its light waves before she pointed out to the transparent windows which were covered in thick layers of snow.

            “It’s nice being able to talk to foreigners who have great interest in Korea, and speak Korean nearly fluently.” Junsu chirped contentedly before he looked up into the airport’s board vector that clearly spelled out “10:47 am”.

            “I think we’re finally boarding now.” Liyin stood up without delay and slung her navy blue purse above her shoulders as she heard the announcement of the speaker that was said quickly in Mandarin.

            “Thank goodness someone who speaks Mandarin is here to help me out.” He whispered under his breath with a sigh of relief as he stood up as well and tightly gripped on his carry-on to go through customs and finally go on board.

            “Did you say something? Is anything wrong?” She turned around skeptically, as soon as she heard him say something, though asked again since he could not fully comprehend what he had just said.

            “Oh no, no- It’s just the weather has finally been appropriate for us to travel, and I’m really appeased by it.” Junsu waved it off awkwardly with a very perplexed expression, still feeling the warmth of his ears and his cheeks.

            “I’m also glad we’re finally boarding. It was nice meeting you, and maybe I’ll see you again in the plane or in Seoul maybe?” Liyin asked while she took out all her required documents and her passport that has tucked in her purse, with a coy smile on her face.

            “It was nice meeting you too!” His voice echoed through the halls as he waved back and she returned it as gladly as he had, though some other passengers may have just glanced in a few seconds and ignored him once again.

            “Finally it’s time to get on the goddamn plane and fly back home. Seoul, wait for me- Kim Junsu is coming back.” Junsu smiled to himself as he watched the plane door and open as it connected it to its jet bridge. He stood up and walked towards the plane and quickly got into the plane enthusiastically.

….

Junsu had not been to Korea for more than 3 years, yet he still hopes that things back home aren’t as different as he feared they would be. He had left behind his younger sister Taeyeon, who was a year younger, all by herself, as their parents have been working overseas in Canada for more than a decade now.

It was a difficult decision for him to leave the comforts of your native motherland and fly off to a different country all by yourself, having to learn an entire new language and culture. The reason that made it so burdensome and painful for him to leave was to leave behind his younger sister who had no one else but him to rely on and vice versa.

Their parents had left for Canada when he was 14, letting their grandparents take care of them in their place as they would send funds to help raise them instead. Though their grandparents have been nothing more, but supportive and loving, he still felt the empty space left by their mother and father once in a while especially during their younger years. He knew Taeyeon was always a brave and optimistic child like he was, Junsu knew that Taeyeon missed their parents as much as he did.

The offer to fly to Guangzhou for an exchange student program at one of the top universities here in China came to him unexpectedly at the end of his freshman year where he has been taking Journalism as his Major, and had always had second thoughts whether to accept this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity or not.

He knew that Journalism was probably not one of the most profitable and high-end jobs in the career industry wherever he would go, but an internship abroad while in a 50% scholarship in China would certainly make his job resume look a lot more impressive compared to his competitors in the job market.

As a child, he was very athletic and was totally into sports, especially soccer. From sunrise to sunset in the summers, he’d be outside all day practicing his soccer skills from how to dribble and how to score. Junsu was determined that enough practice and pure passion would what would make him a step closer from achieving his dreams of becoming a soccer player.

He was always hailed as one of the most valuable players on the soccer team in elementary and in the beginning of secondary school. Junsu’s most hailed position was to be forward in the team other than doing as equally as well being a midfield and defense if needed. It was just that he shone the best when he was a forward and all his teammates could agree unanimously that it was his best position.

Junsu always seemed like he was just a step away from fulfilling his ambitions of becoming a soccer player in the future, that was until – a tragic accident had occurred to him. He was currently in the middle of a soccer game against a competitive high school around the same community during his sophomore year in high school, until he had unfortunately clashed into a defensive player from the other team and had fallen on bad terms, twisting his ankle severely and landing on his knee, which was patched with purple and blue bruises everywhere.

To him, it seemed as if everything else in the world was inevitable and that his life past this point was definitely ruined, crushed and over. Junsu had already been performing well and it was quite prominent that soccer has obviously been his forte, until this injury had happened to him. He was angry, very furious at first to that player who had caused him an entire soccer career, though later felt hopeless that everything had just gone to waste.

He had fallen unconscious shortly after the accident, and had woken up only a day after in the hospital, covered in a cast and rolls of bandages wrapped all around him. His sister and his grandparents had been there right beside them as he woke up, though not his parents. “How silly of me for them to fly all the way for some mere injury, they wouldn’t fly all the way home just for that.” He snarled to himself out of adversity, leaning back even if his back was numb and his spine felt like it could break any moment.

It took him exactly an entire month and a few days to fully recover and rest before he was sent back to school, though this time with extra precaution.  After 3 weeks of being confined in the hospital, he spent the following weeks resting and going through therapy on how to control his bones and muscles as smoothly as before the injury had happened.

During this time of hiatus and rest, however, it was when he realized he somewhat had a talent for writing and photography, not just for sports and soccer. He thought that even though his childhood of dream of being a professional soccer player was now close to impossible, he could possibly still be writing about soccer and sports alike.

As soon as he had graduated from secondary school, he knew that he would take Journalism as his college major and take it up for a degree, possibly even photography on the side as well, and was aware that this was his second chance to be able to do what he truly loved to do.

….

He was now in the plane, sitting down after he had tucked in his backpack and his carry-on luggage in the overhead lockers found above his seat. He sat by the blurry window, still covered in frosted ice and misted by fog as he looked out onto the skyline of Guangzhou.

            Junsu took off his winter coat and set it aside to be neatly folded underneath his seat, so that it could just be easily taken out in case it gets even colder as they start flying.

“It’s time to go home.” He sighed happily to himself as he buckled on the seatbelt onto himself and finally sat down.

Next to him by his left was an elderly lady, who was currently reading a book on how to properly cross stitch what he thinks is to be a stitched portrait of her grandchildren, with all the supplies needed scattered on her lap. She seemed quite kind and welcoming to him instead of just merely ignoring him, especially since she generously offered to switch seats with him and offer him the window view instead.

Behind him however was a bunch of rowdy and abruptly children who were currently wailing and having their own sets of tantrums. In fact, there were 4 of them, all ranging within the ages of 2 to 5, with their parents struggling to take care of all of them and were all trying to keep a grasp on at least each of them.

“Well, it looks like I’ll never have more than one child.” Junsu scorned to himself as he quickly peeked at the children behind him and gave them a brief glare of disdain and ridicule, obviously not satisfied with the chaos he has to put up to for the next few hours on board.

Straight away, he instead attempted to distract himself by listening to music the airplane’s own music radio station played, and plugged his earphones into the socket. Even with the Girl’s Day and the B.A.P music playing, it still irritated him that the main chorus and most of the verses would be interrupted by more sobbing and screeching.

He gruelingly took out the earphones from his ears as he noticed that the food was starting to be served and even he himself could hear his stomach growl and grumble this very moment. The very attractive stewardess had approached him with a polite smile and asked. “Would you like chicken or beef, sir?” She asked.

“I would like some chicken, please and thank you.” Junsu replied simply, before he took in the tray for himself, which also contained a silverware spoon, fork and a pair of chopsticks.

He quickly finished his meal and then quickly set it aside after he had heard that they were reaching an hour before landing back in Seoul.

Yawning, he stood up to go to the bathroom for a quick wash and brush his teeth before he sees his grandparents, his sister and possibly his or her friends who wanted to come along and see him after all those years. “I doubt they’d even want to see me.” Junsu frowned to himself as he walked back to his seat slowly, but was stopped suddenly as a light yet secure grip on his wrist held him back.

“Hey it’s nice to see you again. Is there anything wrong?” A familiar figure greeted him as he was swiftly stepped in his spot and looked down to see Liyin enthusiastically spoke to him. “It’s nice to see you again. I believe you’re with your friends?” He replied as he looked around and noticed a pair of feminine looking girls cheekily chatting next to her.

“They’re more of acquaintances who go to the same college as I do and are going to Korea as part of the cultural exchange program we have. Well we’ll be landing in less than half an hour; I’ll catch up with you later.” Liyin rambled casually until she pats him on the shoulder gently before he nodded and walked away to his seat.

“I hope you won’t mind me asking, but is that your girlfriend?” The old lady whispered to him secretly as he sat down and responded with a nervous laugh. “I only met her a few hours ago, miss.” Junsu shook his head politely while he was attentively looking at Liyin herself.

“I think the two of you look good together, why don’t you ask her out then? Both of you would be an attractive young couple and a very courteous one too!” She lightly as a joke before she continued cross stitching what seemed to be a young couple that eerily resembled the Liyin and him.

Junsu couldn’t help but simper coyly and his cheeks turn red in embarrassment and slight affection for her. He couldn’t deny it and lie to himself that he did like Liyin, and would like to know her even better.

….

Afterwards, they had landed in Seoul by 2:47 pm local time and have encountered the same weather problem as in Guangzhou due to the glistening ice and the slabs of snow that made it slippery and precarious for the plane to land safely and be able to deport all passengers.

Junsu had worn his backpack after he slung the straps over his shoulders and held on his carry-on luggage before he looked forward to see if Liyin was still there and that it would be a perfect opportunity to keep talking to her. He glanced twice to see if she was nearby enough for him to catch up to her, but it seemed like it was too late for him to find her now.

He strolled off the plane and towards the jet bridge that was connecting towards the airport. Even through all the swarms of people, he couldn’t find Liyin even if he had to personally look at each of the passengers that surround him.

Even after he had got past all the crowds of fellow passengers and had reached to point where relatives of the passengers were able to pick them up, his efforts of finding his newly found confidant had gone to nothing.

“Hey, oppa – Don’t tell me you’re lost even in your own native airport!” A feminine voice that rang in his ears quickly left a feeling of familiarity, until he immediately recognized who was speaking to him and could not help but feel at peace since it felt even more like he was at home.

“Taeyeon, I haven’t seen you in so long. Have you grown taller when I was gone?” He jumped in joy as he embraced his sister tightly and she responded with an equally tense hug.

“I don’t think you have grown at least an inch either. You should have gone home earlier from last semester!” Taeyeon retorted as she lightly smacked her older brother on the arm and crossed her arms.

“Some of the subjects I needed to be able to graduate weren’t available till the next semester, which is why I have only flown back home now. I also was able to get a discount this time with the airline I flew with, since my friend at the dorm works there part-time.” Junsu flinched back as he attempted to dodge the slap from his sister, and kept making excuses why he was not able to return back home earlier.

“All that matters is that you’re back home safe. I’m also sorry we weren’t able to make it for your graduation for the course, since I couldn’t take at least even a day-off leave during that month – since everyone else took that day.” She sulked disapprovingly as they walked towards the conveyor belt that was blocked by some relatives of other passengers who were still wailing in worry.

“It’s alright, not many people were there anyway. It’s just an internship, so don’t worry. You won’t believe how long I had to wait in the airport till we were able to board, I nearly fell asleep.” He replied busily as he kept a keen eye until he spotted his maroon luggage that was clearly labelled with a thick, black marker that spelled out “KIM JUNSU”.

“Even Yoochun, Jessica, Yunho and Yoona had tried to see you arrive as well, but the traffic and the massive amounts of snow had said otherwise. It was surprisingly bumpy and difficult to get here and I had to take an entire route I’ve never drove in just for you, so you better be thankful.” Taeyeon complained as she took off her green scarf and wrapped it around her neck securely.

“That’s too bad they couldn’t make it, I really did want to see them too. The weather is just as bad in Guangzhou right now. Thank you for picking me up in the Incheon International Airport at 11:07 am, December 2, 2014.” Junsu earnestly did feel gloomy that his friends were not around, yet mockingly joked around as he humorously thanked his sister.

He was looking around the baggage conveyor belt to see if his second luggage was to be found, he spotted his other maroon coloured luggage, as he waited for it to be within his grasp, he recognized a vague figure from afar just as it was right in front of him. It was Liyin.

....