THIRD PERSON POV

The airport was bustling with heavy traffic of travelers and workers coming and going to or from Seoul. At the arrival gate, Chaeyoung can be seen pacing back and forth in front of gate 2B. Eyeing the doors from time to time, just to prove he has time before the unavoidable happens. Nervousness can be seen from his furrowed brow and his thumping heart. It has been 2 months since they saw each other.

The gate doors can be heard opening, the passengers started coming out. Chaeyoung rapidly scans through the crowd as they pass him one by one. With each unrecognizable face, his heart felt like leaping out of his chest. Until his eyes landed on a certain beauty, then his heart became silent. She had light blonde shoulder length hair, she was wearing a black sweater with black pants. She had her suitcase behind her walking out of the gate. Chaeyoung cannot deny the truth, he was still in love with her. However, their son’s death put a strain in their relationship. He kept blaming her for the loss. When the kidnapping happened she was with him. Their son cannot be saved in time because the culprit murdered their son and left him at their front door. The loss of their son has not been easy for both Chaeyoung and Mina. Their son was 2 years old, he was their everything. Everything just came to an end before it even began.

Mina was walking when she felt a familiar presence watching her. She saw him staring at her. She too became frozen. She didn’t know what to do, but she knew, her heart beat loudly seeing him again. Chaeyoung took a breath and started the painful short walk to her. As he got to her, he remembered the last time he saw her. ‘She had red hair before …’, Chaeyoung thought when he tried to burn every single detail that made this woman in front of him a big part of his life. He took her suitcase from her hands, trying to be a gentleman for the passersby to see.

“Have you been well ... ?”, his tone was cold and he couldn’t even say her name.

“Nae, ... Jeongyeon didn’t inform me you will be coming”, Mina replied looking into his eyes. She was surprised, but ultimately, kind of happy he was there. Apparently, he didn’t seem to reciprocate the feeling as he looked away from her.

“I was free so I decided to go”, he would not look at Mina. His ego was too great to give in what his heart probably needs.

Their awkward atmosphere in the middle of the gate was too much for both of them, so Chaeyoung started walking towards the car, while Mina followed. Chaeyoung made sure to keep a certain distance between him and Mina as they walked. This barrier saddens Mina, however, she didn’t dare to close the distance either. Finally arrived at the car, Chaeyoung packed the suitcase inside the trunk then sat behind the wheel. Mina watched silently and waited for him to enter the car first, at it seems she was not quite welcome into his space. They drove in utter silence, even the low voice of the radio was redundant to fill the silence in the car.

“You lost so much weight”, he observed Mina.

“So did you, Chae”, he flinched at the nickname, it was the first time in 2 months, since he heard her say his name. Mina frowned at his reaction, saying his name was heavy on her. She did miss him.

“... your mom … my condolences. I apologise I couldn’t come. Are your brothers and sister okay?”, his voice held little feeling with his words. He was expressionless nor did he made any effort to even give Mina a glance.

“It is all right … life goes on”, Mina smiled sadly because it has been hard for a while, she was slowly believing herself when she said it. Mina was playing with her wedding ring and wondered if Chaeyoung was wearing his. She gave his hands a glance and found out her heart could still break. He wasn’t wearing his. She squeezed her hands together, biting her lips to prevent herself from crying.

“I … ah … I’m thankful for Jeongyeon. She came as soon as she knew about my mother’s death. She said you couldn’t come, so she came in your honor”, she said to him. Jeongyeon has been their number 1 anchor and supporter since the beginning of their relationship.

“Jeongyeon is always so caring towards the people around her, especially us”, he replied. Chaeyoung really admired his older sister, she was a mother, a sister, and a friend for most of his life growing up. She made sure Chaeyoung was given the best in life. When Mina was introduced to Jeongyeon, Mina is well aware how protective Jeongyeon was over Chaeyoung, however, Jeongyeon fell in love with Mina the moment she stepped foot into Chaeyoung’s life. Her reasoning was because ‘Mina was the only who can make Chaeyoung look like a little cub instead of a big bad lion”.

“She loved Minjun as much as we did”, Mina reminded him, he was not the only one who has lost someone dear, Jeongyeon did too. He didn’t have to suffer it alone, but, only time will tell if he wants help. Chaeyoung only sighed and frowned.

Finally arriving at their home, Mina observed her own home. Every piece of furniture was the same as before she left them, but, the floor no longer was littered by the many toys Minjun had nor was there a trace of a child ever living there. Mina saw looking through the photographs on the wall, she stopped on one of them.

“Why didn’t you remove it?”, she asked with a hint of disapprovement in his decision.

“I couldn’t”, he said standing behind her.

The photo has Minjun smiling with only a few teeth showing. He was being carried by Chaeyoung with Mina beside him, smiling for the camera. Jeongyeon took the photo of the three of them, it was the last photograph taken of the three.

“I miss him so much”, Mina shed tears as she caressed Minjun’s tine face through the frame.

Chaeyoung frowned seeing his wife broken, he lifted his hand to touch her but decided not to.

“I’m leaving for a bit …”, he said turning away from Mina. As hard it is leaving her devastated, he was just not ready to start what they both had before Minjum. Mina heard the front door click shut, she slid down the wall and held her knees up to her chest. She sat beneath Minjun and cried her heart out.

Chaeyoung needed to get out, he drove to the Han river. He couldn’t stop the tears escaping from remembering the happy memories he was robbed from.

An hour passed before Chaeyoung decided to go back home. He entered the house and left his keys on the table. The house was dim and quiet, ‘... I wonder where Mina went?’, he thought as he wandered into the living room. He saw Mina sleeping on the couch. She seems disheveled, it seems she tossed and turned during her sleep. He kneeled next to her and saw a wet stain under her head. It seems she cried as much as he did, or even more. He lightly brushes her hair out of her face. Mina felt his touch, which rose her from her sleep. She slowly opened her swollen eyes and looked at him.

“Get up baby girl”, he whispered and lifted her up bridal style. She buried her face in his neck as he walked them both to their bedroom. He carefully placed her on the bed and covered her.

Chaeyoung was held back when he tried to leave her, “don’t go”.

He sighed and nodded. He carefully tucked himself in bed next to her, he warped his arms around Mina’s head and she buried herself in his chest. He looked down at her and left a peck on her forehead and watched her slowly drift to sleep. He was left in the dark, confused by what this all mean for his relationship.

Meanwhile

“Where are we going?”, Momo asked Jeongyeon in the car.

“You’ll see”, the latter replied, driving fast to the destination.

After a few, twist and turns they finally arrived safely. They were a park in front of a huge building, not much surrounding it nor were there many cars parked in the parking lot. Momo was skeptical of Jeongyeon’s choice of destination. However, she would follow Jeongyeon anywhere.

“O...kay … please explain to me why are we