It’s mid-April when they end up at the airport together, not quite freezing but on the edge of it. It should be spring, you’d think. The flowers should be in bloom.

Well, to be accurate, they’re not exactly together together. She’s at one end of the airport, he’s at the other. She’s just arrived from America, he’s just arrived from somewhere else in Korea. He travels with an entourage, not quite as big as it once was back at the peak of his band’s fame, but still sizable. She travels alone.

Mai Nguyen rolls her shoulders back, stretching her arms upward and ignoring the glares sent her way by the elderly couple sitting a few feet away as her sweater rides up to flash a tiny bit of her stomach. After something like a twelve-hour-give-or-take-a-few flight, she’s honestly beyond past caring what people think. 

So she just reaches down to grab the handle of her rolling suitcase and glances up at the signs above her head. Incheon National Airport is kind to the foreign traveler, with the English translations for Arrivals and Departures and Exits signs just underneath the Korean. Handy, in case her rusty Hangeul isn’t quite up to par.

She sends off a quick text to her editor, a few lines to let him know she just got off the plane, before heading off through the crowded terminal towards the nearest duty free coffee shop, wondering if their lattes are still as crappy as the last time she was here.

He pulls his scarf up over his nose and mouth, aware of the chill within the airport as he follows his manager out of the boarding area. He’s also aware that his scarf gives him pretty good coverage of his bare face as he makes his way through the small gaggles of people who have gathered at this end of the airport, all craning their necks to see and get a photograph of the singer Chen. It’s nowhere near as bad as it used to be, when he and the rest of EXO would be almost crushed beneath the masses of screaming fans and flashing cameras. Now Jongdae is by himself when he returns to Seoul after a week back home. Tired, but still letting his mouth curve up into a smile at the sight of the those still waiting for him in the airport, their admiring gazes and scrutinizing glances reminding him that even though EXO is currently on hiatus, what with Minseok and Junmyeon in the army and Kyungsoo and Yixing’s movies and Jongin’s engagement, their fans are still there. Will still be there.

(And even if his smile was to falter, he wouldn’t let them see. No. He’s had a week’s reprieve with his parents, getting to be Jongdae for just a little while, something that ended the moment he stepped off the plane back in Seoul, Chen once again.)

He grabs his small clutch bag and glances at his phone as they head through the airport, scrolling through various “welcome back” texts from Chanyeol and Baekhyun and one “did you bring me back anything” text from Sehun. 

Nice.

“Jongdae-yah, the car is waiting outside.” His manager is impatient, it’s cold inside and outside and it’s already late at night as it is. Outside, the lights of Seoul at night are glowing, like stars lighting up the horizon. 

He looks up and nods, following the signs leading to the ground transportation. As they pass by the various retail stores and fast food shops within the terminal, Jongdae glances in every now and then, peering at the various people within, wondering where they’ve been or where they’re going.

He sees the young woman sitting at the table with her suitcase by her chair, wearing a raggedy old sweater and tights with holes in the knees, her hair piled on top of her head. Pale, makeup-less face, eyes lowered as she sips at her coffee.

She looks up as he passes by. 

Their eyes meet for a brief, fleeting second. 

Jongdae smiles.