London, 2021

Museums at night aren’t particularly as scary as some people may think. Suppose it also depends what kind of museum it is. Having antiques, historical items, clothes and the sorts probably isn’t as nightmare inducing as mummified Egyptians in glass boxes. Still, Jinyoung likes the silence and the low lights.

He’s not usually around for long after closing time but today is one of those rare days where they get to see a new shipment of items. It’s probably one of Jinyoung’s favourite things about working in a museum. There’s the initial curiosity, the wonder in the items dug up from places that were once lost and thought to be lost forever. Then, it’s the research, getting to find out exactly where it came from, who it belonged to and how it was found.

It’s in Jinyoung’s job description, to know all this stuff since he tends to most of the items and tours in the museum. Considering how multicultural and tourist friendly London is, his aptitude for languages came in handy when applying for the job here nearly three years ago.

“I think the truck is pulling in.” Manpreet buzzes in through the walkie talkie, his voice scratchy and tired. He’s evidently not as excited about this shipment as Jinyoung is.

Jinyoung pulls the walkie talkie from its casing, settled on his hip and brings it to his lips. “Got it.” He clicks in and quickly tucks the device away. He turns to his colleagues, lounging around behind him in the storage warehouse where most of the items that first arrive gets pictured, filed, and checked for authenticity.

A lot of them look tired and cold. Although the warehouse is usually kept at room temperature for the sake of preserving the pieces, English weather is a tyrant to be reckoned with. “We’ll get this done quickly and properly and then you can all go home, okay?” Jinyoung says in comfort, earning him a few smiles and nods.

A blaring beep goes off then, a red light spinning like that of a police car to indicate the warehouse doors opening up and that a vehicle would be coming in. It’s pitch black out, winter had the day's ending between four to five pm, so all Jinyoung could see was the large box shadow of what may be a large truck and two red back lights slowly inching closer to the opening in the warehouse.

“What’s this shipment for anyway?” Michelle asks, coming up from just behind Jinyoung.

Jinyoung double takes over his shoulder, surprised to see her here. She’s a small, dark-skinned girl, with black braided hair tied up high into a neat bun. She works at the reception, so he’s not entirely sure why she’s here for the heavy lifting. “Did Paul ask you to help?” Jinyoung asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, he picked people out of random. Don’t think he thought about it at all.” She replies with a sigh. “So what’s the stuff about? Is it for the new exhibition?”

Jinyoung nods. “Yeah, I’ve been following up on it for a year now. It got a lot of reception in Sweden and Germany…Fate or Feeling.” Jinyoung explains as the truck exposes itself under the lights of the warehouse. “The guy leading it is like some machine, he’s been going on expeditions and archeology digs for three years straight. Finding artifacts and things in places people even didn’t think to search in.”

“Sounds like a human metal detector.” Michelle jokes. “So is he coming alongside the stuff?”

Jinyoung blinks, he hadn’t thought about it. “I don’t know. I suppose it makes sense if he did, it is his exhibit. I’ve just been emailing his assistant, I thought it’d fit into the museum perfectly but I was surprised to find it took convincing Paul to accept it more than it took convincing them to come.”

Michelle rolls her eyes at that, “I have no idea why Paul still has his job if you ask me. The last three exhibits you brought to this museum in the last two years have been more of a success than anything Paul has done in the last eight.”

Jinyoung tries not to let it show on his face how happy he is to hear her say that. He’d been really worried when he first moved here from South Korea, thinking he’d never fit in, or that his English is too godawful, or that maybe this wasn’t the type of work he was meant for but he’d been pleasantly surprised. Michelle and Manpreet had become one of his closest friends from the museum, while he shares an apartment with two students and a recent graduate who spends most of his time writing scripts and drinking coffee.

“Okay, time to unload!” Manpreet waves as he appears through the side door of the warehouse. He’s of the lanky sort, stupidly tall and looks like he could wrap himself around a lamp post three times. Jinyoung constantly commends him though, because despite how tired and unbothered with life he comes across, his turban is always, under every circumstance and weather, perfectly wrapped upon his head.

Two men hop down from the front of the truck and make their way back as the lot of them move in closer. They all watch as one of the drivers unlocks the large, white doors and swings them open, banging violently to the sides. Jinyoung flinches, silently cursing their carelessness.

“Where we putting them?” The other man shouts out in a thick cockney accent. He’s tall and round and looks like all he wants to do is chuck the contents of the truck out and make a dash for it.

Jinyong hurries to them quickly, equipping his friendly smile. “Just place them upon the tables set up over there.” Jinyoung says, pointing towards the left of the warehouse. “We’ll help you.”

They give him a nod and Jinyoung quickly gestures to the rest of the museum employees. They move things out swiftly but carefully, no less than two people per item if need be. Jinyoung has them set up on the desks by names for each item. He’d received the list a week prior to their arrival and matched them to the labels stuck neatly to the cardboard covered artifacts. It takes just over an hour to empty out the truck and the two drivers are quick to disappear the moment they shut the doors to their vehicle.

“James, can you go over all the items, checking if the labels match the cards and make sure nothing is missing?” Jinyoung asks the newest employee, who nods along eagerly to his instructions. “Manpreet, where are the exhibitors?” Jinyoung asks, placing a hand to his friend’s shoulder.

“They came before the items arrived by half an hour, I was talking to them up at reception.” Manpreet explains, nodding his head to the back of the warehouse that connected to the main building of the museum. “They had a long flight here so I told them to grab a meal while they signed some papers first, they should be coming to check on their items soon.”

Jinyoung gives him a nod and then heads back towards James. “How’s everything?”

“Everything seems to be in order… do you want us to unpack the items now?” James asks, tapping away at his clipboard with the tip of his pen.

“Yes, start removing the cardboard carefully and take them to the lab so they’re ready to be checked and displayed tomorrow morning. Setting up the exhibit will take all day tomorrow, so let’s do what we can today.” Jinyoung says, and everyone moves in motion to his words.

They all grab a pair of plastic gloves and cutters prepared in a box beside the setup tables. Most things have been settled into briefcases lined with cushion and velvets, while others have been stuffed into crates. Jinyoung makes his way to one of the unattended tables that have two crates covered in cardboard placed on the top of it. One is rectangular and thin, while the other is thicker in size.

Jinyoung goes for the smaller one first. Taking his cutter, he delicately snips at the corners of the cardboard and pops it off with one swift movement. Underneath it is simply a wooden crate stapled shut around the edges. He can’t really guess what is from the outside, he only has the name of the piece; Threads of Dreams. James has the more detailed list on hand, matching the name to the items, so Jinyoung just lets his curiosity take him and goes to unbox the item.

The staples come out easily with a pair of plyers he’s snuck away from Michelle. He lifts the top of the crate, protective stuffing falling out with it. Inside are two square shaped items wrapped up in velvet. “James,” Jinyoung calls out, looking down at the items curiously. “Can you come for a second?”

“What’s up?” James jogs his way to Jinyoung, clipboard and pen in hand.

“What are these meant to be? ‘Threads of… dreams’?” Jinyoung asks, reading the card from beside the crate.

James looks down at his clipboard and flicks over a page, his eyes scanning the list. “They’re meant to be… cushions I think. Made of silk and have images threaded onto them.” James says, eyeing Jinyoung’s hands as they go to remove the velvet covering. “Think they came from somewhere on the border of a Saudi Arabian desert.” He continues to explain as Jinyoung reveals the first cushion.

The picture is amateurish if anything, the gold silk now slightly dulled down and torn at the edges, the threads pulled out in places and fraying at the corners. But there’s something about it, Jinyoung finds himself holding his breath as he takes a gloved finger and delicately rubs at the image of what looks like a person balled up onto the ground, staring at a carriage heading their way.

“It looks like a desert,” James says twisting his head so he could see it from Jinyoung’s angle.

“What makes you say that?” Jinyoung blinks up at him.

“You can see the gold kind of cut off here like they’re hills, and this could be the sky, I mean it’s all faded out and white but there’s also this single round piece of fabric that looks like it’s the sun.” He explains with a point, his hand ghosting over the sand hills.

“You’re right!” An unfamiliar and chirpy voice pipes from beside the two of them. Jinyoung turns around to find a woman with round, monolid eyes and short, black hair standing promptly in jeans and an oversized jumper. She has average height for someone that looks East Asian- even Korean, Jinyoung might guess. “It’s part of a collection of items we dug up from the desert. It’s a picture that depicts a man and woman-that’s the one on the ground-” She says with a quick point. “Meeting for the first time.”

“He’s saving her?” James guesses.

“Or they’re saving each other?” She grins wide, it’s bright and exposes all her teeth. James gives her a little shrug and then swivels at the call of his name, leaving the two with a nod.

“Are you one of the exhibitors?” Jinyoung asks, turning back to the woman.

“Yes, it’s nice to finally see you, Jinyoung.” She beams as she holds out a hand. Jinyoung blinks surprised, moving to shake her hand. “I’m Mihyun, Im. We’ve been emailing each other for quite some time now.”

“Oh. Yes, it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry, I didn’t know what you looked like.” Jinyoung perks up, quickly going in for a more confident handshake. She laughs at that, a light bubble of a sound.

“It’s alright. I just got told to come down here to check everything is all good? All the items arrived safely?” She asks, her eyes direct and wide, staring at Jinyoung like she could see through him.

Jinyoung clears his throat, “Yes, it seems everything is here. We’re just having them unpacked and sending them to our labs so they can get authenticity checks.” Jinyoung explains, giving this small corner of the warehouse a quick scope before returning them back to Mihyun. “If you don’t mind me asking, you’re Korean, right? I kind of guessed from your name but I wasn’t sure.”

“I am…” She trails off, biting a lip a little like she has something she wants to say. She gives the warehouse a quick look herself, except a little more in suspicion and then skitters her way closer to Jinyoung. “We actually went to university together.”

This throws Jinyoung off, anxiety quickly bloating up like a balloon in his chest. “Excuse me?”

“You went to Yonsei University before, right?” She asks and Jinyoung thinks about a hundred different ways how to not answer this question but all that ends up coming out of his mouth is a puff of air.

“Uh… yeah…” Jinyoung awkwardly steps back. “I’m sorry, did- uh, did we know each other?”

That puts a different kind of smile on her face. “No, we didn’t, not closely anyway. But we did have a class together.”

“I see,” Jinyoung nods, breathing in through his nose. “I’m sorry I don’t… remember… much. I-”

“It’s alright,” Mihyun grins, tucking a strand of her short hair behind her ear. “I heard you had to drop out because of an accident, I’m glad to see you’re okay though.” She pauses then. “You are okay, right?”

“Y-yeah! Yeah! I’m good- great even.” Jinyoung says quickly, clearing his throat. There’s an awkwardness between them he couldn’t explain. “I just lost a year or two of memories, that’s all, well I mean it’s not all, I’d heard my brain… kind of suffered a blow or something but I mean it could have been worse right?” He tries to say the last bit lightly but it comes out tight instead and he winces at himself.

She snorts at that, “Right.”

A phone goes off then, the ringtone an old girl group song from a South Korean idol group. It’s nostalgic and makes Jinyoung think of his parents, he hasn’t called them in a while. Mihyun gestures towards Jinyoung in an apology and indicates she’s going to answer the phone.

“Hello, Professor?” She answers before turning around and walking a bit away to talk in privacy.

Jinyoung in a deep breath and turns back to the crate in front of him. His thoughts spiral a bit as he stares down at one of the exposed cushions. It wasn’t that he didn’t like to talk about what happened to him four years ago, but it’s just that… he didn’t know what happened to him. Last time he checked he was panicking over a paper he needed to hand in, next moment he’s two years older and in a hospital bed with no recollection of the gap in between.

A lot of things had happened, a lot out of his control. His parents pulled him out of school and made him stay at home for a while. He’d heard rumours though, whether through the people he was meant to remember and didn’t, or from vague articles and forums he’d seen on the internet. He clearly had a mental relapse of some sort, something his parents didn’t know much about while he was attending university. It was easily decided however, that it was something to leave behind in the past.

Jinyoung didn’t really fight against it or make an effort to regain his memories. It was hard to miss something you couldn’t remember in the first place.

An incomplete and anxious feeling swirls inside him whenever he thinks about that time, so he tries not to think about it at all. It’s just he wasn’t expecting to meet someone from his past all the way out here in London. He wonders if Mihyun knew who he was before she met him today. It’s an odd coincidence.

Jinyoung absentmindedly goes to unwrap the second pillow. This one is made up predominately of a dark blue silk, the corners stitched with white thread. Jinyoung guesses it’s the sea this time because the blue is settled to the bottom of the cushion and the golden silk is threaded to the top. Upon the coast seems to be the image of two people, folded beside each other. He can’t make out any details though, their threads loose and clumped together.

“Jinyoung!” Manpreet’s voice booms across the warehouse. Jinyoung looks up abruptly. “Man, I’ve called out to you like three times now?”

“S-sorry, what’s up?” Jinyoung clears his throat and goes to cover both cushions up in their velvet coats.

“You need to head up to the office, sign some papers.” Manpreet says with a lazy nod.

“Sign some papers? For what?”

“I don’t know, Paul says you gotta sign the contract or something.” He shrugs.

“Shouldn’t he be signing those?” Jinyoung huffs, already slipping off his gloves and making his way across the warehouse.

Manpreet shrugs again, “‘You’re in charge of this, you sign it.’” He says as Jinyoung walks past him briskly.

“Yeah, of course.” Jinyoung mumbles under his breath as he speed walks his way across the plane of the warehouse. He’s rushing through the door when he slams straight into someone's chest. He comes crumbling down onto the ground in a heaped mess, holding his nose in pain. “.”

“Are you okay?” A voice, deep and alerted, comes from above Jinyoung. The hallway connecting the warehouse and museum is always dimly lit but right now it seems like someone's completely shut off all the lights.

“I’m good, I’m good- should have looked where I was going.” Jinyoung mumbles as he gives the tip of his nose a rub and pushes himself up to his feet, the stranger helping him by the elbow. “Sorry about that.” Jinyoung squints up, his hair which was once swept back neatly now fell down across his forehead.

“It’s no problem…” The man trails off, his voice oddly distant for how close he is to Jinyoung.

Jinyoung steps back to get a better look, his eyes adjusting now to the lack of light. The man before him is just an inch or two taller than him, possibly in his early 30’s with dark auburn hair and brown eyes that make Jinyoung’s throat close up. Jinyoung tries not to let the sudden sinking feeling show on his face, it wouldn’t be the first time he felt like this for no reason.

“I’m sorry, were you heading to the warehouse? It’s just pass this door.” Jinyoung says politely, stepping out of the way to make room for him.

“No… I was just looking for someone,” The man says with a clear of his throat. “I don’t know if you’ve seen a woman... Korean, short black hair?”

“Ah, Mihyun?” Jinyoung says casually, to which the man in front of him flinches. Jinyoung pretends he doesn’t notice it. “She… came just a few minutes before you, she’s inside.”

“I see…” He trails off, not making any indication that he was going to make his way out of the hallway. “And who might you be?”

“Oh, right, yes- I’m Park Jinyoung, I’m one of the tour guides here, I’m also in charge of items that come in to the museum.” Jinyoung explains quickly and politely. He has an incomprehensible need to run away. Jinyoung is used to discomfort, he’d once done three two-hour guides with a constant temperature of thirty-eight degrees celsius, all with a smile plastered across his face. So, he doesn’t really understand this itchy feeling like he wants to claw his skin off.

“It’s nice to meet you, Park Jinyoung.” The man says roughly, leaning in closely to Jinyoung. “I’m Mark Tuan.”

Jinyoung blinks, realisation dawning upon him. “You’re in charge of the exhibit, the crazy- I mean, the philosopher that started going on digs and expeditions, right? I’ve read a lot about your work.” Jinyoung eagerly says, completely pushing the unexplainable, crawling feeling down into the pits of his stomach.

This puts a small smile on Mark’s face. “Is that so?”

Jinyoung blinks rapidly, feeling a little starstruck. The door to the warehouse opens then with a bang. Mihyun appearing in the opening wide eyes and hair flying, “Professor! Jin-” She clamps shut. “Professor, you’re here?”

“I’m here, Mihyun.” Mark says almost tiredly and brushes by Jinyoung. “It seems you’ve caused trouble… again.” He sighs and gives the short woman a flick to the forehead.

“Again?” Mihyun whines, rubbing her palm to her head where Jinyoung sees the small glimmer of something metal on her left hand.

“Ah… are you two married, by chance?” Jinyoung asks.

Mark gives him a thin, side look while a grin grows large on Mihyun’s face. She lifts her hand and wriggles her fingers, “Yes, but to someone else.” She says with a chuckle, like her words held a private joke. “This old man here is as single as a bird.”

“Unnecessary, Mihyun.” Mark sighs under his breath. He looks bothered and Jinyoung gets the feeling he’s long overstayed.

“Well, I’ll most likely see you two often. It’s nice to meet you. I’ll be heading off.” Jinyoung gives them each a nod and turns his back. He ignores the little sound Mihyun seems to make and keeps on making his way down the hallway fast.

“Wait, Jinyoung. Park Jinyoung.” Mark calls out, his name coming out of his mouth so comfortably. Jinyoung stiffens to a stop and looks over his shoulder. Mark has jogged just a little to catch up, nothing but a meter between them now. “Fate or feeling?”

Jinyoung’s eyebrows knit together, “Excuse me?”

Mark nudges with his chin at him and asks again, “Fate or feeling?”

“Uh sorry? The title of your exhibit?” Jinyoung mutters, trying to decipher the questioning look on Mark’s face. It’s the kind of look people had when they read a book.

“I’m asking you a question.” Mark says. “Fate or feeling?”

Jinyoung looks down to the ground and thinks about it. He could ask what he’s referring to, what’s the context but then he thinks about those two cushions, both depicting two different places and two people. The answer comes to him easily then, “Both.”

There’s a millisecond just before a smile spreads across Mark’s face. It changes his whole expression, his whole demeanor, like a closed flower suddenly blooming. Colour and emotions like a thorned rose grows and twists in the depths of Jinyoung’s chest. It’s a feeling he can’t explain… a breathless, bittersweet feeling that pricks at his eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you, Park Jinyoung. I think we’ll definitely be seeing each other often.” Mark says finally before turning his back. Jinyoung watches him slowly walk away, Mihyun waiting for him at the end of the corridor.

His face twitches oddly and without realising Jinyoung feels a smile has grown on his face. There’s been many times in the last four years where Jinyoung has felt something close to deja vu, nostalgia, maybe even what feels like memories on the brink of opening, but there’s never been anything like this.

That feeling like you’ve been missing this all your life, and you’ve finally found it.