Hi Everyone! 

It's been quite a long time. So long that I don't even remember when the last time was. 

What a year it has been so far. I hope everyone is safe and well :) 

I've been quite occupied with work. 

But I just finished dealing with a busy week and I have just enough time to take a breather. 

So I managed to finish this chapter. Here it is. Hopefully you enjoy it.  

Stay safe and healthy everyone!  

Also, I don't think they celebrate Mothers' day in South Korea, they celebrate Parents' day. But let's pretend that the characters do celebrate it since they've been exposed and infleunced by the different cultures in the places they have visited. 

thanks! 

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Chapter seven

Changmin flushes his face with cool tap water. It is a refreshing feeling. It also brings back memories of last night, reminding him that it is not just a dream. He buries his face into his towel, pressing a little tightly in hope to drown out the noise of the memories.

As he walks out of the bathroom he notices the faint sound of his ringtone as he steps towards the kitchen. Looking at the time on the clock – 7am in the morning, he expects that it to be Minho or Joongki, knowing Kyuhyun would probably still be asleep.

But when he picks up his phone, he is dawned by surprise and confusion as the contact is ‘Hye Kyo Noona’. He thought that maybe Joongki was using Hye Kyo’s phone. But it was very much the voice of the name that it was stating.

“Changmin ah.”

“Oh Noona?”

“There’s a favour I need to ask you.”

“What is it?”

“Well, I prefer to explain it face to face. Do you have time?”

“Yeah, I have no plans.”

“Great, I won't take long. Would you mind meeting me in the arrivals hall at Incheon Terminal 1 at 9 o clock?” Hye Kyo asks.

Changmin is a little confused at the choice of meeting place but agrees anyway. He suspects that this favour has something to do with Joongki. But when he arrives and sits down on the edge of one of the flowerbeds next to Hye Kyo that he realises that it is not.

“Sorry for making you come this way” Hye Kyo says as she hands him a cup of coffee.

“That’s fine.” he takes the coffee and thanks her. 

He looks over at Hye Kyo who is watching the passengers arrive in the lobby of the airport terminal.  He does the same, witnessing the embraces, smiles and tears of those who just reunited. There’s a soft smile that forms on his face but there is a hint of sadness there as well.

It is Hye Kyo’s turn to look over at Changmin.

“Yoona makes the same expression.” Her words surprise Changmin and Hye kyo does not miss that momentary widening of his eyes at the mention of Yoona’s name (even if it was just for a split second).  Changmin considers his response.

“She comes here often?”

Hye Kyo is intrigued at the response he chose. He neither admits nor denies that they’ve known each other before. But Hye Kyo does not press further.

“Yes. And there’s a reason for it.” Hye Kyo explains. She turns and sees that he is ready to listen to her story. She smiles (a rather bittersweet one) and looks back at the arriving passengers. 

“I’ve known Yoona for about 15 years now? She was about 14 back then” Hye Kyo interrupts her train of thought “Oops, I think I just revealed her age”

Changmin chuckles slightly. “Don't worry noona, I won’t tell her.”

“Thanks.” Hye Kyo says with a laugh. “I’d appreciate that.”

“So how did you meet her?”

“We were neighbours. We lived on the same floor. I never really knew her because I was always flying in and out. But from one point in time, whenever I was out with my suitcase, I would see her door opening and her head peeking out with a very expecting expression.”

Changmin is listening intently.

“the pattern continued for a while. I later heard from my mother about the gossip in the neighbourhood a lady had packed her things and left with a suitcase one night. She left her husband and daughter behind.”

Hye Kyo takes a moment to breathe as if to catch her breath so that she has no chance to tear up. Changmin purses his lips in silence.

“That was …”

“Yoona’s mother.” Changmin finishes the sentence off for her. Hye Kyo nods and continues.

“it turns out, every time she hears me walking with my suitcase, she was hoping that it’d be her mother returning, but every time she opens the door, there would be a disappointed look on her face. I would smile at her and said hi, she would smile back before returning back to her house.”

Hye Kyo looks across and although Changmin is looking down towards the ground, she can hear the faint sniff of his nose. She continued.

“If Joongki didn’t tell you before, my father had left us when I was younger as well.”

“he has mentioned it before. I’m sorry that happened to you.”

“Oh no, it’s all in the past. But my mother and I had the greatest amount of empathy for the family. So we would make side-dishes and share them. Every time I was delivering them, Yoona was either studying or doing household chores. She was the sweetest and that’s why she is like my little girl.”

Changmin smiles.

“One day, when delivering side-dishes we were asked to stay for lunch. That was when we had a proper conversation. She said to me ‘unnie you must go to many places. Where would you go if you were my mum?” At this point, Hye Kyo chokes up a little. “that question broke my heart.”

Changmin hands her the serviette from the coffee tray. She thanks him and continues.

“So I told her that the first place to start looking would be here.”

“Because an airport is the place for farewells and reunions.” Changmin says quietly.

“Did Yoona tell you that?” Hye Kyo asks.

Changmin thinks about his answer. He thinks back to her words when she was once accompanying him in Japan. He swallows. 

“yes.” He replies, while avoiding Hye Kyo’s gaze. “SO you then came often?”

“She used to come here a few times in a month or whenever she could. Sometimes I came along with her.”

“So that became the reason she chose to become a flight attendant?” Changmin asked.

“Yes basically.”

“and the one she has been looking for was her mother.” His statement creates a heaviness in his chest.

“Yes.” Hye Kyo says sadly.

“All this time…” Changmin mumbles under his breath and heaves a long sigh. It was a sigh of empathy (and also a hint of relief). 

“Sorry what did you say?”

“SO what was the favour you wanted to ask me?”

“As you may know, mothers’ day is coming up. Usually we would celebrate with my mum. But this year Joongki has booked a holiday for our mothers. I won’t be able to accompany her this year. I was just worried about her especially since her friends would all be engaged with their own families.”   

Changmin nods in understanding.

“I’m sorry, I couldn’t think of anyone else”

“it’s fine Noona, I don’t have anywhere to go on the day as well.”

“Well that’s good. I’ll leave her to you then?”

“don’t worry.”

***

 Yuri was the last of the bunch to leave the apartment as Yoona was still washing her hair. She bades a quick goodbye as she rushes downstairs to meet her boyfriend, Minho to meet their parents for lunch.

A few minutes later, the doorbell rings.

Yoona grumbles

“Typical unnie” as she wraps her hair in a towel and heading towards the door.

“What did you leave this time?” She says as she pulls the door wide open. On the other side was not Yuri as she was expecting.

“Um…” Changmin says, with his hand half raised. “Hi?”

Yoona freezes. And Changmin tries not to laugh. 

“How- How are you here?” Yoona asks managing not to stutter too much.

“Yuri let me in the building.”

“I meant why are you-”

“Hye Kyo Noona asked me to bring you these.” He holds up a bag that looks like groceries.

“Right.” she says and there is an awkward pause. “well thanks for bringing them all the w…” Yoona says as she is about to bade him goodbye as well. But Changmin catches the hint and cuts her off.   

“And Joongki hyung is asking for a favour to plan the next proposal.” Changmin makes up on the spot in order to create an opportunity to stay (Sorry Hyung). Hye Kyo did ask him to accompany him all day after all.  

“Oh Really?!” Yoona starts getting excited. Changmin could swear that he saw her eyes light up. And her excitement triggers an instantaneous regret for spinning such a lie. Perhaps he could use it to plan ahead and help Joongki. Joongki could thank him later.   

“It’s a bad time isn’t it?” he asks rhetorically.

“Why does it seem that you turn up at such inconvenient times?” Yoona sighs jokingly.

“Well I don’t have much…”

“Oh, that was a joke. Just come inside first. I’ll just be a moment.”  She starts running back towards her room to compose herself.

Changmin stays anchored at the threshold.

“Are you sure?” he says rather hesitantly

 “just come in and take a seat.” She points at the couches before starting to run off again, her slippers scraping the floor a little.

Changmin heads towards the couch and finds a fluffy pyjama robe there. He decides against sitting down. Yoona turns up again in a flash, grabbing it while apologising under her breath. She disappears again before he could even ask where to put the banchan he brought. She had already closed the door. So Changmin was left to find a place to put them and ends up in the kitchen.

The amount of polaroid photos on the fridge door catches his eye. And of course, the first face he spots is none other than hers. Her smile is brighter than he remembers. It creates a warm feeling in his heart.

Yoona comes back out in a few minutes. Changmin turns to find her walking over to him. Her hair is now brushed but still wet. She has changed into a casual white tee and jeans.

She did not bother with makeup and had only applied a bit of lipbalm on her lips. She contemplated for a moment while she was inside on what to wear. But she ended up deciding that she shouldn’t look like she’s trying.

But nevertheless, Changmin was charmed. The way she dressed accentuated her natural beauty. A beauty that is hard to come across. Unlike every other girl out there that piles on makeup to catch your attention.

“done already?” the surprise apparent in his tone

“Yeah. Why?” Yoona sounds amused

“Don’t girls usually have to put on ten layers of makeup or something?”

Yoona gives him a look.

“if you wear ‘ten layers’ on your skin every day, your skin will need a break.” She explains patiently.

“True. Wearing so much makeup can be a little scary.” He says jokingly as he points at one of the polaroids. It was Halloween and Yoona had her face painted white. Yoona slaps her hand on that photo a little too hard. Which she regrets as she feels the centre palm of her hand beginning to numb.

Luckily Changmin had taken away his finger in time. When Yoona looks up, he is wearing an amused expression. 

“Have you heard of dark history?”

Changmin immediately wipes off his grin and replaces it with a ‘serious’ face. “Won’t dare to ask anymore questions.” 

“Company Halloween party some years ago.” She tries to explain, her cheeks starting to turn a rosy red. “Just saying”

“I’m surprised you girls don’t worry about your image.”

Yoona smiles sheepishly.

“Those naïve years are over.” she sighs “We’ve learnt our lesson”

Changmin nods but his stare is full of doubt.

“Oh stop it.” She says dismissively as she turns to open the fridge to reach for the drinks. With her back to him, she hears a slight chuckle and she feels a few butterflies in her stomach. She shuts her eyes in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Changmin is wondering what’s taking so long, and leans over her shoulder

“Do you need some help?” he says. Feeling the sudden closeness, she turns around in surprise. Their faces are just a breath’s distance away. 

Yoona’s eyes widen and she fails to make any movement. She can feel her heart throb out of control inside her chest. Staring straight into his eyes, she realised how much charm they have. There is a sudden warmth rushing to her cheeks.

 It was Changmin who pulled away first.

“Sorry” he says sincerely under his breath. He covers his mouth with his hand and clears his throat. “I thought you needed some help with whatever you were getting because you were taking so long.

Yoona gets a grip of herself. She can feel her whole face glowing red there’s no way of hiding it. With her quickest instinct she can manage, she grabs two bottles of juice and hands one to him.

He thanks her. Suddenly feeling very thirsty, he quickly opens the bottle and gulps the drink down.

“Uhh..” she says while trying to think up of an excuse, but her mind isn’t cooperating. “I was trying to make sure I wasn’t grabbing someone else’s drinks.” 

Changmin stops drinking and takes a look at the bottle.

“It says Tiffany on here.” He points at the writing on the bottle. Yoona quickly checks her own. And there it was, in fabulous pink marker was Tiffany Hwang’s name in bold letters.

“Oh, right” she quickly shoves her own drink back in. She reaches for his empty bottle and rushes for the recycling bin. She comes back with a sheepish grin. Changmin shakes his head in amusement.

“She won’t find out about that.”

“I won’t be telling her.” He assures her in a teasing kind of way. 

“I’ll replace it.” Her sentence is filled with guilt.  “if we pass a mart, can you please remind me?”

“Sure – Are you sure you’re alright?” He asks.

“Yes...”  Trying to convince herself more than him. “I am.”

Changmin nods and drops the subject to make it less awkward for her.

They stand in the kitchen one staring at her feet and the other at a certain pantry cupboard.

“So where should we go today?” Changmin finally brings them back to a more important subject.

“Oh? I thought you already had ideas.” 

“I’m not the best with coming up with such ideas. That’s why I came to find you for help.”

“Oh right.” She chuckles apologetically. “Sorry, I forgot.”

“If you wanted to get proposed to, where would you want that to happen?”

This question takes Yoona by surprise, her heartbeat that had started to settle back to normal pace skips a beat.

“What do you-” She backtracks “I’ve never had to think about that.”

“Well, what do most girls want then?” Changmin smartly diverts the attention. And Yoona is grateful for it.

“to be fair, Joongki oppa has done an exceptional job. He’s proposed three times. THREE times. And each time a different place.”

“I know, even I’m impressed.” He says admittedly

“I mean who wouldn’t be? He proposed in the Garden of Morning Calm, once at the top of N Seoul Tower and the most recent time in Greece on that island they always visit.” Yoona talks with such passion.

“Are you sure you haven’t thought about this kind of thing?” he teases questioningly.

“Well- not for myself. For Unnie I have.” He is about to cut her off but she ignores him and continues “I was the listener of her sweet stories, from their first date, to their first overseas trip together to her first proposal… After all he is her fist love.”

“You keep mentioning firsts”

“First times are always very important especially for us girls.”

“Then how about where they had their first date?”

“they went Lotte world!”

“How about we start there?”

“let’s go!” Yoona says excitedly.

***

It wasn’t until the moment that Changmin opens the passenger door for Yoona when finally stopped to think about the situation. This feels awfully like a d-… she starts thinking to herself as she gets inside the car.

“Thanks” she says as she settles in her seat. Her cheeks start gaining colour once again.  

No. she reminds herself. I’m doing this for unnie.

He starts setting the address into the navigation system.

“It’s going to be a long ride. So you might want to choose some songs to play.” He offers as he hands her his phone with his free hand.

Yoona reaches to take the phone and accidentally touches his hand.

“Oh Sorry.” She apologises immediately.

“It’s ok, I won’t hurt you for accidentally touching my hand.” Changmin jokes making Yoona smile and roll her eyes.

At least now she has something to keep her mind busy.  

“Is it okay if I look through your existing playlist?” she asks him just as he pulls out onto the road from the carpark.

“Go for it. You don’t have to ask.” He says

“Well…. Just in case you have some songs that you know…”

“Like what?”

“Keroro OSTs or something.”

He bursts out laughing.  

“really?”

“Yeah. Seohyun from our- oops I just revealed her name” Yoona says while covering . He chuckles.

“Don’t worry I won’t tell her.”  He reassures.

“You better not.” She warns jokingly.

She scrolls through his songs list. She is quite surprised to find quite a few songs from her own playlist as well.

“You’ve got good taste in music.”

“Do I really?” he asks curiously. “Or does that mean you’ve got similar taste in music?”

“oops, I got caught.” She laughs.

“You like piano instrumentals as well?”

“sometimes.”
“You?”

“depends…”

Then there is a lull of silence.

“Have you chosen something yet?” he asks

“it’s hard to decide.” She says

“Just close your eyes and press something.” He suggests.

“Oh that sounds fun.” She says and tries it.  

She stops scrolling and presses a random spot on the screen. The track starts playing and a gentle piano intro greets their ears. Soon enough the singer starts with a hum.

“Oh I really really like this song!” she says excitedly. “It’s ‘Beautiful’ from the drama Goblin.”

Changmin can’t help but smile.

“You chose well.” He says agreeingly.  

“Thanks.” She smiles proudly as she leans back into her seat comfortably.

On the road towards Jamsil, Changmin and Yoona enjoy the music, the passing scenery and light hearted conversation. But what they don’t realise (or admit) is that they actually enjoy each other’s company.