Early on a Monday morning in July; so as to make sure he wouldn’t be caught up with the rush-hour crowd, Kyungsoo arrived in front of the district’s office for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with a folder containing all the documents he would need.

Kyungsoo had spent the weekend prior to today, preparing all the documents such as his ID, birth certificate and filling out the form so he could process his passport application today.

 

Kyungsoo had to go in to work this afternoon and decided to get everything done in the morning so he could still make it in time for his shift a bit later on.

 

 

Kyungsoo stepped through the sliding glass doors of the large government office building and registered his name and ID at the front counter before he was given a number and told to wait for his turn.

Kyungsoo chose a seat in the row of chairs set out for people to wait at, in front of the numerous counters where various other people were getting their matters done such as applying or renewing for their passports.

 

Kyungsoo was dressed smartly in a black suit and tie because his picture would be taken later on for the passport application.

In his bag, he did keep a spare change of lighter and more casual clothes. It would get hotter in the afternoon and the July heat was extra humid and not to be taken lightly.

Furthermore, Kyungsoo didn’t want to be rushing to and fro around the hospital later on with his suit and tie underneath his laboratory coat.  Kyungsoo had learned better from his internship days experience when a patient threw up over an expensive shirt he was wearing under the laboratory coat.

 

 

In all of Kyungsoo’s twenty-nine years of life, he had yet to travel outside his home country of South Korea and he had never aspired to do so either.

Kyungsoo wasn’t a travel bug and he never felt that wanderlust people often talked about when desiring to travel and leave the home.

Kyungsoo was a fan of the comfort of routine and familiarity, so traveling was not something he even considered about; except to visit his parents who lived just about forty minutes away and still technically in the same city with him.

 

Growing up, Kyungsoo’s family was rather frugal too and they only took vacations to the village to visit relatives around the holidays. Sometimes, Kyungsoo’s parents would bring him and his brother to the beach and that was it.

The furthest Kyungsoo ever been to was to Jeju Island on a middle school trip, and that was because the school had already paid for his fare and made it compulsory for all the students to go on the trip.

 

 

Because of that, Kyungsoo never thought that he’d actually be one day making his passport so he could travel to another country.

Not until two weeks ago when Chanyeol suddenly asked Kyungsoo to follow him back to Japan.

Kyungsoo was caught off guard and out of the blue by the question because he had not been expecting it at all.

 

Chanyeol popped the question on a Sunday afternoon and his flight back to Japan was already set to leave on Monday evening, the next day.

Kyungsoo knew that Chanyeol had to return to Japan eventually and that the one week he had with Chanyeol would surely come to an end sooner or later.

Kyungsoo wasn’t actually looking forward to being away from Chanyeol again but he knew that was rational because they were both now adults with different lives, responsibilities, and careers of their own.

 

 

 

It was only two Sundays ago that Chanyeol was holding Kyungsoo’s hand on the windy bridge under the swaying tree, asking Kyungsoo to come to Japan with him.

“-but I have to work,” Kyungsoo replied, that being the first thing on his mind when Chanyeol posed the question.

Chanyeol paused in thought, noticeably breathing heavily before he continued, “One month. You can take a month of unpaid leave, can you? Then will you come to Japan with me?”

“I can do that but I have to think about that first. There’s a lot for me to do if I want to do that. I need to apply for the leave, book tickets, get accommodations and I don’t even have a passport so I have to take care of that too,” Kyungsoo flustered, feeling quite agitated at the thought of having so much to do until then.

“I’ll pay you to be with me. Just let me know how much all of that costs and I’ll take care of it,” Chanyeol offered, holding on tighter to Kyungsoo’s hands.

“No, I can’t do that, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo tried to refuse, “I said I’ll think about it but if I do, I’ll do it out of my own accord. I don’t want to impose on you.”

“Please,” Chanyeol pleaded, “Let me help you too. Since I am the one asking you to be with me, then at least let me take care of the costs. I earn a lot of money when I win Go tournaments so you don’t have to worry about that.”

At that moment, Kyungsoo very much realized that he too wanted to be with Chanyeol and began to chuckle out of being embarrassed at the thought, “You really can talk when it comes to Go and what you really want, don’t you?”

Chanyeol nodded with a smile on his face, cheeks red under the heat and hair blown around by the breeze.

 

 

 

Chanyeol left for Japan the next day but as promised, Kyungsoo would be making the arrangements to visit him in Japan very soon.

Chanyeol did not own a phone but he did have a computer back in his home in Japan which he used to email Kyungsoo back and forth to make the arrangements for Kyungsoo’s visit.

This time, Kyungsoo made sure that despite how busy or stressed he was, he would always try to remember and reply to Chanyeol’s emails.

Kyungsoo still felt somewhat guilty for how they had fallen out of contact and he was slowly making up for all the lost years in all the ways he could.

 

 

Kyungsoo’s first step was to apply for his passport which was why he found himself in the government office doing things he never imagined he would in almost the thirty years he had been alive.

Kyungsoo heard his number being called out by the automatic system and quickly rushed up to the counter to present his documents and had his picture taken.

 

Kyungsoo spent an hour there so the workers at the passport office could take information such as his thumbprint and measure his height and weight for the passport.

In the end, Kyungsoo was given a slip of paper and told to come back to pick his passport in two weeks time.

 

 

Before Kyungsoo’s shift started that afternoon, he made sure to reply to Chanyeol’s email and inform the latter about his passport currently in processing.

Chanyeol, on the other hand, was preparing for the Japan’s National Go tournament and was currently in the middle of playing preliminary matches so he could advance to the final stages.

There were several matches Chanyeol had to play until then but he was already expected to surely reach the final match.

But even then, it was pretty even chances on whether he would win or lose the title match.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo stood in front of the staff roster board with his hands on his hips under the white laboratory coat he was wearing.

Sehun sneaked up from behind, his usual pair of sneakers making squeaking noises on the linoleum floor.

 

“What are you looking at?” Sehun asked, looking at the board from over Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

“I’m waiting to see if my leave has been approved or not,” Kyungsoo replied, placing a hand on his neck.

“You applied for an unpaid month off, didn’t you? You’re going to Japan to visit Chanyeol,” Sehun whistled, “-what a lucky man. Are you going to ask him to teach you how to play Go while you are there? You don’t even show up to the Go federation’s meeting here.”

“I’ve been busy,” Kyungsoo lowered his hand to scratch on his nose.

“Go has never been your thing, hasn’t it? I can tell,” Sehun added.

“Truthfully, yes. I only got into Go for Chanyeol and I did try out of my own accord but I can’t even get past amateur level even at my age,” Kyungsoo admitted, “It’s just not for me.”

“I wish I was a professional Go player instead of becoming a nurse,” Sehun chuckled to himself, “So did your leave get approved?”

Kyungsoo turned back to the board and grinned to Sehun before pointing to his name on the board on the staff leave category, “It sure did. I got the entire month of August off.”

Sehun scowled, playfully, “Can’t I sneak in your luggage so you can bring me to Japan too? I could use a holiday.”

“Well, I got something for you I think you can do,” Kyungsoo continued smiling at Sehun.

“What is it?” Sehun asked, curious to know.

“I can let you stay in my apartment for a month for free as long as you agree to house sit for me,” Kyungsoo suggested.

Sehun hummed, “Hmm…I’ll think about that. I have wanted to get out from uncle’s place for a while now too. I like him but I do want to be alone occasionally too.”

“Well then, take your time to think about it,” Kyungsoo waved off, going back to work at the section of the hospital he was tasked with for the day.

 

 

 

Kyungsoo later informed Chanyeol that he had managed to get the leave and told Chanyeol of the dates when he would be off.

Two evenings later, Kyungsoo found an attachment together with the email that Chanyeol had sent him.

In the attachment was the electronic ticket for Kyungsoo’s flight to Japan which was set for three weeks from then, on the first day of the one month leave that Kyungsoo had managed to get.

Kyungsoo had wanted to buy his own ticket but Chanyeol had adamantly offered to pay for it. With some help from someone at the Go association to book the ticket, Chanyeol bought and paid for Kyungsoo’s travel.

The accommodation was also taken care of when Chanyeol offered to let Kyungsoo stay in his house.

 

 

Kyungsoo never felt more excited when he printed out the ticket from the email and held the piece of paper in his hands, noticing that he was slightly trembling out of joy.

Kyungsoo was even happier when he went to pick his passport up a week later, even though his picture on the passport came out a bit less satisfactory than what he had expected. Kyungsoo frowned in one photo and he hoped so hard the passport staff wouldn’t be using that picture but they did anyway.

 

Kyungsoo never thought he would actually be happy at things like these. He always saw and relied on his happiness being in concepts; such as getting good grades, good peer reviews or excellent tests scores and not in other people.

Kyungsoo believed that he himself was responsible for his own happiness and not anyone else. Due to that way of thinking, Kyungsoo found himself pretty much a loner as an adult because he had isolated pretty much everyone else over the years.

But upon realizing that, Kyungsoo did make sure to fix and make up for whatever he had lost over the years.

Helping Chanyeol and reconnecting with his old friend was part of that.

 

Never did Kyungsoo thought that getting to spend time with someone he had forgotten about for a decade and only met again until recently would bring him joy, excitement and something to look forward to.

Although Kyungsoo still firmly believed that finding his happiness was his responsibility alone, he did begin to think that maybe happiness could also be found in other people.

 

 

 

There was a lot to do indeed on top of working long hours; but the thought of getting to spend at least a month with the person he wanted to be with and getting the long holiday he never got, was rewarding enough for Kyungsoo as he slowly counted the days until he got to meet Chanyeol again.

The week before Kyungsoo’s flight, he made sure to make sure that everything was prepared and ready for his departure.

Kyungsoo made sure his rent and utility bills were paid in advance, and that everything in his apartment was up and running for Sehun who would be staying over for the month.

 

Kyungsoo had informed his family earlier on about his trip so they would know the details of his trip, and Kyungsoo had even called to tell Junmyeon about meeting Chanyeol in Japan.

 

 

 

Everything was set and Kyungsoo took a bus to the airport early in the morning on the first day of his month-long leave.

Kyungsoo hardly ever traveled and had initially packed too much because he was afraid of not having enough clothes during the stay. The last time Kyungsoo actually had to travel was when he was in the military and had been posted to another base away after finishing from training camp.

In the end, Kyungsoo ended up putting back half the clothes he had intended to bring along with him and traveled rather light instead.

 

Kyungsoo could say that he finally checked off a thing that he has done in his life, which was to travel abroad even if it was just to a neighboring country one sea away.

And he was excited about it.

 

 

 

After a short flight of just a bit over two hours, Kyungsoo landed in Japan and made his way past immigration to get his brand-new passport checked before claiming his luggage and exiting the arrival hall where Chanyeol was waving at him from the crowd with a baseball team cap in his hand.

It was easy to spot Chanyeol because of his height and in high school, Kyungsoo had once joked about Chanyeol being like a lamp post that was easy to spot from afar.

 

Kyungsoo waved back, pulling his luggage behind him and approached Chanyeol. Now up close, Kyungsoo spotted the shorter Takeda standing beside Chanyeol with arms folded over his chest.

Chanyeol was dressed rather casually but Takeda was wearing the stiff suit and tie he always seemed to be wearing. On the contrary, Chanyeol looked rather happy and Takeda was stern as usual.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol squealed, excited and quickly pulling Kyungsoo into a hug.

Kyungsoo did not see the sudden hug coming and chuckled at being surprised by it, “Hi there, Chanyeol.”

“Welcome to Japan,” Takeda greeted, monotonously.

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo replied back to Takeda, squished under Chanyeol’s strong hug.

 

Chanyeol patted Kyungsoo’s back, running his fingers up and