Saturday

The events that had occurred the night before felt surreal to say the least and when Jaehyun woke up the next morning, he was not at all surprised that Taeyong’s lips were all he could think about. Perhaps Jaehyun had dreamt it, he thought, seeing no signs that Taeyong had ever been present in his flat as he padded out into the living room and slumped onto the sunken futon.

There were days when Jaehyun would give anything to be relieved from his immense workload, but today presented quite the opposite challenge as he scrummaged through his leather briefcase, craving for an unfinished case to occupy his mind. Jaehyun was well-aware that today was theday, the final day of that week-long tour but there had been no mention of whether Taeyong was even going to meet him, let alone where they were going. Jaehyun had taken Taeyong’s abrupt departure from his place last night as a sign to leave him alone. It wasn’t rocket science really, even with Jaehyun’s limited understanding of Taeyong, he could see that Taeyong needed time to mull over what had happened, or more so, what he wantedto happen.

The sun was hanging in the clear sky and Jaehyun stared at it wistfully, wishing his mood was just as perfect, but there was a sickening feeling in his gut, as if he had been stomped on, tossed around, shot at and then stomped on once more. There was just too much going on. His job was the least of his problems. There was the misunderstanding between him and his unclassified ‘relationship’ (whatever thatmeant) with a tourguide he’d met a mere week ago, an abusive ex, that, mind you, wasn’t even Jaehyun’s, Taeyong’s perpetual self-deprecation and internal conflict, and the cherry on top, of course his father had to pitch in and summon him home. Why did life hate him so much?

Shortly after his apparently hopeless assessment on life, Jaehyun’s phone rang. It was as if on cue that Ten commented about the lovely weather and proposed they ‘liven up’, ‘carpe diem’ or whatever Ten had said.

‘Where do you wanna go?’ Ten asked, high-pitched voice and skipping beside him. Jaehyun felt like was babysitting a girlscout. He had been to many places… with Taeyong. But he supposed a switch of company wouldn’t be too bad. It was already late afternoon now, and it only occurred to Jaehyun how long he had curled up on the futon wallowing in self-pity. In retrospect, he was probably glad Ten had called.

‘There’s a place I’ve always wanted to go to,’ Jaehyun suggested, ‘The hanok houses.’

‘You mean the old, bamboo ones?’ Ten’s eagerness clearly faltered, ‘I was thinking more on the lines of shopping, or like karaoke rooms or…’ Seeing Jaehyun’s blank expression, Ten added, ‘But… we can always make an exception. I mean, I’ve never been but I suppose they’re cool too!’

Ten had been doing a monologue for god knows how long, but if anything, Jaehyun was grateful that he was out with Ten, possibly one of the most talkative people he knew. Jaehyun wasn't feeling particularly chatty today and it was nice to have someone fill the silence. ‘I mean, I couldn’t let it slide, right? Doyoung definitely asked me to get him a double shot, like duh, I might not have the connections he does but I’m not daft,’ Ten’s sass was in full display. ‘Yeah, sure,’ Jaehyun had zoned out at the second anecdote and Ten was probably on his fifteenth, Jaehyun had lost count.

The pair were hiking up a winding road, following the tattered wood