“Here’s your boarding pass, enjoy your flight!” The lady behind the desk uttered as Baekhyun finished checking in his stuff which was just a medium-sized luggage. He gave the attendant a smile and a polite nod before grabbing his passport from her and glancing down at the pass to check his seat number. 47B. He grabbed his backpack that was lying on the floor between his feet and hooked it on his shoulder and walked away from the check-in counter to give way to the people next in line. He still had a relative amount of time before he could board on the plane so he took his time to go through the shops at the airport to look for something he could probably bring home even if he already bought a number of souvenirs.

The airport was relatively quieter than what Baekhyun has imagined. It was obviously not the season for everyone to travel which explains a lot to it. As he felt tired going through the souvenir shops, he roamed around some more and found himself in front of a snack store. He wasn’t really hungry but decided to get a few things to munch on; he got himself a tuna onigiri and a bag of potato chips. He also bought a few boxes of Pocky with different flavors, a small pack of Tokyo Banana, and a pack of strawberry cheesecake-flavored Kitkat. He was really not hungry, but in case he wouldn’t eat all of it, he thought it’s the best thing to bring back home instead of more souvenirs.

Since there was really nothing left for him to do nor does he find any interesting thing to put his attention to either, he proceeded to the security check and went to look for his gate number to wait there instead; and also, so he could prevent himself from spending too much on things—or food that he surely doesn’t need at the moment. His gate was located on the south wing of the floor and it’s among the farthest ones. It took him quite some time before he finally got to it. He wandered his eyes around the seats available to look for a spot to sit on and be comfortable. He eyed the vacant row near the floor-to-ceiling glass windows which looked out to the plane runways and walked there. As he sat himself down on the seat, he took his phone out of his pocket and went through his gallery.

This was not his first time in Japan. He had been in the country several times, but most of it were because of work. It was his first time traveling alone and he didn’t regret it in any way. He loved the fact that he was actually able to enjoy his surroundings and his time because he wasn’t worrying about anything else and any time. He was just on his own.

Suddenly, while he was going through his photos, his phone rang, showing the caller’s name on the screen. As soon as he saw his mother’s name on the screen, a small smile formed on his lips.

“Hey mom!” He cheerfully greeted.

“How’s your trip going?”

“It’s fun! I’m having a lot fun going around by myself. And I’m about to head back to Seoul now. I’m just waiting to board the plane.”

“Well, you sure sound like you’re having fun!” His mother let out a chuckle which sounded just like his.

“How is everyone doing by the way? Are you guys always warm? It’s getting really chilly now in Korea.”

His mother let out another low chuckle. “Yeah, it’s been really cold out here in Bucheon but we’re managing.”

“Are you and dad taking your vitamins? You should always make sure you have them every morning.”

Another chuckle was heard from her mother, this time, a bit louder. “Yes, dad. We’re taking our vitamins everyday, don’t worry.”

A smile formed on his lips and he found himself chuckling along with his mom. Just as he was about to open his mouth to talk more, a figure—too familiar for him caught his eyes and attention.

Is that…?

He wasn’t sure nor does he want to assume, but he couldn’t just let it pass and ignore it if ever it really was the person he thought it was.

“Hey mom, I’ll call you right back.” He hung up quickly without even waiting for his mother to respond and he knew it was rude of him to do it, but he had to hurry.

He stood up on his seat, placing his phone back in his jacket pocket and wandered his eyes around.

Where is she? She was wearing a gray coat from what he could remember when he caught a glimpse of the figure for a few seconds. But he couldn’t seem to find it anywhere around. He just took his gaze away for a millisecond and the next moment, she was gone. Gone again, like the wind. He roamed his eyes around once more, hoping for what he thought was best but he didn’t see her.

I’m probably just hallucinating. He told himself before he slumped back down on his seat while heaving a sigh. This is crazy. He felt disappointed, but he knew there was no one to blame but himself. All he saw a familiar figure, there wasn’t even a certainty that it was her. There are millions of people in the world, she couldn’t be just the one who has the same proportion and figure. Even if he thought it was too familiar for him to get it wrong. He knew very well that there was no way she’d be in this place at the time. They have never crossed paths in almost two years since then, and now couldn’t be that different from those years. There’s no way she’d be here.

He heaved a sigh, shaking his head hoping it’d help him shake off his thoughts as well. He shouldn’t be stressing himself over this. He just ended a well enjoyed trip. Let’s not make things difficult for yourself. He thought. To distract himself, he grabbed the bag of potato chips that he bought earlier and opened it.

The potato chips were surely working in distracting him from his thoughts as he found himself instantly enjoying the food and looking out through the huge windows near him. There was obviously nothing to admire with the planes right on his sight, but through all of this, he managed to look out through the blue sky and the view of the Osaka Bay from his place, where the Kansai Airport was standing as an artificial island. As he was munching on the chips, a sudden voice rang around the whole area, startling everyone else including him.

“Ladies and gentlemen, good day to each and everyone of you. We hope all of you are comfortable in your places as you all wait to board your respective aircrafts. We are here to announce that flights going Seoul, Beijing, and Taiwan that are bound to leave in less than two hours will be experiencing a delay. This is due to the delayed departure of the aircrafts from their destinations which then affected our flights here in Kansai International Airport. We greatly apologize for this inconvenience that we have brought. May you have any inquiries and questions, kindly approach your respective attendants assigned on your gates to help you with your needs. Once again, we apologize for this inconvenience. Thank you and may you all have a pleasant day ahead.”

Baekhyun remained still on his seat before he realized that it might be his flight that was affected. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” He muttered before taking out his boarding pass and paper ticket to check on his flight details. Not really certain if it was indeed his flight that was affected, he stood up and proceeded to the counter in front near the boarding gate to inquire before everyone else could do the same. He marched down to the counter and stood before a woman whose stance only reach up to his chest, who seemed like she was also inquiring about the recent announcement.

“How long is the flight going to be delayed then?” He heard her ask. From the way she addressed her question, he figured out that she had probably been inquiring for a while now.

The lady behind the counter looked through his monitor for a while before she responded. “About an hour or two, ma’am.”

“Oh god.” The woman muttered before uttering a short thanks to the lady who just gave her a courteous smile and a nod in response. She lifted her gaze to look at him, probably to respond to his inquiry, just as the woman in front of him turned around, ending up facing him directly. He was just about to open his mouth to speak to the lady behind the counter but all of the things going through his mind at the moment faded away like a gust of wind as soon as he saw the face of the woman in front of him.

Holy…

His eyes rounded in shock as soon as he recognized the woman in front him, who almost had the same expression on her face. He tried to search for his voice to say something but nothing came out of his mouth. Clearly, he was in utter shock and faze.

“Baekhyun,” she uttered. He felt his heart sinking as her melodic and soft voice rang through his ears. He felt like he was dreaming because just simply meeting her in this place out of all the places in the earth, when he was least expecting it to actually happen, was too much for him to believe that it is real.

“Taeyeon,” was all he could utter back.

Her lips formed into a smile that he absolutely adored before her eyes averted down to the paper that he was holding. “Are you heading back to Seoul?” She asked.

He glanced down on the paper as well, and nodded. “Ah, yeah. I’m actually here to ask if my flight is the one that is being delayed since an announcement came in just now.”

Her brows furrowed at his answer. “Do you mind if...” she trailed off, her hands already out reaching towards the paper on his hand.

Baekhyun glanced down on the paper once more before gladly handing it out to her after. “Oh yeah, sure. I mean, I don’t mind.” He almost uttered out of panic.

She took it from him with a small smile painted on her lips, focusing on reading the contents of the paper after. As she busied herself, Baekhyun took the time to look at her. It’s been so long since he last saw that face. And it was crazy for him to think that nothing seemed to have changed in her. Her brows were furrowed together, which she always does whenever she concentrates into something. Her eyes were fixated on the paper as she read through it, her lips—oh that lips—were pursed together. Her skin, as pale as milk, was  still radiant and glowing despite of it. She’s still beautiful, and if not, became more beautiful, if that is even possible.

His lingering thoughts were interrupted when she spoke and looked up right away. “I guess we are on the same flight.” She uttered, handing the paper back to him after.

He quirked his brows, taking the paper back from her. “Is it the one being delayed?”

She nodded her head as she let out a sigh. “They said it’d be delayed for about an hour or so.”

“Oh…” he couldn’t think of what more to say. “That… .” He wanted to punch himself.  Way to go, Baekhyun. Way to go.

“I know,” she sighed.

Silence immediately creeped in around them, ironically in that loud place. The binding silence seemed both comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time which Baekhyun couldn’t explain. His eyes went around everywhere but on her, even if it’s the only thing he wanted to do.

“So um,” he managed to speak. “Do you want to, um, go take a seat?” He asked, which he knew was both kind of surprising and stupid of him to do at the same time. But what do you actually do if you bump into your ex in this hell of a huge place and the flight which both of you are on has been delayed?

Her silence and surprised reaction told Baekhyun that what he have done was really stupid and he felt himself panicking internally like there’s no tomorrow. “But it’s fine, I mean that was so sudden for me to ask and you might be with someone and I know—” he immediately stopped blubbering when he heard her laugh.

He blinked, not knowing what to say next. He could no longer remember what his next words were supposed to be as her laugh rang in his ears. He didn’t realize that he was furrowing his brows and the smile on Taeyeon’s face grew wide. It reached the point where she had to bite her lip. His head was spinning and his heart was doing somersaults.

Remembering that he munched on potato chips earlier, he wiped the sides of his lips with his palm. “Is there something on my face?”

            He heard her laugh some more before she shook her head and said, “No. You look fine. And truthfully, I am travelling on my own. I’d love to have some company while we wait for our flight.”

There was no other person in the world who wanted to be swallowed by the ground at the moment. He knew he was dumb but he just had to show it then and there. He laughed it off awkwardly and tried to brush the memory out of his mind. It had been years since they last saw each other this close. It had been years since they last talked.

 He couldn’t tell if she was just trying to be polite. Because by the looks of it, she didn’t look like she wanted his company. Her face was angled towards his, but her eyes didn’t meet his gaze. Baekhyun was slightly disappointed, but he was also quite glad that she accepted his offer, even if it was out of courtesy and politeness.

When he looked back at the seat he was sitting on earlier, an old man was already seated with a newspaper in his hands. He turned to look on the other side but found no empty seat. The hall was beginning to get crowded with a buzz of chatter or in this case, complaints because of the delayed flights. Scanning the room once more for available seats, he found some passengers already sitting on their luggages and some were even sitting cross-legged on the tiled floor.

“Do you want some coffee?”, he asked. He figured it would be better than staying in the tightly-packed hall. “Maybe we could stay at a cafe and wait there instead. It’s getting stuffy in here,” he added.

“Sure. I was actually planning to go and have a drink.” she replied.

It was only then when he noticed that she had several paper bags hanging on her left wrist. She probably had some last minute shopping done inside the airport. He fixed his backpack on his shoulder before offering to carry her bags for her.

“Oh, thank you. But it’s not that really heavy.” she protested, moving her arm away from him.

“Are you sure? That’s going to leave ugly marks on your beautiful skin.” He realized what came out from his mouth. Damn it, Byun! Get your together!

Taeyeon was about to protest once more, but he was one step ahead of her and took the bags from her wrist.

“Well if you insist...”

If their friends saw them now, they would probably be laughing at how awkward they were being. They used to know each other well. They shared an apartment together. They exchanged secrets. They knew each other’s interests and pet peeves. They wore each other’s clothes. They had their life together in a blueprint, but it never made through. If he were to see himself right at this moment, he would probably laugh too. Because the years they spent together, didn’t matter at all. Not anymore.

They used to know each other well. But now he wasn’t entirely sure. She dressed the same way and her makeup was always the way it is. It was neither light, nor was it heavy. But the light in her eyes, and the curve of her smile felt different. Different than what they used to be.

She dressed the same way and her makeup was always the way it is, no matter what the style. It was neither light, nor was it too heavy. But the light in her eyes and the curve of her smile felt quite different. Different than what they used to be. He just couldn’t point it out exactly.

Despite the buzzing of chatter and the busy atmosphere around them, it felt too quiet. They didn’t talk while they made their way out of the crowded waiting hall. How have you been? He wanted to ask. But after embarrassing himself quite a few times already, he didn’t want to risk it. Maybe later.

There were a few coffee shops around and he had to ask her where she wanted to go. She looked around and decided it would be best to choose the nearest one in case they receive news of their delayed flight. Since it was the nearest from the waiting hall, it was also crowded with people. Baekhyun pulled the door open for her and the familiar smell of coffee reached their noses. The sweet aroma triggered a few memories in his mind.

The cafe she chose was the one they usually frequent in the past. Taeyeon was always the first one to reach their apartment and when his shift at work would end, he would call her and ask her if she wanted him to get something for her. On some days she would ask for a portion of spicy rice cakes from a pojangmacha near his office. But on most days, it would be donuts or coffee, sometimes both, from the cafe which was located two blocks away from their home.

It was crowded but he was sure that there would be a little space for the two of them. There was an elderly couple in front of the cashier and so they waited in line, and found themselves in front of the display case which had a few slices of cakes and some donuts. Taeyeon’s eyes were glued to the display of cakes and probably the donuts as well. The display case was just about her height, albeit slightly taller than her. He saw her tilt her head upwards. She was trying to look at the menu. But her view was somehow blocked by the baskets of fresh bread. So she had to stand on her toes a little in order for her to see what’s on the board.

“So uh,” Baekhyun started. “The usual?”

She seemed so lost for a moment because all she gave him was questioning look. “Oh um, I’d like to have an Americano please.”

He felt a tinge of pain. Out of all the coffees, Americano was on the end of her list. She hated the strong bitter taste. But I guess not anymore.

When it was their turn, he placed the orders for them. “One Americano, and one latte please.” He looked at the display of cakes again and added, “A slice of tiramisu and a glazed donut too, please.”

The cashier nodded and repeated their orders to him. From his peripheral view, he saw Taeyeon going through the contents of her shoulder bag. He knew she was about to get her wallet. But he was quick to get his card from the card pockets on the flip of his phone case and he handed it to the cashier before she could give him a note.

“Don’t worry. It’s on me.” he said as the man behind the counter returned his card.

“Oh no, I insist.” Taeyeon handed him a bill to which he refused profusely.

They moved a little further to wait for their order to be completed. “It’s alright. You can always pay the next time we bump into each other.” he said it as a joke. But he meant every word of it.

He couldn’t read the look on her face. It was too quick for him to comprehend, because as soon as he blinked, she was wearing a smile wide enough to melt his heart again.

“Thank you.” she mumbled, shyly.

It didn’t take long for their orders to be completed and so Baekhyun took hold of the tray and followed closely behind Taeyeon as she looked for an empty table. All the tables seem to be occupied at the moment. But thankfully a group of four young people stood up from their place and offered the butter-colored couches they were sitting on. They put all their empty mugs and plates on their tray and politely handed it over to the crew on duty before leaving the coffee shop. The table was quite big for the two of them. So when Taeyeon sat on one end of the table, Baekhyun took the other side next to her. If they were to sit across each other, they would probably have trouble hearing each other since the cafe was crowded and the people’s chatter could easily be compared to the one in the waiting hall earlier.

“So… uh… Americano?” he began. “Since when?”

He was curious to know the answer because she used to order latte all the time. It was her favorite drink. Was.

“It has been quite some time now actually. I’ve been trying new things here and there.” He watched her stir her cup of coffee before bringing it close to . She blew on it a few times before taking a sip.

“How have you been? Is work still taking its toll on you?” she asked.

“Oh, I’m not working anymore.” he smiled after.

Taeyeon quirked her brows at his answer and a confused look was painted all over her face as she tilted her head to look over his direction. “Wait, I’m sorry. But…”

He chuckled. “I quit my job.”

Her brows remained quirked but the confused look on her face was already replaced with a surprised one instead. “You what?”

At some point, he kind of already expected to receive the exact reaction from her regarding his job, but he still couldn’t help but to laugh at her reaction at the moment; in which Taeyeon eventually joined in after a moment.

“Wait, so you’re saying that you left your job?” she asked, as if his answer wasn’t direct to the point already.

“I guess it’s really unbelievable for me to do it, huh?”

She chuckled and shyly nodded her head at him. “To be honest, kinda.” they both laughed in unison after. “But are you happy with that? I mean, was it really what you wanted?” she asked before wrapping both of her hands on her cup to take a sip of her drink.

“I guess so.” he started. “It was surely taking its toll on me already and everything just became too overwhelming for me to handle.” he paused for a moment, wondering whether he should continue talking or just stop right there. But Taeyeon only remained silent, looking at him with what he thought was an expectant look as if she was waiting for more explanation from him.

So, he continued.

“I was burnt out. And I realized how much my work was eating me and also taking everything away from me. How it was slowly taking my life away.” he paused and he felt a little anxious when he saw her unreadable expression. It was a mixture of many things but one thing he could point out was it was definitely not a happy or good one and he knew it was his fault of suddenly getting a bit serious with their conversation when he could have just simply answered her question without getting too much into the details. Goodness, I should get a grip of myself.

“So, I left and I’m just enjoying what I have now without worrying about the millions of deadlines I used to have before.” he added in attempt to lighten the mood around them and he felt himself heaving out a breath that he was holding when he heard her chuckling beside him.

“That’s really good to hear then. I remember how you were always worn out because of how demanding your job was.”

He chuckled and nodded his head. “And how demanding Choi was for that matter.”

She laughed at the mention of his former boss’ name which Baekhyun found endearing that he felt his heart melting because of it. “Oh yeah, that guy! You cursed him crazily every single time you could get to do so.”

“You mean everyday?” they both laughed.

Memories of the past started to fill in Baekhyun’s mind and he couldn’t help but to be happy as he recalled those moment of them together; even if he knew that what he was doing was indeed a total torture for his poor self and fragile heart. I’ll deal with the pain later on.

“Yeah, I mean everyday and every second of the day.” she uttered through her laughs while nodding her head at him.

“I think that’s enough of me. How are you? Are you still trying to get into the billions of the bank until now?” It was a joke that Baekhyun made about her job and since then, they would use it to address and label her job to their friends and other people.

Another laugh came out from her and he swore he could feel himself falling all over again.

“Actually, I’m after the trillions now.” they both laughed. “But I’m still working at the bank, but a different branch now, and I’m a bank manager already.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened at her answer that he had to stop himself from drinking his coffee, and placed it back down on the table. “Oh wow, that is huge!  I am beyond happy for you!” and he really was knowing how hardworking she had always been and how she was deserving enough to attain whatever she had at the moment.

Her lips curled up into a wide and beautiful smile at his comment. “Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“So, is the work more difficult and demanding now or…” he was certain about the level of stupidity of his question but he just wanted to know.

Taeyeon set her cup down on the table after taking a sip of her drink and spoke. “Well it sure is since I’m technically managing the whole branch of the bank but I’m carrying on.”

Baekhyun nodded his head at her answer. “That’s great to hear then. And I am really happy for you, I know you truly deserve it.” he knew it would have been better if he just addressed his happiness for her in the simplest way possible an ex would actually do, but he meant every single word that he uttered out and he wanted her to know that. Even if he might looked like an overly still-in-love-ex-boyfriend in her eyes, he wouldn’t mind it, as long as he could say whatever he wanted to say to her. It’s the only time that he got to actually do it and there is no certainty that there would actually be a next time for this, it surely was a reckless move but he gotta do what he had to do.

Suddenly, the side thoughts he was having were drove away by the sincere smile that appeared on Taeyeon’s lips a little while after. I swear, one smile from her is enough to drive me insane all over again.

“That’s really…” she was suddenly cut off when an announcement was heard playing across the halls of the airport.

They both looked around and listened to what the announcement had to say for none of them wanted to miss it if it would be regarding about their flight.

“May we request the passengers of the flights departing for Taiwan to please proceed to gates twelve, thirteen, and fourteen as the aircrafts that you will be boarding are about to arrive in approximately fifteen minutes. Once again…”

“Oh, I thought that was about our flight for a second.” he uttered as he drew his gaze and attention back to her.

She chuckled and nodded her head at him. “I honestly thought so too, so I stopped talking and listened.”

Their eyes locked and he felt a dull ache in his heart when she looked away first. She took the teaspoon and stirred her drink once more. He was slightly annoyed because a certain announcement interrupted their conversation, making him forget his train of thoughts. It was going smoothly to say the least, but it just turned out to be that way.

“Going back to what you were talking about,” Taeyeon cleared . “That was really nice of you to say. I really appreciate it, a lot.”

It was as if Baekhyun’s mind had short-circuited because he could no longer remember what he was supposed to say next before the announcement came. It was all inside his head. airports and their announcements!

Silence fell on them once more and the air turned awkward yet again. He could tell that he wasn’t the only one feeling the same way when he saw her fiddling her fingers around the mug, her eyes glued down to it. It was one of her many habits, whenever she felt awkward. Maybe not all things changed.

He wanted to speak more, to continue the conversation between them because God knew how much he loved talking to her and how long he waited for this moment to even happen after things ended between them. But his tongue felt like it was tied down and he couldn’t utter any words at the moment that the only thing he was able to do after she spoke was to smile at her and nodded his head before the awkward and longing silence finally found its way to them and clung around them like there was no tomorrow.

In an attempt to lighten the atmosphere once again, he cleared his throat and glanced down at the plates of donut and tiramisu which were still left untouched by the both of them. “Um, I think we should eat these ones before they actually get cold and become inedible.”

She had her brows raised up for a while before she followed his fingers pointing down at the donut and tiramisu before she smiled and chuckled. “I was so into my coffee that I forgot about that, I’m sorry.”

He shook his head at her and spoke. “No, it’s fine. I did too so, no worries.” he glanced up at her, which she surprisingly did as well at the same time, and offered her a smile.

“Um so,” he started, looking down at the plates of desserts down on their table as he felt his ears heating up all of sudden. “The usual donut?” The chances of him being disappointed and his heart being crashed into pieces were as high as the highest mountain in the world but he just wanted to see.