Seungcheol sighed as he looked up to the sky. It had been more than ten years, but every time he thought about it, the pain was still there. For others Busan was a great touristic spot, but for Seungcheol was the last place he saw his mother alive. She had been sick for a long time and she wanted to return to her hometown before her condition turned worse, but it was already too late and after a couple of months in Busan she was gone.

His grandmother had always insisted him to visit her, but he couldn’t. Her house was full of happy memories that turned sad faster than he expected. But now that he was in Busan for an advertising project, he had no excuse to refuse her invitation. She had even convinced him to stay with her instead of a hotel and Seungcheol had been nervous all the way from Seoul.

The door of his grandmother’s house opened suddenly and he was startled for a moment when he received a tight hug.

“Cheollie, welcome home.” She said sweetly and Seungcheol’s eyes started watering.

His mother used to say the same thing to him every time he returned from school.

He returned the hug trying to keep his emotions at bay, while his grandmother kept talking about how she had prepared his favorite dish for dinner.

He followed her inside after a moment and when he arrived to his designated room another sigh escaped his lips. It was the same room he had occupied the last time he visited and the memories came back in such a rush that he had to sit down.

The shock probably showed on his face so his grandmother gave him another hug.

The years after his mother’s death Seungcheol knew he had received more privileges than others due to his father’s success in the business field, but he hadn’t receive a hug that could warm his heart.

His father was really busy even before his mother was gone, but after it he focused all his frustration into work, leaving Seungcheol all alone in a big apartment in Seoul.

And maybe he got used to that coping mechanism too, as he followed his father’s instructions and worked hard to enter a new school for richer people, because he couldn’t keep up with the pity looks he received.

In there he met Jeonghan, the heir of one of the largest hotel chains in Korea. They didn’t have much in common, but as soon as he mentioned the name to his father, he was instructed to befriend him. It wasn’t that hard as Jeonghan seemed to have taken a like on him.

But Seungcheol wouldn’t have imagined twelve years after that, they would be engaged. He knew he should be more excited about it, and he couldn’t help but feel guilty about his lack of enthusiasm, but he wondered if his mother would approve the other or at least help him sort out his feelings.

His thoughts were interrupted when his grandmother called him for dinner; she wanted to know all about Seungcheol’s project in Busan and how he had been doing. He answered politely to all her questions, trying to focus on her instead of the memories of her mother sitting at the same dinner table or his mother cooking in the kitchen. And when they finished dinner and he excused himself to his room all he could think was that it would be a long week in Busan.

******************************************************************************************************

Jihoon walked around the train station when he heard his name being called. His mother was waving her arms excitedly as she smiled at him. It had been a few years since he last saw her so he smiled back with the same intensity. His schedule back in Japan had turned crazy as soon as his songs became a hit and he spent more time at the studio than at his apartment.

When they arrived at his childhood home Jihoon felt nostalgic. It had been more than a decade since he left Busan, but his parents had left all his things in his room like waiting for him to come back. After years in Japan he wasn’t sure if he would ever return to Korea, but his success had been noticed and a new blooming company had hired him to work as a producer. It was a great working opportunity and maybe in this way he could get closer to Mingyu again. The other male’s model career had grown so much that he was hired by a Korean company a year ago and with their clashing schedules they barely talked.

Jihoon had decided to spend a couple of weeks in Busan before moving to Seoul with Mingyu and starting his new life. He wanted these weeks to be a healing time where he could keep a distance from the stress at work and just enjoy time with his parents and maybe spend some time at the beach; something he haven’t done in years, as he spent his free days laying on his bed watching series.

After dinner with his parents he returned to his room and called Mingyu. The other talked excitedly about his new photoshoot and how he was invited to party, but Jihoon was more focused on the pictures and posters on his walls. They were all music related and he snickered when he saw a picture of him and Soonyoung. Before he left to Japan, the other had made him promise that one day they would work with a big artist and he was the one that got him his new job in Korea.

“Jihoon?” He blinked before paying attention to the other’s voice on the phone.

“Sorry what?” He asked with some guilt on his voice.

“You must come to the party with me. The other models keep joking that I have an imaginary boyfriend.”

Jihoon sighed. He didn’t like those kind of parties, dressing up was annoying and he always felt overwhelmed when he was surrounded by such beautiful people. But he had to agree, Mingyu had left him out of the hook many times in Japan and he had no other excuse to refuse.

After catching up a bit more, Jihoon started unpacking and when he opened his last drawer he found an old notebook. It was similar to the ones he used to use to write his lyrics back in high school, but when he opened it the pages seemed to be empty. He was about to close it when a folded paper fell down.

He got intrigued and when he opened it, in a messy handwriting that he was sure belonged to Soonyoung, there was written a few sentences.

Things to do before moving to Japan:

1. Win the school annual music festival (WITH ME)
2. Go to the beach festival (WITH ME)
3. Get your first kiss (NOT FROM ME)

Jihoon started laughing, as annoying as Soonyoung could be, he also made him laugh like no other person could. And when he kept reading the paper he noticed his own handwriting.

1. O
2. O
3. Seungcheol