Seoul — — 2022

Taeyong always thought that he’d feel different once he was an adult.  

Like there would be some sort of drastic, noticeable change in his body chemistry that would send signals to his brain, ringing like ‘You’re finally an adult. Ta-dah!’

But it wasn’t like that in reality. It was just a smooth transition that he didn’t even notice. Maybe that just meant he wasn’t really an adult yet, maybe he had always been an adult or maybe that's just how adulthood worked, but he was pretty satisfied with where he was in life regardless.  

After his internship, he had got a job at a research lab in the city headed by a professor at his university who had recruited him personally.  He thrived in that environment, impressing researchers far older and more experienced than he was. It felt like he finally found his place in the world. 

His social life, however, took a few hits. 

It was the one thing that felt like it was missing.

He tried dating, keeping an open mind to meeting new people but nothing ever stuck. One date rarely turned to two and when his friends would press him on the issue, he wouldn’t have a real answer. He just didn’t feel a spark. There was no excitement or anticipation with any of the women he dated.

They were all lovely and kind but it wasn’t what he wanted. 

He wanted to meet someone who made him antsy, who he couldn’t keep his hands and heart away from. Someone who stole his breath without trying. 

It never dawned on him that perhaps he was more of a romantic than he believed he was.

Jaehyun was never a fan of his dates. Despite their varying career paths, they had stayed close and Jaehyun was no stranger to complaining about Taeyong’s choice in women. It wasn’t that there was anything particularly wrong with them, but Jaehyun strongly believed Taeyong wasn’t picking the right women. 

That he could find all the romantic poetic feelings if he just found the right One.

“Just let me set you up, man.”

Taeyong brushed him off. 

It didn’t feel like the One existed. 

Tokyo — — 2023

Being in Tokyo was a whirlwind. 

Of course, it was hard at first. Adjusting, familiarizing herself with a new country, and a new language, trying not to seem like an idiot at her internship. But then it got infinitely better. 

She was learning so much and her supervisors were so impressed that they started giving her more and more responsibilities especially whenever they needed someone with a background in Korean history. 

When her internship was getting close to its end, she was even offered a contract position as a researcher. One that she stepped into without missing a beat. 

She made friends, connections, memories, and forged her own path. She had always dreamed of traveling and now she was lucky enough to say that she did. She didn't just see the major city but was led by some of her friends and colleagues to more rural and hidden areas that made Japan home to so many.

But as she stood by her boarding gate waiting for her flight to be called, she knew that she missed home. 

Dorothy was onto something. 

There truly is, no place like home.

Seoul — — 2024

Haeun said no at first. Just like she always did when Mark begged her to let him set her up on a blind date. 

But it had been a full year since she’d come back from Tokyo and the dating pool she had been working with was shallow, to say the least. After the 10th bad date she had been on, she had finally relented to one blind date. 

And she made it clear, if it was bad, she would never let Mark anywhere near her love life again. 

He was, of course, over the moon. Apparently his internship with the city wasn’t keeping him busy enough because he nearly tripped over himself when she agreed. 

“He’ll be at the restaurant at 7 PM, he’ll be wearing a dark blue shirt, black hair.”

Haeun smoothed down the white sundress she was wearing, the exact one that her date was going to be on the lookout for and scanned the inside of the restaurant. It was relatively empty, there was a girl seated by the bar at the end of the room and a few people scattered throughout the booths. 

“Can I help you?” The hostess said with a bright smile. 

“I have a reservation at 7 PM under Nam.” She asked. 

The hostess, scrolled through her iPad, “Yes! Perfect. Your party is waiting for you. Follow me.”

Haeun fiddled with her curled hair before trailing after the hostess. Her eyes moved nervously at every table they passed, looking to see who her possible mystery date would be. 

“Here we are.” The hostess said, holding a hand out to a booth tucked in a cozy corner. 

Haeun looked over just as the man occupying the booth stood. “Oh! You must be—“

“Jungwoo.” He said with a grin and an outstretched hand, “Kim Jungwoo, it’s nice to meet you.”

She shook his hand, her eyes dancing over his face. He was handsome and despite the innocent look of his face, he was tall and filled up the room. “Nam Haeun. Nice to meet you too.”

She sat across from him as the hostess set down the menus and told that their waiter would be by to take their orders before finally leaving them on their own. “Sorry, I’m still trying to get the hang of blind dating.”

“Oh, don’t apologize, I’m on the same boat. Actually, my friend didn’t tell me much about you, I think he wanted to keep you a secret until we met.” He said. 

His voice was sweet, calming, she liked listening to it. It didn’t necessarily raise goosebumps or make her stomach flutter, but it was nice, “Yeah, he did the same to me.  How do you know him?”

“Work.” Jungwoo said with a scrunch of his nose, “We work in the same department, we hung out a few times to get drinks, that sort of stuff. What about you?”

She picked up her menu, scanning it, “Oh, we go way back. Basically grew up together.”

“Of course he wouldn’t have mentioned that his best friend was this pretty.” Jungwoo snorted. 

She grinned, hiding her smile behind a list of appetizers, “He also never said you were this smooth.” 

Jungwoo laughed, “So, what do you do?” 

“I’m an assistant researched for a museum. I worked in Tokyo for a while and after my contract was up, I decided to come back home. Missed the city too much.” She explained. 

“Now that you’re back, what do you want to do?”

-----

“I know, I know! I just got here. The traffic was backed up all down the highway.” Taeyong said into his phone as he walked into the restaurant. “Listen, Jaehyun, I’ll apologize to her when I see her. Happy?”

Jaehyun huffed, “You better. You finally let me set you up on a date, I will not let you ruin it.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Taeyong mumbled, “Reminder, I really don’t want to do this, I just really want to shut you up.”

“Note and frankly, don’t give a . Like I said earlier, she’ll be wearing a cute white dress and you’ll recognize her.” Jaehyun reiterated. 

Taeyong lingered by the doors, “Why won’t you just tell me who it is?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Jaehyun deadpanned, “Text me how it goes and if you blow it, I’ll never talk to you again, okay bye!”

Taeyong slid his phone in his pocket before walking to the hostess stand, “Hi, I’m here for a 7 PM reservation under Nam. I’m running a bit late, she should already be here, I think.”

The hostess scrolled through her iPad with a little smile, “Wow, the second Nam reservation today.”

“Oh, really?” He asked with a polite laugh, his eyes anxiously scouring the restaurant over her shoulder. 

“Yup, fortunately for you, the other Nam party is all seated, so this one must be you. She’s indeed already here. Follow me.”

He walked behind her as she wove them through the restaurant. She stopped when a young man, about his age, waved her down, “Sorry, I just wanted to know if you knew where our waiter is, we’re ready to order.”

Taeyong glanced at him, he was a handsome guy with the kind of pure faces you felt guilty lying to and judging by his sweaty palms and the back of the head of the girl he was sitting across from, this was the first date. Looked like he wasn’t the only one suffering tonight. Hopefully, this guy would have a better night than him. 

“My apologies, I’ll make sure your waiter comes asap.” The hostess said quickly. 

The man smiled in thanks and the hostess was off, back on her breakneck pace through the restaurant until they reached the bar, “Here we go. Nam 7 PM. Do you two want to stay at the bar or would you like me to move you to your table now?”

The girl turned, as per Jaehyun’s word, she was dressed in a pretty white dress. Taeyong blinked at her, waiting for his brain to put the pieces together. Jaehyun was right, he did recognize her but not well. 

The girl’s jaw dropped when she spotted him before she beamed, “Oh my god! Lee Taeyong!? I can’t believe this. What are the chances?”

“We’ll be fine at the bar.” Taeyong said quickly to the hostess before she left. 

He recognized her all right. 

Now he was praying this date would just end with drinks and he wouldn’t have to labour over an entire meal with her. 

“You don’t remember me do you?” She teased, lightly smacking his arm, “Sigma Theta Kapa sorority! We did a few joint events with NCT. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” He smiled before returning the hug. 

He had no problems with her, she was nice, peppy, the exact type of person who could make your head hurt. Why the would Jaehyun think that this was someone he’d want to date? He didn’t even know Jaehyun was still in touch with the frats and sorority people outside of NCT. 

The last he remembered, he had absolutely nothing in common with her, she had asked him out a couple of times and he would just dodge and avoid setting a date. And somehow fate, or rather Jaehyun, went and set one for him. 

“Want a drink?” She asked, raising her glass of rose. 

Biting back a sigh, he nodded and sat down across from her, “Sounds good.”

“So, I heard you were working at some big lab. How much do you make doing that?”

-----

Kim Jungwoo was sweet. 

He was pleasant, kind, charming. 

And utterly boring. 

It wasn’t his fault, it was probably first date jitters but keeping the conversations going was becoming too hard with him. They had quickly run out of things to say and it was hard pretending to find the things he said funny or interesting. She was grateful when they both passed on dessert and went straight for the cheque. 

“Thanks.” She said when he handed the waitress his card. 

He shook his head, “Don’t worry about it.”

After signing the receipt, they stood and headed to the front, “Tonight was really fun.”

Haeun hesitated before nodding, “Yeah it was.”

“We should do this again sometime.” He suggested. 

Haeun said nothing as he opened the front door, “Let me give you a ride home.”

“Actually it’s okay, I’m going to call an Uber.” She said. 

He glanced out the door, “It’s raining hard. Are you sure?”

“Of course! Don’t worry, I have to stop off before I head home anyways.” She said.

He hesitated for a moment, “If you’re sure. I’ll see you soon, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She said, giving him a quick hug before watching him run out in the rain and get into his car. Once he drove off, she stepped out, tucked under the awning, and called for an Uber. 

Mark Lee was never going to hear the end of this. She was never going to let this go.

It almost offended her that after knowing Mark almost her entire life, he thought that was the type of guy she'd be into.

The rain was coming down hard, pattering against cars and the restaurant windows. It was loud and some of the rain was splashing on her heels but it made her feel at home. She always loved the rain, it felt like the entire world slowed down. Maybe she’d stop off at the grocery store and pick up some snacks and have a cozy night in. She could practically hear her thick blankets singing to her.

Lost in her thoughts, she didn’t notice the door behind her open and someone stepped up behind her. 

“It’s pouring like hell. When did this happen?”

She turned and froze, her breath seizing in her lungs at the man with his shoulders hunched and his hands in his pockets. 

“Taeyong?”

His eyes moved from the sky to her before widening a fraction, “Haeun?”

When her Uber pulled up, she and Taeyong were just staring at each other, neither of them speaking a word. 3 years wasn’t a long time but it felt like they had changed so much since they last saw each other the summer after they graduated. 

Taeyong’s face had chiseled out, his jaw and cheekbones were sharper than ever, his gaze still piercing. Time was a good look on him. His shoulders looked broader or maybe shedding his nervous student skin just gave him the confidence to stand taller.

Haeun’s hair was shorter than before, just barely grazing her collarbones. The colour was lighter too, not by much but enough that he noticed. There was an elegance and grace to her aura but the fire still burned under her curled lashes. She looked like a dream but he knew her well enough to know that she could probably still come at him with a basketball. 

“Hey! Are you Nam Haeun?” The driver called through the open window. 

Haeun flinched, snapping her gaze away from Taeyong and to the driver, “Y-Yeah.”

She turned back, her eyes flitting over his face attempting to make a split second, possibly very reckless, decision, “Did you bring your car?”

“Yeah.” He muttered, his eyes locked with hers. 

She gulped, “Do you want to share my Uber anyways?”

He had one drink and an entire plate of fries, he was probably too sober to make an irrational decision. Logically, he should take his car and drive himself home to avoid having to come back and pick his car up early tomorrow before work. 

It would make no sense to share her Uber.

“Yeah.”

-----

They sat next to each other in silence when the door shut, trying their best to dry off. The short run from the restaurant to the car still soaked them through.

“What were you doing here tonight?” She asked when they finally faced each other. 

His cheeks burned as he ran his fingers through his hair, “Uh, a blind date.”

“No way.” She balked. 

He laughed, “I know, I know. But Jaehyun finally broke me down into agreeing.”

“No, it’s not that.” Haeun said, “I was also on a blind date. Mark’s doing.”

His jaw dropped and she just giggled, “What are the chances? This is the first time I see you in years and we're both on crappy blind dates.”

“Crappy, huh?” She said, quirking her brow.

He hummed, looking out the window, “It was some girl from university that I guess Jaehyun was still in touch with. The first 5 minutes we sat down, she was basically doing a credit check, probably wanted my income statement too.”

She at her teeth, “Ouch.”

“I know. What about your date?” He asked.

She inched closer to him, in search of some heat as she shivered, “Better than yours. It was someone who worked with Mark apparently. I guess Mark interned in his department. Actually, not bad at all. He was polite, kind, a perfect gentleman.”

“A perfect boring gentlemen by the look on your face.”

She gasped, “How dare you.”

“Oh, come on, Haeun. If he was the least bit interesting and exciting, you would’ve asked to go get a drink or something. Made the date last longer. Let me guess, you skipped dessert, didn't even say yes to tea or coffee.” He quipped. 

She huffed, crossing her arms, “I haven’t spoken to you in years.”

“You’re not that hard to read, Hae.” He snickered. "Not if you're paying attention."

She chuckled as a comfortable silence fell over them. He looked over at her and sighed. She was still so beautiful, if anything, the passing of time only emphasized it. Her hair was drying and it was frizzy, little pieces cutely sticking out. It was hard to fight the urge to comb out her hair with his own fingers. The hem of her white dress was sticking to her thighs and she curled her fingers into little fists to fight off the cold. 

Not thinking, he reached out and took her hand, encasing it in his warmer ones. Haeun bit down a shiver and how the heat against the back of her hand was flooding through the rest of her body like a match igniting. Instead of shaking his hand off, she relaxed in his touch. 

“When’d you come back to the country?” Taeyong asked. 

She le