“My boss is a huge fan of this artist and she has an exhibition tomorrow. He got us tickets, so we have to go.”

Sunggyu rolls his eyes. Saerom is not the artsy type. But she is ambitious, and she knows how to keep her boss happy. It is a gift really; she could get along with a brick wall if it meant she would gain something.

“Seriously, an art exhibition?”

“Look, all you need to do is look around, drink some fancy wine, and stare admiringly at some of the paintings,” Saerom ties her hair up in a bun, as is her nightly ritual. “Not all of them though, some of them. You don’t want to seem too easily impressed.”

“Right,” he sighs, chewing on the end of his pen. “Do I need to wear a suit?”

She raises her eyebrows. “Did you really just ask me that?”

By now, Sunggyu knows that Saerom’s boss is a suit-and-tie kind of guy.

“I feel so stuffy in a suit,” he complains.

“Honey,” Saerom plants a kiss on his lips. “It’ll be over before you know it.”

--

“This ,” he tells her under his breath.

“Drink your way through it.” Saerom pushes a glass of wine into his hand from a passing waiter. As expected, he feels like he will suffocate in the stiff suit and tie. A tie is not too far from a noose, if you think about it. There’s painfully bright light from every direction that hurts his eyes. Too many overdressed people. This is not his scene.

“You’re not helping my drinking habit,” he jokes, giving her a dark look.

Saerom looks gorgeous in a black dress; she is in her element. Her hair looks shinier than usual and her cheeks are permanently red.

“Ah Sunggyu, glad you could make it,” Mr Choi, her boss slaps him on the back like an old friend. He is a middle-aged man, a bit too jovial for his taste. But he made himself a million-dollar business from scratch, so he respects that. And he is Saerom’s hero.

“Thanks for inviting us, Mr Choi. This is…great,” he tries to squeeze some enthusiasm into his voice.

“Isn’t it stunning? Haewon is really a fantastic artist!”

“Absolutely, I can’t take my eyes of these paintings, especially the one with the city skyline,” Saerom says. If Sunggyu didn’t know her, he would think she meant every word she said.

“Ah yes, that’s my favourite too,” Mr Choi booms, “it’s marvellous isn’t it? Oh there she is, Haewon come here.”

Haewon isn’t what Sunggyu was expecting her to be. He just didn’t imagine artists to be well-groomed individuals. But Haewon is incredibly well put together and she has a lovely smile. They are introduced and they exchange pleasantries. She is humble and blushes when Mr Choi compliments her. Saerom of course joins in.

“Yes, and Sunggyu loves them too,” Saerom adds, discreetly elbowing him.

“Oh yeah…they’re great.”

“Which one’s your favourite?” she asks expectantly.

“Umm…well, you know what, I can’t decide.”

A few more people join the group, and the conversation continues. It helps Sunggyu to stay silent. He just laughs a few times at appropriate moments and sips his drink. He is barely paying attention to any of the conversation.

“We need to buy a painting,” Saerom whispers to him at one point.

“Seriously, all this to impress your boss?”

“Please. Look around, pick something you like.”

Sunggyu blinks at her. “Which one?”

“Whichever. Actually, get the one with the city skyline.”

Gladly slipping away from the group, he goes on a hunt for the painting with the city skyline, which proves to be harder than he expected because a lot of them have skylines and he has no idea which one Saerom meant.

He moves from wall to wall, checking out the paintings until he comes across one that catches his attention. It’s the painting of a man, gazing at the sea, or maybe at the skyline where the blue sky meets the green waters. The man is facing away, so he can’t quite see his face. But there is something very familiar about his side profile, the curve of his shoulders.

“Do you like it?”

He jumps. He hasn’t noticed that Haewon had joined him. “Yeah,” he clears his throat, “it’s…the sky is beautiful.”

“My boyfriend modelled for it.”

“Did he?”

“Yeah, we were vacationing in Boracay…”

“Boracay…” Something awakens within him, something that had been dormant all this time. It’s small, like a flicker, but it upsets his internal balance. He feels dizzy.

“He loves the sea. He loves beaches.”

“I-I like it. I want to buy it.” He is not sure where that thought had come from, but he is sticking to it.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it reminds me of…” It only takes him a moment to realise what it reminds him of with a jolt down his spine. He is instantly overcome with two emotions – a crushing realization, with associated memories, spreading across his body down to the tips of his fingers, and the urge to suppress it, shut everything down as if he’s dealing with a virus. “A-a time when-it’s nostalgic...”

He isn’t sure if Haewon notices how his voice has changed or how still he is. Even if she does, she doesn’t comment on it.

“Oh, thank you! I’ll get you a sticker and a form to fill in,” she says sweetly, before leaving him there, in front of the painting, face to face with the judge and the jury.

He has never been to Boracay. But he has seen pictures of the beach many times, many many times. And every time, it had been a promise. A promise that broke like every little beautiful thing he had once had.

--

“Someone just bought the painting you had sat for.”

Woohyun looks up at Haewon with a smile. “Really? Who’s that? Is it a pretty girl?” he teases her.

She nudges him. “If it was, I wouldn’t have sold it,” she says, mock anger in her voice. “No, it’s that gentleman over there, he came with his girlfriend. I think she works for my sponsor.”

Woohyun straightens up and cranes his neck to check in the direction that Haewon pointed but all he sees are lots of bodies, in suits and dresses and jackets – he could be any of them. The most important thing is Haewon looks excited about making a sale – someone who appreciates her art as much as he does is a green flag in his head.

Collecting the form and the sticker, she is about to make her way when a friend of hers comes up to her. “Can you take the form and the sticker to him?” she whispers to Woohyun, handing him the items.

“Of course.”

He knows where the painting she is talking about is hanging. He had helped her set up the exhibition. He remembers sitting for the painting, on the beach at Boracay. He hadn’t minded sitting still for hours – the scenery was so beautiful. In fact, it had always been his dream to sit on the beach and watch the sunset. It was extra special because Haewon was there.

As he approaches the painting, he realizes that there is only one person standing in front of it, studying it carefully.

Clearing his throat, he approaches him, and when he is about two feet away, he feels a strange sensation washing over him.

The back looks familiar. Familiar in a foreboding way. The hairs on his neck stand up. Hoping, praying that he is wrong, he quietly comes to stand beside the man in his expensive suit. He is so engrossed in the painting that he doesn’t notice. And when they are standing shoulder to shoulder, even without looking at his face properly, Woohyun recognizes him.

They haven’t seen each other for ten years, but God, he would recognize him anywhere. From his back, from the angle of his nose, from his silhouette, his eyelashes.

“I didn’t know you liked art.”

The man startles visibly, and turns his head to look at him, his mouth falling open as his eyes light up with recognition.

It takes him everything to not look at him, even though he can see plenty in his peripheral vision. He looks just the same.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to buy this,” he is trying very hard to keep his voice even. “I’ll tell Haewon you changed your mind.” He turns around to leave.

“Wait!” Sunggyu finally speaks.

Grinding his teeth, he says, “Yes?”

“Are we…can we not even greet each other?”

Woohyun wants to scoff but instead he bows, mockingly.

“Hello, have you been well?” he says derisively.

“You don’t have to be so sarcastic.”

Woohyun swivels around, facing him squarely. He was wrong. Sunggyu doesn’t look exactly the same. He can see signs of age in the creases around his eyes, the lines around his nose. It’s reassuring in a way - a sign that considerable amount of time has passed, and no one is the same person they used to be. Therefore, there is no reason to feel the rolling waves in his stomach, like he is on a ship in a turbulent sea. It’s a thing of the past.

“You’re right.” Their eyes meet and it feels odd. For a moment, the earth under his feet disappears and he feels that he is being pulled down with extreme force. “As usual,” he adds before he can stop himself. He wishes he didn’t sound so bitter. He doesn’t want to give Sunggyu the satisfaction. “But, we don’t have anything to talk about.”

Sunggyu looks like he has just been slapped. His ears burn red and his eyes look a mixture of guilt, fear, and apology.

“Anyway, goodbye.”

“Wait…the painting. I still want to buy it.”

“You can’t.”

Sunggyu holds his hand out. “That’s not up to you to decide, Haewon-ssi said I could buy it.”

Woohyun is astounded by his gall. But Sunggyu has always been stubborn; that was one thing they had in common. But in order to cut this interaction short, he slaps the form and the sticker in his hand, before turning on his heel and walking away.

In a million years, he couldn’t have predicted that this evening would go like this. Has he not dreamt of reunions? He has, many times over. At a wedding, at a funeral, on the bus, on the subway, on a plane. That was towards the beginning. After not running into each other for years, he had stopped plotting candid rendezvous.

But the night falls when it is least expected. 

--

When Saerom asks him what painting he has bought, he smiles awkwardly and tells her it’s a surprise. The rest of the evening had been incredibly tough for him, keeping up appearances. Saerom had asked multiple times if he was okay, and he had blamed it on the wine. Thankfully, she had agreed to go home early. When he had gone to hand in the form, Haewon had told him that the painting would be delivered within 3 days.

“So you met my boyfriend,” she had said, “the man in the painting.”

“The man in the painting,” he had repeated. It sounded foreign on his lips. “Putting a face to the back.”

“Exactly!” she had laughed.

Funnily enough, he had already put a face to that painting, long before Woohyun had come along.

It had shaken him, running into Woohyun after all these years. He is the same, nothing’s changed. Well, that’s not entirely true. He wears glasses now. The playful shine in his eyes was gone. The way his lips lifted in a smile every time he saw him was gone. Was he a whole new person? Or was he just missing a piece?

He has wondered before, what he would do if they ran into each other. But every time he had thought of it, his mind had gone blank. So he had shelved all of it; every time the thought had tried to raise its head, he had pushed it down, deep into his subconscious. Maybe that’s the reason why he sometimes wakes up with tears in his eyes that he can’t explain.

Now, he doesn’t know what to do with this. His first instinct should have been to steer clear of anything that has to do with Nam Woohyun. But…it’s not as easy as he had imagined.

He is distracted at work too. He gives up writing the article he is working on after more than half of the page is underlined with red on his computer and he is tired of fixing every typo. As he is contemplating whether to go for a walk to clear his head, his phone rings. It’s an unknown number – his stomach flips. With a trembling hand, he connects the call.

He is not sure who he was expecting but he calms down when he realizes it’s Haewon.

“Sorry,” she says, “I have to cancel the sale of the painting.”

“Why? Anything wrong with the payment? I can pay cash if the card didn’t go through...”

“No, no, no,” she says emphatically, “it’s not a problem on your end, I promise. Would you like to take a look at the other paintings? Or shall I refund you the money?” 

His heart drops. “I don’t understand…what is it?”

She sighs. “Actually, my boyfriend’s being weird all of a sudden, he doesn’t want it to be sold. He was fine before but…”

“Oh.” He hadn’t expected Woohyun to go to this extent. Has he told her about…them? He probably hasn’t; after all, he is his dirty secret.

“I’m sorry, it’s not personal; he probably just thinks it’s strange that his picture would hang on a stranger’s wall…”

“A stranger…” his voice quivers. How long does it take for a soulmate to become a stranger? A year? Five years? Longer? Whatever it is, they have obviously crossed that time.

“Sorry?”

“No, it’s okay, I understand. I-I’ll stop by and pick something else.”

“Brilliant! The gallery is open till 6pm. And sorry again.”

“It’s not your fault.” If anything, it’s his.

--

A quick LinkedIn search tells him that Woohyun is a lecturer at Korea University, his alma mater. He is surprised, to say the least. Woohyun majored in Economics but he had never pictured him as a serious professor. Apparently, he had done his Masters and PhD from Stanford. So he had been away from Korea for 5 years; which had further diminished their chances of running into each other.

Sunggyu had actively avoided all university reunions. He had a group of close friends from his class that he still kept in touch with, and they knew better than to talk about Woohyun in front of him. They weren’t completely aware of what exactly the relationship between the two had been, but they had known enough to guess and enough not to ask.

He comes to a decision. Woohyun may be stubborn, but he isn’t lacking in that department either. Grabbing his coat, he pokes his head in the editor-in-chief’s room and tells him that he is going out for lunch.

“Say hi to Saerom from me,” Jongwan says. He has worked with Jongwan since the beginning, as a rookie entertainment reporter. He has been a father figure to him over the years and has even met everyone in his family.

“Umm…yeah, I will.” He is not sure why he doesn’t tell him that he’s not going to lunch with Saerom. It doesn’t matter anyway.

It doesn’t take him long to find the faculty building. It’s the same as before, peeling paint and cobwebs. One of the students points him towards the Economics lecturers’ offices. Each door has a board announcing the name and the accomplishments of their occupiers.

He stops in front of:

Professor Nam Woohyun

Head of Department of Economics

BSc (Hons), Msc (Distinction), PhD (USA)

Woohyun was always brilliant but he is still surprised to see that he’s already the head of the department; he’s sure that he is more than qualified but seniority is everything, especially when it comes to academics.

Taking a deep breath, he knocks on the door. He doesn’t hear anything, but the door is thrown open by a man he has never seen before.

“Er…I’m looking for Professor Nam Woohyun…”

“Ah yes, the Prof is in class.”

“Oh…” He has been too worked up to realise this was always a possibility. “When does he get off?”

The man blinks. “I’m sorry, are you a student?”

Sunggyu would have been flattered but the man says it in such a disbelieving voice, that he is almost affronted.

“No, I-I’m a friend.”

“Ah, come on in, I’ll check his schedule for you.”

“And you are…”

“I’m Lee Hyunwoo, Prof’s teaching assistant.”

“Oh, I see.”

He is led into the spacious office. The first thing he notices is a painting, most probably Haewon’s, on the wall. The room is tastefully decorated, with one large desk which must be Woohyun’s and a smaller one, messier, teeming with papers stacked haphazardly, which Hyunwoo walks over to.

“It looks like he’ll be done in about 20 minutes. You want to wait here?” Hyunwoo waves over to the two chairs facing Woohyun’s desk. “I can get you coffee.”

“That’s okay, thanks.” He is about to leave when the TA says, “The Prof never mentioned any friends. Do you live abroad or something?”

“Something like that…” he mutters.

“Well, he’s brilliant!” Hyunwoo obviously likes to talk. “Youngest head of the department, you know.”

“Yeah,” he nods, “I was surprised.”

“I mean, Prof Choi had to retire early, you know, the controversy.” Hyunwoo gives him a dark look. “But they picked him fair and square.”

That stirs a memory, a passing conversation he may have overheard at the office. The controversary about rogue admissions where some of the professors had taken bribes from the students’ parents.

“Thanks, nice to meet you.”

“Who should I say came looking for him?” Hyunwoo asks when he is halfway out of the door.

“It’s fine, I’ll come…find him later.”

--

His stomach rumbling, Sunggyu makes his way to the library. It’s close to the faculty building and has a wonderful little corner under the eaves, which used to be where he and Woohyun hung out. Not many people walked through here and even if it was raining, they would be protected from the rain. There is a low parapet wall they could sit on, dangling their legs, and watch the sky.

They weren’t exactly the dreamy campus couple. They let people draw their own conclusions, never denying or confirming their exact relationship. So, most of the time, they liked hanging out away from other people. They had a few spots littered around the campus, little pockets of happiness tucked away within hundreds of years of history.

Nostalgia etched within every brick.

He sighs, as a group of students clamour past him. The spot is obviously not as well hidden as before.

“It’s not as quiet as it used to be.”

He turns around so quickly that his neck cricks.

“Woohyun…how did you-”

He shrugs. “We meet after ten years yesterday and today my TA tells me that an old friend of mine has come looking for me – it’s not rocket science.”

Tactfully, he doesn’t ask the next question about how he knew he would be here. After all these years, he must still be predictable.

“What are you doing here?”

“Your girlfriend called me.”

Folding his arms across his chest, Woohyun stares at him in silence. Uncomfortable under the intense gaze, he continues. “She said you don’t want me to have the painting.”

“I said I don’t want it to be sold.”

“It’s not yours to decide.” Sunggyu doesn’t know what angle he is playing here but several inextricable emotions are gushing up like a hot flash and the only way out is through the words he speaks.

Woohyun’s face hardens. “It’s up to Haewon and I believe she’s already told you what she wants to do.”

“It’s not fair.”

“Life hardly is.” Woohyun turns his back on him.

In order to stop him from walking away, he shouts, “Prove it. Prove that the past doesn’t bother you. Because if it doesn’t, then you shouldn’t have any problem with me having the painting.”

It’s provocation of the highest degree and he feels a bit bad, like taking a cheap shot. But he is not exactly thinking with his forebrain here.

“Fine,” Woohyun says through gritted teeth. “Take the painting. What will you do, hang it over your bed, where you and your girlfriend sleep?”

“I’m sorry,” he suddenly says, as his front collapses. Watching Woohyun angry, like he has never seen before, shrinks everything within him. “I don’t know what came over me, I acted rashly.”

Woohyun blinks, before relaxing his shoulders. “I’m sorry too, we-we should be able to be civil with each other.”

Sunggyu nods. A few moments pass as they let the jarring feelings disperse. “Congratulations,” he finally says, “youngest head of the department, I hear.”

“Hyunwoo talks too much,” Woohyun mumbles. “But it’s only because Professor Choi retired early.”

“Ah yes, I heard about that. I’m actually writing an article about it, the admissions scandal.” As an investigative reporter, Sunggyu has lied before. Not dangerous lies, just little white lies. This current lie has no consequence. So he forgives himself for it immediately.

“Really? Don’t you usually write about corporate embezzlement and whistleblowing?” He retracts immediately, looking sheepish. It means Woohyun had read his articles before.

“This is a new project,” he says, pretending he hasn’t picked up on the slip. “I’ll be around the university, you know, investigating. Do you think you’ll be up for some interviews? No names, of course.”

Woohyun looks uncomfortable, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Looking away, he says, “I would rather not. It’s already very bad for our department and the university and-”

“It’s about the truth,” Sunggyu says quickly. He knows Woohyun has strong morals, another thing they have in common. “People should know the truth. And like I said, I won’t name anyone in the article-”

“I really don’t know much about this…”

“You never know what’s important,” he says emphatically. He has had lots of experiences persuading people to talk to him. “But the more puzzle pieces I have, the easier it is for me to put everything together.”

He watches him considering it, chewing on his bottom lip. Sunggyu used to tell him off for doing that. Sometimes he would run his finger across the cracks of his lips and sometimes he would lean forward and-

“Fine,” Woohyun agrees. “Send me the questions via email, I will write whatever I can.”

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“Sorry?”

“It has to be a dynamic interview, face to face.”

Woohyun’s eyelashes tremble. Sighing defeatedly, he says, “When?”

“Tomorrow?” he asks hopefully. “I can make any time.” Jongwan would kill him if he missed the daily staff debrief but some things are more important than being dead.

“Morning, 11am,” Woohyun says. “You get one hour, exactly.”

“Thank you!” Sunggyu feels accomplished, getting an interview for an article he most definitely isn’t writing. For a moment, he ponders what he is doing. But overthinking never serves him well.

So he follows his instincts.

--

When he returns to the office, he asks Jongwan about the admissions scandal story.

“Who’s handling it?”

“Oh, that’s Sora.