❝LYINGTOMYSELF❞

“Vickie!  Vickie, open the door, please!  Vickie!”

“She's gone.”

Jinki had rushed his way to the campus in hopes of finding Vickie there.  He wanted to apologize for what he'd done back in the bar, and he wanted to tell her everything he thought about her.  All the feelings, the memories, everything.  But now, it seemed as if things were crumbling.  There was no answer coming from Vickie's room, even when Jinki had slammed the door a bunch of times already.

“What?”  Jinki turned around and saw Jooyoung, who looked frail standing there in front of him.

“Vickie left already.”  Jooyoung said.  It was obvious she had been crying, for her voice was quivering and her hair looked messy.  “She told me to give this to you.”

Vickie knew that Jinki would come back and look for her, but she also knew that they won't be able to see each other again.  She decided to write a letter, to which she gave to Jooyoung, who completely disagreed with her leaving.

The letter shook in Jinki's hands as he unfolded it, struggling to read the words written through his watery eyes.  He found out, in a matter of seconds, that by the time he was reading the letter, Vickie was on her way to the airport with her dad.  That Vickie will always remember every moment they spent together,  that she will cherish them, and that she actually found him adorable while sleeping.  She was also sorry for leaving without saying goodbye personally, that hopefully the letter was enough to fill all of the failures she'd caused Jinki.  “I wish you pass the test,”  she wrote.  “I'll miss you.”

“Do you know... which airport—”

“Incheon.”  Jooyoung interrupted.  She really wanted to complete Vickie and Jinki's love story, even if it looked as if it will forever be left uncompleted.  “If you go now, you'll still see her.”

“T- Thank you, Jooyoung.  Thank you so much!”  And with that, Jinki was out of the campus again, back into the rain.

The darkness didn't matter as Jinki ran all the way to the bus stop.  He was half-dried as the wind blew on his clothes, but he was still damp because of the sprinkle.  In his mind as he ran, he prayed that he would still be able to see Vickie for one last time.  It was possible, he thought, and at this moment his entire life depended on that mere encouragement.

Jinki entered the bus and paid and sat down and wished for it to go faster.  The three other people in the bus were stealing glances at him, wondering who this man was that blatantly entered the bus all wet.  They started to forget about him when they realized he had something else in mind.

The letter was soaked in Jinki's grip as he sat quietly, patiently waiting for the bus to reach Incheon.  From the station there he would have to take another bus to get to the airport.  He didn't care, just as long he was there long before Vickie's plane was gone to Taiwan.

“Vickie, dear?  Let's go check in.”

“Oh.  Yes.”

The airport was not so packed as Vickie thought it would be.  People were rushing from their airline windows back to the waiting areas.  Some were asleep on benches, some were buying things as souvenirs, some were ordering and eating food, some were like Vickie and Wu Zheng, just about to check in.  The others left were the airport staff walking around and getting to their gates.

The bus stopped at the station, sending passengers out and inside.  Jinki exited with two other people while four people entered the bus.  He checked his phone: 08:57 P.M.  He placed his phone back in his pocket and, just as he was finished, a bus destined to go to the international airport pulled over just right beside the bus Jinki exited from.  He thanked God in his head and quickly entered the second bus before anyone else did.

Vickie tapped Wu Zheng's shoulder.  “Dad, I'm going to go shop.”

Wu Zheng nodded his head.  “Okay, be careful.”

Vickie answered her dad with a short “mhmm” before she went off in the shopping areas of the airport.  She found herself quickly walking to a store where they sold children's toys and cute plushies and other things.  She didn't know why, but she felt like buying a stuffed toy.  At first, Vickie thought it was so that she'd have something to lean her head on in the plane.  Seconds later, she thought that it could at least make her think Jinki was with her during the trip.

The store was near the entrance of the airport in the front.  Vickie looked at the people coming and going, many of them heaving suitcases and some carrying smaller duffel bags and purses.  She looked away and went inside the store, and then a bus pulled over outside the entrance.

Once the doors of the bus opened, Jinki got out of it before anyone did just as he entered it.  He didn't notice a car rushing in his way, but he noticed it once the angry driver pressed on the car horn, sending Jinki startled.  He bowed his head low at the driver and quickly made his way around the bus to the airport's entrance.  He had to snake through the building crowd in front of him, and then he was inside the airport.

“Miss, what's your softest plushie available?”  Vickie asked the cashier meticulously.

The cashier looked up from the notebook she was writing on.  She smiled at Vickie and said, “Wait a second, ma'am.”

Vickie nodded and waited patiently for the cashier and walked around, looking through the stuffed toys near the register.  She found many adorable ones that ranged from character plushies like Stitch and Mickey Mouse to unbranded plushies in shapes of sushis and strawberries and many others.  The cashier called her over again, but Vickie didn't notice her.  She heard her name being called just outside the store.

“Vickie!”  Jinki continued calling her name.  It was very dark outside and the rain made it worse.  Guards came over to him and tried to calm him down, for the people in the airport were starting to think something bad was going to happen.

“Sir, we need you to please quiet down.  There are others here—”

“No!  I need to see Vickie!  Vickie!”

“Sir, please—”

“Jinki?”

The eyes of the guards and the bystanders turned to the gaping lady in front of them.  The cashier of the plushie store were far behind Vickie, stopped in her tracks to witness what was going on.  Jinki was the last one to notice Vickie, and when he did, he broke out of the guards' grips and crushed her into a hug.

“Vickie!  I- I never thought I'd see you...”  Jinki sobbed into Vickie's neck, his words coming out in mumbles.  “I'm sorry, Vickie, I really am.”

Wu Zheng had heard her daughter's name being mentioned loudly near the airport entrance.  He came down running, leaving his documents opened back where he and Vickie sat.  When he had reached where the sound was coming from, he expected her daughter wincing in pain.  What he saw was completely different and unexpected.

“J- Jinki-ah...”  Vickie couldn't speak.  She couldn't even manage to hug Jinki back.  All she could do was stare ahead, looking at particularly nothing, her eyes wide in surprise.

“Please forgive me.  I'm really stupid for doing that a- and I hope I'm not too late.”  Jinki was still hanging onto the letter that Vickie wrote.  It was crumping in his hands as he tightened his embrace.

“What... I- It's okay, Jinki.”  Vickie had collected up her strength and had come back from her petrified state as she returned the hug, equally strong.  That kiss played in her head, but she didn't want to stop it at all.  “Don't worry about it.”

“I'm sorry...”  Jinki's voice was beginning to weaken by his sobs.  Vickie's heart broke, but each time she remembered that Jinki was with her once again, her heart returned to its regular position.

The hug looked physically painful for those watching them.  They thought the thin-framed girl in the boy's arms would crush into pieces, or at least tell the boy that she was hurting.  Many cooed at how sweet the two looked, including the cashier.  Wu Zheng's gaze was soft, and he was starting to regret pleading Vickie to come back to Taiwan with him.

“I actually... need to tell you something,”  Vickie said, still embracing Jinki.

Jinki pulled away.  He looked at Vickie with his sore and red-looking eyes.  “W- What is it?”

“I...”  Then Vickie thought it was stupid if she told him in words what she needed to say.  What she thought was smarter, which she did, was to straightforwardly show him what it was.

Jinki was left awed and open-eyed as Vickie tiptoed to reach his height, her eyes closed as she kissed him on the lips.  That was it.  That was what summed everything up at the moment.  Every single one, even Wu Zheng, were marveled over the two of them.  Vickie let go and settled back to her normal height, biting her lip as she slowly looked up at him, a goofy smile on her face.

“And that's what I need to tell you.”  She said proudly, the end of her lips curving upwards.

Jinki looked down at her.  “You...?”

Vickie nodded her head slowly.  Jinki was normal again, his shoulders defeated as he grabbed Vickie into an embrace again.  This time, it was the both of them who had tears in their eyes.  They were tears of joy, of course, and they couldn't help but smile through it all.  The intercom system called for Vickie and Wu Zheng's name, signaling for them to go to their gate.  Wu Zheng heard it, too.  He glanced one last time at Vickie and Jinki and grinned, turning around to walk back to the waiting area to get their things.

“I think I'm going to have to go,”  Vickie said, slowly letting go.

“I just... I never thought you'd actually like me bac—”

“If you say anything more, I'm going to take everything back.”  Vickie playfully threatened him.

Jinki grinned.  He took Vickie into a third hug, his eyes closed in satisfaction.  He meant it when he said he never thought Vickie would ever like him back.  He felt as though Vickie looked at him as if he was her brother, not somebody that could possibly be her lover.  He was glad when he found out he was wrong as Vickie wrapped his arms around him as well.

The last call for Vickie interrupted their short moment together.  They let go, their foreheads touching each other's.  Jinki cupped Vickie's face in his hands, wiping her tears with his thumbs.

He breathed in.  “I know you're going to be gone for a very long time, and I know this might be hard, but promise me... promise me you won't like anybody else?  Promise me you'll come back and we'll see each other again, and you'll still remember me?”

“Is that it?”  Vickie chuckled, then became serious.  She smiled up at him.  “I promise.”

“Oh, Vickie, you just don't know how much I love you,”  Jinki whispered into her ear.  He hugged her again, and letting go now seemed so much harder.

“Oh, I know,”  Vickie said, hugging him back,  “I know because I love you, too.”

The people around them were engulfed in their own activities, but they couldn't help but notice the sweet couple in front of them.  All of them had never seen such a thing, that an immediate love story would happen before their eyes.  It was funny, too, because that love story was in an airport.  They were all happy for Vickie and Jinki even though they didn't know the two personally.

As for the couple, their last kiss at the moment was blissful.  Much more blissful than that back in the bar.  It was more because now, they were clear about their feelings for each other.  They were clear that neither of them would let go.  Ever.

UH-HUH

HAPPY ENDING EVERYONE YAY!

HERE'S A GIFT (CLICK ON IT FOR ORIGINAL OWNER)

YEAAAAAAAAH

THANK YOU GUYS FOR READING!