"What do you mean all the flights are pushed back 8 hours?!"

Sungyeol tapped his fingers on the receptionist desk impatiently, starting off with one finger, turning into two, turning into his whole hand slamming on the desk for answers. 

The receptionist sighed, unknowing how to handle the situation. "Sir, I'm sorry but there's nothing we can do about the storm. The weather conditions make it unsafe for us to proceed."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sungyeol slid his hand down his face, brushing off his lips and landing back on the desk in frustration. "My uncle's wedding in America practically starts by the time this plane lands. You're saying that from the airport, we have to taxi all of our belongings to the wedding. Those 8 hours were time for us to sleep and get ready. We might have to change on that airplane, we're all going to be a mess!"

"Sir, please, we wish we could accommodate better to your situation but due to the circumstances there is nothing we can do!"

Sungyeol slammed both of his hands once more. "My whole family is here! All 30 of us! My grandma is here! My grandma never gets out of bed! She sleeps, almost eternally! This is the first time she's been out of her room in god knows how long."

"Sir!" As the arguing intensified, the receptionist put her fist down to alleviate the situation. "We apologize for the inconvenience, but you are going to have to leave this line. I have more people I need to help behind you. You are not the only person with issues in this airport, so please, if you have anymore questions feel free to speak to our manager."

Sungyeol turned his head slightly to see a growing line of other angry people that she had to deal with and talk to about the storm. At the corner of his eye, families and businessmen waved their tickets in the air for refunds, flight transfers, answers for the delay. With a grim face, he slid his hands off the desk and stepped backwards, slowly spinning around to walk back to his family.

Sungyeol's family sat down together at the airport gates for Los Angeles, California, United State of America. His uncle moved to Los Angeles several years before to pursue a career in the movie industry, to find the person of his dreams and propose to her. It was expected for Sungyeol and his family to leave to America and arrive about 8 hours before for final preparations and beauty rest before the big day. The high winds of the monsoon were unexpected, delaying all travel until it dies down. His mom, dad, brother, grandma, large amount of first cousins, aunts, and uncles gathered around as Sungyeol returned with the news. 

"Well?" Sungyeol's younger brother Daeyeol stood with his arms crossed, the high school teenager too cool for any of this and even more restless that he was spending much of his precious summer in an airport with his family.

"Apparently our airplanes aren't strong enough to deal with storms these days," Sungyeol shook his head. "It's delayed by 8 hours."

"8 HOURS?!" his whole family exclaimed.

"What do we do now? Are we going to go back home and then come back to the airport?" a younger cousin asked.

"We can't do that. It already took 2 and a half hours to get to Incheon in that unbearable traffic, and now that the storm is worse it will double the amount of time to go back home and come back here. And add another extra hour to go through security again..." an aunt reasoned.

"My mother, I don't think she can stand being here much longer." Sungyeol's dad shook his head, thinking about the comfort of staying in an airport for a whole 8 hours. "Maybe we should take her back..."

The whole family turned to see what Sungyeol's grandma would say, only to find her taking up three seats at the airport as her own personal mattress and snoring her way into bliss. She was well unaware of any surroundings and could care less, as long as what she was sleeping on was decently comfortable.

"Well, that solves our problem." Sungyeol's dad hummed.

"Appa! He stepped on me!" Another younger cousin whined, his cheeks turning red and his eyes tearing up as his delicate foot was pained by an older cousin in his teens. The toddler whined and pointed at him, letting out a shrill noise to erupt the waiting area.

Sungyeol watched as his aunt swooped the toddler in her arms, swaying back and forth and gently massaging her foot to dissuade the pain and calm her down. Everything was a mess, and with his whole family stuck in an airport for the following 8 hours they would barely make it to the wedding. If they made it at all. "This place is going to be piled with people delayed, waiting in a chair, it's humid inside, this is all testing my patience. Can this get any worse?"

The thunder boomed and the lightning filled the sky. The rain pounded on the windows for a clear view of the nighttime storm, the workers outside struggling to keep everything in place and stay standing. At this time, every one of Sungyeol's cousin and the whole airport below the age of 10-years-old cried for help.

"We should buy sandwiches and pizzas for everyone and try to sleep," one of Sungyeol's uncles suggested.

"Sungyeol, Daeyeol, Minhyuk, Taebok, go help your uncle buy food for the family," Sungyeol's mom ordered for the older males of the family to do.

With nothing else to do and appearances to keep up, Sungyeol had no choice but to search for a restaurant to buy bulk food for the family. But before he could, all Sungyeol wanted was a break away from everyone before he dedicated the next 8 hours to them. "I'm gonna go to the restroom."

In a flash, Sungyeol ran to the nearest restroom in hopes of being alone for a small moment. He could barely stand the idea of staying in an airport for so long, and now dealing with the commands and irks of his family was making him lose his sanity.

Finding the calm in a white, porcelain refuge of urinals.

All the spots were taken by men relieving their stress of the delay through a urinal, the only spot available was at the edge of the line. Sungyeol lowered his head, scurrying over taking the spot to get business over with. He turned his head to the side away from the person next to him, always feeling awkward when he stands right next to someone in the restroom. Sungyeol unbuckled his belt and sighed, taking a number one before he headed to the sink. There were two sinks in which one was occupied, so Sungyeol took the other to wash his hands.

Standing next to him was a person close to his height and about the same age, with his faded pink hair gelled up to the side. His outfit was a tall maroon peacoat with darker jeans, and his looks were mysterious. His face looked innocent, yet tinged with that of marked maturity. He went to the restroom to be alone, to stay by himself as he looked at his palm. In the middle of the grooves of his hand was a small trinket, flashing in the dim glimmer of the restroom light. He stared at something in his hand like it was his whole world, meaning everything to him. Without spending much time further, he clenched his fist and placed the item at the edge of the sink. He spun around to walk as fast as possible out of the restroom with his arms shoved down his peacoat, no intentions of turning back.

"Hey! Guy with the pink hair!"

The man turned around to see Sungyeol chasing after him from the restroom, his eyes narrowing at a tall person of his height breathing heavily with a black hoodie and jeans to look. 

"You forgot this!" Sungyeol held his palm out, finding the same exact item the other man held right before the sink before disappearing without a trace. Well, a trace that was easily found due to his bright pink hair. "You forgot your ring at the sink!"

As barely half an hour had passed since the announcement of delays, the area crowded with more people bumping into each other as anxiousness fell over the minds of everyone to leave the airport as soon as possible.

One of those people stood in front of Sungyeol, whose face turned red in embarrassment and anger as a seemingly kind stranger offered him the ring he dropped off at the restroom. He could care less, turned off completely and wanting to leave. I don't want the ring. "That's not mine," he grunted, turning back around to walk on.

Sungyeol was confused by how haughty he acted, following him and grabbing onto his shoulder. "Don't you want your ring?" He held the ring out in front of the person's nose and expected him to take it back.

The stranger was persistent and not his cup of tea, pushing his hand away as he wanted to be as far away from the ring as possible. "Please, that's not mine."

Sungyeol scratched his head. "I swear, I thought I saw you leave this-"

"Stop. That's not mine. Now leave me alone." He fixed the collar of his peacoat, pulling it down as he lifted his chin high and walked away from Sungyeol.

"I really don't understand." As the person walked away, Sungyeol took one closer look at the ring between his fingers. It was a costly silver band with different curved grooves etched on the side for design. Sungyeol thought it was quite a lovely ring and could not understand why someone would throw away such something of a high value. He threw the ring in the air and caught it back in his palm, placing the ring in his jean pockets. "If he doesn't want it, then I can keep it," Sungyeol mumbled to himself.

The other man heard that statement, immediately turning around and walking back to Sungyeol in a raging fury. "No, you can't have that ring," he declared, suddenly getting defensive by his actions.

Sungyeol was startled by the person's reappearance, raising an eyebrow and shaking his finger at him. "You didn't want it. You left it alone for someone else to take, so I can have it."

"That's not how this works!" he screamed, putting his hand out and desiring the ring back. He was disgruntled and imagined this as an easier moment in his head. How can this be so difficult to get rid of this damn ring. "No one else is allowed to have this ring. I'm just..." he snatched the ring out of Sungyeol's palm and held it in his fist. He closed his eyes, holding back the impending waterworks.

"You throw away a ring and expect no one else to find it, and when someone keeps it you flip out? Calm down." Sungyeol could care less about the situation, seeing that the man retrieved his ring and there was much more he could say or do about it. He also remembered his prior obligation of helping bring food to his family, further advancing his cabin fever at the airport with very little time passing by. He walked away from the unknown man and to the restaurant his cousins went to get food.

The man stood in the middle of the walkway with different people passing by and bumping him in the shoulder. He still held the same position he had when he first took the ring away from Sungyeol; his head lowered, the ring tucked into his palm, and his mind uneasy from everything. He remained for the following seconds, immobile of anything and his heart feeling abandoned.

I can't get rid of this yet. I can't get rid of you yet.

~<()>~

Sungyeol juggled handling four plates of pizza in his arms, two of them on his forearms while holding the final two plates in his hands. He stared at the pizza with much concentration, focusing on one single piece of pepperoni and his peripherals forward to keep his balance. Following several family members, Sungyeol was the last person in line.

In a matter in minutes, the influx of people at the airport increased as they arrived for what they expected was an immediate departure from Korea. Instead, they were subjected to the waiting area as the storm continued and splashed on the windows continuously. With people zooming by and tripping around the aisles, Sungyeol, his brother, cousins, and uncle were able to successfully return to their seats with pizza slices for every person of the family. All 30 of them.

“Grab a slice,” Sungyeol announced as one of the plates of pizza slipped off his arm.

His father was able to grab the slice in time right at its crust, sandwiching it with the paper plate and recovering the contents. “Thank you,” he mumbled as he raised the pizza to his lips and took one hungry bite to it. The whole family was hungry and munched on their dinner for the evening.

“We should all try to sleep after this. Or at least keep yourself occupied. Time will go by faster that way,” Sungyeol’s uncle announced.

 “Grandma, are you going to eat.” Sungyeol kneeled on the floor and tried to wake his precious grandma awake for food. His grandma was a rock when she had fallen asleep. Once she started snoring, there was no good way to wake her up. “I have food,” Sungyeol groaned, shaking his grandma’s shoulders as she took up three seats of the waiting area for her own bed.

“Leave her alone for now. I’ll take that slice,” Daeyeol grinned.

“Don’t be an idiot.” Sungyeol pushed himself up off the floor and messed up his brother’s hair.

“I’ll save that slice for her,” one of Sungyeol’s uncles volunteered, walking over to Sungyeol and wheedling away the plate. He turned his back against Sungyeol and hunched over to bring the plate to his mouth. His mouth was salivating as he took a second glance at the slice. “I’ll definitely keep it for her in the meantime…”

“You had your slice honey,” Sungyeol’s aunt chimed as she grabbed the plate away from her glutonous husband.

"Honey, your brother wants to use your laptop," Sungyeol's mother started.

Sungyeol cringed, giving a dirty look towards his brother and thumping him in the back of the head. "Ya, you didn't bring your own laptop?!"

"Do not hit your brother like that!" his mom scolded, grabbing onto Sungyeol's wrist and slapping it to punish him. 

"I have my own stuff to do," Sungyeol whined incessantly. Nothing annoyed him more than succumbing to the demands of his younger brother.

"He has a homework deadline to finish. Let him use it just this once. The websites do not work open properly on his tablet."

"Fine." Sungyeol sighed, grabbing his backpack from the floor as well as the back of Daeyeol's shirt. "You better hurry up.. I have my own important stuff to do also, like watch my tv shows and..." Sungyeol only needed some excuse to keep his laptop for the the next couple of hours. He did not want to bore himself to death with his brother meddling with his personal belongings the entire time. Especially since Sungyeol had a cup of coffee before entering the airport, Sungyeol was wide awake and wanted his laptop to himself. "... talk to my significant other."

"You have a girlfriend?!" Daeyeol exclaimed loud enough for his whole family to hear.

Everyone turned their attention to Sungyeol, who was standing in the middle of everyone as he released his brother from his chokehold. His back started sweating and nerves shot through every vein in his body as Daeyeol announced to everyone that he had a person in his life. Except that the it was a lie, only because he did not want to give away his laptop. Though thinking about it, this was significantly worse. "Let's go," Sungyeol declared, pushing Daeyeol forward to walk him over to the wifi hotspot room. His cheeks blushed bright pink in embarrassment of being subjected to such a lie. 

Sungyeol's dating experience could be summarized in two lines: a middle school girlfriend, and a box of tissues. 

"Sungyeol is dating someone?" his father lit up.

"It's about time," Sungyeol's uncle shook his head. "I thought he would be living at the house forever."

Sungyeol and Daeyeol walked towards the wifi hotspot, which was filled up with many frustrated people trying to get their fix of emails and social networking while they waited for flights to start. Though internet could be retrieved in almost every spot of the airport, connection was the strongest in specific lounges spread out through the airport that made flash video capable. Sungyeol held his laptop case and shoved it into Daeyeol's stomach, shaking his head and pointing to empty seats in the corner. "There. Hurry up and finish your homework." Daeyeol received nothing but a hard time with Sungyeol's banter and lightweight abuse to get him to hurry up.

"I will." Daeyeol took a seat in the corner and ped the laptop case for his work.

Sungyeol grabbed the seat right next to his brother and slumped down, spreading his legs far apart and dug into his pocket to get his phone. Sliding it unlocked, he checked for any texts or calls he could entertain.

Nothing. In fact, Sungyeol received no reception on his phone for anything. For the icing on the cake, Sungyeol's wifi capabilities on his phone broke as he dropped his phone in the toilet several weeks before. Even though the phone had recovered to a working condition, purchased applications and the internet were inaccessible.

Sungyeol sighed, placing his phone back into his pocket and crossing his arms, blankly staring ahead of him as he waited for his laptop. Sungyeol sat up in his seat 

That was when he noticed a familiar face in the same wifi lounge. The same person he had an argument with before. His bright pink hair was the most noticable thing in the whole room, and he sat tall with his attention on what looked like a movie on his laptop. His legs were crossed, proper in demeanor. Sungyeol squinted his eyes to take a closer look at the stranger and noticed that back on his fingers was the same ring he left in the restroom. The same ring he abandoned, then took back almost immediately after Sungyeol wanted to keep it. The trinket was worn around the ring finger. 

Of his left hand.

He's... he's married?!

Sungyeol was shocked to find that a married man left his own ring in the restroom and tried to abandon it. Something seemed suspicious about that, and curiosity him dying to know what was going on. "Stay here and don't move," Sungyeol ordered as he got up from his seat.

"Where are you going?" Daeyeol wondered.

"Buy myself a drink." Sungyeol cleared his throat and wore the hoodie to cover his hair. He wondered if he encountered the stranger if he would even recognize him. Sungyeol also questioned his motives, if he was doing the right thing invading his privacy. The ring was left alone in the restroom, so maybe there was a fight that occurred before. Sungyeol figured out a nonchalant plan that would get him the information he was nosing for. It also gave him something to do, since he was forced to surrender his laptop to his brother.

Sungyeol started walking towards the direction of the stranger, shoving his hands down his pockets and scanning the room to avoid any sort of eye contact with him. That was when his plan went to full effect, purposefully tripping over the guy's foot and dramatically falling right on his face.

"Oh my god." The person immediately closed his laptop and set it on the seat next to him to help the person. He extended his arm to help. "I'm so sorry, I guess my foot was out farther than I expected... you?!"

Sungyeol imagined the plan being a lot smoother in his head, but he landed on the floor hard and banged his chin on the ground. Sungyeol rolled over and sat up on his , massaging the pain in his chin to go away. "Sorry. I wasn't paying attention," he lied, bringing his hands to his lap. That was when he saw a drip of blood at the tip of his fingers. I'm actually bleeding?? Sungyeol started to panic a bit, realizing none of this was worth it.

"Watch your way next time." The stranger rolled his eyes and crouched down to look at Sungyeol straight in his eyes, bringing his thumb to place on the cut of Sungyeol's chin to press down and stop the pain. 

"You could be a little nicer during my accident, mister." Sungyeol moaned as he flinched from the unexpected touch. His hand touched his neck as Sungyeol could feel the ring brushing against the bone of his adam's apple. 

"Sorry." Though he was not apologetic. "I didn't expect to see you again."

"Neither did I... you... person..." Sungyeol struggled to think of something.

Bad impressions all around on both sides.

"This person's name is Sungjong." He sounded miffed.

"Sungjong," Sungyeol repeated. For someone he had only in a span of two hours, his hands were awfully uncomfortable as he tried to nurse Sungyeol back to health. "What brings you to the airport on this fine day of flight delay?"

Sungjong took his thumb off the cut to check out the progress of the healing. "I had a flight to Thailand, but not anymore I guess."

"Well, that's cool," Sungyeol dragged on. The ring pressed hard against his neck with the cool metal feeling chilling him. "Never been there before, but I've seen the pictures and it looks like a nice place."

"I'm moving to Bangkok," Sungjong announced.

You're moving to Bangkok? That was an answer Sungyeol least expected. "That's really far away."

Sungjong pressed harder on Sungyeol's cut, sniping sarcastically at everything said. "Oh really?"

"Yes really." Sungyeol removed Sungjong's hand away from his face, unaware of whether the bleeding stopped. He caught a glimpse of the ring on his finger, growing a little suspicious of his intentions. To move to a place away from here, trying to abandon your ring, it doesn't make sense to me.

Sungjong followed Sungyeol's eyes which focused on the silver band, twinkling in his pupils. He pulled his hand away in suspicion. "Don't you have anything better to do than pry onto my life? I want to get away and start a new life. I know that this airport has 'cabin fever' written all over it, but find a new hobby. If you're gonna stay by my side for the next following hours you'll bore yourself."

Sungyeol wiped his chin to check out his hand. No more blood. There was not much else Sungyeol could do or say to keep himself around Sungjong, pushing himself off the floor and brushing up his jeans and drape his hoodie back on. He had no intentions of waiting around with some overly sensitive guy. Well this amused me for the past ten minutes. "I'm already boring myself. My brother is using my computer, my phone is bugging out. I suppose I can just try to force myself to sleep. Anyways, thanks for healing my cut. I'm gonna buy myself some soda." 

Sungyeol stayed true to his story and weaved his way out of the hotspot room for a drink. That was awkward Sungyeol. You shouldn't have done that. At least Sungyeol knew his limits, and there was not much else he could get out from Sungjong. It was interesting for a split second, but Sungyeol immediately gotten over it after he left Sungjong's sight. I don't really care about his ring. I just need to get the hell out of this airport.

Sungyeol found the convenience store and made a quick trip to buy himself coke.

~<()>~

Sungjong organized icons on his laptop after finishing a movie, dragging and dropping useless music files and documents he no longer needed. He picked up one icon at the corner of the screen with the mouse to throw away, but instead he accidentally opened it up. Appearing in a large pop-up was picture. A picture that stung Sungjong's heart.

With the background of Seoul lit up in the nighttime, Sungjong smiled with a wide grin and a peace sign raised to his eyes. It was a photo of high production quality, emphasizing every little detail from the skyscrapers at night to the details of Sungjong's hair. Standing next to him was a person of the same height, an arm wrapped around Sungjong as the two of them smiled. 

We used to be so happy.

"Hey, Sungjong."

Sungjong jumped in his seat, closing his laptop and staring up to find Sungyeol returning back to the wifi hotspot room. Two bottles of coke in hand.

Sungjong hugged his laptop as if he was hiding a secret, grumbling to the fact he was back to annoy him. "What the hell..."

Without any invitiation, Sungyeol took a seat right next to Sungjong and passed a drink to him. Well Sungjong did not accept it, but moreso placed the bottle on his laptop to roll right into his lap. Sungyeol and unscrewed the cap nonchalantly, taping a sip out of his bottle and slouching in his seat without a single worry. 

Sungyeol had no shame.

"Seriously, why are you back?" Sungjong asked.

Sungyeol closed the cap back onto his bottle and undraped his hoodie, revealing his ruffled hair and tiresome face. He raised the refridgerated bottle up to his chin, easing the cut while he introduced himself. "I never introduced, but my name is Sungyeol. Like I've said earlier I'm pretty bored because I'm limited to the amount of technology I can use. I came over here the second time because I noticed you were wearing the ring, which by the way you abandoned, like a wedding ring and it piqued my curiosity. I wanted to see what was going on and tripped in front of you, but in the process I accidentally cut myself. You seem to be hiding some feelings, especially since you're moving to Thailand. Anyways, I'm still bored and I figured I'm never gonna see you again, so I'm sitting down to get to know you because why the hell not."

THE NERVE OF THIS GUY. Sungjong placed his laptop on the floor and pointed to a place as far away as possible from him. "GET OUT OF HERE!" he screamed with a burning passion.

"Ok, well at least I tried." Sungyeol knew when he was not wanted, taking his bottle and stepping out. "I swear, I am actually leaving this time." I think I came off too strong, but it was a good effort. Sungyeol was done messing around, and by the looks of Sungjong's tomato red face he was going to get a beating if he did not leave any faster.

Without looking back, Sungyeol returned back to his brother.

"I was engaged, but I ended it because he was cheating on me."

Sungyeol stood frozen in the middle of the aisle, afraid to look back after the sudden confession. Especially one as personal as that. Turning his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of Sungjong trying his best to keep himself together as he spilled his heart out to a complete stranger. Everything made sense, and now Sungyeol felt terrible for egging Sungjong on. "What?" was all he could say.

"Are you happy?" Sungjong cried, his face drained of any energy thinking back to that fateful moment. 

At that point, Sungyeol was stuck in a place of awkwardness. Sungjong truly did not want Sungyeol there and had a chance to end everything there. But now that he knew the truth, he also felt obliged to talk to Sungjong about it. He owed it to Sungjong, especially after he pestered him this long about it. He spun back around and slowly took his seat back next to Sungjong, twisting his soda bottle around as he tried to find the words to say. "I'm sorry to hear that."

Sungjong leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling and hating himself for succumbing to Sungyeol's idiocracy. "It's fine, whatever. I've never said it out to anyone so I guess I needed to. We're never seeing each other again anyways, like you said."

"Right, right." Sungyeol was flustered. He wished he never instigated it. "I wish I knew the right words to say, but I've never experienced anything like that before. I've had a middle school relationship and nothing more."

Sungjong shrugged his shoulders, placing the ring on and off his finger. It was a constant reminder of his heartbreak, but he had no guts to let it go. Especially since he was the one who bought them. Sungyeol returned the ring for a reason. It keeps coming back to torture me. "Young love can lead to idiotic things."

Sungyeol nodded his head, trying to understand him. "This conversation got serious really fast."

"That's all I have to say on the matter."

Sungyeol was fine with that. He felt like he needed to liven up the conversation. "I'm going to America for the second time in my life. My uncle lives there and is getting married for the second time."

Sungjong turned to Sungyeol. "A second time?"

"Yeah... the first marriage was pretty shady..." Sungyeol started to chuckle within the serious subject matter. "It was only because my uncle wanted to live in there, and he married for citizenship. The other person was in agreement, and after a couple months together to hide their reasoning they divorced. I think this one is out of love. He met her on a movie set... At least I sure hope so."

"I've never been to America before."

"I've only been to Los Angeles because that's where he lives. It's a really huge town, and I've only been to Santa Monica Beach and Hollywood. I've visited a movie set where they shoot movies. Everything seems a lot more expensive there, and their sets are so elaborate and painted to much detail. Hollywood isn't what I expected though, it's a lot dirtier than people know. Trash, homeless, and a lot of suspicious activity around." Sungyeol unscrewed the cap of his bottle, taking another sip of coke to moisten his dry throat. "You should visit California at least once."

"Maybe after I settle down in Thailand." Sungjong took a look at the bottle Sungyeol bought for him and held onto it, refraining from drinking it in the meantime. "Thailand is the number one place I've always wanted to visit. Their architecture and design interests me... I'm an architecture major by the way."

"That's really cool. I was a math major, and I just do people's taxes. I was never artistic or anything."

"Once I discovered I knew how to draw, I started taking an interest in designing different kinds of buildings. If I could work at a firm, that would be my dream."

Before they knew it, two hours passed of conversation.

~<()>~

Sungyeol gripped onto the handles of a luggage cart. With his hoodie taken off and tied around his waist, his face was marked with determination as he stared at his finish line. 

The airport TV monitor.

Sungjong stood by his side, his peacoat taken off and tied around his waist as well. He brushed his fingers through his hair and grabbed onto the handle of his own shopping cart, planting his feet on the floor to prepare. "I don't know how you talked me into this. We're both grown men, and we're doing this."

"Me neither," Sungyeol replied, his lips in preparation. "You're not as serious as you make yourself out to be."

The two of them stood in the middle of a crowded stretch by the gates of departure, catching two luggage carts in the middle of a walk around the airport and deciding to participate in a simple race. The growing population of people walking around provided a challenge for them, which both of them were willing to take. The goal was to pass the first sight of TV monitors first, and the last place bought food.

"Ready," Sungyeol huffed.

"Set," Sungjong coughed.

"GO!"

The two of them sprinted with their luggage carts, gaining momentum and when the time was right leaping onto their carts to hang and race around.

Sungyeol was in the lead thanks to his long legs, picking it up as he sped down the way. Families jumped out of the way for Sungyeol, who was screaming like a hyena to win.

Sungjong was a little far behind but inched in closer on every move, bending over to luggage cart for more air to move him forward. With his eyes squinted and the humid airport breeze blowing his hair, he was ready to go.

It was down to the wire, only meters away from crossing their finish.

A tough race among them, but in the end Sungyeol still came out strong by barely winning the right for a free meal.

"I did it!" Sungyeol yelled, raising his arms in excitement over his momentous victory.

"SUNGYEOL! LOOK OUT!" Sungjong called, who stopped himself right after they passed by the monitors.

"What?" Sungyeol turned his head forward and saw his luggage cart crashing right into the wall. "Oh !"

Before he knew it, Sungyeol imitated every American movie he had seen and jumped off of the cart right before its crash, landing on the floor and rolling around in an epic end to their race. The luggage cart bounced right off the walls of a restaurant, flipping over completely and landing right in front of a family who successfully dodged it all. Sungyeol's whole body was aching, regretting everything and asking himself why he did that.

Sungjong ran towards Sungyeol to help him up, turning him over and taking a careful look at his chin. "Sungyeol, you cut opened again!" he complained.

"Hey, you two!"

Sungyeol and Sungjong jumped off the floor as two security guards pointed right at them to stop. "You two!"

"I won't die from this cut. Let's go!" Sungyeol exclaimed. He grabbed onto Sungjong's hand and staggered forward to run away from the scene of the crime.

~<()>~

Sungyeol and Sungjong had one more hour left to go of their long 8-hour weight for the storm to end.

The two of them sat in the main food court, sharing two different plates of pasta that Sungjong bought after his unfortunate defeat. Sungyeol slurped a bite full of spaghetti as Sungjong sat across, pausing his meal to draw on one of the napkins given to them.

"You're not gonna eat the rest of your pesto?" Sungyeol asked, his voice muffled by all of the noodles. "I'll eat it if you don't want it."

"Get your hands off my food," Sungjong barked, pointing his pencil at Sungyeol's nose. "You think just because you win one race you can have all the food in the world?"

"Don't worry!" Sungyeol put his hands up. "I won't steal your food, I swear."

"I'm still eating by the way. I'm just doodling." Sungjong responded, taking care of some shading on his napkin.

Sungyeol spent no wasted time leaving the food out for cold, stuffing his face after an exhausting race. "You're not what I expected Sungjong," Sungyeol admitted.

Sungjong laughed. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"You came off as uptight, which you are. But you have a fun side that I didn't expect to see in 8 hours."

Sungjong rolled his eyes, placing his pencil down by his plate to clear the air of Sungyeol's assumptions. "You can't judge a person based off a perception of an instance that lasted less than ten minutes," referring to their first encounter at the bathroom. "Anyways, I never knew you were capable of deep conversation. Hanging out with you was a lot better than I expected. Time passed by very fast."

"Tell me about it." Sungyeol took a sip of water, washing down all of the delicious pasta that he believed could hold him over for the flight. "Better than sleeping."

Sungjong wanted to play with this idea a little longer, and get as much out of Sungyeol as possible before he never saw him for the rest of his life. "Let's play one more game before we need to leave."

"Go for it."

"Both of us are allowed one more question to ask each other, and we must answer it truthfully. It can be about anything, serious or stupid. We have to lay out whatever cards necessary."

Sungyeol liked this side of Sungjong, which he never expected to bring out of him. "You can go first."

"Me?"

"Yeah, I haven't thought of a question yet."

Sungjong compiled everything he knew about Sungyeol in the short amount of time to try and think of the best question possible. "So you really haven't had a girlfriend since middle school?"

Sungyeol nodded his head at the question. Respectable. There was a quick answer, in which it was a simple yes. 

There was also a longer answer, that in which Sungyeol had never confessed to a single soul in his life. He could cop out, or be truthful to a person who had not told a single lie to him all day.

"I had a relationship with a girl at my work two years ago. Well, relationship is a tricky word. I was her friend for a really long time, and one time after a coworker get together that supplied way too much alcohol, we slept together. From that moment on, I started developing feelings for her and we continued hooking up with each other every weekend. I interpreted it as a relationship, but she..." Sungyeol was surprised how shaken up he was by his past. In the end, nothing could match to the heartbreak he felt after that moment. "I was just a friend with benefits. You can probably guess how that ended up."

"Wow." Sungjong's jaw dropped, stunned that Sungyeol had gone farther than he knew. In his eyes, this sounded even worse. "I'm sorry Sungyeol."

"I mean, there's nothing we can do about it now. I'm a better person and I've grown from that."

"You hide that very well. Never did I expect that to come out of your mouth," Sungjong commented.

"I don't know why, but I feel more comfortable confessing my soul to a complete stranger than to my best friend." Sungyeol forced a laugh, twirling his chopstick around on his plate. "You know, sometimes ty things happen to good people. You don't deserve anything your previous boyfriend did to you. I hope when you Thailand, someone there will sweep you off your feet and give you the respect you deserve. You're a better person than that idiot who cheated."

Sungjong stayed quiet, biting his tongue at Sungyeol's unexpected words.

"I have my question."

Sungjong nodded his head. "Go for it."

"When do you think you'll take off your ring?" Sungyeol asked.

And at that moment, Daeyeol found his brother while holding onto his laptop. "Hyung, your laptop went to system settings."

"Are you kidding me? What the hell did you do?" Sungyeol was pissed, not only was he interrupted from a heated conversation but his brother messed his laptop up. Sungyeol snatched the laptop out of Daeyeol's arms and stood up from his seat. "I'll be back. I'm gonna help him," Sungyeol complained, pulling on Daeyeol's ear to drag him away.

Sungjong chuckled, placing his peacoat back on as he contemplated the question.

When am I taking off my ring?

Sungjong stared at the shining silver, a band that meant everything to him only months ago. Now it did not mean a single thing, but he was still scared of letting it go. To take it off meant moving on and accepting his new path in Thailand. He wanted all of that, to start off fresh, but it was still a painful task.

"Flight HJ1673 to Bangkok, Thailand is now boarding."

"What?" Sungjong muttered under his breath.

"Flight HJ1673 to Bangkok, Thailand is now boarding."

Sungjong took a glimpse of the clock in the food court.

30 minutes early. What the hell is going on? The storm is over?

The thunderstorm finished more than an hour ago, but the two of them were too busy to notice that flights continued. Sungjong stared across the table at the seat Sungyeol took before he had to assist his brother. He sat back in his chair, impatiently waiting for Sungyeol to return. I can't leave without saying bye to Sungyeol. Sungjong tapped his foot on the floor, wavering back and forth in his seat as he worried on the urgency of his departure.

"Flight HJ1673 to Bangkok, Thailand boarding. Gates will close in ten minutes."

Sungjong panicked. Without Sungyeol in sight, and his future awaiting him, he was unsure what to do next.

~<()>~

"Idiot brother, downloading a virus on my computer. He's never using my laptop again."

Sungyeol grumbled his way back to the food court. Reparing his computer took a lot longer than he expected, he was hoping on his way back that Sungjong was not too bored. I'm coming back Sungjong, hold on.

Just as expected, Sungyeol arrived at his table the same way he left it. His plate of food empty while Sungjong's was still halfway full, chopsticks laid out all over the floor, the napkin that Sungjong drew on right at the side. There was only one detail different.

Sungjong was nowhere to be found.

Sungyeol turned left and right, questioning whether Sungjong went back to the bathroom. Where did that guy go? 

That was when he found the drawing Sungjong worked on on his napkin, scribbled at the bottom was a written note of some sort. Sungyeol raised his eyebrow and picked up the napkin, which revealed a silver band right below it.

Sungjong's ring.

Now Sungyeol was worried, grabbing onto the napkin and the ring with both hands. He shook them in the air, questioning what could have possibly happened. Sungyeol read the note, his heart racing fast as he wanted to solve the mystery.

Sungyeol. If you are reading this, I have left for my flight to Thailand.

To answer your question, when will I take off my ring, I have to explain a story first.

I chose Thailand on a whim of having nothing but the clothes on my back, my wallet, and everything in my luggage. It was a huge risk that had no turning back. I was scared of taking that big step and taking off the ring. That was until I met you, and for these past several hours were the happiest that I have been in months.

The reason why it is easier to tell a stranger your secrets is because when it's all over, there is no attachment or connection. Well, at least so I thought. You are unlike anyone I have ever met in my life, and as I'm counting down to the final seconds of my departure I'm a little sad that I have to leave now because I wasn't able to give a proper goodbye... Truthfully, if I can stay for one more hour with you that would make me happier more than anything. Now that I feel connected to you, this is difficult.

I'm taking off my ring in the same fashion that it should have been the first time. You found it, so you should keep it. But this time, I'm giving it to you. I bought the ring in the first place so don't feel bad for keeping it. This is my gift to you, a token to remember me by. I'm taking off my ring now because I'm ready, and because I know you will take care of it with all of your heart.

I guess this is it... I'll miss you Sungyeol.

- Sungjong.

Sungyeol had not noticed until now the picture Sungjong drew: a side profile of Sungyeol's face, emphasizing everything from the flyaways in his hair to the glint in his eyes, moving down to the definition of his collarbone as well as the cut on his chin. All of it mindlessly drawn in what seemed like a matter of minutes, Sungjong was able to capture Sungyeol in such a perfection he had never seen before. No! He didn't leave yet, he can't leave yet. This... 

Before he knew it, Sungyeol started running.

Running for the gate.

He had no idea where he was running. Pushing threw the crowd of people in his way, he shoved onwards to an unknown destination.

All he knew was that he needed to find Sungjong at any costs.

That was when he spotted him. 

Standing at the gate with his pink hair and maroon peacoat. Sungjong was the last person in line to check into their flight, preparing to pass his ticket to the attendant. The second he walked through those doors to enter his flight, he was gone. Sungyeol watched from afar as he chased after Sungjong, who had his ticket ripped at the desk. 

"You are ready to go Mr. Lee," he greeted, passing his ticket stub back to Sungjong.

Sungjong bowed his head to thank him and adjusted the strap of his laptop bag, stepping forward to walk in. 

"Sungjong!" Sungyeol screamed, making his final advance to reach for him.

Sungjong paused as he heard his voice called, shocked to find Sungyeol standing right before him. "Sungyeol?"

Before he knew it, Sungyeol grabbed onto Sungjong's shoulders and pulled him close to plant his lips right atop his. It was the sendoff that they both truly wanted, their emotions raw as Sungjong closed his eyes to reciprocate. Little did they know that 8 hours spent in an airport could lead to a heartfelt goodbye that pained them. Sungjong leaned his head to fill in every gap with Sungyeol's lips, placing a hand on the back of his neck to pull him closer. Sungyeol refused to let go, wishing the flight could disappear and he could spend this moment in Sungjong's arms without letting go.

But alas it was time for Sungjong to leave, who regretfully pushed himself away from Sungyeol.

"Sungyeol, have fun in America," he smiled, brushing his hand off of his fingers before taking a step back. Glancing at his hands, he already saw the ring he gave him placed on his right ring finger. Sungjong knew his ring was in good hands as well as his heart, saying goodbye to the one person he never thought could change his life. 

Sungyeol watched as the doors closed behind Sungjong for his flight to Bangkok, Thailand, and so did Sungyeol and Sungjong's story. Yet he had no regrets. From finding that ring to give to him, sparking an impromptu friendship with him, to sharing more than he bargained for, and now saying his last goodbye. They would never see each other again, but it was not in vain. 

Sungyeol was happy, and he will always have a piece of Sungjong with him.

"Thank you Sungjong. No matter what, I'll be thinking about you worldwide."