Chapter 35.

Epilogue - 5 Years Later.
 

Kyungsoo was late. His footfall seemed stupidly loud in the hallway as he ran in what he hoped was the correct direction the room the Japanese class he had signed up for had been assigned to. His sense of direction had always been one of his weakest points — the building he found himself currently sprinting the hallways of wasn’t even the largest of Joonmyeon’s expanding company buildings and he couldn’t help but shudder to think of what the main headquarters was like — a veritable labyrinth by any other definition.

It was strange, how things worked out. Kyungsoo and Joonmyeon had stayed in touch during Kyungsoo’s soul searching period — a message or email here and there, every now and again. Not nearly as frequently, pryingly or colloquially as Kyungsoo’s other friends who had messaged him at every chance, with many a video call extending late into the night. Joonmyeon, on the other hand, had tended to write to him sparingly — Kyungsoo knew that it wasn’t because he didn’t care, but rather because Joonmyeon was the type of person who only spoke when he felt that what he had to say was worth sharing. Kyungsoo liked it, though: when Joonmyeon did write, his messages tended to be lengthy and jam packed full of interesting tidbits on his life and Kyungsoo always felt somewhat uplifted by the time he finished reading them — it was nice knowing that Joonmyeon took the time to think of him and write despite how busy he was.

Hello Kyungsoo, long time no contact.

How are things in New Zealand? I heard from Minseok that you vehemently objected to the 80km hike he suggest you attempt. A fairly acceptable response on your part, in my humble opinion. It’s strange to think that your year in Australia has already passed. Jongdae and Yifan were telling me you were thinking of heading to Japan next. Apparently you managed to get a scuba diver instructor license  during your last month in Australia and are planning on working as an instructor in Okinawa? I think you’d probably find work that way fairly easily, especially as you’re qualified. Not to mention the fact that you’re multilingual. They’d love having instructors with some language know-how to deal with all the tourists. 

Well things are running smoothly on my end. My father is lessening his involvement in company business as of late due to his ailing health but he remains as hard headed and difficult as ever. I shouldn’t complain, though, as I’ve been given much more freedom and flexibility to do things as I please — free reign, so to speak. My father has tended to keep business focussed in China and Korea, but I’m thinking of possibly expanding into Japan. Of course, its not as though I can go jumping into things, the whole process will require some careful research and planning.

Have you heard from Minseok, of late? He was telling me he’s been planning a “short trip to the French Alps” — can you believe it? He makes it sound as though he’s simply planning on popping down to the supermarket, as opposed to highly expensive cross continental trip. Madness, in my opinion. Jongdae, Yifan and Chanyeol have done nothing to talk him out of it, from what I can tell. They actually invited me out some weeks ago, but I was travelling back from China after a business conference so I couldn’t make it. Considering what I heard happened, it was probably a mixture of supreme luck and divine intervention working together to keep me from harm. I heard Jongdae’s phone is still being repaired — apparently the lot of them got into a heated debate on whether a mobile could be used as a boomerang (no doubt a result of the video you sent on the group chat of the indigenous Australian tools demonstration you saw) and Jongdae took it on himself to prove them false. I almost wish I had been there to witness it all play out. I think that another big get together is being planned for some time soon, though — have you heard that Yifan bought himself a barbecue that he’s rather fond on grilling us things on?! — so I’ll try to make some time to fit it in and attend. 

Other than that, I can’t really think of anything else I’ve done worth mentioning. My life is work, work, work, and a little more work on the side. I often find myself overwhelmed by a desire to pack a bag and go someplace like the Maldives for a while but then work beckons me back. Chanyeol (drunkenly) pointed out that I’m a severe workaholic and I quote “probably a megalomaniac” last time we met, which I couldn’t bother examining enough to fault and argue against. I can’t help but be satisfied at my accomplishments, though, and the urge to go further drives me on. Besides, I can always take a holiday as a reward next time I settle a deal, I suppose.

Well, I’ll end this email here. I hope you’re well and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

- Joonmyeon

Kyungsoo appreciated each and every message he received from his friends. The sole problem that came with receiving contact from Joonmyeon, however, was the fact that Kyungsoo always found his thoughts straying to Jongin. It couldn't be helped, he supposed, what with the fact that they were related. More times than he cared to admit he had begun to write out a reply to his friend only to notice half his response was riddled with questions about Joonmyeon’s half brother — How’s Jongin? What’s Jongin been doing? Have you being spending much time with Jongin? Is Jongin at uni now? Is Jongin well? — Kyungsoo would swiftly backspace his questions into nothingness. He felt conflicted and confused — was it wrong for him to ask? Did he have a right to enquire? Was it odd for him to want to know? The uncertainty he felt always ended up resulting in him not saying or asking a thing. He feigned obtuseness and turned a blind eye to the questions wriggling just beneath his skin. As long as Jongin was happy, he was content, he told himself. Joonmyeon would mention things on his own if they were worth mentioning. In a small way it ate away at the back of his consciousness, but he kept the questions inside. It was easy for him to overlook the things he would otherwise fret over when he was keeping himself occupied.

Kyungsoo had spent a total of four years and four months abroad. He had spent a year and a half at first in Europe. Six months he had spent as a tutor at a British private school, two hours from London, where, thankfully, his accomodation was free and he even received a salary, albeit small. He was able to do as he pleased on weekends, too, which he appreciated. Once his half year contract ended, he used the savings he had managed to accumulate as a tutor to see a little more of Britain, before moving on to continental Europe for another half year, where he had bled the remaining savings he had from his position at Malhana High dry. He had loved seeing Europe and had fit a lot in in the time he had — from Britain he travelled to Spain, from Spain he had travelled through to France, then Poland and Germany, before then moving on to Italy and Greece. From Greece he had caught the Ferry to Turkey, where he ended up working almost half a year on a Cherry farm before purchasing the ticket for his flight to America. 

He had spent a little over a year in America, staying with Seungsoo. Seungsoo had managed to land him a gig as a Korean tutor — “Its the Hallyu wave” Seungsoo had said with a shrug. The wages he received weren’t great, but his hours were flexible and living with Seungsoo was more or less free accomodation. The students had been eager and bright eyed, too, despite their stilted words and their almost but not quite right sentence, and Kyungsoo supposed that it would either be nothing more than a phase that lasted a few years, or an interest that they would continue to pursue studies in to make something more out of. He had managed to get a fair bit of sight seeing done on the side, too — The Grand Canyon, Yellow Stone, The Statue of Liberty — all the typical places a tourist in America might go to see. For Kyungsoo, the hardest thing about America had been the sheer sizes of the food portions — he had gained almost eight kilograms in the time he spent there despite doing his best to exercise regularly. 

He had gone to Australia next, travelling the country for half a year — Uluru, The Great barrier Reef, Kakadu National Park, too many bush walks for him to keep track of — before stopping in a rural city-town to work for three months at a tomato farm for some much needed funding. He had gone on to Sydney next, where he was able to stay with Chanyeol’s older sister, Yura, for three months. She had married an Australian man only the year before and both had well paying jobs. Despite how horribly overpriced living in Sydney was, the couple managed to rent a small apartment that had a spare room — and because Chanyeol loved Kyungsoo, Yura loved him too and welcomed him into her home as though he were a long lost brother. Likewise, her husband was a good man and Kyungsoo quickly found himself in a comfortable friendship with him. The couple had refused to accept rent money — “You don’t make family pay for staying!” Yura had gasped, affronted, when he had offered. Of course, Kyungsoo had insisted he at least contribute somehow, and in the end they allowed him to slip Yura fifty per week, which she would then use on groceries. He had worked at a Korean restaurant as a server and had gotten his scuba diving license before leaving —  Yura cried upon seeing him off, having made him promise to come again to visit, her husbands arm over her shoulder as Kyungsoo waved goodbye. 

The month he spent in New Zealand had been a treat, even by his standards — he ended up doing the 78 kilometre hike Minseok had been insisting he do since he had first announced to his friends in their group chat he was going to New Zealand just to shut him up and had promptly nearly died of exhaustion and vowed to himself to never again try and satisfy the overzealous math teacher. By the fifth day of the walk his food supplies had been running low and he had begun to contemplate whether the end was nigh — luckily, he had encountered a middle aged couple who had started the track from the opposite end who had kindly given him a few spare energy bars they had to last him the rest of the walk. He had spent two days in bed, recuperating, and had only ventured out of his motel room to buy himself a large pizza as a reward upon regaining some strength into his severely sore body. The rest of his trip was far less physically taxing — he visited Christchurch, Mount Cook, Rotorua, the Waitomo Caves, just to name a few — and by the time he left for Japan he felt overwhelmed by the amount he had crammed into the four short weeks had had spent on the islands.

Japan felt less alien to him than any of the other nations he had travelled to — for the first time in over three years he felt as though he were beginning to head back to familiar territory. Europe had been jarring because it was unlike anything he had experienced before, and America had been bewildering in its unabashed boldness. Australia had been terrifying with its seemingly unending expanses of unused space, and New Zealand dangerous to him in its beauty, calling to him to stay. Japan was more like Korea than anywhere else he had been, but cleaner and less brash. But it was colder too, for someone who had yet to make any connections. Kyungsoo could see the perils of being alone in a country like Japan — it would be so easily to choose a life of anonymity in a city like Tokyo — the metropolis crowds constantly threatened to swallow him whole without him even noticing.  

Somehow, despite everything, being lost almost felt worthwhile when he took in the serenity of it all. The high rises and concrete overwhelmed his vision, but there was something still so alive about the culture compared to places he had been before — all it took was for him to avoid the highly touristed areas — when he went to the old temples and shrines, it almost felt as though