Work Text:
Park Jungsoo has a white balloon.
It has appeared next to him for a long time (probably since he was born), and has been there ever since. Apart from Jungsoo, no one can see the balloon, not even his parents. And Jungsoo understands that balloon is his and his only.
But as time passed, Jungsoo began to wonder what his balloon could do. Could it give him super powers? Or could it talk and become his friend? Or in his difficult time, it would grant him a wish.... Jungsoo has a balloon of his own, but he doesn't know what to use it for.
Until one day, Jungsoo met a little girl. She stood alone in the middle of Seoul's crowded mass of people, looking bewildered and scared. Jungsoo believed she was lost, and offered to help her find her parents. But, she told Jungsoo that she wanted to find a yellow balloon.
- Then I'll buy you a yellow balloon, then we can go find your parents together.
Jungsoo remembered saying that, though he only had a little money left for dinner at that time. But the girl replied:
- No sir, my balloon is a special one, it can't be bought! Please help me find my balloon!
For some reason, Jungsoo agreed. The two walked together along the busy street. Jungsoo bought her a lollipop, told her a few small stories he made up. He was starting to wonder if he should take her to the police station, the girl suddenly shouted:
- My yellow balloon!
She ran straight into the crowd, and Jungsoo had no other choice but to follow. After he got himself out of the crowd on the street, Jungsoo saw the girl holding the hand of a woman looking like her, and in her hand … there was a yellow balloon. Oh yeah, it was a sign.
- How can she tell her balloon apart from other yellow balloons?
Hearing Jungsoo's question, the woman smiled:
- Each person has a special balloon of their own, which only they and the person they need can recognize it. Aren't you the same?
After that, there was a time when Jungsoo was excited to find the person he needed. Who doesn't want to meet a soulmate, right? But as time went on, as many things - both good and bad - kept happening, the old idea gradually become obscured. The small conversation with the little girl and her mother slowly became a memory for Jungsoo, or now Leeteuk - a person who is much more responsible than Jungsoo.
Leeteuk was a person who now can have things that he longed for in the past. He was the leader of Super Junior, a respected senior and had a voice in SM. He was on his way to become a famous MC, and he owned an expensive house with a convenient life in the heart of Seoul. So what was he missing? Oh yeah, according to his fans, he still lacked a family.
It would be a lie if Leeteuk said he had never been interested in getting married, but he still didn't want to settle down just yet. He was used to being single, and he felt okay with it, he wasn't ready to carry the responsibility of having a family of his own. Although there were times when he felt lonely, but then he thought he would rather have a friend to vent his feelings.
And on a certain night, when Leeteuk was alone at home, too bored that he had decided to search up his own name, he realized something was floating behind him. It was the balloon. Leeteuk couldn’t remember when he last saw it, but it must have been a long time ago. When Park Jungsoo was no longer putting finding the one of his first, the balloon slowly disappeared from his sight, or rather, it had always been there, but Leeteuk could not see it.
Leeteuk looked at the balloon. It was just a normal white balloon that looks exactly like any other white balloon, but was more special than all of them, because it can connect him with the person he longed for. And after all these years of making it wait, was he ready to let it fulfill its duty now? Leeteuk asked himself that, and just a few minutes later, he smiled, approaching the window.
Leeteuk's window faced straight to the Han River, which is also a testament to his hard work after all this time. But anyway, it was too big for Leeteuk. Everyone needs someone to share things with sometimes, and Leeteuk opened the window, let go of the balloon. Seeing the balloon slowly became just a small white spot in the sky, Leeteuk felt relieved and peaceful, as if he had just lit up a hope for himself.
- Ring! Ring!
The phone on the table displayed a call that Leeteuk was sure was another conversation about work. But he was wrong, it was Heechul.
- Yah! I'm in the parking lot, so don’t forget to open the door for me in five minutes!
- Heechul? Why are you here......
Without letting Leeteuk finish his sentence, the other person turned off the phone. Leeteuk was confused as he didn't understand what his friend meant, since coming to Leeteuk's house at night was not Heechul's style. But before Leeteuk could think anything more about it, the doorbell rang.
- I thought you knew my house password? Besides, what did you bring?
Leeteuk opened the door and asked, he realized Heechul was struggling to hold a load of things.
- Isn’t that you hate that I invite myself in all the time? Come on, come help me with these.
And Leeteuk found out it was a pet cage, with Heechul's dog Bok in there. Why did Heechul bring Bok here ...? However, what surprised him even more was Heechul holding a cake with two balloons - one white and one red.
- Isn't your birthday today? - Heechul smiled - When I came here with the cake, I saw a balloon flew out of your window. It's sad that an ajusshi like you have to celebrate your birthday with a balloon, so I brought mine too, and fortunately not the same colour with your boring white.
And while Heechul was busy rambling, Leeteuk just smiled, gently pulled his hand, and busied himself with finding a plate in the kitchen for the cake while Heechul was playing with Shimkoong and Gibok. The night happily went on, Leeteuk hoped that the future would be full of such.
- But I thought these balloons were looking for someone in the middle of a crowded place, at that time we were all lonely.
- Aish idiot, didn't I find you among seven billion people in the world, was is not enough?