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“We thank you for flying with us today.”
As the flight attendant put the intercom down and everyone around him started to get up to retrieve their luggage from the overhead compartments, Kim Taehyung remained seated. There were several people ahead of him and it would be pointless to get up now. He grabbed the bag he had placed under his front seat, and patiently waited for his row to be the next one up.
It had been a long flight from New York, but he was glad to finally be home. As he exited the plane, feeling groggy and with stiff muscles, he was glad he would not be taking another one of these flights anytime soon. These past five years, he had lost count of how many times he had to make this 13-hour long journey. He was looking forward to being able to remain in one place.
Exiting the plane and being greeted with the hustle and bustle of the airport felt somewhat comforting. It had been more than a year since he had been back in Korea, and it was good to be greeted by his mother tongue being spoken all around him.
After taking a quick trip to the restroom, Taehyung began walking towards the arrival area. Since his flight arrived at an ungodly hour in the morning, he told his family he would take the train to Seoul Station, and they could meet him there. As he passed a small café across one of the many boarding gates, he stopped and hesitated if he should go in. There was no shortage of coffee shops in Seoul, and he could grab breakfast after going through passport control and retrieving his luggage. There was no logical reason why he needed to stop by this specific one inside Terminal 1.
But this was not an ordinary café. Taehyung had been here five years ago. This was the same café where he grabbed a cup of coffee before he departed to the U.S. for school. He took a look at his watch and decided he had enough time to spare to grab a quick bite here. He would not consider himself to be superstitious, but there was something oddly satisfying about this being the first place he visited after returning back to Korea.
“One medium hot mint chocolate latte, and a cheese danish please.” He told the attendant.
As there were not that many customers at this time of the day, Taehyung got his order in no time. He grabbed a sit at one of the empty tables and took a sip of his latte. He really did not know what prompted him to do so. He was somewhat neutral to chocolate mint anything, but it was certainly not the first flavor he gravitated towards when it came to lattes. But this drink always reminded Taehyung of him.
It was late August 2017. Taehyung was anxiously waiting for one of the airline workers to let everyone know what was going to happen. It would be his luck that his flight would be canceled the day he was supposed to head to the U.S. due to a storm that was affecting visibility. He was not the only one stranded, of course; every passenger at Terminal 1 was in the same position as his. But this did not help alleviate his annoyance.
His parents had told him he should come back home and try to get the flight rescheduled, but Taehyung knew the minute he left the airport, the airline would give his spot to someone else. He preferred to wait at the airport where he would be guaranteed a flight out of Seoul as soon as they got clearance.
Unable to do much, other than to wait for the airline to update him, he pulled out his iPad to watch some shows. His annoyance was preventing him from focusing on the show. His eyes started to wander around the airport. There were lots of families traveling with younger children. A lot of businessmen, with a briefcase for a carry on. Some foreigners heading back home. There were a few people around his age scattered all over the waiting area. He wondered if they were also headed overseas to study. He wondered if they were as nervous as he was feeling at that moment.
As he was scanning the waiting area, out of boredom and curiosity, he saw a guy around his age standing around looking for a seat where he could park himself for the next several hours. He was dressed in an oversized black hoodie and neon green sweatpants, which could be seen from a mile away. Taehyung must have been staring for too long because the young man, feeling watched, locked eyes with him.
“Damn it.” Muttered Taehyung under his breath as he moved his bag to the floor, freeing a seat for the stranger. The other man did not need to be told twice and basically ran towards Taehyung before anyone else could snatch away his newfound seat.
“Thank you so much! I was starting to believe I would need to settle for the floor!”
Taehyung gave him a polite smile and started browsing on his phone. This was going to be a long night.
“So where are you headed?” asked his new seat mate in an unusually chirpy voice. Taehyung wondered how anyone could be in that great of a mood after finding out they would be stranded for several hours.
“Great…. a chatty man” thought Taehyung as he lowered his phone to look at the man next to him.
“I’m headed to New York.” Maybe if he gave short answers this man would stop chatting with him. He made sure to go back to his phone right away.
But despite his best efforts to be as blunt as possible, it seemed the other man was not discouraged by Taehyung’s shortness. The second Taehyung’s eyes were back on his phone, he heard the young man next to him say “Woah! I’ve always wanted to go visit. Is this your first time going?”
A little annoyed, Taehyung put his phone away once again and looked at this unusually cheery man. He had to admit he was kind of cute.
“I have been there a couple of times.” And before he could entertain the idea of going back to his phone, Taehyung added “I am actually going there for school, so my parents and I visited this summer so I could start getting used to a new city.”
“That’s amazing! Congratulations!”
“Thank you. I am actually really nervous though.” He was not exactly sure why he had volunteered that information about himself to this random stranger at the airport, but something about him made Taehyung feel comfortable.
“Well, you are about to embark on a big journey, and I don’t mean the one you are about to take on that plane. I would be feeling the same way.” Taehyung could not help but notice the way the man’s dimples appeared when he gave a small closed-lip smile. Very cute.
“What about you? Where are you traveling to?”
“I am going to Sapporo. A dance crew is holding auditions there in a couple of days, so I’ll be trying for that.”
“I do not know much about dancing, but I am sure you will do great.”
“Thank you! I am trying not to be too nervous, but I cannot help it. They work with all kinds of artists as backup dancers, so getting selected would be a big deal.”
“It seems you are also embarking on a big journey then.” Despite his initial annoyance, Taehyung found himself drawn more and more to this cheerful man. “I am Kim Taehyung by the way.”
“Jung Hoseok!” said the other man.
A loud announcement through the airport’s intercom system took Taehyung out of his flashback. He rubbed his eyes and started walking out of the café. He was really hoping the caffeine would keep him awake for a little bit longer. He stood outside the café and looked towards the empty seats where Hoseok and him had spent the night talking. He learned that Hoseok was almost two years older than him; that he had been dancing since he was ten after he enrolled in a local dance academy, and that he hoped to one day open his own dance academy. Taehyung shared the real reason he was going to America was to get a break from his family, but now that he would be on his own in a foreign country, he was starting to have second thoughts. They talked about everything and nothing. He could not remember when, but at one point during their chat he had fallen asleep. When he woke up about three hours later, with terrible neck pain and in a state of panic thinking he had missed his flight. He found the seat next to him empty and without any of the previous occupant’s belongings. After asking a disgruntled airport staff, he learned that a flight to Sapporo had departed out of Incheon while he was asleep. Left with no contact information, Taehyung wondered what had been of Hoseok and what had happened during that audition.
With one last look at the waiting area, Taehyung finally made his way out of the airport and towards Seoul Station. It would be another hour or so before his dad picked him up from the station and headed towards their place. His parents had found a small loft style apartment where Taehyung would be moving into in the next couple of days, but for now he would be staying at his parents’ place, in his old bedroom.
After a long shower and a proper homemade breakfast, Taehyung excused himself to his old room to try to nap for a couple of hours. He had gotten very little sleep on the plane, and he was starting to feel dizzy from the jet lag. As he started drifting to sleep, the image of a young man dressed in neon green sweatpants came to mind.
"Taehyung-ssi, here I got us some caffeine to help us stay awake." Hoseok said as he handed him a cup. "I was not sure what flavor you liked so I got you the same thing as me."
"Thank you so much" Taehyung said as he retrieved the drink. "What is it?"
"Mint chocolate latte! The perfect balance between sweetness and freshness."
"You may be the first person I've met who has ever ordered this." Taehyung cautiously took a small sip of the hot beverage. “Ok…. this is not as bad as it sounded.”
“See! Now that you have known the joys of this drink, you’ll never order anything else.”
Taehyung just rolled his eyes but kept on drinking the hot latte. He supposed his night could have gone a lot worse but sharing a warm drink with this stranger felt fated somehow.
~~~
A week had already passed since he had arrived back. These past few days he had spent some much-needed quality time with family and friends. It was so nice not having to worry about the time difference when sending a message. As he still had a couple more weeks to relax before he started working at his company, Taehyung wondered if any of his friends would be down for a short weekend trip to either Jeju or Busan. Being able to make immediate plans with his friends was something he had really missed being able to do. He really thought he would take longer to adjust to life back in Seoul, but he was surprised at how easy the transition was.
Which really put his time in New York in a new perspective. When he first told his parents of his intention of studying overseas, they were worried he would remain in the U.S. and not come back to Korea. While he enjoyed his time in the U.S. and got to meet lots of great people, the truth was that he never felt fully at home there. In spite of hanging out with classmates, and other international students, he never felt as if he truly fit in or managed to form a real friendship with any of them. The only time he briefly considered staying in the U.S. was when his relationship with his ex-boyfriend, Kevin, began getting serious. They even began the process of seeking an immigration attorney who could assist Taehyung with the visa process when the time came. Perhaps all the legal talk and the possibility of a long-distance relationship, fizzled things between him and Kevin, and they broke up a few months after that. Taehyung couldn’t really say he was too sad to see that relationship go.
Even though his mom and sister had done their best to get Taehyung settled in by getting him some basic furniture, plenty of toiletries and groceries for the first few days, he still planned to add some knick knacks to make the place truly his. Seeing as he had nothing else planned for the day, he decided he would go and check out some stores and see what they had. It had been a while since he had just gone to a shopping district and wandered around aimlessly.
At one point during his shopping outing, a downpour came down hard. Taehyung sought refuge inside the closest café. He figured this would be a good spot to just wait it out while getting a hot drink, and getting to rest for a bit. The café was not exactly crowded, but it was clear a lot of people had the same idea and wanted to wait it out in there. Lucky for him, he managed to grab a small table near the register.
Taehyung was so engrossed on his phone, looking at the weather app to see when the rain would stop, that he was unaware of the man who just entered the café and headed towards the register to place an order.
“One medium hot mint chocolate latte please.” A familiar voice to his right told the girl at the counter.
Taehyung looked away from his phone to take a look at the person who placed the order. He had met this man before. His hair was longer, but he was still wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Even if five years had passed since he last saw him, he could recognize him.
“Hoseok-ssi? Are you Jung Hoseok-ssi?”
The other man turned around with a confused look on his face, which was quickly replaced by a big smile once he realized who had called his name.
“I’m not sure if you recognize me, but I’m Kim Taehyung. We met at Incheon airport…”
“Of course I recognize you!” interjected Hoseok. “How could I ever forget a face as handsome as yours!”
Taehyung moved his bags off the spare chair so Hoseok could sit down. Not that different from that night at the airport, when he moved his belongings out of the way so Hoseok could sit next to him.
“It has been so long! So how have you been?” Hoseok’s voice was just as chirpy as he remembered it. It had been so long since he last saw him, that Taehyung was starting to think he had made up all of Hoseok’s mannerisms and tone of voice.
“I actually just came back to Seoul last week. I graduated this past summer and I’m finally back home.”
“You did not want to stay in America?”
“It was great, but definitely not for me. I missed Korea, and my family, a little too much.“
Hoseok let out a hearty laugh at that, Taehyung found himself smiling wider and wider at each passing moment. “I understand that. I have been traveling a lot for work and it’s starting to get to me. I just want to be home for an extended period of time, you know?”
“What happened with that audition? Did you get in?”
“I did! Still with them actually. It has been really fun and fulfilling, but I am getting too old to be traveling all the time.” Hoseok looked tired as he said that, slightly pursing his lips. Taehyung noticed the dimples right away. Still as cute as when he first saw him.
They kept on talking for the next couple of hours, the torrential rainstorm slowly turning into lighter showers. At one point they both ordered another round of caffeinated drinks, two hot mint chocolate lattes. Taehyung marveled at how easy it was for them to engage in conversation. He would not consider himself someone who was very chatty, but something about Hoseok made it very easy for him to open up and share his thoughts. He supposed it was the way the older man asked him all kinds of questions, genuinely interested in what Taehyung had to say. He wondered if Hoseok was like this with everyone he met. The thought of it somehow annoyed Taehyung.
“Give me your contact information, Taehyung-ssi!” A very eager Hoseok said as he pulled out his cellphone outside the café, the rain finally light enough for them to venture out. “I do not want to lose touch this time.”
“You were the one who left without saying anything, though.” Taehyung teased as he input his phone number in Hoseok’s phone.
“I know….” Hoseok looked mortified. “They called my flight out of nowhere and I did not want to wake you up. And I just felt awkward writing down my contact info and leaving it on a piece of paper.”
With the promise of getting together very soon, both men parted ways. As he was waiting to cross the street, Taehyung felt his cellphone vibrate. He looked at it at saw one single message on the screen.
Yo! (this is Hoseok)
Just as he was about to reply, the rain started getting stronger again, forcing Taehyung to pick up his pace. He had never been particularly fond of rain, but seeing as bad weather was what brought Hoseok twice into his life, he figured a little rain was not so bad after all.