Diamond Heart | Hyunbinchan

Chapter 5

When Chan's been in Sydney for three weeks, he caves and logs into his company email. What he finds is a bit of a disaster, but he has a team of competent people so it's not too bad. Yet.

He curses. "I need to go back to Seoul."

Felix looks up from his phone. He's been smiling at it a lot, lately. "Yeah? I'll come with you."

"What?"

"Your apartment is big, and I've been there before," Felix shrugs. "I'm your favourite cousin. If you give me money, I'll buy groceries and bake you brownies."

Chan nods. "Yeah. Okay. Do your parents know?"

"I've been accepted into university in Seoul, so yes. The semester doesn't start for a while, but my spoken Korean is terrible, so I'll go with you now and practice." Felix talks as if he's reading from a list.

"And your real reason is?"

"Uh –" Felix drops his phone on his face and scrambles to a sitting position, removing his feet from Chan's lap. "I – might see my internet friend in real life?"

Chan smiles. "That's more like it, Lixie. I'll write Jia, and talk to your parents."

Felix nods solemnly. "I promise to listen to everything you say."

Chan laughs. It's been easier to laugh this last week. But anyone would feel that way, with Felix insisting on ice cream, Berry insisting on pets, and long walks on the beach.

-

The flight to Seoul leaves on a wednesday morning. Chan cuddles Berry goodbye and promises his grandparents to visit more often, and his grandparents tell him to bring Jia next time. Chan obviously can't promise that, but he does promise to try. Felix's dad, Chan's uncle, drives them to the airport and tells Chan to help Felix study.

In the air, he works on some tracks Changbin and Changbin's new friend sent him – now this friend has a name, J.One – and tries to needle Felix into brainstorming lyrics. It's not that he can't do it alone, it's just that he likes it better if he can bounce ideas around with someone else. And Felix, as always, is very interested in Chan's music. The long flight passes quickly, both of them invested in their rhymes.

Chan doesn't even think about what waits in Seoul until the plane touches down and he checks his phone, now logged in to his work accounts. Judging by the notifications, his entire department decided to send him Welcome Back messages. He had intended to come by the company in the evening to see if his office was still standing, but now he thinks he might just wait until the morning.

"Are you hungry?" Chan asks Felix as they wait for Felix's luggage. "I feel like I'm obligated to show you my favourite restaurants here. Authentic food, and all that."

Felix, excited and nervous about everything, agrees.

Near the airport, just close enough to easily get there and yet far enough to be free from tourists, is a small restaurant. It has cheap Korean food as well as delicious coffee. Chan makes a point to visit it whenever he comes to Seoul by air, a tradition he started with his sister when they were teens and their parents juggled them between Sydney and Seoul. It's a moment beyond time and space – almost a liminal space, like the airport, but a pocket inside it where time does flow, protected by the scent of fried chicken and coffee and kimchi.

They get a table in the back and Chan orders almost everything on the menu in Korean, and while they wait for the food he translates the words Felix doesn't know and answers questions about restaurant etiquette that textbooks didn't answer. Felix, predictably, falls in love with the food.