Last Flight Home

Epilogue: Seoul

"Funny how I'm only meeting him like this for the very first time." Daehyun smiled ruefully as he looked down at the photograph of Alex's smiling face.

After eighty days of globetrotting, Daehyun and Eunri were finally back in Seoul, standing in front of Alex's gravestone in the cemetery, a mere one out of the hundreds that surrounded it. It had been ten days since Alex left, and both of them were still getting used to not having him around. For Daehyun, life had been awfully quiet since, and even though that had been how his life used to be before Alex invaded it, it actually felt foreign to him now. For Eunri, she was only just beginning to get over the disbelief at what had happened to both Alex and Daehyun, and her riled up emotions were finally regaining some measure of peace.

Now that they were finally back in Seoul, right where they started, it seemed appropriate to pay Alex a visit, if only to say goodbye.

"Hey, country bumpkin. How's the air down there?" Daehyun bent his knees and squatted next to the gravestone, grinning at the photo of the friend he never actually met.

"He'll probably make a joke out of it," Eunri smiled and replied.

"True. And then I'll give him a piece of my mind like I usually do." Daehyun laughed.

They both fell silent as it suddenly hit them that Alex would never be around to joke about these things anymore. He was buried six feet under, with earthworms as company, and right now he was probably driving the earthworms mad with his lame jokes.

A single tear trickled down the corner of Eunri's eye.

When she heard the entire story from Daehyun, she couldn't believe what had happened. It all sounded completely impossible, like a scenario straight out of a movie. There was no way someone's soul could be stuck in another person's body, or could there? The more she heard, the more she believed. It all made sense, the reasons why Daehyun always seemed to remind her of Alex, from the things he said to the way he moved and the songs he sang. Her first reaction was to beat herself up inside for having not realised it sooner, for having not realised that Alex was right by her side all along, that he had gone through all this trouble to chase after her and she hadn't known. The worst part was, she had thought that she was falling in love with someone else, when the truth was that she was falling in love with Alex Yang all over again.

"You see that buddy? You've made Eunri cry again. Aren't you going to climb out of your grave and rectify that? I'm not going to do the dirty work for you and you can't make me because we're not stuck in the same body anymore," Daehyun said to Alex after he glanced up and noticed Eunri's tears. He reached into his pocket and drew out his handkerchief, handing it over to the girl.

"You did it. You got Eunri back. She's right here with you now, can you see that? If you don't appear right now I'm going to have to steal her from you, and you won't ever get her back after that. After all, I'm Lee Daehyun, I have tons more money than you and I'm more handsome. Now I'm looking right at your picture, there's no denying that I'm more handsome. Aren't you going to say anything about that?" Daehyun joked. It was a bright and sunny day today, but to him it felt more like the sky was overcast and grey.

Eunri laughed amidst her tears when she heard what Daehyun was saying. She reckoned that Alex was a blessed man after all, because he got to meet a friend like Daehyun even after he was supposed to have left this earth. Throughout these ten days, Eunri could sense that Daehyun missed Alex almost as much as she did, if not more. Perhaps it was the bond that had been forged between the two of them during the time that they were living as one person, a bond that would never be broken henceforth, even though one of them was now gone. Alex had plenty of friends—he was always the social butterfly—but she was pretty sure none of them came close to having a relationship with him as one Lee Daehyun, despite the short time they spent together. It was funny, considering how different their characters were from one another, but perhaps that was what made the friendship all the more special.

"Alex, Daehyun is here to see you. He insisted on coming here immediately after our plane landed. I think he misses you," Eunri said with a smile.

"I do not!" Daehyun retorted. He didn't want to give Alex the satisfaction of knowing that he was missed, especially when he had painstakingly made it a point to remind the latter time and time again that he couldn't wait for the moment for them to finally be separated. "I repeat, I do not miss you." He wagged a warning finger at Alex's picture. "Sheesh you're making it sound like we have some bromance going on..." He looked up and glared at Eunri for a second before turning back his attention to Alex.

"Anyway, like I was saying, you did it. You got your girl, and I don't care what stupid things you made me say on your behalf back in Santorini, but the truth is... she loves you. I know she does, because I can see it in her eyes when she talks about you. I promised you I'll take care of her, and I will, but I know I'll never ever replace your position in her heart," Daehyun said quietly. Perhaps one day Eunri and him would get a new beginning and start writing their own story, but they knew that even if that day came, they would both still go on living with Alex in their hearts.

Just as Daehyun was about to stand back up, he noticed a small tinder box sitting beside the gravestone, hidden amongst some tall grass.

"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the box.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that. It contains some of Alex's personal belongings. His mum brought it down saying that he would probably want to have it near him," Eunri murmured.

Daehyun reached over and picked up the box, gently opening the lid. Inside the box were a couple of old photographs of Eunri and Alex in happier times, along with a single folded napkin. "What's this..." he mumbled. He picked up the napkin and unfolded it carefully.

There in the middle of the yellowed sheet were a couple of a lines in messy scrawl. The title that had been scribbled on top was "Alex's Bucket List" followed by one too many exclamation marks.

"Ten exclamation marks. Typical," Daehyun scoffed as he continued reading.

1. Propose to Eunri.

2. Marry Eunri.

3. Grow old with Eunri.

Daehyun felt his throat begin to choke up as he remembered what Alex had said to him when he had asked about the bucket list.

"What's on your bucket list huh?"

"Nothing I managed to accomplish. Maybe one day you'll manage to accomplish them all for me?"

He smiled at Alex and said quietly, "Maybe one day. Just maybe."

#

The End 

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and wonderful New Year xx