RESTART

An Awkward Situation

 The drive to the hospital would have been relatively quiet if the backseat passengers didn't continue their playful bickering. Seung-Ho glanced in the rearview mirror and saw how happy they were. He couldn't help but feel the loneliness creeping into his heart even though the car was filled with laughter. He let out a long sigh as he tried to suppress his feelings.

Solar interrogated Moonbyul for a good while. She tried every tactic she could think of on the fly; most were pleading and begging with the occasional dissatisfied grumbling. Moonbyul almost cracked a few times but she stuck through it to the end. Eventually, Solar relented and Moonbyul sighed in relief; softly and facing away from Solar of course. She didn't want Solar to be suspicious of her again.

"You guys sure are close," Seung-Ho commented.

"Closer than you think!" Moonbyul said proudly, with an almost smug expression. The way she was positioning herself, she wanted to wrap her arm around Solar to show Seung-Ho how close they really were. She even excitedly glanced in Solar's direction, as though it was a guarantee that Solar would give her the go ahead.

"Of course we're close. You're sitting right here," Solar jest, shooting down Moonbyul's chance of showing off.

"That's not what I meant!" Moonbyul protested.

"It's not?" Solar looked at her innocently.

"Nevermind..." she could only shake her head and sighed.

"How long have you known each other?" He asked.

"A very long time," Moonbyul answered once more. "But she probably never talked about me," she blurted without thinking.

Seung-Ho was surprised. "You're right. She never did. How did you know?"

Solar looked down sadly.

"I-I asked her not to. Yeah! That's right, I asked-asked her not to." Moonbyul fumbled over her words, clearly flustered.

"Did something happen?" He inquired further.

"O-of course not. I-I'm just a private person, that's all."

"I see..." he wasn't convinced with her answer, but decided against prying further.

Moonbyul thought Seung-Ho would continue this line of inquiry, and proceeded to ask her questions before he could direct any more at her. "What about you two? How did you meet?"

"I was her sponsor in the doctorate program," he said happily. "The first time we met she almost got her luggage stolen."

"What!? What happened?" Moonbyul looked over to Solar for an answer.

Solar didn't reply and looked down at her feet.

"Solar?" Moonbyul looked at her expectantly.

"You don't want to talk about it?" He asked.

"It's not that..." Solar answered softly.

"Should I tell her about it then?" He said.

Solar nodded fervently as she replied, "Yes."

"So what happened?" Moonbyul looked over to Seung-Ho.

He recounted the disaster he had encountered at the airport. It was not long after their last message to each other that he arrived to pick her up. He tried to contact her but it was to no avail, and the loss of communication was making him anxious. He went looking for her and saw her walking away from her luggage; effectively leaving them unattended. Not a moment later, a man tried to leave with her bags.