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4:37pm, august 6th, sydney, australia
bang chan
"you should've just let me come pick you up from the airport" his mother, jessica bahng, complains as she ushers him into the house and out of the cold.
"it's fine. it wasn't too much trouble" he laughs, taking off his shoes to ease his aching feet.
he's been standing for so long, from one queue to another, all day, that he's starting to feel like he'll get blisters on his feet.
"oh my. just look at my son" she coos and pulls him in for a much-delayed hug.
"i missed you too, mom"
"have you had anything to eat yet? i can make you something quickly" she offers but he declines.
"i'm not really hungry"
"that's nonsense" she scoffs, dismissing his excuse. "look at how skinny you look. i need to make sure you bulk up"
"but mom-"
"take your bags upstairs. i'll call you when I'm done" she tells him, her tone dismissive and he knows he has no choice but to go along with it.
"whatever you want, mom" he gives in.
on his way to his room, he passes by his sister, hannah's room, so he decides to check if she's in.
she's at her desk, with her laptop open and earphones in. she doesn't even seem fazed when she sees him.
"oh, you're back? so soon?" she inquires in a monotone voice.
"nice to see you too, little sis" he replies sarcastically and she rolls her eyes.
"well...i guess i'm glad you didn't die or whatever"
he knows she's only teasing so he gives her an insincere smile to play along.
"hey! did you get the sweater that i wanted?!" she calls after him when he leaves her room.
he purposely ignores her and slams his door behind him to pass the message.
"rude!" hannah yells out but he doesn't hear.
now back in the room he spent the majority of his teenage years in, he looks around with a satisfied look on his face. everything remains unchanged, from the sci-fi movie posters that litter his wall to the music albums that are neatly stacked on his bookshelf.
"no place like home, huh?" he thinks out loud, thumbing through an old magazine from his desk. the pages are all decorated with his messy scribblings, which he doesn't even bother reading because he knows it's sure to make him cringe.
he puts the magazine back and moves to his closet to make space for what he's about to unpack. he starts by folding up his old shirts and hanging up the ones from his luggage. somehow, he ends up rearranging his entire wardrobe.
it is when he's about to organize his shoes that she comes across an unfamiliar box. it's not a shoe box so he figures that it surely can't be something he bought and forgot about.
he's about to pull it out when his door suddenly bursts open.
"chris?" he hears his younger brother, lucas, call out and he sticks his head out of his closet.
"yeah?"
"chris!" he beams and runs to throw his arms around him in a hug.
"i missed you too, kid" he reveals, ruffling his hair.
"did you just get back?"
"yeah. why?"
"then you haven't seen it yet" the boy reasons.
"seen what?"
"come on! i'll show you!"
soon, he's following his hyperactive brother out of his room, the strange box and its content being pushed to the back of his mind.
they have dinner after that and he can't stop praising his mother's cooking, which he's missed. food in seoul is as great as can be but home is where the heart is after all.
and finally, after he's had dinner, a chat with his father, and a well-needed shower, he remembers the box.
he carries it out carefully and places it on his desk, which he's cleared of all 'blast from the past' books.
inside the box, he finds a book, an album of some sort, and a bunch of dvds.
"weird" he mutters as he takes out the book.
you in my eyes
it doesn't have the name of an author written on the cover so he opens it to find a short note on the first page.
i always said i'd do this so here it is. there's only one copy of this in the world so cherish it, okay?
he sits on his bed and reads the note over and over again. he thinks he knows what this is about but at the same time, it feels like a forbidden memory; one that his brain refuses to acknowledge or recall.
so with a deep breath, he turns to the first chapter.
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