𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 | Min Ho

i. way back home

remember that I told you
I'll find my way back home

💌

"Come on Dae, I'm your sister and I live in New York. Just tell me where you girlfriend/pen pal lives so I can go meet her." Ari teased, leaning her phone against her desk lamp so she can move around freely.

Dae laughed, sticking his tongue out at the camera, "And have you interrogate her? No way."

Ari hauls her suitcase onto the bed and opens it, "I promise I'll be nice."

"Where are you going anyway?" Dae asked, noticing the fact that his sister was packing her things, "School season almost starts."

She shrugged. "Aunt Linda thought it would be great to have a little trip before school starts, you know, to relax and everything."

"And you're going at night?" Dae asked.

Ari looked at the window behind her, the view showing off the thousand city lights and stars, "Our flight leaves at midnight."

"Oh, I shouldn't be keeping you busy then. Ulineun daleun sigan-e dasi iyagi hal geos-ibnida (we'll talk some other time.)" Dae said.

"Geulae, geulae (yeah, sure)." Ari picked her phone up, "Give my love to dad and Bora for me."

"Will do." He grinned before ending the call.

As if on cue, Ari heard her aunt's voice, "Ari, hurry up! We need to beat traffic or else you're gonna be late for your flight."

"I'll be down in 20 minutes." She reassures her, hurriedly packing and making sure that all of her documents are on hand.

💌

"Are you sure you haven't forgotten anything?" Aunt Linda said as she double checks that Ari has both suitcases with her.

Her nephew laughed, "Yes, Aunt Linda. Don't worry, I also have my passport and my visa documents and my KISS documents in my bag."

"Seems like you've forgotten something." Her aunt then said.

"What?" Ari asked, giving her a puzzled look.

She pulls out a white envelope and hands it to her, "Some extra pocket money for your trip."

Ari shook her head, "Aunt Linda, you shouldn't have. I'm fine, honestly."

"Take it. I insist." Aunt Linda pressed the envelope into her hand, "You put some much effort into saving up to go on this trip, consider this my gift for you."

Ari couldn't help but smile, engulfing her aunt into a hug, "Thank you so much! I'll make sure to make you proud."

Her aunt returned the smile as she rubbed Ari's shoulders, "You made me proud already. Go on, you can't miss your flight. Don't forget to text me when you land."

"I won't." Ari reassured her, as she hauls both her luggages through the security gate, "Drive safely Aunt Linda! I'll miss you!"

💌

"Boarding for flight MA2196 will begin in 10 minutes." The loudspeaker announcement came just as Ari arrived in the waiting/boarding area.

She sits down in an empty chair near the large windows that show the airplanes on the runway and pulls out her phone and opens her gallery.

Clicking on a picture of her, Dae, Bora, and her dad, she can't help but smile at the fact that she's about to be reunited with them in a few minutes.

"Hey!" She complained as someone's bag hit her shoulder, making her drop her phone onto the floor. But, as she look back, the person was either to in rush or too rude to even apologize.

Picking up her phone, another picture was pulled up on the screen, this time it was one of her and her ex-boyfriend, Min-Ho.

Sometimes in life, emotions doesn't really make any sense as Ari stared at the picture with a bittersweet nostalgia and a tanging pain in her heart.

"How can you call that drink an espresso?" Ari laughed, "Your drink is practically ¾ milk, that's more of a latte than an espresso."

Min Ho smiled, "At least I don't confuse the general public by drinking coffee and chocolate. You either get hot chocolate or coffee, period."

"What do you even have against a mocha? It's literally the best of both worlds, what has it ever done to you?" Ari asked, taking a sip of her drink.

He didn't give an answer, looking at her as if she held the whole galaxy in her hands and had just offered it to him.

"What're you staring at?" She asked, seeing his lovestruck gaze, "Do I have milk on my face."

"Nope." Min-Ho shook his head, raising the steaming cup to his lips, "Just beauty."

With a shake of her head, Ari switches the apps to see if she had any impending text messages, which she had none.

But she can't seem to shake the thought of ex-boyfriend from her mind and she couldn't help but wonder how he is doing now.

A ringing tone came before the loudspeaker announced that passengers may now board the plane.

Shaking her thoughts away from the past, she plugged on her earphones before getting in line to board the plane.

💌

A smile graced her lips as she stepped out of Incheon International Airport, she was mere moments away from seeing her family again. With her luggage in tow, Ari hailed a taxi and immediately tells the driver the address.

Nightfall created a scenery that could only be witnessed in ambient youtube videos, Ari couldn't help but feel a wave of nostalgia as she walked through the neighborhood that was part of her childhood.

Ari couldn't contain the excitement bubbling inside her as she arrived at the doorstep, hand poised in the air, she took a deep breath before knocking three times. Footsteps could be heard as the clinking of metals on the lock told her that someone was opening the door.

"Eonni! (big sis!)" Bora, her youngest sibling, shouted before jumping up to wrap her arms around Ari's waist, dangsin-eun jib-e iss-eoyo. (you're home)"

Ari giggled, bending down to pick Bora up, "geulae naega! Naleul mannaseo haengboghae? (yes I am! Are you happy to see me?)"

The little girl could do nothing more than to clap and giggle as another voice made itself heard, "Bora, mun ap-e nuga iss-eoyo? (who's at the door?)"

But before he could receive an answer, Dae's jaw dropped as he caught sight of his twin sister, "Wha- Ho-how? I thought you were on a trip with Auntie?"

"Surprise!" Ari smiled, putting Bora down to give her brother a proper hug, "Had you fooled, didn't I?"

Dae tried to come up with a retort but nothing could come to mind as all he could do was smile at his twin sister.

"I modeun solan-eun mueos-ibnikka? (what's all this commotion about)" Their father came out of the house and his eyes widened as he saw the scene in front of him.

"Nae ttal-i jib-e iss-eyeo (my daughter is home)." He declared going to hug Ari as he kissed her forehead.

"Bogo sip-eosso-eoyo abeoji (i missed you father)." Ari said.

"We should celebrate tonight." Their father smiled, pulling away from her, "Just give me a minute to cook something up."

Ari shook her head, giving him a smile, "Why don't we eat out? It'll be my treat."

"Don't worry about me, I won't get that tired." Their father tried to reassure her.

Ari pressed a kiss to his cheek before reaching forward to ruffle Dae's hair, "C'mon, I insist."

A/N: I'm so excited for this story and I hope you guys enjoy it so far :). I apologize for any inaccuracies regarding Korean, I'm not much of an expert so I had to use a translator 😅