Unique | KNJ x OC

Part 2 - Chapter 1

Angie had a small smile as she crossed the arrivals platform at Incheon International Airport. The jetlag was familiar, but that was not why her heart was beating intensely inside her chest. Rather, it was because she was such a different person the last time she had landed and crossed that same path a year before. Yet, at the same time, everything was still the same. At the time, she had no idea how her perception of life would change over one weekend. To the point that when she left, it felt like something of hers stayed behind.

She crossed the glass doors into the fairly chilly afternoon sun and instantly looked at a corner of the parking lot. There, amongst the crowd that gathered and passed to welcome the arrived travelers or to drop off adventurers, had been a black car stopped inconspicuously. In the back of the said car, beyond the smoked windows, she recalled the soft touch of her lover's fingers tracing her jawline as his lips trailed her cheeks. She was smiling at the time, bitter but sweet about what they had experienced, the inevitability of it ending, and the hope that it would be a precious memory she would never forget.

"Angie!!"

She turned to the opposite side to find a familiar woman running with her arms open and a facemask hanging on her chin. As they clashed, a wide grin spread across Angie's face. She squeezed her best friend in her arms, ignoring all the side-eyes from the passerby.

The smaller but daintier brunette pulled away, then gasped. "You have bangs!"

Angie laughed and combed her dirty-blonde bangs. "I needed a bit of change..."

"I can see that." Hyejin chuckled with a cheeky smile. "Come, we have so much to talk about!"

Hyejin quickly grabbed Angie's small carry-on luggage and pointed out how the bangs suited her so nicely. The hair, along with her hoop earrings, made her look ladylike, a sharp contrast from all the years they spent together, during which Angie would hardly step out of her sweatpants and sweater.

They were already inside the car with Hyejin driving them out when she commented, "That's not the only thing that's changed, right?"

"No," Angie admitted, looking outside at the traffic of that unfamiliar place. Being there was like dropping into another universe, only with the perk of having the comfort of being with the person she loved best in the world. "Thank you for having me. I know this was sort of unexpected and with your wedding anniversary and everything..."

"Are you kidding me?" Hyejin scoffed, gripping the steering wheel for a second before she huffed. "I need you more than you know. You coming here was exactly the pause I needed."

Angie looked at her worryingly. "That bad?"

"That bad." Her expression was rigid as she drove them, the GPS giving indications that Angie couldn't read. "Are you sure you want to stay at a hotel?"

"Of course! Come on, you've just celebrated your one-year wedding anniversary—"

"I haven't seen you in a year."

"We'll be together all the time!"

"Then you might as well stay over," Hyejin insisted quietly, driving faster than Angie would have expected.

"I can't, you guys need your alone time. And so do I, honestly. I need to be with myself too, as hard as it is."

Hyejin's lips twitched, but she didn't give away her thoughts. Not until they stopped at a red light did she glance absentmindedly at the cars outside while biting a fingernail.

"Is it bad that I was hoping you would stay so I don't have to be with myself any longer?"

Angie immediately straightened up and searched for her eyes, which Hyejin masterfully avoided with a sad grin.