Bubble

19. Homecoming

The inside of the former luxury vehicle carried the stale odor of the fast-food supper they had several hours ago as they drove down yet another lonely street. The city had faded away in the rearview mirror a while ago, giving way to elegant yet sleepy looking houses. Bang Chan and I.N sat in the back of the car while Bonita sat in the passenger seat as Felix drove. Bonita currently had the side of her head against the window as she slept, the occasional streetlamps they were passing illuminating her. Bang Chan kept his eyes on her as she slept and I.N noticed.

"So, what's the deal with you and Bonita?" asked I.N softly, but not softly enough to escape Felix's ears as he cast a questioning glance of his own into the rearview mirror.

"Nothing," said Bang Chan immediately, the tips of his ears turning red in the dark.

'It isn't like that is a lie,' thought Bang Chan as he turned his head to look at I.N to see him looking at him incredulously.

"I've seen the way you've been looking at her all day today," remarked I.N. "Are you sure you're not more than friends?"

"No."

The quick answer from Bang Chan's mouth caused I.N to chuckle in the dark. Felix smirked from where he was seated as he kept his eyes focused on the road ahead of them.

"If I'm right about your feelings for her," said I.N, "I think you owe it to Bonita to tell her."

"What would the point be?" asked Bang Chan. "You heard what Changbin said. I can't stay. I'm not real."

"I know. I understand, but take it from me, I feel like all good things have to come to an end. They aren't meant to last forever. However, just because that's true, it doesn't mean you should cease from trying to seize them all together."

"But I'm not real," repeated Bang Chan, the melancholy tone of his voice portraying how he really felt about the situation.

"That doesn't mean your feelings aren't," said I.N. "As someone I highly loved and respected once told me, you ought to just live in the moment."

Bang Chan fell silent as his eyes landed on Bonita's sleeping form again. She was suddenly awoken by the buzzing of her phone in her lap. Jerking her head off the cold car window, she looked at the phone screen to see that Minho was trying to FaceTime her. A feeling Bang Chan had grown accustomed to as of late blossomed in his chest with an even fiercer nature as he placed a hand over his heart.

'I may be fading slowly but surely, but this feeling certainly isn't,' he thought.

"Hey, tell your mom we're here," said Felix after Bonita had been talking to Minho for a few minutes to assure him she was fine.

Hearing Minho start to grumble on the video call caused Felix to grin as he pulled over onto a driveway blocked by an imposing black metal gate. Bonita rolled her eyes, managing to calm Minho down and reassure him she'd call him back once they were settled for the night. When she hung up on Minho, an awkward silence permeated the air. They hadn't thought of a plan in advance about how to deal with I.N's parents and it was now that the reality of it all was setting in.

"Well, there's no turning back now," said Felix as he got out of the car.

He left the driver's door open as he walked over to an intercom fastened to a post outside the gate, pressing down on the worn white button there. Soon a mosquito sounding buzz filled the night as a voice echoed out, Felix conversing with whoever was on the other end.

"So, this was your childhood home?" Bonita asked, looking at the house that stood like a castle on the hill in the dark.

"Not so much my childhood home as my young adult home," said I.N. "When my mom remarried Chris' father, I was already seventeen. We moved from our small apartment to their house shortly after their marriage."

Felix suddenly came jogging back towards the car in the dark, the gate slowly starting to roll along its tracks as it opened. Bang Chan felt his stomach roll as Felix started to drive the car up the driveway. I.N moved to help Bang Chan put a baseball cap on his head before tugging up the hood of the hoodie he was wearing. As Bang Chan put the sunglasses and face mask on, I.N moved to give his knee a reassuring squeeze.

"I'll be right beside you the whole time," promised I.N.

Felix parked the car before moving to step out of the vehicle. The eggshell white door opened and standing haloed in the doorway was the man that had answered the intercom. Bonita couldn't help but to think how the man looked like every typical butler she'd ever seen in the media growing up. The gruff looking man looked towards Felix as he walked over to him. The moment the man saw Felix his face transformed as a smile sprang to his face.

"That's my parents' housekeeper and security, Bong Baek," explained I.N to Bang Chan and Bonita as they stayed in the car and watched the middle-aged man hug Felix like he was a long-lost prodigal son. "He is a teddy bear on the inside even though he looks like a grizzly on the outside."

"It's been a while since you've paid a visit," said Bong Baek as he released Felix from the hug.

"Seoul life keeps me busy," he remarked. "I have others that came to pay a visit too."

"Others?" asked Bong Baek as he glanced behind Felix's shoulder as I.N moved to step out of the back of the car along with Bonita in the front.

"Oh my! Jeongin! What brings you home?"

"I wanted to come see my parents. Are they in?"

"They are. They just finished supper. I can heat up some of the leftovers if you're hungry."

"I'm famished!" said Felix as Bong Baek rolled his eyes.

"I see some things don't change," he remarked before focusing his eyes on Bonita who idled by the car. "Who's your lady friend?"

"This is Bonita," said Felix as he walked over to her and slung an arm about her shoulder. "She's a good friend of Jeongin and I."

"It's nice to meet you, miss," said Bong Baek as he held out a hand for her to shake.

Bong Baek's eyes traveled to the car as I.N moved to open the other backseat door.

"Is there one more back there?"

"Yes," said I.N as he helped the fully disguised Bang Chan out.

Bong Baek didn't recognize that Bang Chan resembled his employer's late son due to how covered up he was, bowing towards him in greeting.

"It's nice to meet you," said Bong Baek, waiting for a name to be supplied that never was.

I.N soon moved to cross the threshold of the house with Bang Chan by his side, Felix and Bonita a few steps behind as Bong Baek shut the door to keep out the night. Bonita felt completely out of place within the homey yet overly polished home. Her eyes caught sight of various pictures on the walls of I.N and Chris during happier times. Seeing Chris' smiling face in the frames brought back the heavy realization that he might have been murdered. Her eyes moved from the photos to Bang Chan as he walked in front of her. Bang Chan's back was currently ram-rod straight. She could tell he was terrified even though he was remaining completely silent.

'This is certainly different than the bubble he was used to,' thought Bonita, thinking about how this man before her was afraid of the sound of thunder, but was yet ready to catfish a murderer.

Without thinking, she leaned forward to grab one of his hands. In doing so, it caused Bang Chan to pull up short and fall away from his spot beside I.N. Felix and I.N both stopped too to watch Bonita lace her fingers through Bang Chan's as they locked their gazes with one another. Holding Bonita's hand seemed to be like a lifeline to Bang Chan who released a breath then that he didn't realize he was holding before.

Felix was about to move and walk beside Bonita again when I.N pulled him up short, dragging him so that he walked in step with him instead. Bontia and Bang Chan held each other's hand as they followed after them. Soon they all arrived outside the doors of the living room area.

"Here it goes," said I.N as he took a deep breath, reaching out a hand to open the door before the four of them stepped inside.