strangers

둘

"chan, please, don't do this to me."
felix said.

it has been three years since felix moved back in australia, and a lot has happened.

first, felix started working in a company that specializes in something he always liked.
restoring art.
more specifically, paintings and sculptures.

his boss has recognized his talent and his passion, and he got promoted quickly, and he has been traveling all over Australia and Europe, restoring pieces for famous museums.
he even spend six months in Italy once, when he was repairing a really ruined sculpture.

but now, his boss wanted him to go to Korea.
a place felix was dreading the most.

"felix, you are the most talented person in repairing paintings in this company, and this person is a very known gallery owner. I promised him to send my best repairer."
chan said.

"but-"

"no buts lix. I know you don't have the best relationship with Korea, and I deeply apologize I'm sending you there, but I promise it will be worth it. the gallery owner is my friend. he will let you stay at his place until you finish repairing, so you don't have to worry about anything. all you gotta do is take all the repairing tools you will need."
Chan said, giving him a small smile.

felix sighed.
he really didn't want to go back there.
but what choice did he have?
none.

so the next day, he was at the airport with two huge suitcases.
one filled with his repairing equipment, and the second one with his things.
damn, he was getting a feeling of dejavú.
and it did not feel good.

Rachel was staying there with him too keep him company for a while. she dropped him off there too.

more specifically, she was really worried.
the last time felix returned from Korea, he was a changed man, and he had to go to a lot of therapy and take antidepressants to go back to his usual self.

"are you sure you will be okay?"
she asked.

felix nodded.
"don't worry about me. I will be. I should be back soon, so take it easy."

Rachel sighed.
"okay, but call me often okay? and whenever you will feel bad, don't worry and text me, it doesn't matter at what time, I will always respond, understood?"

Felix smiled.
"understood."

"you have your meds right?"
Rachel asked.

"yes, don't worry."
felix answered.
"I have to go now, but I will call you right after I land, okay?"

Rachel sighed, before nodding and giving him a small smile.
"try to stay calm, and enjoy it."
she said, giving him a last hug before she left.

•~•

the airplane took off, and felix was looking out of the window, enjoying the sight. something that he liked about this is the fact that when he flies with his work, he always flies in business class, which is definitely nice.

unfortunately, the flight wasn't overnight, and he had to figure out what to do in the next nine and a half hours that he will be stuck in the air.

he settled on watching movies he had downloaded previously. in the end, he endured longer flights. it's true that most of them were overnight tho.

at the end, he spend most of the flight watching movies, eating some food, playing some games on his phone and also listening to music while drawing some sketches.
he himself wasn't that amazing of an artist, but when he had the grounding of the work he needed to repair, he could always make it look spectacular.

eventually, the plane landed.

felix had to wait until everyone from the economy class left the plane, before he himself walked out of the plane.

he looked around, feeling a little bit nervous when all he could see was Korean.

damn, do I even still know how to speak Korean?
felix asked himself, before he made his way to the conveyor belt, waiting for his suitcases to come up.

he sighed, checking the time when he was standing there for a while already.

eventually, the suitcases started to come up, and after another few minutes, felix got both of his suitcases.
now, he just had to hope that none of his equipment was broken.

when he checked the time, he noticed that he still had a little bit of time left. Chan told him that the gallery owner will be waiting for him in front of the exit 3 at seven o'clock, and it was six forty five, so he still got some time to find out where exit 3 was.

with time slowly running up, he eventually decided to ask a worker.
"uhm, excuse me, do you know where the exit 3 is?"
he asked in Korean, a little unsure.
I mean, this was the first time he spoke Korean in three years.

"you need to go all the way back, and then turn to left. there should be a sign 'exit 3' pointing where it is."
the worker said with a small smile.

"thank you so much."
felix said and bowed, before he started walking all the way back of the hall.
"let's just hope I understood her right."
he whispered to himself in English.

he walked to the end of the hall and turned left, and he let out a sigh of relief when he saw the sign.

he walked outside and he was immediately blinded by the sun.
a small smile made a way to his face.
it somehow felt...peaceful.

suddenly, a Porsche stopped in front of Felix.

felix tiled his head in confusion.
was this the gallery owner?

the door opened, and a man got out of the car, closing the door behind him. he was wearing sunglasses and black pants, together with a white shirt.

felix was still blinded by the sun, and he didn't see the man clearly, so he put his hand on his forehead, blocking the sun.

and that's when he saw the face of the man.
the man he thought would never see again.

"hwang hyunjin?"