"what is love?" (zhang hao)

chapter nine

the plane descended smoothly, and soon the wheels touched down on the tarmac in korea with a soft thud. yurim sat quietly, her gaze out the window as the familiar landscape of korea came into view. the flight attendant's voice crackled over the intercom, breaking the brief silence in the cabin:

"ladies and gentlemen, welcome to incheon international airport. the local time is ten p.m., and the temperature is currently eighteen degrees celsius. we ask that you please remain seated with your seat belts fastened until the aircraft has come to a complete stop and the captain has turned off the seatbelt sign. we hope you had a pleasant flight, and thank you for choosing to fly with us."

as the plane taxied toward the gate, yurim's heart felt heavy with a mix of emotions. the familiarity of home brought comfort, but an ache lingered as her thoughts drifted to those she had left behind—especially hao. the sounds of passengers gathering their belongings filled the cabin, but yurim remained still, feeling as though she had left a piece of herself back in china.

yujin, seated beside her, nudged her gently. "noona, we're here."

yurim nodded, blinking away her wandering thoughts as she unbuckled her seatbelt. the sense of finality in the moment hit her harder than she expected. they were back in korea, but somehow, everything felt different.

just as they stood up to grab their bags from the overhead compartment, yujin's phone buzzed in his pocket. he pulled it out, glancing at the screen, and saw a message from mei.

meimei

did you guys have a safe flight?
also don't worry, hao is also missing you guys
he won't say it, but both ricky and i can tell

yeahh
we just touched down
i'll let noona know that hao misses her HAAHHA

bet

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yujin smirked, showing the message to yurim, who paused for a second. her heart skipped a beat as she read mei's words, but she quickly shrugged it off, trying to play it cool.

"he probably misses you more than me," she said teasingly, nudging yujin with her elbow.

yujin laughed. "yeah right. you wish."

but even as they walked off the plane, the thought of hao lingered in yurim's mind, no matter how hard she tried to shake it off.

[time skip]

"oh my babies i missed you so much!" their aunt said emotionally as she wrapped yurim and yujin into a tight hug.

"we missed you too," yujin burst out sobbing as yurim hurriedly wiped off his tears for him. after all, yujin was still a child, and the last time he saw them was when he was only nine, going china alone with his twelve-year-old responsible sister who helped him get over his homesickness. their aunt hired someone to check up on the pair every week for three years until yurim was old enough to take care of yujin. they didn't have someone to stay with the two children as yurim hated being with strangers, and their aunt wanted them to feel like home there.

"hey bear," yuhyuck endearingly said as he wrapped his arms around his only sister protectively, leaving his aunt to console his youngest brother.

"hi dinosaur," yurim said tiredly as she hugged him back.

"i missed you so much rim. you're still as short as i remembered," her darling twin, dongmin or known as taesan, joked as he ruffled yurim's hair.

"whatever giant," yurim rolled her eyes as she hugged her twin tightly.

as much as yurim wanted to deny it, she really missed taesan's hugs.

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hello my amazing readers!!
im afraid that i have made this chapter kinda draggy and weird(?) idk how to explain i only know how to say it in my mother tongue
anyways, stay safe, vote this chapter, and follow me!!