Lost : Choi Youngjae

lost

It was an early summer day when Jaebum disappeared, fresh from graduating out of college and ready to see the world. It was an early summer night when Youngjae ran around the small town, crying and asking around to see if anyone, someone, had seen his missing boyfriend, Jaebum.

Youngjae never saw him again.

He never bothered to enter or even stand in front of Jaebum's apartment building, in fear of breaking down right there on the sidewalk. Youngjae really loved him; they were together for years, and Jaebum promised him that they'd leave their town, run away to the big city or another country and they could get married there. They could even adopt a pet of their own.

But Jaebum seemed to have completely disappeared off the face of the earth, taking all of Youngjae's dreams and fantasies with him. Youngjae was a college sophomore then, at twenty-two years old.

Now, dear, lonely, Choi Youngjae is two years older. He has picked up the broken pieces of himself from two years, created even more dreams and fantasies, and has gotten himself a simple but rather difficult job of serving at a local fast food restaurant that has just opened a few months back.

Admittedly, he still misses his old boyfriend.

It's dusk on a chilly autumn evening during the first time a certain red haired man catches his eye when he's sitting at the bus stop and the man has just sped by on a skateboard. 

Youngjae immediately stands up, and he spots a black handkerchief on the cemented ground. He leans over to pick it up then stretches his neck and trying to look for the only person who he thinks has dropped it. Well, it definitely wasn't there before the man with the skateboard passed.

He fixes the strap of his bag on his shoulder, and he takes off aimlessly to try and find the red haired man. Youngjae doesn't find the man, but it's not like he can just leave the handkerchief anywhere, so he trudges back to the bus stop just as the moon disappears behind the clouds, handkerchief tightly held in his palm.

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That night, as he's going to sleep, he tries to imagine the face of the man and unfortunately fails. He had sped by too quickly for Youngjae to notice anything but the bright color of his hair and his skateboard.

For days after, he rushes to the bus stop after his shift at the restaurant every single day with the hopes that the red haired man will take the same route on his skateboard and Youngjae can grab the chance to return his handkerchief. The man does pass by the stop every day, but Youngjae is unable to speak every time, his words stuck in the back of his throat.

The week after, however, Youngjae manages to return the handkerchief. Believe it or not, he did it without speaking. He really didn't speak at all; he just didn't notice that he had his foot stuck out and the red haired man tripped over it.

Ah. Unlucky Choi Youngjae. Poor, possibly-most-likely-injured red haired man.

Youngjae has helped the man back up to his feet and offered to treat him to something to drink, like a coffee or some tea at the nearby coffee shop, but the man denies and asks him for his name instead.

"Choi Youngjae. My name is Youngjae." Youngjae says shakily, not really sure as to what is happening. He has tripped the man with his foot, and the man has rejected his offer for a coffee or tea but is asking his name instead. How strange.

The man gives him a crooked smile and holds out his hand to shake, which Youngjae shakes, of course. He doesn't want to be rude.

"I'm Mark, Mark Tuan."

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Youngjae learns, quite soon enough, that Mark is a backpacker from Taiwan who has decided to stay in this small town in South Jeolla Province and has taken off from his home in the big city the exact day after graduating from his university.