Letters from the Void // ASTRO ✔

Chapter 39

"Are you Korean?"

Eunwoo looked away from his screen when he realized someone was initiating a conversation with him. He swiped away his screen so that he could fully focus on the person in front of him. He was at a café in the airport, and he was just about to complain about the weird taste the coffee had when someone approached him, seemingly another Korean. His flight had landed a few hours ago, but he took his own sweet time to linger at the airport. It wasn't like he had anything to rush for anyway.

The person asked the question in English and he smiled, "Yes, I am. Are you Korean too?"

The person nodded and said in Korean, "Your English is very good."

"Ah, learnt since I was young. Kind of a tradition," Eunwoo said, but he didn't mean to sound snobbish. When he realized how it sounded like, he laughed nervously. "I didn't mean to show off or anything." He scratched his head.

The person chuckled, "Don't worry. I thought that maybe I could be of help but it seemed like you got it all covered since you're very fluent in English. Did you come here for business?"

"Business? Ah, not really."

"Vacation?"

"Not quite." As the person realized he was out of ideas, Eunwoo quickly retorted. "I came to get a peace of mind. A lot of things happened back home and I thought that maybe I could use a break."

"Ah, I see. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your stay and good luck finding a peace of mind. I'm catching a flight back to Korea soon. There are quite a lot of interesting places to see and nice places to go eat here. You should take your time and explore."

"Thank you."

They shook hands and parted ways. Eunwoo finished the last drop of his coffee and tugged his luggage behind him, looking for the nearest bathroom. He noticed a few women smiling shyly at him, but he only nodded with the least interest. Right now, he felt the urgent need to go to the bathroom. As he spotted the familiar sign, he quickly made a beeline for the bathroom and noticed that he was the only one in there. He went over to the sink, intending to splash some water on his face as he still felt the fatigue from the long flight hours.

He gripped the edge of the sink when he started feeling dizzy. He shook his head but it did little to help him get back to his senses. He felt like the world around him was a blur; he could barely see his own face in the mirror. The distant sound of someone's shoes sliding against the marble floor went through his ears.

"Oh, it's nice seeing you here again." It was the same Korean who greeted him at the café.

"Mr-" Eunwoo stopped when he realized that he didn't even know the man's name. His knees were starting to get weak and without realizing he was finding support by holding on to the man's shoulders. "I- thought- you- have- a- flight- to- catch..." Eunwoo's words were slurred. His eyes were almost closing.

"I did, but I have a flight to catch with you. We might miss this flight if you don't hurry. I'm sorry it had to be done this way, Cha Eunwoo. Sometimes you need to stop being so stubborn," the man put his head under Eunwoo's arm and heaved him up to support him.

"Who..." was all Eunwoo managed to say before he passed out.

"Tsk. Rich people and their ways, won't even get their hands dirty."

***

Moon Bin groaned as the sound of his commander ringing resonated through his bedroom. He had a hard time falling asleep before this and just as he thought he would be able to get at least 5 hours of sleep, the sound of his commander rang at 2 in the morning. Grumpily, he summoned the screen and noted the caller's ID. It was Kim Taehyung. He had no desire to answer the call, part of the reason was because of the misunderstanding they had and another was because it was simply getting in the way of his beauty sleep. Ignoring the call but not being able to sleep back, he pushed away the screen and as he did that, the ringing stopped.