HERE COME THE REGRETS

S E V E N

Incheon International Airport was one messy airport as Zeren held onto his backpack, walking beside his parents as they walked along the large arrival lounge of the place. There were girls holding cameras with large lenses like bazookas in place, ready for combat; testing their flashes as they chat along, waiting for a celebrity to come out of the VIP arrival exit. The chatter from the people was almost incoherent and he could not even understand even a single word from them. It scared him, to be honest. If that was a scene he would have to deal for the next 15 days, he would definitely tell his parents to book him a flight back to China immediately.

Zeren knew his friends were coming along, except that they booked the flight a couple of days prior to his friends' arrival in the country. Aside from them and his parents, he knew no one else. He was well aware of the entertainment scenes as he himself witnessed to such culture, especially on events like the China-Korea friendship concert held a couple of years ago in Shanghai courtesy of his father's friend's wife – to which they will be meeting in a short while.

Not too far, a sign showing their names written in Chinese and Korean floated. Junhui stretched his neck to find the people holding the signs and not for long, he saw a man dressed in blue long sleeves and pants and a woman dressed in a pink dress. He felt his face light up and quickly, he walked towards the man and gave him the warmest hug that he could possibly give.

"Wen Junhui!" the man called as he hugged him tightly. "It's been years!"

"It's great to see you, Kwon Soonyoung!" he exclaimed, feeling glad to see his friend again after such a long time. Kwon Soonyoung was a little shorter than him, with a significantly round face with eyes in slanted slits and a bright smile. "Thank you for responding to my email, I really thought you'd ignore it." Junhui added.

"Come on, Jun," he chided. "How in the world will I ignore my friend's email after so many years without any communication?"

"You sound like we last saw each other during World War II," Jun replied laughingly. He turned to his wife who held his hand. "Oh, by the way, this is my wife, Minghao, and my son, Zeren."

The two bowed and smiled at the couple who was returning them the favor, welcoming them warmly. "And this is my wife, Jihoon," Soonyoung said, holding his wife from the back.

"Finally, Dr. Wen Junhui, in the flesh," Jihoon said brightly as she shook Jun's hand and turned to Minghao who was giving her a shy smile. "Hi, I'm Kwon Jihoon, Soonyoung's wife."

"I heard a great deal about you and your husband, Mrs. Kwon – "

"Please call me Jihoon, Mrs. Wen – "

"Please call me Minghao," the two women seemed to get along well at that point, and their husbands could only look at them with an endearing look on their faces.

"Minghao looks prettier than I remember of her, Jun," Soonyoung complimented as he took the trolley from Junhui's hand.

"The last time you saw her was during a business summit and you came to my clinic just to see how well I was doing," Jun replied. "She's been well, Soon."

"I'm glad she is," he took a glance over his back and saw their wives in a lively chat. "Jihoon seems to get along with her."

"I know," Jun replied, taking a glance over his wife who was talking to a lively Jihoon as they walked towards the car park.

Meanwhile, the two women behind them were talking about other things. Their sons, included.

"I'm glad you're participating in the International scholastic camp," Jihoon complimented Zeren as he followed them from behind. "You're in for a special treat too."