Supernova

Homecoming

Autumn in Seoul is my favourite season. The weather is crisp, cool, refreshing and there's nothing like a warm hotteok from a street vendor when you can feel the wind on your cheeks. That's when steaming hot tteokbokki is best had and tornado potatoes on sticks, dusted lightly with powdered spice. I loved sitting in a pojangmacha on an autumn evening drinking soju and watching the world go by. 

But my favourite thing about autumn has always been the colours. Korea bursts into a kaleidoscope of reds, oranges, yellows, golds and browns and I loved walking around the parks and palace areas just to see the explosion of colours. 

After dropping my bags off and changing, I had spent the morning doing exactly that. This was the one thing I had wanted while I'd been away, to get back in touch with this city. I took my time, wandering the streets of Insadong, Itaewon, Hongdae and Apgujong, riding the subway, stopping for street food when I wanted. My old haunts were as familiar to me as if I'd never left and I loved being anonymous among the throngs of people around me. In my black face mask and with my hair still short in its army cut, I was just another Korean man, unremarkable. 

It was evening by the time I had had my fill. I sat in a corner booth of a small nondescript restaurant and placed my order. Only then did I take my phone out of my pocket. I had kept it switched off all day and I knew that would mean a bombardment when I finally turned it back on. 

I looked at it, tapping my finger on the screen.

As the waitress brought my food over, I put the phone back in my pocket. Tomorrow, I thought, I'll turn it on in the morning. 

***

Bad idea. 

After the first night of undisturbed sleep I'd had in a month, I'd woken up refreshed and once I'd showered and dressed, I'd turned the phone back on.

The damn thing hadn't stopped beeping for the last twenty minutes.

There were messages, missed calls, notifications, more messages, more missed calls, my phone was still loading them. 

I could catch only a glimpse of the callers and senders, they were flashing by so quickly. My manager. My cousin. Janie. Jii. Kiha. My manager. The twins. My manager. Juni. My manager again. Jii again. Janie again. My manager. My manager. My manager. 

I was staring at the nonstop stream in disbelief when the screen went black. 

And then began ringing.

My manager's ringtone. 

No point in avoiding the inevitable any more.

I sighed.

Here we go. 

I pressed the green answer button.

"About fucking time."

I grinned slightly.

"Hyung."

"I'll be there in 5 minutes. Janie wants to see you. It's time to come out of hiding."

***

"So, our maknae is back."

"Janie."

She hugged me briefly and then stood back to look at me, running sharp eyes up and down my form. I shifted a little on my feet. I'd forgotten how much I'd changed from the slender, slightly boyish maknae who had entered the army. The Jinhae she was looking at wasn't a boy any longer and I could see her taking it in.

"You look good." She said finally.

"The army has a way of getting you into shape." I said drily.

"Not always. You should have seen Juni when he was discharged. Sit." She gestured at the couch in her room and sat opposite me, regarding me steadily.