Who I've Been Searching For | Sungjoy

Chapter 24: One More Debrief

Incheon International Airport – Seoul, Korea

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"It's taking forever, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Joy looked over at Sungjae, who was blankly gazing at the long line-up in front of them. She sighed and turned her gaze towards the crowd of people waiting to pass through the customs area.

In the aftermath of the incident with Hyuk and Dong Wook's lengthy reveal in China, Sungjae had entered a catatonic-like state, only coming out of it when Joy spoke to him.

Joy didn't blame him. After spending over a year with someone that claimed to have had your best interests at heart only to tell you that he was using you for his own benefit, Joy would have also been at a lost of what to do.

After Dong Wook had hung up on Sungjae, they had waited for Sungjae to calm down. Chorong's team had given them as much privacy as they could before escorting them to their headquarters. There, Joy had received a phone call from Irene, telling her to bring Sungjae back to Korea.

"Unnie, I don't know he's in the right state to travel," she had told Irene.

But Irene had been adamant. With Hayoung's help, she had quickly booked their tickets back to Korea.

During the flight back, Sungjae had been quiet, occasionally asking for a drink of water or something to eat when the hunger had proven unbearable. He answered Joy's questions with simple responses. Other than that, he said and did nothing.

"Next!"

The customs officer waved them forward and reached out for their passports. He quickly processed Sungjae's blue passport and paused as he inspected Joy's official brown passport.

"Is there a problem, officer?" Joy asked him.

"Not at all," the officer said as he finally stamped both of their passports and returned them. "Welcome back."

Joy and Sungjae bowed as they walked past the customs gate, taking the escalator past the luggage carousels.

"Sooyoung, how will we get our luggage from China?"

It was the first question that Sungjae had asked without being prompted by Joy.

"Hayoung will take care of it," she answered him, a smile forming on her face.

Sungjae nodded, "Why are we back here so quickly?"

Joy frowned. Irene hadn't really answered her questions and had ordered her to return as soon as possible.

"Irene said to return immediately," Joy told him.

"Can I trust her?"

Trust. The word had taken on a new meaning for Sungjae in the past twenty-four hours.

Joy nodded. "I trust her," she answered. "You trust me, right?"

Sungjae looked at her long and hard, causing Joy's heart to beat erratically as she waited for his answer.

Finally, Sungjae replied, a rueful smile on his face. "I do."

Joy's smile had blossomed into a larger one by now, showing the whites of her teeth. "Then give me a hug," she said as she wrapped her arms around Sungjae.

She felt Sungjae's arms close around her, pressing her firmly against him. "Thank you, Sooyoung," he whispered, his voice slightly muffled by her hair.

Joy broke away from his embrace gently and looked him in the eye, "Don't ever think that I'll betray you," she told him as she placed a hand on his cheek. A lone tear slipped down from Sungjae's eyes and she wiped it away with her thumb. "I love you, Yook Sungjae."