The Tomb Of My Heart | SF9

一

The London airport was strangely empty for this time of the day. Only a few people were passing by, carrying their luggage and rushing in different directions. It was so quiet that I was even able to hear the sound of my heels on the marble floor.

I turned over my left shoulder to check the sight of a street that could be seen trough the huge, glass door of the airport building for the one last time.

I'm going to miss this city so much, I thought. Because for the past year, London has become my home.

As I was walking further into the building, I noticed a tall, midle-aged man waiting near the wall, exactly where he'd told me he would be.

When I approached him, he gave me a friendly smile.

"Jane Baek, isn't it? My name is William. Your father has sent me to pick you up and show you the way to your flight, miss." He said with a soothing British accent, and then showed me the paper that he had been holding in his hand. It was a picture of me along with my name, probably given to him so he could recognize me.

"Nice to meet you, William. Actually, my real name is Jaein." I said, smiling politely and shaking his hand. "The pronounciation is quite similar, but spelling is a bit different. Jane was just a name I used while living and studying here in London."

"I see." William stated. "You must've grown quite fond of London, haven't you?"

"Absolutely!" I said, with slight sorrow in my voice. "I will definitely miss it, but right now, it is time for me to go back home to Korea and finish my last year of university. As an archeology major, I think that history is basically frozen in time waiting to be re-lived by people from the future, but I also think that, unlike history, life waits for no one."

"Those are some wise words, miss Baek." William said, while he was escorting me to my plane. "And I really wish you the best of luck with your future career. It's time for me to go now. This plane will take off any minute. And don't worry, your father told me that a family member will be waiting for you at the airport once you arrive in Korea."

"Thank you so much for your help, William. Goodbye." I said, and then went on the plane.

"Goodbye to you too, London." I whispered a couple of moments later, while looking trough the window at the city that I probably won't be seeing again any time soon.

*

The flight to Korea was pretty long and boring, so I used that opportunity to get some sleep. I knew that once I get back, I won't have much time to rest. The final year of archeology was always the hardest one, or at least I heard so. And I was both blessed and cursed with competitive nature, so I always tried my best and was always a pretty good student. Even living abroad for a year hasn't changed me much, but I wondered if anything has changed back home while I was absent.

When I woke up from my nap, I looked trough the window again and noticed that the plane was almost about to land at the airport. I prepared myself for getting out, and also for facing the people that I haven't seen in so long. And just as I stepped out of the plane, I noticed a familiar person standing nearby.

His clothes were very elegant and his dark hair was styled perfectly. I walked towards him with a surprised smile on my face.

"Juho!" I said, hugging my cousin. "I never thought you'd be the one to wait for me at the airport!"

"Is that a compliment or not?" He grinned, kissing me on the cheek. "But truth to be told, I'm here because everyone else was busy. Though I missed you nontheless, Jaein. Let's go somewhere else so you can tell me all about your year in London."

*

Juho and I were the same age and despite being only cousins and not real siblings, we have been close our whole lives, probably because we didn't have any siblings of our own. His father and mine were brothers who were even closer than us, and when we were younger, they always used to remind us to value our family.

Him and I had our differences. We were both honest, but his honesty was way more witty and brutal. Not many people liked his sarcasm, but I got used to it. And, beside that, we also had one very important thing in common: we had the same college major. Our love for history and archeology was something that ran trough our blood, since our grandfather was an archeologist as well. Unfortunatelly, he had died in one of his expeditions way before Juho and I were born, so we never got to know him, but the stories about him that our grandma used to tell us when we were younger would always manage to impress me.

"So," Juho took a sip of his coffee. We were now sitting in my home's garden, after I unpacked all of my stuff and greeted other family members. "Tell me about London. Is the college any different from ours? And what about the city? Is it as rainy as they say?"

"No, it's pretty much the same, except for the language, of course. But the city... I fell in love with it. Once you get used to all the rain, you learn to love it, too!" I said, recalling my memories.

Juho narrowed his eyes and smirked.

"Speaking of falling in love..."

"Nope." I interrupted him. "You know me. I'm not interested in falling in love, Juho. Not with a real person, at least."

"You're not a child anymore, Jaein. For God's sake, you're not even a teenager! When are you going to find someone for yourself?" Juho said with a serious face.

"I really don't understand why everyone expects that from me. Why would I chain myself to the ground like that? Relationships and marriage are not for everyone, Juho. Personally, I would always choose an adventure over love. That's just who I am." I said, taking a sip of coffee that was a bit more bitter that I had expected it to be. I couldn't help but cough, but between my coughs, I could still see Juho, who raised one eyebrow and I could hear his words.

"Adventure, huh? Well, as much as I disagree with you, I think that adventure is exactly what awaits for both of us. I didn't want to tell you this yet, but principal Park told me he wanted to speak to you as soon as you come back to Korea."

"Really? But, why?" I asked, finally managing to stop coughing.

"Well," Juho smiled. "What kind of a person would I be if I spolied the surprise for my favorite cousin?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm pretty much your only cousin." I said, causing him to laugh.

Juho and I also had one crucial difference. He was as patient as a human being could be.

I, on the other hand, was not.