chapter 49: destination
location: new york city, ny

two years later

John F. Kennedy Airport was busy with activity as the plane pulled in from South Korea. Police had roped off the international terminal, and news crews were all around, taking footage and reporting. David James LaPostale was in the middle of it all, with his guards and staff nearby, awaiting the arrival.

The boys were now men. All seven had completed their military service together, and they were now cleared to return to America. The five who were returning to school had their student visas renewed, and the other two had new work visas both from Seokjin's old modeling studio and LaPostale itself for Yoongi. With Yoongi's compositional skills, he could work in their marketing department composing jingles and spots while he figured out what else he was going to do with his life.

The terminal doors opened, and all seven boys walked off the plane and into the terminal hall. They were all wearing identical black suits, and their hair was still short, but otherwise they all looked the same. They stood in a row, looking up at the terminal ceiling, appreciating just how great it was to be back in America...together.

David stepped forward. "Welcome back," he said, shaking Namjoon's hand. And Namjoon shook back, knowing the press would go haywire over this moment. Former Baepsae Heir Joins LaPostale In NYC, the headlines would read. The news had stayed abreast with the dismantling of the Mikrokosmos Project, which had almost been completed. The research and development team in Buan-gun had been switched from the project to the emerging mobile phone market. LaPostale had completely taken over Baepsae's remaining assets in South Korea. Namjoon returning to NYC meant that he could intern under David, then use those skills back home.

David and the security team led the group away from the terminal and into a limo, which took them to the Financial District. They arrived in front of a huge skyscraper, and David took them up to the penthouse level. The apartment was perfect for all seven men, carrying over simple Korean sentiment with modern views of the NYC skyline. It was a very short walk from a train that would take most of the boys to Columbia every day, and right next door to the Twin Towers.

"We're thinking about building a new headquarters further uptown near Columbus Circle," David explained. "I'm thinking we'll lease space there for a while, then build. The Twin Towers are becoming too expensive, but I'll miss the area."

The living room was massive, with an open-air kitchen nearby, leather couches, and a state of the art flat screen television that almost reminded Namjoon of a small JumboTron. A hallway curved around to the left that led to four bedrooms and two shared bathrooms. To the right was another smaller bedroom and then the master suite. "I know what you're thinking," David said with a smirk. "There are only six bedrooms." And when he opened the door, not only did Namjoon see a huge bed for both him and Yoongi, he saw an upright piano where Yoongi could write music.

"This is all amazing," Namjoon said with a smile. "I really look forward to working with you in the future."

"Namjoon, I do have to ask...how is your father doing?"

Namjoon sighed. "He seems to be doing okay. They never formally charged him with any crime, but it's impossible for him to get a job anywhere anymore. They moved back to Ilsan, and my mother works as a waitress there. They have money to get by, but he doesn't leave the house or see anybody anymore. I would like to go visit him again at some point."

"You should visit when he accepts you as you are. Not as how he wants you to be. The time isn't right for you to be open about yourself, Namjoon. You know this. After all of the drama your family has been through within the past few years, to have the son of disgraced Baepsae come out as a gay man? You might not be able to return to Korea. Give it time, though. There are advancements every day, and the world is changing because of the hard work that people of all colors and walks are putting in."

"Oh, dude, sweet piano!" Yoongi yelled, passing by Namjoon and David in the doorway and sitting by it. He started plunking out a melody, then started to play the piece he had written in the hotel two years ago. Namjoon sat by him, listening to him play. It would be a long time before they would be Runch Randa and Agust D again, but everybody has to start somewhere.

And as the fall settled in, everybody else settled back into their lives. With the drama came fame, which worked in the favor of "Jin Kim," who graced both Vogue and Paper Magazines within the first two months after returning. It became super easy for him to find work, and soon he was flying all over the globe. Hoseok took up teaching dance again at the studio near Columbia, and they sponsored a work visa for him once he graduated. In between classes, he would practice with the goal of making it as a dancer on Broadway. Jungkook went back to his normal classes (and playing lots of Doom), eventually deciding to become a computer engineer and work for LaPostale. Jimin was bold enough to come out before Namjoon or Yoongi would, courtesy of his working at a gay bar and then covering the AIDS crisis in his journalism classes. His college fling never got back in touch with him, but he eventually found love and was plenty happy. And, of course, Namjoon and Yoongi stayed together -- after being apart for so long, they did nothing but make up for lost time. Namjoon would eventually find success both as a businessman and as an underground rapper, this time on the East Coast, working not only with Yoongi but with the biggest names on the city streets. It finally felt like the future was within their grasp. They were truly free, able to be who they wanted to be.

And then there remained Taehyung, who had resumed his saxophone studies at Columbia. He was expected to go to Juilliard for graduate study, then perform and teach all over the world. But day by day passed, and he continued to listen, to search the Internet, for any signs of a girl, out of place, with long brown hair, a blue dress, and black Converse Highs. It took about a year before he accepted that she was gone, that the blast that had sent David to South Korea to save them had also knocked her back into the alternate dimension. With the project shut down, and all of the vans gone, there was now no true way to rescue her.

So he continued his life, doing the best he could, dating women but never clicking with any of them. And then, one day about a year after the seven boys had returned to NYC, David called Taehyung into his office. "I wanted to update you on the Mikrokosmos Project," he told Taehyung. "At this point, we have 100% of production shut down, with 99.6% of objects that utilized the technology being decommissioned."

"I thought it was already shut down," Taehyung said.

David smiled. "My sister was amazing, wasn't she?"

Taehyung nodded. "Yeah. I wish I could have gotten to know her better."

David stood up from his desk. "Well," he said, "let's go find her."

Taehyung didn't understand, but David led him to the elevator, which took them down to the garage under the World Trade Center. There, parked like it had never changed, was the purple van. Taehyung started to cry. "How did you --"

"The government returned it to LaPostale as part of the decommissioning process," David explained. "To my knowledge, the button still works, although it's faulty as ever. We're supposed to remove it and reprogram the dashboard so teleportation is never possible again. After that, I figured you could all use it for a real road trip." He laughed. "But first, you gotta go get your girl."

"Get my...girl?"

"Yeah, just -- go push the button. Go land somewhere. See if you can find her. And if you do, drive back here, and we'll fix the van so she can stay." David gave Taehyung a quick hug. "I hope you find her. The world deserves to have her here."

Taehyung nodded, then took the key from David and went to the van, opening the driver's door and sitting down. He took a deep breath. It had been so long since he had been here. But David was right. If this worked, maybe, by some stroke of luck, he could find Sara. So he put the key in the ignition, turned on the van, and listened to it hum for a moment.

Then, he put his seatbelt on and, instead of putting it in drive, pushed the button. As had always happened before, reality flickered around him. Taehyung found himself and the van in the middle of a desert, on a two-lane highway in the middle of nowhere. A sign that said Route 66 stood nearby, but other than that, there was nobody around.

Taehyung pulled the van over to the shoulder, to get it out of the way, and stepped out. He stood in the middle of the road. The sky was blue, the air was silent, and he felt -- free. He remembered how fun it had been to travel around America, to find Sara and to lose her and to find her again. Was she here? Could he find her again? Couldn't he just push the button like he always had before? Or was she gone for good?

The asphalt was so hot that the road looked like it was shimmering around him in the heat. "Could fry an egg on the cement," Taehyung joked to himself, then stood upright as he saw a car move toward the road. But no, it wasn't a car at all. He thought for a moment that it must be an illusion, but she was there, still carrying her bag, eyes on him.

She stopped walking, and then she waved, and Taehyung ran towards her, grabbing her and pulling her close. "See?" she said. "I told you I'd find you again. This isn't Korea, though."

"Sara." Taehyung took her by the shoulders. "What -- where -- "

She giggled. "It must have been some time since I disappeared. Your hair is different, V. There's no more green in it."

"Yeah, I -- I couldn't color it if you weren't around. Sara, it's been three years. So much has happened."

Sara's eyes widened at the mention of three years. "Three years? That's galactic."

"Yeah, but it's copacetic that you're back." They both paused, then they laughed, and Taehyung took her hand and walked her back to the van.

"You found it!" Sara said, running to the passenger side of the van and jumping in. "I thought the feds took it away."

"They did. Again, it's a long story, but now we have all the time in the world to tell it." Taehyung jumped in. "I'm under strict instructions from your brother to drive this van back to New York City with you in it. Then, he'll turn off the button, and we can stay together forever."

Sara smiled. "Coolsville." And he kissed her, letting it linger, letting three years of memories and melancholy seep into her skin.

"God, I missed you. Can you stay this time?"

"I don't see any reason why not."

"I mean it, Sara. You know how we said we would be boyfriend and girlfriend? We never got to do that, so how about we do it now? Let's take this van all the way, as far as it will go, and then when we get to the city I'll take you out on a really nice date and ask you."

"Oh, I look forward to it, darling. Where to first?"

Taehyung put the van in gear. "Anywhere, Sara, as long as it's with you."

-- end --