"good afternoon passengers. this is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 64A to Seoul, Korea...."

hiyyih sighed as she finished tying up her hair into a bun right on time for the pre-boarding. she usually just cuts her hair short, but now she decided to put some hair extensions on it.

sponsored by jungwon's credit card, she giggled. she really likes making her friend mad.

after fixing her make up, hiyyih finally exits the lavatory. she's assigned to do the safety check before the flight so she scans the plane to see if the passengers are already comfortable in their seats.

okay, looks decent i guess. she was about to do the safety precautions when she spots a familiar figure among the passengers sitting. she almost froze, staring intently at the two people sitting beside each other.

holy hell. is that who i think it is?!

hiyyih blinks, making sure that she's not just hallucinating due to lack of sleep. her eyes widened when she spots a child- what in the actual fuck?

damn. this is one huge news.

------------

huening 🌼 @hiyyihglow tweeted.

WHOT DA HAIL WAS THAT 😩✋ I AM IN UTTER SHOCK RN

538 likes | 72 retweets

replies:

@hiyyihglow this is high level dispatch kind of news 🧍🏻‍♂️how do i shut myself up bc i don't wanna coz rumors 🧍🏻‍♂️
↪@nishi_rk ???? don't you have a job rn
↪@hiyyihglow my job is literally the reason why i got this huge info 🤓
@yinyang give me back my money you btch
↪@hiyyihglow does your hr know that you're cyberbullying someone on the internet
↪@yinyang my hr would support me for life after hearing what you did to me 😒

-----------

[ hiyyih owes me money 🧌 ]

hiyyih:
Y'ALL
OMYGOD
WTF
I HAVE NEWS
LIKE HUGE NEWS

jungwon:
did the police finally arrested you?

hiyyih:
tf no

jungwon:
damn 😔 there goes my wish down the drain

hiyyih:
fvck you
anyways
i have big news
guess who i just saw in today's flight to korea

riki:
kim kardashian?
park shinhye?
songkang?
IU?

jungwon:
the pope?
taylor swift?
doja cat?

hiyyih:
GODS Y'ALL ARE IDIOTS

riki:
you said guess??? and we did????
how tf are we supposed to know who you saw

hiyyih:
hint: we know this person personally

jungwon:
GASP
is it Keanu Reeves 😳😧

hiyyih:
btch-
HOW TF WOULD YOU KNOW KEANU REEVES PERSONALLY FCKING DUMBASS ISTG

jungwon:
i am close to him by heart???
do not question my faith to him 👹

riki:
can't you just tell us 🧍🏻‍♂️
my lunch break ends in 10 mins jfc i don't have all day

hiyyih:
OK FINE
wait
is jake still working?
is he busy?

jungwon:
yeah
do you need him to be here? his phone's inside his work locker ig

hiyyih:
ok good that's better
here's the bomb
i just saw jay on my flight to korea
he's hERE

[ message has been deleted. ]

jungwon:
you fvking idiot
DON'T SAY THAT HERE

hiyyih:
I KNOW THAT'S WHY I ASKED IF JAKE'S AROUND DUH
aren't y'all shocked?

riki:
well
kinda? i mean technically he's gonna comeback to where his hometown is

jungwon:
his friends probably know that he's here
does sunoo hyung know?

riki:
maybe? let me ask him later
but what's the big deal?
shouldn't j*** be happy bc j**'s back?

hiyyih:
the censorship 😭
but yeah i agree tho

jungwon:
y'all are idiots
he literally left without telling jake and it's been years since then
wtf do you think the guy would feel?

riki:
idk
you tell me
but how would you know since you also ghosted someone?

hiyyih:
OOOF DAMN MAH THAT HITS HARD

jungwon:
fuck off
all i'm saying is that we should leave it alone
who knows, maybe he'll contact jake soon

hiyyih:
aight okay then
but y'all
that's not the biggest shocker yet

jungwon:
hiyyih i beg you pls just keep that to yourself
you can tell that news when we meet sometime

hiyyih:
BUT I'LL DIE
I CANNOT KEEP THIS TO MYSELF THIS IS LIKE THE BIGGEST REVELATION OF THE CENTURY
plus you can't even set a date to meet us bc you're always busy 🙄

riki:
we can meet at the alumni party
you two will come right?

hiyyih:
OFCCCCC

jungwon:
idk
i'll check if i don't have appointments on that day

hiyyih:
boohoo scaredy cat

jungwon:
🖕🖕🖕

-----------

"where are you planning to stay?"

jimin asked, carrying the sleeping child in her arms. jay is holding their belongings as they walk through the airport.

"well, i can stay with you in the meantime?" he smiled while jimin looked at him with disbelief.

"hells no. i'll stay with my parents because i can't take care of meiji alone, and i can't have them see you and think that i'd finally found meiji's father. they'll probably kill you."

jay grimaced. she's right. he wants to go back to sunoo's apartment, but nishimura moved in after he left. plus, he can't risk seeing him. i mean, i don't know if he's still staying in that apartment, but who knows?

"you can ask heeseung or jake, i'm sure they'll be thrilled to see you." she teased.

he rolled his eyes. as if. he picked up his phone and dialled the one number he thinks can help him with his problem.

after a few more rings, the other line finally answered.

"look who finally remembered me."

jay cleared his throat. "where are you?"

"i'm not where you are right now, that's for sure. why? you need something?" sunghoon's voice sounds like he just woke up from a nap.

"yeah. i need a place to stay in."

he can hear his laugh through the phone. "you're back? damn, this is going to be good."

he sounds fucking entertained again. this asshole really thinks my life is his favorite show.

"not funny, so can you let me crash to your place?"

"why? you can just call heeseung, i'm sure he'd be offering you a palace. or what about your bff?"

he almost threw his phone at how sunghoon sounds so annoying. him and jimin are like two devils that were brought to earth just to spite him.

"i'm not calling you, ever. bye-"

"haha i'm kidding. fine, you can use the penthouse. i'll just inform the guard so he could assist you. are you bringing jimin and meiji too?"

"no, they're staying at jimin's family." he raised an eyebrow. "why do you ask?"

"nothing, just curious. also you can use my car if you want. my keys are in the drawer under the coffee table. and please, call sunoo. he says he misses you. i'm sure he'll be very happy to know that you're back."

he nodded. "got it, i'll call him once i get to your penthouse. by the way, where the hell are you?"

"i'm just doing some paperwork. i'll be back to attend the alumni party, so don't fret. i don't want to miss the fun." sunghoon chuckled. "anyways, i have to go. call me back when you arrive at my place."

jay shakes his head before ending the call. he's sure as hell that sunghoon's doing some crazy shit again.

jimin looks at him, "you good?"

"yep, i'm okay. let's go before i change my mind and go back to milan."

---------

jay arrives at sunghoon's penthouse after dropping off jimin and her son to her parents' house. the building still looks the same, only the lobby seemed to be fancier than before.

"sir, this way to mr. park's p-" he stops the bellboy from taking his luggage. why the hell is there a bellboy here? what is this, a hotel?

"thanks, but i can manage. i know which floor it is, so don't worry about me." he grabs his things and walks inside the elevator.

he pressed the button to the 17th floor. he lets out a sigh when the doors close. being back to korea is bringing too many memories that jay feels like suffocating.

what if i see... what if i meet them again? what should i say? do i pretend to be friends with them like nothing happened?

the truth is, he doesn't have any idea what to do. no plans at all. when jimin asked him if he was ready, he wanted to say no. for three years, he was never ready. he'd never be ready to face them again.

the elevator suddenly stops at the 14th floor, signalling that someone is going inside. the door opened, and jay looked up to greet the stranger.

but to his luck, no- it wasn't a stranger.

his heart stopped, then raced like crazy. his other hand was gripping on his phone as if his life depended on it.

jay wanted to get out of the damn elevator, but he couldn't move. he was frozen- just staring at the guy in front of him who looked completely shocked too.

then their eyes met.

jay felt like fainting now. his heart rate seemed to have doubled, and he could hear it loud and clear. it feels like i swallowed a whole drum set that won't stop playing.

he tried to open his mouth, but no words came out. fuck, this is too embarassing.

"you're... back."

he breathed sharply after hearing his voice. his voice... oh god i missed hearing it.

"hi," jay finally managed to say in a small voice. then, like a stupid person that he is- he decides to press the close button of the elevator again.

"hey, wait-!" before he could even hear what heeseung had to say, the elevator was already closed.

what the fuck.

jay takes a deep breath to calm himself. i did not imagine that. i never imagined our first meeting again to be like that.

shit, i feel so stupid. i just came back and i did something idiotic again? crap.

he then paused, realizing something. is he... living inside this area too? and yet sunghoon never mentioned anything to me.

that fucking bastard.

------------

happy lunar new year everyone! i hope you all will have a great and prosperous year 🎋

anyways, book 3 hints are already there haha i gave a lot of clues in the last chapter too, so just stay tuned bc we're closer to the last book now 😁