there was an inevitability to running into people he used to know. a small town of nobodies all trying to be somebody through gossip. it’s one of the reasons he left, and yet, he found himself relying on the whispers to find out where she lived. five years together, and he didn’t have a forwarding address except for ‘home’. the tip of his fingers rubbed together, trying to wipe away the scent of smoke and his paced steps back and forth, trying to air out the scent of alcohol. at least in his fluorescent clothing for work, the steel capped boots and dirty jeans made took away the knowledge of how many he had had to find the nerve.
they weren’t on bad terms, not that he remembered – but he had a good habit of not remembering the people he had bad terms with. signing those contracts half-drunk and half not himself. for all he knew, she didn’t want to see him, thought he was dead, would hug him. sunggeun didn’t know what was the worst one of those options, but they each came with their own wrench in his stomach. one hand digging back into his pocket, fishing out his packet of cigarettes and lighting up his third. his eyes darting up over the apartment building, recounting the number he’d gotten from the old woman who was selling things down his street and then exhaled the smoke.
now or never, he guessed.
he’d run the doorbell a couple times, wandered away and then inched his way back. if he didn’t see her now, it’d be worse later. just get it over with. his shoulders slumped as he leaned against the wall outside her door, fiddling with the packet of cigarettes again, opening, plucking one out, twisting it over his fingers and putting it back again. more than once lifting his gaze when he heard steps coming. sunggeun’s body tensing up when he looked up and saw her. a crooked, uneasy smile. “sora, hey” – impulsively came from his lips. like it hadn’t been a couple years and some change. “you get in late.”
sora didn’t really have friends or family. technically she did. technically her mom and stepdad were family, technically, but it felt like she didn’t know them anymore. technically she had friends from before she went to seoul for training, but people changed, and with the amount of time that was spent away, she was barely a semblance of her former self. her only true friend these past couple years had been minhyung, he was the only one who seemed to understand, and they didn’t see each other too often. really, sora was alone here.
it was tough, realizing she only had one person really, when she had left on that trip with three others. she had no idea what happened to sunggeun after they parted ways, but she was always worried about him. he had changed towards the end, and he had started drinking, it was concerning. she couldn’t tell what had come of him, her best guess was as good as anyone else’s. she missed him though, truly.
it was nice to live walking distance from her workplace, especially when she got stuck with the late shifts. town was always quiet in the evening, it made for a nice walk to clear her head before heading up to bed, but it also made her easily startled. the voice that came from the near-darkness had her nearly jump back, freezing in place. it took a moment of the shock wearing off before before recognition set in. “s-... sunggeun?” she took a step closer, trying to make sure she wasn’t seeing a ghost. a few more steps, a hand reaching to cup his face gently and she had her confirmation, he was real. “oh my god..” her arms wrap around him tightly, embracing him tightly, her face out of sight now. he didn’t have to see the tears forming in her eyes, thank goodness, she didn’t need people thinking she had emotions. “where have you been? i missed you so much, you idiot.”
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