It had been a few days since she had arrived, having stayed at a hotel until she was able to get the keys from her new landlord. A friend from her cohort, Krystienne, had accompanied her, as well as her kinda-sorta-but-not-really-boyfriend(?), Robert. It was originally just going to be Krystienne, but Robert had insisted, and Yuna found it difficult to tell him there was no need, still much too nice for her own good. Regardless, the extra muscle helped when it came to carrying the boxes up to her new apartment so she was still appreciative of that.
They were staying for a few days, and Yuna was their tour guide for their quick visit. She took them to places she missed, restaurants she could never replace, views and hidden gems that she always thought of while going through school. Being back in these places made her feel happy and warm, despite the chill in the city air.
That same feeling was present now, even as she lay in a new apartment, in a new building, in a new borough, phone held tightly against her chest. After a very awkward chance encounter the previous night, well... she’s been thinking about Tida all day.
Even as she said goodbye to her guests just that morning, she only gave Robert a rather half-hearted kiss on the cheek (which Krystienne had made sure of to text Yuna about later). She couldn’t stop thinking about how, of all the people she could have run into, in this big, big city of New York, it would be Tida. They laughed about the situation after parting ways with him, musing over the odds that they would run into her ex. Deep down, however, Yuna was happy to see him, despite how different things were now.
“I don’t know if this is a good idea,” she says to herself out loud, currently sprawled over a new mattress. Her fingers are wrapped tightly around her phone, tapping against the glass lightly as she debates with herself back and forth. “Well... why wouldn’t it be a good idea? We’re friends... friends talk!” Suddenly, she sits up feeling a sense of determination as she unlocks her phone, types in his name, pulling up the message thread, and to her surprise, it looks like Tida was already typing something. It doesn’t fail to make her heart skip a beat, whether it was the shock of such a coincidence or her own wishful thinking. She blinks, waiting until whatever message he’s writing sends, but she finds that the bubbles come and go, and she finds herself chuckling. She knows just by that, that he’s trying to figure out what he’s actually going to send to her. When the messages finally pop up on her screen, she smiles widely, having a momentary lapse in her memory and forgetting that her read receipts were on. Maybe Tida wouldn’t notice that she was lurking in their old message thread, too. He had just started typing a little faster than she had.
( text ) no way, it wasn’t awkward! i was really surprised too, but it was really great to see you, tida ☺️
( text ) ahhh yeah, i didn’t really tell anyone that i was! i was going to stay in california longer but, an opportunity came up and now i’m back! and you’re not bothering me! tbh i don’t even know where to start with unpacking, so i’m sorta kinda just... leaving it alone for now 😅
Yuna pushes herself up on her feet, wandering toward an open window in the room, eyes focused on her phone screen. “Welcome home,” she repeats to herself, feeling warm as the words roll of her tongue. Her eyes glance over his “correction” — welcome back instead of home — but she chooses to ignore it.
( text ) but home is right ☺️ thank you, it feels good to be back! i might miss the california sun, but nothing beats being back home, right?
But Yuna wasn’t from New York. Yuna was raised in Hawaii, and to anyone else, Hawaii would be the natural answer to “where is home?” New York had become home with Tida and it still felt like home today, years later.
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