I did sleep after all. When I awaken we are flying over the US. My body relaxes. It is good to have familiar soil beneath me. When the plane lands at Intercontinental Airport, the first thing I do is text Hai-in, “I made it safely home.”
Immediately he replies, “Thanks for letting me know. I will call you.”
I text back a heart. We made up a time difference schedule of when we would be able to talk once I got back to the States. The next text I send out is for my mom. “I’m here.”
She texts back, Smiley face, “I am too.” In that instant I realize how very much I have missed my mom.
My heart is racing as I grab my things and head out. I make my way to passenger pick up and there is my mom! I run to her and give her a big hug. She hugs me back and says, “It is so good to have you home.”
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I pull away and smile at her. It is good to be home. Arm in arm we make our way out of the air port and to the car. I haven’t told her about Hae-in yet. I know she is team Jason and I’m not crossing that bridge until I have to.
*
After a long nap which has left me feeling like crap, I stretch and look at the clock. It is almost time. Hae-in is going to FaceTime me before he goes to work. My phone makes that weird FaceTime noise and I immediately pick up. There he is, kinda blurry with some echo noise going on. He says, “Hey Sweetie, how are you?”
He has never called me a pet name before. I feel myself blush. “Hi.” All I can do is stare. Thank God I live in the 21st Century and I get to see him and hear his voice!
The next thing he says is, “I really miss you.”
“Same.” I don’t want to think about missing him, I just want to think about the fact we are talking now. In the background I can see his room. As I glance at the desk I see a photo propped up. Immediately I remember the day it was taken. I haven’t seen it in years. I ask, “Where’d you get that photo of us?”
He laughs and says, “Like you don’t know. Your Auntie Ji An gave it to me when I got back from the airport. She wants to make sure I don’t forget you.”
Silently I say, Thank you Auntie. Aloud I ask, “Can I see it?”
I gets up and focuses his phone camera on the photo. It is of me at 13 and him at 17. I am looking up at him with absolute adoration. His eyes are glancing sideways at me.