Epilogue: This Is How We Begin To Heal

"Hello?"

"Hello."

"Hi."

"Hi."

"You've made it safely back to Sweden, I suppose?"

"I did, I got in about two hours ago."

"Was it a good flight?"

"It was uneventful, until when the first officer announced that we'd landed in Seoul, instead of Stockholm. That certainly got all the other passengers up in arms."

"Oh, that's terrible. How could he make such a mistake?"

"Well, it wasn't a big deal. We all knew where we were anyway. He laughed it off in the end, and so did we. It wasn't as if we'd flown 15 hours for nothing."

"Of course not, but…"

"Maybe he just really wanted to be home. He's Korean too, you see."

A beat. "Do you want to be home?"

"I'd want to be anywhere you are."

A beat. "I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"And… maybe I never really got to say this while you were here, but thank you."

"What for?"

"For not giving up on me, even when I wanted to give up on you."

"Silly girl. That's all in the past now."

"It's still a part of us. We probably won't talk about it as much, and I guess we may even look back at this and laugh about how silly we were during those few months… but it's a part of us, whether we like it or not."

"Us, we… I like the pronouns you're using. They really turn me on."

"Yah! Don't get cheeky on me here, mister."

"What? I'm just being honest here. That's what you've always told me to do…"

"Don't go turning my words around on me now…"

"Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing. What are you up to? "

"Not much else besides getting ready to sleep. I was just thinking about you, actually. And then…"

"…I called."

"Exactly."

"We're getting better at this, you know."

"It's a good start."

"It is."

Silence.

"Ga Eul-yang?"

"Hmmm?"

"You'll wait for me, won't you? Like, really wait for me?"

"Of course I will, silly. What makes you think I wouldn't?"

"Well, when I saw Woo Bin in Seoul, he kinda told me about that secret admirer who was on your tail for a while…"

"… And you think he's going to scoop me up and whisk me away into the sunset for a happily ever after."

Silence.

"Sunbae?"

"Hmmm?"

"No ever after would be a happy one if you aren't in it."

A beat. "You're becoming quite the talker, aren't you?"

"I do learn from the best."

"Just don't make it a habit. I like you just the way you are."

A beat. "I can't wait for you to be home."

"Me neither. And my promise still stands, you know. That… you'll be the first one I see when I return for good. This time was… well, I guess you can call it a dry run."

"Some 'dry' run it was, macho man. You cried."

"Hey tough girl, you weren't exactly a desert either."

"That's because I came alive again. What's your excuse?"

"I love you."

Silence.

"I love you and I won't let you go, Ga Eul-yang."

"Would you at least let me go to bed?"

"I guess I could do that. Talk to you tomorrow?"

"Call me."

"Sweet dreams, Ga Eul-yang."

"I love you too, Yi Jeong sunbae."