Hao x Y/N
Fight or Flight pt.2 / TIMELESS Series
.
“Y/N-ssi, you’ve got mail,” the receptionist stopped you when you entered the office, ready for another pre-flight briefing.
“For me?” You never receive posts through the airline. You looked at the envelope, and it was addressed to you in handwriting you recognised. “Thank you.”
You’ve never seen a guy with neater handwriting than his. You contemplated whether to dump the letter into the bin, but you also knew well you weren’t capable of doing that. You opened the sealed white envelope with a sigh and found a light green ticket inside.
[3 Nov] 2024 ZEROBASEONE THE FIRST TOUR [TIMELESS WORLD] IN MACAU
The ticket was accompanied by a concise handwritten note saying, “Come.” in Chinese. He didn’t even bother signing off.
You reorganised everything into the envelope and stowed it in your purse, deciding to think about what to do about the invitation after work.
You returned home after two back-to-back flights to and from Hong Kong and freshened up. The concert ticket was on your mind the whole day. Honestly, you didn’t understand why he wanted you to be there. The scrunched-up note he left you last time was still lying in your wallet, but you never called or texted him; you chose to ‘flight’ because you felt like that was the right thing to do. You couldn’t deny that you still had feelings for him, but you also recognised that you were living in very different worlds. He wasn’t the college freshman you fell in love with anymore; he was a global superstar loved by millions.
You didn’t want to give Hao the wrong idea, yet there was this little itch in your heart that urged you to go and see him live on stage once.
“Is it possible for me to swap shifts and free up November 3rd?” You spoke to the officer in charge of managing shifts the next day. “It’s fine if it’s not feasible. I’m just asking.”
“November 3rd, you said, right? I’ll try moving things around and get back to you, okay?”
“Thank you.”
Here you were on the plane to Macau, not as a flight attendant, but as a passenger.
There was just one flight to Macau via your airline. You landed at midnight in Macau and went straight to the hotel to rest. The next morning you walked around the city and spent some time alone before heading to the concert venue in the afternoon. Back in college, the two of you always said you wanted to travel to Europe together, but it was more of a pipe dream since you were on a student budget. So he said he would bring you to Macau instead, where you could have a taste of Portuguese architecture on a much more affordable budget. He never got to fulfil his promise before you broke up with him, so it was ironic how he was still the reason you set foot in this city years later.
The concert started with the screen door opening to reveal the boys. There he was, in the centre of the nine, walking out to the extended stage with shining confidence. As Hao found his position on stage, he cast a glance at you and flashed a subtle smirk. A sense of groundedness swept over him in an instant. Minutes ago, he was still babbling to Hanbin, wondering if you’d show up.
The longer you watched him perform, the more you were sure that breaking up with him three years ago was a decision for the best. The stage was right where he was meant to be.
The concert was coming to an end. Right before they sang the last song of the night, the members each gave a short speech to wrap things up. You watched videos from the night before, so you expected Hao to end his talk with a Chinese song. What you didn’t expect was him singing a different song.
Tears gushed out of your eyes as the familiar melody greeted your ears.
Just like this, love you, love you, love you, being together every moment
I like to love the smell of your coat and being in your arms
Button our clothes together, and then we won’t have to separate
Wonderful love, I love to be close to you like this, because of you
It was the first song he sang to you when you were dating and it was also your favourite one for him to sing. He would cuddle you to bed as he sang the song as a lullaby.
I closed my eyes, listening to your heartbeat and breathing
At this moment on Earth, only you and I remain
The shape of your smile always hooks my heart
Every second is a first kiss, I want to kiss you every second
That song was only associated with the fondest memories of your relationship with Hao, and you knew the song meant as much to him as it did to you. You met his pleading eyes, asking you to come back to him.
You tried to shrug off the heart-aching sensation and silently stood up to leave once they finished singing ‘Hello’.
“You are Y/N-ssi, right?” A staff member stopped you as you exited the venue. “Our artist would like to invite you backstage.”
“I don’t think it’s appropriate.” You politely rejected. You still haven’t figured out what you wanted with Hao. You got a pen and a random receipt from your bag and wrote down your phone number. “Can you please kindly pass this on to him? Thank you.”
.
“Y/F/N,” Hao swore the call took forever to go through. “Where are you now?”
“At the airport.”
“You’re running away again. It took me two notes, a concert ticket, and a love song. And I only got a phone number in return.” Hao sulked. “Aren’t you a bit cruel to me?”
If you wanted to be cruel, you wouldn’t have gone to the concert in the first place, let alone give him your number.
“From then till now, you’ve always been the one to decide what happens with us. Breaking up was your decision. Now it’s still up to you. I regret it so much, you know? I shouldn’t have let you go back then.”
“Hao…”
“I missed hearing you call my name.” He cut you off.
“I never regretted my decision.” You didn’t let yourself get sidetracked. “Seeing you on stage today made me feel that even more. The last thing you needed back then was a relationship that would hinder you. We’d end up separating even if I never asked to break up with you.”
“And how do you know that?”
“I’m not trying to have a debate with you. Hao, we are holding onto those memories from years ago, but we’ve become such different people. Our worlds have become so different.”
“I’m still me, Y/N. I’ve never changed.”
“Maybe I have.”
“You’re saying you don’t love me anymore?”
“No. I’m saying that I’ve learnt that loving someone doesn’t necessarily mean I have to be with them.”
“Are you sure you’re not going to regret it?” Anger seeped through his cold tone as he continued to provoke you. “If I find someone else? If I marry someone else and start a family with someone else? You’re confident that you’re not going to regret it, Y/F/N?”
You closed your eyes, allowing tears to stream down your face.
“I’ve never given up on us, Y/N. The world gave us a second chance. This time, I don’t want to let you slip away again.
“I have to board.” You tried to force an end to the call.
“Don’t hang up yet!” Hao said in haste. “Can we please have a conversation in person?”
Things would get out of control if you talked face-to-face, but if you ran away again, neither of you would get proper closure.
“Give me a call when you’re back in Korea.”
“You promise you’re going to pick up?”
“Yeah, I promise. And I’ll call back if I miss your call.”
“You’re not going to change your number once you land in Korea?” He had to make sure you meant what you said.
“No, I won’t.”
“Alright. Safe flight.”
“And thank you for coming tonight. It meant a lot to me.” He added just as you were about to hang up.
Comment