PROMPTS

Bad Omens - 9

The time had come for Ha Chae-yoon to leave.

At the airport, Chae-yoon let Ji-hye go ahead of her agreeing to meet each other at the gates. Turning to Min Tae Gu, she hugged him tightly, "Take care of yourself, you hear? I want a handsome boyfriend when I get back."

"Handsome but without abs?" He asked, teasing her with what she said a few nights prior.

"Yes," she chuckled. Turning serious, she whispered, "I'll miss you. I can't believe I'll go two months without kissing you."

"Aha, I got you," Min Tae Gu said. Pulling something out of his bag, he held out a small teddy bear that had a slot on its chest where you could place a photo. Naturally, his picture was already there. "I chose one where I looked the best, of course. You can kiss this temporarily."

"Awwww!" She cooed.

"You can hug him when you sleep," he added.

"What's his name?"

"Min Tae Gu!" He replied, as if that should have been a given.

"He can't have the same name as you. Hmmm... Tae Gu-ey. Gu-ey. GOOEY!" She declared, but it made Tae Gu make a horrified face.

"That doesn't sound pleasant."

"It's cute! I'm going to call him Gooey," she giggled. As another announcement came through the  system, she sighed. "I should go. Let's stay strong, okay?"

He nodded. Kissing her on the forehead, he whispered in a voice that conveyed the desperation he was trying to hide, "Come back to me."

*

"Oh my! Oh my!" Ha Chae-yoon exclaimed numerous times as she opened her luggage at her hotel in Switzerland.

She told herself not to cry but as her plane took off, tears started to fall as she got farther and farther away from Min Tae Gu. "Geesh! I'm going to be away for two months, not two years! Get yourself together, Ha Chae-yoon!"

However, a bigger part of the pain was the difficulty it was causing Min Tae Gu and that was definitely not what she wanted. They talked about it and she knew that she shouldn't hold herself back from her dreams but that didn't mean she shouldn't care about his trauma as well.

Min Tae Gu surprised her by telling her to not worry. "I've made appointments to my therapist. I think it's time to go back. Who knows, when you get back, all these talismans would be gone!"

"Oh no. I might not recognize you without a giant horseshoe hanging on your neck!" She laughed which Min Tae Gu joined in. When silence was back between them, Ha Chae-yoon held his hand tightly. "I'm proud of you."

Him getting professional help eased her worries a little.

In the last few days she had in Seoul, Min Tae Gu took over packing her luggage. She had taken out the items she would be taking on the trip but placing it in was another issue and her sweet man decided to help.

Now she knew why.

He carefully rolled and folded her items within garment containers, which made her luggage something that a magazine should do an article about. But that wasn't the end of the surprise. For each item that she unrolled so she can put it in the closets, she discovered little trinkets within.