Evanescent | Sung Hanbin ZB1

Ch.22 Never Too Late

Hanbin decided to retrace their dreams.

He made a list of places they went together in their dreams, as well as places they said they wanted to go together. He almost resigned from his company, but they offered to hold his position after learning that he just needed a long break. Then, like Dal, he bought a one-way ticket and started a journey with no known end date. You could call him silly for making his life so difficult when there were much easier ways of locating Dal, but to Hanbin, he wanted to better understand what Dal had been through. He set a time limit of three months, and if by that time he still couldn't find Dal, he would ask for help from Gyuvin.

When he was in Poland, he got a message from Gyuvin saying that he received a postcard from Dal, which she sent from Poland. He took it as an indication that he was following the correct course. He continued his journey to Greece, Turkey, Qatar, Madagascar, Singapore, Laos... For three months, he searched for her across half the globe.

A relentless search for someone really puts a strain on the heart and mind. He couldn't imagine what Dal must have been through after over 20 years of searching and yearning for someone who might not even exist. At least he knew she was out there somewhere; at least he knew that in the end he would be able to find her nonetheless. Over time, he learnt to appreciate the time alone and see the world as it allowed him to recenter himself.

The end of the year was coming up. From what he had heard from Gyuvin, it seemed like Dal had plans to go back after the new year. He thought carefully before deciding on the place he would spend Christmas and New Years' Eve. Looking at the places Dal had been to so far, it seemed like she would be wrapping up her trip in Asia. But there were too many choices to choose from. Vietnam? Hong Kong? Taiwan? Dal had never mentioned what her ideal Christmas or New Years' Eve looked like. He had to trust his intuition on this one.

So here he was, in a garden in Yamanakako, on Christmas Eve. He chose Japan simply because he was reminded that it was the place where they first met, though neither of them realised it back at that time. But Japan was such a big city, he didn't know where to start. He eliminated the big cities first because he knew the last thing she would want was to be stuck in big crowds, especially during the holidays. Yet she would still want to see something festive, so he looked for all the light displays and winter illuminations that were going on.

Hanbin spent his first night roaming the streets of Tokyo, looking at the Christmas lights. As expected, there were a lot of people, and none of them was the girl he was looking for. The next day, he drove to Kanagawa, where he explored the small city during the day and went to an illumination event at night. There, he saw a figure very similar to Dal, who was holding up a camera. He was ready to run towards her until she turned around, which was when he realised he had almost mistaken the girl for Dal. It wasn't Hanbin's first time mistaking someone else for the girl he missed, but it's understandable, I guess - when you miss someone too much, everyone on the streets would look like her.

This one in Yamanakako was the third light display he had been to so far; it had Mount Fuji in the background, and he heard that they do fireworks as well.

Hanbin had his phone out to take pictures. He looked at the photos and thought they didn't really do the sight justice, so he put his phone away again. And when he looked up, his whole body seized up, and his arms and legs were locked in place.

Those eyes he was looking at were just as stunned as his.

Dal had just put down her camera when she met eyes with Hanbin. Both of them just stood still, gazing at each other while tears welled up in their eyes.

The minute hand struck twelve, and fireworks started going off, but the noise didn't take their attention away from each other. Hanbin took the first step towards Dal. He moved through the crowd with his eyes locked on her. His strides got bigger and quicker, until he was close enough to pull her into a tight hug. The hug was so tight that their bodies were up against each other, and they could hear each other's pounding hearts.

Dal thought she was finally getting over Hanbin after this long trip, but she proved herself wrong; that one look from afar had already shattered all the hard work she had put into moving on. And her tears started streaming down before she could process the fact that he was standing in front of her eyes again. Dal swore she wasn't a cry baby, but her toughness would always crumble down when it came to the love of her life.

"Sorry, I took so long." Hanbin said with his head still nuzzled up in Dal's neck.

"Wh... How are you here?"

"It doesn't matter how I found you." He pushed himself slightly away from her.

"The only question that matters now is: do you still want me?" His voice trembled. "After leaving you behind again and again, would you give me one last chance to fulfil my promise to you? Is it too late to tell you that I love you, that you're what's most important to me, and I'm sorry for realising that so late?"

"That's more than one question." She giggled despite tears falling. "I will always want you, Sung Hanbin."

That was all he needed to hear. Without a second thought, he turned his dreams into reality and crashed his lips onto Dal's. It was a kiss filled with unspoken emotions. They never knew a kiss could make their hearts feel so full, to the point where they felt like they were floating on air. They pulled away briefly and rested their foreheads on each other before reconnecting their lips again. They didn't give a damn about the fireworks that were already over or the people around them who wouldn't stop glancing at them. Nothing else mattered at that moment other than that they were holding each other in their own arms, sharing the most passionate kiss, knowing that they were finally able to call each other their own.

"What about you and Iseul?"

"I owe Iseul a lot, but that debt cannot be repaid with love. I would ask for her forgiveness for my entire life if I needed to. But I only want to spend my entire life with you."

"We'll face everything together from now on."

Dal's warm hands caressed Hanbin's cheeks, but he felt the warmth in his heart. He pulled Dal closer to him and leaned in for a quick peck.

"You complete me, Dal."

"I love you, so much more than you or I could ever imagine." Dal reciprocated his feelings.

.

Sorry for keeping you guys waiting 🥺 Here's a sweet update after the distressing chapters. I'll be wrapping up Evanescent in a few chapters.

ANDDDD I've also set out the plot for my next long fic weehee😆 I got really invested in the plot while planning, so I hope you will like it too. I wasn't expecting the results, but I'm glad you guys liked the idea of Gyu's fic and I'll be proceeding with that😚