Same Sky, Different Worlds

Days 15 and 16: Brother, Passport

"Do you remember where you dropped it?"

"No, but obviously I had it to pass the immigration checks."

Jeong Hyeok continues to rummage through his bag and pockets as Mu Hyeok stands by beside him. This was supposed to be a relaxing bros trip with his brother but before even leaving the Zurich airport, Jeong Hyeok realized he'd dropped his passport. Now the Ri brothers are standing in a corner of the airport trying to figure out how to find the missing document.

"Did you have it when we got our luggage?" Mu Hyeok asks.

Jeong Hyeok pauses to try and retrace his steps. "I think so? I'm not sure."

"For someone who can memorize whole piano pieces by several composers, your memory's terrible, Jeong Hyeok-ah," teases the older Ri.

"Hyung!"

Mu Hyeok laughs, patting his brother's back. "Come on, let's see if anyone's turned it over to the airport staff."

The two gather their bags and approach a security guard to ask if anyone's reported a missing passport. He tells them no before directing them to the airport's lost and found to check there instead.

"I hope it's here," Jeong Hyeok says as they approach the office. "Eomma might never forgive me if we got in trouble before even stepping outside."

Despite both sons being in their twenties, Kim Yun-Hui still fussed over her boys as if they never grew past the age of ten. When the brothers told their mother their mother they were planning on taking a trip to Switzerland together, she'd worried if they were going to be okay on their own for two weeks. She also cautioned them against fighting with each other, which, though rare, still happened on occasion. Jeong Hyeok and Mu Hyeok had to reassure her until they left for the airport that they were both old enough and capable enough to survive on their own during their trip. Hearing about Jeong Hyeok accidentally losing his passport as soon as they arrive would only cause her to worry.

"You're worried about the wrong parent. Abeoji would scold you to hell and back," Mu Hyeok says.

The younger Ri groans at the reminder of the family patriarch. "Hyung, don't remind me."

They both pause just outside the lost and found entrance, opting to finish their conversation outside it. "Then you better hope it's here, Jeong Hyeok. But then again we can just not tell them and—"

"Excuse me?" a voice says in English.

The brothers look up at the voice interrupting their conversation. In front of them stands a woman, fashionably dressed in a button up blouse, jeans, and boots with her own luggage right beside her.

She's beautiful. The thought comes unbidden to Jeong Hyeok's mind as he notices her silky hair and glossy fair skin.

"Yes?" Mu Hyeok replies in the same language after noticing his brother's distraction.

"Is one of you Ri Jeong Hyeok?" she asks.

Subtly nudging his brother, Mu Hyeok brings Jeong Hyeok back to the present.

"Uh, yes. That's me," Jeong Hyeok clears his throat.

"This is yours then," the woman switches to Korean as she hands him a small green booklet. "I saw it on the ground by the gate. You must have dropped it."

It's his passport. He flips through the pages to check and make sure everything's in order before looking up at her again. "Thank you! We were just about to check if someone turned it in to the lost and found."

"Don't mention it," she smiles, showing off an eye smile that mesmerizes Jeong Hyeok even further. "Keep an eye on it next time."

"I will," he nods.

"I better get going. Enjoy your vacation!" The woman bows at them before hurrying off to where she'd just come from, leaving Jeong Hyeok in a daze.

Mu Hyeok, having watched the whole exchange quietly, coughs, "Whipped."

"What?" Jeong Hyeok snaps out of his reverie and turns to look at his brother.

"Nothing. Just hoping we'll see that woman again," he says, grabbing the handle of his suitcase as he starts to walk in the direction of the exit "For your sake."

"What?!" Jeong Hyeok hurries to catch up to his brother.

"You were clearly taken with her. I'm just saying we'd better meet her again so you can at least know her name."

"That's not— what—"

"Anything can happen in two weeks," Mu Hyeok teases. "And don't worry, Jeong Hyeok-ah, I'll be your wingman."