Panacea (1/1)

The sounds of joyous shrieks and sad goodbyes filled Minho’s ears, making his heart race.It was almost time.He had been waiting for three hours, simply too excited to remain at home any longer. He had managed to take a quick shower and to comb his hair just the way he always liked it and wore the exact outfit he used to love with the right cologne he had given him for his birthday two years ago.The excitement built in his stomach as he checked his watch, again.He couldn’t wait to see him, to see how much he had grown and how much he had changed over the last year. It was a long, long year; so much had happened that he wished he had told him about sooner.  He missed him so much. Too much, probably.“Flight 206 from New York, America, to Incheon, Korea is landing. I repeat, flight 206 from New York, America to Incheon, Korea is landing.”He couldn’t breathe. He chewed his lip, his eyes scanning the crowd emerging from the plane exit gate eagerly. Where was he? Would he look very different? He wasn’t sure. Would he even be able to recognize him? They both had changed a lot, he was sure.The rush of people began to dissipate as families were reunited, and he had yet to see him. Had he gotten the flight date wrong? He hadn’t thought so, he had been awaiting this date for months ahead of time. His stomach turned nervous flips as he searched through the scattered queues of people.And there he was, walking out of the exit gate exuding more confidence than ever.Minho opened his mouth to call for him, but he couldn’t utter a sound. It was funny, actually, because he had always read the romance novels about situations like this and made mockery of the characters for being so ridiculously foolish, yet here he was, doing the same thing, and for a best friend no less.He spotted Minho then, and his face lit up with the bright smile Minho had been craving to see for twelve months now.He broke off into a sprint, something Minho had rarely ever seen from him. Minho couldn’t resist running up to meet him, too, all too keen to have him close again. He dropped his carryon in the process of jumping into Minho’s wide open arms, and Minho couldn’t help but laugh aloud as he held him more tightly than he should have.They didn’t really care if they were making a dramatic show in front of all these nameless people. They didn’t care about the harsh criticizing whispers, nor the odd looks exchanged behind their backs. Alll that mattered, really, was that they were together again.Kibum finally pulled back, beaming. “I’ve missed you, you know.”“How was America?” Minho murmured breathlessly, his heart fluttering in his chest at how beautiful Kibum had become. He had always been visually pleasing, yes, but he had grown into his body well. Picking up Kibum’s bag, Minho headed over to the baggage claim.Kibum smiled. “Amazing. It’s really different from Korea, but in a good way, I think. The people are much easier to get along with because everyone is so open minded- they don’t pay as much attention to the things we find important in Korea. But they have their issues, too.”Minho couldn’t help but stare at Kibum as the elder chattered away about his experiences while they waited for his bag to appear on the conveyor belt.Kibum had dyed his hair a bright blonde, something he had always wanted to do but was unable to due to the lack of permission from his grandmother. Those lovely feline eyes, god, how Minho missed those.  The sharply defined cheekbones that gave Kibum his stunning sense of original splendor, the cute little nose he used to tease him for. Oddly enough, Minho found himself most attracted to Kibum’s beautiful lips, curved upwards in a pleased smile as he spoke.Minho shook himself out of it then, for Kibum was his friend- only his friend. Admittedly, he had recently come to terms with his questionable sexuality while Kibum was gone. He never felt any type of attraction to females, anyway. That wasn’t the problem. Yes, he was gay, and he was starting to become okay with that, but that by no means gave him any right to like Kibum like that.He hadn’t realized Kibum had finished talking until he caught the elder staring at him expectantly. “Er… what? I zoned out, sorry.”Kibum frowned. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t meant to bore you. It’s just, I met a lot of really cool people, you know? I think that studying abroad has really changed my life. There’s so much more out there that we don’t necessarily see, and I definitely think that people should make some efforts to see it. Next time, you should come too. I think you’d like it.”“I don’t think so, I can’t speak English to save my life.” He tried to pretend like he hadn’t felt the small rush of pleasure at the fact Kibum had invited him to go, just the two of them. It wasn’t like that, it wasn’t.Shrugging, Kibum spotted his bags and grabbed them from the moving belt. “I picked it up within a few weeks, now I’m near