Always, In Fast Forward

1. Act 1

2. 
   

3. EXT. AIRPORT LOADING AREA - 15:00 (LAST SATURDAY)

4. 
   

5. PETER sits in the driver seat as the car door slides open. His elder DAUGHTER steps in with her luggage, Peter's WIFE right behind her. Peter smiles.

6. 
   

7. PETER: Welcome back! Good flight?

8. 
   

9. DAUGHTER: Okay.

10. 
    

11. PETER (Cont'd): Let's go home. Your Mum has been preparing tonight's dinner for two days.

12. 
    

13. Peter's wife smiles. Their daughter understands.

14. 
    

15. INT. DINING ROOM 20:00

16. 
    

17. The table is set for three. Peter and the daughter watch as Peter's wife moves between the kitchen and the dining room, setting down each dish in quiet rhythm, steam curling into the warm light.

18. 
    

19. DAUGHTER: You really did make everything. I miss all those dishes.

20. 
    

21. WIFE: Of course I did. Months without my cooking...And you'd share a meal with us only twice - tonight, and on the eve of your return to Seoul.

22. 
    

23. PETER: Now eat.

24. 
    

25. Act 2

26. 
    

27. INT. DINING ROOM - 20:30 (LAST NIGHT)

28. 
    

29. Besides them, Peter's elder SON and his pregnant daughter-IN-LAW join the dinner table. More dishes. More noise.

30. 
    

31. DAUGHTER: You're expecting your baby...

32. 
    

33. Peter's daughter-in-law rubs her belly.

34. 
    

35. IN-LAW: In less than two months...she's kicking now.

36. 
    

37. Peter's son puts a hand to feel it.

38. 
    

39. DAUGHTER: You'll get Hong Kong Govt's newborn baby bonus, right?

40. 
    

41. IN-LAW: Yes...just HK$20,000.

42. 
    

43. WIFE: Better than having none.

44. 
    

45. PETER: Yes.

47. SON: We mustn't forget to make an application.

48. 
    

49. DAUGHTER: We'll have one...in due course.

50. 
    

51. All eyes turn to her.

52. 
    

53. DAUGHTER (Cont'd): My husband says one is enough...

54. 
    

55. PETER (V.O.): There was a time I thought I'd have none, because life felt too hard. But once I had one, I understood - the more, the merrier.

56. 
    

57. DAUGHTER (Cont'd): He worries he wouldn't know how to be fair if there're more.

58. 
    

59. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Though I believe I've treated them fairly, they may not feel the same.

60. 
    

61. IN-LAW: What languages will you speak to your baby in due course?

62. 
    

63. DAUGHTER: I'll definitely speak Cantonese to my baby, while my husband will speak Korean.

64. 
    

65. PETER: Yes, both languages are challenging to learn.

66. 
    

67. WIFE: You speak English, Mandarin and Japanese too...your child should have no trouble becoming multilingual.

68. 
    

69. PETER: We always remember the moment when you first said your first two-syllable word - "Kitty" - when you're about a year old.

70. 
    

71. PETER (V.O.): Always isn't a long time. It's a deep time.

73. EXT. HIGHWAY TO THE AIRPORT - 15:00 (THIS SATURDAY)

74. 
    

75. Peter drives. His wife sits beside him. In the middle row, their elder daughter sits with her luggage. No one speaks for a long moment.

76. 
    

77. PETER (V.O.): This week went too fast.

78. 
    

79. Peter glances the rearview mirror.

80. 
    

81. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): You'll be back. And we'll be here.

82. 
    

83. INT. DINING ROOM - 20:30

84. 
    

85. Quiet. The table is set for two. Simple. Leftovers, arranged neatly. Peter and his wife sit across from each other.

86. 
    

87. PETER (V.O.): Just us again.

88. 
    

89. They eat. Then - we hear DING. Both look at the phones on the table.

90. 
    

91. PETER: It's from our elder daughter.

93. The screen reads: Landed. They read it. Small, deep smiles cross their faces.

94. 
    

95. PETER (V.O.): Her voice is in Seoul. But the ding is in our dining room. That's close enough. That's everything.

96. 
    

97. PETER (Cont'd): Would our son-in-law pick her up?

98. 
    

99. WIFE: Of course! With the building's only lift out of service for an overhaul, he's left to haul her luggage up the stairs to their home on the 12th floor.

100. 
     

101. Act 3

102. 
     

103. INT. LIVING ROOM - 23:30

104. 
     

105. Peter uploads a photo of a car's interior pillar and windshield framing a row of airport luggage trolleys outside to a draft on his laptop.

106. 
     

107. PETER (V.O.): The image shows life always moving "in fast forward", with the blurred rows of airport trolleys suggesting constant motion, travel, and time rushing past the still viewer inside the car.

108. 
     

109. Thinking.

110. 
     

111. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Our elder daughter comes and goes. The week whooshes by like it was never here. But the love - the love is always, in fast forward. Speeding and still. Moving and motionless. I don't understand it. I just feel it.

112. 
     

113. Reflecting.

114. 
     

115. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I used to think always meant forever - long and slow and never-ending. Now I know: always can be fast. Always can be a week. Always can be a single "Landed" text glowing on the phone screen. Always, in fast forward. Always, enough.

116. 
     

117. The END

118. 
     

119. FADE OUT