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Jungkook woke up, checked his phone, and had a permanent smile etched onto his lips that morning. Haneul had texted him before she went to bed that her exams were finished and that she felt confident she did well on them. He was happy for her and he could not wait to congratulate her in person.

He looked up at his own calendar, pushed himself out of bed and headed into the washroom to start his day of studying again.

He came out of the bathroom and noticed that Mingyu’s door was left open. He peeked his head in and blinked when he saw nobody inside. Then his jaw opened in realization and he remembered that Mingyu had gone for one of his exams this morning.

He went into the kitchen and prepared himself a quick breakfast consisting of a bowl of cereal, a cup of chocolate milk and an apple. He sat down at the table and began to eat. His free hand continued to scroll down the news feed of his social media sites and his eyes went over each new post.

He saw a recently uploaded picture of Rap Monster and Suga at another rap convention and he let out a small chuckle at their awkward smiles. His expression faltered when it sunk in how much he missed them.

He lifted up the phone to get a better look and he let out a soft sigh when he realized it had been almost a whole year and he still had three more years after this. Three more years away from his friends and family. He was grateful he was able to make new friends here too but nobody could compare to the people he had back in Korea.

People often say there’s no place like home but to him, it’s the people that make the place memorable.

Shaking off his thoughts, he finished up his breakfast and grabbed his apple with him into the bedroom.

He sat down in front of his computer and opened it up to begin studying through the online textbooks again. He looked down at the time and mentally made himself a reminder that he had booked out the practice room in two hours to prepare for his instrumental music exams.

“Two more weeks, Jungkook, you can do this,”
 

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Haneul came out of her bedroom and laughed when she saw Minjung rush around the apartment. She leaned against the wall with a smile.

“J-Hope’s coming soon, isn’t he?” Minjung looked up at the question and nodded as she looked around the apartment once more. She blinked for a few seconds and then rushed back down the halls towards the bathroom to grab something she had forgotten.

“Yeah, he’s going to come here and help me carry some of this stuff out because girl, this is heavy.” Minjung groaned as she carried another box of her stuff. Haneul chuckled and went over to help her.

“I’ll help too.”

Minjung smiled back, “Thanks a bunch,”

The two of them were in the middle of carrying yet another box when someone knocked on the door. Haneul went to open it and J-Hope grinned with a wave.

“How’s the dirty work?”

Haneul stepped aside and jabbed a finger towards Minjung who was standing there with her hands on her hips. J-Hope gave her a meek smile and checked the time.

“I’m only seven minutes late, that’s not that bad, right?”

Minjung rolled her eyes but there was a playful glint in her expression. J-Hope went towards the boxes and began carrying them out of the building and to the road where he had parked his car.

“How’s it been with Jungkook?” J-Hope asked as he walked beside Haneul with two boxes stacked in his arms. Haneul turned to look at him briefly before looking to the front again so she could see where she was going.

“It’s going normal. He’s coming back in two weeks so I’m sure my life will be more eventful with him annoying me everyday.”

J-Hope laughed. “True, but you’ll probably have missed him too much to notice that.” Haneul shrugged. “I hope so.”

“If it makes you feel any better, he really misses you a lot too. The amount of times he would message our group chat saying he missed you is almost laughable.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Really? He did that?” He nodded. “Mainly to annoy the guys who were single so you know, not including me.” She laughed. “Sounds like something he would do for sure.”

It took the three of them around 20 minutes to carry everything out and make sure everything was loaded safely in the car. Haneul stepped back onto the sidewalk and watched the two of them with a fond smile.

“Have fun, you two. Stay safe and upload lots of pictures, okay?”

Minjung ran over to the girl and enveloped her in a hug that sent Haneul stumbling backwards. She laughed and gave her friend a pat on the back. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ll miss you.”

“Yeah, I’m seeing you in a few days after you guys are back, aren’t I?”

Minjung pouted and stared up at her. “But I’ll still miss you.” J-Hope pretended to grimace from the back. “You’re starting to sound a lot like Jungkook.” Minjung turned around to shoot him a quick glare before squeezing her friend once last time.

“Your parents are coming tomorrow to pick you up, right?” Minjung asked. Haneul nodded as she stepped back. Minjung gave her another wave and smile before stepping into the passenger seat of the car. Haneul waved to them as they drove off.

She crossed her arms over her chest and looked around the campus with a smile before walking back towards her dorm. Her phone rang at that moment and she took it out to answer.

“Hi,”

“Did you already pack and leave for home?” Jaehyun asked. Haneul shifted the phone so she could hear him better.

“No, I’m not leaving until tomorrow since my parents were busy today.”

She heard Jaehyun shuffle around on the other end as she shoved her key into the door to open it up. She threw her keys onto the table as Jaehyun’s voice came through again.

“Any plans for today?”

Haneul hummed as she looked around the half-empty apartment. “Not really.” She could practically hear his smile through the phone.

“Let’s do something today while we’re still in this city, then!” She let out a chuckle at his enthusiastic tone.

“Are you not going back today?”

“Nope because stupid Doyoung can’t call off work to come pick me up and my parents are never free.”

She leaned against the couch and looked up towards the ceiling. “Okay, so what do you want to do today?”

“I actually need to buy a gift for my girlfriend since her birthday is coming up. You should totally help a friend out and come shopping with me.”

Haneul wrinkled up her face. “So you’re basically using me again, I see.” Jaehyun laughed. “I’ll pay you in the form of two cups of bubble tea.”

“Then you have yourself a deal,” Haneul replied.
 

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Jungkook looked down at his phone after two hours of practicing the piano. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that it was now the afternoon and he got up to stretch his stiff limbs. He dialed in Mingyu’s number and waited for the guy to pick up.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to grab some lunch?”

“I already bought you some lunch and I’m heading back to the dorm now so I’ll just meet you there.”

Jungkook blinked. “How’d you know I would be done by now?” Mingyu chuckled. “Maybe I’m just psychic.”

“That’s kind of unsettling.” Jungkook commented.

“Or maybe you wrote your agenda down onto the calendar.”

“How thoughtful.” Jungkook grinned as he packed up his books.

“See you,” Mingyu said as he hung up. Jungkook put his phone back into his pocket and turned the lights off in the room as he left.

He came back to the room with his binders in his arms. He set them down onto the living room table and walked into the kitchen to see a footlong sandwich, a cookie and a drink. Mingyu walked in and nodded towards the lunch.

“I got whatever was the cheapest.”

Jungkook chuckled and sat down. “Thanks, I appreciate the effort.”

“I’m heading out to find my professor so I can ask him some questions but I’ll be back in an hour or so.” Mingyu announced as he walked towards the door with his backpack. Jungkook held up a thumbs up and watched him leave.

He turned back to his food and shook his head with a smile.

Yeah, he was really grateful for making new friends here.
 

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Haneul looked around the mall with round eyes. It was way bigger than what she had seen back at home. Jaehyun noticed her expression and he chuckled.

“You look like a little kid at a candy store,” He commented. Haneul turned back to him and stuck out her tongue as a response. He grinned and they walked towards the map to see where each individual store was located.

“Do you go to the mall often?” Jaehyun asked, starting up a conversation. Haneul shrugged her shoulders as her eyes roamed around each store name. “My mom owns a store in the mall back home so I occasionally help out but it’s not like I hang out at the mall very often.”

Jaehyun smirked. “Wait, so if I visit the store, will I get a discount because I’m friends with the owner’s daughter?” Haneul rolled her eyes. “You could try.”

His eyes narrowed down onto one of the store names that he recognized and he followed the line to where that specific store was located inside the mall.

“A beauty store?” Haneul questioned as he began leading the way. He nodded. “I mean, it’s one of the few stores I know she goes to.”

“I hope you know what you’re looking for.” She added. Jaehyun looked up at the store in front of him and let out a nervous chuckle. “Would it be bad if I said I didn’t?” She turned to him with wide eyes. “Then what did you have in mind?”

“I originally planned for you to pick out something?” He said, although it came out more like a question. Haneul’s face fell flat and she stared at him. “You know that I have as little knowledge as you in this.” He practically ignored her comment and headed into the store. Haneul shook her head with a sigh and followed him inside.

She turned to him and noticed how lost he looked. She couldn’t help but laugh when he pretended to know what he was doing when one of the workers came up to ask him if he needed any assistance. She sent her an apologetic smile before catching up with him.

“Do girls use all these? Everyday?” He wondered out loud as he looked over all the skincare products. Haneul bent down to get a closer look and she nodded. “Yeah, they do.” He turned to her. “See! You do know more about this than I do.”

She put her hands into her pockets and looked around. “If it’s skincare, sure. I know nothing about makeup, though.” Jaehyun hummed. “Doesn’t matter because I’m not buying her makeup products. I did once and apparently it was the wrong brand. I don’t think she’s used it to this day.”

The two of them continued to look around. Jaehyun picked out a few things for his girlfriend while Haneul picked out a few items for herself. They ended up at the cashier table together and she blinked at the stuff in his basket.

“I thought you said you didn’t know much about this.”

Jaehyun grinned. “I mean, how do you think my skin looks this good on a daily basis?” She rolled her eyes. “Of course, I should’ve known. Way to pretend like you were a lost puppy.”

“Hey, it’s a good tactic of mine, alright?”

After paying for their own respective baskets, the two of them headed out the door and back into the mall. He looked down at the bag. “I also need a stuffed animal.” Haneul looked around. “She likes those too?”

“Correction, she loves them.” Jaehyun added in. Haneul chuckled. “I know a few stores.”
 

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“Hey, how’d your exam go?” Haneul asked as she held her phone out in front of her. Jungkook grinned and held out a thumbs up. “I think I did alright. The teacher seemed pleased that I made no mistakes during the entire piece.”

“What a show off.” She chuckled. He smirked and leaned closer to the phone and tilted his head.

“Aren’t you proud of me?”

Haneul shrugged with a mischievous smile. “Maybe?” Jungkook leaned back and pouted. “You’re so hard to please, woman. What do you want from me?”

She laughed. “How many more exams to go?”

Jungkook held up two fingers. “Just two more. I’ll be back the start of next week” Her eyes brightened. “That’s so soon.” He noticed her bright face and smiled.

“Can’t wait for me to be home, right?”

For once, instead of denying it, she nodded. “Yeah, I missed you a lot.” Jungkook softened and shifted his phone.

“And you know more than anyone that I missed you even more.”

The thought of being able to hold her in his arms and kiss her and be by her side was overwhelming. Seeing her through a screen for an entire year was hard and his longing for her grew each time she showed an expression that he wanted to be able to capture in person.

“How did your day go?” He asked, as he always did. Haneul pulled her blanket up to her face and thought about it for a few seconds.

“It was normal. Minjung and J-Hope went on their trip today.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “Is he the one driving?” She nodded and he in a breath. “I pray for their safety because hyung is a terrible driver sometimes.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?” Jungkook shrugged. “You know, out of all of us, he’s the worst. For some reason, his multi-tasking skills to press the pedal, look up and talk is horrible.”

“If they get into a car crash, I am so blaming you for jinxing it.” Haneul frowned. Jungkook laughed. “I mean, he may have improved in the year, right? Who knows?” He suddenly stopped laughing and stared at her. He narrowed his eyes at her and she blinked at him.

“Have you gotten your drivers license yet?”

Haneul gave him one of her guilty smiles and he knew her answer before she even replied.

“Nope.”

“And why haven’t you?” He asked. She shrugged. “No time.” He stared at her. “Yeah, that’s what you said a year ago.”

This time, it was her turn to pout. “I just hate driving, okay? There’s so much to remember and I’m scared.”

“How about I teach you when I get back?” He suggested. Her eyes brightened at the idea. “Would you?”

“I mean, I’d do anything for you if you take a screenshot of your expression right now. Do you know how adorable you look?” He grinned. Haneul’s expression dropped and she frowned at him. “No thanks, then.”

“If anyone were to look at my phone, it would just be thousands of pictures of you. Is that considered weird?”

Haneul’s jaw dropped in disbelief. “And how many of those are weird photos?” He grinned and bobbed his shoulders up and down.

“You’ll never know.”

“Jeon Jungkook.”

“Yes, Jeon Haneul?”

“Oh my god.”
 

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Long distance relationships are hard, I’ll tell you that from the start.

You’re going to spend a lot of hours wondering what they’re doing on their end. You’re going to envy the people who get to see them on a daily basis. You’re going to long to see them again or to be able to make actual physical contact with them.

A lot of your day will be spent missing and longing for them.

It will be hard to keep in contact with them every single day. Some days, you just don’t have time to sit down for a video call. Some days, you won’t have time to make the call and some days, you simply forget to send them a text.

But you know what? It’s worth it.

The relationship works out if the two people are willing to make that extra effort. It will be hard to compare your relationship to those you see around you but know that love comes in different ways.

Yours may just happen to be stretched over thousands of miles.

Send them a text when you have time to wish them a good morning or a good night. Leaving them a voice message to brighten up their day or even send a short picture of something you’ve done in your own day so they can feel as though they were there with you at that moment.

Every little thing counts because know that the other person is probably sitting there wondering the exact same things.

Make that extra effort to let them know you’re thinking of them, even when you’re across the world from them.

Haneul smiled as she typed in the last few words of her blog entry. She looked down at the time and stretched her tired limbs before closing the laptop screen.

She had ended her call with Jungkook an hour ago when he had to begin studying again. She looked at their picture on her phone and smiled as she ran her finger over the screen softly.

“One more week, right?”

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Author's Note: Thank you guys so much for the encouraging comments. I don't know if it's embarassing to admit but I did cry reading a lot of them because they meant so much to me, knowing that I had support from you guys. Thank you for sticking with me and supporting this story. It's going to be hard to write a story about long distance relationships when I'm still figuring out my own feelings right now but I'll do my best.

Thank you for taking the time to comment because that way, I'm able to get to know each of you a little better.

I don't know if I've said this before but if my chapters are able to make at least one of you smile and have a better day, then that's all that matters to me :)

Thank you once again and look forward to the next chapter! (because Kookie's coming home guys omg)

P.S. AND THAT NEW EXO MV? MONSTER? LIKE HELLO?????? DID ANYBODY ELSE DIE LOL baek was hot not gonna lie