Chapter 1

‘Trust me, change will come soon. Just give it time.’ That was what the last line of the last letter that I received from HIM. It’s been 2 years since I received the letter and this was just one of the many ones I got from the past years. I looked at the box which contained all the letters and my eyes drifted back to the words again and then, unconsciously, I stared out the tree that has been there all throughout my life. The cherry blossom tree that has given me so much hope, but I think it’s time to stop. I look at the words again and I am reminded why I can’t stop myself from believing. *flashback* “Teacher, what is a pen pal?” One of my classmates asked and our teacher smiled at us. She gave us each a stationery set and pencils which sparked even more excitement from the class. What are we going to do? “Kids, settle down and I will explain to you what you are going to do. A pen pal is a person you exchange letters with. You send a letter to someone and then they reply to you with a letter as well.” “Teacher, can that person be my playmate?” someone asked. “Hmmm…that would be kind of difficult. How about we call them your letter mate?” “Teacher, why can’t they be our playmate?” The boy beside me asked and with that our teacher smiled even wider. “Because your letter mates will be from America!” What? America? I was shocked by this and it seemed like I was the only person concerned as my other classmates cheered. “Kids, you can write or draw whatever you wish. Do not worry since they are also Korean. Make sure to put your name and be creative. I will be collecting it by the end of the class.” With that everyone started making their letters while I just sat there staring at the piece of paper in front of me. I find it kind of strange to write to people I don’t even know. Hello, My name is Yoon Jeonghan. I do not have much to say because I do not see the point in this activity so sorry if the letter is boring. Well to be honest, I think my life is boring and I am very uninteresting. They say I am a very strange person and I don’t have a lot of friends in school so I don’t think you would want to be my friend after this or reply at all. Well, that’s it. Bye, I guess. The week after we wrote our letters, the replies finally came. I wasn’t expecting to receive one but imagine my surprise when the teacher handed me a pink envelope. I was confused so I hesitantly opened it. Hi Jeonghan-ssi, My name is Hong Jisoo but here in America they call me Joshua. I was born in Korea but moved here to America when I was 4. It is actually pretty great here and I wish I was in Korea to see my birth place and also because I want to see you. I don’t think you’re boring or strange at all. I think you are someone that has a lot of things to say and I want to hear all about them. I actually think you’re interesting that’s why I replied. I really want to be friends with you so I wrote down my address for you to reply. I really hope you reply because I want to get to know you. After that first exchange, we continued on writing letters to each other. Even as we grew up we never stopped. We became very close friends through pen and paper. We talked about a lot of stuff; our families, our everyday life, hobbies, favorite food and the like. But something seemed wrong and it bothered me. Jisoo-yah I’m turning 16 in a few months. Also the high school I entered in doesn’t seem like my type. I admit I’m kind of scared to enter this new world and the future seems so near. I don’t know what to do. My parents also keep nagging me about making memories and new friends because of some cherry blossom myth but as usual I didn’t listen. I only need you. I almost forgot, sorry for being rude. How are you? You haven’t been your usual self lately so I was wondering what’s up. If something’s bothering me you can tell me. Well, I have to go. Make sure to reply, talk to you soon. I love you. Jeonghan I’m fine, don’t need to worry about me. Just a little nervous about starting school, you know that. Anyways, advance happy birthday :) and when did you ever like going to school? Don’t worry, you’re going to be fine. Oh, speaking of cherry blossoms. My mom said that the most beautiful memories in life are made under a cherry blossom tree. You have one in front of your house right? Believe in it. Trust me, change will come soon. Just give it time. *end* I looked outside one more time and was shocked to see a boy standing in front of the cherry blossom tree. There was only one person that came to mind. I ran outside and stood behind him. He slowly turned around and gave me a smile. “I’m sorry for the short reply. I didn’t want to spoil the surprise” he said. “This is what you were talking about?” I asked and he nodded. “It also seems like I came at the right moment” he said while looking up at the cherry blossom tree in full bloom. “All this time, I didn’t believe my parents about the cherry blossom tree. But now I do” “I always did.” When he said I immediately hugged him. He hugged me right back. “I love you, Jeonghan” Jisoo said and I smiled so widely. The most beautiful moments in life do happen under the cherry blossom tree.