This is it. My last chance. I can still run.

I sat rigid and uncomfortable in the cold metal seat careful not to let my facial expression expose my inner monologue. That was the one of the few skills I had picked up from one of my parents’ many lessons. Never speak your mind and, more importantly, never let your emotions show.

I stared blankly out the enormous glass windows at the airline carriers moving freely in and out of the hangar as these heinous ideas aded my thoughts. KOREAN AIR was plastered on the humongous aircraft with its classic red white and blue swirl on the tail. I felt my fist clench up into a ball of rage as my grip on the handle of the suitcase grew tighter. The veins on my hand were swelling and jutting out of my skin. The smiling penguin on the face of the suitcase seemed to tense up as if I had cut off its blood circulation. A little shocked and displeased with my actions I set it free of its torture.

It was useless. I pulled my long red locks free from its messy ponytail as I released an audibly frustrated sigh – one that contained all the negative energy from my current state of mind. It caused my parents to glance over with their usual deadpan gazes, that is, to the untrained eye. Over the years I have come to realize that those stern brown eyes of theirs held so much emotion yet seemed completely emotionless at the same time. Even after eighteen years of trying to read their expressions, my guessing rate was only around 25% accuracy. And in those same eighteen years I had also been convinced that the word “sorry” didn’t exist in their limited vocabulary.

Why can’t they understand? I felt a familiar wave of emotion well up in my center of my chest. MINA! Get it together! Why can’t you ever stand up for yourself? The wave of sadness raced up to my eyelids and pleaded to be set free. I quickly stood up from my seat and pretended not to notice my parents’ questioning looks.

“Mina, where are you going?”, they asked, furrowing their brows conveying what could be confused as either anger or worry.

“… Bathroom.” I mumbled as I hastily turned my back towards them in one swift, frantic motion keeping one hand on the suitcase. A teardrop escaped from the corner of my eye before I could stop it from falling.

As they reached up to hinder my escape I scurried out from under their grasp not forgetting to drag my luggage along with me.

“It’s a burden to take your stuff with you, we can keep an eye on it”, they chimed vainly from a distance, but I had already taken off.

They didn’t understand. They were my burden.

*****

[Flashback]

“Y-You should’ve told me earlier Mina…” a man’s voice trailed off with a tinge of betrayal.

“I’ve told you a hundred times by now, my parents only told me about it today!” I whimpered hoping the sadness I felt could be relayed through my tone of voice.

Wang Jackson, my boyfriend of almost two years, of all people should at least understand I would never intentionally lie to him. But even after almost two years of dating, neither of us understood each other nearly as much as we thought we did.

“No one does this… No one moves to a new ing country on such short notice!” he shouted in denial. “Especially in the middle of the school year! And you say all your parents care about is your education?! As if they would ever pull something like this!”

“It’s not like this was my choice…” I mumbled in response weakly, failing to hold back my tears.

He scoffed, glaring at me menacingly. “And since when have you ever made a choice on your own?”

The floodgates flew wide open as my tears began to stain the concrete below. I tried to stand up for myself, but yet again it was no use. All that came out was incoherent mumbling.

“Yeah, keep crying. Seems like that’s the only thing you’re good at anyways.”

And just like that he disappeared into the night. Just like everyone else I had moved away from.

What’s the point of making friends if this just keeps happening over and over again?

*****

I trudged back to the house with heavy steps as I dried up the last of my tears. I just wanted to close my puffy red eyes shut and be alone with my thoughts. However, I knew that would be impossible as the door slammed shut behind me and the lock clamped shut with a sound loud enough to wake up the neighbors. Sometimes I wish we weren’t rich.

“Hey sweetie, Yeri brought your stuff from the tutor’s house while you were gone. She’s waiting upstairs,” my mother’s voice called from the living room. I stopped for a moment and met her gaze with a glare containing all my resentment from the past week. “I know it was on short notice, but you should start packing for tomorrow’s flight... You know how punctual your dad is.”

I still can’t believe it. This was really happening.

“Well why don’t you–“

“Mina-chan!” a high-pitched squeal rang from the top of the stairs. Startled, I quickly grab a hold of railing to gather my wits, unable to complete my hostile response.

“Oh… it’s just you…” I responded dejectedly.

“Oh c’mon! Don’t be like that! This is the last time I’m gonna see you for a while after all,” Yeri whined.

“I definitely wish it wasn’t...”

“Wow, I still can’t get over the view every time we come to your room. I never got to come here much since you were always stuck in your room studying.” Yeri said as her hands glide over the pristine marble archways.

As if that was supposed to cheer me up. I sank into my oversized queen bed with my arms spread wide in defeat. I wish this day would just be over already.

“Oh wait, sorry…” she apologized as she noticed my grim expression. “Hey, at least this isn’t your first time moving, right? I mean it’s like they say, it gets easier with practice!”

I facepalmed myself with all the strength I could muster. This is exactly the opposite of what I wanted to hear right now.

To be quite honest, I’m not too sure how Kim Yerim and I even became friends to begin with – best friends no less. She was always considered the eccentric chatterbox while I resided on the opposite end of the noisiness scale. But I guess that’s what ultimately made this friendship even stronger. We balanced each other out. Whenever I needed to voice out my opinions or tell someone off, she would be my megaphone. If she had ever needed a calm collected mindset to maintain control of her rash and abrasive actions, she just had to shoot a glance my way. It was almost like we were soulmates – with a cruel, tragic fate. We were destined to part ways. I quickly shook my head at the thought and focused back on reality.

I reentered the conversation as Yeri was droning on about the costs and benefits of moving to a new country, but after realizing I obviously hadn’t been paying attention, she hastily attempted to change the topic.

“Ahem. Buuuuuuut, I know exactly what can cheer you up right now!” she offered cheerily.

“Yeah… right…” I mumbled as she sprinted over to the c