Rosé’s P.O.V.

As we walked side by side by the beach, whilst my father’s arm was rested on my shoulder, we stopped in our sandy tracks and faced the blazing heat of the sun.

Dad made me look at him straight in the eye, but I couldn’t since tears were already falling.

“Shhh… don’t cry, Rojje-ah… Everything’s going to be okay…” he said gently, though his comforting words weren’t enough to lift up the heavy burden in my heart. He held my face with his hands and gave me an encouraging smile. “I’ll give you one last time to decide, Roseanne… Whatever decision it may be… don’t think that you made a wrong decision, araso? Remember that I’ll always be here to support you, even though I am not superior to your decisions in your life. Have courage… and you will overcome this dilemma…” he said soothingly, brushing my peach-dyed hair with his fingertips.

“Appa… I don’t know…” I stuttered, in the midst of uncontrollable sobs. “Please help me.”

He shook his head. “I can’t be the one to decide for you, Chaeyoung. But as much as I want you to stay here with me, I can’t be that selfish. Your mother needs you. The decision is up to you, my princess…” he said sadly.

I looked down, biting my lower lip, trying to swallow back the tears that were threatening to fall.

Dad patted my back softly. “I’ll leave you alone here for now… Take your time and decide. Come back to the beach house when you’ve made up your mind.” And with that, he walked away, leaving me there, while the sea breeze was making my hair fly up in the summery air.

I faced the beach, just standing there, drowning in deep thoughts. It has been many years since… since I was separated from my mother and sister. My dad told me that two years after I was born in New Zealand, he and my mom got divorced and Dad decided to move here to Australia with me, while my mom and older sister, Alice, got settled in South Korea. Since then, we lost complete contact and communication. I knew a little Korean back then, and since my dad and I were living in a foreign country, I got used in the English language, and so did he. I had Australian accent, but my dad also taught me Korean at home during my younger years, so, fortunately, I was fluent in both languages. We spoke Korean at home, so I also got used to the language.

I was only two when I got separated from my mom, and my sister was only six back then. I hardly remember them, and it makes me sad.

One day, Dad told me that my sister just called, saying that my mom wants me back in Korea, since she’s been diagnosed with…

Stage-four leukemia cancer.

Alice told Dad that it was my mom’s dying wish, since she didn’t know how much longer she will live.

But I felt a twinge of anger. Why would they just suddenly make me go to them when they never even gave us both a single call during all those years they weren’t with us? It was just… unreasonable.

“This is your mom’s dying wish, Rosie…” I remembered my dad saying. “She misses you.”

Misses me?

Tsk.

“Dying wish…”

“She misses you…”

My dad’s words echoed in my head.

“Bogo shippeo, Chaeyoung-ah…” I remembered my mom’s weak voice through the phone for the first time in more than fifteen miserable years without her.

And with that, I ran to my dad’s beach house with a full decision.

🖤💗🖤💗🖤💗🖤

I was running as fast as I could to catch the plane leaving for South Korea. I woke up late, for Pete’s sake!

As soon as I got settled on the plane, I texted Dad and told him that I hadn’t been left by the plane. I was fortunate enough to.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This was my first time to leave Australia, my home.

My phone rang. I abruptly opened my eyes and fished my phone out of my pocket. It was Jisoo, my childhood friend in Korea. We always had video calls with each other since forever while she was in Korea and I was in Australia, and it has been a long time since I last saw her face personally. We were both so young back then, but we still got closer and closer even though we were millions of miles apart.

“Ne?” I said.

“Where are you now?!” she shrieked.

I put the phone away from my ear. She was her usual loud self. “I’m on the plane right now, don’t worry. In a few hours, I’ll be landing in Korea and meet you.”

“You’d better, Park Chaeng! Omo~!!^^ I’m sooo excited!!” she squealed excitedly.

“Araso. Nyeongan, Jichu~^^” I said, then hung up, smiling inwardly, remembering how she made “annyeong” to “nyeongan”, hahaha.

I put on my earphones and played my BIGBANG playlist. I put on my fluffy purple neck pillow, closed my eyes, and dozed off to sleep.

🖤💗🖤💗🖤💗🖤

“Would you like some brownies?” I overheard a tall and pretty flight attendant ask the passenger beside me in Australian accent.

“Yes, please,” the passenger said in the same accent, who appeared to be in his late thirties, smiling.

I slowly opened my eyes and yawned. I rubbed my eyes groggily.

“Brownies?” the flight attendant offered with a bright smile, showing her white teeth.

I took it from her hand, saying, “Thank you.”

It has been hours, I guess. As I looked out of the window, I realized that it was getting dark. I checked my phone.

6:35 PM.

Okay. I could just have dinner someplace with Jisoo before going to my dorm. She would probably take me to the nicest Korean restaurant in the area, right? Good thing I was already enrolled beforehand, so I just needed to get the keys to my dorm from the university where I will be studying in.

An hour later, the pilot announced that the plane