Soon after , I remember my father and I , we lost everything we had. One of his business deals had gone wrong and we lost a lot of our money. I recalled crying as we sold the house , our cars , the precious china and ornaments in the house ….. Everything we used to own.

We couldn’t live in Seoul anymore , because we had nowhere to go. Dad didn’t want to live at his business partner’s ( Jinyoung’s dad ) house ; he was too ashamed to face him. So after packing whatever little possessions we had left , we left Seoul for Hamgyong province.

Jinyoung and his father were there to send us off. “ Take care of yourselves , and your daughter. “ His father said to us . My father merely nodded his head and looked away .

“ Min-rae ah , take care of yourself ….. I wish I could go with you …. “ Jinyoung took my hands , and there were streaks of tears rolling down his face . “ Promise me you’ll write to me when you reach . “

“ Oppa , I promise. Tears were welling up in my eyes too . We’ll meet again. “ I replied. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a silver bracelet , slipping it on my wrist .

“ When we meet again , I’ll know who you are …. “ He said softly . I nodded , and he let go of my hand slowly. My father and I boarded the ferry and just like that , we left our previous lives behind us.

I couldn’t stop crying on the ferry. My father tried to comfort me , but I wouldn’t stop crying. I wanted to jump off the ferry and swim back to Korea , to Jinyoung oppa …..

*************

The memory of arriving at Hamgyong was vague. I didn’t remember much about it at all ; because I was so sad , I didn’t take notice of anything around at me at that time.

Weeks , then months passed by . Life was difficult for us , and I had to work at least 2 jobs in a day just so that I could support my father. We barely had anything to eat , and we were hungry and tired most of the time.

The place we live in was just so different from our house back in Seoul , everything was just so cramped . But then again , we couldn’t complain – Everyone there was poor .

One night , I asked my father , “ Are we ever going back to Seoul , daddy ? “ He sighed and replied , “ I don’t think so , but life here is good , isn’t it ? “ There was a hint of sadness in his voice . Even though I was young , I could sense that he missed Seoul very much too .

“ I want to go back to Seoul . “ I insisted . My father patted me on the back and said , “ If you want to return to Seoul , make sure you study hard so that you can go back there and work .”

I promised him I would . But to me , it wasn’t that important ; all I wanted was to go back to Jinyoung.

Short update today ! >< Sorry :<