"Text me everyday okay?" Mark hugged me again, placing a kiss on my head before he loosened his arms around me. "Keep me updated."

The months seriously all flew by. I sometimes still think that December was yesterday.
But it wasn't.
Today was April 2nd, exactly a week until my 21st birthday.
And the date that was printed on the ticket my mom left me.

"Keep all of us updated," Kevin nudged Mark aside and pulled me into another hug. I laughed and nodded, "Duhhhh. Who else am I gonna talk to in Taiwan? We all know my Mandarin skills are like zero."
"If your's is at zero then Mark's skill level is in the negatives," Jackson chuckled as I hugged him next. I laughed louder than I should have as Peniel stepped up for his hug. After I said bye to him, Eric, and Henry, Mark walked over and took my hand, covering it with his for a split second. I felt something drop into my palm.

"What is this?" I held up a phone charm with a small key attached to the bottom. Mark held up his own phone which had a matching charm dangling from it except his was a lock.
"Something to remember me by."

"Yo, that's seriously so freakin cheesy," Henry commented, playfully punching Mark's arm. He rolled his eyes at Henry and shook his head slightly before he took the charm from my hand and stuck the key into his lock. Not only did it fit perfectly, but it also opened the lock.
"I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out what this means," he winked at me, closing the lock back up and handing me the charm again. "I don't think I can explain it properly with these idiots behind me."
I nodded, trying to hide the tears that were threatening to flood out with an airy laugh. It didn't really sound like me, but it'll have to do.

"Stay safe," Mark pulled me into another hug, except this one was tighter and felt stronger than all the others combined.
Our last hug. For now.
I nodded into his shoulder, turning my head and kissing the side of his face before I pulled away and waved good-bye to the rest of the group standing behind Mark. 
Then I grabbed my suitcase, turned around, and started walking away, fighting every part of me that wanted to turn back.

Because every single part of me did want to turn back around and run straight into Mark's arms again.
Every part of me wanted to stay in the comfort of the busy streets and familiar sights of New York City.
But then none of this would end and nothing would get done.

I breezed through the security checks and found my terminal. By now, most of the seats in the waiting area were already occupied with old grannies and grandpas, talking loudly to each other in Mandarin or in Taiwanese over the loud speakers. Some of them were watching and taking care of their grandchildren, brushing off clothes when they tripped over their own feet and fell or feeding them snacks.

Lucky kids.
I never knew my grandparents.
I don't even know if any of them are still alive.
My mom never talked about hers and my dad....was a lost cause.

I heaved a sigh and put my bag on top of my suitcase, standing by the corner closests to the terminal gates and checking my phone literally every minute.
10 minutes until boarding.
10 agonizingly painfully long minutes that seemed to crawl by. I swear, at one point I was probably just watching the seconds hand move around the clock.

It seemed like forever until I finally heard the loud speaker come on and the lady at the desk say, "Ladies and gentlemen may I have your attention please. Flight 7602 to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport will now be boarding. At this time, we invite all our Star Alliance members to board the aircraft. Thank you."

I looked down at my ticket and searched for my own boarding group.
Holy crap.
It was blank.
What did that even mean? I don't have a boarding group? Did they mess up when they printed the ticket? Did they just forget to put it in? Did my mom forget to even put in that I was gonna be on this flight?

One by one, all the groups got up from the waiting room and made their way over to the gate, leaving me standing there alone and seriously confused.
Even the lady at the front desk didn't even know what was up with my ticket. I was forced to sit there and watch everyone else board the plane and the flight attendants close the gate doors.
I couldn't board the plane.
So how the heck was I suppose to get to Taiwan?

"Uggghhhh what the he-"
"_________________?" a voice cut me off in mid scream. I shot out of my seat and stared wide eyed at the owner of the voice. This guy had probably the most amazing skin I've ever seen in my life along with some of the most amazing facial features. Like he was so good-looking that for a split second, I forgot I was dating Mark.

"Y-yes?" I tightened my grip on my suitcase handle and averted eye contact, trying to make my amazement a little less obvious.
"I think you're at the wrong terminal. This isn't the plane that's suppose to take you to Taiwan."

How the heck did this guy know I was going to Taiwan?
Wait...how the heck did he even know my name?

"Uhhhhh...what're you talking about?" I flashed a confused look at him really quickly before looking away again. Staring at him for too long was seriously a hazard.
"There's no boarding group on your ticket right?"
"Yeah..."
"That's because you're not suppose to be boarding this plane. If you had looked around while all the other people were sitting here, you would've noticed that your ticket looks different from their's."
"My mind was a bit more uhhh....preoccupied with other things," I lied, feeling the hole I was digging for myself getting deeper and deeper. "I just found the gate that it says on my ticket."
"Your ticket says gate C9. You're sitting at gate B6. You're holding your ticket upside down."

I looked down at my hand and at the ticket that I was kinda clutching. 
No wonder I had trouble reading it...
Holy crap, this guy probably thought I was beyond normal levels of stupid.

"Oh," I looked down and tried to hide my red face. "That makes sense. I mean...I was in a rush and I was nervous. Anybody cou-"
"Save the explanation for later," the good looking guy said, grabbing my wrist with one hand and my luggage with the other. He pulled me behind him as we walked to terminal he came from.

Author's Note
chapter title: Where U At-Taeyang [x]
guess who the new character is hehe :) not too hard cause i added him to the character list yesterday haha xD