J'ai vécu. Je vis. Je vais vivre pour toujours.

                                                                                    I have lived. I am living. I will live in forever.



  Jung Daehyun.

  21 years old.

  Newly publicised author.

  Living in the city that never sleeps, New York City.

  Of course it seemed like a dream to anyone else who didn't live there. New York City seemed like a dream to everyone. To Jung Daehyun, that's what it was in the beginning. A dream. But he's been living there for 5 years now and already he grew tired of it. The magical spark of the city streets had given him when he first step foot in front of the lights had dimmed quite a bit and now in his eyes New York City was a just another city. His dream was to become an author, and he worked hard at that dream. Sarificing time with his friends and school to get his work published. And eventually it did, by the famous Bang Yongguk.

  Yongguk was one of the greatest writers ever, or at least that what it felt like to Daehyun. Yongguk's books always drew you in and contained everything you could want in a book. Drama, love, heartbreak, relateable things. He had the power to weave words in such a intricate way that even someone who despised books could get into it. He was Daehyun's rolemodel. So for Daehyun to get an email from Yongguk saying he'd like to meet with him was beyond real. And now here Daehyun was, standing in front of a Starbucks, checking his phone to make sure this was the Starbucks Yongguk wanted to meet him at. After checking it 50 times Daehyun took a deep breath and headed inside.

  His eyes quickly scanned the vicinity before locking onto Yongguk's as he smiled back at him. Daehyun rushed over, hasily pulling off his laptop bag that was slung over his shoulder and almost dropping it beside his chair before taking a seat in front of his idol. Yongguk was the first to speak.

  "I didn't know what you liked so I didn't order anything for you."

  "I'm fine, thank you." Daehyun's palms were getting sweaty. He couldn't believe he was talking to the Bang Yongguk.

  "You're probably wondering why I asked you to meet me here." Yongguk interwined his fingers and leaned forward.

  Daehyun didn't speak.

  "I emailed you because I heard you were a fan. Word spread that there was a new author in New York and I was curious, so I did a bit of research." He took a sip of his coffee before continuing. "I found out the new author's name was a Jung Daehyun and he had written only two books so far, one of which I had actually previously read and quite enjoyed. So, Mr. Jung, to answer your dying question, I asked you to meet me here because I wanted to give you some pointers. New writers need a bit of help every now and then"

  Daehyun was still stunned by being in the presence of Yongguk, but to actually hear that he had read and enjoyed one of his books brought him to a whole other level of excitement. And now he wanted to give him advice? He honestly couldn't have asked for anything better. Daehyun thought Yongguk would tell him how hard it was to be an author in New York City and how difficult it was to write. But instead he was optimistic, offering the newbie ideas on how to grow and expand and make a career out of writing.

  "I...It's an honor. You've been such an inspiration to me. I've read everything you've written, even your short stories from college that were leaked." Daehyun's heart wanted to burst out of his chest and he couldn't stop his leg from shaking. He pulled out a small notebook and a pen, ready to write down any words of wisdon Yongguk had to offer.

 Yongguk let out a small chuckle. " 'Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.' A quote from Susan Sontag." Yongguk becan to give Daehyun advice, which Daehyun eagerly scribbled down in his notebook. Time passed and they chatted a bit more afterwards before Yongguk had to leave for a meeting with some publishers down in Brooklyn. He gave Daehyun his phone number before leaving. "We'll do this again." With a smile and a nod, Yongguk exited the Starbucks, leaving Daehyun.

-----

  Daehyun headed to the nearest public library in search of something to get ideas flowing for his next book. The entire walk to the library Daehyun couldn't stop thinking about how Yongguk had actually read something he wrote. He liked something he wrote. He even gave him advice on future books. The young author couldn't have been happier. To him, this was fate.

  Daehyun walked into the library with a skip in his step as he walked past aisles and aisles of books. His fingers brushed the spine of each one before stopping on one that sparked his interest. It was brown leather with what looked like a red ribbon bookmark sticking out from the top. He pulled it from the row of books and looked at the front.

  The word Journal was imprinted into the front in gold script letters and written below it with gold Sharpie was the name Yoo Youngjae. This struck him as odd, becaue it didn't look like a book that belonged in the library, it didn't feel like a book that belong in the librarty, and when he opened it there was no sticker or stamp saying it was property of the library. Maybe someone had misplaced their journal and someone thought it belonged here? Daehyun didn't know. But something about it told him to open it and start reading. So he turned to the first page and read what seemed to be some kind of introduction.

January 4th, 2014

Hello stranger. I'm Yoo Youngjae and this is my journal. If you're reading this right now, then my plan has worked and my experiences are being shared! I decided to record my travels and memories here because I want someone somewhere to pick this up and read about where I've been. How my life was. I don't want to be forgotten in life. I want my life to have an affect on someone elses. And maybe you couldn't go to the one place you've wanted to go your entire life. Maybe due to family problems or work or money you couldn't go on that one vacation. Maybe you can read my stories and see me as you and life through me.

Or maybe it'll be like we're travelling together!