Past 2010

“why are you leaving?” 11-year-old Bomi asked while tears were running down her cheeks.

“’m sorry Bbom-ah, I have to.” 12-year-old Chorong unnie pulling the younger one in for another hug.

Chorong and Bomi had been friends for as long as they remember. They were inseparable; it was rare to find one of them without the other. Sadly their time to part has come. Chorong’s dad got transferred to Shanghai so they are forced to move. Chorong parents were staring at the two kids feeling guilty, Bomi was always with Chorong that they consider her like 2nd daughter.

“come on, Chorong-ah, we have a plane to catch. Bomi-ah, take care of yourself, okay? Be a good kid.” Chorong’s mom said hugging her, while her dad patted Bomi on the back.

“goodbye Bomi! Remember you have to write me a letter everyday!” Chorong said.
“you too!”

They hugged one last time and then Chorong got into the car. She was trying hard not to cry, but eventually she failed. The car started driving off, Chorong rolled down the window and stuck her head out.

“REMEMBER, WE’RE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER!” She shouted.

“ALWAYS!” Bomi shouted back.

 Chorong POV Present 2015

Here I am back in Seoul. After five years my father was transferred back to Seoul. If this was three years ago I would be excited since I would be reunited with my best friend, but things have changed. I don’t know what happened to be honest. We sent letters to each other everyday and tried our best to talk to each other, but all of a sudden she stopped replying to my letters. I was so confused and sad. I thought maybe she was just busy that week. Then weeks turned into months. Then months turned into years. Little did I know, we haven’t spoken to each other in two years. I feel so empty and depressed because I was so confused as to why she stopped talking.

I walked into the new school not feeling excited at all. Because I’m behind on my credit I had to be in the junior class again. Just great.

“excuse me, do you know where this class is?” I asked the first person I saw.

“that’s my class, I’m heading there right now. Just follow me.” The girl said.

“alright, thanks!”

“I’m Naeun by the way.” She said sticking her hand out.

“Chorong.” I said shaking her hand.

“are you new? Where are you from?”

“I just moved on Shanghai, but I’ve lived in Seoul before.”

We made small talks as we walked into class. Naeun went to her seat while I had to talk to the teacher. After the teacher signed me into class, I turned to go take a seat. I looked around and there were a lot of empty spaces, but it was because the bell didn’t ring yet. I walked through the rows uncertainly not knowing where to sit.

“hey Chorong, over here!” Naeun said gesturing to the table next to her.

I gave a small smile and put my stuff down. We continued our small talk and she told me she could show me around the school, which I was grateful for. Soon people started gathering into the classroom. Unluckily there was a really big and tall guy sitting in front of me. He blocked everything so I couldn’t say what was in front or diagonal of me. Great.

The bell rang and class had started. The teacher was lecturing and writing stuff on the board. I had to depend on my listening skill because there was no way I was able to see the boar