\\\\\\4//////

            The time for you to go back home has finally arrived. Your flight was at nine in the morning so you had to get up extra early to make your way to the airport. Rolling onto your sides to turn off your alarm, you squinted your eyes as you took a peek at your phone. You had a habit of turning off your phone before heading to bed.

            3 missed calls / 1 message – all from one person, Jongin.

            Your heart began to race at the thought of him. Lifting yourself up into a sitting position, you opened the text message.

           'Hana, please take good care of yourself. Make sure you drink lots of water during flight. Thank you for being my listening ear. I'll miss you, much more than you will ever know. You'll come back, right?' - Cool Guy, Jongin.

            You felt your heart drop as you read the last sentence. As much as you wanted to, you knew that it might not be possible. With your future still remaining cloudy with uncertainty (since you have just graduated and have yet to find a stable job), you highly doubt the possibility of you returning back to Seoul anytime soon. Clenching your fist, you dialed his number. He was asleep, and you reached his voicemail. Taking a deep breath, you spoke.

            “Hey, just wanted to let you know that I got your message... thank you for that… no wait, in fact, thank you for everything.” Your eyes were prickling with tears that were threatening to fall. As you phrased the words you wanted to say in your head, you couldn’t hold the tears any longer and felt them flowing down your cheeks; cool and fast.

            “Thank you for letting me talk on and on about my insignificant worries, and, even giving me solutions to some of them. Thank you… thank you for giving me a chance to get to know you. I’ll remember you, always.. Please take care of yourself. I’ll always support you Kim Jongin… Goodbye.”

            You immediately pressed the end call button and buried your face into your pillow. Suddenly, the feelings that you’ve been repressing erupted like a volcano. Anger, disappointment, frustration and regret. It all accumulated and was now being released from you in the form of unending tears and sobs. You felt as though someone had punched you right through your gut as you sobbed, trying your best to muffle the noise by screaming into the pillow instead.

            “Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.” You kept cursing in your head as you cried.

            After what felt like an eternity, the tears finally stopped. You felt hollow, like an empty shell. You sat cross-legged on your bed as you stared blankly at nothing in particular. All of a sudden, your phone screen lit up. You were so surprised that you gave a slight jump. Grabbing your phone, you immediately opened the text, your heartbeat increasing again. It was MiYoung. Your heart dropped, you had been expecting him. But it was three in the morning and you knew that he was asleep – exhausted from his schedules during the day.

         `I’m reaching soon. Wait for me by the entrance of your place. ^^~`

         `Alright, see you soon! You’re the best ^_^`

         `Of course! Ke ke. ^.^`

            You cracked a small smile. MiYoung was like the sister you wished you had. You had no complain being the only girl amongst your siblings but sometimes, you wished you had a sister to share your problems with. And have some girl talk every now and then. Realizing that you were running late, you immediately jumped out of bed and got ready. Thankfully you have already packed your luggage earlier and within a short while, you were already by your door, bidding your room a final goodbye before lugging your luggage down to where MiYoung was.

            “Here let me help you.” She said as she reached over for my luggage.

            Together the both of you managed to lift your insanely heavy luggage into the boot of her car and soon were on your way to Incheon International Airport.

            “I’m gonna miss Seoul.” You muttered as you looked out the window, admiring the view of Seoul in dawn.

            “Ehem, what about me then?” MiYoung responded with a teasing voice. You turned and stuck out your tongue at her. She hit your arm playfully in response. Both of you broke out laughing and couldn’t stop for a long time.

            After an hour or so, you have finally reached the airport.

            “Hana, I’m sorry I can’t walk you in. My meeting’s starting in an hour and I also have to fetch the two lazy bums JiMin and MinHee.”

            You pulled MiYoung in for a hug, surprising her. She wrapped her arms around you and squeezed lightly.

            “Thank you unnie, for everything. I’m so thankful to have met you and the others.” You said.

            MiYoung patted your head and gave a small nod.

            “You take care of yourself okay, Hana? Don’t forget to keep in touch!”

            With that, you stood on the sidewalk as you watched MiYoung drove off. Just as you were about to turn and make your way into the airport, loud squealing and clicking of cameras from a distance away caught your attention. You turned to look at the commotion going on and your mouth fell open at the sight of a group of boys standing in front of a black van; adjusting their clothes. Even from where you were standing, you could clearly see the tallest member among them – Kris. Also, his blonde hair did make him stand out. Your eyes immediately scanned to look for that one face you so badly wanted to see. But you could only see six of them, and they were all from EXO-M. You figured that EXO-M was heading for their unit schedules. Giving a small sigh, you continued making your way into the airport.

            Since you were unsure of where to go, you decided to check the information counter. You were busy scanning and trying to look for your flight details when you heard another commotion happening, this time closer to where you were. You turned around just in time to look straight into the eyes of Kris, whose eyes widened slightly at the sight of you. His left hand moved to his shirt pocket as his eyes darted back and forth the crowd of people surrounding them. You noticed him furrowing his brows slightly as he appeared to be in deep thoughts. As the crowd was nearing the place where you were standing, you decided that it’d be better if you were to check in your luggage now. You gave Kris a small nod and he returned you with a small smile. Turning around, you made your way to the check-in counter.

-------------

            “Thank you and have a safe flight.”

            You thanked the immigration officer and made your way to the boarding area. You didn’t bother going to any of the duty free stores and simply wanted to sit down. As you walked to your assigned gate, you saw a charging station a few metres away. It was rather hidden and empty. Since you still had quite a bit of time left before boarding and your battery was nearly completely drained, you decided to charge your phone while waiting.

            While waiting, you decided to continue reading the book that you never got round to finishing while you were in Seoul. You were so engrossed in reading the book that you didn’t notice someone had sat next to you. You only turned to look at the person when you felt him nudge your arm softly. With your brows frowning slightly, you turned to ask the person what was the matter, only to realize that you were face to face with Kris.

            “Oh!” you voiced. “Hey.”

            He gave a small laugh. He nodded at the book you had been reading earlier.

            “Good book?”

            “Great book.” you replied with a smile. Silence. You gave him a confused look. “Uh… don’t mean to sound rude but… why’re you here?”

            He reached into the same pocket that he had held earlier and took out a small box and placed it in your hands. Just as you was about to open your mouth, he explained.

            “Jongin asked me to pass this to you if by some miracle, we met.” He stood up. Straightening his shirt, he glanced down at you. “I’ve never believed in miracles. Until today that is. Take care Hana.”

            And with that, he walked away. You looked down at the small box and opened it. Inside was a silver bracelet with a full moon charm. Something was nagging at the back of your mind but you couldn’t put your finger on it. Just as you were done putting the bracelet on, your phone rang.

            “Hey.” It was him. Jongin.

            “Hi.” You replied. “So…”

            “You like it, right?” you could hear his nervousness over the phone. In fact you could picture him scratching the back of his neck subconsciously as he waited for your response.

            “I love it, Jongin.” You whispered as you admired the full moon charm.

            “I know you do. The first time you saw it, you didn’t want to tear your eyes away from it.” He laughed heartily. His laughter sounded like chiming bells to your ears. Merry.

            That’s when it clicked. This was the bracelet that you saw a few nights ago at one of the booths selling handmade and vintage accessories. You had wanted to get this exact bracelet after dinner but when both of you made your way back to where the booth had been, it was already closed. The following day when you two went again, a completely different booth had replaced the previous one. You remembered feeling disappointed but Jongin… he promised you that he’d find it for you, even to the ends of the world. You had laughed at his absurd suggestion but now as you held the exact bracelet in your palm, you couldn’t help but feel a tug of sadness at your heart.

            “Thank you…” you whispered, trying to keep yourself together.

            “Hana, promise me one thing…” he whispered, so softly that you held your breath to make sure that you won’t miss a word he was going to say.

            “No matter how hard things get, don’t give up. I know I can’t be there to cheer you on physically but I’ll always be rooting for you. Just like the moon, I’ll always be there for you during your darkest times.”

            “Jongin… I… I… can’t thank you enough.” You stammered. Tears were pouring down your face and you were biting your bottom lip so hard to prevent yourself from crying out loud.

            “And Hana…” he spoke after a few minutes of silence.

            “Yeah?”

            “Take care of yourself okay.. I’ll wait for you.”

            You took in a sharp breath. Your heart was racing so fast you actually thought it was going to explode.

            “I’ll wait for you, Hana…”

            You were practically shaking as you pressed your phone hard against your ear. Hearing him say those words… it felt beyond amazing. Yet at the same time, it broke your heart into a million pieces.

            “Flight DZ 507 is now boarding. Passengers please prepare your boarding pass before boarding the plane.”

            How could fate be so cruel to have teased you in such a manner.

            “Jongin…I have to go…” you whispered. “I… I… Thank you for everything, Jongin...” 

“…”

Click.

            With heavy steps and tear-strewn face, you made your way to the boarding gate. As you reached your seat, you dumped your bag underneath the seat in front of you and stared at the bracelet hanging around your wrist. Once the plane took flight, you looked out the window and whispered, “I’ll see you again. I'll come back. I promise.”

\\\\\\//////