THE train station isn’t that busy, but it's a Monday and Monday’s aren't busy for long distances traveling. Mei only packed one bag for the small trip to her sort of ex-best friend. Jun, however, must think it’s some type of going away trip, because he packed three suitcases full of clothes and useless items that he’ll probably never use; for example: newspapers, menu’s for restaurants near Jing Jing’s house, and a billion different shoes.  “Why do you have so many bags?”

Jun smiles, “We’re going to be there a while, right?” Mei shakes her head with a sigh as she takes a seat on the bench. “Well, aren’t we?” He asks as he takes a seat right next to her. Mei shakes her head. Her plan is to say 'hi' wish her good luck in the world, and apologize for leaving and never saying anything, before hoping on the next train back to Seoul.

The last thing she wants is to get reattached to Jing Jing, that’ll just make it harder to leave; especially if she cries. No matter what, if Jing Jing cried, Mei would have to console her because that’s what best friends do; at least before she smacked her upside the head for crying in the first place. “You can stay for however long you want, but I’m leaving tonight.”

“Why leave so soon? Haven’t you missed her? It’s been three years.” He reminds her like she could actually forget something like that. “What if she wants’ you to stay an extra few nights?”

Mei sighs, “What if she doesn’t?”

There’s no use in arguing because there’s no getting past what Mei thinks. She’s tough that way. If she sticks to what she knows she’ll get through life without having anything stop her. The two don’t talk much after that as they wait for the two o’clock train to come. “Is that your phone or mine?” Jun asks as the both of them check their pockets for the ringing sound.

“Mine.” Mei says after finding her own and lifting it to her ear. “Hello?”

On the other side of the phone she could hear a bright scream, “I’m pregnant!” The sound of Bella’s voice is heard and as the words process throughout Mei’s head a giant smile burst onto her face as she squeals in happiness; garnering the attention of Jun.

“How far along are you?” And that’s where Jun get’s even more surprised; because not only is the girl smiling from ear to ear like he’s never seen, she’s also speaking Italian something he’s rarely heard.

Bella stumbles around her words, “Two weeks. I took like five tests at home, and went to the doctors this morning to confirm. That means the baby will be born around March of next year. Can you believe it?” She screams once again and this time Mei could hear loud clapping over the line.

“Have you told Lucca yet?”

Bella's screams of happiness stop as she sits down on her couch and sighs, “He’s been at work constantly, and so have I. I haven’t had time to. But tonight at dinner I will,” Bella pauses to control her breathing. “You’re going to be here for the birth right?” Mei could only laugh at Bella’s slightly nervous voice; like she’s afraid Mei would reject.

“Of course I will.” The clock on the tower ticked two and that’s when the large train came whizzing by before stopping right in front of where Jun and Mei sat. Mei glances in its direction before looking back down at her lap. “I have to go Bella, I’ll update you on everything tomorrow, and you’ll tell me how things went with Lucca. Okay?”

Bella can only laugh, “I will. Wish me luck.”

“Luck!” With that the two girls end the call and Mei stands up. “This is our train right?” Mei asks as she points toward the Korean letters that show above their bus. Mei only knows how to speak a good amount of words in Korean, but she can never actually spell it out with the characters; she never tried anyways. Though it can't be harder than Chinese.

“Here.” Jun not only carries his three bags, but grabs a hold of hers and slings it over his shoulder effortlessly. “So, what were you just speaking just now?” He asks as the both of them get settled in a cushioned corner—far away from everyone else.

Mei glances up at him, “Italian,” She pauses to smile for a second. “I learned it while I was living there, in Italy.” Jun nods, it’s obvious that it would be natural for her to learn another language while she’s out exploring the world.

“Maybe you can teach me sometime.” He offers with a bright smile.

Mei shakes her head, “I won’t be here long enough.” He’s heard her say it before; and again it hits him weirdly. Why is she so obsessed with not staying in the same place for long periods of time? Is it because she’s scared? It has to be. “So, what do you know about Jing Jing?”

“Well she lives in Busan. She’s going to school for a business administration degree, that’s where she met her fiancé actually...” Mei’s eyes widen. Jing Jing’s engaged? No way. Jing Jing was completely obsessed with Jun, and she swore that she’d marry him. She can’t possibly be engaged with someone that isn’t Jun. That’s just not Jing Jing—at least not the one she remembers.

“She’s engaged?” Mei mumbles.

Jun nods, “Yeah. Nice fellow to; name’s Kwon Soon Young. He’s the same age as us all; born here in Korea. I guess they met because he was her tutor—no, wait, maybe he was the assistant teacher, no; he was her tutor. Anyways, she said he was awkward and fun—that’s why they started dating.”

“Wow. I never thought it would happen.”

Jun laughs, “Me neither. That girl use to call all the time saying she wasn’t going to get married until you could meet and approve him. Thankfully, now you can.” He smiles brightly as Mei only tries to settle her nerves. Jing Jing’s getting married? Jing Jing’s getting married. And Mei doesn’t even know the man. She never got to see her best friend fall in love, and she never got to hear every stupid little giggle about him, like she did about Jun. Nor did she get to see that giant smile on her unintelligent face when she got engaged.

Did she have a huge fat crush on him like she did on Jun? Does he buy her flowers like she wanted her future boyfriend to do? Does he treat her like queen because she’s nowhere near a princess? Does he make her laugh instead of cry? Does he love her? And most of all: is she happy? And it’s at these revelations that Mei begins to tear up.

“Why did you stay in touch with her?”

Jun shrugs despite knowing full well why he still talks to her. “She was sad that last year because she didn’t have anyone; so I stuck around. I sat with her at lunch, helped her with her homework and graduation requirements, and walked her home every night. I listened to her cry, and I heard about all the stories she liked to repeat on a daily basis about you. That’s why I think I know you so well; because of her. After school was over, and we both came here to Korea, we decided to just talk at least once a month. Makes us feel like we’re back in Taiyuan.”

The two keep silent after that. The four hour train ride was filled with Mei falling asleep with her head against the window, and Jun keeping his eyes open wide—moving them every which way keeping an eye out for anyone, making a similar memory of just a few years ago when they were lost in the woods together. The only time Mei woke up is when food was brought over and she chowed down on noodles and sipped on some cola.

But as the train begins to get closer and closer to Busan, the sinking feeling in Mei is getting more prominent. “You look pale, are you okay?” Mei’s eyes snap up to Jun who's sitting straight up and starring at her with wondering eyes.

“Yeah, just nervous is all.” She replies while tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear. “Were almost there.” She comments once more as her eyes deviate from the boy and toward the window where in the near distance is the train station. “Does she know were coming?”

Her eyes make their way back over to Jun to see him shaking his head, “It’s a surprise.” At the mention of the word surprise Jun’s eyes brighten while Mei’s almost dim. The last thing she wants is for Jing Jing to go bat crazy on her for showing up out of the blue, uninvited.

“Do they live together?” She questions and when she realizes she needs to clarify more, she does. “Her and her fiancé.”

Jun nods, “Yeah. They moved into a new condo together after he sold his old one, and she moved out of the dorm. It’s really nice too; something I could never afford.” Mei sighs contently, that’s good. Jing Jing deserves a palace, and if this condo is nice—it’s good enough.

“We’re here.” Jun states as he rises to his feet. “Ready?” He asks, looking back at her. Mei nods her head as she comes to her feet and flings her bag over her shoulder before Jun could take it from her. “Her apartment isn’t far from here; we should walk instead of wasting money. I’m not sure about you but I can’t afford to spend much money.”

Mei nods, “Walking is fine.”

The station isn’t crowded at all—though the two expected that since the train station in Seoul wasn’t busy. The sidewalk though, that’s another story. People packed into every side of the walkway, as cars whizzed past. Every once in a while, Jun would have to look over his shoulder to make sure Mei was still following, and at every cross walk (there were four) Jun would clasp his hand on Mei’s wrist pulling her closer to him to make sure he didn’t lose her when they were crossing the crowded street. Soon enough, they arrived in front of Jing Jing’s condo and the nerves that were becoming surreal earlier for Mei, are now full force.

“It's room three hundred and twelve on the third level.” Mei nods and steadily follows behind Jun as he gets to the stairs and makes his way up. She feels like she's going to get acid reflux if she takes another step. But as she watches Jun continuing to run up like it’s no big deal, she just follows along. “Here we are!” He whispers in an excited voice as they reach the door to Jing Jing’s condo.

Mei sighs; she’s not sure if she should be content to finally be there, or scared for the same reason. “Ready?” He asks as he goes to press the door bell. She slowly nods her head as she holds tightly onto the strap of her bag. Once seeing her nod, he places his finger down on the button, and soon after the two hear sounds coming from inside the apartment.

Mei takes a deep breath as she takes a step behind Jun. It would be too much of a fright to see her face right when they answer the door. “Hello?” A blonde man peaks his head out of the door before his eyes land on Jun. “Oh, hyung? What are you doing here?” He asks as he opens the door wider, showing off himself and Jing Jing.

“I have a surprise for Jing Jing.” He says before stepping to the side to show off Mei. Instantly Mei’s eyes are met with the view of her ex best friend’s surprised face. Jing Jing doesn’t look that much different; she only looks more mature. Her hair is still long and brunette, her eyes are still as large as her face, and she’s still as short as ever. The boy next to her, whom Mei assumes is her fiancé, is blonde and taller than Jing Jing by a lot—he had just as big of confusion on his face.

Mei bows her head respectfully, “Hello, my name is Zhao Mei Fen; we went to school together.” Jing Jing’s hand reaches up to cover in shock. There’s no way, that’s Mei. Mei disappeared years ago. “It’s been a long time Jing Jing.” She continues on.

“Mei?” Jing Jing asks with a shaky voice. Mei nods her head as the two men look toward Jing Jing. The brunette takes a step forward, and Mei began to expect that she wants a hug but when Jing Jing pulls her hand back and slaps it across Mei’s face; she figures otherwise. “You wench! How could you leave me?” Jing Jing began to tear up as she flung her arms around Mei’s neck in a hug. “Why are you appearing now?” She asks while smacking the taller girl on the back multiple times.

Mei sighs as she brings her hand up to pat the shorter’s back, “It’s a long story.” Jing Jing pulls back to wipe her eyes as she turns her attention over to Jun who’s watching with a big giant smile on his face.

“When in the hell were you going to tell me you found her?” She screams while flinging herself toward him to hit but thankfully Soon Young grabs her around the waist and pulls her away from him. “When?” She shouts again as Mei only shakes her head at the similarity she has of her in high school.

Mei steps forward distracting her from Jun, “I just came to Korea the other day; he begged me to come here. I wanted it to be a surprise so I told him to keep it quiet.” Jun glances at Mei as she keeps her eyes focused on Jing Jing.

“Still.” She pouts while trying to kick her way out of her fiancé’s grip. “It’s a bit much to see you randomly at my front door; especially when it’s been three years Mei Fen.” She says and Mei cringes at the use of her full name. “I mean don’t get me wrong, it’s great seeing you—but what the hell?”

Mei gulps, “I’m sorry; look why don’t we just talk inside?”

“Fine.”

Jing Jing settles down and takes Mei by the hand before leading her inside her apartment. And Mei has to admit Jun was right when he said it was nice. Open bay windows, a nice floor plan, expensive furniture, and the best view of downtown. “Your parents said you didn’t leave a note, and that you just fell off the face of the earth; never even answered their phone calls. What happened Mei?” She asks tentatively as she brings her over to the couch. Mei freezes; her parents called? No, they never called, and she did in fact leave a note. It practically killed her to write.

Mei takes a deep breath, “They never called, and I did write a note.” Jing Jing shakes her head as she slams her hands on the top of her legs. Mei twists her head toward the door to see Soon Young haul Jun inside the apartment and to the kitchen to talk as Jing Jing comes to a standing position to point at the wall across from her accusingly.

“I knew it, you’d never leave without saying something,” She jumps up and down on each foot as she keeps pointing at the wall. “They’re such liars! I knew they lied! It made no sense.”

Mei tilts her head to the side, “Do you know what happened to them?”

Jing Jing returns her attention back to Mei as she sits down on the couch. “They moved like a year, not even that, after you disappeared. Somewhere in Xi'an—I think. I remember my mom tried calling your parents but they didn’t answer. Your house was clean in a week. They threw all your stuff out on the lawn with a sign that said free; I tried to keep as many of your things as possible, and I still have everything I grabbed. Do you want to see them?” Mei nods, and the two get up with Mei following after the brunette.

The brunette girl leads her into a large bedroom; she assumes is the guest bedroom since there aren’t any valuables lying around. “I left everything in here, in case you came out of nowhere and needed a place to stay.” She mumbles while opening up the closet. There in the closet, were all her old diaries, her favorite comforter and blankets, along with all of her old notebooks from school, and a few cameras that holds all of her most cherished pictures.

“Why’d you keep everything for so long?” She asks while taking a seat on the edge of the plain white bed.

Jing Jing bites her lip and grabs for one of the diaries in the far back corner of the closet. She flips to what seems like specific pages and lets her finger run down the edge of it. “May fifth, twenty ten. Today dad got really mad. I don’t know why. I tried not to say anything this time. Mom left. I think she was scared of him. She said that dad becomes a bad man when he gets angry. I think I finally understand why she says that. I know I’ve experienced his anger for such a long time, but I’ve never seen him angry to this extent.”

Jing Jing glances up at Mei to see her rubbing her legs constantly as if to ridden the bad feelings of what Jing Jing’s reading. “I’m at the park now, its dark out, and smells of pine. Mom called; she was crying again. Dad must’ve done it, again. She’s telling me to come home. I don’t want to. I never want to. I think I might leave soon—yeah, leave. It would be nice to never be in this situation again. But, what happens if I do leave, would mom still cry? Would dad still be angry? Will Jing Jing be okay without me? I’m sure I’ll miss home; no matter how much I want to leave, I don’t think I can. But if I ever do, I hope everyone knows that I love them, and that I never meant to hurt them like my dad did to my mom and I. I don’t think I’m the heartless.”

Mei chuckles, not in an amused way, more as a way to break the silence between the two. “You read that?” Mei laughs once again, still not in an amused way. Jing Jing knows for sure it’s Mei’s way of making herself move past the tension of the anger and sadness. “Don’t take it so seriously, I was sixteen barely seventeen.”

Jing Jing sighs, “Out of everyone in the world you can talk to, it’s me. I know it’s been years; but I’m still your best friend, just older.” Mei holds back at scoff and instead takes a deep breath.

“If you read my diaries, you know everything.”

“Then it’s true, about everything you use to tell me all those years ago?” Mei slowly nods her head which only causes Jing Jing to throw her hands up in disbelief. “I can’t believe it! Your mother and father are the spawns of Satan. No offense.” She says the last comment quickly before returning back to her ranting. “You remember that man from school; the one that stabbed me because of your father?”

Mei nods, “What about him?”

“Well, maybe he has something to do with why your dad was always like that. I mean, there has to be a reason for him to be the way he was. Maybe we should go look for him?” Jing Jing begins to get a little too excited.

Mei on the other hand, doesn’t. “I don’t care anymore. I haven’t seen my parents for years; just like you. The last thing I need to do is get re-involved with them when I can care less.” Jing Jing’s head drops to her chest at the words.

“I don’t that’s right Mei. Don’t you ever wonder about that day?” Mei shakes her head as she comes to a standing position to face Jing Jing. “I think about it all the time, it was scary and he was so demanding of your father. I swear I thought I saw him lurking around your house once. But he was gone before I could grab my phone to call the police.”

The blonde sighs, “I don’t want to talk about this anymore. That is the last thing I wanted to talk about. Can’t we act like we use to, and pretend that never happened?” Mei’s voice began to get higher and higher as she refused to talk about the matter anymore  than they already have.

“Why not? It’s not like it’s going to kill you if you do!” She yells back.

“You don’t know that!”

Jing Jing stops to look at Mei in confusion, “What? What do you mean?” The shorter brunette girl stares at Mei in disbelief, “You can’t possibly think someone’s going to kill us because of that day? It’s over three years ago that, that happened. It’s not like that man is going to find us out of the random places we are. I mean, why do you think I applied to schools out of China; because I was too scared to stay there. And look, I’ve been fine, I haven’t seen him and I don’t have bad dreams anymore. Talking about the situation won’t make anything worse.” Mei huffs at the girl’s way of thinking.

“Let’s just drop it, the last thing I want to do is get into a fight with you.”

A knock on the door grabs both of the girl’s attention as they turn to stare at it, only to see both men starring back at them. “Is there a problem, we heard yelling?” Soon Young asks as he stares over at his fiancé with worried eyes.

Jing Jing shakes her head, “No, it’s just girl talk.” She says sweetly. Soon Young nods as he glances in Mei’s direction to see her standing there stiffened, which only makes Jun feel uncomfortable because it obviously means something’s wrong with her for her to be like that. The two boys ultimately leave, leaving the two girls alone once again. “I never told Soon Young about what happened or about why you left or really anything about my life back then at all.”

Mei nods, understanding why. Who would ever want to reveal that they were stabbed pretending to be their best friend, only to have the stabber say it’s ultimately because of their best friends psycho father. “I told him who you were, and that you and I just stopped being friends after high school ended. I never told him you disappeared.” Because having a best friend who randomly disappears your last year of high school is weird as well.

“It’s good you didn’t. He seems like a great guy.” Mei mumbles.

Jing Jing nods as her lower lip begins to tremble, “He is, he’s a really great guy. I like him more than Jun if you’re wondering. But, I think that if you and I went to college together he would’ve liked you more and you’d be the one getting married not me.” Mei scoffs before the two begin to laugh.

“Me, get married, are you crazy? I never even had a boyfriend.” She retorts.

Jing Jing laughs as tears escape her eyes for the second time today, “For some reason, Korean guys see Chinese woman as exotic so you probably would’ve had a boyfriend or two. I mean, if I can get engaged, you can find a boy to date.” Mei scoffs once more as she shakes her head, “The funny thing is I always thought, after you left that is, that Jun liked you.”

“Why would you say that?” She asks while tilting her heads.

Jing Jing shrugs her arms, “I don’t know it’s just a feeling I had. It felt like he stuck around me to get a small glimpse of you.” Mei shakes her head at Jing Jing’s words. Jun was barely a friend, and he was barely a neighbor when she thinks about it. He just got her into trouble; that’s all he was.

“So, I guess you can stay in this room, and Jun can camp out on the couch like when he always comes over.” Mei tilts her head to the side as Jing Jing drags Mei’s bag to the bed and places it down.

Mei stares at her, “I just came to say hi before going back to Seoul.”

“What?!”

Mei stands shocked as Jing Jing drags her out of the guest bedroom and to the kitchen where both of the men are standing rather surprised. “Is something wrong?” Jun asks as Jing Jing flings Mei at him, only to have both of them crash into each other before crashing into the counter behind Jun and finally to the tiled floor of the kitchen.

“You come to visit after three years, and after a minute of staying you’re going to leave? It’s either you stay for the week, or I murder you!” She screams as Soon Young puts a tender hand on the top of her shoulder.

Mei pulls herself off of Jun and stands up as he himself stands up. “Jing Jing, I just wanted to say hi, and then go on like I never came back. I’m not even going to be in Seoul for that long anyways. I was hoping you’d understand.”

“I don’t understand; why’d you come if you were just going to leave again. Can’t you see you already hurt me once when doing so, why would you do it again? Why would you hurt me again?” She cries, and Mei finally notices the non-stop tears running down her face.

She cringes, and slowly walks up to Jing Jing before wrapping her into a tight hug. She knew it could’ve happened, and it did ending happening. It’s like something in her heart says that Jing Jing is the only person in the world that never deserves to cry, that never deserves to be unhappy. She didn’t care if Jun asked her, or if Soon Young was to plead her, the only thing that would make Mei stay is Jing Jing’s tears; because then she really knows how badly she messed up by coming and disappearing once more. And the last thing Mei wants is to once again cause Jing Jing pain. “If it’ll make it any better, I’ll stay—for however long you want, I’ll stay.”

d i c t i o n a r y :

• Acid reflux: Digestive disease in which stomach acid or bile irritates the food pipe lining.