The paper in your hands felt as delicate as a flower petal. You stared at the words, reading them over and over again. They excited you and terrified you at the same time. It would be a new starting point in your life.
"Breakfast!"
You smiled and carefully folded the letter before slipping it back in to the envelope it came from. Then you climbed off your bed and headed downstairs. You found your mom in the kitchen, setting dishes on the table.
"I'm gonna to the work experience." you proclaimed.
She paused and looked at you in surprise. "What?"
You sat in one of the chairs and helped yourself to a pancake. "I decided to do it."
"Oh honey." She sat down next to you. "Are you sure? I mean, moving out of the country and.."
"Mom, I'll be fine." you assured her while grabbing the syrup. "And you know this is a once in a lifetime thing."
She sat down as well and sighed. "I don't know."
You pouted while whining, "Mom!" You sat the syrup down with a huff. "You said I could when I applied! I mean, this is huge. I get to work and go to school at the same time, and the company is taking care of everything. And we can still call each other, and I can visit for a weekend, and.."
"Okay, okay!" your mom exclaimed to silence you. Then she let out another sigh. "Alright. If this is what you really want to do."
"It is." you stubbornly declared. You cut your pancake and took a bite, as if your mouth being full of food signaled the end of the argument.
At that moment, you heard the front door open and a voice called out. "Hello!"
"In the kitchen!" replied your mother.
Youngjae entered the room with a plate wrapped in foil. "My mom sent me over with cookies." he stated while placing them on the table. As he eyed the other food on the table, his face lit up and he swiftly sat down in one of the empty chairs.
"Help yourself." your mom told him with a chuckle.
He grinned at her and stacked two pancakes on to a plate. "Thanks mom."
This brought about another chuckle from the older woman, but you merely rolled your eyes. Youngjae and you had grown up together with him living next door. With each other constantly at the other's house, the boy had quickly learned the best way to get what he wanted from your mother. Lots of cuteness and affectionately referring to her as 'mom' always earned him extra snacks and sweets.
"When are you going to take that old tree house down?" your mom suddenly asked.
"What??" Youngjae's mouth hung open, syrup smeared on the corner of his lips.
You looked out the window in to the backyard. The large tree in the center had a rope ladder hanging down that lead up to a small tree house. Youngjae's dad had built it for the two of you years ago. You and Youngjae had spent countless hours in your 'secret fort'.
Turning away from the window, you faced your mom and said, "It doesn't need to come down."
"It's so old now though, it can't be very safe. I'm sure the wood is rotting."
"No it's not." Youngjae piped in. "It's fine. It's not falling apart at all." He stuck his bottom lip out in an exaggerated pout and whined at your mother. "Please don't."
"Aish." She reached over and pinched his cheek. "Alright. But I'm going to have your dad look at it."
Youngjae smiled at her, but then smirked knowingly at you. You pressed your lips together to suppress your own smile. Your mother falling for Youngjae's antics did have it's benefits at times.
You hurriedly finished the rest of your pancake and stood up. "I got to send my reply before they pass it on to someone else. The deadline is in a couple of days."
"Wait, what reply?" Youngjae asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.
Without bothering to answer, you quickly left the room and ran back upstairs.

You examined the rope ladder for a moment before climbing up it. When you reached the top, you careful crawled on to the landing and then through the doorway. It was dark outside but the light bulb next to the back door shone in through the tree house's window. The wood was a bit worn from all the years, and smooth from walking on it.
Sitting back against one of the walls, you recalled all the memories you had made here as a child. Of course you were going to miss your family and your home, but you were definitely going to miss this place too.
A noise caught your attention and looked over to see Youngjae climb in to the tree house. "Hey." you greeted with a small smile. When he didn't reply though, the smile faded from your face.
He moved to sit across from you before narrowing his eyes. "Why are you leaving?"
You blinked at him in surprise. "What? You know I applied for the program. Why.."
"Don't leave." he interrupted. "Just tell them no and stay here."
"What??" This was unbelievable. Out of everyone, you never would have suspected for your best friend to be so unsupportive. "No! This is huge. You know how many people would kill to be my place?"
He leaned forward eagerly. "So let them have it! We can just go to a university together here. Like we planned before."
You scoffed a bit at that. "We were just kids when we said that."
His head jerked back slightly, his mouth widening. "So?? I meant it."
That was rather surprising, but you shook your head dismissively. "This is a great opportunity. I can't just throw it away."
"I don't want you to go!"
"I don't care!"
Silence descended on the two of you as you sat there glaring at him. Your anger instantly cooled though as you watched his eyes water. He looked down at the wood floor as he pressed his lips together and swallowed.
"Fine. Leave." he sneered. Then he went to the doorway.
"Youngjae, wait." You reached for him but he roughly shoved your arm away. He disappeared down the rope ladder, leaving you alone.
Guilt caused your own eyes to water. Your mood abruptly changed again though and you wiped the tears away. You didn't do anything wrong. He was the one being unreasonable. He didn't even wait for you to explain how much this meant to you. If he was any kind of friend to you, he'd want you to do this. So screw him and whatever feelings of his that you hurt.

The next couple of days were fine. Youngjae never called, or messaged, or even showed up at your house, which was exactly what you wanted. You didn't want anything to do with him. It wasn't until the days turned in to a week, and then two weeks, that your emotions swung back around. As your departure date crept closer, the harder it was to hold on to your stubborn pride. You broke down and sent him a message telling him when you were leaving. You also told him you wanted to hang out before you left but you never got a reply.
Finally you were loading your suitcase in to the car and reminding your dad to mail the boxes you had marked. Your gaze wandered over to Youngjae's house and part of you hoped to see him running out of the door to see you off.
"We have a few minutes." your mom stated. "Go ahead and go say goodbye."
You hesitated for a brief moment and then hurried over to his house. You entered the front door without knocking to find his mother sitting in the living room with a pile of laundry she was folding.
"Oh, hello dear." she greeted with a bright smile.
"Hello. Is Youngjae home?"
She shook her head. "No. He headed out early this morning. Why?"
It took a bit for her words to sink in and then your chest constricted, making it harder to breathe. "Oh." you uttered dejectedly.
The older woman stopped doing her task and looked at you curiously. "What's wrong?"
You swallowed past a growing lump in your throat. "I... I'm leaving. Today. And I just... wanted to..."
"That's today?? Oh goodness I completely lost track of the days. Have you tried calling him?"
Pressing your lips together, you shook your head. "I-I should go. My parents.."
"Hold on. I have something for you." She stood up and hurried to the kitchen. When she came back, she had a few cookies wrapped up. She grabbed your hand and pressed them in to your palm but didn't let go, holding your hand instead as she looked you in the eye with a soft smile. "You're going to do wonderful and I am so proud of you."
Your eyes watered slightly as you smiled back at her. "Thank you."
"And if you ever need anything, you can call me too, okay? Don't hesitate to ask. Promise me."
"I promise." you replied and only then did she let go of you.
With one last farewell, you left the house and started to head back to your driveway. You slowed to a stop though as you spotted the tree in your backyard, and the tree house in it. More tears welled up in your eyes. If only you could go back in time. You would have tried to reason with him more instead of yelling at him. Tried to get him to understand what this meant to you. Then you would still have your best friend.