20 years old; 5 years ago.

I thought that pushing to study in Seoul was the best decision I ever had.

I left our small town behind along with bitter memories I had all because of a certain Lee Seoyeon. Pretty Lee Seoyeon, that was. Mom was surely against me leaving, but dad managed to convince her it was a great opportunity for me to further my education, especially that I passed for the prestigious Yonsei University. Yonsei was a part of SKY—the big three of the universities in Korea and this was a rare chance to come by.

After leaving, I didn’t get to hear where the pretty Lee Seoyeon went to study. I wasn’t sure how she came to be after high school and I truly didn’t plan on knowing. I was happy that way; that I didn’t have to think about her and that finally I could focus on myself and being happy.

Those five years in college was a super blast. I studied to my heart’s content while playing with my friends. Yes, friends! I finally got to know friends who liked me for being silly me. Finally, I wasn’t ‘just’ Seoyeon, who people compared with the perfect Lee Seoyeon.

I was my own person and I truly enjoyed it that way.

My grades weren’t perfect and I didn’t grow curvaceous as I grew to become a twenty-ish year old girl, but people liked me. Somehow, their approval was all I needed and wanted. Maybe I craved for something like that for the past few sluggish years of my youth, that being noticed was a bliss already.

I didn’t date guys, though some called me ‘cute’, but being not in a relationship didn’t make me feel lonely. For some reason, college didn’t make me lonely. Plus, mom and dad became prouder of me. Now, that I did something right by studying at Yonsei, they finally thought I was precious. Mom didn’t nag at me that much since. Dad gave me more allowance and didn’t scold me for not going home for six months during my first year in college. I was the youngest child of four and had to share hand-me-downs from my older siblings, but after moving away from home, I stopped receiving them. Mom sometimes bought me new clothes and a brand new cellphone during my birthday too!

My life was in an all-time high during college and I couldn’t ask for more then.

There were alwa