There is no better feeling than the realization that you have made your dream come true.

For Dowoon and Sungjin, that moment was when they stood in front of their red Dodge pickup truck.

Sungjin felt like he’d burst. He held his breath and let Dowoon squeeze his hand to keep him on the ground.

He remembered when the dream was born; years ago in the school library. The two of them, hunched over an atlas, making a list of all the places they wanted to visit together.

Dowoon had taken out a toy pickup truck and placed it on the map. “We’ll see the world in one of these.” It sounded amazing. They couldn’t wait to grow up, to make their dream reality.

A couple of years later they had realized that their plan, or better yet dream, had been very flawed. They had known that they wouldn’t be able to make it; they knew they’d never be able to fund the trip and their list had been far too long. They had started to lose hope.

Dowoon and Sungjin had been lucky enough to have parents who wouldn’t let them give up. They were the ones who had said “But why not?”

Together, Dowoon and Sungjin had learned that dreams can become reality, but for it to be so they had to be slightly bent to fit the forms of reality. They had started working to achieve their dream in any way they could. They had both found part time jobs and on the weekends they used to put on small street performances in the main street of their hometown. When he was old enough, Sungjin had gotten a driver’s license and they were nearly there.

It had taken them a couple of years. With their parents help and support, they made it.

And when they did, it took them a few moments to realize that it was happening. They were really going to do it.

“Sungjin,” Dowoon said, sounding overwhelmed.

He turned to face the other and in the next moment, he jumped up. He almost knocked Sungjin over, wrapping his legs around his waist, but they were both laughing.

“We did it,” Dowoon was saying.

“We did it,” Sungjin echoed.

When it was time to leave, they didn’t find it hard to do so. Sungjin didn’t feel anything while the twin houses grew distant, both of their families standing by them, waving them goodbye. Sungjin didn’t feel the pain in his chest or the heaviness of his departure – none of the feelings people describe about leaving home.

Sungjin felt exactly like he had felt when he’d first seen the pickup truck. He felt just like he had felt when Dowoon had hugged him. That was the only thing he felt.

Sungjin was at the wheel and Dowoon was in the back with their stuff. They played annoyingly loud music and sang at the top of their lungs. Dowoon waved at passing cars. Some of them, he flipped off for no reason. Sungjin drove above the speed limit and Dowoon cheered him on. At one point Dowoon stood up, spread his arms and closed his eyes. After a while he collapsed with a big smile on his face, his hair a tangled mess and eyes still closed.

Three CDs later, and of course after being whipped by the wind, Dowoon calmed down and even fell asleep in the back. Sungjin turned the music down and for a change drove responsibly. But a smile never left his face.

At the time the road was empty. The sun was high on the sky and everything seemed calm. Being as hot as it was, it was no wonder that no one wanted to be out on the highway.

Then Sungjin saw someone in the distance.

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