Early January

 The weather was getting cooler as the days passed in Singapore and you were at Changi Airport Terminal 2 Paris Baguette and all you wanted to do was fly to your favourite and most comforting vacation place Seoul, South Korea. It has been months since you quit your toxic job. You did travelled to other countries but no country could top Seoul.

You were browsing through your archives on your phone when you went to Seoul with your love ones. Smiles were formed when you watch the precious travel vlogs on Youtube. Tears immediately starts to fall when late Mama appeared. The first memory you had for Seoul was when in August 2018 your family decided to go on your first trip to South Korea. We spent two weeks in Seoul city and also at a small island called Jeju-do just to get away from the busy rustling city.

Lots of memories were made and it just brings a lot of feels whenever you reminisce about them. Not long after your first trip to South Korea, Mama passed away in November 2018 due to Uterus Cancer. Heartfelt Prayers to Mama.

After going down memory lane you decided to take a long walk at Jewel Shopping Mall and a camera by your side, taking pictures of every single detail you saw. The mall amazed you. It amazed you with the way how children played around, how beautiful the Indoor Waterfall was, how the plants were in their own world and how couples who were in love walked around hand in hand.

Ugh love......

You didn’t have anything against love; it was just, love made you jealous because you’ve never fallen in love before. No. More like you’re sick of it. You thought you are but you were just lying to yourself. It was just another way to hide from the reality. The reality hurt you in more than ways you could have imagined and that was one of the reasons why you couldn’t just get up and go out again dating.

It was about a few years ago when you had your first breakup. It broke you. Hard. And you told yourself  “Men are trash”. There were times where you literally felt your heart stop then continue beating a few seconds later because it was so badly hurt by the breakup. You had attempted to go on dates with some others but the heart never got fixed. You’ve learned to live with it and by that means you’ve became this person who wasn’t you. You organized a whole new life and decided to chase your dreams instead.

You stopped hoping for love and maybe that’s the reason why you just wanted to travel around the world. Your love for KPOP and Korean culture as a whole actually tried to fill up the emptiness of your heart. Which sometimes it helps.

You wanted to migrate to study Korean Language Linguistics in Seoul but as your father will be all alone in Singapore. You are unable to do so. You are the only child in the family and since Mama passed away you had took up the Woman of the family responsibility. To said it was a stressful and it would be bad for you mentally, you decided to pursue a career in Travel Tourism Management. It wasn’t bad after all, you really enjoyed it and thank god it wasn’t hard on you. In addition, you had a great cousin called Lee Donghyuck.

Hyuck was your partner in crime. He was there when you started to venture into this travel business. You really couldn’t imagine a life without him. These two years was hard for you but also it was hard for Hyuck. He had to see his best cousin go through so much pain. The worst part, there was nothing he could do to make your pain go away but watch. There were times where you and Hyuck just hugged each other and cried to sleep. One of the thousands of good things about Hyuck was, he made the atmosphere go easy. He always had something to say that made you smile and laugh. There was even one time where Hyuck made you laugh so hard that you couldn’t breathe and you almost died.

It was supposed to be a monthly meet up where Hyuck will come over to your place and check up on each other. He never even once missed coming to the meet ups. He was your emotional support.

“Are you alright (Insert Name)?’’ asked Hyuck.

“You know I was never alright right? This time is no different.’’ You said, still staring your computer.

“When is your next group tour to Seoul?’’ He said, making you look at your phone Calendar.

“4^th of February. Why do you ask?” you answered.

“Maybe you should stay there a little longer this time once your group tour is over. Who knows that might help you feel slightly better?” said Hyuck cheekily.

“Yeah most probably. I might do that cause I did buy an open ticket coming back home.” You said winking.

And that is how you started preparing for your Seoul-o Trip. Estimated. Apparently, your work circumstances made it easier for you to travel back to South Korea. You were only left with one week till you depart to Seoul. That was a chance you could get away from Singapore for a while even though you will be leaving your father behind. But you definitely made sure you prepared all the food supplies for your father so he wouldn’t go hungry when you’re away.

‘’Just try to live your life fully but without any stress.’’ was the last thing Hyuck said before he went back home. You won’t be seeing him for the next plus minus three weeks. Damn you missed him already.

Hyuck’s words linger around your head for a while after he left. It didn’t feel like reality that you’re heading back to Seoul. It was like you were in a some kind of k-drama. A time travelling drama. Well one thing for sure definitely you’re not heading there for a holiday though. It’s a business trip for crying out loud.

The day you flying off to Seoul came and you said goodbye to Singapore for a while or maybe forever.

-to be continued-