April 2018

The Head of Program just told the student that the announcement is sent by email to all students, where they're going, which university, and their friends in the university. As Jongkook just got home from the gym, he got a notification on his phone from the university he applied to in the exchange program. He opened it as soon as he's done with showering. 

Dear Jong Kook Kim,

You're picked to join the exchange program for Rotterdam Business School. You will be notified of the requirement for applying for the visa and all documents to stay in The Netherlands for 6 months and you are required to booked accommodation for the 6 months stay in Rotterdam before applying for the visa. 

Thank You

Warm Regards, 

Rotterdam Business School

His feelings are through the roof after reading the email, he was so happy to the point that he got nervous just imagining he lived in another country, alone, with the language he barely knows. He sleeps feeling excited as tomorrow he will meet his friends to know where they're going for the program. 

The next day

He entered the class feeling excited as all of them are already busy talking with one another about yesterday's email. He sat down beside Jaesuk as he moved his hand to go sit beside him. 

"Ya!, where are you going next semester?" he asked as he knows that they will not be together in the program for next semester.

"Rotterdam, Netherlands. You?" he answered and asked to the exited Jaesuk.

"Taiwan. I am going with Seokjin Hyung and Somin. Man, I'm excited, although that I don't know much about Taiwan, but I am surely excited about the companion. 

"Wow, it's going to be fun with the three of you together. I still don't know who I'm going with. All I know is that the University only accepts two students to join the program, I am one of the two and my partner is still mysterious," he said while looking at the whole class as he was finding his partner in crime. 

"All I know that Jihyo and Jisoo are applying to your university though," Jaesuk said while pointing to both girls. "One would be very happy and the other one would be quite dejected as both of them are eyeing that university from the start."

"I'll ask later," he moved when the teacher arrived.

The class went by quickly and now they are ready to go.

"Jong-kook Oppa!" a voice was heard from behind Jongkook as he reached for the door. He turned and found that Jihyo is waving his hand to Jong-kook. He stays at the door while waiting for her to reach him. 

"We are going to Rotterdam together!" she shouts a little showing her excitement. 

"Jinjja!?" He asked with a little shock.

"Yeah, you beat Jisoo huh? I was told by HaHa that you're going to Rotterdam for the program and I was excited because it would be very scary to live in an unknown place far away from home with a girl. At least you can help me bring my groceries, hehehe," she made a quite convincing statement.

"Hahahahahahaha, you just wanted to use me as your bodyguard huh?!" Jong-kook asks jokingly. 

She hit him in the shoulder, "No, maybe you could help me with everything," she said while walking toward the exit. 

"Alright, go home safe Jihyo-ya," he said goodbye as he walked towards the food court and Jihyo towards the lobby being picked up by her parents

Jong-kook was never been so close to Jihyo up until that moment, it was also the longest talked they have after being in the same class for two years. He was excited, nervous, and proud. He is excited because he will go to the country his parents have been talked about for the last 3 years as his mother's friend lived there. He is nervous because he hasn't lived abroad alone for six months. He also proud because he beat his friend, Jisoo, to go to Rotterdam. 

May 2018

After getting closer to Jihyo through chatting, he was glad that he partnered with Jihyo because she keeps reminding him to complete the requirement for the program. She reminds him of the date, to pick the accommodation, to pick the subject they will be studying there, the date they will start studying, and most importantly the deadline of the visa. They were seen together discussing the accommodation, the subject, and the visa requirement document that was quite complicated to start with. 

"Oppa, today is the day to booked the apartment for the next semester," she reminded him while walking towards the class.

"Ah geurae?" he asked while scratching his hair. 

"Did you forget? we need to be fast because it will open at 11 this afternoon," she answered with an annoyed tone. 

"Okay, we'll do it together okay?" he asks while grabbing her shoulder

"Okay."

10.30 am

Jihyo waves her hands to attract Jong-kook's attention. After Jong-kook looked at her, she points her finger at her phone, signaling that it is time to get ready to book the accommodation. Jong-kook nodded and pull his phone out, he started texting his father to be ready with his credit card to be used for confirming and finalizing the booking process. After receiving his father's approval, he opens the website for booking the accommodation and he sees lots of apartment units being listed with a variety of prices. As the clock hits 11.00, he picked the cheapest one and said sold out with grey shading. He then picked the available one with 500-something Euro/month. But before booking it with his father's credit card, he asks Jihyo which one she gets or will get.

"Have you booked yet?" Jong-kook asked while peeking at her phone.

"Yet, because the one we agreed on is sold out? Are we going to proceed with the available one Oppa?" she asked with a worried look on her face. 

"Well, I said that we proceed and we talked to the campus later, because if we wait and discuss, the unit might be sold as soon as we are done discussing." he sounds convincing. 

"Yeah, you're right," she said giving up

They proceed with the 500 Euro one and then discuss it with the campus later after class. They then proceed to meet the head of the program about the matter. They also text their parent about the matter as well because their parents are the ones who will pay their living expenses there. Some of the expenses are returned by the campus, liked the accommodation, the book, and anything related to the study process when they are finished but their parents are the ones who responsible for additional expenses. 

After some discussion with the head of the program, the campus finally agreed that they will cover all the accommodation despite being over the budget by almost €200. They solved one of the problems, with one down three to go. They then proceed with the subject they're going to study in Rotterdam. They need to meet the host campus requirement and also the home campus requirement to transfer their subject after the program is done. 

"Oppa, what are you going to pick for the electives?" she asks while pondering about the requirement

"I don't know, I haven't finished picking the major one," he answers without looking at her.

"Huh? I thought we agreed to pick the same one," she answers with a little shout. 

"Yeah, I just reviewed the description as to which one suits me best, you know I hate doing a big project without the boys," he said with a serious tone and she also reviewed the subject description. 

"Ah, I think we should pass this Oppa, here said that we need to go to a company and interview them about the subject. It says that it takes the whole semester to pass," she said with a big sighed. 

"What!?" he shocked, "No, no, no, abort that subject," he said while shaking his head for a whole minute. "It has a big number of credits, but I'd rather pick many small ones than one but complicated like that, I just wanted to enjoy the city while studying not stressing in the beautiful city like Rotterdam," 

He then proceeds to pick the electives with a small number of credits. They spend almost two hours discussing the subject with enough amount of credits to meet the home campus requirement. They agreed on selecting language, art, and marketing for their electives as they have the least amount of project from the subject description. Jong-kook then bid farewell to Jihyo as he has to go to the gym. They finished their day with half of their big problems solved. 

Next Week

Jong-kook received an email from the RBS (the university he will attend for the exchange program).

Dear Students, 

The learning process for IBMS students for the upcoming semester will be moved from Kralingse Zoom to Posthumalaan as the building is under renovation for the lack of fire-proof material in the building. So the learning process will be move starting next term. 

The detail of the location will be in the attachment below. Thank you for your understanding.

Warm Regards,

Rotterdam Business School

Jong-kook then checks the map for the new campus location. "Oh no, it is on the other side of town and it takes double the time to reach the new campus location," he says to himself and swears inside his head because when he books his accommodation, he looks for the closest accommodation to the Kralingse Zoom campus. He didn't say anything to his partner which is Jihyo.

the Next Day at Class

"Oppa!" Jihyo called Jong-kook as he turned around. 

"What's up Jihyo-ya?" he looked at Jihyo as she walks towards him. 

"Have seen the email from RBS yesterday?" she ask and her tone rather annoyed.

"Yeah, we picked the wrong apartment. But hey, we can manage, right? it's just a change of direction," he said, trying to calm her down.

"Eo, we kinda unlucky with the accommodation and the campus just change the location. I already hate it," Jihyo seats beside him as she looked to the floor. 

He looked at her and try to pat her back but he reaches for the chair instead. "Hey, we face it together okay? You can rely on me and I can rely on you," his voice rather calming. She then looked at him with a little smile on her lips as she then moves to her original seat. Jihyo was delighted that she can rely on him because she was within her limit to cry from stress from the project, exam, visa document, and now the campus location just changed. She needed that coming from him and she realized that he was more mature than he looks. At least she didn't have to worried about it for now. 

July 2018