Saying it's all in the past sounds so melodramatic, but maybe that's because the mere meaning of the word is so dramatic. 

Past  - Gone by in time and no longer existing. 

Except, for Byun Jinsol it felt like it was only now starting to exist--maybe it's better to say she felt like she was going back in time. To an old life long since diminished by new memories and forgotten moments. Bad memories seem to stick around, maybe not for longer than good ones, but they're such bold streaks that it feels like they're going to forever be more present. That must be why Jinsol is hung up on the bad memories from her old life, even when she has so many good ones. Or maybe she's just overly emotional. Goodness she hated those words. 

"I'm not going to miss my flight." Jinsol told her mom for what felt like the umpteenth time as she threw her hoodie over her head, wiggling so it would go on properly. It was nowhere near cold enough for it, but both her suitcases would probably combust if she tried to stuff one more article of clothing into them. She should have known two suitcases wouldn't be sufficient, even with a large carry on and personal bag. It wasn't that she was an excessive packer, it was just hard to condense four years of her life down like this. 

"That's probably what they said before missing their flight." Her mom said pointedly from the other line. 

"Who's 'they', Mom?" Jinsol asked, trying to hide the amusement in her voice. 

Her mom sighed, "You know who! The people who miss their flights because they thought they were managing time better than they actually were." She sounded like she was pacing back and forth. 

"Is something up with you?" Jinsol finally asked. Her mom wasn't even this stressed out when she sent her fifteen year old to America. She was stressed, of course, but not to the point of babbling; her mother never babbled. Jinsol's words seemed to stop her mother in her steps, or so it sounded. 

"No. Nothing is up." She said after a brief pause. "It's just that I'm so excited to see you, and if you missed your flight it would take forever to get a new one." Jinsol didn't believe that that was the only thing bothering her mother, but she also has too much to get done for her to spend time interrogating her mother. 

She zipped up her suitcase as she spoke, "I'll be on the flight that leaves in-" she moved her phone from her ear long enough to check the time, "five hours. And then I'll land in Incheon roughly twelve and a half hours later." Gosh, this was going to be a long flight. "Which means you'll be reunited with your favorite child in less than eighteen hours." 

"More than." Her mom said before hastily moving on. "Oh, I think your brother's home, I have to go, text me before you board the plane!" And just like that the other line went dead. Jinsol looked at her phone, an uneasy feeling taking root in her stomach. 

 She didn't allow herself to dwell on the feeling. Instead she took a look around the room she'd been living in for the past four years. Acutely remembering the day she arrived and cried herself to sleep in the same bed she was now sitting on the edge of. It was sad, leaving after building a life here. At least when she left South Korea she knew she would be going back in a few years, but now she didn't know if she'd ever come back to California. Which meant those good-byes she said to her friends could have meant forever. 

Her bedroom door opened. Her aunt walked in, looked at the zipped up suitcases and immediately got misty eyed. "My sweet Jinsol~" She whined, grabbing Jinsol's hand in hers. "I'm going to be so bored here without you."  Compared to her aunt, Jinsol really wasn't t