The rest of the trip to Venice was exactly what the travel agency said back in Korea. “It would be exciting!” The travel agent once mused. For Jieun, it was more than she could have ever wished for. Everything went by so fast, she lost track of time. By then, she remembered that this was her last day in the beautiful city. She would be leaving in the afternoon and by tomorrow she would be back to her normal routine. ‘Hopefully not,’ she wished.

There was one problem though. Was this the change she wanted? Is this what she wanted to achieve so badly? Is having fun enough? Yes?No? Maybe. She wasn’t sure. Although she loved the trip, she felt empty. She knew that when she went back home, it would all be the same over and over again.

Maybe she wasn’t meant to have a change in her life. That moment when she was packing her stuff, she felt bad, stuck.

Heavy hearted as she was, she grabbed her guitar and strummed it a few times. She always does this when she’s down. Jieun came up with a melody and soothed herself with it and drowning in her own song. There are no words for it yet.

She always wanted to be a musician but her parents forced her to study medicine. Having both her parents as doctors doesn’t help at all.

Suddenly she stopped playing when she heard a bell. It meant it was time to go and the tour guide was probably ecstatic, now that her job is over. She carried her things downstairs where the rest of the tourists were.

Few minutes were left before the bus to the airport goes. Since it would probably be her last few hours in Venice she wanted to have some coffee from her now favorite café, Peach café.

Rushing out the revolving doors, Jieun ran across the street and into the café.

“One café Americano, to go please,” she said to the lady behind the cashier.

She tapped her fingers impatiently in the counter top. The order was impossibly taking too long. Jieun checked her watch. “five more minutes,” she whispered to herself. She continuously checked across the street if the bus was still there.

Finally it came. The lady gave her an apologetic smile, handing her the coffee.

“Something went wrong with our coffee machine,” she explained. Something about her was very appealing and charming Jieun could not help but smile back.

“It’s fine. I just –“ Jieun said as she looked back across the street. Her chest tightened and her heart beating too fast. The bus was gone.

They left without her. With that thought, she ran out of the café. Her suitcase and her guitar in both her hands, she lunged towards the direction of the bus. She could still see it but it was getting smaller and smaller as she ran towards it.

‘How could they forget me?!! Don’t they do some head count or something?!’She practically screamed in her head.

She was out of breath and needed to stop running. Jieun needed to get to the airport. The plane is leaving in thirty minutes.

“Taxi,” she hissed. Her head snapped from left to right to look for a taxi. There were several taxis which went past her. Unfortunately, there were all occupied. She does not know Venice. The tours she had with all the tourist wasn’t enough to run her legs out to the airport. She could end up in God knows where for all she knows.

She is obviously having a bad day. Bad luck, she thought. Was this because of the black cat she saw walking past her last summer?

Just as she was about run, it rained.

Large raindrops fell on her face as looked up the sky.  Thirty minutes have passed, she knew if she got to a taxi right at that moment she wouldn’t have made it anyway.

She continued staring above, questioning the sky. “Why me?” she said merely a whisper. She wiped her face off, wiped the continuous drops of rain in her face along with her tears.

Jieun ended up in the café. For some odd reason she felt warm and calm in that place. The lady shot her a worried look and came over to her. She was wet all over but that was the last thing she was worried about at that moment. How is she going to get home? She can catch the next flight to Korea but does she have enough money for that?

“Miss, are you all right?” she asked as she lifted my face. Tears fell from Jieun’s eyes. She didn’t know how to answer her. Jieun looked at her in the eyes and that when Jieun fully recognized how she looked like.

The lady was about her mom’s age. In her middle forties, she guessed. But the woman in front still looked pretty and young. She smelled like roses and has that motherly vibe in her. Jieun did not really notice until then that she was Asian.

“Are you Korean?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Oh! I’m Korean as well. My son and I moved here four years ago.” When she said that, Jieun felt a bit relieved. At least she has someone, not a friend but an acquaintance who she can relate to.

“Oh.” Jieun smiled a little.

“I see the bus left you. You missed your flight right?” she said questioning me with her loving eyes.

“Yeah­­ I – “ Jieun started.

“Oh no!” She placed her hands in , surprise and deep regret in her voice. “It’s my entire fault. I should have given you the coffee immediately.”

“It’s not your fault.” Jieun tried to smile. She doesn’t blame her. “It’s fine, really,” she smile genuinely this time. Something about her is so warm and motherly, something her own mother lacks.

“Do you have any place to stay, sweetheart?” Jieun snickered when she heard ‘sweetheart’. She never heard her mother call her that. Not even when she was a child. Apparently, her mother is too busy saving other people’s lives while their children is left alone with a maid who was Italian, by the way.

“No, I don’t know. Maybe I should check in to the hotel. But I don’t have—“

“No worries. You can come with me tonight. I’ll bring you to the airport tomorrow.” She smiled at me.

Jieun had no choice but to take the offer. She doesn’t have enough money and she definitely doesn’t want to sleep in the streets in the pouring rain.

“My son is going to be thrilled to have visitors. It’s been a long time since we left Korea. It will be good for him to see some piece of the country. He’s been distant lately.” Her voice was a bit low on the last part. But she quickly changed the subject.

“Let me grab my stuff first, and then we’ll go.” She hurriedly walked towards what seemed like an office.

‘One more night could not hurt right?’ Jieun thought to herself.

“Okay, I’ll be right here.”