“Mum, dad, I’ll miss you,” I cried. I tried so hard to hold back my tears but they kept rolling down my cheek.

“_____ah, it will be okay. We have trust in you. Study hard and we will see you again next year. Until then, eat well and make sure to have good sleep every day. Don’t forget to call us at least once every week.” Mum held me tight as she wiped the tears from my face. I knew that she was sad, but I could tell that she did not want to cry in front of me. She was struggling very hard as well…

“Hurry _____ah, or you’ll miss your flight.” Dad held my two hands and gently separated me from mum. “Call us as soon as you arrive. Good luck, and always have faith in yourself. Have a safe time and we’ll see you next year.”

I nodded with resistance, but reluctantly backed away from them as I walked over. I didn’t know how I was to manage without them. Although I have managed to study hard and thus excel well in my home country Australia, I didn’t know how to spend a whole year in Korea without the guide of my parents. This is something that we have discussed for a long time. I knew that this day would come someday, but not this quickly…

“Calling all passengers to board flight 939 to Korea, please come to gate 35 as we are now about to board the plane.”

I sniffled and slowly stood up. I fumbled around in my pockets for my plane tickets but couldn’t find them anywhere. Desperately, I began to search around my bag, trying to remember where I had last seen them…

However, no matter how hard I searched, I could not find them anywhere. I started to go on my knees and searched the floor.

“Last call to passengers boarding flight 939 to Korea, please come to gate 35, last call to passengers…”

I was becoming desperate, it was nearly boarding time and I couldn’t find my ticket anywhere. Tears started to fall across my cheek once again. I didn’t know how to tell this to my parents after all the promises that I had made to them. I need to find it, I need to find it…

“Excuse me miss, is this what you arelooking for?”

I instantly stopped crying and slowly looked up to find a boy smiling gently as he held out what appeared to be my ticket. I wiped away my tears and slowly took the ticket. After making sure that the ticket was mine, I slowly turned to the boy to thank him but he instantly pulled on my arm. “Quick, or we’ll miss our flight!”

*We?* I was confused, but I followed him to gate 35, where as soon as we handed our tickets in, we started to run.

“The plane for flight 939 is about to take off…”

“Quickly!” said the boy, as we ran across to the entrance, where they were taking in the last passengers.

*Phew, I made it!* I thought as I straightened out my clothes. As soon as I boarded the plane, I headed to the bathroom, where I washed my face and re-applied some makeup, then after checking my seat number, I headed down the plane. After some time, I managed to find my seat and sat down. I snuggled in my seat and closed my eyes. *Ah, so this is it. Goodbye Australia…*

“Hello, we meet again.”

Startled, I turned my attention to the direction of the voice. Sitting next to me, was the guy who found my ticket, smiling that same heart melting smile…