Lia stared at her bedroom door helplessly. She’d made her decision. She wasn’t going to regret it.

And she was going to push away the image of Mark’s tormented face before he left.

But she can’t lie. Something about his face made her question her decision. Could she really leave them?

No. . .

Ji Yong came in and she looked up from her bed. “What happened last night?” he asked her.

She shrugged. “Mark and I had a fight.”

He nodded. “I can see that,” he snorted, folding his arms as he leaned against the doorway.

“It’s hard,” she said softly.

He came over to her. “I know, baby. I know.”

But then she smiled brightly. “I know what I want now,” she told him. “I have made my choice.”

He sat down next to her. “What is it?”

She shook her head. “I’m not telling you,” she said, pretending to zip her lips.

“Then I’ll make you.” He made a move to tickle her.

“Aaaah!” she squealed as she tried to fight him off. “I’m still not talking!”

“You leave me no choice but to use my ultimate secret weapon.”

She snorted. “I wonder what that is.”

“This.” He jumped on her and pinned her to the bed, kissing her.

“Mmm, makes me not want to tell you,” she said.

“I’m not letting you go,” he replied.

She hugged him. “Well, I don’t want you to, baby,” she said, smiling.

“This is only the start, you know.”

“Oh yea?”

He smirked as he sat up and took his shirt off, revealing his six packs. Then he lifted her shirt up slowly to show her stomach but he stopped when it was about to expose her bra. He left it like that and pressed his bare skin against her. She gasped at the tingling feeling. He leaned down and kissed her stomach. His hands caressed her waist.

A quiet moan slipped past her lips without her realizing.

He chuckled, knowing she liked it. “And I thought you were an innocent girl.” He came back up and kissed her on the lips, pressing her to him.

“You’re more of a tease than I am,” she retorted.

“We could do this the right way, babe,” he said slyly.

She shook her head and pushed him off gently. “Not happening. In your dreams, lover boy,” she replied.

He sat down next to her. “Your bed is so nice and comfortable,” he remarked. “I like it.”

“Same here.”

He pinched her shoulder. “Not funny.”

“I’m not even laughing.” But her giggles gave her away. Then she stopped. “Ji Oppa? How long will you be here for?”

“A week.”

Lia bit her lips. A week was too short. She wanted more time. But . . . maybe it’s better this way, too.

“Why do you ask?”

“I . . .” She hesitated. “I want to go with you when you leave. I — I have decided to live with you guys.”

Ji Yong tried not to let his emotions get the better of himself. “Really?”

Lia looked into her boyfriend’s eyes and knew she was making the right decision. She nodded. “Honestly, the moment oppa asked me, I already knew my decision. It was just a few . . . barriers . . . that stopped me.”

Ji Yong swept her off her feet, twirling her around. He kissed her.

She giggled, pulling away. “But I need to get everything done by the end of this week,” she said seriously. “If I can’t, I’m not coming back until . . . after Christmas.”

He dived under her covers and came out from the other side. He peeked out and smiled. “Hi,” he said.

She shook her head. “Sometimes, you can be a lot like Dae Sung Oppa. So annoying.” But then she dive in as well and came up beside him. “Hi.”

He laughed, pulling her in for a hug. “Have you told your parents your decision?”

She nodded. “I told them this morning before they left for work. And right now, I gotta get ready for school.”

“What am I going to do for the whole day?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Think of it as when I was stuck home while you guys were out,” she replied.

He slapped her hand lightly. “Cheek.”

She laughed and hurried to the toilet. She was about to close the door when Ji Yong came and blocked it. “I want to see,” he whined like a little child.

“Ji Oppa! I need to get ready!”

He shook his head. “Please?” He pouted his lips.

Lia tiptoed to kiss him. Before she could react, he pushed her in the bathroom and closed the door behind them. Startled, she let out a cry.

“Grrr, why are you so touchy-feely these days?” she asked.

“Because I don’t want to ever lose you again,” he replied.

“Silly,” she said affectionately. “You’re not going to. I’m coming back, right?”

He nodded. He kissed her one last time before he let her have her privacy. Lia quickly showered and came out, wrapped in a towel.

Ji Yong looked up and raised an eyebrow. Then he turned back to the book he was reading as Lia walked into her wardrobe to get dressed.  “Hey, Lia?” he called.

“Yeah?”

“I already settled everything with the boys,” he told her. “They can’t wait for you to come home. I’ll swing by later after school.”

She smiled. Home.

When she came out, she kissed him on the cheek as a ‘see you soon’ before heading off for school.

It was time to say goodbye.

She walked to school, each step feeling heavier by the minute. But she has to do it. When she reached school, she sat through assembly in silence as she listened to her principal talk. Afterwards, they hurried back to their class. Once she was sure everyone had settled down and Ms. Payton was at her table, she got up. It’s a good thing that no one was at her table asking for help now.

She approached her teacher. “Ms. Payton, can I talk to you in private?”

Her teacher looked up. “Yeah, sure, what is it?”

She sat down on the chair in front of her. She hesitated, not sure how to tell her teacher. “Um, later after school, there’s going to be someone coming to talk to you about me.”

“Oh, what about?”

She bit her lip. “It’s about . . . me moving to Korea,” she said.

Ms. Payton was shocked. “Korea? Why are you moving to Korea?”

“When I was in Korea because of my relative’s accident, I got an offer to stay in Korea,” she explained. “I liked being in Korea. My relatives taught me a few simple Korean words so I can communicate there a bit. If I go, I’ll learn.”

“So you’re leaving?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I thought, ‘why not? It’s an opportunity given and if I don’t take it, I might regret it’.”

“When?”

“Yeah . . .” she said slowly. “I’m . . . leaving this Sunday.”

“What? That fast?”

Lia nodded. “I was given the offer a few weeks ago but it was only last night when I had decided to go. And I would wait until the year ended but I thought the faster I leave . . .”

“So it won’t be so hard to say goodbye,” her teacher supplied.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Wow . . . that’s fast.”

“Er, can you . . . not tell anyone about this until . . . Friday?”

Her teacher nodded. “Sure.” She got up and went to hug Lia. “I’m going to miss you.”

Lia felt tears falling down and she wiped it away. “Thanks.” She walked back to her seat.

For the next few days Lia was sad when she was in school. But when she was packing her stuff at home, she was happy that she would finally be with her real family: Big Bang.

Finally on Friday, as her class all came into the classroom and settled down in their seats, Ms. Payton spoke up, “Lia has something she’ll like to say.”

Lia froze as all eyes turned to her. She tried to move to speak but somehow they wouldn’t open.

Ms. Payton saw her struggles and decided to help her out. “Today, class, is her last day in this school.”

“What?!” thirty-two students gasped.

Lia’s eyes brimmed with tears and she quickly covered her head, avoiding all the staring eyes, especially from her friends.

“She’s going to Korea,” Ms. Payton went on. “It’s a sudden change, I know, but Lia had gone through a tough time to make this decision. It is her own free will. She only just decided last week. So now we are going to pray for her. Those who are near her, you may put your hand on her.”

Everyone bowed their heads. Some put their arms around her as Ms. Payton began to pray. Lia just sobbed quietly. She knew she was going to have to deal with her friends later. But she can’t do it, not right now.

When the prayer ended, she hurried to the toilet and hid in there. She didn’t want to come out. But after ten minutes, she reluctantly left the cubicle.

Shervonne came out from the next. She was crying too. Lia knew why. They’d been best friends since they were kids. They promised each other they would always be in the same school no matter what.

“It’s because of Big Bang, isn’t it?” she asked Lia quietly.

“I’m sorry,” was all Lia could say.

Paige and Rylee came in the toilet and the four of them did a group hug.

“Mark’s angry with me for choosing them over you guys,” Lia sighed.

“Don’t listen to him,” Paige said. “Just do what your heart tells you to do. And obviously it’s Big Bang.”

Rylee nodded. “We still have Facebook, so we must keep in touch. Okay?”

Lia smiled, feeling slightly better. “Okay,” she said.

They did a group hug again and walked out. Dylan and Ned were waiting outside for her. She just hugged them wordlessly.

Shervonne took her camera out and got another student to take a picture of them, without Mark.

Lia was going to miss her friends.

But she knew she had to do this. She had to leave Melbourne and move to Korea.

She was meant to.