you woke up to the blaring sound of the alarm, just as she did every other morning. Squinting to protect her eyes from the morning light streaming in through the open window – opened at the courtesy of her lovely mother – you sat up in bed and closed the curtains. Stumbling out of bed, you shuffled her way to the bathroom next door. you looked at her reflection in the mirror through half-open eyes – an unrecognisable mess as usual. Taming the forest sprouting on her head with a brush, you went about on her daily hygienic routine.

Feeling much more refreshed, you went back to her room and opened the closet. From her nearly empty closet, you pulled out a pair of jeans, a shirt, a cardigan, and a bag. Once dressed and packed for the day, you took a final look at herself in the mirror. you looked just as she did every other morning, but she knew better: today was not like every other morning. Today, everything was going to take a turn for the worse – just as she had planned.

“Mum, Dad – I’m leaving now,” you announced as she put her shoes on.

“Don’t stay out too late. Come back before it gets dark.”

“I know, I know,” you assured them. “See ya.”

you tried to block out her thoughts on the bus ride to the city. Her phone beeped and 1 new message flashed on the screen.

I’ll be there in a few minutes, the text read.

About 5 for me, you replied.

K, came the reply.

you went to her messages and saw the abnormally large number of texts in the inbox contrasting with the small number of replies she had made in her sent messages. Since you had purposely stayed offline for the past few weeks, her phone was the only way she could be contacted. Scrolling through the texts for one last time, you deleted every message just as the bus was reaching the stop.

you hopped off the bus and started walking towards her destination. The café was small, remote, and unmemorable. It was a place neither of them wouldn’t return to for any reason. you pushed the door open and scanned the various people seated at tables. Her eyes stopped on a table in the far corner where her gaze was met with the guy sitting there. As you approached him, he stood up and hesitantly hugged her. Her arms stayed at her side as they stood there in their embrace. you broke the hug by pushing him away and taking a seat opposite from his. He sat back down and you avoided his stare by staring at his left shoulder instead.

“Before I say anything,” Jaejoong began, “can you at least tell me what’s been going on? Why won’t you talk to me online?”

“My Internet’s been down.”

“Why don’t you answer my calls?”

“Sometimes I’m not near my phone.”

“How come you only reply to some of my texts, and late too?”

“I forget.”

“Why haven’t you gone out to see me?”

“Because I’m sick of lying to make excuses to see you,” you snapped at his never-ending interrogation.

He looked taken aback by her answer and sat back in his chair looking a bit exasperated. “So that’s it? You’re not willing to try anymore? For us?”

you's silence was enough of an answer for him.

“You know, I wanted to try and work this out.” Here, you looked at him with direct eye contact. “But I can see that you’re obviously not willing to do the same.”

“What are you trying to say?” you asked frustratingly.

“It’s over,” he stated. Her face showed no sign of emotion. “I can’t be with someone who doesn’t love me anymore.”

“So are you breaking it off?” you clarified.

“Yeah, I am,” he concluded.

you stood up from her seat. “Then I guess we’re done here, aren’t we?”

“I guess we are…” he said solemnly.

you looked at Jaejoong for one last time before turning her back and leaving the café. you kept walking with no particular direction, only knowing that she had to get far away from there – from him – as quickly as possible. Eventually, you came across a deserted park and found a tree to sit under. you felt burning and her visual blurring. you swallowed the pain arising in and blinked back the incoming tears. This is what you wanted, you reminded herself. It’s for the best.

you's mobile rang and she checked the caller ID before answering. “Mum?”

“Do you remember where I put the plane tickets? I can’t seem to find them!” she said frantically.

“In your bottom draw under the family photos,” you answered. you heard a draw open and her mum’s sigh of relief.

“Thanks honey. By the way, Harvard called and they want you to email them some confirmation about your room and board. I’m hanging up now. Have fun shopping with your friends,” she said before the call ended.

you hung up as well before saying aloud, “Yeah… Shopping with friends…” you sighed at her overused excuse as she stood up and brushed the grass off her backside.

you walked to another bus stop and waited for about 15 minutes before the next bus came. you got off a few stops before her usual stop and killed time – time that her parents would think she's spending with her friends – by having lunch at a restaurant. you decided to enjoy the scenic view by walking home instead of taking another bus. I’m going to miss it here... you thought as she passed familiar views that characterised her childhood. you tried to occupy her thoughts with her future university life in Massachusetts instead of a certain someone she would miss more than her hometown.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I hate planes,” you grumbled as she sat in the uncomfortable airport seat with my parents. At 5:45am in the morning, you was not an amiable person.

Her dad yawned. “Don’t worry, we’ll be leaving soon. Excuse me while I just...” He dozed off in an instant. Her mum sat next to him sipping on her coffee and reading the newspaper.

Due to her lack of airport entertainment, you let her gaze wander around in hopes of spotting something interesting – and indeed she did. In panic, you's heart skipped a beat and she jumped out of her seat. She power walked a fair distance away from her parents before she was stopped by a hand grabbing hold of her arm.

“What are you doing here?!” you asked frantically.

Jaejoong confronted me bluntly. “You lied to me. Why?”

“Who told you?”

“Doesn’t matter.”

you groaned and ran a hand through her dishevelled hair. “You weren’t supposed to find out. I didn’t want you to have to wait for me to finish university in the States. We shouldn’t have to suffer through years of missing each other. I knew if I broke up with you, you wouldn’t accept it. So I did everything I could to make you break up with me, alright?!”

He chuckled once. “I really want to laugh right now, but it’s probably not the best thing to do in this situation.” His face became serious again. “I love you, and nothing – even you being overseas – will change that. Of course I’ll miss you, but not having you as my girlfriend is even worse. You’re not always right, you know. I don’t want to break up. So can we just forget about yesterday and continue the way we were?”

His confession was so sincere that you couldn’t deny the truth in his words – she was wrong to think that they'd would be better off separate.

you pulled him in for a hug. “I’m sorry. I just thought—”

“I know,” he said. “Just don’t ever do that to me again, okay?”

“I promise,” you answered. She kissed him. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” His phone beeped and he read the text message. “I’m sorry; I have to leave. I paid my sister to drive me here but she’ll abandon me here if I don’t go outside right now. Call me as soon as you get there alright?”

“I will.” They hugged for one last time before she let him walk away.

He turned around and walked backwards. “You better visit!” he called out. you nodded in acknowledgement and waved.

When you walked back to her seat, her mum was giving her a suspicious look. “Who was that?” she demanded.

you smiled as she looked at her boyfriend’s retreating figure. “Someone who might even be smarter than me,” you joked. She didn’t laugh. “I’ll tell you when we get to our new home. Come on; they’re opening the gate already.”

you took her mum’s carry-on luggage as well as her own and started lining up while her mum woke up her dad. you first steps out of the airport were the first steps into her new life. And whenever you wanted to return home, she knew he would be waiting here for me; as a boyfriend, and not a stranger.