T A E H Y U N G

"Good morning." My mom walks into my room on this Saturday morning.

I was sleeping in, still in my bed.

"These are for you." She sets down a stack of flat, empty boxes, "Pack whatever you want to bring with you to New York. We're shipping your stuff out next week. It can take more than fifty days for your stuff to arrive so you need to pack early."

"O-okay...?" I was still sleepy.

"Only pack what you need." She says before leaving the room and closing the door.

I laid on bed for another hour before getting up. Thinking about it, I didn't need to pack much. Just clothes mostly. I'll finally be able to be go to school without wearing a uniform.

I started packing my favorite clothes first and then fit in whatever else I could use for pajamas or lounge wear. My clothes and shoes took up 3 boxes. I still had one more. What should I bring to put in my dorm?

I packed some blankets and bed sheets. I could buy most of the other stuff when I get there. Looking around my room, I wanted to bring some things that would remind me of my friends. I had a few small plushies that I got from our many arcade trips so I packed those.

On my desk, I had a few mini Polaroid pictures of Mina and us together. Next to the pictures was the little teddy bear she bought for me. I wanted to bring those, but I'll pack them with me in my main luggage later. I don't want anything to happen to them, at least they'll be safe on my watch.

I stopped packing for today. If more things to pack come to mind later, I'll add them to the box.

I'm probably going to have a roommate at NYU. I hope they're cool and we can become friends.

I've been studying English a lot recently. I can hold basic conversations, but there's still a lot for me to learn. I'm sure living in the US will force me to learn over time though.

I'm still sad about leaving my friends, but I've accepted reality by now. I know I'll see them again someday and I know things will be okay.

I'll be all on my own for the first time.

All on my own in a foreign country. Thousands of miles away from my parents. For four years.

Will I be ready?

I guess there's only one way to find out.

Later in the evening, I got an email from a sender I didn't recognize. The subject line had something to do with NYU so I opened it up. It was all in English so I had to translate most of it with an app on my phone.

Greetings!

I hope this message finds you well. My name is Elijah, but you can call me Eli. I'm going to be your roommate at NYU! The school's told me a lot about you and you sound like a really interesting guy. I'll be a freshman when the school year starts, just like you. I understand that you're coming from Korea and you're still learning English, but that's totally fine. I actually speak Korean myself. I just had to write this email in English at the school's request. Anyways, I look forward to meeting you, I just wanted to introduce myself. I'll see you in August, Taehyung!

- Eli Seo

Oh, cool. Judging by his last name, he must be Korean. I think he's probably from the US, just by the way he spoke in his email. He seems like a cool guy.

The time is only getting closer.

But I already made the decision. No matter how hard it's going to be to leave, I have to go.

I got that feeling again. That heart wrenching feeling I get whenever I think about leaving Mina for so long.

That made me want to do something. I started looking around in my room for something I could leave with her while I'm gone.

I could always give her another hoodie, but she has plenty of those. After searching for a while, I found something.

My necklace that I wore on our first date and many dates after that. It was a thin silver chain with a silver ring in the middle. It was one of my favorite necklaces, but I'm not going to miss it too much and I know she'll take good care of it.

I miss her already and I haven't even left yet.

I know it's going to be so hard to say goodbye.

M I N A

"You've been asking me to come over a lot lately."

"I know...I just want to spend as much time with you as I can."

We were sitting in Tae's room, laying on his bed. He had his arms around me while I leaned my head over his shoulder.

We didn't say much, but I could sense how he was feeling. These past few days, I know he's been hiding something behind that sweet smile of his.

"You'll still be here when I come back from studying abroad, right?" He asks. I knew there was something on his mind.

"Of course." I put it simply.

"You're not gonna fall in love with some other guy while I'm gone?"

"No. Because no one will ever love me like you do."

He sighs,closing his eyes, holding me closer, and gently pressing me against his chest.

"You're my world, Mina." He whispers.

"And you're my universe, Taehyung." I say, gazing into his eyes.

He chuckles, "You always know just what to say."

He leans back and moves his arms toward the back of his head. He was trying to take his necklace off.

"What are you doing..?" I ask.

"So you know how I started packing for school, right?"

I nod.

"That got me thinking. I want you to have something of mine before I leave."

"But I already have some things of yours. A lot of things actually."

He laughs, "Yeah, but this might be the last one for a while."

He takes the necklace and brings it around my neck, lifting my hair out of the way with one hand before clipping it on.

"Does this look familiar?" He asks.

I look down at the necklace, "It does. You wore this a lot, right?"

He nods, "I wore it on our first date. I don't want to risk losing it so I want you to take care of it for me."

"I'll take good care of it." I hug him, "You won't have to worry about a thing."

He kisses my head, stroking my hair, "I love you."

"And I love you."

We never argued over who loved the other more.

We both knew we meant the world to each other.