M I N A

One late, Tuesday evening, I got a call from my mom. I wondered why she would be calling so late, I was worried that something bad might have happened again.

"Hello? Mom?" I answer the call.

"Mina." She sounded serious, "Why didn't you tell us?"

I was confused.

"Eh? Tell you what?"

"That you have a boyfriend."

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It took me a while to explain everything. Who he was, how we met, why we started dating. How long we've been dating and why I didn't tell my parents.

My mom was kind of mad about me hiding things from her, but she took it a lot better than I expected.

"It just never came up in conversation so I just never said anything." I explain.

"Oh, well your dad and I will be meeting him soon."

"What?"

"Well I'm expecting you to introduce him to us at your graduation next week." She says that as if it was so obvious.

"You don't have to be all serious with him." I insist, "He really is a good guy. I don't know what I have to do to convince you."

"You don't have to do anything." She says, "He's the one that needs to convince us. You know how your dad is."

I did know. My dad is a doctor and I know he'll be concerned about Taehyung's school career and college plans. I remember when I was younger, my dad told me he didn't want me dating a lazy or dumb person. Taehyung is neither of those so I think he'll be fine.

Still, I warned him about this just so he wouldn't be too surprised at graduation.

"I mean...it's about time I meet your parents." He says.

"You're right. I'm just surprised we were able to date for almost eight months without them knowing."

"Do you think they'll like me?"

"Oh yeah. My dad will probably seem cold at first, but he's just testing the water with you. Just be yourself and I'm sure both of them will love you."

Tae is very respectful so I'm not worried about his first impressions on my parents.

"How did they react when they found out?" Tae asks.

"My mom was just upset that I didn't tell them. My dad didn't even want to talk to me. I think he took it personally."

"Hm. I guess we'll just see how things go next week."

My parents know about Taehyung now, but they don't know that he's moving away after high school. I don't want to tell them because I feel like they're going to tell me to find someone else or let him go. My dad's the kind of person who doesn't like to waste time. He might think I'm wasting my time with him.

But whatever they say, I won't let it get to me. We're going to be together no matter what.

I'm lucky to have found someone like Taehyung who's willing to stay together even if things get hard. I know a lot of people would've just given up, but not us.

I really hope the two of us have a future together. I know things change in life and you never know what's going to happen, but I'm hopeful. Sometimes I think about us getting married and having a family together. I feel like stuff like that is so far away and unrealistic to think about, but it's really not.

Time is moving forward much faster than I expected. I feel like I won't be ready.

My life is going to change so much in the next few months. I don't even know what to expect and I'm kind of scared.

All of our friends are going their different ways after high school. Yeah, most of us are staying in Korea, but we'll all be going to different schools and working different jobs. We won't have time to hang out with each other like we do now.

Lately, my friends have been the ones to make me feel better when I'm having a bad day. We always laugh and have fun together. We all support each other and it's one of the most refreshing things I've felt in a while. Now we might lose that relationship with each other.

Momo, Sana, and I will still be together, living with Sana's aunt for a while, but it's not going to be like that forever. Sana's aunt is planning on moving back to Japan in a few years. If we want to stay in Korea, we're going to have to find a way to earn some money and find a place to stay.

There's so much left to go.

When will things be easy?

T A E H Y U N G

"It's going to be okay."

I held Mina as she trembled in my arms. I invited her over to spend more time with her and eventually, we got into this serious conversation. She told me everything she's been feeling these past few weeks and it seemed it was too much for her. She started crying and all I could right now was be there for her. Be her shoulder to cry on.

She held onto me tight and cried quietly.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." She says.

"I'm sure you'll figure things out as you go. Everything will work out and it'll be okay." I try to reassure her, "Things like this take time, love."

She takes a breath, trying to calm down, "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

She looks down, "That I don't want you to leave."

"Mina," I sigh, "This isn't easy for me either. You don't have to be sorry that you're going to miss me because I'm going to miss you too."

She locks fingers with me, staring at our hands.

"But after we get through this," I say, "The universe will reward us for being patient. Things will get better, I'm sure of it."

I take our hands and hold them close to my chest, "Promise me you won't give up, okay?"

She nods, "I promise. I'll keep going."

I smile, "That's all I could ever ask for."