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The loud roars of the airplanes outside woke Eunseong up as she was taking a quick nap at the airport before her departure from Korea.
Her time as a foreign exchange student was quite exciting, she was able to make new friends, explore new sights, she would never forget her time in South Korea.
But now, it was time for her to return home to St. Petersburg, Russia. As much as she loved spending her days in her motherland, she also longed for home and to see her family again.
Eunseong checked the clock and a slight frown formed on her face.
"I'm leaving in 30 minutes, why aren't they here yet?" she asked herself and started shaking her leg nervously.
She had already said her goodbyes to her friends yesterday, but the girls had promised Eunseong that they would come to the airport, see her off, and most likely share some tears.
Eunseong didn't need to fear though. Six girls were moving as fast as the speed of light towards her direction, causing some distraction to the people waiting at the airport.
"JANG EUNSEONG!!"
"SEONG-AH!!"
Eunseong beamed and started jumping up and down to get her friend's attention.
They ran to her with their arms open and embraced her with a loving, group hug.
"I'm going to miss you so so so much!" Seoyoung said and pouted.
"Me too! Don't forget us when you're in Russia!" Sujin chimed in.
"Don't get sick, too! I heard it's crazy cold in Russia," Chaeyoung said and Eunseong chuckled and dangled her scarf in front of Chaeyoung.
"I'll be fine guys, and I'll miss you a lot, too," Eunseong confessed.
"Well, I'll make sure to annoy you daily," Jieun said.
"And I'll send you some Korean food from time to time so you won't forget the tastes!" Goeun said.
The girls all chatted jubilantly in their last moments...well, everyone except Yuki.
Yuki's face was emotionless and her body was stiff as she listened to their conversation. She wanted to speak, she so badly wanted to, but her mouth felt dry and she thought that if she spoke, all she would do was burst into tears.
The thing was...Yuki had a secret.
Well, not really a secret, everyone in the group, except Eunseong of course, knew Yuki had a massive crush on her.
Yuki had fallen for the girl ever since she first arrived at the beginning of high school. It really was love at first sight, but Yuki swore to herself that she would never confess.
Why?
Well, Eunseong wasn't permanently staying in Korea, so what's the point? Why should Yuki put herself in a horrible situation? Fall in love, hold hands, first date, first kiss, first fight – why should Yuki do all her firsts with someone who would eventually leave her?
No.
No.
No.
Yuki had decided to bottle all of her feelings into a little jar and then shove that jar deep down inside of her and never return to it.
It was much safer that way, she wouldn't get hurt, Eunseong wouldn't get hurt, and their friend group would stay the same.
Win-win-win, right?
Everything is fine, everything is okay, everything is peachy and happy with sunshine and unicorns and rainbows!
Well, that's what Yuki deluded herself into thinking, but it doesn't matter because it's too late! Yuki missed her timing and a confession will never happen.
...Right??
Yuki was holding something that would change everything forever, but she was still debating on whether to give it to Eunseong.
As Eunseong was giving each girl an individual hug, Sujin saw what was in Yuki's hand and gave a soft smile.
"Do it, Yukiko, this is the time!" Sujin whispered to her.
As Yuki watched Sujin and Eunseong embrace, she took a deep breath and received a shot of courage.
"Yuki-ah, the best seatmate ever, I'm going to miss you the most!" Eunseong said and gave her a tight hug. "Do well in school for me, okay?"
Yuki nodded, she really could not open her mouth this time, but handed the letter to Eunseong.
"What's this?" Eunseong asked.
The girls all looked at Yuki with signs of encouragement on their faces.
"I-It's just something, I was actually going to mail it to your house, but the shipping fees were a lot, so I-I thought it was just better to give it you here," Yuki's stuttered and Eunseong grinned as she was beginning to open the letter.
"DON'T OPEN IT YET!" Yuki said with fear.
"Why not?" Eunseong asked, but stopped ripping the paper
"Just don't, trust me. Open it on your plane or when you arrive home, okay?" Yuki said and Eunseong raised an eyebrow, but put the letter in her pocket.
"Seong-ah, they're calling your flight!" Jieun said as she tapped on Eunseong's shoulder.
"Oh shoot, I definitely have to go now," Eunseong said and rolled her suitcase out. "Goodbye!" she said as she held back tears and waved to them.
"BYE BYE EUNSEONG!"
"WE LOVE YOU!!"
"WE'LL MISS YOU!"
"COME BACK TO KOREA SOON!"
"SERIOUSLY, YOU CAN STAY AT MY PLACE!"
"STAY SAFE!"
They all kept on waving to Eunseong, even when she stopped, and watched her board her flight.
"Seoyoung, are you crying right now?" Chaeyoung asked.
"No," Seoyoung answered and hastily wiped her tears, "you're the one crying."
"I am crying!" Chaeyoung bawled and Goeun and Jieun ran over to console her.
Yuki blotted her tears with her jacket and opened her phone. She clicked on KakaoTalk and pressed on Eunseong's profile. Then, she pressed BLOCK.
Yuki tapped on the confirm button and closed the app with no regrets. She looked out the window to see the airplane Eunseong would be flying.
'I'm sorry Eunseong, but this is for that best.'
Eunseong was seated in the window seat, sixth row, listening to her playlist as the plane soared above Korea and was making a journey to Russia.
She glanced at what her seatmate was doing and the person was reading an action novel.
"Maybe I should read, too," Eunseong softly murmured and whipped out a fantasy book from her backpack that she had been planning on reading for a while.
Just as she was about to crack open the book, she was suddenly reminded of Yuki's letter.
Eunseong pulled it out of her pocket swiftly and teared it open.
"I can open it now, right? I mean, she's not here right now, so I guess I can," Eunseong said to herself and pulled out the gray sheet of paper with Yuki's handwriting on it.
dear jjang seongie,wow, it feels weird to write like this, but i remembered watching the to all the boys movie with you and you kept talking about how cool handwritten letters were, so here we are! you know, i'm not sure how to bring this up naturally, so i guess i'll just say it now...
i, mori koyuki, have fallen in love with you.
don't gasp cause i know you will, but it's true, god, I really really really like you! i've been wanting to say this for the longest time, but i haven't had any courage!
i guess when you announced you were leaving to go back to russia, i finally came to my senses and began writing this letter.
i fell in love with you when I first saw you. you had a cute bob, an oversized school sweater on, a backpack that looked to be worn-out, and most memorably, a smile that could compete with the sun.
everything about you from that day has been etched into my memory and i don't think i will ever be able to meet another person like you.
i'm not the best with words, i'm not eloquent like you, i'm so horrible at these kinds of things, but i just needed you to know how much i adore you, how much i treasure you, and how much i like you.
i'm sure you don't like me back, don't worry, i understand! i remember when you said you liked someone else from a different class, but i've wanted to be yours since day one.
i know this is so selfish of me to say, but i have to move on from you. i just can't look at you anymore. i don't want to stay in contact, so don't bother to call to check up on me, just forget i ever existed.
if we keep on talking with each other, even when we're thousands of kilometers away from each other, i know that i will never move on from you.
i'll love you for a lifetime,
your one and only yuki ♡︎
Eunseong couldn't stop the tears that were staining the letter.
She was battling with her emotions as she wiped away her tears and a shaky breath escaped.
As Eunseong was beginning to comprehend everything, she frantically pulled out her phone.
She tried calling Yuki, but it was no use, Yuki had already blocked her from all platforms. Eunseong quickly dialed Goeun's number.
"He-"
"Get Yuki on the phone right now," Eunseong said, her syllables slurred as she was rushing.
"Wha-Yuki? Seongie, Yuki left for home the moment your plane took off. Why, what's the matter?"
"N-Nothing, I'll tell you later," Eunseong said and hung up the call as she chewed her lip to think about what to do next.
Eunseong opened her backpack and ravaged through it. Luckily, she was able to find a scrap piece of paper and a pen that barely had enough ink to write.
She used her book as a writing surface and decided to return the favor.
Dear Yuki ~