Just Enough For Her Little Dream: Book Two

Luna

I thought I could numb my heart to say my last goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Jeong.

In my last class, it was even hard to say goodbye to the children. The annoying kid as usual raised his hand up high when I was done giving my explanation as to why I had to leave.

"Will you be gone forever, noona?"

I swallowed down my dry throat and said, "Yes."

"But why?! There will never be any teacher like you! Not even Mr. Jeong is as good as you!"

I did a small chuckle at his words. "Make sure you tell him that every class, okay? Don't let him forget."

The youngest boy began to cry. I furrowed my brows at him and said, "Hey. Don't cry. Someday...we'll see each other again and you better be good enough to fight me. Although, I doubt it. Nobody is as good as me like one of your peers just said. As you can see, he may just be the smartest one here."

"But we'll miss you, noona," the youngest boy said among his sobs. The rest of the boys slowly began to follow as small tears ran down their cheeks and all I heard were quiet sniffles.

Such a sight made my heart shrink and I pushed back tears of my own as I looked down and chuckled for strength. "I'll tell you what. Don't ever leave each other behind after class. You are all a little gang. The taekwondo gang! You have to take care of each other when those punks on the street want to bother you. If you do that, I'll be with you."

"How? You won't be here," the youngest boy said.

I decided to kneel down in front of them so I could look into their innocent eyes. I smiled at them and said, "I'll be there whenever you come to class. I'll be there with each strong punch and kick you do. I'll be with you whenever you fall and whenever you get up. I'll be there when you all leave class together. I'll be there when the sun sets and when the stars come out."

"Will you visit again?" The girl spoke up for the first time that day. She seemed much better than the last time she was in class. I smiled at her and imagined my younger self in her. I'll especially be with her when I've become part of the wind.

"I'll try and if I don't, I'll miss you. But you must forget me if you become too sad about me."

They're all quiet at my last words. I push back tears again and I give them a warm smile. "Alright. Class has ended but I have something for each of you."

They all grew excited again and I smiled at their sweet reactions. It's too bad I'll never have a kid of my own. So I pretended all of those kids were my own as I gave them a popsicle. They all gathered around me when I sat on the mat and listened to all their silly stories one last time. I let them all give me one last hug. I even gave the youngest boy a kiss on his temple when he began to cry again. The annoying kid put an arm around him and guided him out the door with the rest of them. The girl was the last one to come up to me and give me a quiet hug.

I closed my eyes at her small embrace. She had a special kind of strength I admired. I wish I would have been as strong as she is when I was her age. But with that, I knew she would grow up to be someone much better than I ever was. I ran a warm hand down her hair and helped her put on her backpack. She then took out a small glow-in-the-dark star from her pocket and put it in my hand.

"What's this?"

"For you. Just in case you don't come back, you can remember me with that. You will be with me in the night and I can be with you in this star."

My heart melted. It almost felt like the broken pieces wanted to get back together as she gave me one last quiet look before the annoying kid came back in and said, "Are you coming?"

I smiled when I see all of them waiting for her outside. They've always been good listeners. I watch them all give me one last shining look before I could fall to my knees and sob while holding the star close to my chest.

My last goodbye was what I needed to finally numb my heart as Mr. and Mrs. Jeong took me to the airport. They insisted to pay for my one-way ticket to the States. I didn't fight back. I knew they wanted to do this as if I were their daughter walking away again.

"My grandson lives in LA. Could you give this to him? He lives in Chinatown."

I took the bag of clothes from him and frowned. "If it gets lost or stolen, don't say I warned you."

"Oh my, you punk."

Mrs. Jeong gives his arm a small slap and now she comes in front of me. I let her hold my face and give my forehead a kiss. I can hear her try her best to push back tears. Her voice quivers as she says, "Promise you'll call. When you're in pain, call me. When you're sad, call me. When you're lonely, call me." She then smiles and runs a tender hand on my cheek as she wipes away a cold tear. "And when you're incandescently happy, call me and tell me all about it."

"Yes, Mother."

These soft words I've finally let out make her cover her mouth so her sob won't come out. Tears stream down her cheeks as she steps back and lets Mr. Jeong give me his goodbye. He takes out a phone from his pocket and says, "This phone will work over there. When you find my grandson, he will help you connect it so we can call. When you do, the first person you must call is me, you hear?"

"Says who?" I teasingly say.

Mr. Jeong stays silent before letting out a few tears. "Says someone that loves you very much. Take care, will you? Don't do anything stupid."

I chuckle against his shoulder as I give him a long hug. I close my eyes and let his warmth sink in. I wish I could have hugged him like this a long time ago.

"Thank you for everything. I wish I could have paid you for everything you've done for me."

"I thought you'd say that," he says as he takes my shoulders now. He burns his dark eyes through me as he says, "The only thing I want you to do if you want to pay me back, is to get treated. If you decide not to, then that's okay. But if you truly want to pay me back, get treatment over there and come back to pay us a visit. Hm?"

These words are so sincere. They have been the most genuine people I've ever met all my life. Because they showed me a part of life I had lost hope in, I will at least try to look into treatments over there. If I'm lucky like I was with them, I will let my hope rise for a longer life.

"Alright," Mr. Jeong says as he helps me take my luggage to the check-in line. "You know what to do. Be careful." I nod and wave at Mrs. Jeong with a sad smile. She blows me a kiss and I wish I didn't have to cry. But I let out tears of joy this time as I watch them fade away.

I could die right now and I'd be happy. I know what it is to have loving parents. That could be enough to close my eyes and let the wind take my numb heart away.