Meteor

Seven

He slowly exhaled the air out of his lungs which was filled with nervousness.

"Hey Eun Chae, help me count down from three, OK?"

"One...two...three."

Yu Jin opened Gmail, and what he saw on the screen could not be a bigger dismay for him. "We are sorry to announce that you are not selected for the SNU scholarship," that devastating announcement was all he could see. He was rejected once more, for the third time this year. The first time, his personal statement was declined. The next time, he reached the interview stage but he could not perform well there. And then, until the last time, he had done an amazing job at his interview. He could not find any reason for SNU to turn him down again. But it seemed that life did not want to go so easy on him, he still could not make it. Losing was, of course, very sad, but losing when he thought that he was about to win was even more crushing. He felt like there were thousands of daggers stabbing his heart.

"What the h..." He went totally speechless, "No...no...this...this is not true, it can't be true! No..."

"Hey Yu Jin, calm down, please!" Eun Chae rubbed his back, trying to appease him.

"Why...why did they? I've done well. This is not true!" He shouted in frustration, tearing his hair out and then covering his face with his hands. He began to feel something wet in his eyes, while his nostril felt like there was smoke burning in it. He really wanted to cry, but he tried not to do that in front of Eun Chae.

"Yu Jin, you good?" Eun Chae tried to hold his hand.

"No," he groaned and then dropped his face down on the table. He seemed to be weeping while Eun Chae was still trying to help him pull himself together. "What am I gonna do now?" He smashed his fist onto the table, and then sat up, tilting his head back so that he could stop the tears from welling.

"I know that you're really upset, but let's try to calm down. Being frustrated like this will only worsen your mood," she looped her arm around his shoulder.

"I need to be alone," he quickly stood up and blankly walked into his room without even turning off his laptop.

"No, I want to stay with you!" Eun Chae followed him into his room.

"I...I've got enough of this. I'm not applying for med anymore," he said in despair and put his hands down his desk. His eyes were fixed on the bunch of science and biology books placed there. To Eun Chae's horror, he angrily flung all of them off the desk and shouted out loud. She had never expected such a reaction from him as he always seemed to be very calm and gentle. He was the type of guy who neither liked to express his emotions nor would get outrageous so easily.

"Hey Han Yu Jin, what kind of mindset is that?" Eun Chae ran over to him. Her voice suddenly became so loud that it nearly cracked, "Is becoming a doctor really your dream, are you really gonna let this drag you down?"

"It's my dream, my biggest dream ever, but what could I do now? I'm just...not good enough," he raised his voice. Eun Chae could easily see his exasperation in his glistening eyes.

"If it's your biggest dream, then don't give up! You dared to leave your home to come here for med school although your family insisted you stay and study law. Are you gonna disappoint your family once more? You really want to let go of it that easy?" She shouted into his face.