Blessing in Disguise

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Yunjin

10/10/2019

The past three months had felt like a slow farewell, each moment tugging on Yunjin's heart with the bittersweet mix of endings and memories. She began in her dorm room, mindlessly packing her belongings. Her laptop and iPad sat on her desk as always, having traveled with her all the way from the United States, through her days as a Pledis trainee, and then to Source Music. These devices weren't just tools—they held countless voice memos, half-finished lyrics, notes on melodies she'd scribbled late at night when sleep felt impossible. It was in there that she had dreamed up songs and ideas, each note and lyric filled with hope for the future.

With a pang of nostalgia, she powered them down and packed them carefully, remembering how they'd kept her grounded across the ocean, and now they would return with her, full of memories and dreams she had created here.

Next, she moved to the training room, facing the locker she'd personalized over time, making it her sanctuary amid the endless hours of practice. As she opened the door, she ran her hand over a small, magnetic mirror she'd attached to the inside—her own little corner to breathe and reflect, just like her locker back in middle school. She removed the mirror slowly, her fingers brushing over a cherished photo stuck beside it. It was a picture of her family and Y/N's, all of them huddled together, laughing after a school play of High School Musical they'd done years ago. She could almost hear the laughter echo through the image, a reminder of simpler days when dreams were only beginning to take root.

She stacked the novels she'd kept on the locker's bottom shelf, the well-worn covers and dog-eared pages bearing marks from countless breaks when she'd escaped into their worlds for a few precious minutes. Packing them away felt like saying goodbye to those little moments of solace between exhausting sessions. The grueling days of training, the relentless drills, even the sharp corrections from her trainers seemed somehow softer as she closed her locker for the last time. Those memories, hard as they'd been, held a strange sense of pride now.

Finally, it was time to say goodbye to Hanlim. The school halls were bustling with students, but today it felt different. Her friends gathered around her, their eyes a mix of sadness and love. Each goodbye carried its own weight, every hug and lingering glance a reminder of the bond they'd formed during their time here.

One of her friends, fighting back tears, managed a shaky smile. "Are you sure about this, Yunjin?" she asked, her voice catching as she tried to stay composed.

Yunjin's own eyes stung, but she forced a small smile, nodding. "Yeah... I think it's time," she said softly. "But it's not goodbye. I'll be back—just... a different kind of back." She laughed, trying to lighten the heavy moment, but her voice trembled with emotion.

Her friends wrapped her in one last hug, murmuring words of encouragement. As she walked away from the school, she couldn't shake the sadness in her chest. The walls, the laughter, the friendships—all the pieces of this world she was leaving behind made her heart ache. But amidst the sorrow, there was a flicker of hope, a sense of calm that maybe this was simply a new beginning—a chance to rediscover her dreams in a way she'd never expected.

The airport was bustling with travelers, each person on their way somewhere new or familiar. Yunjin checked her bags, received her boarding pass, and moved toward security, the reality of her return to the States slowly settling in. As she waited in line, her thoughts drifted to Y/N, who'd promised to pick her up from JFK along with her family. She knew she'd seen him not long ago during her break, but somehow it felt as though an entire lifetime had passed since then.

After moving through security, she glanced around the terminal, finally settling in by her gate. Taking a deep breath, she pulled out her phone and dialed Y/N on FaceTime, feeling a small wave of excitement break through the bittersweet haze of her thoughts.