A Travel Documentary [On Hold]

[ first chapter completed ]

'To say that the day after tomorrow is our last day in New York saddens me quite a bit. New York, the city that was said to never sleep holds a grand memory. Jin always has the time to eat ice cream, which I quite envied. Nonetheless, we were able to capture lots of pictures that were bound to be shown to our friends and family.'

MiYeon closed the diary shut with the strap and shoved it inside her bag. Traveling remains a fun and an advenaturous experience, no matter how tiring it could be. Her diary was getting thicker and thicker with the polaroid images for each chapter. Parting from a new country was quite tough. They wanted to explore more of New York but they had other places to be as well.

She stood up from the chair and headed towards the balcony, where the boisterous streets sounded through her ears. She held the rail quite tightly and observed the busy street below her. They were a few floors above and to be honest, she felt slightly scared standing there for more than thirty seconds.

She stepped back inside and locked the sliding door shut. 

'Had we stayed here for more than a week, would we only feel homesick, somehow. We are already used to seeing the same environment and people ever since I could clearly remember. Adapting to a new surrounding might not seem a bad idea, but the homesickness remains. I could barely survive by myself, even with Jin by my side. We had taken our time exploring one small section of New York. We had treated ourselves with relaxation and new profound tastes of food. Jin has improved his English at a rapid time, which I am quite surprised with.' 

MiYeon felt malaise all of a sudden. The energy that was bound to go on venturing around New York has drained into a void. It felt such a waste to do so, but she remained quiet and mused. 

She glanced at the big luggages that sat in the corner of the hotel room. Almost a full week has passed and they've managed to fulfill their wishlist. Today was just a normal day of staying inside the hotel room. She could not recall how much budget had been used during their one week trip and she hoped that it didn't trespass the limit she sought to keep. 

MiYeon had been careful with the carelessness of using the dollars. She debated to herself several times and won the battle to save the money. She had no use to buy souvenirs, no matter how intriguing they were.

The photos were her priority that cherishes the most out of everything. 

The door clicked open and there appeared the weary Jin. He had returned with food in his hands. Jin smiled at the sight of his wife oddly standing in the middle of the room. He would've been shocked to see her standing in silence staring at the wall because she had often spaced out.

"I got us something." He raised the bag to eye level and MiYeon tried not to express disinterest. She held no energy inside her to run towards him, but to simply saunter towards him. She wrapped her arms around his torso and Jin reciprocated the embrace. The wavering aromatic smell of the warm food tipped its way around them, but she remained hollow.

"MiYeon, what's wrong?"

"Nothing ... in particular." She responded with a whisper, inducing Jin to place their food on the table nearest them. 

"Come here." Jin pulled her towards the small living room and sat on the three-seater sofa. She rested her head on his lap and observed the blank ceiling.

She was homesick to go back to her hometown, but she has already attained so much to reach this far. They deserved a well month of easing break and she remained uncertain about her choices. Jin began stroking her bangs, watching her sleeping face without any muscle strains. She looked stressed on the inside, but she was fresh on the outside.

"What's been eating you after all this time? Aren't you enjoying our holiday?"

"It is not that. I am fully enjoying our holiday together ... but I'm just a little bit homesick." She responded with a solid tone and grasped Jin's fingers. They felt warm and cold at the same time. They were reassuring, but her anxiety overwhelmed her emotions. She was slightly confused and hollow on the inside. 

It was as if her goals that she had integrated in her mind before had vanished in the blink of an eye.

"That's the beginning of our journey. We always have the feeling of feeling homesick, but that's that. If you want to go ahead to achieve something, then you'd have to sacrifice the time being in leaving home behind. We've come this far already and what's there to stop us?" 

MiYeon closed her eyes and resumed back to sleep before whispering a 'thank you' to Jin. 

She was still quite unsure and sleep was her answer.

'To take the first leap might be astounding at first. One could be independent and linear. To find the new world would be a huge discovery and awe. One could not stop thinking about the new aspects and surroundings that they've stepped on to, yet looking behind has its great values. Leaving behind the first steps to where one has grown up is rather petrifying and sad. We would either leave it permanently or temporarily. Everything depends on the circumstances and treading on fate is the answer that I follow.'