Love Letters

5: To Korea

Momoe's POV
"Let me get this straight... Your real best friend lives in Korea?" Duyen raises an eyebrow as she spins a pencil in between her fingers.
"Yeah, we were neighbors. Well, my mom and his parents were neighbors so we became friends." I explain.
"What's his name again?" Brooklyn asks, looking up from her textbook.
"Soonyoung. I've called him Hoshi since we were seven though."
"Aww! That's so cute!" They all stare at me with lovey eyes.
"What does 'Hoshi' mean?" Jia asks, tilting her head.
"It means 'star' in Japanese." I smile, "He's always been my shining star on a dark day so I've always called him that."
"Omg! I can't! This is too cute!" Maeum wipes away fake tears.
I roll my eyes and shake my head, still smiling at my dramatic friend.
"Does he call you anything?" Jaslene asks.
"Yup. He calls me 'Byeol'. It means 'star' but in Korean."
"That's adorable." Duyen smiles.
"Aww, this is like a k-drama! You remember the boy so you go back to see him and then you get together..." Maeum starts dragging on her fantasy.
"Wait, what about Jinyoung?" Jaslene furrows her eyebrows.
"Oh about that... He randomly disappears..." she says in a mysterious voice.
"Mae!" I stare at her with wide eyes.
"What?! I'm just saying..." her voice gets quieter at the last part.
"How much do you want to bet drama is going to start once they go to Korea?" Duyen smirks.
"I think Jinyoung is going to get a little jelly." Jia smirks.
Brooklyn gasps and looks up at us from her bookwork.
"What if because Hoshi suddenly sees her again he thinks she's beautiful and likes her?" Brooklyn questions.
"Now that's a story." Maeum high fives her.
"Props to the smartest girl in our school." Jaslene giggles.
"I can be creative sometimes too." Brooklyn shrugs.
I sigh and shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose. Why do I have friends who think they can decide how my love life is gonna end up? I look up to see what they're talking about now and all I hear is Hoshi's name with mine, making me groan and lay my head on the table.

~

I stare at my phone, my heart beating in nervousness. My phone shakes in my hand as I dial my mom's number. I slowly place the phone on my ear, closing my eyes as I take a deep breath to calm down. The other side of the line picks up and I hold my breath.
"Hello?" I hear my mom's voice clearly.
"Mom!" I start bawling.
"M-Momoe?" Her voice sounds shaky now.
"Mom." I hiccup, not really knowing what else to say.
"Oh my goodness... It's been too long, my child." She whisper.
"I'm so sorry, mom. I've been so busy with college and-"
"It's okay, dear." She cuts me off, "Are you alright? How've you been?"
"Actually, a bunch of things happened. Do you have time?" I laugh nervously.
For the next hour or two, I fill her in with everything: my first day of college, my new friends, my gymnastics team, and my boyfriend.
"Boyfriend...?" She asks in a quieter voice.
"Yes. His name is Jinyoung. We've been together for almost two years now. He's very sweet, mom... And..." I bite my lip, "I want you to meet him..."
"Meet him? But-"
"Eomma, I'm coming back... I'm gonna come to Korea to visit during fall break." I switch to Korean for her to understand better.
"Jinjja?" Korean rolls off her tongue momentarily due to shock, "This- Oh my! I'm so excited to see you! Oh, just wait till I tell Hoshi! He'll be so happy to know you're coming back!"
"He still lives there...?" I whisper with wide eyes.
"He does... He hasn't forgotten about you. He's waiting for you to come back and you can be reunited." She informs me.
"I'm waiting to be reunited with him too. I miss him... I miss the both of you." A tear runs down my cheek.
"Momoe..." her voice is softer.
"Don't tell him I'm coming." My voice is stern, "I'll surprise him myself."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'd like to see the surprise on his face." I laugh.
"Okay. I need to get going. I have a ton of work to do. Make sure to call me more, please. I've missed you."
"I will. I promise."
"I love you."
"I love you, mom. I'll call you tomorrow after practice. Bye~" I smile.
"Bye, sweetie."
We hang up and I fall into my bed, letting a sigh of relief escape. I'm so glad she isn't mad at me and that Hoshi is waiting for me.
Walking over to my bookshelf, I grab a certain notebook. I flip through the pages as I sit down at my desk. After placing the notebook onto my desk, I stop when I get to the spot I'm looking for. A smile crosses my lips as I run my fingers over the photo that lays on the page. The photo is of Hoshi and me when we were ten, our arms wrapped around each other, laughing like there's no tomorrow. Our parents decided to dress us similar that day when we went out.
"I'll see you soon, Hoshi. Please wait a little longer." I mumble.