five days | kim seungmin

17 | goodbyes

"whoa!" i said, surprised. "what were you gonna-"

"that was sudden," seungmin said quickly.

more fireworks exploded into the sky, disappearing into shimmering lights and hazy smoke.

it had been a while since i've watched fireworks. it was the first time after new years, actually.

it felt quite special to watch them up at the top of a ferris wheel in niagara falls.

"i wish summer break was longer," i said, still watching the sky.

"yeah... i don't want to go back to school," seungmin agreed.

i thought for a moment.

"you know, before i met you guys, i thought i would be the only teenager on this group tour," i said.

"really? that would have been funny though," seungmin joked, earning a glare from me.

"i was going to say thanks for making this vacation fun but since you said that i won't-"

"you're welcome," seungmin grinned.

"yah!"

the fireworks continued to decorate the night sky by the time our car reached the ground, having finished one full rotation around the wheel.

"that was really fun," seungmin said, as we walked to meet with the others.

"yeah," i nodded.

"THAT WAS SO SCARY!" jisung came running towards us, somi and dahyun trying to keep up with him.

after calming down a jittery jisung, we walked down to the waterfalls while the fireworks kept going.

each explosion caused a vibrarion in me that was thrilling but somehow stress-relieving at the same time.

near the end of the show, the fireworks kept exploding and exploding until i could barely make out the shapes because of the smoke surrounding the lights.

when the loud booms stopped ringing in the air, i was left with a feeling of bittersweet happiness as the crowds dispersed in all directions.

it was really the finale of this trip.

but i didn't want to believe this was the end.

"it's getting late and kind of cold," chan said. "we should return to the hotel."

on our way back to the hotel, we talked and laughed about memories from the past few days. but i knew that a small part of each of us wanted the day to last longer.

there was no doubt that we all had gotten closer to one another during the trip.

before the trip started, i doubted if i would even enjoy it. the other teenagers' first impression on me was that they were rude.

but as time passed, teasing and judgemental comments turned into inside jokes and laughter.

every one of them--somi, seungmin, chaeyoung, dahyun, felix, jisung, chan, even hyunjin--made this summer break a special one.

tomorrow, we would all be leaving to korea on different flights at different times, so we had to say our goodbyes at the hotel lobby.

"unnie, i'm so glad i met you this summer!" somi hugged me.

"me too, let's keep in touch okay?" i said, pointing to my phone.

"you'll miss me," was what hyunjin said, and i just laughed.

"everyone! group hug!" dahyun exclaimed, and we all crowded around into a jumble of smiles.

"i don't want to leave," jisung whined.