Fleeting Moments With You

007

The flight was roughly four hours but both the excitement and the anxiety that filled my heart prevented me from getting a good sleep. I was beginning to be consumed in fear but as my mother country welcomed me, the fear was gone with relief quickly taking its place.

After two and half hours of travel from Seoul, our house finally greeted me. It was almost the same way that I remembered it but there are a few improvements: the paint was new and more plants decorated the front yard. The gate was not locked, as if expecting for my arrival. But then, when I pushed it open, the sight of my mom with my two siblings on the patio, welcomed me. Their eyes lightened up in glee but as they ran towards me, their smiles were then accompanied by tears of joy.

I dropped my bags and wasted no time to envelop my family in my arms.

"I'm home," I said with a grin.

"Welcome back," they said in unison.

It was my siblings who were excited to hear my stories of how Philippines is like. Therefore, dinner became long as I told them my stories over food. They insisted to know more but I argued that they should share their own stories too. It turned out that Seungmin graduated middle school at the top of his class while Ryujin is already in her first year of studying Architecture in the National University nearby.

"Why don't you study again?" Ryujin asked me.

"That's right. It's not too late for you to be a doctor, hyung," Seungmin added.

"But the National University here doesn't offer medical studies," I tried to reason out.

"But unlike me, oppa's smart enough to study in Seoul," Ryujin argued.

I was about to give another excuse but it was already Mom who asked me, "Do you want to study medicine again?"

A timid smile formed on my lips as my gaze fell on my plate. Poking my food, I slowly nodded.

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Fortunately, my university in the Philippines was able to send my documents in scanned copies in e-mail and a medical university in Seoul credited the subjects that I took, allowing me to enroll in their Doctor of Medicine program. Seoul was around two and a half to three hours away from home, but I surely wouldn't mind the travel for it was already convenient. However, Mom insisted that the time I would be spending on travelling could be used to focus on my studies instead.

"We lived five years without you so don't worry about us," she told me.

I was a little hurt by the statement, but I knew that Mom was just doing it for my own sake. Knowing that any other argument wouldn't satisfy her, I gave up and looked for an apartment. Fortunately, there was one which was just a ten-minute walk or a five-minute bike ride away from school and again, Mom wasted no opportunity and helped me transfer in my new unit.

"You should make new friends, alright? Both in school and in this neighborhood," Mom reminded me.

"I'm already twenty-five," I said as she kept telling me reminders as if I was a little boy.

"Even if you turn fifty, I would still be your mother and it's only natural for me to worry about you, okay?" she glared at me but then smiled as I replied with a chuckle.

"The girl next door is lovely," she said with a mischievous smirk.

"And what are you trying to hint at?" I asked in a playful tone.

"Well, you never introduced a girlfriend to me, and I don't want you to grow old alone so..."

"Mom, I have my ways around women," I confessed.

"Really?" she raised an eyebrow at me.

"If only you knew what I've done in the Philippines," I wanted to tell her but then I just zipped my mouth and nodded with a smile.

"Okay. If you say so," she smiled, convinced with my answer.

She decided to go home the next day. I insisted on having some food first, but she declined. I tried arguing that I must at least send her off to the bus station, but she declined again. She told me that I should just spend some time getting accompanied to the new environment I'm in.

I love my Mom but sometimes, she just worries too much. Defeated, I could just wave goodbye as she exited the apartment.

I was about to sleep, still tired of all the preparations we did but even before I could go back to dreamland, there were three soft knocks on the door. Thinking that Mom must have left something, I immediately stood up and proceeded to the door.

However, when I opened it, it was not Mom that I saw but another familiar face.

"Hi. You must be my new neighbor."

Her face quickly triggered a name, but it took me a while before saying it.

"Kim Dahyun?"

I never believed in destiny but at that moment, I was thanking fate for making our lives collide again.

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AN: YAAAAY THEY ARE REUNITED