First Love

Chapter 49

December 23rd 2018

Jae left Min's residence after Yoongi's mom made sure she had her fill of that day's breakfast. She thanked Yoongi's parents profusely for letting her stay the night. She brought all the letters back along with the shoe boxes. She returned to her room and put those boxes there. Before that, she managed to stop by the town and get herself a bigger bag. That solved her problem in bringing those letters home.

She would be returning to Seoul the next day. On a whim, she took a cab to her old house, just for old time's sake. She planned to just take a walk there and anywhere her legs might bring her. Just for the day she wanted to go to the places she was familiar with. She stood outside the gate of what used to be her family mansion. It was still there, standing gloriously big. Another family lived there for sure. It was huge and cavernous when there were only she and Chin Hwa living there. The huge space just makes her feel lonely. She was glad she had all the memories with her family members there no matter how short it was. Her time had ended and she has a new life.

It was cold, but she didn't mind it. She pulled her beanie hat down and put her hands in her jacket pocket. After nearly half an hour walking, she found herself outside her foster mom's family home. She had memories there too. Her foster family would bring her there during winter holiday every year to visit. She remembered the joy and warmth from that house. Her foster mom's parents would always make sure they have a lot of food when they come. Since they knew Jae loves yakgwa, a traditional honey pastry, they always made sure it was always available. She wondered if her foster family was there now instead of their house in New York.

Jae looked at the gate. It was just near but it seemed so far. After her maternal aunt and uncles turned their back on both Jae and Chin Hwa when their family house was sold, she was afraid to contact her foster family in New York. She did lose her phone and all the contacts in it after she went back from there. She could actually write to them, but she didn't. Would they turn their back on her too if they knew what happened? Would they be strangers instantly?

She didn't want to know.

She was actually afraid of it.

The blow would be too hard if they rejected her too. It would be even harder especially after she lost Chin Hwa.

She stood there for a good 10 minutes before she walked away. It would be better if she have all those good memories untainted. That was all she could have now. Jae turned up the volume of the song on her earphone and turned. She then heard someone calling her. She paused. Maybe she was hearing things. She looked back and there was no one around. Jae walked again and she heard a loud voice from behind. Jae turned and saw her foster mom running towards her from the gate.

It was not a mirage, right? Jae was tearing up as she rooted to her spot when she was engulfed in a hug.

"Jae, my Jae," her foster mom said.

Jae couldn't stand it. She broke down and cry. "Mama?"

Another pair of hands hugged her tight. She knew those hands too well. "Daddy?"

"You're back, at last," he said, hugging both Jae and her foster mom tight.

"Jay-Jay, is that you?" said another voice behind them. It was Danny, her foster brother.

Her fear went away at that instance.

December 24th 2018

Jae was smiling widely, as the train left for Seoul. Yoongi was right, she did get a box of kimchi in return of her visit to his parents' house. The train was not that full at that time despite the upcoming Christmas Day. Christmas is more of a friend's & couple's celebration in Korea, unlike Seollal, the Lunar New Year and Chuseok, the Thanksgiving Day where everyone would go back to their hometown and celebrate it with their family. The seat next to her was empty, so she put the kimchi container and her backpack there.