The Butterfly Effect | 방탄소년단 (BTS) [Editing]

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「Jesse 」

It was the autumn after my high school graduation. I was in my late teens; young, naive, reckless. I didn't know how I was going to start building up my future. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I grew up. There was one thing I knew I wanted to do for sure: travel around different parts of the world.

And that's what I did. That summer I worked hard on earning and saving money so I could start off my long trip. I was fortunate enough to get a job where I earned well to survive if I was stuck in a foreign city. If the situation became difficult, plan B would be to swiftly improvise by working part-time somewhere. Movies portray such tactic easily, so it wouldn't be that hard to get a part-time job, right?

Anyway, I thought really careful about where to begin my journey, and I didn't want to stress myself more than I already was. After thinking for a while, I decided to start on the other side of the planet.

Oceania was the inception of my journey. Since it was spring down in the Southern Hemisphere, the change of climate got me a bit sick. Nonetheless, I finally was able to meet my favorite animal in person. I was able to visit a kangaroo conservation center near Sydney and allowed to caress one. I also passed by the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand; and although as much as I wanted to, I wasn't able to bungee jump due to the severe weather that day. Then I continued in Asia, more specifically: Japan. I stayed a few more days than usual in Tokyo, since I have always dreamed of exploring the city of the Rising Sun. I wish I could have stayed more, because it was truly beautiful.

My next stop was between Hong Kong and South Korea. I wasn't sure at first where to go, until I remembered that one of my closest friends recently moved back to Seoul with her family.

Hence, South Korea was the next destination.

Hannah Kim and I have been best friends since our early middle school years. She was born in the outskirts of Seoul, Korea, but she would go back and forth to the United States with both of her parents, which explains on how we have met. I heard once that she has an older brother back in her country, but I never met him since they always went to Seoul for the holidays. She was very excited when I told her I was going to pay a visit. 

The cold November morning welcomed me unexpectedly. I wasn't aware of how chilly it was going to be that day. On top of that, I was already questioning whether to knock on the door or just get a room at the closest and cheapest hotel. My decision immediately skewed to the hotel, but as soon as I turned around, Hannah's mother sneaked up on me with a bunch of grocery bags around her wrist. "May I help-- oh!" She almost trips from the porch's steps.

"Mrs. Kim!" I rush towards her to grab some of the bags. "Let me help you with those..."

"Oh, thank you so much. My daughter told me that her friend was coming over so I thought of making a nice din--" She placed the groceries on the table and finally noticed that I was the one assisting her. "Oh my! My dear Jessabelle, you're finally here!" She embraced me tightly in her small arms. "Welcome to South Korea!"

"Hello, Mrs. Kim." I hold back a chuckle while I hugged her back.

"It's been so long!" She does her usual pat on my cheeks. "Look at how much you've grown in a matter of months!"

"Oh please, I haven't done much..."

"Are you kidding me? You seem so mature already that I didn't recognize you! I heard from Ha-shi that you've been traveling around?" She walks into the kitchen.

"Yeah, I've been exploring around. I started in Australia and so far it has been great..." I followed her along.

"Good for you, I know how you have always talked about doing that." And this is why I always loved Mrs. Kim. She's always so supportive of my crazy dreams. "Hayeon won't be home for a while, so how about if you drop your things in her room? Feel at home."  Kim Hayeon is Hannah's Korean name. However, she firstly introduced herself to me as Hannah, so I got used to calling her like that.