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It was a new year.
The clock had just struck twelve, but despite that, the hustle and bustle of the airport remained, people seemingly unbothered by the change.
Dami stood below the hanging clock, staring as the minute hand moved to the first dash.
It was the new year.
It was also her birthday.
She was a year older now. But just like the people around her, she too didn't really feel any different.
Dami bit her inner lip, her fingers clenching her luggage bag handle tightly.
"Dami!" A woman's voice called out, and she turned to see that it was her mother. She was already halfway through the departure entrance, a little bit past the passport officer. Her father wasn't even anywhere to be seen, and Dami assumed that he would already be waiting for her inside. It made her realise just how long she had been zoning out under the clock, watching as the minutes go by.
The older woman beckoned again for her to come, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as to why her daughter was unmoving.
"Kwon Dami!" Her mother called again, but this time, her tone was impatient as she stared her down, a frustrated look on her face.
"I'm sorry," a whisper escaped Dami's lips as she stared at her mother with wide eyes, realising then and there that she wasn't able to do it.
She wasn't able to bring herself to step foot on that plane, to take that one-ticket flight to Japan when her heart belonged right here, in none other than the palms of the boy she couldn't seemingly bring herself to forget.
The happiness that Dami so badly craved only came in the form of Na Jaemin, she realised, and nothing could ever come close to the joy she felt when they spent the summer together.
It was just one summer, and Na Jaemin had managed to show her all the things her parents had failed to show her for the past twenty-three years of her life— which was what being happy truly felt like.
And Dami knew that if she took that single step, it would ruin all her chances in feeling free again.
"I'm sorry," she said again before she hastily turned around, briskly walking towards the exits that would lead her to the vehicle pick-up point.
Dami could hear her mother yell after her, and she picked up her pace despite knowing that her mother wasn't able to come after her.
And when she finally stepped outside and quickly getting into a cab, she could start to taste the beginnings of her new-found freedom. Ironically, the heavy downpour that welcomed her only heightened her mood even more, and Dami found herself smiling as she stared out of the rain-stained window.
Under the same sky, the very boy that had never left her mind was looking out of his own kitchen window, staring mindlessly at the droplets that raced against each other towards the edge of his windowsill.
