EPHEMERAL || BBH

The Meadow under the Stars ❁

One thing I observed about Baekhyun was the fact that he was very vocal. He was also straightforward, especially about how he felt. He was funny but he also got the right doze of seriousness when necessary. He was cute and charming and I couldn't blame myself for feeling this way towards him.

To be honest, I felt a little scared. I mean, I guess this feeling would always be present. His life was way too different from mine and I couldn't fully convince myself to be confident with how things were going to be between us. However, every time I would hear his voice from the other line, or read his reassuring messages, I get to shake the feeling away somehow. I didn't like feeling this way. I didn't want my insecurities to get in the way. I knew I had to do something about it.

It was a quarter past eight, on a Thursday evening, when I received a call from Lizzie. She's one of my closest friends back in Australia. She's also Korean but was raised there. We were in the same University in College, had the same major and since then we have become good friends. Though, she's a little different from me in some aspects. She liked partying and bar hopping which I must note were not my cup of tea. She's friendly and good with people too. She's a social butterfly.

"I'm going to be in Korea next week!" She announced using her usual perky tone.

"Really?" I asked, surprised. "Why? I mean, what about work?"

"Well, my mom and I are attending my cousin's wedding so I filed a one-week leave from the company." She explained. "So don't give me your lame excuses and go meet me in Seoul." She added as if she already knew that I was going to give her an alibi.

"Seoul is four hours away from here Liz," I told her in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh my god! I can't believe you, Hailey!" She exclaimed, emphasizing my English name. "We haven't seen each other for months and you're also being so vague about your return to Australia, and you won't even meet me just because Seoul is four hours from there?!" She ranted.  

I laughed at her reaction. For some reason, I knew that this was how she would react.

"I'm just kidding Liz," I told her immediately. "I'm going to go meet you there. Happy now?"

"You better show up in front of me Park." She replied, not sounding so convinced. "Or else I'm not going to talk to you, EVER!" She paused. "And I'm not even kidding this time."

I laughed once more. "I promise. Okay? I'll see you next week. Just give me the details."

"Good." She muttered, relief evident in her tone. "But will you be okay to travel to Seoul alone? I mean, I wanna see you but I wanna make sure that you won't get lost or something like that."

"So you suddenly got worried, eh?"

"Damn, why do you have to have this crazy thing about directions?"

I could imagine her rolling her eyes when she said that.

"I'll be fine Liz."

"Okay, I'll give you a call when I arrive next week."

"Sounds good to me."

"Great!" She beamed. "We're going to have a lot of fun, I can't wait."

"Your definition of fun scares me," I noted. 

"And your definition of fun makes me cringe." She rebutted.

We both laughed. We talked for about another fifteen minutes about a guy she met last week. I was trying not to laugh at her the whole time because she sounded like she was smitten with him but she kept denying it.

Talking to her made me miss my life in Australia. My family, my work, and my other friends. However, I love being here too. And yes, things have indeed changed for me since I came back to Korea.