ʏᴏᴜʀ ʜɪɢʜɴᴇss ʙᴀsᴋᴇᴛʙᴀʟʟ ɢᴏᴅᴅᴇss || ʜʏᴜɴᴊɪɴ ғғ (on hiatus)

02

✎ han ji eun

"i'm going back to korea."

"what? wait why?"
"please don't go!"
"what happened?"
"did something bad happen?"
"this is so sudden."
as soon as i stated it, i knew that there would be questions, thoughts, opinions ; just as i thought, there were.

"guys, don't worry. i know it's all too sudden. even i'm still recovering from the shock this situation brought me to. to sum up, my parents left for italy to handle important business and they don't feel safe for me to stay in malaysia alone, so i will be returning to korea tomorrow to stay with my brother." i explained, gesturing for then to stay calm.

tears welled up in some of their faces while others could not hide their disappointed expressions. i would say it's a normal and more stable reaction amongst all the others i've received.

"when is your flight?" my coach asked.
"6.00pm." i replied, giving her a small smile. once all of them collected themselves, we did a group hug before separating ways.

i locked the door upon reaching home, heaving a sigh as i absorbed the warmth and feeling of home this house has brought unto me. unfortunately for me, my journey with this apartment has come to an end, so before i truly let go, i allow myself on a tour around this house - as if i was a stranger to my own dwelling.

i packed everything i needed into my luggage and set out my crisply ironed uniform hanging by the closet's knob. it wasn't until before bed that i realised that my brother might not know i was returning to korea, so i gave him a call.

"hello?"
"sung, did mom tell you?"
"yeah, she called and said you were coming home tomorrow. why?"
"it's so random. can't i just stay peacefully at one place and not go anywhere else?" i complained.
"ji eun ah, maybe you won't have to move again once you're back here. but cheer up, okay? you'll get to spend more time with me once your back here."
"fineee!!" i said, sounding annoyed but i'm actually secretly pleased?
"right, you should sleep soon. its late."
"goodnight, sung."
"night, ji eun."

••• ••• •••

ring!!!! ring!!!! ring!!!!

i think i'm going to destroy this alarm clock later today. honestly, why do alarm clocks exist? and bigger question, why don't i use my phone....

i got up, got dressed and took my bag, and headed to school, which was approximately a 15 minutes walk from my apartment. i took a stroll, enjoying the time i still have left in malaysia.

"hai, ji eun!!" kirsten came up and wrapped her arm around my shoulder.
"hey, kiki!" i greeted her with a smile. crap, i haven't told her that i would be leaving. i guess i'll just have to do it in class later. our teacher would probably make me do a farewell speech which i'm totally unprepared for anyways.

"alright students! i have good news and bad news for you. which do you want to hear first?" ms lai, our homeroom teacher garnered our attention.
"good news!"
"good news!"
"bad news!"
"good news!"

"alright, quiet down now!" she tapped her new marker on the white board repeatedly. it was apparently her favourite way to silence her students.
i'll be praying for her markers.
"good news is.... we'll be going on a four day three night trip to johor!" ms lai announced, resulting the students to cheer madly happy.

"yes!"
"woohoo!"
"YAS! YAS! finally no aquariums and boring museums!"
"way to go!"
"teacher, you're the best!"
"OMG, LIKE FINALLY SOMEWHERE DECENT!!!"

"okay, shhhhh! now quiet down. the bad news is that one of our favourite students is leaving us and will be returning to south korea later today." ms lai informed the class, all eyes turning to look in my direction.
"ji eun, would you like to give your classmates a farewell speech?" she invited me to the front.

objectively, i should be feeling grateful for this opportunity because not many teachers let students make farewell speeches. they just let the students know when the student disappears from school. subjectively though, subjectively, i feel awkward and embarrassed to give a speech like this.

"erm... i'm really grateful to be in this class throughout my 5 years in tsun jin. honestly, this is the longest time i've stayed at one place and everyone has been so nice to me here, which i'm really grateful for. i'm really thankful to everyone of you who had been helping me from the start and when i'm struggling. i apologise if i have offended you in any way in the past and i hope you forgive me for that. it is a great pleasure to be able to create memories with all of you and an even greater honour to be able to represent tsun jin high school in the girl's basketball team. i wish all of you the best for the final exam this coming year end and i hope that we will live greater and keep in contact in the future. once again, thank you for having me in tsun jin high school." i made an impromptu speech and scuttled back to my seat.

with that our class begin and ended with a class photo for me to keep as well as for everyone. after school, i went to the basketball court one last time with all my friends. they then followed me home and sent me off to the airport. i hugged each of them tightly before going off, promising that i would meet up with them one day. i waved them goodbye and headed towards the terminal, boarding the plane.

farewell malaysia, greetings korea.

⏯ here's the second chp. how have y'all been?