World Apart

The moment we landed in Seoul, reality hit me like a freight train.

The announcement from the flight attendant barely registered as I sat frozen in my seat, gripping my phone like a lifeline. This was it. A new country. A new life. One I never asked for.

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. I didn't belong here. My body might have been on this plane, but my heart was still somewhere over the ocean, back in Canada...back with Jinman.

"Eva, come on," my mom urged, already standing in the aisle. "We don't want to hold people up."

I wanted to tell her I didn't care. Let them wait. Let the whole damn world wait. But instead, I forced my body to move, to stand, to grab my carry-on like I was just another passenger excited for a fresh start.

Each step off the plane felt heavier, like I was walking further and further away from everything that mattered. By the time we reached baggage claim, I was numb.