After we had known each other for some time, I gradually realized that he was someone who lived with clear purpose.
He was not the type who talked much about himself. Most of the time, he simply studied quietly, read books, or focused on his own work. But whenever he spoke about the future, his eyes changed.
It wasn't the look of someone dreaming.
It was a calm kind of certainty.
One evening, we were sitting in the corridor again, just like usual. The night breeze drifted through the row of rooms, and from the small alley below came the faint sound of passing motorbikes.
He had just finished studying and closed his book.
Curious, I asked,
"Don't you get tired studying so much?"
He smiled lightly.
"Of course I do."
"Then why do you still study so much?"
He looked into the distance for a moment, as if thinking.
"Because I want to go farther."
I tilted my head.
"What do you mean, farther?"
He didn't answer right away.
After a moment he said,
"I want to study abroad."
I was a little surprised.
At that time, studying abroad felt like something very distant to me. I only thought about finishing school, finding a stable job, and living a normal life.
I asked him,
"Which country do you want to go to?"
"France."
I didn't know much about France. I had only seen a few pictures online or in books.
"That's really far."
He nodded.
"Yeah."
I looked at him.
"Are you sure you'll go?"
He smiled, but it wasn't a playful smile.
"I'm preparing for it."
He told me he had been researching it for a long time and had already made plans. He wanted to study more, experience more, and expand what he knew.
As he spoke, I realized he was different from many people around us.
Many people talked about the future as if it were a dream.
But he spoke about it like a path.
A path he had thought about many times.
I sat quietly, listening.
He talked about cities in Europe, about universities he had been researching, about learning foreign languages, about the things he wanted to do in the future.
I didn't understand everything he said.
But I liked watching the way he spoke.
Calm.
Certain.
Unhurried.
After a while he asked,
"What about you?"
I was a little surprised.
"Me?"
"Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"
I thought for a moment.
The truth was, I had never thought that far ahead.
So I answered honestly.
"I don't know yet."
He didn't laugh.
He didn't criticize me for lacking direction.
He simply nodded.
"That's okay. Everyone finds their way eventually."
We fell silent again.
I looked at him.
I suddenly realized that if one day he truly went abroad, the distance between us would become very far.
Farther than the distance between our two rooms across the corridor.
I asked him,
"Will you be gone for long?"
He answered simply,
"Probably a few years."
I nodded.
For some reason, at that moment I felt something strange inside.
Not sadness.
Not regret.
Just a faint emptiness.
Like the feeling when you realize something familiar is about to change.
He looked at me for a moment and asked,
"What do you think?"
"You mean about you studying abroad?"
He nodded.
I thought for a moment before answering.
"I think… if you want to go, then you should."
He looked at me for quite a long time.
"Really?"
I nodded.
"You're smart, and you work hard. If you have the chance, you should go."
He didn't say anything more.
He just smiled quietly.
After that, we changed the subject and talked about other things.
But from that evening on, I began to notice more carefully what he was doing.
He studied even more than before.
Sometimes he went out to work part-time or meet people related to his plans.
I didn't ask too many questions.
But I understood that he was truly preparing for his future.
A future that might no longer be in this city.
A future far away.
One evening later, while I was standing in the corridor, he stepped out holding a stack of papers.
He showed them to me.
"Try to guess what this is."
I looked at them.
They were documents related to applying to study abroad.
I looked up at him.
"So you're really doing it?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
I smiled.
"Congratulations."
He looked at me for a moment.
There was something in his eyes that I couldn't quite understand.
But I didn't ask.
At that time, I still believed that everything between us was just friendship.
A very special friendship.
I didn't know that for him, every decision about the future carried another question as well.
A question he had never spoken aloud.
Can I wait for you?
But at that time, neither of us said anything about it.
⸻
Message of Chapter 7
Some people talk about the future as if it were a dream.
But others prepare for it quietly, day by day.
And sometimes, when someone begins to walk toward their future,
the ones who stay behind start to realize—
distance is not only about space,
but also about time.