After the evening he told me about his desire to study abroad, I began to pay a little more attention to him.
Not because I was curious.
But because I realized he was truly serious about his dream.
Before that, I had simply thought of him as a hardworking student. But after hearing him talk about the future, I began to see that behind his quiet nature were many plans he had been preparing for a long time.
On many evenings when I opened my door, I would see him sitting at his desk. The light in his room often stayed on until late at night. On his desk were thick books, stacks of notes, and sometimes the laptop he used to search for information.
Once, as I passed by his door, I accidentally saw him speaking in a foreign language on the phone.
I paused for a few seconds before walking on.
I didn't understand everything he was saying, but I knew he was trying very hard.
One evening when I had just returned from class, he was sitting in the corridor with a thick notebook.
I sat down beside him.
"What are you doing?"
He handed the notebook to me.
Inside were many lines of notes — names of universities, application deadlines, requirements for documents and language tests.
I looked at it for a while before asking,
"How long have you been preparing?"
He thought for a moment.
"Quite a while."
"How long?"
He smiled slightly.
"Probably… since before I met you."
I was a little surprised.
"So you've been thinking about going far away for a long time?"
He nodded.
"Yeah."
I stayed silent for a few seconds.
Looking at the pages in his notebook, I could see everything was very clear.
These weren't passing thoughts.
They were carefully planned steps.
I asked him,
"Aren't you afraid?"
He looked at me.
"Afraid of what?"
"Going that far… living somewhere completely different."
He leaned back against the corridor railing.
The night breeze drifted softly past us.
He spoke slowly.
"At first, I was."
"But if I never try, I'll always wonder how life might have been if I had gone."
Listening to him, I felt that he was far more mature than I was.
I had never thought that far ahead.
I was still living day by day, attending classes, waiting for each semester to pass.
But he had already seen a much longer road.
After a while I asked,
"Why do you like France?"
He smiled.
"I'm not really sure."
Then he added,
"Maybe because I like the feeling of being somewhere far away."
He told me that when he was younger, he often read books about other countries. He was always curious about life in those places — the streets, the people, the different ways of living.
He said,
"The world is very big."
I nodded.
I knew the world was big.
But at that time, my world was still very small.
It revolved around school, the boarding house, and the familiar streets nearby.
He looked at me and asked,
"Have you ever thought about living in another country?"
I shook my head.
"Probably not."
"Why?"
I thought for a moment.
"I've never really thought that far."
He nodded.
"That's okay."
Then he added,
"Not everyone needs to go far away to find their life."
We sat quietly for a while.
I looked at him.
For some reason, hearing him talk about going abroad made him seem like someone standing at a turning point in life.
A road that would lead him very far away.
Far from this small boarding house.
Far from the evenings we spent talking in the corridor.
Far from me.
But I didn't say any of that.
Instead, I asked,
"When do you think you'll leave?"
He looked up at the night sky.
"Probably not for a while."
"There's still a lot I need to prepare."
I nodded.
For some reason, I felt a little relieved.
Maybe because I knew that for now, nothing had changed yet.
He was still in the room across from mine.
We still saw each other every day.
Still talked in the evenings.
Still cooked simple meals together.
After a moment he closed his notebook.
"Alright, I should get back to studying."
I stood up.
"I should go back and study too."
Just before I went back into my room, he called out to me.
"Little one."
I turned around.
"Do you think I should go?"
I was slightly surprised by both the way he called me and the question.
I looked at him for a few seconds.
Then I answered honestly.
"If that's what you want… then you should go."
He looked at me for a long time.
Then he nodded.
"Yeah."
At that moment, I didn't know that my simple answer would later become part of the decision he made.
I only thought I was supporting a friend's dream.
I didn't know that for him, that dream wasn't only about himself.
It was also connected to the future of two people.
Message of Chapter 8
Dreams do not always begin with certainty.
Sometimes they start as a small thought that is quietly nurtured over many years.
Those who dare to walk toward their dreams
are not fearless.
They simply understand that if they never try,
they will always live with the question: "What if?"