I'll Be Right There

by Kyung-Sook Shin

You should only ask someone if they love you if you love them, regardless of what their answer might be.

Living does not mean passing through a void of nothingness but rather through a web of relationships among beings, each with their own weight and volume and texture. Insofar as everything is always changing, so our sense of hope shall never die out. Therefore, I leave you all with one final thought: Live. Until you are down to your final breath, love and fight and rage and grieve and live.

Professor Yoon had once said that knowing you are alive means knowing you will soon change into a different form, and that that is the source of our hope. All beings, from human beings to the most insignificant creatures, experience a moment of radiance between birth and death. A moment that we call youth.

“I hope you all have someone who always makes you want to say, Let’s remember this day forever.” The students oohed and aahed, and then laughed at each other’s reaction. I laughed with them. “Also …” They’d thought I was done but they quieted down again. “I hope you will never hesitate to say, I’ll be right there.”