Featured song to listen to while reading this: Where Are U(내가 너에게 가든 네가 나에게 오든) (W OST Part.1) by Jung Joon Young (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY6sgrqTxjg)

 

 

2014

 

Amelia “Sunbin” Williams is a South Korean-American. She grew up to a Korean mother and an American father. She was born in South Korea but grew up in California, United States. Although she’s a citizen to both countries, she never had a chance to actually visit South Korea ever since her birth.

 

 

She’s 5.5 feet and she is an attractive girl. She thanked her parents’ genes for it. Despite the existence of Asian discrimination in the United States, Lilia almost never had to deal with it. She was part of the ‘’IT” circle and from middle school to high school, she had tons of guys lining up for her. She had only two relationships – one in high school and one in university – despite having a huge amount of people courting her. Although she was in that circle, she never really had true friends. Most of them were cautious around her and strangers even think she’s unapproachable. She is a down to earth person but because of the attention towards her, she had to hide behind a mask where she appears sometimes fierce and in common terms, y.

 

 

Although she grew up to American culture, her mother made sure she knew of her Korean roots. She learned the language and the practices. So, when her university offered an exchange programme to study in South Korea for 6 months for her final year, she grabbed the chance. She also used that chance to let herself move on from her recent break up and unwind from all the drama she’s facing in her school.

 

 

The 22 year old Lilia arrived at the airport and she was immediately greeted by a girl holding a placard bearing her name who seemed to be her age, “Hello, welcome to South Korea!” she greeted in English, her accent quite thick. “My name is Jisoo Kim. You can call me Jen.” She beamed at her. She was a bit shorter than Lilia, standing at 5.4feet.  Lilia smiled shyly. “Thank you for welcoming me Jen. I’m Lilia-”

 

 

“I know. The teachers told me already. And the card has your name printed on it. They assigned me to be your guide here.” Jen explained.  Amelia wanted to let her know that she can speak Korean but she was way too chatty. Jen eagerly took her luggage and they made their way to the parking lot of the airport. “You wait here alright?” Jen said when they reached a waiting area. “You look tired from the flight. So, I’ll get the car so you don’t have to walk more. ”

 

 

“No, it’s okay, I’ll follow – ” Jen held up a hand and said, “Stay here okay.” Amelia blinked and Jen was gone. Amelia sighed and then smiled. ‘Such an interesting character.’ She thought.

 

 

So as she waits, she whipped out her phone. She was scrolling through her photo gallery when someone bumped into her – hard. In the process, she dropped her phone. “Oh my – ” And then she noticed a lanky male wearing a black hoodie, black t-shirt, black sunglasses and a white mask. She could not discern his facial features because his mark and sunglasses are totally covering his face. For a second her eyebrows knitted together. He looked weird with his get-up she thought.

 

 

“죄송 해요 (I’m sorry)” he said as he bent down and picked up two phones, his and hers. It turns out he dropped his phone as well. He straightened and looked at her, noticed she looked a bit foreign and then switched to English, “I’m sorry. I didn’t see you there. Here’s your phone.” His accent seemed quite smooth as she noted. She replied as she took her phone back, “괜찮아요 (It’s okay).” She examined it, turned it off and put it in her pocket. She continued in Korean, “You must have a reason why you were in such a hurry that you bumped into me that hard.”

 

 

“Uh, are you Korean? Or you just know how to speak the language?” he asked in Korean. Although she could not see his facial expressions, she noted from his tone that he was quite surprised she could speak Korean. “Uhm, Korean-American.” She answered.

 

 

“I see. If I damaged your phone in any way, let me know. It’s my fault that you dropped it anyway.” He said, as he kept his phone in his hoodie pocket. “Nah, it’s okay.” She switched back to English.

 

 

Despite the sunglasses and his curly bangs she noticed him raising an eyebrow. “You switched back to English.” He said in Korean. She shrugged and smiled a little. “Why can’t I?” she said in Korean. The guy snickered and turned his attention towards the parking lot. “Interesting.” He muttered. He thought she was flirting with him because of how she acted. “What did you say?” she asked.

 

 

He turned to her and took in her slightly frowning expression. He thanked his mask because his mouth slightly hung open. Even with that expression, he found her cute.

 

 

“혹시, 저 아세요? (By any chance, do you know me?)” he suddenly asked. “어, 왜 갑자기… (Uh, why suddenly…)” she frowned at the sudden question. “아니요… (No…)”

 

 

In her mind she was saying, “How the hell would I have known this guy beforehand?”

 

 

The guy removed his mask and snickered. He stick out his hand and said, “My name’s Jung Joon Young. Yours?” Although hesitant, she shook her hands with him. That’s when Joon Young felt her soft hands. He didn’t want to let go. “Amelia Williams. You can call me Sunbin though.” She let go first.

 

 

Jung Joon Young, a 25 year old singer who prefers the rock genre and rising variety star in South Korea has just arrived back in the country after a short vacation with friends. Clad in almost full black and just finished conversing on the phone with his mother, he was rushing out to avoid some sasaeng fans but he didn’t notice a girl in the way and bumped into her. In his shock, he dropped his phone as well. He was too pre-occupied to notice how she looked until she caught his attention when she spoke hangeul. Even then, he just wanted to leave the airport and not get recognized, get home and have some sleep. He has a shooting schedule for 2 Days 1 Night the next day.

 

 

At first, he thought she was a sasaeng too but he picked up the genuine confusion in her voice when he asked if she knew who he was.

 

 

“Are you just visiting here or ..?” Joon Young, curious and secretly hoping he can meet her again. Sunbin pursed her lips and eyed him with subtle suspicion. Joon Young caught her look and immediately countered, “Don’t get any wrong ideas. I’m just curious how long a pretty girl like you will stay here.” He lean in quite a bit and half-jokingly whispered, “A lot of men here like to ogle at girls like you.” He continued, “I can protect you from them you know.”

 

 

Sunbin looked at him incredulously and bit her lip trying to stifle a laugh. She did not hold herself from saying, “You seem like one of those men.”

 

 

“Phu-hu,” he made a fanning movement as if he was sweating and looked away. “I’m just a cool guy trying to protect pretty girls.” He muttered.

 

 

Sunbin shook her head and laughed silently. Although she said that, she noted his aura seemed friendly.

 

 

He was about to strike another conversion when a car pulled up and honked. The passenger seat window rolled down and a chirpy voice said, “Amelia, hop in!”

 

 

Sunbin turned to the car, and opened the car door. Before getting in, she made an eye contact with him. “Nice meeting you, Jung Joong Young-ssi.” She said as she smiled at him brightly.

 

 

“잠시만요. (Wait.)” Joon Young said.

 

 

Sunbin turned to him, anticipating his next words. He coolly said, “Can a beautiful lady like you give me her number?”

 

 

Sunbin raised an eyebrow and said, “I don’t mean to be rude but we just met. I don’t give my number just to anyone.”

 

 

Joon Young shrugged and exclaimed, “Wa, I thought you’ll fall for my coolness.”

 

 

Sunbin shook her head, “You’re so cool that I freeze instead of cringing so as not to hurt your feelings.” Joon Young feigned hurt, pointed to his heart and said, “Ugh, you hurt my feelings. You should’ve froze like you said, instead of saying anything.”

 

 

Sunbin supressed a laugh. “I should go.”

 

 

***

“Do you know that man?” Jen asked in English. “No. No I don’t” she replied in Korean as she glanced at the side mirror of the car – Joon Young’s reflection showed.

 

 

“Oh? You know how to speak some Korean?”

 

 

“My mom’s Korean and she taught me. I’m fluent in it.” She answered in Korean once again nonchalantly. Her attention was still towards the side mirror showing Joon Young whose figure is now like that of an ant’s. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I was almost running out of things to say!” Jen started to chat with her in Korean. Sunbin found herself shaking her head for her chattiness.

 

 

She almost was not able to tell her, “By the way, you can call me Sunbin. It’s my Korean name.”

 

***

“Joon young ah!” someone called from behind Joon Young. His gaze was still fixated on the retreating figure of the car that Sunbin rode. “Sunbin, Sunbin, Sunbin…” he muttered. He cannot stop thinking at how she acted around him – as if they’ve known each other for quite a while. He felt comfortable around her. And that smile. He melted. It has been a while since he fell for someone and he’s blown away by her. She seemed so easy-going and someone who can match him. How he hoped they could meet again.

 

 

“Ya, Jung Joon Young!” the voice called out again. Still he didn’t respond. “Ya!” and then he got hit on the head. Annoyed, he turned and shouted “The hell Roy!”

 

 

Roy Kim, fellow singer and Joon Young’s close friend stood with an annoyed expression as well. “I’ve been calling your phone a dozen times but it was off! I’ve finally found you after walking around and you’re in a daze.”

 

 

He gave him a goofy smile. “I just met an angel.” Roy rolled his eyes. “Sure sure. You always meet angels wherever you go.”

 

 

“This time it’s real. She really is an angel…”

 

 

“Fine…”

 

 

“You should have seen her. Very pretty and she seemed so easy going.” Joon Young was off to fantasy land again, replaying the events that happened. Roy Kim nodded half-heartedly.

 

 

“Why is your phone off though? You never turn your phone off. Ever.” Roy commented as they walk towards the car.

 

 

“Huh?” Joon Young took out his phone from his hoodie pocket and checked the phone. It was open… And no sign of Roy’s missed calls. “Are you joking with me? You didn’t even call once.” He showed the screen to his friend.

 

 

Roy frowned at the screen, “I’m pretty sure I have called you at least a dozen times.”

 

 

Just then, the phone vibrated. A message. Both of them looked at it.

 

 

Mom: Have you landed yet? How’s South Korea?

 

 

It was written in English. Roy’s forehead creased. “Since when did you change your mother’s name to ‘Mom’? I thought you saved it as ‘엄마 (mom)’? And doesn’t she always message you in Korean? And isn’t she in Jeju-do? Why is she suddenly asking about South Korea?”

 

 

Joon Young’s eyes slightly widened. He’s starting to piece everything together. The phones that were dropped were identical. Too identical and newly bought. Same brand and same model. Joon Young then tried the password. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

 

 

A smile crept into his lips. “The heavens are helping me meet my angel again.”

 

 

Roy looked at him like he has gone mad. Well, he has. Because he’s smiling ear to ear and laughing like a goat.