Chapter 1
Dreams aren't Always as they Seem
It was beautiful. Right out of a dream.
For the first time ever, I felt extremely happy. I never would have imagined the chance to actually visit Korea, much less get the chance to stay an extended amount of time. For years, I had wanted to come to this place so full of culture, life and beauty. Always from afar, I admired the cities and towns, the Kpop idols. I watched countless Kdramas. I imagined many a time coming and living here, but I never truly believed it would happen. But here I was.
I stepped out of the airplane and my breath caught. It was a clear night. The temperature was cooling down from a hot day. It was a little windy, but the warmth of the night did not allow the wind to chill. Off in the distance, I could see the dark looming shape of a small mountain, and I could also see city lights. I assumed it was Gimpo. I didn't know much about the place, but I had to stay the night. Our flight had been delayed slightly due to some bad weather early on, so the plane arrives shortly after the last of the buses and trains last departure.
I was too excited to be worried, though. I had enough money for a cheaper hotel, plus it would give me some time to look around.
Only a few airport staff were on duty and the people from our plane were the only travelers in the airport due to our delay. The staff tried to usher us through the system and out so they could go home themselves. I made it through customs and out the front entrance of the airport and stopped dead in my tracks. For the first time I panicked a little. My Korean was limited to a few words I had picked up over the years of kdramas. I knew I should have taken official lessons... Now I was in a city I was not expecting to be in. I had no idea where to go from here.
My sudden stop was a mistake however. I had not thought about the people making their way out of the airport...oops. Someone walked out the door and did not see me, running right into me. They weren't running or anything, but the impact was just enough to knock me off balance. I would have fallen, but the person behind me caught my arm and pulled me back.
I landed against a strong chest. It all happened so suddenly. Ashamed, I backed up without looking up. My face was on fire with embarrassment.
"Chwesonhamnida, chwesonhamnida!" I apologized frantically, bowing each time. Finding it hard to swallow, my eyes wandered up slowly, not wanting to meet his eyes, but needing to. I could have just ran away after that, but I figured that would have been worse.
When my eyes finally landed on the face of the man whose arms I had been in moments before, I gasped. I could not believe it! My face, if it were possible, must have turned redder than it had ever been before. Standing before me was a concerned looking Choi Minho. As in, SHINee's Charismatic Minho. The bias of my favorite group. My breath caught, and I just stood there, unable to do anything.
"Kwenchanayo?" Minho asked, touching my arm as if to be sure. I always believed Minho to be a kind person, but seeing him standing here asking me if I was ok when the whole incident was obviously my fault, I couldn't help the small smile that tugged on the corner of my mouth.
"Neh," I confirmed and added "Kamsahamnida!" with a slight bow. My smile widened a bit. My face was still a little hot, but I was no longer embarrassed. I was surprised at myself, honestly. I managed not to completely fangirl when I saw him. In fact, though I was excited, I was calm. On top of that, I just had a conversation with him. In Korean. Ok, I was fangirling a little bit in my head. I think he could tell, too, because a smile spread across his face, which only made mine grow wider.
He chuckled and asked "E-rum-e moyaeyo?" His head cocked in inquiry.
And that was it. The end of my language skills. My smile fell again and all I could get out was "uhh..." It was a phrase I had most definitely heard before, but not one that stuck. I had no idea what he just said, and he looked like he was unsure if he'd asked an appropriate question or not. So I decided to try a different approach. There was no way I wanted to let this conversation go that easily.
"English?" I looked at him hopefully. The last I knew, his English was not that great. Key was the one with those skills. I was hoping his English had improved some. At the least, he would understand that.
"Aahhh... English..." he let out, relieved it seemed. "Name," he explained.
My grin was back, because that was what it was, not a smile. "April," I bowed again, "nice to meet you."
He reached out his hand, and I took it as he bowed in response. "Minho, pangapsubnida." I did not know this word, but it wasn't hard to figure out what it meant. He even put emphasis on it. I realized he wasn't just saying it out of habit, but on purpose. He understood that I was trying to learn the language.
I laughed and repeated the phrase. "Pangapsubnida."
He laughed his teeth-closed throaty little laughed. "Good, April-sshi!"
It was strange. I didn't feel uncomfortable at all around him. It was almost like we were old friends, even though we had never really met. It might have been because I kind of knew him, but he had no idea I even existed until a couple of minutes ago. I wasn't complaining though.
At that point, as we were laughing, the rest of SHINee exited the airport along with someone I assumed was their manager, even though he looked fairly young. I guess Mr. Choijin hit a few too many fangirls and got fired. Although I felt for him. He was only doing his job, and that one girl actually went too far and kissed Jonghyun, but he shouldn't have pushed her head like that. It could have hurt her. I realized as my mind went through these things that I probably knew too much about these people I had never really met, but it didn't bother me. I was not a sasaeng by any means. Just a fan trying to feel close to the people she admired.
All of them were laughing and joking around as they exited. The manager saw me standing there grinning and looked apprehensive. He quickly walked over and started to say something, but Minho placed a hand on his shoulder. "Kwenchana," he nodded with a slight smile and the manager backed down as the other members surrounded me. I was a little overwhelmed, and I quickly became shy. They were so close and I didn't know what to do. I was in heaven, but so shy.
Finally, Minho cut the tension and introduced me. I shook everyone's hands and bowed to each. I still felt a little awkward because of my lack of Korean skills, but Minho stood by me the entire time, which was comforting. I still could not believe the instant connection between us. It was something I had never felt before. And I meant this in a way that far exceeded that of the way a fan feels about meeting her idols for the first time and many after that. I had never felt this way toward him before. I just couldn't figure it out though. Thankfully, through Key, I was able to communicate with all of them fairly easily, though it was my first time having a translator (especially one that was the Almighty Key!).
They asked me lots of questions like where I was from and why I was here. When they found out I was an American fan, they were really happy. They knew they existed, but had never really had the chance to meet one randomly up until this point. I felt pride swell in me when I heard this. I was so happy to be the first.
I told them that I was here to be an English teacher in Hongdae. Apparently, that's not that far from the SM's building. our conversation just got wilder and wilder. Minho suggested that I should come visit them from time to time. Of course, I accepted!
Around that time, all of the lights turned off and we were forced to move into town. The boys offered to take me to the hotel, which I graciously accepted. When we came upon the Lotte City Hotel Gimpo Airport, as it was called, I knew there was no way I could afford a room there. It seemed a little expensive. It was a tall building, and there were a lot of rooms. They even seemed to be filled, too. Very few lights were off despite the time of night it was.
"Um...I should probably find a smaller hotel..." I hesitated as I got out of the vehicle. Key relayed, and I was surprised that all of the boys protested. I tried to explain to them that I didn't have a whole lot of money, but they were having none of it.
"It's late," Minho said, placing his hand on my head. "We have it."
"But..."
"No," he replied a little more forcibly. I didn't want them to pay for me. I knew they didn't have a lot of money themselves. Not enough to spare for something this expensive. This sort of thing is planned months in advance. Not on the flip of a coin. Finally, I agreed, but only if they got the cheapest room. I didn't want anything too expensive of glorious. I was reminded again of how little they had when they only got 2 rooms. One for me and one for the six of them. I felt so bad.
We made it up to our rooms and said our good nights, each smiling warmly and going into their room. Minho was the last to go. He ruffled my hair.
"Stop!" I laughed, frantically fixing my hair. It tangled so easily, I normally got mad when people messed with it, but I couldn't help but laugh this time. I gave him a playful push, and we were both laughing. Finally, when we caught our breath, I looked up at him. "Thanks." It was so soft, I wasn't sure if he'd heard it.
"Jaljaiyo." A sweet smile played his lips, and he went to his door. I watched as he turned back towards me and waved. I returned it as he stepped through and disappeared.
A/N: I hope you guys don't mind that I'm putting myself in this story...But I figured, if I were to write about a fangirl's dream come true, why not it be my own? Neh? I'm trying to keep as much of the story as close to real life as I can (using real places and events, etc.), while keeping it fiction, minus a few tweaks here and there, to twist things to my liking, if you know what I mean.
Also, I hope my story isn't too straight-to-the-point...I'm a little shaky on fluff, but I do my best.
I am going to tell you up front...I do plan to add a little bit of JongTae into it, though not much as the focus of the story is on my experiences.
Also, I am making use of my knowledge of Korean, and adding a little bit here and there, so I am including a list of word I used, incase context did not make things clear (sometimes I'm just not that good at these things, lol):
"Chwesonhamnida" 죄송합니다 ~ I'm sorry (formal)
"Kwenchana/yo" 괜찮아/요 ~ Are you ok? or I'm/It's okay.
"Neh" 네 ~ Yes
"Kahmsahamnida" 감사합니다 ~ Thank you!
"E-rum-e moraeyo" 이름은 ~ What's your name?
"Pangapsubnida" 반갑습니다 ~ Pleased to meet you.
"-sshi" ~ Miss/Mrs./Mr. ~ Basically, you're showing respect to someone above you or older than you
"Sasaeng" 사생 ~ over-the-top crazy fan
"Jaljaiyo" 잘자요 ~ Good night
ANYWAY~ Please comment with any questions or concerns, or if you just wanna let me know what you think. Hope you enjoy~! Please don't forget to subcribe and givve me some feed back~!
Pwease~?
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