[A/N: The ones with the * are the ones in pure Korean... ^^]

~

The sun’s rays slowly crept through the curtains and hit the sleeping figure in the back. She moved and slowly opened her eyes. It was 7:35 in the morning…a Saturday morning. She smiled as she stretched her whole body and adjusted her eyes to the light that entered her room. She idly got out of bed, opened the curtains and went out into her balcony. It was sunny, but not too hot to take her board out around the place.

She went back inside her room and grabbed her phone by the bedside table. She dialed an old friend’s number and waited for the other side to pick up the call.

*“Yeoboseyo?”

*“Donghae-sunbae! Annyeonghaseyo!”

Donghae was one of the people who offered help when she badly needed it. He was her guardian and he was the one who made her keep up with the happenings back in Korea. He’s Korean after all, just like her.

*“Jaehyo-ah! What can I do for you?”

*“I just wanted to inform you that I’ll be dropping by to return the book I borrowed last week. What time will you able to entertain a young friend?”

*“Oh, you little kid! Come by any time! You know you’re always welcome!”

*“Arasseo! Kamsahabnida, sunbae! Annyeong!”

*“Annyeong!”

She dropped the call and smiled as she breathed in the morning air.

Today is gonna be great! I just feel it!

She went back into her room again and closed the door leading to the balcony. Rushing into the bathroom, she cleaned up and was ready in a couple of minutes. Wearing a straight elbow-length sleeved, tan-colored, thigh-high, flowy, plain dress with black knee-length leggings underneath, she was ready to face a new day.

Keys? Check. Wallet? Check. Phone? Check. Earphones? Check. Book that has to be returned? Check.

She put them all in her small backpack and walked out of her apartment, smiling from ear to ear. Before she was able to take another step though, she ran back to her room and looked behind the shoe rack.

No wonder…

She giggled as she grabbed her red and black customized skateboard and locked the door.

Mode of transportation? Check!

She walked out of the building and into the always-oh-so-busy streets of New York. Plugging in her earphones and putting both buds to her ears, she jumped onto the skateboard and whooshed away. She smiled as memories ran through her mind…childhood memories. Basically, Park Jaehyo is a Korean. Her whole family is a Korean. But, just because she’s a Korean doesn’t mean she has to be in Korea, right?

This place…New York…this is her home. She was born here. She grew up here. She developed her whole being here. Her spirit belongs to New York.

But, 9 years ago, when she was still a 5-year-old girl, her parents had decided that they should go back to their hometown, Korea. Jaehyo begged to differ but she had no choice. It wasn’t time for her to decide for herself yet. She still needed her family at that age so she had leave behind her New York dreams.

Life in Korea was fine but she couldn’t help but remember and cry over New York every night. She missed everything about it and she wanted to go back so badly. Her parents were worried about her so they decided to have her professionally checked. It turned out that she was just being home-sick, which made no sense since Korea is her real home! Detecting the aura of worry hovering over her parents, she decided to change for their sake. She stopped talking about New York and how badly she wanted to go back and just started talking about things normal teens would talk about: school, boys, and dates. She played through all this for a long time.

When she reached the age of 14, she decided to stop all the pretending and let her parents hear her out. She told them about her plans of going back to New York on her own. Apparently, she had already asked help from the people she knew back in New York and they were all more than happy to help her out. Her parents were hesitant. Who in their right minds would let their daughter live on her own in a big city like New York? But, finally, they came to a conclusion. She wanted this…they’ll give it to her. They decided to give a whole year of testing. If things didn’t go right, she’d have to come back home and be satisfied with the Korean life. But, if otherwise, they would let her spend the rest of her life in the city if she wanted so.

So far, everything’s been going perfect. You can tell by the way Jaehyo’s been composing herself for the past 2 years. With the help of their closest family friends, she was able to stand up on her own and live off by herself in the big city. She’ll be a high school sophomore this spring and it wasn’t that far away. For now, she’ll just enjoy the rest of her summer days.

The next thing she knew, she was already down on her and her head spun like crazy. She shook her head to shoo away all the stars and slowly opened her eyes. In front of her was a silver-haired boy who was in the same state as her. Feeling a bit better, she rushed to the boy’s side to help him up.

*“Mianheyo!!! Are you hurt? Are you wounded?”

Oh my gosh! I just spoke in Korean to an American! Aish! Stupid girl!!! >.<

*“Naneun gwaenchanha.”

Oh…he’s Korean?!?!?! O_O

He opened his eyes and looked at her. She felt her heart skip a beat as she stared back at his brown orbs. His lips parted and it seemed as if he was saying something but she couldn’t hear any of it. The only sound she was hearing was her own inconsistent breathing and her loud going-over-the-roof heartbeat. The guy slowly moved forward and it seemed to her as if he was trying to kiss her. She stepped back and tripped on a skateboard. She wasn’t able to do anything as gravity pulled her down. An arm was wrapped around her back before she was able to reach the ground and, once again, she found herself face to face with the silver-haired guy.

*“Agassi? Gwanchanhayo?”

Coming back to her senses, she steadied her feet on the ground and moved away from the guy. She felt her cheeks redden as she looked away from the guy.

*“I’m Choi Junhong, by the way. You’re a Korean too, right? And I’m guessing we’re about the same age.”

Still avoiding his gaze, she nodded her head.

*“Park Jaehyo imnida. I just turned 16 during the 28^th last month.”

*“Oh? Jeongmal? So you have the same birthday as one of my hyungs! That’s cool!”

She just nodded her head and said nothing in response.

A Korean walking the streets of New York! That’s something new! Speaking of Koreans…there’s one I have to go to…

*“Uhm…I have to get going. I still have an errand to do, so…”

*“Oh…that goes the same for me! It was nice meeting you, Jaehyo-ssi!”

She bowed, grabbed the skateboard she tripped on and walked away. She heard the other one plop himself on his skateboard and skid away. That was the only time when Jaehyo was able to release her breath. She grinned and mentally slapped herself.

Thanks to this skateboard, my day started out…actually right! If only I can… *sigh*

Putting down the board on the ground, a different feeling rushed through her as she brushed her hand across it.

This isn’t my skateboard, isn’t it?

She flipped it upside down and confirmed her doubts. Her skateboard had her name written at the other side…and this one had ‘B.A.P’ written on it.

That Junhong and I must’ve switched boards! Omo!!! Wait…so this means…

Her face lit up as sudden realization hit her.

I’ll be able to see him again!!! *squeal*

She noticed that she had already caught the attention of some passersby so she stopped hopping like a little rabbit. She hopped on the board instead and skidded away with a big smile plastered on her face.

I don’t care when…I don’t care how…All I’m sure about right now is that we’ll be meeting again, somehow! ^^

She still had the image of his brown-colored eyes in her mind. Those eyes were the most beautiful ones she had seen so far! She just can’t resist it and, somehow, she manages to know more about a person just by looking at his eyes. That Choi Junhong, for example...just one look at his eyes, she can tell that he’s a good performer, a good rapper, to be exact. She can tell that he has the tendency to spice up a conversation anytime and this side of him shows his friendliness and playfulness. She can tell that he loves to take care of the persons very close to him and he’ll do everything to make these people happy.

It might not be obvious but Jaehyo’s a er for eyes! When she was still young, she had once asked her Mother to buy her a book that caught her eye. It was entitled ‘Eye Psychology: The Secret of the Eyes’. This sent her parents through the roof. How could a young girl like her be interested in such a complex subject as this?, they thought. But there was no stopping the little girl. Even if she had to crawl on the ground just to plead or throw a tantrum to catch the other people’s attention, she’d gladly do it just so she can get her hands on that book. And that was the start of her eye-check addiction. She still had that book with her until now and she wouldn’t ever part with it.

Arriving at one of the fountain parks in the city, she decided to slow down a bit and catch up with her breathing. She sat down on one of the benches and put the board on her lap, flipping it upside down again to look at its design underneath.

‘B.A.P’…Wonder what that means. A name, maybe? But the owner’s name is Choi Junhong! It should be his initials written here. Unless he just stole it. But he doesn’t look like a thief or any criminal! Hmmm…a group name, maybe…one that he’s apart of?

She took out a receipt from her wallet and a pen from one of the pockets on her backpack. She tried listing down all the possible meanings for B.A.P that she could think of. A little while later though, a strong breeze passed by and she wasn’t warned about it. The piece of paper she was writing on ended up flying away. Shocked and frustrated, she decided to go after it. Putting the pen back in her bag and riding away on her skateboard – Junhong’s skateboard – she kept the flying paper in view and saw that it landed somewhere near the fountain. She rushed after it with determination. She looked around the ground as she went near the fountain.

She wasn’t able to finish going around the fountain when she found herself with her on the ground…again!

Aish! I think gravity loves me too much today!

“Miss?”

Looking up, she saw a man kneeling in front of her. He had a pair of sunglasses on so she wasn’t able to look directly into his eyes, which was somewhat troublesome for her.

“Okay…are you?”

Wrong sentence composition and a completely different accent and tone…This guy is Asian…specifically Korean in my point of view…

He took off his sunglasses and looked worriedly at Jaehyo.

“Miss?”

She shook away her thoughts on the Korean guy for a while as he held out a hand for her. She took it and he helped her up.

“Correct me if I’m wrong but…you’re Korean, right?”

The guy scratched his head…probably because he didn’t understand a thing.

*“Mianheyo. I was saying…Correct me if I’m wrong but you’re Korean, right?”

The guy’s face lit up.

*“Geurae! And you’re one, too?”

Jaehyo was hesitant to answer but she eventually nodded.

*“Bang Yongguk imnida. It’s nice to meet a fellow Korean here in New York!”

*“Park Jaehyo imnida. You’re the 2^nd Korean that I met today and…”

*“Jeongmal? Hahahaha! Maybe you’ll be meeting more of our fellows today!”

She lethargically nodded her head.

I was hoping not though…

*“By the way, I’m sorry for bumping into you. I wasn’t aware of my surroundings since I had my headphones plugged in.”

*“A-Aniya… Gwaenchanha…”

*“Uhm…It seemed like you were looking for something. May I help? Just as repentance for dazing you.”

Jaehyo gladly agreed to the offered help and, soon after, they found the piece of paper she was trying to write on earlier. She was also able to share her ‘guessing problems’ with Yongguk.

*“B.A.P? How did you come by this abbreviation?”

*“I just…read it somewhere. It sent my mind reeling with curiosity so…”

*“Hahahaha! This is the name of my group! You see I’m a performer, together with 5 other guys and our group name is B.A.P. It actually means ‘Best.Absolute.Perfect’!”

If that’s the point, then…Junhong and him are… O_O

*“Agassi. I’m sorry but I’ll have to get on my way. I still have somewhere to go to.”

*“Oh…uhm…me, too. Uh…thanks for helping me, Yongguk-ssi! Annyeong!”

*“Annyeong, Jaehyo-ssi! It was a pleasure meeting you! I’m hoping to see you again in the future!”

She watched him jog away towards one of the pathways that exited the fountain area. She clutched the paper in her hands and her whole body shivered.

Meeting 2 Koreans at different times, at different places, but belonging to the same group…What is this? It couldn’t be just coincidence! >.<

She shook her head in annoyance and sat on a bench for a while.

If this meeting thing goes on, I think I’ll go crazy!!! Arrgh!!!

She stuffed the paper in her bag and stood up to go on her way and rolled out of the fountain area on Junghong’s skateboard.

 

 

 

Okay...so 1st chapter's out!!! ^^

Hope y'all like it...'coz I think I like it! XD

2nd chap tomorrow? :D

Subscribe and comment...jebal~ *looks at you with puppy eyes* :3

 

 

Saranghaeyo~ <3