Jessica turned the corner and she saw a commotion at the stoplight by the intersection. She knew she had to report for her first day of work on time, but her curiosity got the best of her.

 

She walked towards the place where the fuss was and heard a guy yelling, "You're old already. Why are you even walking around on the streets?!" She walked closer and was mesmerized by the shiny; white Bentley parked by the stoplight with the driver seat’s door open.

 

"Seriously, you're just causing a hassle for other people when you walk all slowly to cross streets." She looked to where the sound of the voice was coming from. She couldn't believe how rude this guy was being. He had short brown hair, wore a nice black suit, and looked perfectly normal.

 

"I'm sorry, I....." the old man began to say to the jerk.

 

Jessica couldn't stand it. She walked in front of the guy and stood between the two, with her back facing the grandpa.

 

"Yah!" she shouted, which surprised the guy. "Do you have any respect for the elderly? How can you stand in public and yell at someone like this?"

 

The guy just stared at her, unsure what to say or do since he was taken back. She tried to match her eyes with his, but his stare kinda intimidated her. Still, she told herself that she couldn't waver just because she was scared.

 

"This is none of your business," He finally said. "So, just leave."

 

"It is my business since you're the one who is making a scene in public," Jessica retorted. She turned around to look at the old man. "Are you all right? Did this jerkface hurt you?"

 

The guy raised his eyebrow, with an annoyed expression still on his face. "Jerkface? Are you kidding?”

 

Jessica turned to face the guy again. She wasn't going to back down. "Yeah, you're a jerkface. Why are you picking on an elder, don't you think it's sad that he has no grandchildren to drive him around? And here you are, yelling at him for causing a disturbance because he walks too slowly."

 

He rolled his eyes at her. She was the one making a scene, not him. "He's...." the guy began, but his cell phone rang and he had to answer it. "Hello? Yeah, I’m on my way. I won’t miss the flight, I’ll be there soon.”

 

He turned to look at Jessica. "Nevermind. I don’t need to explain myself to you, you're just a blackhole.”

 

He looked at the old man and said, "I'm going to leave now. You can take care of yourself." He got back into his car and drove off.

 

Jessica put her hands on the old man's shoulders. She looked him up and down to make sure that he didn't have any injuries. "Miss, I'm fine. Don't worry," the old man finally said.

 

"You never know, that jerk might've hit you with his car and you probably didn't even know," Jessica said worriedly.

 

"I really appreciate you helping this old man," the haraboji gave out a small chuckle. "You're a nice girl. He’s not a bad guy though."

 

"You're the nice one. You didn't even get angry at him," Jessica gave him a warm smile and continued to call the guy names. "I just didn't like how that jerk was treating you. He was rude."

 

The old man just smiled. He didn't seem angry or upset, which Jessica assumed was just because he was a nice old man.

 

She looked at her watch. Her eyes bugged out and she let out a small yell, "Oh, no!" She was going to show up late for her first day of work.

 

The haraboji took a look at her and told her to take care of her business. He thanked her for helping him even though she was busy.

 

Jessica smiled back at the haraboji and gave him a hug, "It was nice meeting you, haraboji. Stay safe and don't let another jerk be rude to you!"

 

He reassured her that he was going to be fine. "Oh, I forgot to ask what your name is.”

 

"It's Jessica," she smiled. "Jung Jessica." The old man nodded and laughed at the view of her running away, bowing in a hurry to apologize to the people that she almost bumped into.

 

The haraboji just chuckled and shook his head as he looked at the back of the young girl running away.

 

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Jessica straightened out her black skirt and white blouse before walking into the office. She looked down around in confusion after seeing that no one was there. She was sure that the girl told her to show up at 9:00 and it was 9:15, she was only 15 minutes late. She walked down the side of the office to see if there was anyone else.

 

"The director just called and said he'll be boarding the plane soon," some woman said as she turned the corner. As soon as she didn’t see anyone she said, “Oh, that’s right. It’s break time.”

 

The woman's eyes landed on the awkward Jessica, unsure of what to do. "Oh, you're Jessica-shi, the new addition to our team, right? You’re lucky our director isn’t in today or else you would’ve gotten in trouble for coming in late. I'm Dara."

 

Jessica shook the hand that Dara had stuck out and returned a shy smile.

 

"Here are some files you can read and start to familiarize yourself with. If you have any questions, you can come ask me," Dara sternly told Jessica. “It’s only Wednesday but you don’t officially start work until Monday, so enjoy your weekend.”

 

Jessica took the files from Dara and thanked her, not getting much of a response back. She shrugged it off and ignored it, assuming that the woman must’ve been busy. She realized that if everyone was on break right now, that meant Seunghyun was on break too.

 

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“Oppa!” Jessica waved Seunghyun over when she saw him walking through the door.

 

Seunghyun gave her a hug, “Stalker. How did you know I was on my break?”

 

“Geez, I wanted to visit you to thank you for recommending the job,” she pretended to be sad. “I just reported for work today earlier so I found out everyone was on break.”

 

“I’m just kidding! You’re not too bad if you’re able to get accepted into Kwon Industries,” Seunghyun nudged her and smiled. “But, I heard that you ran into Hyun Joong the other day?”

 

Jessica shifted her eyes. She hadn’t told him about it yet. “Yeah,” she admitted. “I was walking around looking for an apartment and I ran into him.”

 

“Aish, this girl,” Seunghyun began. “You should’ve told me you were looking for a place, there’s room for you at my house.”

 

“No, I don’t want to bother you,” she rejected and stuck her tongue out. “Plus, I don’t want to be living alone with you.”

 

“Sure, you don’t,” Seunghyun teased. “But, seriously. It’s not safe for you to be living by yourself. My cousin’s living with me too, and we have an empty room that is waiting for someone to take up.” 

 

Jessica thought about it for a while and finally agreed. She really didn’t want to keep staying at her step-dad’s hotel that would ruin the whole point of her coming to Korea and become independent without his help.

 

“Fine,” Jessica finally agreed, exaggeratedly. “But, I’m only agreeing because you begged.”

 

“Okay, whatever,” Seunghyun rolled his eyes and laughed at the silly girl.

 

“Your cousin,” Jessica began. “She’s easy to get along with right?”

 

“Oh, it’s not a girl…” Seunghyun informed her. “It’s a guy. Jiyong’s a good person though. He might appear cold, but he’s nice. Don’t worry too much about it.”

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Oppa?” Jessica called Seunghyun on the phone. “What’s the passcode for your apartment?”

 

“Oh, sorry. I forgot to give it to you the other day.” Seunghyun replied. “It’s 1804. Are you moving in now? I’ll be home soon to help you.”

 

“It’s okay, I got movers to help me move in. My step-father insisted to provide help,” Jessica assured him.

 

Seunghyun had told her that her room was the one that had another room across from it. Seunghyun’s room was the one down the hall, so Jessica assumed that the room across from her belonged to his friend who she has yet to meet. Jessica liked her room because it was close to the kitchen – she was going to be snacking at midnight often since it was so close, she thought.

 

The movers helped bring the last of her stuff up. She placed a picture of her with her parents on her bedside. She settled down and explored the house. There weren't any pictures or many decorations. Seunghyun said they had just moved in recently, so she guessed they hadn’t had the time to decorate yet.  

 

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Jessica opened the door to her apartment building complex. She had just returned from roaming around outside this morning to familiarize herself with the area. She walked into the lobby and headed to the elevator. She looked at the man beside her who was also waiting for the elevator to come, wondering why he looked so familiar.

 

She snapped her fingers when she finally remembered and a large smile appeared on her face. "Haraboji, do you remember me? Last time... With that crazy guy?"

 

The haraboji looked at her, furrowed his bushy white eyebrows, and widened his eyes. "Ah! Of course I remember you, the one that couldn't stand seeing this old man getting yelled at." He started laughing heartily.

 

"Ding!" the sound signaled that the elevator had reached the bottom floor. Jessica gestured for the Haraboji to walk in first and she followed behind him.

 

"What floor are you going to?" Jessica asked him.

 

"The 8th floor," he replied.

 

Jessica showed a surprise expression on her face and pushed on the button with the number 'eight.' "Oh, what a small world. I didn't know you lived on the same floor as me."

 

"Oh no, I'm just here to visit my grandson," the Haraboji smiled at her warmly. "He just came back from a trip for work, so I just wanted to bring him some home-cooked food."

 

"Aw, it looks like you have a great relationship with your grandson. He's very lucky to have a grandfather like you," Jessica sincerely stated. "You should come visit me when you have time too, since it seems like your grandson and I live on the same floor" she joked.

 

He nodded in agreement, "Yes, I'll have to bring another set of food next time for you."

 

"Haraboji!" Jessica started giggling. "I was just kidding, you don't have to do anything for me. Thank you for the thought though."

 

"Ding!" the elevator opened up to the 8th floor. Jessica held the elevator doors opened as she waited for the grandfather to walk out.

 

"It was nice seeing you again today, haraboji," she gave him a hug and brightly smiled. "I hope you have fun visiting your grandson and maybe we can see each other again next time!"

 

The haraboji nodded in agreement, "I'll be sure to visit you next time I come." He smiled at her as she bowed goodbye and waved to him, turning the corner to return to her apartment.

 

The haraboji took out the crumpled piece of paper from the pocket in his beige jacket. He squinted his eyes, trying to read the number that was on it. "Apartment 888," he whispered to himself.

 

Jessica was about to put the key into the doorknob when she heard a voice calling out to her. "Young lady, I forgot... Can you please show me where this is?"

 

She turned around and saw the haraboji with an innocent look, holding a piece of paper towards her. She couldn't help but smile, "Of course!" She took the paper from his hand and read the number on it. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

 

"The apartment 888 that you're looking for is this one," she pointed at the door in front of them, the one she was about to walk into.  

 

She opened the door and led the haraboji in. She got a cup of water for him and sat him down at the dining table, asking him if he had eaten yet. She felt awkward, she didn't know what to do. She never had to cater to an elderly in her home before since her grandparents were all gone.

 

"I guess, you're not only living on the same floor as my grandson, but you're actually living /with/ him?" the haraboji couldn't help but laugh. "You guys must be pretty serious about each other if he's letting you live with him."

 

Jessica gave an embarrassed look, scratching her forehead. "No, it's not like that. We're just friends. I didn't know you were Seunghyun oppa's grandfather. He’ll be home after work in a bit."

 

The haraboji kept laughing as he looked at Jessica. She didn't understand what was so funny. "Seunghyun? No, no. I'm not his grandfather."

 

Jessica looked up, confused. "If he's not Seunghyun's grandfather, then who was he?" she thought.

 

"I'm the grandfather of...." he began, but got interrupted by the sound of a door creaking loudly as it opened.

 

"Jiyongie!" the Haraboji's eyes glistened. Jessica couldn't help but smile at the sight of how happy he was to see his grandson. Her smile faded away as she shifted her attention to what the Haraboji just said.

 

"Wait... Jiyong??" her eyes bugged out, she didn't know that there was someone else home. She finally turned around to see a guy with messy hair in a white tank top that showed off his tone arms. She told herself that she wouldn't check out her roommate, but she had to admit that he looked pretty damn hot.

 

Jiyong came out of his room, stretching his arms out, with his eyes still half closed. He walked out to the kitchen where they were sitting and got a cup of water, with his back still facing the two. "Haraboji, how did get here?" Jiyong asked, still half-asleep.

 

"Don't worry, you rascal," Jiyong's grandfather assured him. "I didn't walk, Driver Kim took me. I brought you some food I made."

 

Meanwhile, Jessica was moving her head back and forth trying to get a clear view of this roommate that she had never met before, or so she thought.

 

Jiyong turned around while Jessica was leaning to the side of her chair to look at his face, which made Jessica flustered and fall out of her seat.

 

"Yah! What's wrong with you?" Jiyong said, helping her get up. "You don't know how to sit properly or you just couldn't help but stare at my handsome face?"

 

Jessica choked on her saliva when she heard what he said and pushed herself up, "P-please, who do you think you...."

 

"It's you, the blackhole!" Jiyong yelled out when he finally saw her face.

 

"You're that jerkface that bullied this haraboji!” Jessica stated, shocked. “You’re Jiyong-shi?!”

 

"What are you doing here? Why are you here?” Jiyong began asking questions now that he's fully awake.

 

“I’m here because Seunghyun oppa-“ Jessica began.

 

“No way. You’re seeing Seunghyun hyung?!” Jiyong yelled. “And why are you with my grandfather?”

 

“No, I’m living here now. Seunghyun oppa told me you guys had an extra room and said I could take it,” Jessica explained to him, trying to act more politely since she’ll be living with this guy.

 

“Haraboji, is this jerkface really your grandson?” Jessica asked the old man.

 

“Yes, this jerkface here is my grandson,” the haraboji laughed.

 

“Why are you guys calling me a jerkface? Is it wrong that I just didn’t want you to be walking around alone, it’s dangerous!” Jiyong turned to his grandfather.

 

Jessica winced and looked down at the ground in embarrassment. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I thought you were some douchebag that hated the elderly or something.”

 

“Oh? This blackhole knows how to apologize,” Jiyong . “I thought our new roommate was going to be a dude, but living with a girl will be interesting too.”

 

“Yah!” Jessica snapped. “There will have to be rules!”

 

“Cut it out you two,” the grandpa finally spoke up and took out the food he made. “This old man has been sitting here for a while. Come eat this meal I slaved over.”

 

“Wow, it smells amazing. Your cooking is superb!” Jessica complimented him as she took a seat across from him.

 

“Of course it’s you who appreciates what I did,” the haraboji smiled, seeing how Jessica was eating the food he made happily.

 

Jessica looked up and stuck her tongue out at the exasperated Jiyong, who was looking at her sitting with his grandfather. He couldn’t believe this girl was asking like she has known his grandfather all her life when they’ve only met once.

 

“Jiyong,” the haraboji gestured for him to take a seat next to Jessica and placed a bowl of food in front of him. “You sit down and eat too.”

 

“Thank you for the food haraboji,” Jiyong thanked his grandfather before eating, surprising Jessica with his words.

 

“So the guy knows how to thank people,” Jessica sarcastically said quietly, but it didn’t go unheard by Jiyong who gave her a glare before he started eating his food again.

 

The haraboji just looked at the two sitting in front of him and a smile formed on his face. “Things will definitely get interesting,” he thought. 

 

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