Sometimes Emile and Flora got homesick, but Flora never wanted to admit it. Sometimes it felt like they would never be able to go back home. They were the only two French people at their university, so they always spoke to each other in their native tongue, and sometimes they spoke in English, never in Korean though. For a while, it felt nice to have a secret code, to be able to speak a language that at least 95% of the people around you couldn’t understand. Eventually, one starts to feel like they’re isolating themself from the world. Eventually, one wishes that they were in a place where speaking one’s native language wasn’t like some secret code. Eventually, one starts to miss home. This was one of those moments for the two, but at least they were alone, together.

 

**

 

Today, in order to feel somewhat less homesick, they went out on the hunt for a French bakery. There was a display of mille-feuille cake in one bakery that just seemed undeniable. So they decided to give it a try. As expected, it was a good cake. A very good cake in fact, it was. It was a very good Korean-ified version of French food indeed. They were both left with the sensation of disappointment. Emile admitted, “Nothing tastes the same.”

 

Flora didn’t want to wallow in sadness about things she couldn't change. They were in Korea and that’s how it’s going to be for a while. Trying to stay strong, she said, “Emile, what are you thinking about? You know that there is no place like our home country, but we must settle in to this place now. Emile?”

 

She caught him too distracted in his sulking to pay attention to her words. She called his name again, making him jump out of his sullen trance. “Huh? What Flora?”

 

Realizing he was not paying attention, her voice got rougher. “Did you hear me? What a shame. I’ll say it louder for you then. We are in Korea therefore...”

 

He didn’t want to hear her speech or scolding... or whatever it was, so he spoke up, “Don’t you think I know that already? Just... I miss our hometown. I miss the food. I miss the familiar faces. I miss our family and friends. This isn’t easy for me.”

 

“I know. Me neither.”

 

They left the bakery back to their separate dorms.

 

**

 

“Flora, you’re back!” Her roommate, Misun exclaimed.

 

Luckily, Misun studied abroad in the United States; Flora wasn’t all that good at speaking Korean, so they spoke English to each other. Emile’s Korean was a lot better, so Flora usually stuck to him whenever she got the chance. He ended up playing translator a lot of the time. Flora waved hello and laid on her bed until she had to go to class.

 

It was a relief to be in an English class; This was the one class in which she has excelled, that is, until a few weeks ago. This one guy, the new star of the class was equally fluent in Korean and English, making him more helpful for the other students. Today, it seemed as if her star status of the class was completely diminished. Whenever the teacher asked a question, he would be there to answer it first with a better American pronunciation. Over and over, all one could hear was, “Good job, Kris,” or “Kris, please explain this to the class,” which he did so eloquently. Flora couldn’t help but feel a smidge of jealousy. Walking out of the class, she was stopped by a voice behind her say, “You dropped your pen.” By this time, his voice was too recognizable. It was without a doubt Kris. She turned around, “Me?”

 

“Yeah, you.”

 

“Ah, I see. Thanks.”

 

She gave him a bitter smile, took her pen back and was about to turn around until he opened his mouth again.

 

“Wait, I recognize you. You’re that girl that’s at all our practices. Does your boyfriend play or something?”

 

“No boyfriend. My brother.”

 

His eyes lit up. Today was the day he felt lucky. Today was the day she felt unlucky. Something about her felt peculiar to him, in a good way, and he wanted to find out just what it was. Something about him oozed cockiness, which she despised. In his mind, he praised God for gravity making her pen drop, giving him the perfect opportunity to talk to her...and that she hadn’t been swooped up by some other guy...well, not yet at least. She cursed her lousy old pencil pouch. He continued, “Really? Your brother is on the team?”

 

“Yes. Lee Emile. You know him?” She cocked an eyebrow at him.

 

Kris thought to himself, “Is she French too? How exotic. Parlez-vous francais?” but what really came out was,“The French dude? Yeah, he’s your brother? No way.”

 

“Yes, he is my brother.”

 

“We’re good friends. He never mentioned you.”

 

Surprised at his ability to speak French, she asked, “You’re Quebecois?”

 

“I’m from Vancouver. Sorry, I don’t speak much more French. I never caught your name.” He scratched the back of his neck, leading the conversation back into Korean.

 

She thought to herself, “That’s because you’re the stranger stealing my role in the class, douche-,” but what really came out was a simple, “Flora.”

 

“Kris. I should probably head to my next class. See you later.” He flashed a smile at her with one of those that one only sees on toothpaste commercials.With so much charisma flowing through him, it almost didn’t seem real to her.

 

“See you.”

 

They parted ways to their next classes. So far, he seemed perfect. Despicably perfect. She let out a bitter sigh and said to herself, “He even speaks French. That kid...”

 

**

 

“C’mon frilly feet! You’re just gonna let him take the ball from you?” The coach shouted to a player. He was always coming up with new insults to rile up the players. Flora watched as the players ran across the field trying to get the ball to a goal.

 

“Are you talking during a play Wu? This ain’t tea time! Socialize later! Stairs, up and down, five times! Now!”

 

Kris held a smirk as he ran up the stairs, passing Flora on purpose with a wink. Not fully out of breath yet, he managed to say, “Hey there,” for her to notice. She looked up from her laptop at his sweaty body relentlessly climbing the stairs. Each time he came up again, he started, “First game...Friday... You coming?”

 

The fifth time, she nodded her head in reply, emotionlessly. His smirk grew into a full grin even while his sweat got into his eyes and made his hair cling to his forehead. His last word was, “Good.”

 

After their practice, she caught up with Emile so they could have dinner together, but he seemed a bit preoccupied. Surrounded by a couple of girls and a few other team members, he was definitely... busy. She didn’t even bother him after she saw him walking away with those girls. He seemed to be fitting in pretty well. When she saw him laughing with his teammates, she couldn’t remember his smile ever being as big since they arrived to Korea. Who was she to take that away from him? At the beginning, they both felt isolated, but now it’s different.She was the only one feeling isolated. And it’s no fun being isolated, alone.

---

Translation of chapter title: Not Isolated (as a plural adj.), Isolated (as a feminine, singular adj.)

Hope that clears up the title of the first chapter. What do you think so far? I'm so excited!

Btw, I'm in the process of completely revamping "I Don't Like You..." (my other fic) so that might slow me down

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