Differences

[Normal POV]

Kristine sat at the diningroom table in the dark, deep in thought as she just found out she wasn't allowed to leave the country... at all.

She bit her lip in consentration as she kept her eye on the phone in her palm, waiting for a phonecall to say it was just a prank, a sickening prank to see how an innocent person who's had a bad day, react.

As 4 A.M. ticked by and the sun was beginning to reveal itself above the citylining of Seoul, Kristine laid her head down in her crossed arms on the table, a headache pounding every part of her head as she sighed and tried to hold back tears of frustration and anger.

A tear slipped down her cheek without her notice as a sniff unconciously escaped her grasp as she heard light dragging of slipper-covered feet against wood. Without wiping the tear away, Kristine looked up to find L. Joe, rubbing his eyes trying to get the sleep out as he looked up at her.

His eyes remained calm as he saw a tear rolling down Kristine's pale cheek, but bit the inside of his cheek in wonder on how to approach the teary-eyed girl.

He scratched the back of his head as he settled himself at the other end of the table, looking at Kristine's brown eyes, clearly awake by now, as he eyed the phone settled in the middle of the table. "Were you trying to call someone?"

Kristine shook her head as she attempted to get up, but was stopped from walking away by L. Joe standing up and blocking the way to the guest room. "I know what happened."

Kristine's eyes grew wide as she looked up at L. Joe's smooth face as he continued to look down at the floor, "I wasn't fully asleep when I heard the phone's buttons. I heard you can't leave Korea. Is that true?"

Kristine looked away in determination to keep at least a little pride even in this kind of situation that put her at fault. L. Joe turned his head to see Kristine's face as she responded, "N-No."

L. Joe chuckled," You're not a good lier. Just admit to it, I heard." Kristine continued to refuse to speak of her misfortune as L. Joe began to get frustrated.

"Dammit, Kristine!" Kristine's eyes shot up to L. Joe's smooth, yet angered, features at the sudden harshness behind his broken English. "How am I suppose to help you if you can't even admit to what's happened?! Stop letting your pride get in the way of you getting help! I'm willingly offering to help you, whether you like it or not!"

Kristine blinked, holding back her tears that seemed to only threaten to show itself when she was angered, confused, frustrated and, obviously, sad. The only person who seemed to understand even a fraction of Kristine's mood swings was the person who caused it most of the time: Jin Ho.

Kristine couldn't hold in the tears any more as they slipped down her cheeks. So many things had gone wrong in one day, and all she wanted was to not worry anymore, to be calm and rest, maybe even to wak up and find that it was all a nightmare- a very vivid nightmare.

She couldn't go back to see her family, to see her friends, to speak English without getting strang looks. She couldn't go home.

Kristine's hands had clung to her eyes, attempting to hide the tears she was childishly letting free in front of a man she barely knew.

But as she was about to wonder off back to the guest room to be left alone and cry by herself, she felt a hand grasp her arm, turning her around and straight into a hard surface that was comforting and warm... it reminded Kristine of Jin Ho, which  made the already emotional girl cry even harder into the person's chest.

L. Joe held onto the whimpering and crying girl, soothing her by rubbing his hand in a small, continuous circle on her back.

L. Joe continued to hold Kristine's body in an warm embrace until she pulled herself away. L.Joe lifted Kristine's chin up by a finger, making her look up at him. He thumbed the remaining tears away, concentrating on the small pearls of water on her cheeks, Kristine looking up at L. Joe who was fully concentrated, lost in her thoughts.

"He's... so caring. How can he be so caring to a girl who'd probably just going to cause him more trouble? And he's treating... he's treating me better than Jin Ho ever did. He's different... in a good way."

She could feel her heart thumping harder as his thumbs wiped away her tears, remembering the embrace he had just given her and comforting her and the warmth it gave her- how safe it made her feel, how protected she felt in his arms.

She never had experienced that feeling with Jin Ho with the 2years they'd dated- not even a part of what she had experienced with L. Joe had ever happened between her and Jin Ho.

L. Joe was taller, kinder, more compassionate, more real, fun, handsome- and more than anything, he was different from Jin Ho.