7:30 A.M. Saturday Morning in Gangnam-gu, Seoul

"I'm already late. I was barely able to get the interview and I'm late."

Dalasini crossed her legs and held her bag closer to her, ignoring the many people who had set their eyes on her as soon as she stepped on the subway. Most of them were children, not old enough to know better, but adults stared too. She remembered what her Japanese teacher had once told her, "I was a white woman in Japan and everyone just stared. My complexion was actually close to theirs, but the hair and eyes will be what catches people's attention in a foreign country."

"I should have thought about that...maybe worn a hat or something." Dalasini said this to herself as a small child being carried by his mother tried to touch her hair. She leaned over enough to let him feel the curls, then turned back to the door and waited for her stop. Suddenly, the subway stopped and everyone jerked forward. All the children toppled over and fell against their parents, those who were sitting got lucky and felt almost none of the impact. A man near the front, apparently more informed than everyone else, called out to the rest of the passengers.

"There's a mechanical issue. It won't take more than twenty minutes and you can all be on your way."

Well, she was screwed. It wouldn't be worth showing up to the interview if she was more than twenty minutes late. How was she going to afford taking care of herself now? Dalasini reached into her bag and was grateful that people had been so surprised by the stop, they had quit staring at her for a while. She pulled an issue of Shonen Jump out of her bag, one of the 2009 issues given to her by a friend, and started reading a chapter of One Piece. The same child who had been reaching for her hair was practically falling out of his mother's lap trying to grab her manga. She wasn't irritated by the child, but by the mother's lack of interest in the child. Dalasini tapped the woman on the shoulder (oops, her American is showing) and the mother slowly turned to face her, looking as if she were in desperate need of sleep.

"Miss, if you're tired than I could hold your baby until we reach your stop."

"Oh...thank you. Such a unique accent."

"My name's Dalasini. I'm sorry if my Korean is hard to understand."

"Not at all, you sound lovely. My name is Jung Yoo-mi. This is Yoogeun."

Dalasini noticed how young the woman looked when she smiled, much younger than she originally thought. She accepted the baby from Yoo-mi and held back a laugh when the young mother leaned back and immediately fell asleep. There was still a lot of fuss in the front, people asking each other questions that no one knew the answer to. Yoogeun returned to his pursuit of her curls until she finally tilted her head and let the child play with her hair. Another woman sitting on the other side of her watched with wide eyes as Dalasini played with Yoogeun, speaking to him English and singing bits of the Japanese song from Ponyo in the House on the Cliff while the baby laughed. After what felt like forever, the subway was able to continue it's regular course. Yoo-mi woke up a little while later and thanked Dalasini for watching him, their stop was coming up. She waved to Yoo-mi and Yoogeun as they stepped off and settled back into her seat with the intent of just reading, but was interrupted by the lady beside her.

"You get along with children very well. But you're far too young to be a mother yourself, aren't you?"

"Oh, I'm not a mother. I have a lot of...sisters and brothers." (She forgot the Korean word for siblings.)

"Uhm...this is very rude of me...but can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"Are you the young lady who had an interview with Kakao Publishing? My husband told me he was interviewing a foreign author today."

"Yes, but I'm very late. I don't think I'll get the job as a writer for them." Dalsini was a little upset that her tardiness was shown firsthand to the boss' wife, but let it go since nothing could be done about it.

"Don't worry. Don't worry. Even if you don't get the job with the company, there are many others. And you could find work to support yourself until then."

"I hope so..."

Dalasini cut the conversation short as they reached her stop and said goodbye to the woman, hurrying off the subway and straight into a rainy street. Great. She ran to the address on her application and came to a large building with the Kakao logo. She stepped inside, almost an hour late and soaking wet, and nearly crashed into someone.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see you!" Dalasini shouted a quick apology and ran around the stranger, recieved a pass from the secretary at the front desk, and was permitted into the office of Kakao Publishing's head Jung Jin-young.

"Good afternoon." The company's head publisher looked much older than his wife, reminding her of the bad guy from the movie Ninja Assassin but with grayer hair and a much more intimidating scowl. As if she didn't have enough problems with speaking to people, this one already didn't like her.

"Good afternoon, Jung-sshi. I apologize for being so late. My name is Dalasini M. and I'm the writer from the United States that you contacted."

"Yes, I know who you are. You met my wife on the subway today and she took a liking to you. I've looked through your credentials, it doesn't matter that you missed the interview. You're a very impressive writer but your image will be an issue."

"M-my image?" She was relieved that he wasn't upset about the interview...but what did he mean about her image?

"Kakao Publishing is both highly respected and prestigious. Our writers represent the morals and standards of the company. You would be the first female author under our company, but also the first American. You'll need to pick what part of that will be your image, and what will be hidden. it would be best that you pretend to be a male author, to save face-"

"Why does my race or my gender matter? I'm a writer, not a model. What I look like shouldn't be a problem." (oops, Dalasini stop your American is showing again.)

"But it does matter. And if you won't comply, you shouldn't expect our support in publishing or promoting your work. At least, not until you can prove that the image you chose will sell."

"I don't want to sell an image! I want to sell my writing!"

"That isn't an option until you can prove it will sell! If you won't follow company procedure, then prove you can sell on your own!"

***A few hours later ***

Dalasini swirled her spoon around in her coffee, staring out the window of Cafe Pachu (Cafe Pascuccini in Gangnam-gu). After the heated discussion with Jung-sshi, she had managed to make a deal: the company offered her an apartment (that she would have to pay for) if she was willing to handle all the work involving the publishing and promoting of her first book. It was a risk, but if she pulled it off than it would be worth it. She wouldn't have to hide her identity. Now, the problem was she had no job to afford an apartment or even food and other necessities. Dalasini had no one to ask for help, was too anxious to meet new people, and felt like she had dug herself into a terrifying hole. She looked down at her drink, she didn't like coffee but the waitress had offered it when she saw her sulking. The same waitress came back around, tapping Dalasini lightly on the shoulder.

"Are you feeling any better? Can I offer you anything else?"

"No, thank you. I have no money."

"But...that man over there payed for your coffee. He asked me if you wanted anything else." She pointed to a young man dressed in a plaid red shirt and loose jeans, talking with a similarly dressed man sitting across from him.

"I don't know him...can you tell him I said thank you, please? I'd really appreciate it."

"I'd be glad to, he's a very charming man. I'm surprised you don't know him, I thought he was your boyfriend."

The waitress practically skipped over to his table, making a few gestures towards her once in a while. As she watched, her phone went off and she saw that she had recieved a text from Kakao Publishing.

Kakao: We forgot to mention, the funding for the creation and promotion of the book is also up to you. It will accumulate about 10,000 won for the publishing stages and promotion costs will depend on you.

How lovely. She threw her phone into her bag and hurried out of the cafe, feeling her face get hotter as the rain continued. She was happy for the rain, no one could to tell she was crying with raindrops covering her face. Her hair was sticking to her neck, weighed down by the heavy rainfall. Still crying, she checked her phone for the address of her apartment. With little left to do, she decided to head there and think of an action plan.

"Excuse me. Miss, are you alright?" A voice speaking in perfect English called out to her. She wiped away the tears (or raindrops) and turned around. It was the same young man from the cafe, with a guitar case and an umbrella.

"I'm okay. I'm fine."

"You looked sad when you were sitting in the cafe. And just now, you were crying."

"No, I wasn't. I don't cry around people."

"If you insist. What's your name? Maybe I can help you out."

"I doubt it. My name's Dalasini." As was her way, she spoke as quietly as she could while hoping she didn't mess up. New people scared the hell out of her, they made her feel anxious and uncomfortable. This guy didn't seem ready to leave her alone though, he extended a hand and she took it expecting a handshake. No, he kissed the back of her hand. Like some knight of the guild, he kissed her hand. She couldn't help but smile a little at the gentlemanly greeting.

"I guessed right when I thought that would make you smile, even if just a little. My name's isn't as unique as yours, I'm Joshua."

"Thank you for trying to cheer me up, Joshua. But I don't think there's anything you can do."

"Try me. What's your problem?"

"It's a very long story."

"If you let me buy you something at Pachu's, I'll hear you out. Come on, let's get out of the rain."

Dalasini reluctantly allowed herself to be lead back to the cafe while thinking, what have I gotten myself into?