“Are you that hungry? We just had breakfast less than two hours ago.” I sit back in my chair after ordering another plate of ManDuGuk for AeRi.

“Ng! it’s very good.” She put one whole meat dumpling in and chews it.

“It’s your third portion already.” I , it’s unusual for me to see her with such big appetite.

“It’s cold and windy today, I need more food to keep me warm.” She takes another bite.

“So, what do you think about Busan?”

“I like it here, people are friendly, you guys have great seafood, and this dumpling is to die for!” She takes another bite and swallows only after chewing it five times.

“Easy AeRi-ya, we can sit here all day if you want.” I offer her glass of water.

“Funny thing is, they think I’m a tourist.” She continues.

“Well I cannot blame them, your hair and eyes don’t really say you’re Korean.” I brush her hair softly.

“And your family, oh my god, I don’t know where to begin.” She stuffs more dumplings into .

“Did they give you a hard time?”

She shakes her head while swallowing the dumpling, “Of course not. They are the sweetest people I know.” She puts down her chopstick and turns her sit towards me, “thank you so much TaecYeon-a, this is the first time I feel welcomed around Christmas time.”

“You can always come here anytime you like, chagi-ya.”

She nods along and grabs back her chopstick to starts eating again. “You don’t like this dumpling?” she offers me one ManDuGuk.

“I like it so much, but I think you eat enough dumplings for both of us.”

“Can we have some to-go?” She innocently asks me for another portion.

I laugh but then realize she wasn’t joking, so I order two portions to-go.

After her meal I take her around town, she’s so curious in which school I went to study with, the place I used to hang out when I was young, the beach my family often visit during summer time. I never felt closer to her before this, sharing my past seems like an effective way to get her to really know me.

“This is my school.” I take her hand and lead her int