Chapter 7

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“YOU IDIOT!” Minwoo cried, stuffing the stash of money into his pockets while yelling. The locals all turned curiously to him, and Minwoo stomped with every step as he screamed at himself for being so stupid.

Maybe Donghyun will bring him into the museum too if he just honestly said he doesn’t know how to communicate in this foreign land and has the worst sense of direction.

But of course, he had to let his pride get in the way and now he’s stranded in the middle of nowhere with the museum denying entry to anyone because Donghyun must have bought their services for the entire day.

Minwoo reached for the stash of money once more to arrange it nicely, before holding onto a smaller stash and going around to at least stop with his self-wallowing. He scrunched up his face at the money, sighing softly.

This man at least had the considerateness to offer Minwoo some money because Minwoo actually did came to this country empty-handed.

Who is he?

No, what is he?

He’s rich, but so is Minwoo. They were in this marriage because of each household’s problems, and it seemed obvious that they should be on equal standings.

But Donghyun knew about him, his age, and knew about all that Minwoo didn’t. He knew about the cameras following them, he knew to arrange a connecting suite for his affair, he knew that Minwoo didn’t bring any foreign currency with him.

He knew enough to let him die, but he didn’t.

So maybe Minwoo should be thankful Donghyun isn’t a sadist.

Or just cuss at him since he eventually decided to strand Minwoo here anyway.

Sighing dramatically, Minwoo tried looking around for something to do, maybe get some snacks or find a place to lounge around at. He saw some people selling some local food and then headed over to try some.

“One.” Minwoo said in Korean whether or not the local understood him, holding out his finger.

The woman smiled at him and gave him the one he incidentally picked out, holding her other hand out for the payment.

Minwoo stared at it and wondered if that meant five, reaching for five notes and handing it over to her. “Thanks.”

Walking away while staring curiously at the shape and appearance of the food, he ignored the calls from behind since there was no way he understood the words, not noticing the lurking shadows.
 

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Minwoo walked into a local Starbucks, ordering a cup of coffee while picking out his notes. He gave ten of them thinking they would be equivalent to 1000 won since the stick he bought was 5000 won, but got nine of those notes back along with plenty of change.

“Huh?” Minwoo stared weirdly at the change, then squinting his eyes at the menu. “If that’s the price here then this is equivalent to…”

Shaking his head and carrying his cup of coffee to an empty seat, Minwoo decided to put his rusty mind to work.

“See, a Starbucks coffee is about-” Minwoo paused in disbelief. “This one note is worth 100,000 won?!”

“…oh well, she struck a fortune meeting me.”

Shrugging and wondering what he could do with his time, Minwoo reached for his phone and decided he was going to unlock 50 levels by the end of today.

…or so he thought, when he used up all his lives by the end of unlocking 2 levels. Frustrated and annoyed with his current situation, he stomped out of the said café mumbling the most colourful language to brighten up his world.

“What can I do? What can I do?” Minwoo chanted, checking the time and groaning some more when he realised less than an hour passed by. “I swear I’m going to kick his when I see him.”

Resigned, Minwoo then decided to check out whatever stores there was with his lacking language abilities, and found time slowly but surely start to pass.

“I hope all the dinosaurs in that museum come to life and swallow you, bastard.”
 

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Backing into a corner of a dark alley as the sun started to set, Minwoo widened his eyes and chewed on his lower lip nervously.

“Fucw nw tiye nibwt.” The man said, and Minwoo squeaked at the knife pointed at him. “Nibwt.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!” Minwoo yelled, cowering even more when the cold knife pressed against his neck. “Okay, okay, I’ll keep quiet, I’ll keep quiet.”

“Rglr’a eufgr.” He smirked uglily, nudging his companion. “Awlexg gun.”

Minwoo flinched when the other man touched him, screaming internally.

Oh my God, I’m going to be !

I know I said I didn’t want to die a but I don’t want to be by these ugly people. It ing cramps my style!

“Rgwew’a l kir.” The other guy chuckled, holding out the wads of cash Donghyun gave him.

Oh.

“Qglr lviyr gun?”

“Jukk gun.”

“Take this!” Another voice entered, and Minwoo watched as the knife against his neck got further.

He felt fingers round his wrist and the other being tug him, and Minwoo’s legs stiffened in confusion.

“RUN!”

Instincts told him to listen to that voice, giving all his might to run away from the dark alley where he was robbed.

Unfortunately, Minwoo felt his lungs start to burn after about a minute, dragged cruelly along by the other man. “I…I…c-can’t…”

“Why are you so bad at running?” The other man panted slightly, but could form his sentence perfectly. Must be nice being athletic. “Or maybe because you never had to.”

“E-Exercise is for the poor.” Minwoo shrugged, coughing as he caught his breath, being ushered quickly to a nearby shopping mall by the stranger anyway. “They had nothing to do with their time so they invented something sadistic for themselves.”

“But of course.” The other chuckled. “Stay in crowded places so you don’t get robbed.”

“Did you just high kick that guy though?” Minwoo snorted as he slowly remembered what he saw. “Man, I thought I was watching a movie.”

“You sound pretty carefree for someone who was robbed.” The other man smiled softly.

“Yeah, at least I’m not .”

“That was your concern?” He laughed heartily.

Minwoo laughed along, eyes crinkling and smile wide when he suddenly stopped short. “…what?”

“What?”

Minwoo blinked, staring hard at the other man. “You speak Korean. You look Korean.”

“That’s because I am Korean.” The man laughed, straightening himself while offering his hand. “Busted, ain’t I? Well, since it has come to this...I'm Lee Jeongmin. A reporter.”

“...a reporter?” Minwoo asked, letting his hand be shook despite being puzzled.

“Yeah, got a free plane ticket to follow on your honeymoon and get a scoop.” Jeongmin shrugged, looking at a distance as the both of them stood away from the walkway. “I'm actually more interested in Kim Donghyun, but that guy bought the museum's services and shut out everyone.”

“What?” Minwoo blinked, staring at Jeongmin as the words started sinking in. All that paranoid fear Donghyun had and finally a face to put to the word ‘reporter’. “You-”

“Yeah, since there was no chance with him, I followed you instead. But I can't stand when our people get bullied and you're such a defenceless lamb so I came out of hiding.” Jeongmin his heels, patting on Minwoo’s head although Minwoo was obviously taller. “Enough about that, stay safe kid. Not only is a foreign land dangerous, your husband is even more dangerous.”

Husband-

“Wait.” Minwoo frowned slightly, grabbing onto the other man's jacket to stop him as he got ready to leave.

The other man raised an eyebrow at the hand on his clothes, then looking up at a determined expression on Minwoo’s face.

 “...tell me about him.”

Jeongmin stared hard at Minwoo and gave a defeated sigh.
 

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Trivia: The interesting thing is I didn’t keyboard smash. I used the neighbour letter on the keyboard so H>G and I>U so Hi becomes Gu. LOL.
Jeongmin's entrance \o/