Chapter 3- I Met An Angel

I pick up the brochure I received back in America and flick through the pages.  Namsan Tower, Raccon World, Han River, Lotte World…Nothing catches my eye, so I decide to just wait and see if we pass by anything interesting. I peer outside and watched the scenery fly past. A blur of emerald green and sky blue, combined with the mixture of color from shops and signs pass by. I felt oddly at home and smile for the first time coming here. I open the window and take in the sights. I could smell freshly cut grass and the faint scent of petrol. I could hear the bells on bicycles ringing and the sound of children playing around. I could also taste something spicy? I look around, confused.

Suddenly, I spot the ddeokbokki store that I passed last night. How lucky! I stop the car and get out, telling the driver to come pick me up tonight. I walk across the road while putting on my disguise: sunglasses and a facemask. This way I won’t be recognized by the pest-like reporters. I eventually make it into the queue for the ddeokbokki store, drooling a bit while thinking of what I should get.

“One extra large serving please. Spicy”

The woman scoops up my portion into a paper cup and I hand her the money. The delicious steam rises up into my face and I grin happily at the thought of food, discarding all my worries. I turned around to leave but I crashed into something hard. I feel the hot soup flow down my arm as my ddeokbokki spills all over the stone pavement .

“Oi woman, what the are you doin?”

The smell of cigarettes makes me choke. A shadow looms over me and the man grabs my arm.

“You better pay for this jacket b*tch. It’s worth more than your pretty face”

The man tries to drag me away, digging his disgusting nails into my arm.

I freak, flailing my arms and desperately trying to escape his grasp. But he’s too strong. He looks down on me and grins wickedly.

“I’ll be having some fun with you, little missy.”

He leaned forward slowly, trying to get a closer look, but not before a foot smashes into his jaw and his grasp loosens.

“Excuse me mister, but I think she’s had enough fun for today”

The man shoves me onto the ground, turns on his coattails and ran, but not without my savior sprinting after him.

I groan as I try to stand back up, my disguise askew. I couldn’t see whom it was that saved me because of the sun glaring into my eyes.

But the brightness dims as another person leaned over me.

“Are you alright?”

Locks of golden hair brushed next to my face, illuminating the stranger. The sunshine reflected off his hair, making it glow…like an angel’s halo.

The stranger puts his arms around me and helps me up, brushing the dust off my clothes. My eyes adjust to the glare and I see his face clearly. His large eyes glowed with kindness and his mouth curls up in a warm smile.

“What’s your name?”

“Reyna” I reply.

He grins, “A pretty name for a pretty lady.”

He looks around, not giving a second thought at his flirtatious words. I blink.

“Ah, Hoshi must have run after that jerk.” He says in a manly but clear voice. 

He looks back at me.

“You should stay away from those kind of people. You never know what they want”

I nodded in agreement, but immediately winced at a fleeting pain in my arm.

The man notices and looked down.

“Oh crap, you’re badly burned,” he says, gently touching my arm, examining the wound.

I think back to when the ddeokbokki’s soup spilled down my hand.

“Dammit, there’s no hospital nearby,” he muttered, “but I’m pretty sure we still have some ointment left at the dorm. Well, that will have to do.”  

He grabs my hand.

“Let’s go, I’ll help you get patched up.”

“Wait!”

He turns around.

“I still don’t know your name”

He chuckles and grips my hand tighter.

“I’m Jeonghan.”

And we run.