ROAD 2: THE NEW GUY

Rahel leaned her head against the airplane window before she peered through it to look at the blue sea which was slightly covered by the fluffy cloud while Sean was sleeping on her lap. Rahel was ready for a new start of her life but her mind would still revert back to that night, a year ago, to the last night she saw Hirai Momo. Throughout those months, Rahel held onto a small glimmer of hope that Momo would return but never did. It was like the Japanese girl had never existed. Rahel even tried calling but Momo’s phone was out of service and no one had seen any sign of the brunette girl. Rahel simply was forced to accept the realization that she was not coming back.

Eventually, things got back to normal. Christina was now in Mark's custody since he said that he really missed her so badly while Sean was still with Rahel. She knew that she would never abandon the 4 years old boy even though it was Momo who found him in the garbage area when he was only a baby. He still had moments when he would think of Momo too since Rahel would find Sean staring at their family photo a few times while mumbling something.

"Hey Rahel, Sean!" A young boy shouted from behind her as Rahel and Sean just arrived at the café in Seoul owned by her brother-in-law.

Rahel turned her head and she smiled as she saw Daniel, her 12 years old nephew who was also Christina’s cousin running up to her.

"Hey you." Rahel greeted coolly.

"Rahel, I made this for you. I found the seashells at the beach in Jeju when I went for the school trip last week." Daniel announced while holding up a small bracelet of seashells.

Rahel smiled brightly at the young boy and tousled his hair a bit.

"Aww Daniel, its lovely! Thank you. You keep that up and you're going to be quite the ladies man when you’re older." Rahel joked which makes Daniel to smile shyly and blushed from embarrassment.

"Sean is getting bigger than the last time I saw him.” Daniel declared as he made Sean laughed and Rahel just wrapped her arm around Daniel’s shoulder. "What are you going to do here?" Daniel asked out of curiosity.

Rahel smiled and stated, "Well, Sean and I are going to build a new life."

"Will I see Christina again?" Daniel asked.

Christina and Daniel had become each other's support after both Christina’s parents and Daniel’s mother died in an airplane crash when the two sisters were on their way back to Seoul from Taiwan. After that tragic event, Mark requested to take custody of Christina as soon as he'd had the means to give her the life he always wanted her to have which makes Rahel couldn’t refuse but she did take care of Christina too when Mark was too busy with his schedule, being a famous idol.

"Of course. They'll be by in a few months to visit once I've gotten settled." Rahel reassured her nephew which makes a grin came across Daniel's face.

"Daniel, you should address Rahel as aunt Rahel since she’s your aunt." Just then, a handsome young man walked out of the café.

Rahel smiled at the sight of her brother-in-law and gave him a brief hugged. “How have you been, Nichkhun oppa?”

“I’m doing fine. Why don’t you stay here first until you got your own home?” Nichkhun suggested to his younger sister-in-law and she just nodded her head with a smile. “Daniel and I will bring your luggage upstairs to the guest room. You can walk around this area only before Daniel can give you a tour around the neighborhood.” Rahel nodded her head again and said a small ‘thanks’ before Nichkhun and Daniel entered the café with Rahel’s luggage, leaving her outside the café together with Sean.

The sun really warmed Rahel and she loved it here since everyone was always so carefree. It felt wonderful to be far away from the depressing atmosphere of Paris. The air was refreshing and Rahel closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply. Just then, Daniel and Nichkhun walked out from the café after they had done putting Rahel’s luggage in the guest room.

“Rahel, do you mind if Sean stays with me while you walked around the neighborhood? I thought it’ll be easy for you to roam around without carrying Sean since you haven’t even bought a stroller for him.” Nichkhun suggested which makes Rahel to smile.

“Thanks, oppa.” Rahel thanked her brother-in-law before she handed Sean to Nichkhun.

“No problem. I think of you as my real sister even though Hyomin had left us.” Nichkhun stated with a sad smile as he thought of his late wife who was also Rahel’s older sister while he ruffled Daniel’s hair. “Alright Daniel, lead the way for your aunt.” Nichkhun told Daniel before he entered the café with Sean in his arm.

"Daniel, I'm going to go look around for some available apartment. Why don't you head to the market and pick out what you'd like me to cook for dinner? I'll be back in just a bit." Rahel said and Daniel nodded before walking off, not forgetting to tell Rahel the direction towards the real estate agency.

While walking around, Rahel approached a small stand with fliers advertising apartment that were on sale. Rahel looked through some of them and found an apartment that looked perfect from the picture. She wanted to find an apartment that was cheap and closed to an unused building so that she could open a new western restaurant. Rahel grabbed the flier and went out in search for the apartment's location before she would go to the real estate agency. After a few miles of walking, she became frustrated when she couldn't seem to find it. Rahel glared at her map trying to figure out where she was in location to the apartment.

"Where the hell is i-" Rahel's train of thought was lost when she'd bumped into a young man from behind. "Excuse me, I'm so sorry." She apologized while bowing.

The man turned to face Rahel. He was tall, with long brown hair tied back into a messy ponytail at the nape of his neck. He was carrying an iPod while wearing a headphone, guessing that he was currently jogging just by his outfits and the visible sweat. His eyes were beautiful that an emerald would shy itself a way in shame. Rahel swallowed hard and found herself locked onto his bare, well-toned arms since the man wore a black sleeveless T-shirt together with gray jogging pants.

"Oh, that's okay Miss." The young man shrugged while smiling nervously.

He stared at Rahel as he began to blush since he'd never seen such a beauty. He knew for sure that she was not from around here because he would remember such a beauty any day. Rahel smiled in a modest manner and looked down, tucking her hair behind her left ear.

"So, you must not be from around here." The young man guessed as he put his headphone around his neck.

His voice was soft and quite charming. Rahel cleared and looked back up to him, trying not to lose her focus in his eyes.

"Why do you assume that?" Rahel asked timidly which makes the man chuckled.

"Well, I think I'd remember someone like you." Rahel blushed at his simple remark. "So, what brings you to Seoul? Vacationing maybe?" The man asked out of curiosity.

"Umm… no. Actually, I'm looking for this apartment." She answered and showed him the flyer. "Do you know where I could find it?" The man suddenly let out a soft laugh and Rahel looked at him in confusion.

"Well, it doesn't help that you've been going completely in the wrong direction. It's about half a mile that way." He said pointing toward the north side of the neighborhood which makes Rahel's flushed the deepest red and she chuckled in embarrassment.

"Thanks." Rahel thanked the young man and began to walk away.

"Hey, hang on a second!" The man shouted to Rahel so she turned around to face him again.

"Um… can I at least know your name?" The man asked shyly.

 “I’m Bae Rahel. It’s Rachel Tuan actually but most Korean prefers to call me Rahel." She introduced herself with a sweet smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Rahel. That's an interesting name isn't it?" The man said and bowed his head slightly. "It suits you. I'm Yoon Jeonghan." The man named Jeonghan said, flashing a small smile to Rahel.

 “It was nice meeting you." Rahel declared with a grin.

"Oh, the pleasure's all mine. Hey, I own a studio on the south side of this neighborhood. Would you maybe be interesting in some dancing lessons or maybe vocal lesson?" Jeonghan asked while scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Well, I'm in the process of buying an apartment, so I'm not sure I should spend money on dancing lessons and vocal lesson just yet." Rahel replied, flattered by his request.

"Oh, that's okay. Why don't you come by this weekend and I'll give you some lessons free of charge." Jeonghan stated and he was not willing to let Rahel out his sight before arranging some kind of date where he could see her again.

Rahel nodded lightly. "Umm… okay. Yeah, sure." Rahel agreed nervously

"Alright, shall we say noon?" Jeonghan asked and Rahel nodded.

"Rahelaaaa! Wait up!" Rahel turned around to see Daniel running towards her with two bags of groceries which makes her to smile at him. "Rahel, I waited for so long and got worried that you might be lost." Daniel said while trying to catch his breath.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetie." Rahel apologized, feeling bad that she'd lost track of time.

"Who's that?” Daniel asked as he looked directly at Jeonghan.

"Hey little man, I'm Jeonghan." Jeonghan introduced himself again and reached his hand out for a handshake in which Daniel shook with a smile.

"C'mon Rahel~ I think you and dad are going to really like what I picked out for dinner." Daniel announced excitedly.

Rahel nodded and turned back to face Jeonghan. "Well, I need to go."

"Yeah. So, I'll see you on Saturday in the afternoon?" Jeonghan asked, making sure that Rahel didn’t forget about their appointment.

Rahel smi