english will be bolded now while texting is in italics.

---

     You stepped out of the taxi, hoping this was the right address. With your very poor and limited Korean, all you could do was hand the address of your host family to the driver and hope for the best... but also hope he didn't scam you of your money.

    'Please kind sir... don't prey on a clueless, pure-hearted foreigner. I only have so much...'

    Okay enough of that. It's time to introduce yourself to your family for the next few months, and also rest after that several hour flight from Vancouver and stopping at Japan; almost missing this one with the rest of your cohorts. Lovely times.

    You rang the doorbell of the Seoul home. All the homes had walls surrounding their yard instead of fences, it was quite different. In that aspect the homes seemed more closed off to you. There was even an intercom in the wall that you noticed. Only one or two houses had this back in your neighborhood, but it was still by the front door in the wall of the house. Not by the gate before the front door.

    "Hello?"

    Oh , that sudden voice almost made you jump. You looked to the intercom and you forgot all the Korean you learned. You pressed the button to speak back.

    "Hello. I am student (full name)." You weren't sure what order to really put it in so you went with the western way. As you were a foreigner maybe they expected you to do it that way. Doing it in reverse first might confuse them.

    "Ah, yes! The student! I will send my son down."

    Oh, that was a simple sentence! You understood that, you felt so proud of yourself; pat on the back for that. But you were also left wondering how old the son was when the mother mentioned him. Middle school? High school? Post secondary? Straight up just an adult with a job?

    Of course you were curious about their looks. Your university gave you no information on them really. And you guess they did the same with your host family because they didn't seem to expect you today, nor did they come to the airport to pick you up (which you were kind of hoping for). So you were left feeling slightly disappointed in the system.

    The door finally opened with a creek. With what your (e/c) coloured eyes could see it looked like a middle schooler about to go into high school. 
‎
    ‎"H-Hello..." Aw, he was so cute. He even greeted you in English.
‎
    ‎To make him feel at ease because he seemed shy, you decided at act a little bubbly. Even you were shy, but when you felt that you were in control or were older than the other, you could manage a conversation easily as you felt the need to lead them.
‎
‎    "Hey there, little brother." Dongsaeng was the correct usage, right? Right. That was a little informal to show he could speak a bit of banmal with you. You didn't care for manners much when it came to you, but to respect the culture you made sure to speak formally to others.
‎
    ‎You did notice his shoulders relaxed a little after you spoke.
‎

    "Ah, I'm Jae In."
‎
    ‎"I'm (y/n). It's nice to meet you."
‎
    ‎Then he seemed to realize that you were still outside and noticed the backpack and the two bags of luggage you were carrying.

    "Come in, please. You must be tired."
‎
    ‎"It was long. I also need to text mom that I'm safe." Your voice lowered a notch, "you know how worried they can get, right?" 
‎
    ‎He let out an awkward laugh. ‎"Ah, yes..."
‎
    ‎The weight of the silence in the conversation rests on your shoulders. He made you feel awkward, but all you could do was smile uneasily. You better watch how you act and go slow.
‎
‎    The mother must have a sixth sense to awkward silences because in the next instance you both heard her yelling down the stairs. "Is the student here yet?!"
‎
‎    And you witnessed the boy breaking from his shy demeanor to yell back up, "YES!"
‎
    ‎"BRING HER UP! I have the room ready for her!"
‎
‎    He made eye contact with you to see if you understood. You did. You really did hear all that.
‎
‎    You nodded at him and slipped off your shoes by the door. You were about to carry your bags upstairs but he dove in and grabbed one to help out, and not look bad, you guess.
‎
‎    At the top of the stairs the mother was already waiting with her white house slippers on and light pink apron. Oh, heavy cleaning alert.
‎
    ‎When she noticed you, she let out a bright smile. "Ah, so pretty. You can call me Mrs. Kang or Hae Rin."
‎
    ‎"Ah, I'm (y/n)." She seemed scary before because of all the yelling but could immediately also make you feel comfortable. "Come, come. I have the room prepared for you."
‎
    ‎Both you and the son followed diligently behind her, walking toward the the room at the very end of the hallway. As soon as you enter the room, your eyes dart in all directions. It honestly looked like it was a storage room. The ceiling was slanted and had a doorway that opened to the attic. But other than that the room was very simple and white. There was a blown up mattress on the floor with the sheets on it already made, a bedside table with a lamp, a wardrobe, a desk and two chairs, and a stand up mirror. There were also one light in the ceiling and no windows. The room wasn't that big either but who were you to complain? You were a guest. At least you had a private room and they prepared it for you.
‎

    "I hope you like it." Her calmed voice echoes from behind you, allowing you to jump back into your senses.

    ‎"I do, I do. I unpack now. It really feels like blank space in here. Thank you so much."

    She blinked in surprise but could still understand what you tried to convey. Hae Rin kind of found your broken Korean mixed with your shy and polite attitude adorable.
‎
    ‎"No problem! I just expect you to help out with chores every now and then. Now, when does school start for you?"
‎
    ‎"Oh, I visit the school in 3 days to see where to go for practicum. I go to the school for that, then start at companies with a teacher who trains us." You already started to unpack your clothes when she asked that question.
‎
    ‎"2 and a half months right? So what are your shifts like?"
‎
‎    "We go Monday through Friday with 8 hour shifts. Weekends are online courses back home."
‎
    You turned back to look at her and noticed Jae In already left. Off to play video games probably. You shrug off the thought of him and continued taking out on of your shirts that caught its thread on the zipper.

    Hae Rin eyed you. Yes, it looked like you needed sleep. She let out a resigned sigh. "Yes, I'll just leave you to unpack and organize yourself while I make dinner."

    "I have not had Korean food." You stopped unpacking; a picky eater eating foreign food. This was a new form of Russian Roulette.

    It was a long trip and your stomach feels like it's going to eat itself. The sound of food makes your stomach grumble slightly. What will Korean food taste like? Just the thought of this makes you crave both savoury and sweet.

    "Hopefully you'll like this then." Hae Rin says with a smile before leaving.

    By the time you were finished organizing and sent off an email to your mom (bc your parents don't text surprisingly) with a "Made it to my destination safely! The family is full of nice people, love you ❤", you could already smell the wafts of food coming through.

    You thought that you should go downstairs and help them set up, and that is exactly what you are going to do. Hae Rin expects you to be a big help around here in any case. If there is any way you're allowed to go straight into her heart, this is the perfect time to start.

    You briskly walk downstairs and hear an unfamiliar voice growing as you get closer. The fast walking becomes slow and nonchalant.

    Well, this was unexpected. Was it the father? He must've come in earlier when you weren't paying attention. You picked up on the conversation while making your way down the stairwell. They were all there and talking about you.

    "Hae Rin, honey, how was the student? Do they seem like a troublemaker or obnoxious person?"

    "No, she's surprisingly quiet—well I shouldn't say quiet because she's probably insecure." Hae Rin was too busy stirring the pot to look at the man.

    "Hm?" The deep tone of the unfamiliar voice overpowers the silence.

    Jae In cut in this time. "She speaks broken Korean so I don't get what she fully wants to say, she could be insecure about that, because she knows she's bad at it."

    He was acting stiff but he actually thought it was cool of you to know two languages; he wasn't trying to insult you but provide reasons why you could be insecure, plus he never had a sister before so he hoped you being here would bring him that sibling experience.

    The older woman grabbed his console from him and went back to stirring the multiple pots while the husband started to cut the vegetables. "Well, I know what she's trying to say; call it mother's intuition. (y/n) means well, besides, she could teach you English and you could help her with Korean."

    He just nodded, half listening and instead took out a phone to play on. 'Kids will find a way...'

    You thought they were gonna talk behind your back, but your university really did find good people. Time to reveal yourself but act like you just arrived.

    Your foot creaked the laminated floorboard beneath it. 'Great... Act casual.'

    Everyone's heads shot up and looked in your direction; except Jae In. Jae In did it slowly. Still, you felt like a deer caught by headlights. Boy, do you really know how to make an entrance.

    "Oh! (y/n), this is my husband, Chun Jin. You can refer to him as Mr. Kang if that makes you more comfortable. Dear, this is (y/n), the transfer student for 77 days."

    You both bowed to each other, though, you bowed lower than him and spoke at the same time; both trying to introduce yourselves.

    "Nice to meet you." He smiled kindly at you as if to show that you are welcomed to stay for however long you like.

    Better not forget your original purpose. "Need help?"

    "Oh, why thank you... Such a sweet girl. Can you set the table? I think you're smart enough to be able to find them on your own." Hae Rin thought this was a good way to get used to their home in case you had to make something and they weren't home.

    You weren't sure if that was an insult or compliment. You'd have to go with the latter because she did seem like a nice person, plus you shouldn't complain too much since you were a stranger in their home.

    You shrugged and got to work with a 'yes.' It wasn't like it was that hard, just check the cupboards.

    Within the time it took you to find out where everything was, dinner was ready. Placing the last of the chopsticks and spoon down for your plate, you helped bring the food to the center of the table that spins. This dinner table truly was amazing.

    You noticed she actually made a lot of separate dishes and some side dishes. It looked really delicious and you would be sure to eat a lot.

    You almost reached out and quickly stopped. You forgot the eldest goes first.

    Chun Jin went first and as soon as he started serving himself, Hae Rin went in right after. When Jae In started to go and serve himself you followed.

    You got yourself some tteokbokki and kimchi first as side dishes. You then moved onto the main dishes such as japchae (you do love yourself some noodles), jjinmandu, and bulgogi.

    You tried a bit of everything and even mixed them together such as eating the jjinmandu with the noodles, kimchi, or with the tteokbokki sauce. The bulgogi also went well with everything. It was like a medley in your mouth. This was your first time eating Korean food too, but you were a foodie and loved trying new things.

    'Korea... I'll never forget your food.' How can you, anyway? Flavours are bursting in your mouth, you couldn't wait to try other dishes and desserts if it was going to be like this.

    "This is really good. I like it. Amazing" You had to compliment them and their efforts. Though you know some was pre bought, like the jjinmandu.

    Hae Rin smiled happily as she tried hard on the dinner but was also hoping that you were okay with it as you were foreign. She was very pleased and also felt like she accomplished something since you liked it so much. "Thank you! I'm really happy to hear that."

    Hopefully there would be leftovers for tomorrow. Usually food tastes better after marinating in its own flavour overnight. She wanted you to try it that way as well, and you just wanted to enjoy it a second time; but also so that you had something to eat tomorrow.

    Once everyone was done with dinner, you helped with the dishes and put them in the dishwasher as well as wrapping the leftovers and putting it in the fridge. Jae In stayed behind to wash the pots and you stayed to dry.

    The brunet boy decided this was the best time to try his English on you.

    "Could you... Help with my English? I can help your Korean." He was so cute, but it was hard to read his expression since his circular glasses fogged up from the hot water.

    "Sure! Honestly that's so helpful, thanks."

    "Yes, where you go wrong I correct. Where I go wrong, you correct."

    "I think we should both start with grammar so what we say feels more, hmm, full?"

    "Ah, complete, right. I agree."

    And that was the last of the dishes. Surprisingly, he grabbed your hand, maybe a rush of boldness? You didn't mind, you wanted him to be comfortable around you.

    He made a b-line upstairs to his room where his English homework was already waiting.

    "We start now. You have class in 3 days."

    Ah, he wanted you to get better before the 3 days were up. Jae In thought it was better sooner than later, how considerate.

    You spent most of the evening with Jae In. You added him into your contact list as well as playing Nintendo together.

    You decided to have 'switch-ups' where you both only spoke in English and then changed to only Korean. You could tell that it did help, because by the end you could feel your throat sting from speaking so much but you memorized grammar for singular nouns and plural nouns as well for singular and plural objects. Jae In's English also improved since his pronunciation improved and it flowed better.

    The brunet slipped off his glasses and rubbed his eyes with his fists. Hah, he was so cute. He blinked a couple of times to get used to the light.

    "It's 9:30 now, let's play games tomorrow and do the switch up then. I have to do my own thing now. Goodnight, bro."

    With a meek little wave from him and a "goodnight, noona," you left.

    Though you recalled seeing a glint of eagerness in his eyes when you mentioned gaming with him.

    Jae In that night slept happily. To be honest... He actually liked it when (y/n) calls him bro. It makes him feel cool but also sees it as a form of affection. He never had a sister before, and this may be selfish of him... But he wished that you would fill that position for him. To have a caring noona to take him out and buy him little things.

    'He's cute' you decided as you headed to your own room for the night. Honestly, you never had a younger brother before. Only an older brother and a twin who was only younger by 1 minute so that doesn't count.

    You already felt motherly instincts come up. Be a guide in his life, or try to be.

    The room was blank as ever. The walls looked like they were repainted white before your visit; maybe ask to paint the walls yourself later?

    Your laptop was sitting on the desk along with the watercolours and your sketchbooks. One was good paper to draw on, the other was specific watercolour paper.

    The clothes were all put away so your luggage was off to the side. Your backpack was by your nightstand and your toiletries were on the dresser.

    It was better to quickly sleep and become accustomed to Korean time than succumb to jet lag and stay up for half the night.

    Good thing the airport had so many outlets nearby. You hoarded some bubble tissues, face masks, pore strips, exfoliators, and moisturizers. There wasn't a lot of good quality items like these back home, the ones that from home were imported from South Korea. Now was a good chance to start your skin care routine the way you wanted to.

    The last couple of days before Thursday passed by in a blur. Most of it was preparing notes, helping out around the house, and learning as much as you could. There was some built-up confidence now that you could carry a conversation easily. Only simple conversations though.

    You also played games with Jae In in Korean as he made you read it out in English while also doing some of his own chores. As much as you wanted to go out to buy fast food... Well, you never had the chance because you don't really know where everything is.

    Chun Jin offered to drop you off at the University; it was like he sensed your dilemma of not knowing how to get there.

    "Thank you for dropping me off." You made your tone go sweet and innocent. To be truthful, you were still awkward around the father since he wasn't home much due to his job, but you could tell he means well. As you were opening the door and starting to move quickly as to not waste his time, he spoke up.

    "No problem, I hope everything goes well for you. And hopefully a placement with an easy transit route."

    All you could do was smile and nod with a small "yes" as you closed the door. He drove off and you went through the main entrance.

    The University was pretty prestigious looking, everything was sparkling white. It was all modern. This University had a high reputation in all the arts, it was bound to land you somewhere good to get lots of experience.

    "Room 2145, second floor, West wing..." You found it on the school map. Oh, there was lots of turning... You took a photo of the map with your phone, that way you didn't have to memorize the route as much and just look at your phone. Easy peazy.

    It was already 3:47 pm; you had to meet them by 4. Time to catch up with the other cohorts and find out where you would be placed.

    It was hard enough to have small hallways that forked off like a maze, but to have doors that lead to a room full of other doors to the classroom; that messed you up. But hey, at least you were early by like two minutes and didn't attract a lot of attention looking like a lost transfer.

    There was only like 17 others, the few from your program and the rest from this sister school. Looked like they had smaller classroom sizes for the program here. Or some switched/dropped out.

    Today wasn't even about getting friendly with others in the program, it was getting your schedule to see where you would go to train for the 2 months and a half.

    "(L/n) (F/n)?"

    That was you, it was finally your turn.

    "Yes...?"

    "Ah yes, okay this is your schedule for the next couple of months. Some companies or businesses don't shoot a lot of mv's in a month. Sometimes they do the video of the month they want it released and other times they do it two months in advance. Now, to make sure our students get all the training experience they need. We put them with multiple companies. So..." She flipped to the next page with your name showing you your schedule for the next two months and a half.

    "This is what companies, mv directors or creative teams you'll be with. These are the dates to tell you when you should visit who so you don't get confused."

    She pulled out your sheet to reveal another copy underneath. "This will be yours, the copy we keep on file since I will visit every now and then to see how you are doing ask your preceptors how you are."

    The whole duration of the speech you nodded along. What made you happy though was that she spoke in English to you.

    The instructor realized how important it was to know even the details and didn't want her students to miss anything. And even though she had some foreigners now, you all were under her since the exchange; therefore her students.

    "Yes, Kyosoo-nim."

    You quickly walked away while she called another student. It was time to leave now, the other students didn't seem too interested in getting to know you, so what was the point of staying behind? It seemed they already had cliques or were more focused on their own life.

    "Let's see..."

    You looked back at your sheet to see how hectic it was and who you had for the first two days and next week

Oct 1, Thursday: JYP (Naive)
Oct 2, Friday: JYP (Naive)

Oct 5, Monday: KakaoM (Lumpens)
Oct 6, Tuesday: FNC (VM Project)
Oct 7, Wednesday: SM (Shin Hee Won)
Oct 8, Thursday: SM (Shin Hee Won)
Oct 9, Friday: Samsung (Lee Hyung Min)

    Well... Let's just hope transit would be easy on your wallet, or you would invest in a monthly pass.

 

---

i've decided to keep the reader's age ambiguous but you will refer to some with honorifics and to others without, it also depends on how close you get with them. right now the year is set in 2015, also sorry for the slow updates, i just had grad at my uni. last year i had grad at high school. lets hope i can find a job now :))

Also happy Ramadan and Pride month!! i wish you all good health. <3