(Day 9, September 29, 2015)

IT WAS SUPPOSED to be a great and relaxing vacation but her law professor had to ruin it with a hundred item case list. It wasn’t even the start of the classes yet and here he goes making them work when it wasn’t even required or time for it yet. He suddenly gave advanced readings for his classes. Maybe he was so bored at home that he suddenly wanted to make his students suffer miserably. That professor has always been known to mentally torture his students. It's already a year-long physical and mental abuse due to stress and to not give them lengthy breaks in between is already pure torment. The funny part? The case list is good for two weeks only. She wanted to go home just to hurt that man.

"It's closing time already." It was the guy that hit her with the door last night. He was all smiles as he placed a cup of iced coffee on top of the table. "Anneoyong!"

"Hi." She managed to let out a smile for him. She was so absorbed in mentally assaulting her professor that she lost track of time again.

There was this unsettling giddy feeling inside her chest as she looked at this man. Maybe because he was handsome. It's not as if she's had a scarcity of good looking men in her life. There are a lot of pretty boys in Manila but none of them piqued her fancy. No one was able to fill her stomach with butterflies. She's been waiting for a man who can make her heart and stomach flutter at the same time. It’s not hard, it just never happened before.

"You're busy." He was looking at the scattered paper on top of the table.

"Yes, sort of." She just nodded because she didn’t know what to tell him. It was very awkard because they didn’t really know each other besides the fact that he hit her with a door and doused her with coffee. "Is the store closing already? I'm sorry. I'll just fix my things."

"It's okay. You can finish up, I'll tell the owner to wait a bit." The guy was about to leave when she stopped him and pointed at the cup of coffee in front of them.

"You left your coffee." she said, stating the obvious.

"No, that's yours.” He smiled again. There's something so innocent yet manly in the way that he smiles. “I spilled yours last time right?"  

"No thank you, I don't accept things from—" she was hesitant to say it because it might offend him. Even though he is physically attractive, it shouldn’t cloud her judgment. There are a lot of good looking psychos out there.

"Strangers? Well. I'm—" he stopped and looked at her, as if assessing her. "I'm Lee Eunwoo and I did not do anything to taint that drink. I just wanted to replace the drink I spilled last night. The owner can vouch for me." He then took a glance at the man behind the counter. So he’s the owner of this place.

"It’s okay!" The man even gave her a thumbs up. It’s as if she will she trust that man's opinion, they’re friends, they can lie too.

"You're a foreigner right?" Eunwoo spoke again, stating quite the obvious fact here.  He seems cool and playful plus he has that happy kind of vibe in him that she can’t help but be somehow at ease around him. It's as if her gut is telling her to kind of trust him. It's either her gut is right or a terrible judge of character.

Sometimes you just have to take chances right?

"Yeah. I'm on a vacation from the Philippines." She smiled while she fixed her things. It’s almost closing again and like yesterday, she wasn’t able to achieve anything too. Her brain’s just too stuck on vacation mode.

"You look like you're working and not on a vacation." He commented pointing at the pile of notes.

"I'm actually studying.” She explained.  “I needed to finish some of my readings."

It's somehow gratifying that we can talk to someone who’d readily understand what she’s saying. For the past few days she has been conversing in basic and broken Korean just to get by. The people are accommodating but the communication is just a bit too tedious. It’s not their fault, she just feels that she should have tried to adjust a bit more because it’s not as if she'll call overseas just to tell somebody a random thing that she did for the day. That’s be ridiculous.

"Really? You should relax and go around instead if you’re on vacation." The guy, who was apparently the owner, gave the handsome man, Eunwoo, a cup of his own coffee. If someone saw them chatting like this, they would probably look like they were having a meaningful discussion when in fact, they don’t even know much about each other.

"I've done that already. I've been around Seoul and I don't know what else to do. My professor sent an assignment to us via email and since I'm done touring I might as well—sorry. I'm oversharing." She stopped realizing that the man in front of her was a stranger and did not probably care what she was really doing. "I'm (Y/N), by the way."

She’ll trust her gut this time and introduce herself. It’s an open and public place, what can they do to her here besides, she has to believe in the natural goodness of man too.

"Nice to meet you (Y/N). It's okay. It's refreshing to talk to you." He said as he shook her hand.

"Refreshing?" That was a weird way to describe meeting someone.

"Yeah," he nodded. "It's actually something new. Your unfamiliarity is new."

He must have been staying in Korea all his life that’s why he wanted someone new and unfamiliar. She gets that stuffy feeling sometimes too. Eunwoo seems kind too by the way he converses and smiles freely.

The thought of meeting someone here in South Korea is also a welcome experience. The few people she meets will surely add up to the experience. Plus, it's a memory to keep.

"Have you had authentic Korean food?" Eunwoo asked her.

"I ate in some local restaurants but I honestly struggled with ordering. I barely know basic Korean sentences, much more the proper way of speaking.” The next time she visits, she’ll make sure to be a bit better that she is right now. “Thankfully you speak English. That's a relief. You're actually the first local that understood me. I should have studied Korean before I came here."

"I wanted to learn at least one other language for work." Oh, so that’s why. He must have a lucrative career that requires it. "It's more convenient because I can use it anywhere."

"That's true." She couldn’t have agreed more with what he said. "I think I should go. It's kind of late and I'm delaying the shop's closing."

"Will you be here tomorrow?" he asked, making her wonder. Why did he want to know?

"Most probably, why?" There will be a lot more things to read up on for tomorrow since she delayed half of her readings for today.

"I just asked.” shrugging away her response to the question.

“Oh,” she stood up and picked up the cup of coffee. “So, I’ll see you around.”

“I can walk you home if you want to." He sounded like a gentleman by offering to walk her home twice. It was no longer creepy, besides, she thinks that there’s no ill intention in his offer.

"I appreciate it but no thanks. I'm staying at a place close by." She bowed a bit before leaving the cafe.

"Take care!" (Y/N) heard Eunwoo as she walked out.

The day seemed extremely entertaining and irritating at the same time for several factors but seeing Eunwoo again took the cake and made the day better. It’s something that she didn’t expect but welcomed. Her parents would probably tell her off for talking to strangers and even mingling with them but she just has to trust her discernment of good and bad people.

This will be (Y/N)’s adventure, no walls as high as the Burj Khalifa. Just pure and unadulterated fun and cultural indulgence.