I CAN DIE HAPPY

A/N: I think someone requested some HyeKura.

You see, Kang Hyewon is your typical person. She has friends that she gets along with since they were young, though despite their differences – her two friends are very much out there, while she prefers to be alone. But with them, she met amazing people that she also considers her friends.

Kang Hyewon has this really weird addiction – well it is really not that weird or odd, but Yena and Yujin always about it. Basically, she is very much – and when she says very much, she means it with every little fiber in her body, addicted to anime.

She is that one kid that saw one episodes of Naruto – the one where he fought Neji during the Chunin exams and suddenly the Kyuubi’s helped him. That was the turning point of her childhood, and there was no return.

After seeing that episode, she immediately searched up the anime and binge-watched it. Despite it having hundreds of episodes, Hyewon managed to finish it in record time. Well, she just sacrificed 2 weeks of proper sleep and hangouts with her two friends. But it was all worth it.

So yeah, after that she just started watching anime and she really liked this certain one – One Piece, goodness. Hyewon became an avid fan that she spent most of her money to buy merch from that anime. To the point that she always imitates one of its scenes – Gear Second, every minute when she has time in front of Yena and Yujin.

The two of them became sick of it that when Hyewon suddenly stops in the middle of their walk they just ignore her.

But of course, Hyewon grows up. Unfortunately, she couldn’t do that anymore since she’s already in college – people would see it weird, and she knows how judgmental people are.

So, here she is sitting on one of the benches, earphones on and focusing on the anime that she’s watching – Angel Beats. She just saw it being recommended and she decided to watch it.

“Seriously Kwangbae, you and your addiction are getting out of hand.” Yena says as she snatches Hyewon’s phone away.

Hyewon frowns at the action, “Give that back!”

Yujin just sighs beside the two, despite being younger she always acts the most matured between the three.

“She has a point, unnie.” Yujin smiles, “Yena-unnie give her phone back.”

Hyewon sticks her tongue and grabs the phone from Yena, pouting since she saw that it was about time to go to her class.

“Ugh, we have class with Ms. Hwang. Come on you duckling!” Hyewon groans and grabs her things, pulling Yena with her and waving at Yujin.

Okay, Hyewon must have miscalculated a little bit because here they are, sitting in one of the farthest corners in the classroom, with Yena whining for being too early while Hyewon is relishing the fact that she could continue watching peacefully.

Then just like that, minutes flew by and class is already starting. Hyewon being her stupid and stubborn self is hiding her phone on her lap as she discreetly watches episode 3 of her anime.

Then one thing led to another, with Yena snatching her phone from her and Hyewon would have shout at her, she really would have, if not for the stares that she could feel at her.

Looking up, the first thing that greeted her is the sweet smile of Ms. Hwang – but Hyewon knows better, after all, Ms. Hwang is a family friend and she knows that that smile is anything but sweet. Oh, .

“Ms. Kang, it seems like you have been listening well today.” Ms. Hwang says, and Hyewon notices the intent to make her life a living hell.

“Then I would like you to guide our new transfer student in our class. Please introduce yourself.”

That was the only time that Hyewon noticed another presence beside Ms. Hwang, she blinks at the girl. Shoulder-length light brown hair, a really great nose – she started to feel conscious of her own, big eyes that Hyewon weirdly wants to stare at, and lips that seemingly looks too invi –

“Hello, I’m Sakura Miyawaki from Japan. Please take care of me.”

Hyewon managed to understand the important bits from the broken Korean that the girl in front is saying.

Sakura Miyawaki

Japan

Take care of me

Hyewon is just staring at the girl, who seems to be getting closer and closer and oh, she’s going to sit beside her – then she glanced at Ms. Hwang who is smirking at her.

“Use your Japanese Kwangbae. Put those animes in to good use.” Yena whispered and smiled at the girl.

Hyewon can faintly hear how Yena introduces herself to the new addition beside them, she then felt a nudge beside her and Yena giving her the look that screams say-something-you-little-.

Then she turns to introduce herself next, but oh . Is this the time in all those animes that she has watched where a character goes in slow motion and with sparkling stars behind them? Because damn hell, Sakura Miyawaki is – damn hell.

She’s smiling, holy .

“Hello.”

Hyewon blinks.

“Good bye.”

Yena coughed, she may have not been too inclined with anime but she knows that she just heard her friend say good bye in Japanese.

“I mean, I . Sorry! Hello!” Hyewon stutters out, “I’m Kang Hyewon!”

Hyewon curses and feels like she wants to die at that moment. She started to regret that she didn’t properly learn Japanese with all those animes and just fangirled the hell out of her childhood.

BARRIER 1

Okay, maybe it is really expected of Hyewon to know much more Japanese than the average person because of the amount of animes she has watched. But no, that is not the case. She watches anime for the plot, the emotional rollercoaster, and the aesthetics of it.

So yeah, Hyewon, for the lack of better word, is at Japanese. Well if you consider baka as a really complex Japanese word, then you should think again. She only knows the most basic, hello, good bye, thank you.

So maybe, when Sakura asks her questions with the lessons which she could not understand – because Ms. Hwang, and she says this with the most love and care for her professor, is stupid to talk really fast in Korean knowing that there’s a new Japanese student.

So yeah, the only thing she does is stare at where is Sakura pointing, then at her face – and wow, she is a living goddess, and Hyewon is really lucky enough to be graced with her presence.

And the only thing she could utter is the most basic thing phrase she always hears in her anime.

Hai hai.

Because, does not understand broken Korean and Sakura tends to quickly switch in her mother tongue when she can’t seem to properly explain herself.

As if Hyewon would understand it better.

In the whole duration of the class, Hyewon cannot remember how many times she has said hai hai  and nodded her head. But it seems like Yena counted, judging from the sticks on the side of her notebook – and boy let me tell you, she is about to enter the 4th row.

When the class ended, Hyewon awkwardly nods her head at Sakura who only smiles slightly at her. She then quickly pulls Yena out who meekly bowed at the Japanese – until Ms. Hwang called her.

“Ms. Kang, can you come here for a second?”

Hyewon rolls her eyes and drags herself towards the professor, only to stutter on her steps when she heard the next words that Ms. Hwang said.

“Ms. Miyawaki, a second please.”

Then just like that, the two of them is there in front of Ms. Hwang smiling – Hyewon knows that she’s planning something bad, and oh boy, she’s right.

“Since you two have been acquainted already,” Ms. Hwang starts, and Hyewon’s brain buffered. What the hell is this woman saying? She’s talking in Japanese and Hyewon is not a walking Google Translator to know the gibberish she’s saying.

“Ms. Kang here is …”

Okay, Hyewon is sure that Ms. Hwang just called her so she faked a smile when Sakura glanced at her, but on the inside, she’s dying because she doesn’t understand a .

“Right, Ms. Kang?”

Then the pther two is looking at her, Hyewon could not help but to notice the expectant look Sakura is giving her. So, without knowing a , she nodded her head albeit reluctantly.

“Yes, Ms Hwang.”

“Great! Hyewon would greatly help you with your Korean and in this class because she has been into Japanese culture, so you guys can really hit it off!” Ms. Hwang beamed and ushered them off.

And oh , what the hell just happened?

What does she mean by hit it off?

Japanese culture? , she only knows anime.

Help with Korean?

What?

Did Miyoung just sold her out?

“I hope we can be friends well, Hyewon-ssi.”

Hyewon heard the very accented and broken Korean coming from Sakura and she smiled awkwardly. Taking a deep breath, she tries to calm herself.

“Can I see your schedule?” Hyewon asks, gesturing a piece of paper to Sakura, and thankfully the latter seems to understand it since she gave it to her.

Okay, we have Ms. Hwang together. We can meet up with every lunch, I guess? Or after class every Friday? Hyewon thought to herself.

“Uh, since I need to teach you Korean maybe we can meet every lunch and after class every Fridays?” Hyewon asks and she only received a confused look. God, this would be harder than I thought.

With the simplest explanation she got, she then said. “Lunch and Fridays. You and me, okay?” She slowly said, and points at the timetable between them. And as if a light bulb is , Sakura smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

Hyewon returned the smile and the timetable to the girl and said her farewell.

“Good bye.” Hyewon bowed and was about to walk away when Sakura pulled her back.

Hyewon blinks and waits for the girl, until the latter smiled sheepishly.

“Good bye.”

Hyewon blushed and ran.

After confiding with her friends, which is surprisingly helpful for once, Hyewon thought of a plan. After all, human civilization and the 20th century is so innovative today, so why not use it for her advantage?

So, her plan is basically use Google Translate in every conversation she has with Sakura, especially if the girl is talking in Japanese. She could just correct her when it comes to Korean – being Korean herself.

Basically, her plan is fool proof.

Until it’s not.

Google Translate is .

How can it translate the basic question of ‘are you hungry’ to ‘can I eat you?”

So, here she is a blushing mess since she just had her volume so loud in the library with Sakura beside her and played the Japanese translation of it, and what the , seriously?

“, sorry. That is not what I want to hear!” Hyewon panicked, and she could hear Sakura giggling.

“It’s okay.” She softly replied.

Hyewon is thankful that the girl knows basic phrases that they are able to communicate.

“Uh, sorry. I’m not really good with this,” Hyewon slowly says hoping Sakura understands her, especially with the help of her gestures.

“It’s okay, I’m patient.”

Great, I’m not. I just want to watch anime.

Anime.

, why did she not think of that?

Hyewon quickly grabs her phone and switched to her anime app and gestures for Sakura to come closer, pointing at it.

“Do you watch anime?”

Sakura frowns as if she just asked a weird question.

“Of course.”

Right, she’s Japanese. Anime is like a drinking water for them. What the hell?

“Great, so I uhh,” Hyewon tries to find the right words, “Let’s watch some, and you can ask me uhm, to translate some phrases from it?”

Sakura thinks about it and Hyewon is nervous.

Then she saw her grinning and she just knew she made the right choice.

“Great, let’s watch Angel Beats first.”

Two birds with one stone. Hyewon thought as she grins to herself.

Okay, what a ? Hyewon is genuinely wanting to teach Sakura some Korean phrases, and it was doing great as they constantly pause the episode and Hyewon translates the phrase that she wants, and Hyewon explains its structure and pronunciation to her.

But then it got to the backstory of the characters and Hyewon started blinking the tears in her eyes. Sakura seems much more into her lesson rather than the plot – which is understandable, so Hyewon do her best to teach her.

Sakura seems to understand her.

Then it came to the biggest plot twist and the ing graduation scene and Hyewon is bawling her eyes, and she is just so embarrassed to cy in front of the new girl.

“, I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would be so sad.”

Sakura chuckles rubbing her back as comfort, “It’s okay, I expected it.”

“What?”

“I already watched this.”

Hyewon cries again, “Why didn’t you warn me?”

“You look so excited and cute, and I didn’t want to spoil you.”

Hyewon laughs not understanding anything she just said.

“Okay, I’ll just think that you’re saying comforting words to me.”

“You really have a beautiful laugh.”

Hyewon looks at the girl confusedly, and Sakura just smiles at her – and Hyewon feels like the girl feels sorry for her.

“Don’t worry, I’m okay. I’m sad because of the ending, but I’ll be okay.”

Sakura smiled, understanding the gist of what she said.

Looking after a new student doesn’t seem so bad, especially if Hyewon could have someone to watch animes with.

BARRIER 2

That’s how their routine started, Hyewon and Sakura would meet up every lunch, watch 2 to 3 episodes of an anime, would pause in the middle of each episodes when Sakura has questions with translations and Hyewon would happily answer it.

They somehow created a bond, and Yena and Yujin also find Sakura really entertaining and fun to be around it. It’s already been 2 weeks since Sakura transferred and her Korean has greatly improved – she would still switch to her mother tongue at times, but not as frequent as before.

At some point, Hyewon started to pick up some Japanese things from the girl – but not as much as how Sakura is learning Korean, but at least Hyewon manages to learn new things every day. It’s just a shame that she cannot hold a conversation with the girl – other than her being a stuttering mess, because how could Sakura look like THAT, she just couldn’t properly hold a conversation with the language.

But the other thing that Hyewon discovered about the Japanese girl is that she is also a gamer – which is amazing because Hyewon is also an avid gamer. So here she is now, walking with Sakura on the way to the latter’s apartment because it is much closer than Hyewon’s.

They are planning to maybe play a few rounds of C.O.D and crush some other players because based on Sakura’s stories, Hyewon could tell that she’s really good. And maybe watch that famous anime that’s being recommended to her – Your Name.

As soon as they entered the said apartment, Hyewon stares at it in awe – a very much well-equipped gaming pc is on the side, while a television is mounted on the wall and PS4 with 3 controllers. , this is heaven.

“You can go sit there and load the game.” Sakura says and walks inside.

“Woah unnie. Your Korean is getting good!” Hyewon exclaims as she flops herself on the floor, excited to play some game.

“I have a great teacher.”

Hyewon turns to pout at her, “Okay, I heard sensei so I’ll just think that you’re complimenting me.”

“Fair enough.” Sakura chuckles and Hyewon throws her a pillow.

“What does that mean?!”

“Your Japanese is trash.” Sakura teases.

“Well yeah? Your Korean – “ Hyewon stops when she sees the older girl raising her eyebrows as if daring her to continue, .

“ – is getting really good.”

“That’s great to hear.” Sakura laughs and sits beside her getting the controller and passing one to Hyewon, “Come on, let’s play and crush this game.”

“Hai hai.” Hyewon jokingly says, “Let’s watch that anime after – Your Name.”

Sakura hums, “You haven’t watched it yet?”

Hyewon pouts and shakes her head, “I wanted to watch it with you.” She wonders out loud, focusing on the game in front of her. She didn’t notice the pause that the other girl did and the stare.

“You and your words are really something.”

Hyewon groans not looking at Sakura, “Unnie, I don’t understand a thing so let’s just shoot them.”

And they did.

“Unnie! Kill him, the one on the building – there, there!” Hyewon is shouting by now, “He ing sniped me!”

Sakura chuckles and followed the orders, successfully killing the player hiding in the building declaring their win. Hyewon jumps from seat and hugs Sakura tightly due to excitement, “Oh , you are good!”

“I told you so.” Sakura mutters and laughs.

Pulling back from the hug, Hyewon looks around and decided to watch anime then. “Okay, can we watch the anime now?”

Sakura chuckles and nodded, searching the anime up in her television and Hyewon’s excitement cannot be contained. Since it was a Friday, they have all the time to do anything – and of course, she would choose anime over anything.

“Have you watched it already?”

Sakura looks at the younger girl and shrugs.

“Let’s just watch, and teach me some Korean words.”

“Hai hai.”

Hyewon is frowning by the end of the anime, a few tears w