o1 ;

“Nicole, please. I know what I did was wrong but I...I really need to talk to you. Where are you?”

“Is it true? Are you seriously leaving? Nicole...”

“Cole...I shouldn’t have said that. I’m so – “

She pressed the delete button before the message even ended and switched off the phone without a second thought. Pushing her head back against the head-rest, she shut her eyes close tightly in hopes of leaving everything behind totally.

But she knew that it was impossible. What had happened a week ago, will forever be a dark stain that can never be wiped away from her life. She had never felt so humiliated, so betrayed by the one person whom she had loved so much.

“What’s going on?”

“Why isn’t the groom here yet?”

“Look at her. Poor girl. I think she have been stood up. On her wedding day.”

“Attention all passengers, we’re landing soon. Please make sure that your seatbelts are on and switch off all your mobile phones...”

Nicole’s eyes flew open at the sound of the booming voice. She took a look outside of the plane window and realised that she was no longer in Seoul, her home country.

They are already in Sydney, Australia.

Time for her new life to start.

She walked leisurely towards her new apartment, with the keys clutched tightly in her right hand and pulling her suitcase with the other. Her eyes skimmed over the different numbers written on each doors as she searched for my own rental unit.

110...112...114...

Nicole stopped right in front of the unit numbered 114 and placed her metallic black suitcase against the wall. She pushed the first key into the gate’s padlock and turned it, but it wouldn’t budge open.

She tried the second key that was available, but still nothing happened.

Sighing, she kept trying as she glanced up to check the unit’s number once again. 114 was written clearly on it – the same apartment which had been assigned to her by the landlord. She hadn’t made a mistake.

She grunted loudly as she yanked out the key in frustration.

“You have to push it in even harder,” a deep voice spoke up behind her suddenly. Nicole whirled around in surprise and came face to face with a young man, not much older than she was. He gave her a friendly smile.

“The doors here are like that,” he told her and made a move for her keys. She nodded and gave it to him willingly. He only needed to make strong turn, which he made it seemed very easy, and then the padlock was opened.

“There you go. Oh, and for the door, you have to use your strength a bit. Like this.” He twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open with his right arm. “Been trying to get them to do something about these doors, but my requests fell on deaf ears.”

He handed her back her keys and was about to retreat back to his own apartment when Nicole called out to him.

“Thank you,” she said with a blush and smiled genuinely at him. It felt weird, smiling again after all those tears she had shed, but this guy whom had just extended his help, give her a reason to. Not to mention, he is a fellow Korean.

He shrugged his shoulders and grinned.

“No problem. That’s what neighbours are for. Welcome, by the way.”

Nicole just smiled. She pulled her suitcase along and put one foot inside her new home, but then she remembered something.

“Wait, I’m sorry but I didn’t catch your name.”

Thankfully, he hasn’t gone in yet.

He paused for a moment, deliberately leaving her hanging for awhile for the fun of it before breaking into another huge grin. Nicole could feel her heart stopping at his megawatt smile.

“I’m Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun. But you know...since we are in Sydney, you can always call me Bacon.”

 Nicole stood there stunned. Was he serious? She wanted to burst out laughing, but she didn’t want to appear off as a rude person at their first introduction.

He winked at her and went back inside his own apartment. But a second later, his face appeared again.

“It’s nice to meet you, Nicole-ssi.”

hung open slightly, surprise to how he had known her name. She was about to ask him, but he had already disappeared back inside.

Her gaze then fell down upon her suitcase.

Of course...he would notice it.

Her lips curved up outwardly and she felt giddy with excitement.

Perhaps, moving to Sydney isn’t going to be so bad after all.

Bacon...