***

The next morning, I was woken by the sound of a lawn mower. I tried to sleep again but failed because of the sunshine which was shining directly at my face. I glanced over at the clock on the night table and it read 11 am. Really..?
The sound was so disturbing that I had to go up and walk out of my room. While I was going down the stairs I saw my mother coming in from the outside, she was carrying some plastic bags. She looked up and saw me coming down.

“Good morning darling!” she smiled and walked to the kitchen.

“Where is this stupid sound coming from?!” I followed her.

“It’s Mr. Hwang. He is mowing the grass,” she left her bags on the kitchen sink.

“Perfect timing..” I said to myself.

While my mother was preparing the breakfast I went to the bedroom to wash myself.

“I met Mr. and Mrs. Lee’s daughter a while ago!” my mom shouted from the kitchen. I looked at myself in the mirror and rolled my eyes. “Her name is Jin Ah by the way. She is really pretty.”

I didn’t answer and just continued on brushing my teeth. I don’t understand why she is talking about the new neighbors so much. It’s like the first time she sees a family, and the first time she gets new neighbors.

“Gukkie? Are you listening?” she asked.

“I hear you mom,” I said with my toothbrush in my mouth.

“She is really nice. I met her when I was on my way to the store. She was sitting outside her door, fixing something,” she continued, “Maybe we should invite them over for dinner.”

By the time I was done and went to the kitchen again, I opened the fridge and took a coke. I walked over to the table and took a seat next to the window.

“You couldn’t wait with the coke until after breakfast, could you?” asked my mother while putting plates on the table.

“Nope,” I said and sipped from my can.

I looked through the window and saw someone sitting on the stairs in front of our new neighbors’ house. It was a girl so it had to be the one my mother was talking about. The girl was looking down at something and she wasn’t so happy. She was quite the opposite, she was angry. Suddenly she looked up and put her hand on her head. For a brief second I didn’t recognize the girl but then it hit me. Gina?! What the hell is she doing there?

“Yongguk! I said, where were you last night?” my mother interrupted my thoughts.

“Mom, what was the name of the girl again? You know.. our new neighbor,” I asked and didn’t even bother to answer her question.

“What? Oh, you mean Jin Ah? Really nice girl...-” 

Jin Ah? Gina? Jin Ah? Gina? Yongguk, you stupid piece of !
So Gina from the skate park is Jin Ah my neighbor?  But how come I got the wrong name?

“They moved from the US, because her parents got a better job offer,” said my mother as she could read my thoughts.

I think I got it. Her American and her Korean name. Well, good try there Gina baby. Or should I say Jin Ah baby.
 

***

Your P.O.V 

You were sitting on the stairs outside your door. You couldn’t sleep because of the sound that was coming from some lawn mower. In the morning, as usual, your parents weren’t at home because they left for work long time ago. Your head was still aching and you had a giant bruise on your lower back. When you woke up you realized that you never checked on your skateboard after falling onto the ground yesterday. The landing was pretty hard so something must have happened to the skateboard.

When you checked your skateboard, you saw a crack in the middle of the plank. It was visible but when you over the crack with your finger, you didn’t feel anything. One thing was sure, even if you didn’t feel the crack it will still become bigger if you keep skating on it. It’s your entire fault Yongguk… ing idiot.

This was the only plank that wasn’t broken. Your other one missed a corner, because you accidently pumped into a wall back home in the U.S. Now, both of your planks are more or less broken. You were really angry at the jerk. You thought that it was stupid of him to cheat or even push a girl. Stupid loser!

“Oh, Annyeonghaseyo!” you heard someone greet you excitedly, interrupting your thoughts, “You must be Mr and Mrs. Lee’s daughter?”

You looked at the women in front of you. She was carrying some plastic bags. It was a middle aged, small woman who had a bright smile. If she knew your parents, then it shouldn’t be dangerous to answer her question so you just nodded while looking up at her.

“Nice to meet you! I’m your neighbor Mrs. Ba-, I mean Kwon,” she smiled and held out her hand, “What’s your name?”

You didn’t want to shake her hand or even talk to her, because you were still angry at Yongguk and didn’t have desire to talk to anyone right now but Mrs. Kwon seemed to be a nice woman so you felt bad for her and shook her hand.

“I’m Jin Ah.”

“What a pretty name. So Jin Ah, how do you feel about moving to another country? Your parents have told me that you move around a lot.”

Your parents. They are unbelievable. “Well... yeah. It’s okay. I’ve got used to it,” you smiled weakly towards her.

“That is good," she smiled andlooked around a bit before turning her attention back to you again, “I have to go now, my son I probably waiting for me and the breakfast. I’ll see you some other day right? Bye!”

“Bye,” you didn’t even bother to watch her disappear and instead went back to cursing at Yongguk. .
 

***

The rest of the week was calm. You were at home and did some unpacking, when you were in the skate park you totally avoided Yongguk and so did he. After what happened to you, everyone was afraid to skate, especially near Yongguk. You tried to skate with your skateboard a couple of times and it didn’t break so you thought that it wasn’t so bad.

It was Saturday afternoon and you were just sitting in the park, hanging out with Amber, Luna, JB, JR and Zelo. The weather was nice, although it was really hot. It was so hot that nobody wanted to do anything but just sit there and slowly die under the sun.
 

“We should go to the beach! I need some cold water!” whined Luna. She was sitting on the bench with her head and arms on the table.

“Some other day Luna. Let me rest in peace, please,” JR was lying on the ground with his skateboard under his head.

“Noona, are you alive?” you heard Zelo ask you. You were sitting on the bench, in front of Luna, with your back facing the wall. You had your cap over your face and just listened to the others talking.

You did an okay sign with your hand, put didn’t get any response because no one looked at you. Actually, it didn’t even matter so you just shrugged.

“Why aren’t you with your friends Zelo?” you heard Luna ask him.

You didn’t even realize that Zelo was the only one in the park from his group until Luna asked him where the others were. JB was sitting beside you, in the exact same position as you, and you heard him smirk.

“Well, it’s a very hot Saturday afternoon so.. let me see… they are all at home, taking a nap. Waah Luna, it’s like you are the one who is new here,” Zelo was definitely irritated.

You slightly flicked Zelo in the head after saying the ‘new here’ thing. He chuckled and so did you. There was a short silence before you realized that Amber was too quiet.

“Amber?” you called after her but didn’t get a response, “Amber!”

“I think she fell asleep,” commented JB. You took off your cap from your face to take a look. And yes, there she was, lying on the ground next to JR and totally asleep, “We should head home and take a nap too,” JB took off his cap and went up.

It was a hot day, nobody wanted to do anything and you all were just sitting there, so you just nodded to JB and went up too. Your back was still hurting a bit but you ignored the pain and slightly kicked Zelo so he would wake up, “Yah Zelo, go home.”

Zelo made a sad facial expression but did as told. JB went over to JR and Amber to wake them up.

“So we will meet at Zico’s party tonight right?” asked Luna as she fixed her clothes.

The party. You almost forgot about that one. Everyone was talking about it, so it should be interesting. The only problem is that you didn’t know where Zico lives.

“Wait, Jin Ah doesn’t know where Zico lives,” said a half-asleep Amber as she approached the two of you, “Do you want me to pick you up?”

Actually, you hated when somebody wanted to help you. You didn’t like to depend on anyone but yourself. The problem was, if you say no, how the hell would you get to the party? So in this case, you had to say yes. Just as you were on your way to answer Amber’s question, JB and JR came closer.

“I can do it,” offered JB, looking right into your eyes, “I can pick her up and meet you guys at the party,” he turned towards the rest.

“But I don’t want you to pick me up,” it’s bad enough that somebody asks you to help you and not offers like he did.

“But I insist,” he smiled teasingly at you.

“Okay guys. That’s the plan. Bye,” said Amber and skated away with Luna and Zelo. You could hear from her voice that she was more than glad that JB insisted on helping you.

You just rolled your eyes and looked back at JB, “Fine. But just because I’m still new here.”

“So, where should we meet up?” asked JR.

“You go to the party. Jin Ah and I will meet you guys there,” JB told JR before looking at you again, “Where do you want me to meet you up?” 

It would be a bit embarrassing if he showed up in front of your house. The only place that you knew so far was the skate park so that would be the best solution, “At the entrance,” you pointed at the skate park’s entrance.

“Sure. What time?” he put his skateboard down on the ground and placed one foot on it.

“Eight?”

“Eight it is. See you later,” and with that he skated away.

“Bye!” JR waved quickly and skated after JB.

You just shook your head and started walking home.

***

8pm. Just as you and JB said, the two of you met in front of the entrance. This was the first time you two are alone and it felt a little uncomfortable. When you were at home, you were unsure about what to wear because you didn’t know how parties here in Korea are compared to the ones at home in the US. In the end, you ended up in a casual pair of jeans and a baseball shirt. Although it was really hard to leave your cap and skateboard at home, you dragged yourself out of the house.

As expected, JB was waiting at the entrance. He was sitting on a bench’s backrest, typing something in his phone. In some odd way, it was a different feeling to see him now than earlier today. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a colourful t-shirt and colourful sneakers. He didn’t have his cap on so he looked older. He was really hot and you had to control yourself because you are weak when it comes to hot guys.

“Hey,” you started approaching him.

He looked up from his phone and froze in his spot. After a second he smiled and stood from the bench, “Wow.. ” he chuckled.

“What now? I’m in time,” you said bitterly.

“Oh no. I didn’t mean that," he shook his head as he approached you, “You just look… more feminine, even if it’s casual clothes.”

“ you Jaebum,” you rolled your eyes and walked past him, “Come on now.”

You could hear him laugh to himself and walk after your. “It was a compliment!”
You just waved with your hand and continued on walking, “And I said call me JB!”
 

***

When the two of you were in front of a high building, you could already hear the music. It had a really strong bass which made you wonder why there weren’t any neighbors who were complaining.

“We are here as you can hear,” said JB and opened the front door for you, “He lives on the ground floor so we don’t have to take the stairs.”

“Well one less problem.” you said and walked past him.

The two of you went to the door and knocked once. You didn’t get an answer the first time so you knocked one more time a bit harder. Once again, there wasn’t an answer because the music was too loud. JB looked at you and grabbed the handle to see if it was open. Lucky you it was and JB mentioned with his head to go forward. You did a grimace but took a few steps before him.

You were standing inside the hallway and it smelled alcohol. The apartment was packed with people in every room. There was people dancing in the living room, some were eating in the kitchen, others were in the bedroom making out.
 

“Oh daaaamn,” you heard someone shout from the side. When you turned to your left, you saw someone coming out from the kitchen, “Hello beautiful.”

You smiled and shook your head. It was Zico and he was drunk already.

“I haven’t really introduced myself to you. I’m Jiho but call me Zico,” he winked.

“Cool. I’m JinAh,” you nodded.

“What a pretty name. JB take her to the living room. She is my special guest today,” he pointed to the living room and smiled like an idiot. He smelled really bad so you had to get away from there. Bad breath is something you hate from the bottom of your heart.

You felt JB’s arm on your lower back but didn’t care to take it away because you had other problems, like go away from Zico. JB led you to the living room and you walked with really tiny steps.

When you were inside the living room, standing there with JB behind you, the first person you saw was Yongguk. He was sitting on the couch with a girl in his lap. They were making out, but for you it looked more like they were eating each other. Gross.
You shook off the disgusted feeling you had and turned to JB.

“Let’s go to the kitchen instead!” you shouted because the music was too loud before heading to the kitchen.

“Are you hungry?” he asked behind you.

“What?!”

“I said, are you hungry?!” he shouted.

“No, but thirsty! Where are the others by the way?!” you looked around, searching for Amber and Luna.

“I don’t know! I texted JR, he said that they were on their way!” screamed JB and looked around too.

In the kitchen, there were some people eating and drinking. Somply having a nice time. You took a glass that JB filled with a regular coke. “Do you want something stronger maybe?”

“Not yet,” you shook your head and took a sip from the glass.

You were leaning at the counter, waiting for the others with JB when you heard laughter coming closer and then two figures coming in side the kitchen. It was Yongguk and his ulzzang like friend. Himchan... if you remember right. 

Yongguk spotted you and the counter and your eyes met. He smiled evilly at you but changed his expression when he saw JB standing beside you.

“What are you doing here?” he looked at you again.

“Not eating human beings, that's for sure,” you said and took another sip from the glass.

“Very funny Gina baby,” he smirked and took a step closer, “Or should I say Jin Ah baby?”