Author's Note: I'm trying to post once a day as I write, but I didn't post yesterday, so I had some time to catch up with my writing. I have perhaps two chapters written after this, so we'll see how this goes. :) I'm not sure where to end it yet.     

            Nestled in a small alleyway a block down from the building, Taec was bent, kissing Ha Neul on the lips. The girl smiled against his lips and pulled away. The boy pouted at her breaking the contact, but she merely smiled in return.

            “Even though your disguise is very brilliant, we shouldn’t be kissing in public.” Her sarcasm regarding his disguise was not lost on Taec. He pulled his black hat further down and adjusted his horn-rimmed glasses. They did not do much to disguise his famous face.

            “Hannaaaa, since you let me kiss you before, now I don’t want to stop.”

            Rolling her eyes, she jerked him back onto the sidewalk. “We should eat and then I want to see Seoul at night!” Ha Neul had a very specific list of places to go and things to do while in Seoul. Seeing Seoul at night was one of them. But not just walking around ooh-ing and ahh-ing at people, but seeing it from the sky. “It’s on my list,” she elaborated for him.

            “A list of what?” He asked as they continued their walk.

            “For things to do here before I go: go to a noraebang, visit the Han River, et cetera. You know, stuff like that.”

            “Waaa, really? You made a list?”

            “I like to be a little organized most of the time.” Her stomach growled signaling to them both that it was dinner time.

            “Oooh, there’s a ddukbokki stand! Let’s go!” Taec ordered for her and they found a bench nearby to eat.

            “Yay, this officially marks two items off my list. Wait, no, I have accomplished four things now!”

            “Four?” he mumbled through a mouthful.

            “I have eaten ddukbokki from a roadside stand, eaten street food with a boy, been to a club, AND met a KPop star. Well more than one.” She replied happily. Ha Neul bit into her food, humming, gasping in delight at the taste.

            “Was kissing a KPop star on your list?” he asked off-handedly. The girl laughed at his question and waved him off with her hand.

            “Nope, not at all.” Taec accepted her answer and finished his portion. He leaned back against the bench and folded his arms across his chest.

            “So, why did you come here? You never told me.” He waited expectantly, unsure of what the reason could be. He had his own thoughts on it. Maybe she just wanted a vacation or perhaps she was thinking of studying abroad. Whatever reason it was, Taec liked that she came.

            “My father died three months ago and when my classes finished I just needed to leave. He and I were supposed to come this summer. And I still wanted to come, so I traded my ticket and his for an earlier one with no return ticket as of yet,” she told him quickly, her voice cracking as she did.

            That was not what he expected to hear and Taec himself was unsure of how to react to this. He placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her towards him.

            “Mianhamnida, Hanna,” was all he managed to say to her. He was mentally berating himself for a lack of comforting words. Ha Neul rested her head on his shoulder wearily. Though easy to think, speaking about her father was difficult. Saying the words about the truth of where he was hurt more than she expected. She blinked back tears and managed to giggle.

            “Oppa, why are you so rigid? You don’t need to comfort me. It’s okay.” At her words, he relaxed his stiff posture.

            “How did your mother take this?”

            “Well, they’ve been together since she was nineteen. He was stationed here in the military and they fell in love. She left when he left and they have visited a few times, though she hardly sees her family since they did not approve of the match. Yet, my father loved Korea and he wanted to finally show me part of my ancestry. Since he had been in the military, he had a military funeral, which was not too bad except my father’s mom got the flag in the end instead of my mother. She had wanted a Korean funeral as well, so we had a small one, but his family did not come. You know how it is with inter-racial marriages, the families usually don’t approve.”

            “Why didn’t she come with you?” At his question, Ha Neul laughed, shaking her head at her mother.

            “I feel she’ll show up in a week or two. I’m her baby and though she let me go, she’s been dying to come back for awhile. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was on a plane right now. Oh umma…”

            Taecyeon himself thought it’d be nice to meet Ha Neul’s mother. I wonder if she’ll be anything like Ha Neul, he pondered.

            “You know, Jin young-hyung’s wife had a sister who got disowned because she married a foreigner.”

            “Chincha? How funny. I thought he and his wife were getting divorced though.” Ha Neul straightened on the bench and stood. She held out her hand to him. “Give me your trash. I’ll throw it out.”

            “Hanna~~, you babo, that’s my job.” But she ignored him and swiped the trash from his lap and sprinted away towards the trash can. Taecyeon frowned, but followed her anyway.

            Yoon Jae Hwa, or as she was known in America Jae Hwa Stuart, stood in the Seoul airport staring down at her cell phone, with her head cocked to the side. She had forgotten to switch the phone over to work in Korea and was currently without a usable phone. Her lips drew into a frown; she couldn’t contact Ha Neul until this was fixed. Luckily, she did have business to take care of until then. She smoothed her dark hair, weary after such a long flight. But she had no time to sleep.

            With a sigh, she hailed a cab directing it to a hotel in the heart of the city.