“Here’s the key to your new home.”

A cheerful boy, who looked to be in his early twenties, handed out a set of keys to the palm of my hand and smiled innocently.

He was to become my new landlord.

I thanked him as I took the keys and stuffed them into the back pocket of my jeans.

“Enjoy! And just call me if you ever need any help or something, I’ll be just down the hall from your door.”

“Thanks for renting me this apartment- errr…”

Shoot, I forgot his name…

Al- albert? Allen?? Urgh, I at names.

“Anyways, thank you.” I quickly finished off.

“You’re welcome! It’s really no big deal, I mean, you’re paying me to stay here.” He laughed, making me smile as well.

“Haha yeah. Oh, hey… You, landlord guy. I have a quick question. Were you born here in Korea?” I questioned.

It was bugging the heck out of me the moment I met him, what nationality he was.
I mean, judging from his thick accent and unique looks, he didn’t seem like the average Korean. But not quite entirely foreign, either.

“Ah no,” He laughed as he reached into his blazer to pull out a fan. “I’m the ulzzang from Hong Kong, Alexander Lee Eusebio! Ah-ha-ha-ha!!” He laughed hysterically as he fanned himself in a haughty manner.

Funny man, I took note.

Maybe a little overwhelmingly crazy, but funny. And most definitely hot…

Wait. What am I thinking?? Am I crushing on my landlord? WTH?!

He put his fan back away and flashed a charming smile. “My parents are Korean and Chinese-Portuguese. I hope this can help satisfy your curiosity.” He winked.

I struggled to hide the blush creeping up on my cheeks. “Y-yup! That did the job… W-well, if you will excuse me, I’ll just go up to my room now…”

God, something about this guy is making me really nervous.

Why didn’t California have any cute guys like him? Psh what does it matter now? I’m in K-Freaking-Orea! There should be tons of hot guys here. So glad I convinced my mom to let me go to school here in Seoul! Hehe.

“Here, I’ll help with your luggage.” Alexander offered as he took the suitcase from my hands and wheeled it into the elevator doors. “Is this all you have?” He scratched the back of his neck as he closely examined the small suitcase that contained all of my belongings.

“Yup. I was planning to buy the other essentials in Korea, since you know, it’s a lot cheaper and all, here. Plus the luggage would have costed me a fortune! Why spend all that money in bringing in my old stuff when I could buy new ones over here?” I explained.

“I see your point.” Alexander chuckled and pressed the ‘F’ floor on the elevator buttons.

The doors closed and elevator music played in the background.

“Why is it the ‘F’ floor and not the 4th floor?” I questioned pointing at the brightly lit F button on the wall.

“Koreans seem to be superstitious about these things. Apparently the number four means death in their culture. 죽음에 사(4).” He shrugged. “They feel more comfortable calling the 4th floor the F floor, I guess.”

“Oh, so just like how Americans think that the number thirteen is unlucky?” I chimed.

“Wow, good job. You’re smart!” Alexander laughed his signature laugh as he high-fived me.

“I try~” I flipped my hair sarcastically making Alex go into a fit of laughter.

“Ding. F floor. Opening doors.”

The elevator rang and the doors slid open.

“Here you are, your new home!” Alex extended his arms widely with an equally wide grin on his face, stepping out of the elevator.

I examined the small hallway with two doors on each side of the opposite walls, an emergency staircase and a veranda showcasing the small park in front of the apartments.

Alex handed me back my bags and pointed at the door on the left with the number 402 engraved in it.

“That’s your apartment, and mine is the one on the right, Unit 401. Just ring the doorbell if you need anything.” He waved as he opened the door to his own home.

“Thanks, Xander. I’ll be sure to call for you if there is a fire in my apartment or something.” I waved back.

Laughing, he stepped into his apartment and shut the door behind him.

“Welp here we go.” I fumbled through my pocket to grab the keys.

“Here’s to my new adventures new life in Korea, Fighting!”

I opened the door and stepped into my new home.

Or as I will later find out, the biggest mistake of my life.