Before I Met Him
HysterieFirst off, introductions.
My name is Saya Park and I am twenty-three years old. Until my graduation day, I was an expat in India with my parents and shortly after their divorce, shifted to Seoul to become an ESL teacher. Not because it was a necessity, but I had always wanted to live a rather simple life, luxuries playing a cameo here and there. My father and mother went easy on each other, even after their separation. Mom shifted in with her sister in Busan while Dad stayed back for business reasons. I had ruled out any form of visitation from my side, though weekly updates among the three of us was compulsory.
I am an AB type and according to all the articles I have read, I am controlled, rational, critical, even 'cold-hearted'. Quite a lovely group of characteristics. Unfortunately, these words were just one of the few terms descriptive of my identity, though who I truly am and how I react to situations is not based on them at all. I am controlled, but as long as you do not cross the line. I am rational unless you hurt someone I really care about. I am critical, but smile at the occasional forced greetings. And during my nineteen years of life in India, being cold-hearted was a blessing in disguise.
You see, Indians are very warm people. They're hospitable, always happy, adjusting with the situational troubles. But I always found myself lost, my dimension of opinions a million light-years away from my peers and environment. I loved cafes until they lost their aesthetic ambience and became nothing but trendy hangouts. The espresso machine in my kitchen is the one I received for my sixteenth birthday.
I was teasingly nicknamed 'Ice Princess' by some classmates. On the day of our school farewell, I was given a character award with the same name. I was proud of it because I lived up to it. I was disappointed because I felt like they couldn't see through me. I did have a group of close friends who I could open up to and even when I had shifted to Seoul, Kairi, my first friend had stuck with my decision. "You're going your own way, " she had said. "No more disguises!" Acting as the least empathetic girl in the world was my shield but it also meant a constant fear of losing myself. I was scared that one day I would wake up without any emotions.
Maybe Seoul was destined for me. I hardly needed any training, my interactive skills were surprisingly good and most of my students were either my age or older to me. We would often go out for lunches and even birthday parties. Soon, I was in love with life and myself. Meeting new people, making new friends, moving around.......But no, that is not how I had met Woohyun.
Maybe if he was a student in my international school in India, I would have missed him among the 'good-looking-but-arrogant' boys group. When everyone around you is different, even the unique ones seem to sift through the crowd. But Woohyun, as I have said this before, was special. For a lot of people, he was just another guy. But our first meeting itself stood out. So how couldn't he?
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