You bolted out of the dance room, leaving behind Director Nim, the students, and most importantly, Kai. You didn’t know where to run to however, and that was quickly becoming a problem.

Common sense finally seemed to start to kick into your brain and you slowed to a walk so no one would notice you, a young girl sprinting down the hall looking panic stricken. Now you had to decide where to go.

You didn’t want to go back to your room, it’d only make you think too much and the seconds would go by much too slow. Your body was on the point of collapsing and the only thing that was keeping you up was the adrenaline from seeing Kai, so the dance room clearly wasn’t an option. The next thing up on your mind was food.

The company’s cafeteria would hold too many people that you might know, and you didn’t want to stay there, waiting for your fellow peers to get out and have lunch. That really only left one other option; street food. Eun Bi told you about some off the really popular ones such as tteokbokki. Tteokbokki is a spicy rice cake that’s dipped in hot pepper sauce, giving them their infamous, bright red color. She also told you about the original, delicious mandu which is like the Japanese’s “gyoza” or the American’s “potsticker”. The dumpling was popular everywhere and had almost an endless amount of fillings.

The idea of those both sounded delicious so you ran up to your room and dashed inside, grabbing your wallet. You left the building through one of the side exits, you wanted to be incognito and seeing anyone would just make your guilt worse. You stepped lightly into a common alleyway and walked past a couple of stores that were embedded in the walls around you. Each had their own special nick nack, every single time you went into one, you always find something different.

You walked past them today, you just wanted to be left alone. Left in your own world, without other distractions.

Like Kai. You shook your head vigorously, trying to shake that thought out of your head.

You hung a random right, your only plan of direction was to move away from the company’s building. You actually loved wandering though, it was inspiring to see all the different kinds of people, buildings and miscellaneous things. You always noticed and discovered art in all forms when you wandered around. Whether it be the man’s outfit or the graffiti on the trash can. All of it was art.  

Making your way on the actual street now, you walked along side a bunch of complete strangers on the used sidewalk. There was a slight breeze today, gently urging you forward from behind. You peered upwards, the gleaming skyscrapers and drifting clouds were in your line of vision. Enjoying the spectacular view, your stomach decided to ruin it by growling loudly. Aishhh, where’s the food?? Deciding that perhaps looking up at the sky wasn’t the greatest idea for finding a food vendor, you stood on the balls of our feet, trying to look over the crowd for the nearest food stand.

Inhaling a deep, plentiful breath, you could smell something mouth-watering, something fried. Seeing steam rise up from a tiny hut-like structure, you predetermined that that was your destination.

As you went up to the food vendor, you were happy to see that they had a variety of things to choose from. They had fried gyeran (eggs), yachae (vegetables), and most importantly, fried mandu! It said you get get a full order of one of those items, or a half and half order. You went with half and half and got the fried yachae and the fried mandu, which only cost about 3,000 won. They took your order and started cooking it instantly; the cheap food looked so delectable, you started sincerely wishing that you had ordered two orders just for yourself.

You gratefully took your food from the seller, ready to dig in but you heard someone call your name. Responding to the call, you turned around but only saw a gruff women, just as hungry for her food. Your face knotted in slight confusion as you peered through the line of people; looking for the caller. Your head whipped to left as you heard your name once again.

Back in your country, you wouldn’t be as alert or concerned but since your name was rather foreign in Korea, you knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. Plus, something about that voice… You could almost recognize it.

I’m going crazy. Definitely.

Apparently, the world decided it yet time for you to lose your sanity because you felt a light tap on your shoulder; turning in that direction you were welcomed with a familiar face. He was beaming a sunny smile, his white blonde hair glowing in the daylight. A surprised sentence sounded from your mouth, “Oh! What are you doing here!?”

“I’m not in the program like you and Kai are, so other than practices with the group, my summer days are free,” Luhan responded, his eyes creasing in simple happiness. You stood there awkwardly, your food still in your hands and your mouth was probably drooling. “Wait, why are you here?” Luhan asked with concern, “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

You shifted back and forth on your feet. Deciding on which lie would be the most believable. You couldn’t bear to tell him the truth, it’d be absolutely, horrifyingly embarrassing. Plus him and Kai are close friends, you didn’t want anything between them to change. “Early lunch break?” you responded with a tight-lipped smile, holding up your food to prove your point.

“Street food, huh?” he said, almost to himself, glancing upward at the sky. Luhan let out a short puff of breath, seemingly in thought. Your hands were itching to dig into your food but you waited for him to speak again, “Are you still hungry?”

Never dismissing an option for another meal, you instantly countered, “I probably will be.”

A hopefully smile filled his face, one that you were oblivious too. “Wanna go to my favorite one? I’ll buy.” he proposed lightly.

You chewed on your bottom lip, deciding if you wanted too or not. You quickly nodded, strands of your hair falling in your face, your tucked them behind your ears. It’d be too rude if I said no, besides some I could use some of his innocent, light-hearted friendship.

The two of you walked at the same leisurely pace. Luhan guided you through sticky crowds and parked cars until the two of you ended up at his favorite food vendor. This one was tteokbokki- which was not uncommon since that dish was one of the most popular among Koreans. “This is it!” he exclaimed, throwing his arms wide open. You stood behind him reading the menu, not paying attention to your mouth hanging wide open.

The walk couldn’t have been more than 15 minutes long, however during then, you scarfed down your order and didn’t even think about sharing with Luhan. Now standing in front of the tteokbokki shop, your mouth started to salivate again. “What do you usually order?” you inquired, trying to get a feel of what was good.

“Do you like spicy?”

“Depends.”

“Well, I usually go with the #2 combo.” he noted, pointing at the order.

“I’ll go with that!” you replied happily, nodding your head.

Luhan stepped up to the open shop and ordered both of your meals, he took out his wallet and handed the worker a shiny platinum card. A moment later, he gave the card back to Luhan and he crisply tucked it back into his wallet, folded it, and shoved it back into his pocket.

“The waiting is the hardest,” he said jokingly, giving you a white smile.

Soon enough both of your orders were ready, the fresh tteokbokki, glazed in hot red, looked delicious. Luhan gave your food to you and you tried not to snatch it up too greedily. The instant it was in your hands, you started eating it ravenously. You didn’t even realize how hungry you were. Between dancing and shutting everything out and feeling numb and dazed from Kai, you  must have forgot your hunger.

“I’ll walk you back to the building, I’m sure you have to go back to class and I don’t want to get you in any trouble,” he angelically said with sincerity.

Can this boy do anything wrong?

You nodded and smiled at him, reminding yourself to keep your mouth closed. Your mother would be ashamed if she could see you right now.

The walk back was enjoyable, Luhan talked about how he had learned Korean and what it was like for him when he first got here. A lot of things were similar with what you felt, it was weird how much you guys had in common. He let you eat in silence, not putting any pressure on you to add into the conversation. The way he kept the conversation going, seemed to be so effortless and easy, just like the breeze that was now gliding over your skin and through your hair.

“Thanks for the food! It was fun, especially since I’ve been super stressed out lately,” you said with a laugh.

“Of course,” he gave you a wide smile, one out of what felt like hundreds today. “I’ll see you soon, okay?”

You nodded in agreement, he waved his hand in goodbye and started walking away, merging with some strangers on the sidewalk.Just like you had done when you first started walking. When you saw him disappear completely you walked around to the side of the building once again, you didn’t want to be seen by anyone you knew and you figured if you entered the front door, there would probably be a “Welcome Back!” banner waiting for you.

You took the stairs back up to your dorm, taking each step very seriously. You thought hard about what happened today. You knew you couldn’t let Kai keep you from your dream, you couldn’t let him get in your head- which is obvious that he has been. A grim line of determination creased your forehead, you felt like you had an important vengeance to carry out. Passion, shame, and undying motivation filled you. You wouldn’t quit this easily, even though that’s exactly what you had been doing.

You finally reached the level of the dorms and you were legs were on the brink of exhaustion from all the levels you had to climb. You achingly walked to your room and were about to open the door, when instead it opened right in front of you.

Eun Bi’s face greeted you, what was usually joyful and full of pleasant happiness, was now cold and narrow, her eyes looked like frozen stone. She was holding an empty box in her hands, your eyes widened in shock, your eyebrows raised in confusion.

“You’re out.” was all she said.

Hello everyone~ 

I worked extremely hard on this chapter so I'd really like some feed back.

I'm going to an anime convetion this weekend!! SO excited.
I'm cosplaying as the vampire Moka from Rosario + Vampire.
Has anyone seen that? Maybe I'll post pictures next chapter 

if anyone wants to see ^^

<3- Minji