A/N: Hello muffins! How are you? Here I am with a Jang Keun Suk fanfic! Please enjoy!

My eyes opened hesitantly and I found myself facing the Korean sky. The clouds had funny shapes and as I looked at them closer I could match them to some Korean actors or singers. That was impressive! The Korean entertaining industry had conquered the skies as well. I smothered a laugh and I continued exploring the clouds. It was so crazy I actually thought I saw 2NE1’s Ciel hanging out with Shinee’s Key. And I think I saw Kim Bum somewhere as well. And then the clouds took the shape of a flower, a dragon and a hippopotamus. I know, wild imagination! But then again I believe that’s justified as the artist inside of me is wide awake and in high alert.

The airplane shook lightly and the notification for the safety belt lighted up immediately. I took my seat belt and buttoned it around my waist and then I closed my eyes… In and out, in and out… Shallow breaths that were to calm me down, failed miserably. I tried to inhale more slowly and exhale with no rush. I used to be afraid of airplanes. During a flight once, the airplane had fallen into an air gap and I feared that it would actually break by the extended shaking. I had passed out because of my fear and then I found myself at the airport’s nursery. After a lot of flights though I had managed to overcome my fear. Or so I thought.

“Are you ok?” a gentle male voice with a good english accent spoke. I looked around and that’s when I spotted an elegant and handsome man standing beside me. How did I miss that guy? I should have noticed him before, it was certainly difficult for him to go unnoticed. His slim figure was covered by haute couture, his pale skin was illuminated by the intense sunrays and his black hair grew untamed onto his head. His chocolate brown eyes looked intensely into my own, never leaving them a second. I thought I got lost into them for a moment. A split of second was needed for me to get lost into the deepness of his gaze. And his intoxicating scent invaded my nostrils making me feel even dizzier. Damn, what was happening to me?

He faked a cough and I returned to reality. “Are you alright? You seem a little pale.” He repeated and I averted my gaze and turned briefly to the window. I wanted to answer to him, but my voice didn’t want to come out, it felt like I was choking.

“Erm, I am fine. I am just a bit afraid of airplanes.” I turned to face him after I found nugget of courage. I tried to smile so I didn’t look too weird and then he smiled and completely paralyzed me. I was taken aback by his mesmerizing smile, his pouty lips showing off his perfectly white teeth. Ok, it was pretty obvious that I was enchanted by his presence, I acted like an idiot. And I am sure that he had noticed too because he seemed to enjoy it. He clearly enjoyed his effect on me.

“Don’t worry, everything will be alright. Just calm down and we’ll be at Incheon airport in no time.” He said reassuringly, his smooth voice a melody echoing into my ears. He was what I needed to calm down at the moment and he seemed to know it.

“Well… it’s easier said than done.” I pointed out and he laughed.

“Close your eyes and you’ll be fine.”

I followed his advice and I closed my eyes. The moment I felt we fell into an air gap, I embraced myself for the impact. But instead of that, I felt a smooth surface touch my ears. I momentarily opened my eyes and I saw the mysterious stranger putting some huge earphones on my ears.

“What are you doing?” I asked while looking at him intensely and he smiled.

“This will help.” He said and he gave me his mp3 player. “Listen to this playlist and you’ll be fine. You’ll return it to me when we’ll land.”

“Thank you so much for everything.” I added and smiled once again, a normal smile this time.

A light poke on my shoulder woke me up. The mysterious stranger was wide awake and stared at me with his brown eyes scrutinizing every single detail on my face.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Surprisingly your music helped a lot. It was a nice and soothing playlist.” I smothered a yawn and he smiled.

“Thank you for the compliment.”

“Well, your playlist deserved it.” That comment earned me another laugh and I grinned.

“So, we are here. We arrived at Seoul.”

“Really? Oh, that’s great.” And suddenly I felt guilty for showing how relieved I was in front of him. “Thanks again for your help.”

“It’s nothing really.”

The moment the wheels touched the ground I grabbed the arms of the chair and I closed my eyes. The landing part was always the worst in a flight. Because that’s when my imagination grew wild and extreme images passed through my mind like an explosion during the landing or the distraction of the wheels or an unexpected damage on the airplane that prevented the landing. Ok, I should fight that weird habit of seeing catastrophic images everywhere. When the airplane stopped moving I opened my eyes again and I faced the stranger looking at me with worry being evident into his eyes.

“Are you fine?”

“Yes, landing is the worst part during the flight that’s why I get a bit scared.”

“Well, we arrived safe and sound at Seoul so everything is alright.”

“Remind me to kiss the soil when we’ll be out of here.” I attempted to joke and even though I didn’t find it funny, he seemed to find it hilarious and laughed with his heart.

“You are funny…” he said and before I could answer with a sharp-witted comment of mine he continued. “… and adorable too.” My cheeks changed ten shades of red, from light pink to tomato red. I felt them burning and my gaze lowered to my hands.

I didn’t have the chance to answer because a female voice was heard from the speakers that notified us that we reached the Incheon Airport.  Finally we would be out of this flying cage! I picked up my stuff and I rose from my seat. The man beside me was already up and was standing next to me. He took a step back so I could walk out of my seat. I tried to reach for my backpack on the shelf but it was too deep to reach it. I walked on the tips of my toes, I even try to jump so I could catch it but it wasn’t that easy. A hand appeared out of nowhere and pushed my stuff towards me. I looked at my left and I saw the stranger smiling at me and I blushed once again. I walked on my toes again and the minute I grabbed it I saw a face coming too close to mine. I turned around and I faced the stranger looking straight at me, with his intense gaze piercing my soul. We were standing a breath away from each other, our lips only a few inches apart. I felt like I was frozen into time like nothing else existed apart from me and him. And a light push from the passenger behind me came to make things even better by shoving me into his arms. I awkwardly stood at my feet again, the scarlet blush obvious onto my cheeks.

“I am so-so sorry for that.” I blurred and he laughed.

“Don’t worry about it. I am alright.”

“Can you move please?” the woman from behind me was heard irritated.

I got lost into the crowd. I didn’t look back after I left the airplane, so he got out of my sight. I couldn’t locate him within the crowded airport and probably I wouldn’t see him again so why worrying about a stranger?

As I gazed outside the cab’s window I admired the beauty of the Korean capital, the city my mother was born into. As a half-korean, I felt like the city was calling out for me, like it invited me to discover its secrets and its myths. I wanted to learn about the Korean civilization since I was a kid. But since my parents died I didn’t have the chance to learn much. My aunt in France raised me as well as she could. But when I turned 23 and I finally had acquired my diploma in informatics I felt like I need to expand my horizons, to spread my wings and learn about the world. I wanted to follow my dream as well, I wanted to become a director and succeed into the entertaining industry. And what’s best than studying to Korea and learn about the civilization as well? Two birds with one stone. It’s a very good opportunity to learn the language as well. I speak fluently French and English and a bit of Japanese since I admire the Japanese civilization a lot, but that’s it. No Korean. And I should know some. Only if my mother was alive… A nostalgic memory filled my mind and my gaze darkened as images of my parents passed through my mind like a slides’ show. Every day I wished they were alive. But life chose to take them away from me. I knew this was unfair but I had grown to accept it. Partly. At least I knew that they would watch over me from heaven, while sitting on cotton white clouds and holding hands.

The cab left me exactly outside of the university entrance where the secretary’s office stood. I entered the office and I found a nice and kind lady smiling at me.

“Annyeonghaseyo.” She greeted happily.

“Hello.” I responded and bowed immediately. I tried to be careful with the Korean customs. Even though it was obvious I was a foreigner I wanted to try my best not to insult them. It would be my home for the next couple of years and I didn’t want trouble from day one.

“Oh you’re a foreigner. I wouldn’t notice.” The older woman replied in english.

“I am half Korean actually.” I filled in the blanks and the smile reappeared on her face.

“Your name?”

“Dominique Louise Cotillard.” I announced and the secretary searched my face between the paper tabs.

“Here’s your tab.” She showed at the tab with my name on it. “And here’s the card you’ll need to identify yourself as our university’s student. With this you can take reduced tickets and all the offers for the university students.” The secretary continued with all the necessary info and I observed and heard her with lots of attention.

It wasn’t easy to adjust to a completely different way of living and thinking and acting. Everything around me felt so out of space and time. I usually forgot to bow and I forgot the honorifics and some of my acquaintances felt offended but luckily the most of them showed some understanding and they didn’t mention it all the time. The students didn’t mind, they didn’t really care, they were cozy to hang around with but some of the professors even scolded me for my “lack of manners”. Anyway, I tried my best to adjust smoothly and I made some progress. I just wanted to blend in, I wanted to show them that I belonged there. I was willing to learn and that's all that matters, right? 

But thankfully, during my journey those two months, I had a very compassionate and kind professor by my side. Mr. Hong liked me from day one. Since I was the only one that could answer his questions for the European and American movies he thought that I had a lot of knowledge. And when he saw some videos of mine he certainly acknowledged that I had the potential to succeed into being a director. So he was my ally and he had defined himself as my mentor. He even talked to the principal about it and I changed mentors. Mr. Hong was great as a mentor as well. He would give me advices and guide me through the university processes. He even lent me Korean books so I could start and learn the language.

One day, after the class, Mr. Hong motioned me to go and join him, he obviously wanted to talk to me but I didn’t know why.

“Hi Dom. How are you?”  Mr. Hong greeted me and I bowed.

“Annyeonghaseyo Mr. Hong. Naneun OK ibnida” I answered with a decent accent.

“Oh, so you have been improving.”

“I hope so. I don’t know that much yet.”

“Believe me, you’ll learn more as the time passes.”

“So what did you want to talk about?” I asked impatient to find out what this was about.

“I wanted to give you a job offer.” He announced and I was caught by surprise.

“A job offer?”

“Yes. I would want you to become my assistant director at a drama I will direct soon.”

“Really?” I chocked being really shocked by the offer. Me? An assistant director? Well, that was luck!

“Really. I would need an assistant for the job and I thought that it would be the best if I took a student of mine. You know, so they can gain experience. I gave this a lot of thought and I finally came to the conclusion that you would be my best option since you are the most talented in your class.”

“And you figured this out by only seeing me for two months?” I didn’t manage to restrain my tongue and the professor smiled.

“Well, you are lucky because I acknowledged your potential. So many people are more talented than you and their talent is not recognized.”

“That’s for sure…” I murmured. “Thank you for the opportunity Mr. Hong. You won’t regret it. I will work as hard as I can, I will give it my all.”

“I give you a great opportunity here Dom. Don’t throw it away.”

“I won’t sir. I will take advantage of it in the best of ways.”

“I am glad to hear that.”

I stayed silent for a moment, unable to figure out what to say next.

“So what are you doing here? Go get ready.”

“Huh? Why sir?”

“We have a meeting later with the rest of the cast and the crew of the drama so we can arrange some of the latest details. I would want you with me so you could keep notes and work on some projects.”

“Ok sir. When do you want me to be ready?”

“It would be great if you could be here in half an hour.”

I had never been to a studio before. Excitement rushed through my veins as I explored my surroundings. It seemed like a grandiose production with impressive sets, very good lighting and upgraded technology. Someone had certainly put a lot of money into this project. And I would be able to help directing this drama. I felt so lucky… and I thought that something fishy was going on. How could I be so lucky without having something weird happen along the way? The most times my luck would eventually turn to a disaster. I still remember the time that I won a bet I had put with my friends when I was back to France and I ended up to the hospital because my friend that lost thought it was wise to pull a prank on me to scare me off. I had an accident and I ended up with a broken leg. Or the time I won in a competition, I lost my prize and I got mugged before reaching home. I had only 5 euros to give to the thief but the good thing was that he left without hurting me. So I was very cautious when I was extremely lucky. Disaster was waiting around the corner to make my life miserable again.

I followed the professor silently as he greeted his partners and I talked only when someone else addressed to me. I felt totally embarrassed when they talked to me in Korean and I was unable to answer. Then the professor had to explain that I couldn’t speak Korean and they looked at me with this gaze of sympathy. At least they were kind and they talked to me in English or they talked to the professor and he would translate it to me.

When the professor introduced me to the screenwriter the doors were heard to open and I turned my gaze to face the person who came in. My eyes were ready to pop out of their sockets when I recognized the man that entered the room. He was the man from the airport. What the hell was he doing here? My professor excused himself and he went to approach the man. I, on the other hand, was frozen in the middle of the room. I didn’t move, I just stayed there and looked at him. And when I thought I would go unnoticed, he lifted his gaze and our eyes met. And I thought that this project will flow smoothly. Oh no, with him around, I was certain that it would get intense. It was over with my luck, now comes the disaster.

A/N:So this is the beginning! And our two characters have already met! In the upcoming chapters we will have more action, romance and intrigue! hope you'll like it and support it and me. See you soon! Until the next chapters :D