Chapter Ten

 Yesung checked his watch for the hundredth time. He was late. The sun was already setting, and he was worried about this girl. She had sounded so upset on the phone. He hated being alone, and he understood what she must be going through waiting for him, so there was an added urgency to this trip.

As soon as he arrived at his destination, he got off the train and immediately started searching the station. There weren’t many people around, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find her. He spotted a girl sitting on a bench nearby, and made his way towards her. She had her legs up on the bench, and her head was resting on her knees. He was about to wake her up and ask her if she was the one who had called him, when he noticed a sign board next to her with his name written on it.

He smiled and picked it up. Then he sat down next to her and quietly got closer so that he could look at her face. He had never had the opportunity to personally meet a foreigner like this before, and Ryeowook had told him that she could speak Hangul well, but she didn’t look all that foreign to him. Asleep like this, she looked like any other girl, just a really pretty one. He grinned. “Thank you Ryeowook, I’ll take good care of your friend”, he said to himself. He noticed that she still had tear stains on her face. “She must be going through a lot”, he thought. He decided to wake her up.

“Excuse me, Miss…” he said softly while moving her shoulder abit.

Sara opened her eyes and looked up at him questioningly.

Yesung was taken aback by her gaze. She didn’t seem all that approachable once she was awake. Her eyes were really startling.

“Yes? Can I help you?” she asked him.

Yesung didn’t know what to say for a second, so he held up the sign that he was holding and smiled. “I’m Kim Jongwoon”.

Sara immediately smiled and hugged him in relief. “Thank you so much for coming”, she murmured into his shoulder.

She felt so small against him. Foreigners really thought nothing of skinship then. Or maybe she was just happy to see him. He shouldn’t over-think this. He quickly returned the hug and said “Its ok, I don’t mind, you needed my help, and I promised Ryeowook that I would take care of you.”

Sara got back to her senses and realized what she was doing. She shouldn’t be hugging a guy whom she had just met like this. He must think she’s being weird. She moved back in embarrassment and looked at him properly. He was really handsome, and he dressed better than any guy she had ever met. “I must be really blessed”, she thought. “From the time I’ve left home, I’ve only been meeting good-looking guys”. She looked down and ran a hand through her hair. “I must look like a mess”, she thought.

Yesung could see that she was shy now, and he couldn’t help not grinning. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name”, he said.

“Oh, I’m Sara Bloom. 20 years old, from the UK”, she responded in the Korean way, complete with a bow of the head.

Yesung chuckled. Her mannerisms were so cute; she must have taken time to learn everything before coming here. He was really impressed.

“Jongwoon-shi, can you take me home now? I’m really tired after today.” Sara said to him.

“‘Jongwoon-shi’, sounds weird. You can just call me oppa” he replied with a smile.

“Oppa…”, Sara said quietly. She was reminded of Siwon. She hadn’t contacted him in awhile. Their time together on the plane felt like a lifetime away. She should send him a message to find out if he’s ok.

Yesung bent over to look at her. “Whats wrong? You don’t want to?” he asked her.

“No! Its ok, I’m just not used to calling anyone that.” Sara replied. “You’ve done so much for me, I’m happy to call you ‘Oppa’”, she smiled.

“Well, let’s go then”. He got up and held out a hand towards her. Sara took it, but stumbled abit when she got up. She felt so dizzy. Yesung looked at her in concern. “Are you ok?” he asked her.

“I’m ok, just a little dizzy”, she replied.

“Have you eaten anything?” he asked.

Sara looked at him in confusion. She realized that she hadn’t eaten anything since the morning. “I didn’t, I was too busy with work today, I forgot to eat anything”, she confessed in embarrassment.

“That’s not good. We’ll find something to eat once we get off the train”, he said.

And with that, he took her hand and led her to the station. He didn’t let go until they had boarded the train and were on their way back to the city.