Chapter 1: Arriving in Korea

“Ahh, it feels so nice to be outside,” you yelled freely. People were giving you weird stares, but you didn’t care. After being cramped up in a plane for 13 hours, you were just happy to finally be on the ground. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw an ahjusshi waving frantically in your direction. For a second you really thought it was you he was waving to, but then a pretty young lady bounced over to him and kissed him on the cheek, reminding you of what you often used to do when you saw your dad. You quickly shook your head and ignored the ache inside you and continued walking over to the taxi stand.

Arriving at the dorm of your new school, you quickly got out and bid the taxi driver goodbye. He had acted as a tour guide for the past hour as he explained the parts of this unfamiliar city in detail. You were very thankful because you couldn’t remember anything from when you lived in Seoul as a child. Originally you had not planned on ever coming back to Seoul, but due to the large amount of debt your family had acquired in the United States, the only way you could go to college was by accepting the full scholarship given to you by the prestigious Seoul National University.

School started the next day, so you wanted to enjoy your last night and explore downtown a little bit before heading back to your dorm. Strolling around, your feet unexpectedly take you to a little restaurant hidden in the corner of a street. Inhaling a heavenly scent and hearing your stomach grumbling and you decide to go inside without hesitation.

“Ahjumma, 2 orders of bimibaps please,” you asked politely while sitting down on a wooden bench. Your favorite part of Korean culture was the food and Bibimbap was your absolute favorite. Behind you, you heard someone quietly laughing to themselves. Getting up and making your way over there, you asked “Is there something wrong with what I said?”

Straightening himself up immediately, he replied with “No, no, it’s just rare to see someone here eat that much. Sorry, if you thought I was laughing at you. By the way, my name’s Jinwoon. Jung Jinwoon, in case you were wondering.”

 “Nice to meet you, Jinwoon. It’s just that I haven’t eaten bibimbap in ages and was craving it. Is there anything else good here?” After saying it, you thought to yourself, ’Jinwoon, why does that name sound so familiar?’  

“Everything here is amazing, you should definitely try some other things next time,” he answered as the ahjumma brought up the food and you thanked her.  Your stomach growled again and this time Jinwoon didn’t even try to conceal his laughter. You gave him a playful look and began digging into your delicious food. In record time, you had finished both bowls of bibimbap, while Jinwoon was only halfway through his first. After chatting for a while, it was already 10 o’clock and you had school tomorrow so you said goodbye and got up to leave. Before you went out the door, Jinwoon hollered, “Wait, what’s your name?” Giving him a mysterious grin, you left.

After going out, you soon realized you had no clue where you were and no idea how to get back to the dorm. Starting to panic, you begin briskly walking in a random direction, hoping it would lead you back to the dorm. Suddenly, someone tapped you on the shoulder and you stood there frozen, your heartbeat beginning to accelerate. Slowly, you turned around, only to see a panting Jinwoon. So thankful to it was him and not someone else, you gave him a tight hug, making him blush a little.

“I don’t know how to get back to my dorm,” you whispered to him, your head down.

“Haha, it’s okay. I knew you wouldn’t since you just got here today. That’s why I ran to catch up with you. Where do you live?”

“I’m going to be attending Seoul University, so I live at the dorm there. I don’t know what the exact address is though.”

“You are so lucky that I know where that is because I am going there too. Come on, let’s go,” Jinwoon said merrily.

“Really? Thank you so much. It’s been a difficult day today, although it’s much gotten better since I met you,” you replied sheepishly.

Arriving at the dorm, Jinwoon took out his phone and asked you to put your number in. You put it in and also took out yours for him to do the same. The time had reached 12 by now so you two waved goodbye and you began to walk inside when he called out, “I still don’t know your name.”

Chuckling, you yelled, “It’s Choi Yoonmi,” before closing the door.

‘What a pretty name,’ Jinwoon thought while walking away.

Glad to be back, you washed up and went to bed. Before falling asleep, the last thing you thought was this is going to be an interesting year.