I was only in Korea for one day when I met him. I was young back then, but let me clarify: in love, age really doesn't matter.

That year I boldly decided to study in Korea. My parents didn't agree, in fact they hated the idea of me staying in a country that was still technically in war. Every year North Korea claimed they were going to drown South Korea in an ocean of fire. Yet, every year North Korea failed to follow through with their hyperbolic threats. My family was from Canada, and the closest they had ever gotten to war... to be quite frank... was when my mother and I got into an argument. I guess they had reason to worry, but they really didn't understand the culture or the reality of the situation between the two countries.

Anyways, I was in my third year of University in Canada when I decided I wanted to go on an adventure. I applied for a semester abroad in South Korea and was accepted into the exchange program. By the time I had told my parents I had already paid the none refundable deposit fee on my housing and bought the plane ticket.

I forgot to mention my boyfriend, at the time, was also not happy with my decision. We decided to continue our 3 year relationship while I studied for a semester in Korea. We thought we would both be busy anyways. Whether we were in different countries or not, we probably wouldn't see much of each other either way.

I left my family and all my friends behind for a country I didn't know much about, a language I couldn't speak (let alone pronounce properly) and possibly the worst and best experiences of my entire life.

When I had arrived, I managed to cox a frightened taxi driver into taking me to Seoul University where my residence for the semester was. The University Campus was incredible. It was beyond massive. It couldn't even be compared to the University I attended in Canada. The only problem was... It was so big I couldn't find where I would be living for the next 6 months.

I managed to stumble my way into the library and half way up an escalator when I saw him for the first time. He was going down the escalator on the opposite side. I locked eyes with him for a second and looked away in embarrassment. For some reason... he made my heart beat fast, he was handsome but there was something more to him.

When I got to the top of the escalator I walked in a circle... confused (and probably looking really stupid), before deciding I had a better chance going back to where the taxi had dropped me off. I got back on to the escalator heading down and saw him standing at the bottom. He stood tall, his upper body slightly curved as if he worked out ritually. He stood looking into his phone with one leg casually slid out. As I got closer I felt as if he recognized my presence.

I must be imagining, or HOPING.. that's it. I was hoping he recognized my presence. I was three steps from the bottom when he turned and looked at me. I couldn't help it! I looked at him... and in a slur of confusion, and fluster I stuttered...

"help ... me... I don't know...where to go"

He looked at me, and leaned close over me, glancing at the piece of paper I was holding that listed the address to my room.

"Oh you need to go to here?" he questioned, pointing at the address. In shock I looked up at him. He hovered above me, perhaps two heads taller than me. was he speaking English? I thought I would never be able to find an English speaker.

"uh... uh... yes. I do.. " I stuttered. Oh my god, why was I stuttering? I must look like a loser to him. I never lost my confidence like this before.

"I am going that way anyways, I can walk with you!" he smiled, oh... his smile... Just like that, as if everything was meant to be... we began to walk together. It felt so comfortable. I felt like we had been friends forever. he walked closely beside me, and made small talk. It wasn't awkward though, he talked so smoothly... I told him I was an international student studying abroad for a few months. He told me that he was just visiting the University today and that he didn't actually study at Seoul, he just came to see a friend and was heading to their dorm when I ran into him.

It was about a 15 minute walk until we got to an apartment looking building that my room was presumably located in. Together we waited for the elevator to arrive. At this moment I felt a sudden urgency to not lose contact with him, to want to get to know him better... even if we were just close friends. He must have felt the same thing... because at the same time we turned to each other and tried to introduce ourselves (something we had failed to do on our 15 minute walk together.)

"I'm...." we both said at once. I laughed, and he smiled back.

"Go ahead..." he said,

"I'm Candace" I introduced myself.

"Candace..." he repeated, "My Korean name is Lee Jong Suk" he smiled.

And this was the beginning of our love story.