“Mark, the rest of the family is already in Uncle’s car,” Joey calls from the bottom of the stairs. “If you take any longer, he’s not gonna drop us off at the airport and then we’ll miss our flight, dude!”

            “Give me twenty seconds!” the brunette answers as he shoves his camera, along with an extra memory card, into a heavily stuffed backpack. “Where’s my suitcase?!”

            “Dad carried it into the car trunk,” his little brother replies, almost rolling his eyes at the elder’s poor time management. “I’ll be in the car, so be sure to lock the door!”

            “Wait!!!” Mark shouts, scrambling down the stairs to catch up with Joey. “I’m done, I’m done!”

            “That was twenty-two seconds, not twenty,” the younger male mentions as he strides over to the door.

            “Don’t act like you were counting,” Mark gives Joey a glance of disapproval before slipping on a pair of comfy sneakers and exiting the house with him.

            The ride to LAX is short, but Mark is still displeased because of the fact that due to his tardiness, he was forced to sit in the third row of the family van with an obnoxious Joey who was completely “hyped up” for the family trip to Seoul, Korea. His sisters, Grace and Tammy, aren’t as excited though, since the trip has caused them to cancel a whole week of plans with their girl friends.

            “You could’ve at least chosen Japan, Dad,” Grace remarks.  “Japan has cuter guys.”

            “Or Taiwan, so we could experience our culture,” Tammy adds. The two sisters nod in agreement with each other.

            “Why can’t you children peacefully anticipate the trip like Mark in the back there?” Mrs. Tuan asks from her seat beside the girls.

            The siblings all turn to the older brother who is drumming his fingers against the car window, trying his best to zone himself away from the loud atmosphere his siblings have created. It was eight in the morning after all, and he had stayed up late the previous night watching a movie with a few friends before his half-month vacation.

            “Please, he’d probably prefer staying at home with his skateboard and social networks,” Grace laughs.

            “Guys, leave Mark alone,” Mr. Tuan finally asserts from the passenger seat. “You’re making it more difficult for your uncle to focus on the road. I’m sure Mark’s looking forward to the speedy wi-fi that Korea offers. Isn’t that right, Mark?”

            The brunette finally jolts from the sound of his name and mutters a “huh?”, which evokes much laughter from his family.

            They all arrive at LAX in one piece, nonetheless, and Mr. Tuan thanks his brother for providing them with a ride before joining his family at the trunk to retrieve their bags. After a polite and grateful farewell to their driver, the six of them head inside to embark on a two-week adventure in Seoul, Korea.  The first half of the plane ride isn’t tranquil at all, as Joey is still expressing his joy of visiting a foreign country and Mark is stuck in between his sisters’ “girl” conversation. His parents almost feel sympathetic toward him, but then again, they did pick a morning flight and Mark was never into morning hassles. He’d feel better later, and that they were sure of. The bickering dies down somewhere during the middle of the plane ride, and Mark doesn’t know when exactly, but before he knows it, he falls asleep for the rest of the flight.

            The family is more than happy to rent two taxis the moment they reach Korean soil. They’re escorted to their hotel, where reservations had already been made by their traveling agent a couple of days before. Mark isn’t as drowsy when they arrive, due to his nap on the plane, but he definitely doesn’t hesitate to leap onto the comfy bed. Two rooms had been reserved for them, and Mr. Tuan had chosen to separate the women and the men.

            “Seoul is beautiful!!!!” Joey hollers, pulling the curtains open to reveal the gorgeous scenery of a late afternoon in the busy city.

            This time, Mark is more interactive with his siblings as he follows Joey to the window. The younger brother can hear the intake of breath before Mark whispers something under his breath. He believes the brunette has said something along the lines of “That’s amazing” though.

            “It’d be past midnight in Arcadia right now,” Tammy mentions as she does a mental calculation. “It’s odd how the sun’s still out here.”

            “There’s nothing odd about it!” Mr. Tuan laughs, bringing his daughter into a hug. “I’ll treat you all to dinner tonight so relax for a bit and we’ll leave in two hours. There’s an arcade next to the lobby if you’re interested.”

            With that said, Mark and Joey are the first to barge out the door, making claims of beating the other at various arcade games; Tammy and Grace are sure they hear Street Fighter and Dance Dance Revolution somewhere on the list though. The girls decide instead to help their parents unpack.

            Time flies by quickly though. After an hour of alternating hotel rooms and hanging shirts in the closets and placing pants and socks in separate drawers, Mrs. Tuan and her daughters decide to surf the television channels as Mr. Tuan is on the phone attempting to make a dinner reservation for six in an odd language that sounds like a mixture of English and senseless Korean. He has claimed to be fluent due to heading on several business trips to Korea in the past, but the family is well aware of the fact that his skills need drastic polish.

            Another ten minutes pass before the sons trudge back into the hotel room that currently consists of the entire family. Grace is quick to question the looks on their faces.

            “We couldn’t play at least half of the games because they were in Korean,” Joey explains, slightly shrugging his shoulders.

            Mark nods. “Joey decided to spend the last half hour winning a teddy bear from the crane, but we all know he has no hand-eye coordination…”

            “My god, how much money did you lose?” Tammy asks.

            “One of the hotel employees changed our twenty dollar bill to Korean won before converting it to tokens,” Mark explains before chuckling a bit. “But Joey killed all of it.”

            “Alright, you rascals,” Mr. Tuan laughs as he dons a pair of sandals. “Dinner’s early tonight, since they don’t take reservations.”

            “Are you just saying that because you didn’t understand what they said on the phone?” his wife teases, and the children try their best to hold in their laughter.

            The restaurant their father had picked was a traditional one. As Mark skims through the menu, he notices numerous Korean appetizers and entrees that he had seen before through recipes on YouTube. “Can I get the spicy rice cakes and some bibimbap?” the brunette asks, receiving a happy nod from his father. The beverage menu doesn’t impress Mark though, for it only consists of sodas, which he had consumed countless times in California, as well as coffee and soju. Some lights behind his father’s head catch Mark’s attention, and he squints his eyes a bit to look at what’s on the other side of the restaurant window. The male can’t read Hangul at all, but from the image of a flashing cup of bubble tea, Mark already knows what the shop sells. His father traces his line of vision before laughing a bit, because he is aware of his son’s interest in the boba pearls. It seems like other families have brought cups of bubble tea into the restaurant as well, so Mr. Tuan assumes that outside beverages are allowed.

            “You can go buy one and bring it here, too,” he insists, handing his son some Korean cash, which Mark gladly takes. Fortunately for Mark, he is the only one out of the four siblings who craves bubble tea and who refuses to settle on canned soda. He wastes no time getting up and excusing himself from the table.

            “Don’t get lost and come back in no more than fifteen minutes!” Mrs. Tuan reminds him. “We haven’t purchased any SIM cards so I can’t call you if anything happens, dear!”

            Mark turns around and gives his mother a nod of understanding before exiting and carefully crossing the street.

            The bubble tea shop isn’t busy when he arrives as he is only the third person in line. Mark scans the menu, which is also translated into English fortunately, and chooses to settle on a classic milk tea. He’s so fascinated by the variety on the list behind the cashier’s head though, and doesn’t notice when it is his turn to order. A finger gently pokes his shoulder though, causing Mark to break out of his trance and look behind him.

            “당신이 주문한다고 생각합니다,” a boy, somewhere around his age says to him, but Mark cannot understand. He tilts his head a bit in confusion, and at that moment, the boy immediately notes that he is a foreigner. Mark suddenly notices the stranger’s struggle to translate his words into English.

            “You… oreu-der?”

            Mark turns back around to see a large gap between him and the cashier, since the two people in front of him had already placed their orders. “Oh!” Mark gasps as he steps forward, causing the cashier to chuckle a bit.

            “May I take your order?” the girl asks him in Korean-accented English.

            “Bubble milk tea, please,” Mark replies steadily, just to make sure she can understand him clearly. He pays for the drink after a small struggle because of his unfamiliarity with Korean won, before she hands him a number and asks him to wait at the end of the counter. Mark lightly bows, just because he thinks it’s the appropriate thing to do in Korean culture, and leaves to wait for his drink. However, he stops in his tracks when he hears the voice of the male that was just behind him.

            “한 카라멜 마끼아또주세요,” the black-haired boy says brightly. Mark can easily understand that he had ordered a caramel macchiato, but the way the words just drift off his tongue captures and entrances Mark. The boy’s voice is soothing, and Mark isn’t even aware that he’s staring until the boy smiles at him. He almost chokes on his saliva at that moment, because the male’s appearance is so friendly and warm. Mark decides then that he admires the way crinkles form under the boy’s eyes as he grins, displaying a set of perfectly pearly teeth.

            “Wow,” Mark mutters under his breath, and the boy exchanges his payment for a number from the cashier before coming to join him. It isn’t until then that Mark finally realizes how much of a fool he has just looked like, and he almost panics as the native Korean boy approaches him with the same welcoming smile.

            “Hello, I’m Jinyoung,” he says in heavily accented English; Mark knows he’s not familiar with the language at all, but he finds the boy’s efforts cute.

            He tries his best to muster up the best of his Korean knowledge. How does one introduce oneself again? Mark thinks hard for a bit before a light bulb flickers inside his brain. “Mark… imnida.”

            “Ma-keu?” the boy tries to repeat his name, but it’s almost impossible to say it properly using Korean pronunciation alone.

            Mark tilts his head a bit. “Mark,” he repeats with a smile, and the boy returns it before trying again.

            “Markeu?” he says more accurately than before.

Mark decides he can live with that, before nodding his head and giving a thumbs-up. “That’s good, Jinyoung.”

            Jinyoung’s bright smile leaves Mark breathless once again. Their drinks are done at almost the same time and an employee leaves them on the counter before calling out their numbers.

            “스물셋 및 이십사!”

            Mark doesn’t know what number she had called, but he recognizes his drink, as well as the caramel macchiato of the boy beside him. They retrieve their drinks and Jinyoung turns to him before repeating what the cashier had said.

            “스물셋 및 이십사… Teuwenty-teuree and teuwenty-fo,” he translates and Mark nods his head in wonder.

            “Oh, thank you,” Mark says and bows politely, again because it feels like the appropriate thing to do. But instead, Jinyoung just chuckles. Mark is temporarily confused by this.

            “친구!” the black-haired male exclaims. “Feurendeu!”

            “Friend?” Mark repeats and Jinyoung tries to avoid his gaze by stabbing his straw through the lid of his drink.

            “Yes,” Jinyoung says almost inaudibly. His stare shifts to his right toward the many seats available in the shop. Pointing to the nearest table for two, Jinyoung nervously, yet steadily, asks, “Do you… want to sit?”

            Mark can tell he’s working hard with his limited English. He suddenly begins to feel guilty himself for not learning any more Korean before his trip. “Of course,” he replies, but isn’t sure if the boy is familiar with the term. So he answers again, “Okay.”

            They both take their seats at the small table and an awkward silence drags on because neither of them knows what to say. Plus, even if either one did know what to say, he wouldn’t know how to communicate it. However, Jinyoung is the first to make an effort.

            “Where are you… from?” he asks, taking a sip from his caramel macchiato.

            Mark wants to say Arcadia, California, but he has a feeling Jinyoung won’t know where that is. So instead he settles on Los Angeles; that’s pretty close after all.

            “LA,” Mark replies, smiling when Jinyoung’s eyes sparkle. “LA, California.”

            “You look… China?” Jinyoung attempts and although Mark understands what he’s trying to say, he can’t help but chuckle a bit at how the question is asked.

            “Taiwan,” Mark clarifies, but Jinyoung tilts his head in confusion. Darn it, how was he supposed to say Taiwan in Korean? Mark gives up, because China is pretty darn close. “Yes, I speak Chinese.”

            “Oh,” Jinyoung smiles and again, Mark is taken away by the boy’s bright aura. “Why… come to Korea?”

           “Vacation,” Mark answers, but then attempts to put it in less complicated terms, repositioning his straw as he does so. “Very fun.”

            “Fun!” Jinyoung repeats him with an enlightened smile. “Korea is very fun! Lotte World?”

            “I want to go,” Mark explains and Jinyoung stops sipping his drink to clap in excitement.

            They talk for a few more minutes until Mark’s milk tea is three-fourths gone. During this time, he learns that Jinyoung is a year younger than him and that he’s studying at Howon University. Their conversation doesn’t last much longer than that though, because pretty soon, Mark notices through the window a familiar figure frantically crossing the street. Squinting his eyes, he realizes that it is his brother. Mark panics for a second before taking a glance at the nearest clock. Shoot!

            “Jinyoung, I’m sorry. I have to go!” Mark exclaims, sliding his chair backward and causing the other customers to send him odd looks. At that moment, Mark completely forgets what slow English is. “I’m really sorry, but it was really nice talking to you!”

            The black-haired male looks confused for a while, but his expression changes as soon as Joey barges through the teahouse door.

            “Dude, Dad’s waiting for you and Mom freaked out and sent me here!”

            Mark cringes a bit as he is already able to see the lecture awaiting him at the restaurant table. He turns back to face Jinyoung, who has finally made out the situation.

            “See you… tomorrow?” Jinyoung questions and Mark can’t help but smile at the boy’s friendliness.

            “See you tomorrow,” Mark replies, pointing to their table. “Here. Morning?”

            Jinyoung nods before watching Mark’s retreating figure.