Chapter 1: First Meeting

 

 

 

It was a sunny day of spring in Jeju Island. Young Mi was walking around the place while enjoying the view of the blue sea and the clear sky. Since her school gave all the students a week for spring vacation, with the money her grandmother earned by working in the laundry shop, she, Young Mi, and Young Mi's little brother Chan decided to travel to Jeju Island to clear their minds before they start another year of high school. It was Wednesday today, which means Young Mi, has three more days left before she goes back to school. Young Mi lived with her grandmother after her parents died on a terrible accident on Chan's middle school graduation day. After they died, Young Mi worked hard to get a scholarship from her dream's college, Berklee College of Music in Boston. She wants to become a singer because her mother wanted to become a singer before but her parents were against of it and she couldn't reach for that dream and was trashed somewhere else, so Young Mi took her dream and promised her that she will success to become a singer for her mother.    - " Ah~ It feels good ". Young Mi said as she stretched her body and admired the view of the peaceful mountains.   Suddenly, she received a call from her brother and immediately picked up.   - " Hello? ". - " Noona! It's me. Are you busy? ". - " No, why? ". - " Grandma wants you to buy tangerines on your way home ". - " OK, I will buy them. See you later! ". - " Bye noona ". Chan said before he hung up.     Young Mi smiled at the screen where it had a picture of her and her brother on his graduation day from middle school, before the accident of their parents, and now he was going to enter high school this year, the thing is, he was accepted in Pledis Dance Academy with full scholarship because of his skills in dance. She looked her phone and shoved it in her pocket. She sighed as she took a deep breath before walking toward the nearest market. After paying for the tangerines and bidding goodbye to the owner, she was about to leave when she bumped into someone and she made the bag of tangerines to fall on the ground.   - " Oh my god. I'm sorry ". Young Mi bowed at the person without looking at the person and kneeled down to collect the tangerines. - " Let me help you ". A deep voice said as the person kneeled down and helped her.   After they put the tangerines in the bag, they stood up and their gazes met.   - " Thank you and sorry ". Young Mi said as she bowed with an apologetic look.    The boy smiled at her and shook his hands.   - " No, it was my fault. I was the one who didn't see you coming. I should have paid attention to where I was going ". He said.   Young Mi giggled and nodded.   - " In that case, it was our fault ".   They laughed and looked into each other. Young Mi cleared and stretched her hand.   - " Anyways, I'm Young Mi. Lee Young Mi ".   The boy looked at her hand and broke into a smile before clasping it and shaking it.   - " Seungcheol, Choi Seungcheol ".     Both of them were walking on the streets after Seungcheol insisted Young Mi to walk her home, which she denied at first but he kept insisting until she gave in.   - " So tell me Seungcheol, how old are you? ". Young Mi asked. - " I'm 18 ". - " Oh! Me too! ". - " Really? ". - " Yeah ". - " And do you live here? ". - " No, I just came here for vacation ". Young Mi explained. Seungcheol nodded in understanding. - " What do you like to do? ". - " Me? Hmm... ". She paused. " I like to play instruments like the guitar and sing ". - " Oh! So you sing? ". - " Hmm... yeah but I'm not that good ". She giggled. - " No way, actually you have a beautiful voice ". He said.   Young Mi slightly blushed and bowed her head.   - " Thanks ". She said.   Minutes later, they arrived at the front of a traditional Korean house.   - " Are you staying here? ". Seungcheol asked as he glanced at the house. - " Yeah ". She said as she turned to Seungcheol. " Thanks for walking me home Seungcheol-sshi. Goodbye ". She bowed and was about to walk toward the house. - " Wait ". He said as he approached to her. - " Yes? ". - " Can we meet again tomorrow? ". He asked. Young Mi blinked twice. - " Eh.... Sure ". Seungcheol smiled and nodded. - " Then where do we meet? ". - " How about in the same market we met before? ". - " Sounds good to me ". - " OK, then see you tomorrow ". She waved at him. - " Goodbye Young Mi-sshi ".   Young Mi smiled as she headed toward the house. Seungcheol glanced at her to make sure she entered in the house safely. When she was gone, a smiled appeared on his face as he shoved his hands on his pocket and started to walk away.    When Young Mi closed the door behind her, she leaned her back against it and sighed. She couldn't stop thinking about Seungcheol; he was the first boy she ever met since she's usually shy toward boys. She took a deep breath before heading to the kitchen. She crossed to the living room, which it was connected with the kitchen, only to find her brother giving massages on her grandma's shoulders while she was watching TV.   - " Did you come? ". Her grandma asked as she watched Young Mi placing the bag of tangerines on the kitchen's table. - " Uhm ". Young Mi replied as she grabbed some tangerines and placed them in a wooden bowl before heading toward the living room with it. She placed the bowl on the small table and sat on the floor next to her grandma. - " Did you have a nice walk? ". - " Yeah, I got some fresh air and cleared my mind ". - " You did a good choice, the air here is much better than the air in Seoul. It's good to have walks here than there ". Her grandma said as she peeled a tangerine.   Young Mi smiled and nodded in response. She then looked through the TV but she actually wasn't seeing it. She was spacing out while thinking about Seungcheol. The way he helped her in the market, the way he smiled at her, the way he looked at her, there was something special from him that made her keep thinking of him. A smile appeared on her face, but tried to hide it since she realized that didn't tell anything about this to Chan and her grandmother. Unfortunately, Chan caught her.   - " What's with that smile noona? ". He asked.   Young Mi turned to him with innocent eyes.   - " What? ". - " Don't play dumb with me, I know something is up. What is it? Did you meet a guy or something? ".   Young Mi's face turned red and looked away.   - " What are you talking about? That's ridiculous! Why would I meet a guy is you know that I'm shy in front of them? ". She nervously laughed. She then cleared and stood up. " I will be in my room. I need to finish a song for composing class ". She excused herself and left the living room.   Chan and his grandmother exchanged looks.   - " What did you mean your sister met a guy? ". His grandma asked. - " Normally girls smile when they think about the guy they like. I've seen that before in my school ". - " Really? How about you? Do you like someone? ". - " Me? Grandma, please. I'm the school's Casanova! I don't fall for girls. Girls fall for me. No girl could resist a smile like this one ". Chan said with confidence as he pointed at himself. His grandma gave him the " Yeah sure~ " look and shook her head in disbelief.             Young Mi entered in her room and sat on the floor. She sighed, feeling relief that Chan or her grandmother didn't follow her.  She sat in front of a small desk and grabbed her composing notebook. She started composing at the age of 14, when she bought her guitar for the first time. At first, she wanted to become a veterinarian because she loves animals, but after hearing her mother singing, playing instruments and tell