AN: Hey, Crystal here! I'm one of the co-authors for this story and I'm so excited to be sharing our first fanfiction together! ^~^
Leave constructive criticism and lots of love in reviews!
The busyness of the streets of Seoul can be easily replicated in any major city in the world with the bustling of people rushing, the endless noises of car honking and people shouting, and the collective sounds of the urban life. Nothing, not even the chilly atmosphere, could ever end this sort of crowd. On a pleasantly sunny and cold afternoon in the Gwanghwamun Square, two Asian girls with a multitude of shopping bags huddle over a Smartphone, acting like complete tourists.
"Sky, I think we're kind of lost," the long-haired taller one with square spectacles said, scanning the streets around to find a sense of familiarity.
Playing with the end of her dark ponytail, the other girl purses her lips and laces her words with sarcasm. "Umm ... ya think?"
"Well, you were the one in charge of the directions and stuff, Skyla," her friend replies with a lackluster comeback.
Skyla "Sky" Lin throws Hazel Chen a look of indignation. "Sooyeon was the one who gave us the directions, so it's not my fault. Also, it's Sky, not Skyla."
"Whatever, let's just try to find our way back to the hotel before we die of frostbite."
Nodding, Sky agrees and both start to head down towards a busy intersection before quickly realizing they still have no idea where they are going and the sun is beginning to set. Continuing to walk in utter confusion in an environment alien to both, they do the one thing nobody should do in this situation: they panic.
"Hazel, it's getting dark and we're still out here."
"Are we even close to the hotel?"
And then, the English begins to slip out.
"I JUST SAW THE SAME LAMP POST FIVE MINUTES AGO."
"ARE WE WALKING IN CIRCLES? SKY?
"DON'T FREAK OUT."
"I AM FREAKING OUT."
Someone's hand gently taps Sky's shoulder and, in her state of hysteria, she swings around so fast and before she knows it, the shopping bags in her hand become a dangerous weapon and slap the living daylights out of the stranger who asked for her attention in the first place.
"Mianhae, gwaenchanh-a?! I'm sorry, are you okay?!" she hastily apologizes in broken Korean as her panic vanishes abruptly and she's left to deal with a tall boy lying on the ground and his friend whose kneeling by his side, his face contorted in a strange way as if he's trying to hold back laughter. Hazel hurries over and crouches by the fallen stranger and along with his friend, helps the guy up onto his feet.
"I'm fine, thanks," the presumably Korean boy responds with near-perfect English with, quickly running his fingers through his longish hair streaked with camouflaging honey colors. Clearly, he must be thinking that if he knew he was going to be assaulted with shopping bags for getting a girl's attention, he would've kept on walking on by.
In sheer disbelief, Hazel says in a dumbfounded manner, "You speak English?" She exchanges looks with Sky, still standing there with her shopping bags with her dark brown eyes widened and her jaw hanging so low it could scrape the ground.
The guy, though towering and solemnity etched onto his face, smiles, stretching his lips over his teeth, at their shocked state. "Yes, I can. That's why I came to talk to you. I overheard that you girls are lost?"
"Praise the Lord," Sky mutters under her breath and Hazel elbows her in the gut. They nod cautiously and tell them of their stay in Korea and while Sky explains their predicament, Hazel sneaks a glance at the victim's friend, similar in height with sweeping black hair that spills over into his eyes, giving him a permanent brooding stare. She couldn't help but stare to try to find where his eyes are, not realizing that by looking into his eyes, he can look at her too and thus, creates an awkward moment that puts words to shame.
"I think I know where you are talking about," the English-speaking boy continues, gesturing in some obscure direction behind him. "It's actually that way."
"I knew it," Hazel sighs.
"No, shut up, I knew it too," Sky counters. "Clearly, I had it all under control."
Their aide chuckles, clearly amused at the banter. "My friend and I are headed in that direction, actually. We can lead you there."
"Are you sure?" the bespectacled girl says, raising an arched eyebrow. "We wouldn't want to cause any more trouble, especially since this girl almost sent you to the hospital just now." She receives a sharp elbow jab in her gut almost immediately. Totally worth it.
He shakes his head. "It's alright. It'll be safer too."
"Sorry again about that," Sky says, tugging on her ponytail to make it tighter.
The boy runs his fingers through his long hair again and smiles this time with his nice, straight teeth showing. "Like I said, I don't mind. My name is Kris," he gestures towards his brooding friend with dark circles that completely wrap around his face, "and this is Tao. Sorry, he's not mean - he doesn't speak English very well."
Hazel perks up. "Really?" She walks closer to Tao. "Ni hao. Wo de mingzi shi Hazel. My name is Hazel."
The tough, bad-boy image that she thought Tao has adopted cracks just a bit when his eyes light up and he smiles politely. "Ni hui shuo zhongwen? You can speak Chinese?"
She laughs a little. "Hui. Wo men shi zhongguo ren. Wo de pengyou jiao Sky. Yes, I can, and we're both Chinese. My friend is called Sky."
The boy with hair like calligraphy ink begins to speak in rapidfire Chinese. They're quickly countered by the collective group's responses in the scattered language. Kris and Tao lead the way down streets illuminated by shop lights and the bustling of buyers.
"Why are you guys in Korea?" Tao asks with his smile now a faint ghost lingering on the edge of his lips "Just visiting, of course," Hazel replies. She feels compelled to smile back. He looks just like a kid with that goofy grin. "Some friends of ours live in Seoul and invited us to come see them."
He nods understandably. "But why don't you stay with them instead?"
Sky takes over. "Oh, it's too crowded there. So we thought that it would be a fun staying at a hotel. Having the entire tourist experience, ya know?"
"That's smart," noted Kris, as Tao briefly takes over the conversation with the topic of the weather. Hazel politely answers each time at the right places in his weak, but thoughtful intent to keep the conversation going.
Luckily, the girls see the hotel before the conversation officially ran its course.
"Thank you for showing us the way," Sky says. "You really didn't have to walk us all the way to the hotel."
"It's okay," Kris reassure, waving it off. "It wasn't out of our way."
"Kris, we were supposed to turn right ten minutes ago," Tao says.
"Where?"
"Near the coffee shop."
"I think you meant the crossroads over there, Tao," Kris gestures to their far left."
Tao purses his lips, deeply thinking. "But, Kris -"
The tall one with blond hair suddenly claps his hands together, jolting those in his surroundings. "It's been fun and we'll see you around?"
"Yeah, maybe," Sky playfully replies. "We'll be staying here for a bit. See you around." She laughs nervous. "Bye, zai-jian."
"Bye, stay safe."
"Zai-jian."
And the four of them go their separate ways, one pair to the cute little coffee shop they deliberately missed a few streets back and braving the slowly dropping temperatures, while the other pair with shopping bags strolls into a modest hotel lobby and feeling the warmth spreading to their fingertips. As the two non-natives step into the elevator, Hazel brings up their sources to get back to their quarters.
"Ah, people in Korea are so nice!" she sighs as she presses the button for their room floor.
The hair tie out that has been in her hair since this morning is pulled out. Sky shakes her dark hair out, letting it fall around her shoulders in a bristly manner. The feeling of her tight, pulled-back hair finally loose from its binds comes rushing to her, relieved as her head feels loads lighter. Running her fingers through her hair, she replies, "They're Chinese, you fool."
Hazel unravels her scarf and holds it in her hands, finally free of the scratchy material of the only scarf she brought to Korea. "It doesn't matter. The guy is pretty cute though."
"Which guy?"
"The tall one."
"Um, hello? They're both tall! But which one?"
"The guy with the black hair! The one who can't speak English at all and stuff."
Sky rolls her eyes. "Ehhhhh, he's okaaayyy."
"Whatever," Hazel says, grimacing as the elevator rings and gently opens to their floor. "Let's just get ready for dinner tonight. It's Sooyeon's birthday, after all. We got to make it special for her."
A couple of hours later, Hazel and Sky head out, armed with actually accurate directions this time and dressed a lot nicer than their sweaty, casual counterparts. With their dressy flats tip-tapping on the pavement and a nervous sense of excitement bubbling till the end of their fingertips of being in a city not theirs, the girls navigate through thick crowds and almost get knocked over several times. Someone actually steps, more like stomps, on Skyla's foot and casts a look of disdain when she yelps in surprise, as it is her fault that she falls in his way of his tyrannical stomping.
"What the – man, that hurts," she grimaces, rubbing her foot. "This is why you don't wear flats, ever. Where are my comfortable sneakers? There are too many people in Seoul."
Pressing close to a nearby shop to avoid any more interference, Hazel checks her injured friend's Map app on her phone. "Hey, it says here if we walk a few steps and turn here, then we can take a shortcut."
As they do just that, they break away from the stream of people and hurriedly turn the corner. Dimmed, hazy lights running along the sides of the streets. Faint music laced with heavy techno elements and bass rumble the streets. The amount of
people out is moderate compared to the previous street, but the club and bar scene is completely alien to them.
"Hazel, this is shady," Skyla whispers loudly. "Let's get out of here. Hurry up!"
She waves it off. "We'll just pass through here quickly, no problem. Besides, we're near a busy road. I don't think anything would happen that we couldn't handle."
"Are you sure? 'Cause -"
"Ah, come on, we're going to be late."
Linking arms with one another, the two girls set out gingerly among the lesser crowds. People dressed liberally mill about in front of the various clubs and other establishments, their faces flickering of condescending expressions, while others noisily attempt to seize the night with loud laughter and cheers.
Hazel sees the worried look that latched itself to Sky's face. "It's fine, there are people around."
"Yeah, yeah, it's," there's an evil glint in her eye, "SPOOOOKY."
The knot in Hazel's stomach completely unravels itself as they double over in raucous laughter, continuing their brisk walk and an intentionally distracting conversation.
They make it as far as a few steps from the end of the street when two guys dressed in black saunter over from their stations outside a club and all of a sudden, grab the two girls' wrists. The strangers break their arm-linking and with a firm grasp on each of their wrist, they roughly drag them towards the club.
"Stop, what are you doing?" Sky stammers in shaky Korean. "I said stop, meomchwo!
Wrestling from her sudden captor's iron-grip, her companion says trembling, "Hey, let us go, geumanhalago malhaessjanh-a.What's going on?" Hazel looks around for help, frantically trying to meet the eyes of any of the bystanders. They continue on with their activities as if this is the norm in this scene.
"Ileohge himdeulge hajimalgo geunyang deul-eowa," one of the guys growls, speaking too fast for the non-natives to understand, but judging by the tone, the men's intentions cannot be of any good. "Don't make this hard and come inside."
Hazel tries to say something more, but her own kidnapper swiftly twists her wrist to an unnatural angle, leading her to cry out in pain and begin to struggle violently. She tries to wring out of his hold, yelling "Let us go!" over and over. Sky tries to force him off of her, sucker-punching him in the stomach repeatedly, and he takes it pretty hard as he doubles over in pain each time. But their efforts become futile as they continue to be dragged away, nobody stopping the two men at all. In the midst of their attempts to wrestle away, both of the girls hear thundering footsteps as well as unintelligible shouts ringing in their ears. The sounds get louder and louder - are they here to save them or are they here to help the male captors get away?
Out of sheer fear building up inside of her, Hazel lets it go, blurting in English laced with subtle seething rage. "Do you not understand the meaning 'stop'?! When someone says 'let me go,' you let her go right then." She sees the appalled look on the men's faces and continues to let the ball roll. "You guys better let us go right now or I swear to God, I will punch your Adam's apples, you moronic little shits."
The club employees clad in black leave their jaws hanging so low that it could scrap the ground as they immediately release their grasps, mutter an apology over and over as they scuttle away back to their place of unfortunate employment. Visibly rattled, the two friends check to see if the other one is okay.
Sky manages to find the energy to laugh a little out of nervousness and anxiety, happy to find a distraction. "Are you crying?"
Her friend lightly touches her face to find a few tears strewn down her cheeks. "Yeah, I guess I am. I was kind-of-really scared if you haven't noticed -" The rest of the sentence gets caught in her throat as she turns around, being introduced to a new form of surprise.
A cluster of Korean boys stand together, some out of breath as if they have ran a marathon while others share the same bewildered looks on what had just transpired: two young girls in clear trouble that couldn't be any deeper in danger that could only be saved by any male, or in this case multiple males, only to have their efforts be dashed. The girls stare blankly at them, taken aback by the sheer amount of the boys. Their faces are engraved with perplexity. Sky finds a backdoor out of the awkwardness by her recognition of a tall figure with hair streaked of honey colors and whose lips are really ajar.
"Kris," she breathes out his name. "Didn't think we would see you again." These simple words break down the uneasy silence slowly that has set in the atmosphere, and the boys shift from their offensive stances ready to pounce to a slightly more relaxed and flustered forms. Kris moves closer to the girls and hurriedly asks us in a clash of Chinese and English if they were okay, hardly letting them catch their breaths.
As they attempt to reply to his questions, one of the boys wearing an oversized hoodie and basketball shorts speak up instead and stepping towards the huddle. "Ah, ni men shuo zhongwen? You guys can speak Chinese?" With fair skin and slightly feminine-looking facial features, his fresh face carries the guise of maturity but tinged with a strange sense of youth. He couldn't be older than Skyla and Hazel and if not, a year or two older at most.
While Sky stares intently at this alien-looking guy, Hazel takes over. "Wo men hui. Wo jiao Hazel. Wo de pengyou jiao Sky." The boy smiles politely, displaying little crinkles around his eyes and introduces himself as Luhan, also joining in by asking if they were okay and if they have been hurt at all. The other boys slowly make their way to the has-been victims, as if their cautious approach is towards a pride of lions, and Sky and Hazel introduce themselves again.
"Does this happen all the time?" Hazel asks.
"Yeah, it does," Luhan replies. "I never actually seen it happen, but it does happen."
"Why?"
"Well -"
Their conversation abruptly ends when her friend suddenly shouts, "Get out of the way!"
Sky suddenly bolts from Hazel's side and tears through the group of their promising saviors, sprinting as fast as her legs could take her.
"SKYLA!"
She ignores her surroundings, running towards a complete stranger Hazel has never seen before. The others, however, react more profusely as most of them hurry after her, saying a Korean word they all pick up immediately. Some are slow to react, standing there in distress before groggily moving, shouting the word collectively alien to the girl's ears and tongue.
"Chanyeol!