DO YOU LOVE ME - yeonjun x oc [book 1]✔️

o n e

SAMMIE
August 15, 2019
Seoul

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Seoul. It's Thursday, August 15, and the local time is 11:15 am. The weather is sunny and warm with a high of 32℃ or 90℉.  We hope you had a pleasant flight. We thank you for flying with Delta."

That was probably the longest flight of my life. I had 14 hours to sleep, but the anxiety and excitement of moving to a new country kept me up the entire time and now I'm exhausted.

As I make my way out of the plane and to the baggage area, my eyes can't help but search for him on the walls and posters scattered throughout the airport. His kind eyes. His beautiful lips. But I don't see him.

I smile. I guess he's not that famous yet.

But then my phone vibrates and Mark's name appears on my screen.

"Hi babe, I hope you had a good flight. Please call me when you get a chance, ok? Miss you and love you.

He's trying to be sweet. He knows that this is his last chance to make things right between us. But for once I'm happy to be away from him. My gaze lingers on the screen for a split second. I should text him back, but I won't. At least not right away.

He can wait.

I grab my suitcase and pull it through the airport, going through customs, immigration, and baggage claim until I finally arrive at the subway station.

I pull out my phone to figure out where it is I'm supposed to go and make it to the platform just in time for the train to arrive. My suitcase is heavy and I struggle to pull it into the subway car, but an older gentleman offers to help with a friendly smile. My Korean is very basic, but I manage to mumble a gamsahabnida before finding a seat.

The train is a bit crowded, as more people file in at each stop. I look around curiously, noticing how everyone is on their phone, watching or listening to something. I've been abroad a handful of times, but it's my first time in Korea, so everything is brand new.

The train pulls to a stop again and as the doors open, I notice a tall, slender young man enter. His back is turned to me, so all I can see are his broad shoulders and silvery-blue hair. My heart starts racing.

Is that him?

It's been four months since I saw him last.

His warm eyes, his soft lips.

He turns around, feeling my gaze on him.

But it's not him.

I was holding my breath, my heart was beating fast. I was sure it was him.

Wow, I must be so tired that I'm seeing things.

I close my eyes and doze off for a bit before I hear the intercom announcing the name of my stop. Or at least I think it's my stop. I get up quickly and gather my suitcases, but when I step out into the platform, anxiety sets in.

Okay, calm down, Sammie. You're tired so take your time.

I check my phone again and I think I'm at the right station, but I don't know. The directions my landlord gave don't many any sense. I spot a friendly-looking young woman standing off to the side looking at her phone, and I approach her shyly, struggling to wake up my jet-lagged brain so I can speak coherently.

"Excuse me," I mumble hoping she speaks English. "I'm sorry to disturb you, but could you please help me find this address?"

She looks at my pale, confused-looking face and offers to help. We walk outside of the station and she starts looking around trying to get a sense of where we are. She looks at the directions my landlord provided and looks back at her phone, putting in the address on her maps app.

"What is it?" I ask, noticing how she furrows her brows.

"Is this the right address?" she looks up, raising an eyebrow. "I can't find it on my app, are you sure it's correct?"

"Yes-- I mean, that's the address my landlord sent me." I start to panic and point to the directions on my phone. "Here-- maybe we can follow these directions and we'll find it."

She gives me a look and shrugs her shoulders, taking my phone and heading off in the direction of a supermarket across the street.

We continue walking for a few minutes and then she turns to me looking confused.

"I'm sorry, but I think this place doesn't exist... the address doesn't show up on my app and these directions don't make any sense." She looks up in the direction of a warehouse a few feet ahead of us. "It's leading us to that building there."

I look a the decrepit-looking warehouse and know immediately she's right. I've been scammed.

Shock gives way to rapid-fire, panic-scrambled thoughts. But I try to keep my shit together and thank her for her help. I don't want to waste her time anymore.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?

This guy asked for a deposit and a two-month rent advance. My first paycheck at the school won't come in until the beginning of the semester, so I don't have enough money to pay for a hotel.

If I call Mark, we'll get into an argument. I know we will. And I can't deal with that right now.

Shit.

Should I call him? He's the only person I know in Seoul. But what if he's changed his number? What if he doesn't remember me? What if he doesn't want to see me at all?

But I don't know what else to do.

Ah, screw it, I need to call him.