Darling, let me teach you a lesson. (Hyunlix)

Chapter 1

'Can I get a lighter?',Hyunjin shyly asked the cashier, after working up the confidence to speak up in English to an /actual/ English speaker for the first time in his life. He rubbed his sweaty hands and gripped the handle of his suitcase tighter as he waited for a response.

'What?', the man asked with narrowed eyes, clearly not enjoying the sight of Hyunjin in front of him. 'Pft', the Korean thought, 'he can suit himself', as he cocked a hip which made his skirt flutter around him and played with one of the pigtails in his brown hair.

'I'm looking for a lighter', Hyunjin repeated, the nervousness replaced with impatience and annoyance at the way he was stared down by the greasy old man, whose boxy chin could definitely use a razor. Hyunjin grimaced at the uneven ugly stubble there.

'Oh.', the Australian muttered, 'You mean a lai-ta', he repeated with a strong accent and pronounced slur to his words. 'Jesus', Hyunjing said to himself, as he rolled his eyes. Well excuse him for learning the language through American TV shows but damn, were people stuck up.

'Yeah, yeah exactly', the young boy murmured and made sure to quickly pass the money, grab his lighter and get out of there. Yeah, he definitely needed a smoke right now. As if the 10 hour flight hadn't been enough to make him /crave it/.

Once he went out of the airport and found the closest smoking area, he leaned on his suitcase and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, quickly pulling one out and putting it between his lips. The first inhale made him close his eyes in satisfaction, feeling the poisonous smoke go down his throat and fill his lungs in simultaneously the best and worst ways possible.

Hyunjin already felt a bit sticky from the heat there. Even if he knew that February in Australia is still pretty much summertime, his body couldn't have been prepared for the sudden change of seasons. He wiped his sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, and took another drag from the cigarette before unlocking his phone and sending several messages to his parents and friends, letting them know that he's landed, all safe and sound.

He could still feel some questioning looks from the passersby people poised at him, thanks to how he was dressed up. Well, at least there were still way less judging eyes staring at him as if they wanted to punch him in the gut, compared to how it had been in his home country. In a way, that was one of the reasons why he felt the urge to make the reckless decision and move to Australia. More than anything, though, Hyunjin had been tired of South Korea, of the people there, of his university and of everyone's corrupted mindset.

So for him, making the sudden decision to drop out after only the first year of his Law course in Seoul National University and apply for Marketing in The University of Sydney, had been as random as his decision to make out with a guy for the first time when he had been only 16. The man could only hope that he would end up being happy with this decision, too.

At the very least, though, with him being far away, his parents could show off to their friends by saying that their only son studies in Australia and won't have to deal with him embarrassing them as he strolled around with his skirts and dresses on. They could always pretend that Hyunjin just doesn't like taking photos and lie to all his aunties that he's dating a pretty Aussie girl after a while (those arguments may or may not have been the things which he had used to convince his mother when he had decided to leave their country).

After several more drags, Hyunjin put out his smoke and threw the cigarette butt away in the bin, looking around to try and figure out which direction he should take to find the right bus stop. His gut felt like a tight ball, made up of the mixture of excitement combined with anxiousness, because he felt brave and he felt like he could finally /own/ who he actually is here, far away from everyone and everything he once knew. However, the thought of the unknown, of the foreign culture, language, even /seasons/ scared him to no end and he could feel his hands starting to shake.