˗ˏˋ sickly in love ; gyuricky

# - prologue.

"I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T INTERESTED in the student exchange programme?" zhanghao says with a confused look.

"i wasn't, but my father is," ricky clarifies. "he's planting a branch of the business in korea, so when he heard of the programme, he decided it would be good for me to live there for a bit. it's a pretty good idea."

"i'm glad you're actually interested in your family's business. most children of CEOs tend to be the opposite with their own," zhanghao comments thoughtfully.

"of course, it's my family. besides, if i've been given an opportunity to help grow the company, then why shouldn't i take it? how else will i fulfill my motto of being 'young and rich, tall and handsome'?" his friends laughed.

"think you can handle being on your own?"

"i may be young, but i'm not stupid."

"call us everyday, okay?" kuanjui looked at him sternly. ricky chuckled.

"i would even if i didn't want to."

"good!" kuanjui smiles, patting the boy's head.

"have a safe flight, lovelicky!" ollie shouts as ricky ascends the escalator. ricky raises a (not very) threatening fist, although he was already very far away.

🌹🌹🌹

ricky meets his host family when he lands in seoul. they're a family of four; two sons, both younger than him.

he'd wanted to live on his own in seoul, but his father had refused, saying that he should get to know the area first with guidance before going off on his own. besides, the programme required him to remain with a host.

nevertheless, ricky greets them politely, and quickly grows a liking to them.

"mom, we should go buy dinner, i'm sure ricky's very hungry."

"yujin, he's probably tired right now. it's better if he gets some rest."

"can't we even get a little snack?" yujin's brother asks. mrs. han giggles at her youngest son.

"okay min-ho, i guess a little ice cream won't hurt, right?"

  yujin rolls his eyes and turns to ricky. "she's always like that, allowing my little brother to get what he wants."

"you just need to get better," min-ho snickers secretively, sticking his tongue out at yujin. he gasps, looking offended. ricky has to turn away and hold back his laugh so their parents don't catch the two boys.

"you see this devil? he's twelve!"

  once they make it to their house (and ricky's new temporary home), he's shown to his bedroom and settles in comfortably.

  ricky lays on his bed, staring at the ceiling after calling his friends back in china, and sending his parents a quick "made it, it's nice here," text.

  the han family had been very welcoming, and the atmosphere of their home was very- well, homely. while it's obviously drastically different from his large house and extravagant life back im china, ricky thinks he's already liking his new life here in korea.

  the scent of something cooking wafts around the room, prompting the blonde to wake up.

  "ah, good morning, ricky," mr han calls out from the kitchen.

"how was your sleep?" his wife asks the boy.

"good; i didn't realise how tired i was until i lay on the bed. thank you very much for having me."

"no worries, you're such a well-raised man."

  yujin's parents drop them off at their different schools, which thankfully weren't too far from each other. although min-ho is in elementary, yujin in middle, and ricky in high school, they're all part of the same franchise, so they're conveniently situated next to each other.

  as ricky makes his way to the assembly hall as part of the programme procedure, his eye catches sight of a tall boy surrounded by a crowd. his heart skips a beat.

  the boy has dyed brown hair and looks like a puppy, ricky thinks. he's pretty.

  7:56. crap. he quickly finds his destination and finds himself in a large hall, filled with other students. he takes a seat just as the principal walks in.

  "hello, students! welcome back from your holidays. i'm very glad to see so many of you have arrived early and on time.

"as you know, this year will be the very first time that our school will join a number of others as part of the national high school student exchange programme. we are honoured to be able to have so many foreign students choose to attend here, and will do our best to help guide you all on your educational journeys.

"i want to thank all of the students who volunteered to be a guide at the end of last year; i will now be putting this list of your assigned partners on the notice board outside the hall. so i suggest you find your partner quickly before our first class begins. good luck!"

  ricky exits the hall and tries make his way towards the mentioned board, but it's crowded by students both local and foreign alike.

  "gyuvin, you applied as a guide, right?" he overheard someone say.

"yeah, it's kind of hard to see who's my partner though. it's chaotic in here."

"honestly, this could have been arranged better, but whatever."

"hello, pretty. did you apply as a guide too?" who he assumed to be 'gyuvin' asked to a third party.

from the way he paused, ricky guessed that whoever this guy was talking to nodded because he continued, "me too, actually. whoever's your partner is very lucky to have someone so good looking as their guide. have you seen who your partner is? i still need to find mine, but it's kind of hard in this crowd."

  ricky huffed in amusement whilst the girl squeaked out a 'oh, let me and my friends make some space!'

"how'd you do that? you're crazy, you know."

"you know who else is crazy? these girls. they're crazy over me."

ricky finally got closer to the board, squinting to find his name.

"your ego is crazy big, shut up. anyway, who's your partner?" there it is!

"some guy named ricky, from china," gyuvin says as ricky reads out, "kim gyuvin."

🌹.
- 1k words

hello!

i feel like this is such a long introduction 😭😭 anyways, please enjoy the story!

- ivy 💫