What never should've happened.

The Move

It turned out that Lena had been right - as usual - and your parents pretty much cried with joy at the news of your promotion. Your parents didn't know what happened with your ex, all they knew was that after ten years you "suddenly" called it quits and with that, their chances of having grandkids seemed even further away, but as far as they were concerned, the asshole was a good person, hell, he even went to visit them in your country when you had already broken up! The nerve!

You smiled and shook your head as you boarded your flight -you were flying first class, the company went all out- and thought about how far you had gone after ditching him. You were finally at peace with yourself, you had finally learned to love yourself.

The first thing you did when you boarded was to ask the flight attendant for a glass of wine and a water bottle. When she brought them to you, you downed your blood thinners, put it in your earbuds and hit play on your carefully crafted playlist for the ten hour flight.

By the time the plane reached cruising altitude you had finished your wine and were ready to call it a night. You hit the 'wake me up at meal time' button on the screen in front of you and crashed.

Coming into Incheon, with a work visa this time, felt surreal. Knowing that you wouldn't be coming back to the airport in a long time was even weirder, but exciting. After recovering your two pieces of luggage -the rest of your stuff was already waiting for you at your new apartment in Gangnam- you went outside and smiled when you saw who was holding the sign with your name on it.

Bowing at a ninety degree angle you resisted the urge to hug the man in front of you, "Kim Huang-ssi, it's an honor and a pleasure seeing you again;" you came up from your bow to his 100 watt smile.

Huang had been your translator/driver/tour guide for every single work trip you had taken to South Korea, he was only one year younger than you and you clicked perfectly. "The honor is mine, Ms. Y/LN."

The man took the heavy luggage from you and together you walked towards the parking garage. Once there you looked for the familiar, black town car they always sent for you and once the luggage was in the trunk you went and got in the passenger seat.

Huang was surprised but he only smiled and shook his head. "Always the rebel, Miss. Y/LN." "Not an act of rebellion, it's personal preference, besides if I sit in the back I'll feel like you're my driver or something and we are way past that, you're my chingu."

You looked out the window as you passed a weird looking spaceship sculpture on the road, it quite frankly reminded you of an adult toy, but you kept your comments to yourself. Weirdly enough it gave you a sense of comfort, it meant you were on your way to Seoul and to your new life.

"Speaking of chingus…You know I have the utmost respect for your values and your culture, but I am not used to the honorifics system and I'm only one year older than you are. So, given that we've known each other for over five years now and that now, we'll be in each other's life five days a week for at least one year, can you please call me Y/N or noona?" You gave him your best puppy eyes.

Huang frowned as he switched lanes, "one year? I thought the position called for a three year program Miss…Y/N?" You gave him a glare and looked to the front.

"It does, but the first year is on probation. So if by the time the first year is up they decide that I'm an idiot, I'm back to the States on the first flight out of Incheon." You laughed, but deep down it scared the shit out of you.

"So that means I'm stuck with you for three years then," Huang smiled at you, "there's no one in this company who thinks you're an idiot, noona. Not a single person. I dare say that you will find yourself a boyfriend and you won't want to leave. It would be our gain."

You said nothing, but you were grateful for his words. Huang had been with you, taking care of you, on a night out to a goncha when you proceeded to get shit faced and told him your entire life story. The man was appalled at the fact that your ex had treated you the way he had, even more, he couldn't understand how someone as smart and pretty as you could've come to believe that you had to settle for whatever "love" he was giving you. In fact, he had been so upset that he even said out loud that if he ever came to San Francisco, he would hunt him down and kick his ass (which he definitely could do, he was tall, build like a wrestler and a black belt in tae Kwon do).

It was after that occasion that you knew you had a real friend in South Korea.