Teacher's pet

Chapter two: Through a cat's eyes

I was just a simple Exchange student who was brave enough to take the bold decision to move to Seoul in the last year of university . We were a group of students from Sweden that decided to discover a new culture and  new experiences . When the university presented this opportunity to learn photography in another country we immediately chose South Korea. We wanted something new, different from our European culture.

From an western perspective Seoul offers a lot of new opportunities. The food it's extremely good and cheap. The campus life here it's full of fun activities, nothing like the boring student life in Sweden.

Of course there are some things that were rather overwhelming to a foreigner. Even though I was born and raised in Sweden both my parents had Romanian roots and I was raised  in a family that had set in stone goals and higher expectations when it comes to education. This was not commonly accepted in Sweden so my parents kind of had to accept that I didn't want to become a doctor or a lawyer.

Apparently in Korea the people are extremely ambitious and have a great deal to achieve their goals.
We weren't able to speak Korean so it was difficult to communicate. For us girls it was easier to be approached by other Korean guys, maybe out of curiosity. But those who were speaking good English would casually talk to us from time to time.

I don't know if I can blame my bubbly personality or my roots, but I was nothing like the Swedish people. I wasn't quiet, nor shy. I love to be around people, to always have a positive attitude and to bring energy and laughter into my group of friends.
I never thought that my personality would get me in trouble here in Korea. Here people are following some social norms that are based on age. You have to be respectful and bow even to those who are only one year older than you. Quite different from western culture where you call people by their first name right before you meet each other.

It was crucially impossible for me to suppress my bubbly personality even though I tried my best especially in public. By the weird looks that I've got I could only imagine what they thought about me.
But I do respect every culture and I was trying really hard to adapt to the new environment.

I was alone, studying in the university's library when I suddenly felt the feeling that I was being watched. When I raised my gaze I was met by a pair of  rich dark- brown coloured eyes. His stare was intense and  I felt so drawn into those eyes that it scared me. The emo/cat lookalike guy saw me looking back at him and his stare softened
and a pretty smile appeared on his lips. God, how can a guy have such a pretty smile? It's not fair!
His cat-like eyes and plump lips make me stare back at him with the same intensity as his. One moment he looks like a feline, like a tiger ready to attack you and the next moment he looks like a cute cat smiling at you. The duality of this guy!

He was now slowly coming my way and I really needed to slow down by heartbeats.
His tone was low but still raspy when he talked:
"I must admit that I am very intrigued by the choice of your book. Never thought that a bubbly girl like you would read Almond by Won-Pyung Sohn."

"Well if you want to stop assuming things that aren't true, then you better read books about other people's experiences. So you try to understand their choices and feelings. So you know...you don't have to have stereotypes about them. Like you for instance."

"Well I'm sorry that I was wrong! But you really seem to be very positive and very charismatic and outgoing. You don't seem like the type to read emotional stories about a traumatic boy who can't express his feelings through words."

"Well , you're wrong cat-boy! I do read this kind of books. And by the way, you do remind me of the character of the book ."

"Really? In what way?" He was giving me a gummy Smile that made him look more like a cute cat than a human.

"Well, you seem to be that kind of guy that doesn't have feelings and it's cold hearted."

"Well I'm sorry honey ,but you've got the book all wrong if you did not realize that the boy was actually able to have feelings. He just didn't know how to express them into words. Not everyone can express themselves in words and not everyone it's bubbling with enthusiasm and excitement even in shitty situations. To some people, life it's cruel but again, you don't seem the type to know how it's when things don't go your way. "

"You really resemble a cat.
Wow...so this is how you see people through a cat's eyes? A grumpy cat by the way. Exactly like you, cats can't see the richness of the colors . And that's just sad! But I personally prefer to live in color.  A non -prismatic cat like you misses all the fun."

"I would love to stay and have a debate with you about how life's not fair to some people and how they are affected by this, but I actually just wanted to apologize for  the cafeteria incident. I lost a bet with my friends. You guys were talking very loud and nobody had the guts to say anything to you. So we played rock ,scissors and paper and whoever was losing was in charge to tell you to stop talking so loud."

"And you just thought that being sassy and rude would stop us talking,right?"

"Well it did stop you from talking loud afterwards. It was a bit rude, that's exactly why I am apologizing.  But you did have a sassy comeback to my comments so, we're even! "

Out of a sudden he was very close to me,so close that I could smell his cologne and he whispered to me:

"Hope you keep that photo of me under your pillow so you can dream about me when you fall asleep!"  A cocky smirk was displayed on his face and his gaze was so dark and intense. Even though it was probably meant to be a joke it was definitely not funny to me. My heart was racing in my ribs and I was definitely blushing.

"Don't flatter yourself, catboy."

"The name's Yoongi,dear. My name is Min Yoongi."

"My name is Y/N! Not so nice to meet you Min Yoongi!"