Love in the Air

Chapter 2

*all conversation except for those with the American friends from here on out are supposed to be in Korean but obviously they're written in English for you guys😁*

Traffic? Crazy.
Airport? Crazy.
Airplane ride? Crazy.
Mom? Definitely crazy.
We arrive in Korea to find my mom's family waiting for us at the airport. They are way too excited for me. I'd rather be back in California napping right now. I greet all the relatives I've never met, some I've never even seen pictures of, and just want to go to my new habitat. Fortunately, after our family has provided us with a huge welcome back feast, my aunt, HeeJung, takes us to our new home. I grab my bags, take them to the bed already set up in one of the rooms and knock out as soon as I hit the bed.
Three hours later I wake up to music blaring from the neighbors house. "What the heck. Why is that music so loud?" I think to myself. Then I remember where I am and my aunt telling me that the neighbors are musicians so it might be loud sometimes. I groan and decide maybe it's time for me to get up and see if my parents need any help.
My aunt had already made sure our home was furnished and had the necessities before we moved in so it was just a matter of unpacking our clothes, bedding, silverware etc. as well as readjusting some furniture to our liking and putting up some of our decorations.
An hour later it's almost 7 in the evening but I'm falling asleep. "Why am I so tired? Oh right... It's almost 2 o'clock in the morning back home. Err... I guess this is home now."
I decided to just put some pictures up by the entrance of the house to try to make it feel more like home and then I'd go to sleep. I begin hanging up family portraits, pictures of us at the beaches back in California and then I get to a picture of Eliza, Jenny, Leia and I at our kindergarten graduation celebration. My eyes start to fill with tears when the there was suddenly knocking at the door. "Ugh it's probably my family back to see how the house is coming along," I think so myself. "I'll get it," I call out to mom. I open the door and find a boy I'd never seen before standing at the door holding what look to be rice cakes. "More food? Well I guess this whole moving back to Korea thing isn't too bad," I think to myself, suddenly feeling very glutinous.
"Hello," I say.
"Hello, I'm SangHyuk. My hyungs and I made these for you since you're just moving in and probably don't have a lot of time to make food yourselves," he says kindly. He had light brown hair that he let fall, he had kind, sparkling brown eyes and seemed much taller than all my other relatives. "He has to be younger than me right? He looks younger. He also looks way too pretty though... Is he wearing eyeliner...? Okay, I guess that's cool, he kind of looks like a k idol which is probably what he was going for, right?" My train of thought suddenly crashes to a halt when I realize we've been standing here in silence with me staring at him for a little too long.
"Oh sorry. Thank you very much, we appreciate all the help. Would you like to come in and say hello to my mother?" I ask
"No problem. Oh yes of course," he replies.
"Eomma~~~" I call out
"In the kitchen," she calls back.
"Follow me," I say to the boy. We walk into the kitchen where mom is still arranging all of our pots and pans. "Eomma, SangHyuk is here."
"Oh you're here? Hello, I'm HeeRa, RiGi's mother."
"What...? Why is she introducing herself like that?" I ask myself.
"Hello, nice to finally meet you. I brought you rice cakes," he replies
"Wait.... Are we not related...?" I ask aloud.
Both SangHyuk and mom look at me with strange looks on their faces.
"What are you taking about RiGi? Of course you're not related, SangHyuk lives next door," mom says.
"Oh as in the neighbors in the band that were blasting their music earlier," I say thoughtlessly.
"Oh you heard that? Did it bother you? I'm sorry," SangHyuk chuckles nervously.
"Oh no no no, it's fine, I didn't mean it that way. I spoke too carelessly, I'm sorry," I say quickly.
"Why are you not using honorifics Rigi? Show your elders some respect," mom says suddenly and sternly.
"You're older than me?!" I ask SangHyuk.
"Umm I'm 21," he replies.
Again I apologize profusely, this time using honorifics.
"It's okay," he says, laughing a little bit. "How old are you anyway?"
"I'm..." I trail off as I try to remind myself that I have to go by my Korean age now. "I'm 19."
"I'm not that much older than you then RiGi. It's fine by me if you drop the honorifics." He smiles at me and my heart suddenly drops.
"Are you sure this guy isn't a model or something because holy crap he's beautiful and those cheek bones and jawline could probably cut diamonds," keeping my thoughts to myself this time.
"I'm glad you guys are getting along," mom suddenly cuts in, much to my relief.
"We'll we're gonna be neighbors for a long time so we have to, don't we," SangHyuk says lightheartedly and smiling again. "Well I guess I should get going before the hyungs come running thinking I got lost or something. It was nice meeting you HeeRa. See you around RiGi," he says.
I walk SangHyuk to the door and say, "see you later SangHyuk."
"You can call me Hyuk. That's what my hyungs call me. I'm sure you'll meet them soon, they'll probably come introduce themselves soon but they sent me today since I'm the maknae and wanted to send their welcomes soon but they wanted to finish some work before they came so they wouldn't feel so rushed. Maybe you can come see us perform the loud music you heard earlier some time?"
"That's nice of them, I'll look forward to meeting them. And sure, your music sounded pretty good anyway, I'd like to see you guys perform it some time," I laugh nervously. I feel very awkward and unsure of myself. Here I am in front of one of the cutest boys I've ever seen and I have definitely already made a fool of myself in front of him; yet, he's being so sweet. "Well, bye Hyuk." I say hoping he'd leave before I start saying random things as I usually do when I'm nervous or feeling extra awkward.
"Bye RiGi," he says before bounding down the walkway toward his house. I sigh, glad that whole ordeal has finally come to an end.
"I really hope his band mates aren't as cute as him, then maybe I'll actually be able to talk to them without embarrassing myself," I think.