It Was Always You

Chapter 11: Stranger or Friend?

I open the door to find a man, dressed in a flannel, dark blue jeans, and converse, at the door, with his back towards me. I clear my throat.

"Excuse me?" A hint of my accent coming through, as I speak in plain English.

"Ah, sorry!" He exclaims, whipping around to face me, that same accent seeping through.

Looking closely he looked to be Korean, "Do you speak Korean, by chance?"

He looks up in surprise and nods, making me sigh in relief. Thank God, someone else who speaks my language!

I smiled softly, "Do you mind if we speak Korean? I'm still not used to speaking English and I'm more comfortable with Korean."

Smiling back at me, "Arasseo."

Holding out my hand, "Annyeonghaseyo, Y/N-ibnida! It's nice to meet you...."

"Sunggyu-ibnida!" He smiles and takes my hand, carefully shaking.

"Ah, I'm sorry, you came here for a reason, right?"

"Ah, yes! I just moved in across the hall and I was making my way around to say hi to all my neighbors. You are actually the first person I'm greeting today, heh. It's nice to see another Korean."

I laughed, "Well, you'll be happy to know there's another living next door to us. His name is Jiho, but call him Zico. Fair warning, he's a little intimidating, but inside I think he's secretly a total teddy bear. As far as I know, however, we are the only few Koreans living here."

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm glad I met you then. Are you attending the Academy of the Arts as well then?"

I beamed, "I am, and Jiho is studying at the community college nearby."

"That's an amazing coincidence. What's your major and year?"

Noticing we were standing in the doorway, I light pink came to my cheeks, in embarrassment that I've been inconveniencing the poor guy. I step aside and open the door wider, as a silent invitation. Which to my relief he gladly accepts.

I walk towards the couch, "I'm a first year actually, and I'm majoring in Music Production, with a minor in Photography."

"Wow, how funny, I'm majoring in the same thing, but I'm a second year. Hmm, so that makes me your oppa, huh?" He chuckles at the thought.

"Hahaha, I guess so. Sunggyu oppa."

The pink from earlier came back to my cheeks as I tested out the statement. He noticed it and smiled, thinking I was cute.

"It's okay, I think we'll be seeing each other a lot. So why don't you just call me Gyu?" He smiled softly.

I smiled back, "I'd be glad too."

I never knew I could be this comfortable. This feels like when I'm with Mark or Ren...or even Aaron... we just continued to talk about the most random things for hours. It felt like I was back at home, and that feeling was nice. We became fast friends and we both opened up quickly to each other. I could tell though. That we were both hiding some deep seeded pain from the way we talked, something neither of us wanted to talk about till we were ready. That was fine, I mean we only met today.

Soon enough it was noon, and both of our aroma he growled, making us both laugh.

"I guess we should eat," he sighed.

I hummed in agreement, " Do you wanna stay for lunch? It's on me."

"As tempting as that sounds, I still want to greet the other neighbors before it becomes dark. But how bout the next time I come over we can eat out together?" He stood and headed towards the door.

I followed behind, opening the door, "Right, well I think I'll take you up on that offer."

"Great then it's a date," he walks away without giving me a chance to speak. The pink from earlier turned into a bright red now.

A date? MWO?! Oh jeez, this is my first date, what am I supposed to do, what am I supposed to wear????? I shut the door quickly and then made my way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water to try and calm down. I began to distract myself by making food, but that distracted only lasted for a couple of hours as I absentmindedly made the food and ate.

I stared out the peephole in hopes he's pass by or opens his door, so I could ask him or cancel maybe? The next couple of hours I freaked out and was pacing in front of the door, knowing I had my first official date tomorrow. Ughhh, what am I going to do? Glancing at my phone, the time read 5 pm, my growing nervousness as I began to count down the hours till tomorrow. Aish! I'll just tell him I can't. Right as I was about to open the door, my phone rang. The caller ID: Aaron.