~ Kaisee ~
I knew it would be a great day when I shot awake and slammed my head on the backboard of my bed. First day of school in Korea... off to a great start.
It got even better when I checked the time on my phone. Fifteen minutes behind schedule... I wouldn't get to eat this morning. At least when I lived with Mom she'd make me a good lunch. Now I have to trust the school cafeteria. After brushing my teeth and mussing with my wavy brown hair until it looked decent enough for today, I changed into some of my "Korean style" clothes, which I researched about and bought yesterday.
The rest of the morning was a rush. Running to the nearby bus stop, getting there just quick enough to make it on.
I sat in the seat furthest up and pulled out my phone and used it as a mirror to fix the damage running had done. I touched up the eyeliner surrounding my eyes, and put on some clear lipgloss.
This gave me time to think about the next 6 months I'd have to spend here, in Korea.
I thought foreign exchange would be a great idea... at first... my Korean speaking and writing was near perfect after years and years of studying it, and this would be a great way to put it to test. And then it got too real... leaving Cali... leaving Eomma... leaving everybody...
California was a casual place. Everyone was chill and I grew up with every single kind of person. Korea was almost the exact opposite. Conventional and traditional, everybody was forced into one thing. One idea of beauty, one idea of a good student, one idea of success.
It would take a lot of getting used to. But hopefully my school "buddy" could help me out with that.
This buddy program was the school's dumb little way of making sure that the foreign students don't get left out. My informational letter let me know that my buddy would have the same schedule as me and would literally be forced to spend time with me for the first week of school. They were chosen by the teachers as people who were "friendly and facilitated conversation well, to make your transition to Suji High School as smooth as possible"
With my luck though... that's not gonna be all sunshine and rainbows, as it sounds. I'll get my hopes up though, that my buddy and I will have "the most beautiful friendship on the planet"
Okay Kai. It's not all that long. Six months is a small little time, then it's right back to America... right to college...
The bus driver's yell startled me out of my thoughts, "SUJI HIGH SCHOOL! Last Call!" I stood up and grabbed my bag... in my rush to get out of the bus I tripped over the last step and landed face first in the grass. "MOVE IT KID!" The driver yelled over the laughter of the other people on the bus. I grabbed my bag and scurried over to the side, beginning my walk towards the school, cheeks flaming with a blush. You know it's gonna be a great day when...
A laugh popped up behind me. "Hey!" It's owner called. "You should've stayed down longer.. then I could've gotten a better look at—"
"SHUT UP!" I yelled. I spun around and glared into one of the most attractive faces I had ever seen. The early morning sun seemed to shine on him and nothing but him... I didn't like people like this. People who were attractive and knew just how attractive and tended to rub it in.
But he was attractive enough for me to forget every single Korean word I knew. "Uhh..." I said like an idiot. "Bad introduction. What's your name?" I asked in English. We both stopped walking to continue the conversation.
"Jeon Jungkook?" He said, as though unsure of himself. "You do not speak Korean?" He asked, a thick accent muffling his words.
I took a deep breath. Calm down... "No!" I said in Korean, "I'm just a little nervous today."
