NCT Imagines (Requests Open!)

Lost in Seoul (Haechan)

A/N: So to make things a little simpler for you, the Korean phrases are in italics and everything else is in English.  Hope you enjoy this one!

---

"How many do you want?"  the lady asked you, and you cursed mentally.  You'd been in Korea for a month already, but absorbing the language was not easy.  The only things you knew were hello and goodbye and I love you.  The last one of the lot didn't seem like something you'd be using very often.

You held up four fingers, and the lady bagged four muffins for you.  That would be your breakfast, lunch, snack, and dinner for the day.  You didn't have time to cook, so these multigrain muffins had become your source of fuel recently.  But you had to admit, it was getting frustrating.  You wanted to go to the market and buy vegetables and meat, but it was nearly impossible with the language barrier holding you back.  Maybe moving to Korea to study abroad had been a bad idea.  You should have listened to your parents and either stayed back home or learned the language before leaving.

Glumly, you trudged up the steps of your dorm and to your room.  Your dorm was the only place that didn't give you a headache because it was a blend of foreign and Korean students.  That meant everyone there could speak English.  Relieving, I know.

Your roommate Rena noticed your sad expression.  "What's up?  You look a little down."

You faced her, tossing the bag of muffins onto your bed.  "I'm fed up of not knowing Korean.  I think I need to start learning now."

Rena nodded.  "I have some workbooks you could use!  I've been here for three years already, and I was actually in the same boat as you.  Why don't you get a translator?  I can sign you up if you want," your roommate beamed.  

You smiled.  That sounded perfect!  "Sure!  Sign me up!" 

"They'll be contacting you within the next day to assign you someone who is fluent in Korean," Rena smiled.  What she didn't tell you was that the person on the other end would only know Korean and would be depending on you for help in English.  

You thanked her and started working on your project.

"I'm headed out for my afternoon classes," Rena waved.  "I'll see you later!"

You nodded and continued researching.  Your phone rang, the bright tune of "We Young" by NCT Dream startling you.  Hesitantly, you picked up, with a shaky "hello."

"Hello!  Is this Y/N?  I am calling from the language translator program you signed up for."

You sighed in relief when the woman answered in English.  "Yes, that's me."

"Well, it seems that we have found you a match.  He would like to remain anonymous.  Is that okay with you?"

"Yes!  That's totally fine!"

The woman laughed at your enthusiasm on the other end.  "That's great!  And since you signed up, I'm sure you already know that your partner only understands Korean, and you only understand English, so you have to help each other learn and translate for each other."

WAIT WHAT?????

You tried to calm yourself down, but before you could say anything, the woman started talking again.  "Just install the app, and your translator will appear on the home screen.  Anytime you need something to be translated from 9 AM to 10 PM, just press on the red button, and you'll be connected.  Any more questions?"

You swallowed hard.  "No."

The woman hung up, and you sighed.  This was going to be a disaster.  Nevertheless, you downloaded the app and just for fun, you pressed on the button, and you heard a boy's voice.  

"Hello?"

You internally screamed.  "Um, how do you say vegetables?"

You spent an hour or so trying to communicate with the boy, and after a day or so, you were starting to get the hang of it.  Meanwhile on the other end of the line, your partner was having a rough time.

"Mark, you speak English!  Why can't you just help me???" Haechan complained to his hyung.

Mark laughed.  "Because the manager wants you to learn English.  Me translating for you isn't going to help.  This program helped Yuta, Lucas, Renjun, Chenle, Winwin, Kun, and Ten.  It's gonna help you too!"

Haechan groaned, pressing the button on the app, summoning you.  "How do you say shut up, you're annoying?"

You answered him, and Haechan faced Mark with a smug grin.  "You are a load of bullsh-"

Mark clamped a hand over his mouth.  "Whoa!"

One year later...

You were walking around in the market, looking for things to buy to cook dinner.  You needed celery, but you didn't know how to say it.  You knew the main fruits and vegetables, but you didn't use celery often.

You limped your grocery cart over to the side beside a boy, and you hesitantly pressed the button.  You and your translator didn't translate very much for each other these days.  You never saw him or knew who he was, but even just his voice sounded attractive to you at this point.  You made excuses just to press that button and talk to him.  Sometimes, you both told each other about your day in each other's languages.

"Hey, how do you say celery in Korean?" you asked, hoping he would answer soon.

"It's celery.  Is there anything else you need?"

The voice sounded very close, almost as if the person was right next to you.  You turned and locked eyes with the boy who was hidden behind his face mask and cap.  

You pressed the button again.  "Is it you?"

The boy nearly dropped his phone in shock.  He stepped closer to you, pulling his face mask slightly lower so you could see more of his face, and you almost collapsed.

"Haechan?  From NCT?" you backed up.

"Shhhh, people can't recognize me.  I'm just here to pick up groceries because the hyungs are too lazy.  Are you the girl who's been translating for me?"

You nodded.  Proud that you could understand every word he was saying.  "That would be me.  And don't worry.  I'll do my best to keep you hidden."

Haechan smiled at you.  He had grown a small crush on you even though he could only hear your voice.  Seeing you in person made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

"You know, languages need to be translated, but love doesn't," Haechan told you.

"That was deep," you admitted, a blush spreading on your cheeks which Haechan found really cute.

"Maybe you can help me cook dinner with the hyungs.  I'm sure they'd love to meet the girl who taught me how to speak English.  I'm thinking of learning French next," Haechan mused.

"French?  Why French?"

Haechan closer to you and smirked.  "So then I'd know how to French kiss."

---

A/N: Wow, okay Haechan!  We see you trying to make moves~  It's been such a long time since I've written a Haechan imagine, so thank you @leechihoonforever for requesting it!  I honestly had so much fun with this :)

Question of the imagine: Have any of you ever been to place where no one speaks your language?  I mean, I haven't yet, but I can barely English sometimes so hahahaaHaha