The Accidental Star

PROLOGUE: A KOREAN WELCOME

ANNE

I've been awake for almost thirty hours and a quick glance at the clock sitting on the night stand told me that it was almost noon in Seoul. I can't believe that I'm in South Korea, twenty four hours after I drove out of my dad's driveway.

This was completely unplanned.

I saw a few lines of sun rays peeking through the thick gray curtains that were covering two sides of the room's glass walls .

Who would have thought that I'd be in my cousin's apartment, thousand miles way from home, on a sunny July afternoon?

I should have been at work, putting things in order for the upcoming MartinCorp Global Conference. But I obviously I wasn't. Without anyone knowing, I left New York in haste. With clouded judgment, I booked a one way ticket to the only place that I could think of going - Seoul.

So here I am several hours after, staring at the ceiling of my cousin's guest room, wondering if I made the right decision of leaving New York yesterday.

My train of thoughts were quickly interrupted by a ringing sound. My eyes darted to my mobile phone sitting calmly on the night stand, it's screen illuminating in the darkness. I stared at it with no attempt to pick up.

They're all probably worried about me by now. I have not checked in with anyone. I didn't have the energy to do so just yet.

The ringing persisted and I groaned as I hid under the duvet. There was no way that I was picking up any calls today. Or the coming days for that matter.

Then my eyes shot open.

Wait a minute.

I changed sim card when I landed in Korea. I remembered sitting in one of the cafes at Incheon International Airport while I waited for Jake to pick me up and I could clearly recall discarding my US sim and inserting my Korean simcard in my Iphone.

Relief shot through my body with that realization. Kicking the comforters away, I lunged for my phone.

There was only one person who knew this number.

My left hand grasp the mobile phone and that was when I realized I should have used my other hand. My right arm flung in the air as I tried to balance my weight at the edge of the bed. If I move my legs, I was bound to tumble over.

" Shit, " I muttered as I tried to grab something for support. But there was nothing nearby to hold on to.

" Anne? Hello? " my cousin's voice floated in the room.

I fell on the floor with a loud thud and along with it came my explicit cursing.

" Anne? Anne! " Jake sounded alarmed. " What the hell's going on? "

Pushing myself on a sitting position, I quickly placed the phone to my ears.

" Morning," I mumbled.

Some kind of welcome. I frowned as I gave the bed a kick.

" Are you okay? "

I quickly shook my head to clear my mind.

" Yeah, i've just gotten out of bed. " I said hastily focusing my attention to my cousin. " Where are you? Are you at work already? "

" Yes, " came Jake's reply. I can hear noises in the background and a lot of muffled voices. " Listen, Anne,  I know you're resting and probably suffering jet lag but I need a favor."

Without protest, I agreed to bring some important documents to his workplace.

Forty-five minutes later, I was handing over his car key to valet and was about to get into the building's spinning doors when my phone rang.