Set Me Free (Min Yoongi X BTS)

Chapter One - The Meeting

I'm finally on my solo dream trip to Seoul, Korea! Prior to my trip, I studied some Korean by using some apps and learning the lyrics to the songs of my favourite K-pop group, BTS. A few days into my trip, I decide to fight off some of the jet lag that was still hanging on by taking a short mid-afternoon nap at my hotel in Gangnam. After my nap, I decide to take a stroll along the Han river. As it is a particularly sunny day, I am wearing my new Fila hat and the Coach sunglasses that I brought from home.

After walking for a bit, I stop by the riverside to admire the scenery, leaning against the railing. Nearby, I notice that a young man has also stopped by the railing. We are both looking out to the river, lost in the beauty of the cityscape. Yet, I can't help but glance over and check out the young man.

 He is about my height, casually dressed in a sweatshirt, ripped jeans and running shoes,  a baseball cap and a mask. The jet black fringe of his hair is peeking out from under the cap. His eyes are bright and kind.  His smooth, glowing skin and his prominent angular eyebrows complete a picture of cuteness. I decide that now is the time to practice my Korean and to try and talk to this guy. I start out with a simple hello: "Angyong, asayo."

He looks over at me with a surprised expression. He seems to notice that I am different with my long wavy violet hair, my freckles and my foreign accent. Intrigued, he edges over to me and says "Hi", in English. Still determined to practice my Korean, I say that this is such a beautiful city. Then we continue our conversation using a mixture of English and Korean. He asks me, "Have you been here long?"

I reply, "No, not long. I arrived a few days ago."

In a deep, sexy voice, he asks, "How long will you stay?" Shyly, I reply. "A month."

With an interested tone, he says, "A month is a long time! Why such a long trip?"

I struggle a bit to respond in Korean, but I manage to get out the idea that I want to enjoy Seoul as much as possible, visit the countryside and experience Korean culture. Most of all, I want to meet and get to know some people.

He responds in English, "Oh, is that why you are talking to a stranger?"

Concerned, I meekly respond in English, "Yes, is that weird?"

Confused, he says, "Wired? I say, "Weird". He asks, "What is weird? I say, "I don't know the word in Korean."

Oh man, now I am stuck. Then I remember that I know the Korean for "Strange", the title of an Agust D song. I say, "Isanghaji-anh-eunga?"

He starts laughing, so I start laughing. I then ask, "Why are we laughing?"

He says, "I don't understand what you are really saying. But nice try using an Agust D song. Why are you laughing?"

I reply, "Because you were laughing."  We linger a bit, smiling at each other. 

 I ask him, "Do you like Agust D?" He replies, "Actually, I love him!" 

 I say, "Me too." 

 He asks me, "What about BTS, do you like them?"

So as not to disclose my complete and total obsession for all seven BTS members and to try to act cool in front of this cute guy, I say: "Oh, BTS, they are pretty good. But I don't know much about them. I just listen to their music sometimes."

He looks around and down the path. He says to me, "Do you want to walk with me?

I say, "Sure, I want to try to talk with you some more."

He says, "Me too. You are cute."

"No, you are cute." 

 He puts on some sunglasses and we start walking. He asks me, "So, where did such a cutie come from?"

"Toronto, Canada."

"Oh cool, do you know Drake?"

"Of course I know Drake."

"Have you seen his place?"

"Yeah, on Instagram. He has a really big pool."

"So you don't know him, know him."

"Toronto and Canada have millions of people and no I haven't actually been to Drake's house." I start laughing. I ask him, "Do you know BTS?"

He laughs and says, "You would be surprised at how many people in Seoul know each other, especially in this part of town. Did you know that they live just across the river from here?"

Carefully, I respond, with an expression of surprise, "Oh, do they?" But I am saying in my head: Yes, of course I know, why else did I book a hotel in Gangnam, across the river from Hannam the Hill. But I don't say this out loud. I cannot tell this random stranger, this nice man that I want to get to know, something so lame.

He asks, "What do you do in Toronto?"

"I'm a business writer at a multinational corporation."

"What is a business writer?"

"I write business documents, such as reports, proposals and plans."

"Is that fun?"

"Not so much, but at least am writing for a living. What do you do?"

He chuckles. "I am a writer too."

"What do you write?"

"Music."

"Wow, that's cool, what kind of music do you write?"

" All kinds, but mostly r and b, hip hop and pop style."

"Wow, are you really good at that?"

"I do okay. I also get to perform my music, so that is nice. Play a little piano. And dance a little. It's a good job. I work with some really great guys."

I stop walking, turn to him and say, "Well, we have been talking for awhile, and we haven't properly introduced ourselves. My name is Y/N. What's yours?"

"Yunki. Min Yunki."

Suddenly, I come to the realization that this guy is trying to pass himself off as a member of BTS. I start to get angry. This guy is trying to take advantage of me, a foreign woman who just arrived in Korea. But before running away, I decide to try to get a good look at this guy, in case I have to give his description to the police.

I say, "So now that we have given our names, I think it is only polite if you take off your mask and your sunglasses and your hat. So we can have a proper introduction. I will also take off my sunglasses and hat."

He looks around and says, "Not here. Will you come with me to that garden over there?"

I look over to a fairly secluded garden. I am thinking, this could be dangerous, but there are still a lot of people walking the path that would hear me if I screamed. So I decide to take the chance to find out. Is this man really who he is trying to say he is?