That Sassy Korean Girl

That Sassy Korean Girl © By Alex J. Tan (Part 2)

Chapter 2: Oppa, Saranghae.

"Seriously, do you even know where you were going?!" The guy was still infuriated with Se-Yi after she had collided onto him.
The lass got up from the ground in synchronization with the lad's. She dusted herself before asking him an important question that would determine if she could trust him further.
"Err, you don't know who I am?" Se-Yi wanted to confirm her suspicion. She had placed her hopes high that he doesn't.
"Who are you-lah?" The guy simply responded back, scratching his head in cluelessly, yet slightly peeved. As though he knew everyone he ever bumped into.
"Nevermind... Just help me!" Se-Yi quickly grabbed his arm like a clingy person. A part of her was already thankful that he doesn't know who she was. At least she knew that he could help her escape.

"Why?" A confused look that surrounded the guy's face. He didn't seem to trust Se-Yi at that very moment, suspecting something was amiss. Scam maybe.
"Bad people are looking for me. Quick, bring me somewhere safe! Please, hmm?" The girl continued, pleading with her puppy dog eyes, hoping that he would instantly help her. Part of her charm to act cute in front others.
Aegyo was the term they called in her country. The lad wasn't going to fall for that trick easily, but he could also see that she wasn't playing around either.
With a goofy looking T-Shirt, cap and sunglasses, she's definitely trying to hide from someone. Or at least she was attempting to.
"Okay..." He reluctantly replied, looking around for the nearest exit from Petaling Street.


The pair hurriedly walked outside of Petaling Street, en route to the nearby train station that was just walking distance.
Looking behind carefully, Se-Yi knew that her manager, nor her fans were anywhere in sight.

"We're safe! Gamsahamnida!" The girl immediately thanked the stranger she'd barely knew.
"Yeah, whatever, Ms. Tourist. You're free to go now." The guy simply put, looking forward to leave her by herself. But Se-Yi had other plans in mind. She wasn't done with him just yet.
"Let's get on that train! There!" She suggested swiftly as the guy sighed in disbelief. He had only meant to help her get away from the people that were looking for her in Petaling Street, but he didn't intend to go on a train ride with her.

"Why?" The curious man asked, having doubts about it.
"Oppa-ssi, I don't know the place here. If I take this train alone, I could get lost." The girl responded rather poorly in English, but it was enough for the man to understand. But in truth, she was rather frightful about the earlier events that took place with the group of teenagers she went along with. She needed someone who could at least protect from a similar situation.
The lad almost cringed at the thought of her first sentence when she called him that. He knew what that word was, and he hated it.
Leaving without much of a choice, he hesitated for a moment before agreeing to follow her. He didn't like one bit.


As they boarded the train, the pair sat down at the very end of the coach, where not one single living being was at sight. The lad suddenly turned his head directly at an enthusiastic Se-Yi, who was viewing the sights of the dark pitched tunnel.
There was really nothing to see, but she was still displaying that excitement that he had never seen before.

"Which begs the question now, who the heck are you?" He asked Se-Yi promptly. The girl turned to him, with her reaction clearly surprised. She thought for a moment on how to answer him, pondering the fact that he could probably kidnap her for ransom money should he learn that she was Ha Se-Yi of South Korea.
"I'm... Shu Yi." Lied Se-Yi convincingly. Or so she thought.
"That's not what I heard earlier. Someone was calling out; Se-Yi! Se-Yi! He was referring to you, wasn't he?" The guy answered back with another question, raising an eyebrow with suspicion. He wasn't dumb, but he was definitely sharp. He really did pay attention to the details of his surroundings earlier on.
Caught red handed with her white lie, Se-Yi admitted the truth embarrassingly. She revealed her actual name, knowing that she was taking a big risk.
"Ne... I'm Se-Yi, not Shu Yi."

"And you are?" Se-Yi asked after observing the averagely well-built, 5 feet 11 inches in height male.
In contrast to what she had seen earlier, he was quite bold looking, slightly fierce, and a person who doesn't joke around either.
"Just call me Jay." He replied in a quick way, resting his head against the window of the 2 coach train. He shut his eyes for a moment to digest the fact that was happening right in front of him. The weird, quirky girl he had just bumped into not more than an hour ago.
"Jay? Hmm, arasseo." The girl simply responded by nodding her head in affirmation. She pursed her lips, not wanting to make things awkward between the two of them.
"A-Arasseo? That doesn't sound like a Chinese word." Jay suddenly stared at her, opening his eyes. He had a bewildered look across his face and now his trust towards this mysterious girl seemed to be in question.
"Ne... I'm Korean." Se-Yi replied, smiling at him all of a sudden. The stakes were high, but she felt that she could trust him just from the way he talked. He was trustworthy from her judgement.
"Great." Jay pretended that he wasn't surprised upon hearing that, which in fact, pleased Se-Yi.

"Oppa, is it okay if I call you that?" Se-Yi's sudden question to Jay in a cheery way after being quiet for a short period of time.
"Call me what?" Jay looked at her confusingly.
"Oppa!" Se-Yi repeated the word, but in a more cheery way. Her eyes glittering in delight, while trying to make the lad feel more comfortable around her. But he could only feel goosebumps all around his arms. Hair strands shooting upwards from the kind of cringe that was setting in!
"Oh..." Jay's only dull response as he found that quite ridiculous.
"Oppa, you should be happy that a girl is actually calling you 'Oppa'! Hmm?" Se-Yi looked at him, slightly disappointed that he wasn't bothered by it. She had placed her hopes a bit high on this one.

"Well, I am not." Jay turned to her, showing signs of disinterest towards Se-Yi's thoughts about it.
"Which reminds me, aren't you supposed to go back or something? To... whichever hotel or house you were staying?"
Se-Yi blinked her eyes with curiosity, looking at him dubiously. And it was only then that she realized that today was the day she and Mr. Lee would have checked-out from the hotel! She doesn't have a place to stay at this point now!
"I don't have a home. My home is in South Korea." A guilty expression she could only respond back.
"Figures..." Jay rolled his eyes, pretty much guessing an answer like that from the Korean lass.
He proceeded to close his eyes to take a short nap, while Se-Yi continued observing the view of the city as the train came out of the tunnels.


Looking at his watch after 20 minutes of being inside the train, it was almost dinner time. The clock was pointing close to 7 in the evening.

"You must be hungry. You want to grab dinner or something?" Jay offered Se-Yi. He could see that girl was indeed hungry just from the look on her face. She nodded her head excitingly.
"Well don't expect anything expensive. I'm actually broke." He added, checking his wallet for the amount of cash he was carrying.
"Gwaenchanayo, I think it's nice to go for a change." Se-Yi responded positively to his offer.
But in reality, she was worried about the kind of food they served. It could very well affect her strict diet. But she didn't have a choice. She can't starve to death.

Stopping by at Wangsa Maju, the pair made their way to an Economy Mixed Rice shop that was nearby. The excited Se-Yi grew extremely curious with all of the dishes around.
"Hmm, Oppa! There is so much food here!" The girl was easily astonished by the amount of food on different racks and trays.
"Yeah, today seems to be a good day. Just look at that fish right there! And that meatball!" Jay pointed at the variety of dishes that were being served.

"<Well, there goes my diet plan... Might as well just break it since I never had a meal like this for a few years.>" Se-Yi thought to herself, taking the plate of rice that was offered to her by one of the waiters.
After selecting a number of dishes of her choice, Se-Yi briskly followed Jay behind, awaiting him to pay for the meal.
"This one's on me." He casually stated to her, watching Se-Yi nod her head like a little girl who seemed really eager.

With the 2 of them finally sitting down after searching for a table, they both started eating their meals. While eating, Se-Yi was already expressing her joy of the food that was not only reasonable, but tasty as well!
"Oppa, the food here is really tasty!" She said delightfully towards the lad.
"That's good to know. It still taste the same as it always does after all this time." Jay responded casually as he ate his meal fast.
"Are there anymore shops like this?" Se-Yi asked once more, interrupting Jay while the latter was trying to eat peacefully and quietly.
"Yeah, there are few." He replied, setting his spoon down before adding along,
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"Hmm?" The girl looked at him confusingly.
"Be quiet." Jay instructed her, sounding slightly stern which prompted Se-Yi to make a pouty expression. She knew that she had probably hit his limit of patience that clearly wasn't high.


By the time they were done with dinner, it was time for them to part ways. And that was something Se-Yi was highly afraid of. Her part of the reason? She had nowhere to go, nowhere to reside for the night. Meeting Jay was the only thing that made her welcome stay a little more secured. And if he were to leave, Se-Yi might end up in tomorrow's news. 'South Korean celebrity found dead' would be all over the headlines.

"What?" Jay looked at her as she made a puppy dog eyes once more.
"Oppa, I don't have a place to stay." Se-Yi admitted the problem that was bugging her.
"Then? How can you not have a place to stay?" Jay looked at her in disbelief, slightly irritated.
"I am from South Korea, remember?" Se-Yi simply reminded him, while crossing her arms. With her pouty expression that was still there, she attempted to trip guilt Jay, or make him sympathize her. "Hmm..." Jay thought about it for a moment, crossing his arms.
"The immigration office is closed by now. So you may want to stay in a hotel rather than staying at my place." The lad easily predicted where this conversation was heading.
"Why would I want to stay in a hotel? It is not safe for a girl like me." She replied in an upsetting tone. She proceeded to fold her arms, with her eyes looking downwards while she pretended to sulk. Jay sighed, knowing well the answer to that.

"So you're telling me that you would rather take the risk in staying at my place? Don't you think that's a bit absurd?" He didn't hesitate to give her a sarcastic look, as Se-Yi suddenly stopped sulking.
"I think that is a great idea! Oppa, I will pay you monthly rental for my time spent there!" Se-Yi stated with a smile across her face, much to Jay's dismay. The man hardly even gave her permission to stay at his place!
"I never said you could stay. Wait, aren't you worried that a guy like me could do something harmful towards a girl like you?" Jay was taken aback by Se-Yi's offer, and her seemingly fearless choice to stay at his place.
"Aniyo!" She answered positively with a smile of an innocent girl.
"Although you may look scary, but I think you are a nice person."
"That's poor judgement right there. But then again, I am too depressed to even bother about the world around me these days. Are you really sure about your decision?" He asked her once more, showing her a doubtful look. He was hoping that she would discard the idea somehow.
But that wasn't going to happen.
Se-Yi raised both of her thumbs up, with a cheeky smile that had Jay questioning her sanity. Never in his life would anyone, especially a girl he came across in one day would want to stay in his apartment.
In his mind, that was pure madness!


As the pair entered Jay's apartment, Se-Yi's enthusiasm immediately died-off upon seeing how deliberately messy his apartment looked.
The lass quickly headed over to the kitchen to inspect the bowls and other kitchen appliances in the cupboard. Much to her horror and chagrin, it was filled with dust and dirt. She even saw a cockroach running around the cupboard.
As filthy as it looked, she hid away her shocked expression as she didn't want to offend Jay in a rude manner.

"Jay-Oppa, this is a nice apartment, but..." The lass said to him in her soft voice, right before Jay interrupted.
"Nice? It's actually kinda dull from my point of view." Jay turned to her, rather odd about her way of compliment.
"It looks special, but a little bit dusty." Se-Yi's sudden change of character, forcing a smile in front of him.
"To be honest with you, I don't know what makes you think that this place is special-lah." He added, walking inside while shaking his head in disbelief.
"You're really out of your mind, girl. And I don't even know why." The lad's added statement that forced Se-Yi to just shrug cluelessly, as she followed him around the hallway.


Upon entering the bathroom and placing her bag on top of an old wooden shelf, Se-Yi was eternally glad to finally have a golden opportunity to take a shower after a long scorching day under the hot sun. Before turning on the tap, Se-Yi took off her cap and untied her hair bun, letting her long hair slide down. She still had her pink sunglasses on.
She then stared at the mirror for a period of time, thinking about the situation she was involved in throughout the whole day.

"<If he sees me like this, would he even recognize me? No, would he actually be like those fans of mine?>" She asked herself, worried that Jay might become a fan fanatic.
Right after saying that, Se-Yi started laughing to herself. She was already overthinking about Jay's reaction should he know that he was looking at Ha Se-Yi, one of the premier celebrities from South Korea! His jaw would definitely drop by surprise to even see a celebrity right before his very eyes!
It's practically every guy's dream to have a celebrity crush standing right in front of them, at the very place where they live. Se-Yi was confident that Jay was no exception from the other guys.

"<No, wait! What if he's an anti-fan? What am I going to do? Would he throw things at me? No, he wouldn't. He's not like that!>" A worried look plastered all over Se-Yi's face.
"<Or would he? Aish... I'll be really dead if he's an anti-fan! Most anti-fans would love to see idols they hate suffer. And I hardly know him!>"

Allowing her set of imaginations to take place, the celebrity girl was coming up all sorts of crazy possibilities and probable factors that could take place. Her main concern, if Jay was the kind of person that hated celebrities like her, she could probably end up getting hurt. Better yet, if he was the opposite, of which he was kind, compassionate and considerate person who won't hurt her, it would be a peace of mind to the girl to know that she could spend a few more days here in Malaysia.
Staying longer than that in his apartment, she could just pay him a large sum of money to substitute the accommodation instead of wasting her money in a hotel. But that still made her worry.
"<How is he going to react?>" She bit her lip, just flustered.


Se-Yi came out from the bathroom after a really long shower, wearing back the same set of clothes she had worn earlier, her hair that was still in the midst of drying up. Still drenched wet, and no hairdryer anywhere in sight, she just had to make do for the time being.
It didn't take that long for Jay to find out that the girl didn't have any spare clothes on her. He went up to her.

"What? No pajamas?" He suddenly asked, holding a cup of coffee he had made for himself.
Se-Yi shook her head 'No' as an answer without uttering a single word, prompting the lad to sigh heavily.
A puzzled look came across Se-Yi's face. Why wasn't he reacting to the way that she was hoping for? He is in fact looking at Ha Se-Yi without any form of disguise! She hardly had any heavy make-up on, let alone her pretty face that was probably her best feature. Is Jay from the Medieval times, or was he just obtuse?
Slightly peeved, but glad and relieved in some ways, she reminded herself that Jay doesn't know who she was, yet.

"You really are from outside of town aren't you?" The lad added as he walked inside his bedroom, shutting the doors behind him at the next second.
"<Tsk! Aish, really! Even though I've appeared on a variety of shows, and made appearances everywhere, I'm really certain that everyone in this country knew me. And he doesn't even know who I am. Strange!>" Se-Yi's very thought at that time while leaning against the wall. Half-smiling while shaking her head with pure dissatisfaction.

In no less than a minute, Jay came out from his bedroom, throwing long blue sleeve shirt directly at Se-Yi, to which she caught it by surprise!
"Ooh? Igo mwoya? Waeyo?" She looked at the clothing confusingly after catching it.
"You can't be wearing that to sleep-lah. You'll smell like rotten eggs by morning." Jay's only reason to Se-Yi.
Grinning happily at the sight of it, the girl was grateful that he showed some concern for her since she had almost nothing with her.
Jay glanced at Se-Yi oddly for a moment as he didn't expect anything out of her. He could see that Se-Yi was having thoughts of her own while observing the long sleeve shirt.

"Is there anything you want to say? You really don't look like you belong to this part of the world." He suddenly snapped his fingers at her, catching her attention that was drifting away from reality.
"Gomapseumnida." Se-Yi thanked Jay with a slight bow before she headed back inside the bathroom.
Jay almost chuckled at the sound of that, finding it slightly amusing.


Wearing the size-L size shirt, it was indeed too big for her as it covered her body almost entirely. Somehow, a smile formed around Se-Yi's face as she admired the shirt.
From what she could remember, she had never worn a guy's shirt before. This was her first.

"<I guess the saying is true. It is every girl's dream to put on their boyfriend's shirt. But he's not even my boyfriend.>" Se-Yi almost blushed by the wise quote, admiring the way the shirt covered her from top to bottom.
She could also smell residue scents from a cologne that was recently sprayed on the shirt. Sniffing it to find out the kind of cologne that Jay used, she was rather impressed. She couldn't remember the last time she dated someone that had actually used proper cologne.
"<'Boyfriend' material!>" Her admiration for Jay grew once more with a beaming smile, checking out the mirror once again.

"Oppa, how do I look?" Se-Yi asked Jay excitingly, while the latter was occupied with the news that was happening on TV. He turned around with a casual expression on his face.
"Oversized." He simply commented, watching the girl flapped her arms with the huge shirt like a penguin.
Se-Yi quickly went up towards the living room, witnessing him watching the news. She sat on the couch, right next to him, much to his annoyance .

"Today's report: Rising star actress, Ha Se-Yi, was reported missing. Last seen at the streets of Suria KLCC, witnesses have claimed that she boarded a train that stopped by at Masjid Jamek before her initial disappearance. Many have claimed that the young actress was kidnapped. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the actress, please do inform the authorities." The news reporter announced.
Se-Yi glanced over at Jay's face who seemed unfazed by the news.

"I got a question. What's your name again? Your full name." He suddenly asked, startling Se-Yi as she jumped by surprise!
"I, err..." Se-Yi couldn't really answer properly. Besides being tongue-tied, she couldn't possibly imagine telling him the truth about herself. Let alone with what he'll do to her.
"I don't have to guess that hard to know that you're the missing girl in the news, right?" Jay continued to stare at her. The kind of stare that made the girl trembled with fear for a second. But she had to maintain her composure.
"Ne..." Se-Yi answered truthfully, lowering her tone with remorse that signified she was the missing celebrity.
"Joesonghamnida." She added with an apology towards him.
"So why run away? If you're a celebrity, shouldn't you be enjoying the luxurious lifestyle?" Jay asked once more, giving Se-Yi a moment to ponder on a suitable answer to justify her actions.
"I-I got tired. Sometimes I want out of this. I want people to not disturb me for once!" Se-Yi explained further.

"Okay, I'll give you 2 options. The first option, should I call the authorities to come and get you? It's the right thing to do. Or the second, let this slide? Even though it is wrong." Jay proposed, sounding calm and rational.
"Aniyo! Not the first one! I just want to feel free in my life. Have you ever thought, how difficult it is for celebrities to go out like a normal person? We can't enjoy a cup of coffee when fans always surround us, just to take a photo with us." Se-Yi's explanation that caught Jay's full attention. He practically gazed at her with wonder for a moment before finally deciding.
"Fair enough. Do whatever you want with this freedom of yours, for now. We all deserve some rest at least." He got up from the couch lazily, switching off the television set.
"And by the way, whatever happens, I don't want to get arrested, because I'm not the one who actually 'kidnapped' you. Deal?" The lad suddenly said to Se-Yi, sounding both firm and straightforward.
"Arasseo. Okay!" Se-Yi responded right away with a grateful smile. It was probably one of the best thing she had heard throughout the whole day.
"You can sleep on the couch there. The bed is mine." Jay added as he walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Se-Yi, on the other side, still had a smile on her face, while resting on the couch comfortably.

"<At least he's not like one of those fans that would go crazy.>" The girl had finally assessed the situation about Jay, resting her eyes that were gradually heavier by the second.
But before she could do so, Se-Yi opened up her smartphone that she had left it off throughout the whole day. Completely forgotten to check her device that was probably filled with messages and missed calls that she was expecting.
Over a hundred missed calls, and thousands of messages flooded in within seconds of switching on her phone, causing it to crash so suddenly!

"<I didn't know there were so many phone calls!>" Se-Yi was wide eyed and intrigued with what she had seen, shaking her phone that was still stuck at its home screen. At that very second itself after it became better, her phone rang. This time, it was from her manager, Mr. Lee.
Picking up the call, her manager let out a sigh of relief, but started shouting over the phone almost immediately.

"<Ha Se-Yi! Why did you run away from the event?! Do you know how worried am I?! Where are you now?! It's already late at night!>" Her manager bombarded her with various questions.
"<I'm fine. I'm staying over at a friend's place. Why did you report to the police that I was kidnapped? Clearly, I wasn't!>" Se-Yi responded back in a defensive tone, hostile towards the elderly man on the other side of the phone.
Crossed and hurt, she technically didn't want her stay in Malaysia to be a bad one. It's situations like these that would tarnish her image easily.

"<That's not the point! The point is that you have to get back here, now! We're supposed to be on a flight to Singapore!>" Her manager shot back with a cold answer, feeling a sense of urgency towards the situation.
"<Well, I'm not returning back for the time being. This is my holiday, and I want to enjoy every single bit of it!>" Se-Yi stated firmly, without putting in consideration to return back to South Korea for the time being.
"<If you do this Se-Yi, your allowance, bank accounts and assets will be frozen. You would have no money to do the things you want. I hope you will think this through.>" Mr. Lee directly threatened her, hoping that she would change her mind at that very moment. He knew for a fact that the girl couldn't live a day without money. But he was wrong for once.