Hearts in Seoul ✧

xxxi

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Kayleigh untangled herself from him, bowing her head as she exited his hidden garden. "I'm sorry," she apologised.

She ran after Justin, wondering where he'd gone to. She thought of how this might escalate the tension between them, and how, yet again, she was involved and was the cause of all of it. Kayleigh wanted to scream. Kayleigh wanted to cry. Kayleigh wanted to go back to Australia. This was not how she intended her exchange year to be.

The next day, Kayleigh noticed that Justin did not leave her a note and a flower in her locker. He was nowhere to be seen either. She sighed, slamming her locker door more brutally than normal, wincing as she heard the sharp pang of the metal door, and then heard a sudden rush of footsteps in the hallway. She tried to arch her neck to see what was going on, but she only saw a swarm of girls hovering over the school's entrance, screaming as they did so. The last time she saw something like this was when the J-Alpha and KANDEE made their explosive appearance. Was the J-Alpha back together?

"What is going on?" Kayleigh mused as He-Jin and Roisin stood on either side of her, walking towards the campus' entrance.

"Why? Déjà vu? 'Cuz same," Roisin agreed, looping arms.

"Guys, guys," He-Jin began. "Apparently, there's a new good-looking postgraduate student here in school. I'm not sure who he is, but I've heard his name is Hans," He-Jin explained, as they neared the dense group of girls.

Everyone held their phones up, paving a way for the tall man to walk, as their jaw-dropped upon seeing his visuals. Based on his black Mercedes-Maybach GLS 2021, he looked extremely wealthy, wearing a navy polo, black pants and dress shoes as he walked. His chauffeur escorted him to the principal's office, wobbling around him as Hans took off his sunglasses. He winced at the screaming girls, then raised his eyebrows as he put his glasses back on, and setting off towards the principal's office.

"Who is he?" Kayleigh asked a random girl. She was slightly shorter than her.

"Why do you care? Are you going to seduce him the same way you did for the J-Alpha?" the girl spoke in fluent English, with her Korean accent, glaring at her then walking away.

Before Kayleigh could defend herself, Roisin grabbed her wrists and dragged her away. "Leave them alone. Go to class. I'll find out who he is."

Restless. Kayleigh grew restless as she endured, yet another two hours of class, frustration evident as she groaned whenever she thought of the girl. Was that how people actually thought of her? A girl who seduced boys? Surely, asking a new student's name is harmless, regardless of their gender. But why did it feel like it was a sin to ask for his name?

She sighed once again, stomping her feet on the floor, louder than how she intended it to be, catching the professor's attention. "Is there something wrong, Kayleigh?"

"No, ma'am," she stood up, bowing in apology. "I apologise."

The professor nodded, turning her attention back to the PowerPoint, as girls eyed her up and down in disgust. She saw Jeong-Gwon at the corner of her eye, sitting at the far-end, smirking as he chewed on his gum, wrapping his arm around a brunette girl sitting next to him. She cringed.

Once again, she survived another boring lesson, not understanding anything that was taught. She met with Roisin and He-Jin outside her class, their boyfriends lurking behind them, as they waited for her.

"We know the new guy," Noah began. "He's called Hans Oliver Choi. Apparently, he grew up fatherless, so he had to take up his mother's name."

"Oh. He's a postgraduate student?" Kayleigh asked as the five of them walked outdoors for fresh air. The cafeteria was filled with screaming girls.

"Yeah. He applied as a new member. Not sure if he's qualified since he's way too old to be part of a gang."

"How old is he?" Roisin asked, dropping her bag on the grass as she sat down.

"Twenty-six," Joseph replied.

"Not too old."

Noah laughed. "Levi's frustrated. All his chicks left him alone for this new guy. He doesn't like competition."

All five of them laughed together, as Kayleigh read up on her notes to catch up (her mind wandered off somewhere. The least she could do was self study the lesson.) She looked at the two happy couples sitting in front of her — yes, she was a third-wheel, or rather a fifth-wheel, but that did not matter, because she was immensely grateful for the fact that her friends were happy.

A tall shadow blocked the sun, hovering over her sitting form. She blinked and looked up in frustration, muttering angrily, for distracting her from her studies.

Lucas.

The other four looked at Lucas, the tension was again present in the room, as if it was in a never-ending loop. Lucas blushed as he looked down on her, hastily sitting down as she stared at the open fields, avoiding his gaze, and looking at the new guy, Hans, who strutted around the campus as if he'd already owned it.

"Are you not gonna say hi?" Lucas asked. The four stood up and left the two alone to their conversation.

"Maybe," she chuckled.

As if on cue, her phone rang, flashing an unknown caller's number... from Australia?

"Sorry, Lucas. I have to take this. I think it's my dad." She inched further away from him until she was sure, she would not be heard. "Hello, Dad?"

"Darling, my Kayleigh? How are you?" her dad opened.

"I'm okay, Dad. How are you?"

"I'm fine. I miss you."

"I miss you too! I wish I could hug you."

"Tch, get to the point, Miguel," she heard her mother say at the other end of the phone, yanking it away from her father. "Kayleigh, come back here."

Kayleigh groaned. "Why, Mum?"

"No need for a why. Come back home."

"I asked why. You can't just call me back there for no reason," she argued. "Did something come up?"

"Since when did you learn how to answer me back like that?" her mother hissed. "Anyway, yes something came up. Juan just got engaged with another girl and they're going to get married next week. I need you to come back home. Now."

"Aine, relax," her father whispered. Her mother ignored him.

Kayleigh secretly sighed in relief. She was finally free. "Isn't that good, Mum? We should be happy for him."

"Should we? Kayleigh, why should we? He's supposed to marry you. He wanted to marry you, despite being in a fixed marriage."

"I don't love him, Mum."

"Since when was love a thing? Kayleigh, he gave us an ultimatum. If you don't come back in the next few days, he'll marry her."

"Good. I'm happy for him," she paused. "And yes, Mum, love is a thing. As a matter of fact, I found my heart here in Seoul," she looked at Lucas, who sat there waiting for her patiently. "And I found love here. I'm sorry, Mum. For once in my life, I want to freely love someone."

"Kayleigh —"

Kayleigh ended the phone, stopping her mother mid-sentence, as she sat next to Lucas.

"Hey, Lucas," she started. "Have I ever told you that I found my heart in Seoul?"

"No. Why?" he asked, confused.

"Because I found my heart in you," she blushed, wincing slightly at the cheesiness. "I love you, Lucas. Always."

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