Insadong

(08:47pm)

I think I've fallen in love with South Korea.

I smiled as I looked around the old restaurant I found through an alley in Insadong. It felt so authentic, eating samgyeopsal here. The walls were wooden, the place didn't have air-conditioning, and nowhere was it near fancy. I loved it.

I closed my eyes and inhaled.

Ah, the smell of freedom.

My eyes opened as my head turned to the direction of the sudden burst of laughter on the other side of the room. It was a group of guys. I was about to turn my attention back to my food when the guy with the silver white hair caught my eye.

He's cute.

Wow. He had a nice smile – defined jawline, too. Even with his green jacket, I could tell that he had broad shoulders. He was the perfect combination of manly and cute.

He could even be a celebrity. But I was pretty knowledgable when it came to Kpop. If he was famous, I'd surely recognize him. And he didn't seem familiar . . .

Then, as if there was some sort of pull, his eyes found mine.

If I was in a Kdrama, I would be the shy girl that would look away and blush.

But I wasn't.

Being me, I didn't avert my eyes. I just looked back at him. So what if I was caught staring? He couldn't sue me for that. Sure, he might think I was a crazy stalker girl. But it wasn't like I'd see him again after tonight.

I watched as his grin morphed into a close-lipped smile, tilting his head at me in curiosity. The corner of my lips turned up in a smirk, knowing that I caught his interest. A small part of me wondered if he'd come over –

Whoa. Stop there. Let's not get way in over our heads here, Yuki.

Our eye contact was broken when the Ajumma who seemed to own the store came with my second round of rice. Yes, I was a heavy eater.

Hey, food comes first.

"Kamsahamnida, ajumma," I said, smiling at her.

She bowed. "Ne~"

"Jeogiyo!" I called quickly, before she went away. "Mul, juseyo."

"Mulyeyo?"

I didn't know much Korean, but thankfully I knew enough to know how to ask for more water. Everything here was spicy, after all. I might even drink some milk from the convenience store after this dinner.

I nodded. "Ne."

When she walked away, I picked up my chopsticks and was about to dig in. But you know that feeling of a tingling sensation at the back of your neck, like someone's watching you? I pretty much felt that. So I stopped, raised my head, and looked around. That was when I saw the guy with the silver white hair still looking at me, oblivious to his rowdy friends around him.

My eyes narrowed.

Why wouldn't he look away? I wasn't that beautiful. Sure, I sometimes turned heads in the Philippines (wink wink). But that was only because I was half-Japanese. You know the gist – white skin plus big almond eyes, and then the silky long hair. To be honest, I reminded myself of Sadako.

Huh. Now that I think about it, that's probably why I like her so much.

Here in Seoul, though, my features fitted in so much with everyone else that you'd think I was a Korean, too. So I didn't get this guy's problem.

He still kept his eyes on me.

If I went on a staring contest with him, my rice would get cold. And I didn't want my rice to get cold. But if I looked away first, I'd appear weak.

Weird thinking, I know.

But think about it this way, it's just like in a wolf pack. Other wolves always look away first when faced with the Alpha, right? It's a display of being submissive. 

My Papa didn't raise me to be like that. No way was I backing down on a staring contest with a complete-stranger-I-probably-wouldn't-even-see-again-but-for-some-reason-I-care-so-much. This would be an easy win.

But . . . I'm hungry.

I sighed inwardly.

I gotta do what I gotta do.

3...

2...

1...

I flashed him the most charming smile I could muster. I didn't wait for his reaction. Casually, I turned my eyes downward to my food.

Since it was a small restaurant, I could clearly hear his chuckle all the way from their table. His friends asked him what was up (please note that that's the only thing that I could catch from their fast-speaking Korean mouths). From my peripheral vision, I saw him shake his head.

I was trying to appear nonchalant, pretending I was so focused on my food to do something childish like – I don't know – eavesdrop on their conversation that I couldn't even understand. But then, he said something that I very well understood. 

A small word that escaped his lips.

A small word that made me freeze.

A small word that was apparently making me poetic.

I mean, it didn't make me blush or be giddy or anything. It just . . . I don't know. It just caught me by surprise, I guess.

As sneakily as I could, I looked up and glanced at him.

Crap.

He was obviously waiting for me because as soon as our eyes met again, he smiled and repeated what he said.

"Gwiyeobda."

Cute.

_____________

I finally did it! I'm finally writing a story to satisfy my inner fangirl self! Haha!

Do you like it so far, or should I just stop now...?