Yeogi buteora, modu moyeora

We gon' party like, lilililalala~

 

As the opening lines of Big Bang’s Fantastic Baby blared into my ears, I groaned and rolled out of bed. Literally. I picked myself off the floor and and mumbled into the phone

“Yoboseyo?”

“ Good morning. Is this Mr. Lee speaking?”

“Ne, who is this?”

“ Good morning Mr Lee, this is Police Constable Shin speaking. I understand you were the victim of a house ransacking recently and filed a police report?”

I transformed from my lazy, half-awake self sprawled on the floor to my alert, eager self, which consisted of frantic and not-so-graceful movements to try and sit up.

“ Ah Ye ye, what can I do for you Constable? Do you have any news for me?”

“ Indeed I do Mr Lee, and I think you will be quite pleased to know that we have identified the culprit, or should I say culprits, behind the ransack on your residence. Would you please come down to the police station so that we can complete the paperwork and talk more on the issue?”

I nodded my head furiously, even though he couldn’t actually see me do so.

“ Of course Constable, thank you very much,” hanging up the phone and simultaneously punching the air in delight. I could now see which twit would dare mess with my stuff.

10 minutes later, I found myself outside the station being greeted by the Constable himself. What sort of case warranted the Constable’s personal attention?

“ Hello Mr Lee, would you please follow me.” After a short walk into the building, he led me into a room with a couple of brown files placed on the table. “ Mr Lee, after examining the evidence, for example, the CCTV cameras luckily placed right outside your front door, and prints left by the culprits in your apartment itself, we have identified the 3 people guilty of this crime. The Constable proceeded to place 3 photos in front of me.

“ This here is Lee Byun Min, the supposed leader of the operation..” I couldn’t place what the constable was saying, as I stared in horror at the three photos in front of me.

Of course it was them! The three s who had bullied me before. I should have known that they would try something like this to hurt me even further.

I took a moment to calm my anger inside. At least I could take comfort in the fact that now they had to face punishment for their foolish actions.

“ Constable, what will their sentences be like?”

“ That is for the judge to decide when the three of them are prosecuted, but they could be looking at a few months in prison, and suspension from school for a year for a criminal offense.”

A few months? That was not nearly enough time. But then again, it was not confirmed how long they would serve, so they could be serving longer than expected. And anyway, a few months was always better than community service.

“Thank you so much for your help in getting the truth out on the matter. I really appreciate it.” I gave him a bow to express my gratitude.  He nodded, bringing our little meeting to an end.

As I walked out of the police station, I felt truly elated. Now there would be no one to bother me for a while, so I could actually enjoy life for the time being, and that felt truly gratifying.

Wait! I should tell Naeun about it! After all, she seemed concerned with all that had happened.

I had her number on speed dial, so I waited for her to pick up her phone.

Wait, she could be in practice. I wouldn’t want to disturb her with my life. “Ah, I’ll text her later,” I thought to myself, about to tap the “end-call” button, when her ringing tone stopped.

“ Hello? What’s the matter Seb?”

“Oh, er Naeun, I just wanted to tell you that , um, they caught the people who destroyed my apartment. They’re getting sentenced in a few days.”

“Omo! That’s great news! I’m so glad that they got what they deserved! Did you recognize them?”

I was about to say yes, when I realized that that would bring up further questions about how I knew them, and subsequently she would get worried and I didn’t want that. So, I lied.

“ Nah I didn’t, they were just some random idiots.”

“ Oh ok, sure.”

Awkward pause. Erm, should I hang up?

Was it rude for the guy to hang up on the girl? I still didn’t understand Korean etiquette fully.

Ah screw it, I was hanging up.

“Uh, bye then. I’ll see you on Monday then.” I muttered as I lowered my phone to end the conversation.

“ Wait wait wait Sebastian! Are you still there?” I heard a little voice still resonating from my phone, and quickly placed it back to my ear.

“Yeah yeah I’m still here, what’s up?”

“ Uh uh,” I could hear her pausing, as if struggling to say what was on her mind.

And were those more voices on her side of the call, whispering to her? I couldn’t tell.

“ Erm, Seb, I was wondering if..” I heard giggles coming from my phone receiver, “ if you want to go around with me for a while around Seoul?”

I stopped walking. “ Uh, go around with you?”

“ Yeah, like since you haven’t been in Korea for a long time, maybe I could show you around and we can go to some cool places? Seoul is a really bustling place, so I just thought like..”

Why did I get the feeling that this was set up by the “voices” on her end?

But then again, why would I turn it down? I mean, I probably wouldn’t go alone to any hotspots.

“ Ok, I wouldn’t mind,” I exclaimed, trying to sound enthusiastic.

 I heard multiple gasps emitted from her side. “ Really? Great! I can’t wait. Er, do you know your way around Seoul using the train?”

 Honestly, no. But I didn’t want to inconvenience her further so I said “ I should think so. Where should we meet?”

“ Take Line 2, and exit at Station 6. The station is called Euljiro 1-ga Station.”

“Great! I’ll be there! Take your time though, I mean since you have a schedule and everything right?”

Naeun stifled a laugh. “Actually I’m really free this weekend, so why not? I haven’t been there in a while.”

Right. I didn’t actually know where we were going.

“ Naeun-ah, where are we going?”

“That, my friend, is a surprise for me to know and you to find out. See you soon!” With that, I heard the blank ring on my phone, indicating the receiver had hung up.

As I put my phone back in my pocket, I wondered about two things.

Firstly, as it was just the two of us “going out” so to speak, was it considered “ oh god this is so embarrassing”  a d..date?

Oi Seb. Don’t get to far ahead of yourself ah, you naughty boy.

Damn you conscience! Now I wanted it to be a date!

Wait, I didn’t even know if she would be inviting friends, so I couldn’t assume anything now.

Woah, can’t assume now? Does that mean you assumed you were going out on a date from the start?

Do you like her?

 Aaargh! Sometimes I hate the voice of rationality in my head.

And more pressingly, I kept hearing a word being uttered by Naeun’s “ friends” during the conversation, especially during their giggles, but I couldn’t understand what it meant, cos, you know, my Korean was still half broken.

I shook my head as I walked back to Jae’s house, frustrated at my lack of Korean skills.

What does “Kyeopta” mean?

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Hi guys! I'm back from holiday!

Where are Seb and Naeun going together? What's gonna happen? Stay tuned for that yo.

I apologize if this chapter is not so interesting, at the time of writing, I came back less than 24 hours ago, and I am horribly jet lagged as of now. This chapter is really short, I know, and the next chapter wont be so long, because I am still getting accustomed to not writing for close to 3 weeks, so please bear with me and continue to give me your support.

Remember to vote, comment and follow me if you are enjoying my story, and please look forward to future chapters! Next one is coming very soon!

Thanks so much, and peace :)

-Elliot