With your luggage heavily pulling you back, you were pacing back and forth on the train station’s platform. With nowhere to go, lost in a city in which nothing looked familiar, there was only one place you could reach out for. You looked up at the unfamiliar sign and sighed again, trying to convince yourself that a little alone time, 6 hours away from anything capable of hurting you anymore, on the beach sounded great. How could alone be the thing you craved for and feared the most at the same time? The huge train made its entrance blowing a mass of air in your face and letting you breathe in deeply for the first time after what seemed like forever.

“Pohang?” You asked briefly as the old lady next to you nodded showing you the kindest of smiles. You nodded and answered with one of the few things you could speak in Korean, your weird pronunciation causing her smile to spread even wider on her face, but appreciating your attempt at thanking her in her mother language nonetheless. You held the trolley’s handle tighter and took the first step towards a journey meant for healing. No regrets. The past belonged to the past and that was the present. A present you had chosen and for once at least, the future looked bright.

          As the train was starting to move along, turning your decision final, out of the corner of your teary eyes you noticed people gathering around a certain area of the platform. Curiosity got the best of you so you lifted your head a bit only to see YoungBae trying to make his way out of the crowd with a forced smile traced on his face. Despite your heart’s will and in favor of your better judgment, you leaned back and hid behind the grey curtain. It wasn’t long after the train had finally left the station that tears started blurring your vision and the first sob broke through, inviting others to follow. Right then, you didn’t care to care about the people looking at you weirdly, because all your walls were down, letting your feelings flow through freely and you didn’t have the strength to build them back up right then.

          Your journey lasted 6 long hours in which you never ceased to wonder why he was there. The conclusion, though, was the same every time. Regardless of his reasons, it would have ended up hurting you.

“Pohang.” The old lady appeared out of nowhere and caressed your shoulder empathetically. You looked up and thanked her again, feeling your heart calm down at the gentle touch of her wrinkled hand. Heartbreaks… she must have known all about them.

“You’re an angel.” You whispered to her, despite her not being able to understand, caressing her back as you passed by her. You knew exactly what you had to do as you got down the train, so you walked to the street to find a cab.

You had been trying to stop one for more than 5 minutes when a tall figure blocked the sun from burning your face anymore as his long hand reached out in the street. In a matter of seconds the blinker of a taxi caught your eye as the car pulled over in front of you. That must have been God’s way of excusing himself for all the pain he had put you through the past days, because people just seemed to come your way only to make you feel better. You thanked the man and got on the cab, handing the driver a business card you had from the hotel you had been supposed to stay in. “Bellus-Rose Pension, jeh-bahl.”

Arriving there, you couldn’t believe how beautiful the place was for a 2-star location. You walked in the reception timidly looking around and twitched when the receptionist greeted you.

“Hello, I would like to book a room for 2 nights.” You said to the creepily-smiling employee. Her face was like a porcelain doll’s; she was flawless and therefore very intimidating to be looking at as an average-looking woman. She filled in your data on the computer with the same wide smile traced on her face and handed you the key to a room soon after.

          Craving for some peace and privacy, you walked in your room eagerly only to be surprised one again by how beautiful everything was. In your home-country, a 2-star hotel was the kind you found laying on the side of the highway and while being cheaper, the conditions were nowhere close to comparison. You lied down on the soft bed and let your body relax, enjoying the loneliness before deciding to go exploring the surroundings. You had changed into some more comfortable clothes and even decided to wear a swimsuit underneath, in case you became brave enough to expose your body. You stopped in the reception to reject an incoming call - since the Korean number could have only belonged to either Bae or Ji and you were not willing to talk to either of the two – when a kind of familiar voice followed a silhouette blocking your way.

“My oh my, what were the odds!” The stranger spoke as you allowed your eyes to look up from your phone for a second only to fall on the perfect face of someone you swore you had seen before, but where?

“Oh my, he’s gorgeous…” Your mind wandered off, throwing you into a dejá-vu and refreshing your memory. “The boss.” You answered yourself loudly, making him snicker.

“You make it sound like I’m part of the mob.” He replied making your cheeks turn slightly pinker. “It’s Jung Yunho, chief executive.” He said reaching his hand for you and while having decided you’d be by yourself, you reconsidered having the company of a person unable of hurting you. You shook it firmly introducing yourself and declaring yourself pleased to meet him, while noting that you held no position worth mentioning and were just a guest. “What brings you here? Tired of the city already?” He asked curiously, making your smile fade and eyebrows drop into a slight frown.

“Yeah.” You answered faking a smile and trying to laugh it off.

“Then you’re in the right place. Let me show you around.” He answered cheerfully, pretending not to have read you like an open book.

“Are you this friendly with all your guests?” You asked curiously, following him nonetheless.

“Oh, but this has nothing to do with my job. I’m on vacation too.” He answered making you reconsider letting him take you places.

“In your own hotel?” You inquired arching an eyebrow. He turned around and turned dead serious, sending shivers down your spine as he stepped closer. You were looking at him defiantly, trying not to look intimidated as he leaned down to your level and whispered:

“I’m undercover.” His seriousness while saying that was making the whole situation way funnier than it actually was and he managed to pull a laugh out of the deepest, darkest corners of your being.

“You’re doing a great job.” You brought yourself to say as you walked past him and patted his back.

“I thought I was showing you around.” He said with a confused look on his face, proud of having made you smile, though.

“I thought you were working.” You replied briefly.

“Does it make any difference?” He asked clueless and you laughed at his attempt to play dumb.

“Bye, Jung Yunho.”