Stranger

In the middle of December’s coldest nights , a 20 year old asian girl Taeyara sat down on her bed after spending all day in the streets of south korea with her only guardian grandad, whenever she spent time with him they would always talk about Taeyara’s parents, how they’re living in america away from her but still living close in her heart, her grandad was almost like her own parent, he was the only one who raised her after all, she grabbed the remote in the mood to watch some Netflix and calling it a night after that, after putting on her favorite show, she watched and watched but something just felt off, her head feeling pain, she was stressed, facing the screen but in her mind she was still worrying about her future, she couldn’t decide what path to go to, what road could lead to a successful end? “This is boring…” She said, letting out a big stressfully tired sigh, pouting with very little interest in the show, she looked over to her right, her side table, from where she held a framed picture of her parents, she stared at it for a while, then showed a light smile, ” at least you’re having fun in america..wonder when will you guys return though..” she said holding onto her tears, she wasn’t really someone bold or valiant , at least that’s what her friends assumed her as, but she was surely known as a clown or a wag, she was a cheerful one, she always made fun of whatever she would want to, everyone knew her as the supposedly “class clown” but her personality changed ever since she started growing up, looking back to her past, from which her parents had left her for her grandad instead of raising her in the first place, her grandad did infact hide it from her, convincing her she’s got no parents at all. That was a shock that once changed her.
.        Feeling pain again, she took some pills and fell asleep setting her alarm for 6:00am in the morning tommorow, next day getting startled by the alarm and almost saving herself from falling off of her bed, she ran to the bathroom pretending she’s got a meeting or something- ” I’m late! Again! For god sake- ” she yelled hurrying infront of her mirror, and combing her blonde fluffy shoulder cut hair, falling an attempt to tie her short hair, she in a hurry put on a hat, grabbed a leather jacket her grandad just bought her yesterday, and ran out of her apartment.
“Why do I do this?..why am I like this?…” She said wandering in a park aimlessly near 6am, the sky was bluish, birds could be heard chirping making the fresh atmosphere more breathtaking.
“T-shirt…with a leather jacket…and a skirt..nice combo Taeyara!” She chuckled softly finding herself so dumb, as others looked at her visibly questionable appearance, she sat on a nearby bench, pulled out her mobile from her pocket, and decided to make an Id on insta  since her grandad never allowed her to.
” Hmm…let’s make this as accurate as possible! Me as me..” she said Pressing the accept button on the screen that allowed her to enter instagram, ” o- profile pic?”, She took a selfie, not knowing what dangers lies ahead of her, how a simple Id could be the turn to her normal life.
“Let’s see how many followers I can get in 24 hours…” she said exitingly smiling at the screen, until, All of a sudden her eyes went past the current time on her phone, choking on thin air she realized maybe her setting her alarm near 6am wasn’t just for a walk in the park after all. ” I forgot! Omg!- ” she screamed, waking the birds on the trees, then made her way out of the park, back to her apartment in order to get ready for a visit at her grandad’s office near her apartment indeed.
After getting ready she called an Uber and finally made it to the office, running straight to the elevator. Breathless she checked herself in the mirror beside her on the wall, “I look like barbarian-” she said flinching at the door sliding open for her to leave. Finally making it to the office,she stepped in interrupting a meeting already going on in there, she bowed at her granddad from the door and waved a welcome, mouthing ” I came! Hey! It’s me! Your granddaughter! Taeyara!”
Seeing her act so childish, her grandad broke a smile and dismissed the meeting, ” come in, come in, daughter!” he said standing up for her as she approached smiling bright as always, “Anneyonghaseou!( means a greeting in korean)” she hugged her grandad.
“I knew you would be late, that’s why I’m not mad at you!” Said her grandad giving her a hug too and chuckling about it. ” So..can you remind me why you’re here?” He said looking at her sat down on the seat, ” you are so rude!” Said Taeyara in a teasing tone, watching him chuckle again, “you made me wakeup this early, there better be a reason- grandad i remember I had to tell you about something I’ve been planning for years!, I want to shift to Japan, since I have high chances of job appliances there, than in south korea! And- “, ” you can’t, my daughter” said her grandad cutting off her sentence, ” but- why?..i- it’s a wishlist grandad! And i personally think I’m old enough to do something on my own!, Please! I wanna make my own money, and do something productive!”
Taeyara finished her sentence, waiting for a reaction out of her grandad, she could now see her grandad rub his forehead in a soft cornered manner, she knew she had win the conversation, her grandad looked at her with an inhale, ” o- okay, fine! but you have to be careful out there-” before he continued warning her, she got up from her chair and gave her grandad a hug while screaming happily/exitingly.
“I knew it!, You would never reject me! Ghamsameda! (means thanks in korean) “, finding herself so lucky she couldn’t stop screaming in joy, she could finally take a step on her own, her grandad wanted to warn her about tokyo japan, he didn’t want her to explore japan at all since he knew her intentions, taking a step was almost like an excuse, all she wanted to do was explore japan as much as she could, “but- you’d have to-” seeing his granddaughter already heading out in excitement, he finished his sentence, ” stay away from strangers…” Sighing in stress and anxiety he rubbed his forehead again.
While Taeyara’s grandad felt unsure about his decision, she took an Uber straight to her hotel and started packing right away, she didn’t wanna waste any time, she could literally leave at the moment if she could ya know?, Luckily booking a ticket for the next day straight to Japan, she slept, or tried to.. her expectations and plans were way unpredictable than her grandad probably thinks, she thought to herself, ” wonder if I’ll finally make alot of new friends there.. or maybe someone special..” she pressed smiled shyly, dreaming about tomorrow’s journey she finally kicked the bucket.
Near 7am her alarm rang, alarming her like always, she woke up, spending at least 5 mins not moving an inch, she flinched by her phone’s notification, before picking her phone and checking the notification, she went straight to her bathroom completely forgetting about the legend of the flight to tokyo 😀
.        Approximately 10 minutes were wasted by her casually getting ready for a new day, however… “What were my plans for today again?…” She said yawning and combing her blonde fluffy shoulder cut hair, still in her pajamas, she sat on her bed and turned her phone on, seeing a text from her grandad indeed, “have a safe trip, if you need anything you can contact me, okay hon?.” Seeing the text it hit her. “Holy shhh- the flight! the flight! Omg- ” finally she realized a plane is about take off without her, a plane to tokyo indeed. In a min she dressed up, changing into a white t-shirt, light pink shaded skirt, and her fav converse high, she grabbed her luggage and headed out of the hotel.
Getting so late she almost lost hope of seeing japan, all her dreams could vanish, her plans, her desires, everything depended on a hecking flight she was about to miss. At last reaching the airport she ran in, and headed to the staff, ” Anneyonghaseou! Can I get my ticket?” She said holding onto her luggages, the staff looked at her, then continued his work, a min after he looked again, and handed her a paper chit. ” Uh- excuse me, there might be a mistake made by you, this is apparently not! What a ticket looks like” said Taeyara handing it back to the staff, giving him a glare, “ma’m, do you even know what- have you ever been to a plane before?” He said looking at her with an annoyed expression, leaving Taeyara shook by his behavior,” aish-how dare you- lemme take to your manager, alright?”
” Ma’m I apologise, let’s not take it that far,look, that’s a number I gave you, now I’m gonna need you to calm down, and kindly wait for your number to get called, okay? Now will you just head to the waiting area? There’s a big line behind you ma’m” said the staff, hoping she would silently do what she just heard, and she did… apparently.
Inhaling she sat on a couch near the- near the- the everything. It’s basically a waiting area. She pulled out her phone and checked the insta Id she made just yesterday, wanting to check how much followers did she get in 24 hours, ” 100k?….is this app broken?..there is no way I got that many in just 24hours….” She checked again and again, rubbing her eyes, blinking 12 times, but no, nothing changed, she did get 100k in a day, pouting questionably, she took another selfie and posted it on insta. Before putting earphones on she checked her num, “87” and heard the staff calling out to “79” indeed, she decided to listen to her fav song “like I need you” by her fav korean solo artist ” kenshi “, while listening, she hummed the lines, looking around the area to her left.
her eyes caught a stunning sight, she saw a guy wearing all black, he had tattoos all over his arms which seemed sleeveless too, he wore earrings, chains, but strangely wasn’t wearing a mask at all, which is pretty common in korea, she looked and looked, thinking to her self,” I’m assuming him a weirdo while I’m not wearing a mask as well, it’s not the mask, it’s something else…” Said Taeyara sill staring at him, checking him out for the 10th time, “he’s checking his phone, maybe he’s waiting for his turn too?…ah~jalsaenggyeotta~”(means “he is so handsome” in korean), she still faced him, drooling over his appearance, ” I’m completely breaking the rules grandad once taught me…never stare at strangers and of course, never ever make eye contact..” she giggled thinking about the rules he taught her, all of a sudden, their eyes met, at first she wasn’t sure it’s her he’s looking at, but in a split second, she freaked out and shyly looked away, facing her right completely, blushing so much, holding her deadas* laughter, she was bitting her lower lips trying to hold her uncontrollable self, because she knew herself very well, once she laughs, it doesn’t stop that easily, she calmed her self down, giggling and obv assuming herself the weird one,” why did I stare for that long, omg…”.
catching up with the song, and continuing humming, she looked to her left again, but this time, she noticed the guy still looking at her, while showing a light smile on his face, she froze and blushed again, until he suddenly winked, making the already shady+awkward atmosphere more awkward, she panicked and took off her earphones in order to listen to the staff, ” 95, please come to the counter. ” Said the staff,” wth- “Taeyara yelled running to the staff area and kindly getting in the way of num 95, ” excuse me, staff! Jossanghamida, (means an apology in korean)” said Taeyara kinda bowing to him,” I think you already called out to my num, didn’t you?…” Taeyara looked at him for an answer, as he showed her a fake smile, and started typing something, after a second, he looked at her while she was being pushed by the crowd behind her,” is that gentleman with you, ma’m?” He said pointing at someone.
as Taeyara looked, she noticed it was apparently the same looker who just Winked at her a min ago, “what?.no- no- he’s not, we’re not, its- it’s a misunderstanding! He’s my nothing!…”,” I honestly thought you guys were in a relationship or something…” Said  the staff noticing Taeyara blushing nervously, clearly wanting the staff to give her the ticket and leave, while that happening, the same guy from behind secretly took a pic of Taeyara, not letting her know, then smiling at it for a min, Taeyara took the ticket after noticing it’s a vip one indeed, ” vip?” Said Taeyara looking questionable, “ma’m, forgot to tell you, there was a gentleman who contacted us and told us he’s paying for your vip ticket, he refused to tell us his name, ma’m.” Said the staff, looking at Taeyara staring at the ticket,” o- okay.. say my thanks to him then…gomabda!” (means thanks in korean).
She finally headed to the plane and sat on her seat, putting on headphones as usual, she hummed to her fav song, waiting for the plane to take off, until after a min or so, ” isn’t he…uh..”Taeyara said beneath her breath, as a passenger walked in the vip section, he walked straight to Taeyara’s seat, but to not act shady, which he clearly was, he sat on a seat behind Taeyara, on her left indeed, Taeyara now thought to herself kinda getting sus, ” is he stalking me?…I mean it could just be a coincidence, him being on the same vip plane as me….come on..nothing to worry about…” Taeyara gulped down her fearful thoughts and listened to some music instead.
She was slowly getting nervous, but was trying to best to not think of anything about that creeper behind her, ” I think, he’s probably the heartthrob of his university or something…or a kpop idol?,maybe someone from a k- drama…how can someone that breathtaking be a   ,Convincing herself she fell asleep, not knowing the guy has taken yet another picture of her, smiling at it, he looked at Taeyara as she fell asleep, as time went by, came the next day.
The plane landed near 6am, Taeyara woke up as her head slid off of the window, not being in  her senses, she grabbed her luggage and got out of the plane, “where even am I…” Said Taeyara yawning and stretching, she was standing at the airport of tokyo, she left the airport and got to an Uber to get in the main city, she got to a bus station, and stood there for the bus.
The sky was dark bluish, the sun has not even come out yet, all the tech of tokyo japan could be seen by the street, she looked around in the crowd, then looked over to the large buildings of tokyo, it looked amazing, just like in all the mangas and animes she has been watching, she couldn’t really tell the difference between a korean or a Japanese, they all looked the same to her,(because of the masks y’all, I’m not a racist-lol), Taeyara was indeed very happy to finally reach japan.
Because her grandad had never allowed her to travel anywhere other than southkorea, it was indeed an experience for her, she put on her earphones, and again started listening to her fav song, nodding along to the melody, the bus finally came, making the crowd move, Taeyara went straight in the bus, and sat on a seat, she was still tired and very sleepy.
In the bus, she looked around casually wanting to be aware of her surroundings, she noticed something that sent chills down her spine, her heart skipped a beat, she couldn’t believe it, “that same guy…omg!”, She thought to herself, “is he actually stalking me?…no..maybe?…” Said Taeyara beneath her breath, Taeyara was now feeling more anxious, she couldn’t figure out a friendly reason for him to follow her all the way from south korea to Japan, he was sitting on a seat near her, he was staring at Taeyara after every second, 5 minutes pass by, Taeyara could either tell someone about it or deal with it, before she could take any step, the bus stopped, it was Taeyara’s chance to blend in with the crowd and head straight to a hotel, she ran for it, getting off of the bus, not caring to make eye contact with anyone, she headed straight in a hotel, and ran to the counter.
” Anneyonghaseou!, I’m KimTaeyara, i- I need to – I want a room, sir! immediately!” She yelled sounding as anxious and stressful as possible, the staff gave her a key as she paid for the room, and went to the elevator, Taeyara stood by the wall of the elevator, breathing heavily, not feeling comfortable at all, she was feeling very nervous, since she had personally never experienced anything like this before, she pressed the button to the 10th floor, and again rested her body against the wall.
a second before the door could shut, someone stepped in, Taeyara couldn’t dare make eye contact, or even check, who it is, she just looked at the floor and continued listening to her fav song, as the elevator started heading up, there was silence, just her and some stranger beside her, she looked over to her right, wanting to check the mirror, as for a split second, she saw who was standing beside her, “why the hell is he following me?! What do I do?…i-” she gasped loudly, staring at the ground, her heartbeat went faster, she could feel her own body shivering, she didn’t know what to do, her eyes were slowly starting to fill up with tears, as she thought to herself, maybe these are the last moments she’s living, maybe this guy’s actually planning to kidnap her, or a murder?, Her thoughts went darker as she felt her heart getting heavier, all of a sudden, the door opened, the strange tension between them grew larger, as Taeyara almost ran out, but was stopped by him, standing in her way, the guy was now completely facing her, blocking her way out.
Taeyara stepped forward but he wasn’t moving, she hesitated and finally having enough, said in a shaky/ fearful voice, “e-excuse me- i-” she lightly pushed the guy and ran for it with her luggage, for some reason the power of the 10th floor was out at the moment, now since it was already near 5am, the only light that could be seen was from the windows, Taeyara walked with her luggage trying to find her room, she was sure she heard that the guy had just stepped out of the elevator, since the elevator closing could be heard, Taeyara walked as she could now hear some foot steps behind her, she started walking faster and so did the foot steps. After a min, Taeyara started running, she couldn’t handle being followed all her journey, But as she ran, the footsteps ran too, she started almost sobbing and running to her room which she couldn’t find, Taeyara ran seeing a corridor at the end of the hallway which headed to right and left, without thinking Taeyara ran to the corridor and turned to the right seeing her room num 1015 finally infront her, Taeyara ran to it, hearing footsteps just behind her, she opened the door by the key, shaking her hands, almost breaking in tears, she got in and slammed the door behind her, she couldn’t believe what has just happened.
Nervously she ran to her bed, and walked from left to right, heavily breathing , “i-i-i have to call the cops!” She said getting more nervous than ever, she looked for her phone in her bag, only to finding out it’s dead, ” o-okay! Okay! My emergency phone! Where- where’s that! i-” all of a sudden the door of her room knocked, at first she looked around her room for an escape, but couldn’t find anything to even defend herself from, feeling helpless she decided to do the least expected thing, she while breathing heavily went to the door and decided to open it.
She got close enough to the door and tried to listen to who it is, ” Taeyara?… won’t you open the door for me?…” Said the stranger, Taeyara heard the deep manly voice,and covered her mouth in shock, obv thinking,” how does he know my name?…” the voice was a normal average voice of any korean man, so her trying to figure out who it is just by his voice wasn’t the best idea for the situation, she gathered her courage and asked him, trying to sound as valiant as possible, ” how do you know my name?…”, “Just- open the door, and I’ll tell you everything!” She heard from the stranger, thinking to herself now ” should i?…no I can’t…” She couldn’t figure out what to do, she even sounded so unsure, ” what do you want! Just Leave me alone, you creep!” She yelled, expecting him to kindly get away from her room,but he replied right after she yelled, ” I just want..you, that’s all I’m asking for..” Taeyara’s heart again skipped a beat, as she gulped in stress, she didn’t know why, but she was apparently blushing right now, feeling the most uncomfortable she has ever felt, ” l- look, i..I have know idea who you are! Ok?.. you’re creeping the hell out of me! Kindly leave me alone! Or  I swear, I’ll…”, ” Or what?..” said the stalker, Taeyara have had enough now, ” I’ll call the cops! Ok?!” She wanted to sound as valiant as possible, but a part of her was very nervous and anxious about the situation.
“How are you gonna call the cops?… isn’t your phone dead?…and the emergency one…well you just can’t find it, right?..” he sounded so sure of what he was saying, Taeyara couldn’t believe it, ” who is he?..” she thought to herself, again trying to sound like she’s ready to fight, ” look! I don’t care! Just- leave me alone! Ok?! You’re scaring me!” She said starting to sob, her emotions broke out, she couldn’t help it, she started sobbing now, as she heard him ” I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to, I swear..I just.. I’ll leave! As you say..just, take this gift from me..will you?..”, she didn’t know what to do at this point, what if it’s a trap? What if he breaks in as open the door?, She thought to herself, but she had no choice, ” I promise…Im not gonna hurt you…”said the stalker, making her open the door, she knew she’s taking a step but, she had to do it, she didn’t open the door fully, she only showed him her hand so that he could pass the gift and leave, as he looked at her hand, alot of  memories came flashing like waves on a beach, he remembered holding that hand everyday, his eyes starting to tear up as she said ” any year now..”,”yeah- i-” he passed her the gift, making her shut the door tightly. “Use that box when you’re in need of help… it’ll help..for sure..” he said still standing there, waiting for a response, but she never said anything. Simply she just wanted him gone, ” I’ll leave..as I promised..” said the stranger, still somewhat hoping a response out of her. ” What’s your name?…” Taeyara asked in curiosity, she wanted to know that maybe he’s a classmate she can’t remember or something. ” My name?..” he said making sure he heard what’s right, “yes!.. you’r name!” Taeyara claimed desperately wanting the answer. But before he could reveal his identity, a staff of the hotel came walking in the hallway, making him run for his life.
” He left?…oppa?..” (means someone older in korean), well eventually he was gone..for now… Taeyara placed the gift on her side table, and decided to rest without even doing anything. If only she knew her life would completely change by tomorrow, how many secrets are yet to be unfolded.