That Sassy Korean Girl

That Sassy Korean Girl © By Alex J. Tan

"Well, I'm sure that day will come. You will meet the person of your dreams." The emcee gave somewhat a well-thoughtful wish to the girl as they both shared some laughter together.
"And just like that, Q&A session is about to end..." The man added, staring at the watch in his hand. How surprisingly it went by fast while fans began to moan in unhappiness.
Se-Yi felt bad to leave in such a hurry, that she didn't really budge from her chair. She signalled Mr. Lee from afar that she wanted the session to last a little longer, to which he agreed, showing his approval via thumbs up.

Generously sparing 15 more minutes of her time to the unfinished Q&A session between the adoring fans, it was time for Se-Yi to finally leave.
"Gamsahamnida! Thank you! It was truly enjoyable!" Se-Yi spoke once more to the crowd before leaving the stage.
The crowd reacted with a round of applause and screams of joy as Se-Yi waved goodbye towards them, beaming with a bright smile.


"That was really, really great! Thank you for being the brand ambassador for this company. It really shed some light towards the fans around here." The PR spokesperson shook hands with Se-Yi, grateful that a prominent person like her was willing to be the face of the company.
The girl responded with a fixed smile. She doesn't have a clue as to what the PR spokesperson was saying at all. That was how bad her mastery of English was.
"She's a little shy. Don't worry. If she wasn't shy, she'd probably be saying, 'Thank You' and so on." Se-Yi's manager thanked them on her behalf.
Watching them leave with huge smiles across their faces, Se-Yi was quick to remember that she wanted to explore the place around a bit before heading off to another country.

"<Can we go sightseeing now?>" The Korean girl asked all of a sudden, turning her head towards her manager's direction. She looked at him with a dull and tired expression. It has been a long day for the both of them.
"<Hey, we got a schedule to follow. How about next time, alright?>" Mr. Lee seemingly promised her, showing signs of regret that he had to cancel Se-Yi's upcoming plan to tour around the place.
"<Okay... Then let me change my clothes first.>" Se-Yi responded plainly to her manager, grabbing her backpack from one of the closets.
The elderly man nodded his head affirmingly, watching Se-Yi hurriedly walked towards the restroom with her slingly backpack.
Before entering the nearby restroom, she had to make sure that it was out of sight from anyone's view. Couldn't risk anything being in a different country.

Within the next few minutes, Se-Yi peeped through the door to see if anyone was there and watching. Not a single soul in sight! A perfect moment to make her escape!
She came out hastily, donning a different set of outfit to the ones she was supposed to wear for her trip to Singapore.
A blue hoodie jacket that covered her head, a pair of sunglasses that were pitch black, dark colored jeans, and Converse sneakers.

"<Can't give me a little break time? Fine, I'll have to make some then.>" Se-Yi muttered to herself as she sprinted outside of the event tent. She was quick and quiet on her feet as no one spotted her leaving the event.


The bright Sun was blazing hot, with the locals walking around the streets just across KLCC. For once in her lifetime, Se-Yi felt that sudden freedom where no one was going after her for her autograph. That sense of freeness being able to do anything she wanted was finally at the tip of her fingers.
But freedom or not, she had to move fast, because it would be just a matter of time before Mr. Lee would come to realize that Ha Se-Yi had gone missing. And that would bring catastrophe, heat and probably tarnish her image on the whole!
Se-Yi halted a group of teenagers nearby, wanting to get directions since she wasn't so sure about it. At that itself, it would be impossible to convince them that she was a local due to the fact that she doesn't even know the streets of Kuala Lumpur!

"Good food, around Kuala Lumpur? Err... Char Kuey Teow?" She attempted her best, or worst, to communicate with them. She even did hand signs, trying to indicate that she wanted to eat something appetizing.
"Ah-cheh! Kuala Lumpur got so many food around! Very easy to find, but very hard to choose-hor?" one of the Chinese girls answered Se-Yi's question with her broken English. Better yet, in Manglish or Bahasa Rojak. It was a fairly common thing in Malaysia and to the locals themselves.
"Can show me, please?" Se-Yi quickly said to them, sounding sympathetic and helpless.
"Lai, we'll show you around." The guy led the way, heading towards the LRT, or Light Rail Transit, that was beneath underground.
Luckily for Se-Yi, she now had some help to find her way around KL. At the thought of that, it gave her some sense of relief.


"How do you...?" A confused Se-Yi asked one of the girls, looking at the token machine upon arriving there.
"You must put coins inside to buy the token." The girl simply responded, pulling out her purse.
"Nevermind, I belanja this token for you." One of the guys said, pulling out a set of coins for Se-Yi. This made the girl smiled gratefully and appreciatively as she watched the guy filled in the machine with coins, moments before a token came out.

Seeing that the train had arrived just on time, the group hurriedly inserted the coins into the gates and made their way to the designated standing point, waiting impatiently for people to board out from the train.
Se-Yi too tagged along, believing that the culture of Malaysia was far more impatient and fast than the people from her country.
With the group quickly boarding into the train, the breaking news immediately broadcasted inside the 4 coach train. Something that celebrity girl did not see it coming.

"May we have your attention please. A well-known celebrity, Ha Se-Yi, was last seen roaming around the streets of Suria KLCC. If anyone knows the whereabouts of this missing person, please report it immediately to the authorities." The person behind the speakerphone announced, to which Se-Yi buried herself deep within her seat, not wanting to attract anyone's attention. Tension was starting to build up within her.

"By the way, I didn't get to know your name. I'm Joshua." One of the guys offered a handshake to Se-Yi so suddenly, that it slightly startled the girl. The lass quickly shook his hands, trying to think of a name fast!
"I'm... Shu-Yi." She responded in an awkwardly shy manner, taking her hand away promptly.
"I can't really see your face with that hoodie and sunglasses." The guy added, prompting Se-Yi to answer back sharply.
"No need to! 'Panda' eyes." She made a motion that her eyes were swollen. This simply prompted the guy to nod his head, not wanting to press on, seeing that Se-Yi was rather sensitive about it.
"First time is it, being in Kuala Lumpur?" One of the girls proceeded to ask this time.
"Ne..." Se-Yi casually answered Yes, but in Korean instead of English.
She would soon find out that was a costly mistake!

"Ne?" They went slightly confused for a moment before realizing the meaning to it. One of them quickly pulled up Se-Yi's hoodie, and grabbed the sunglasses off Se-Yi's face, startling her entirely! Her eyes went wide by surprised and she looked fazed by what that girl did!
"Wah Piang! It's really Ha Se-Yi!" The girl was immediately star struck at the sight of the well-known celebrity!
In that state of surprise, Se-Yi quickly covered her head with the hoodie once more, while maintaining cover of her face from the rest of the public from seeing her.

"<Hey! Why did you have to do that?! Don't you know it's rude?!>" A visibly irritated Se-Yi berated at the girl. She felt the urge to hit her for her actions. But doing so, would only lead to more problems.
The fan-fanatic girl responded by screaming emphatically at the thought of meeting with a celebrity from South Korea, which caused a slight stir inside the coach as everyone else quickly pulled out their phones to snap pictures of Se-Yi and the girl!
"<Really!>" Se-Yi sighed as she knew her cover was blown. Things were about to get from bad to worse when other commuters began to close in to get a good look at Se-Yi, as well as trying to snap photos of her!


With the train stopping right at Masjid Jamek, Se-Yi hurriedly ran outside of the 4 coach train, followed by the crowd of crazy fans that weren't far behind!
Halfway through the stairs, the Korean girl ditched her hoodie and sunglasses, right before jumping over the train station ticket gates!
She knew she was breaking the law in another country, but at the state she was in, she'd rather do so to avoid getting caught by the local fans from Malaysia!
As she made her way outside the station, she simply dashed across the streets without looking at the oncoming traffic, sprinting faster with one clear goal inside her mind; to get away from her crazy fans that were chasing after her!