Translator | NCT Winwin

Chapter 1

Chunmei's POV

"Chunmei! Get up!" my older sister calls from across our apartment.

I drag myself out of bed, still annoyed at her. A few days ago, we boarded a flight from the U.S. to Korea. My older sister, Chunli, found a job in Korea, and she dragged me along against my will. So now we're in Korea - Seoul, to be exact. Boring story, I know.

We don't even know how to speak the Korean language - the only languages I can speak are Chinese and English. I used to live in the US, and my parents are Chinese.

And now I'm here, in Seoul, with no friends, no Korean experience, and a whole load of unhappiness.

After an eternity, I finally finish my morning routine and pick my outfit - jeans and a hoodie. I start heading to the kitchen to see what I can eat for breakfast.

As soon as I get to the kitchen, I see Chunli, frantically trying to pull on her shoes, grab her purse, and open the door, all at the same time. I roll my eyes at how disorganized she is.

"Chunli! What are you doing? What's for breakfast?" I ask, opening the door for her.

"I have to go to my new job! It's my first day! I can't be late!" she exclaims, patting all of her pockets for her phone. I spot it on the dining table and hand it to her.

"What do I eat for breakfast?" I ask as she rudely grabs her phone.

"Chunmei, for goodness sake! I don't know! Go to the coffee shop or something! It's literally two seconds away!" she exclaims, yanking the door open and running down the hallway.

"I can't speak Korean! You're the one with all the Korean friends!" I remind her, starting to get annoyed.

"Well, I need to go to my job, so please figure it out!" she calls in my direction before disappearing into the elevator.

"She's so selfish," I mutter under my breath, slamming the door shut. I scan the counter and dining table for any sign of anything edible, but come up empty-handed. Chunli must have eaten everything herself. If I were in America, I would have just gone out and bought myself something. I sigh in frustration.

Well, there's only one choice for me. Chunli probably isn't going to be back until late at night. So I'm going to have to figure it out somehow, unless I want to starve to death.

I glance out one of the windows and spot the coffee shop that Chunli was talking about. Now that I think about it, I've been holed up in this apartment since we got to Korea.

Grabbing my phone and wallet, I reluctantly pull on my sneakers and step out into the hallway. As I'm heading down to the main lobby, I open my translating app and type in "I would like an Iced Americano please." I memorize the sentence as fast as I can just as the elevator doors open.

When I finally get to the coffee shop after a short walk on the street, I see that it's mostly empty, with a few customers here and there. I take a deep breath and walk towards the cashier.

She looks up at me and asks me something. I immediately recite the sentence that I have memorized. Then she asks me something about the size of the drink. "Regular," I say in English, hoping she'll understand. It looks like she did.

She looks at me and asks something else. I assume she's asking if I want anything else - Oh wait, I forgot to learn how to ask for a muffin or a cookie! I'm screwed.

"I... can I have a... a..." I stutter in broken Korean, trying to figure out how to say "muffin" in Korean. Obviously, I'm unable to figure it out.

Well, this is just great.

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I hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Thanks for reading!