"Since we couldn't really make a birthday party for you, we made a 'first day at school' party!" Soonyoung giggled as he pulled out from the hug and pulled the girl inside the room, towards where a table had been dressed with colourful sprinkles and a pretty chocolate cake with her name on top.
Ophely laughed some more, all of her tight nerves, due to the stressful day, had suddenly gone all mush. She couldn't hold herself straight, or even just stand up completely. She collapsed into an awaiting chair, whipping at her misty eyes as she thanked the boys. "Thank you so much, you didn't have to."
"But we wanted to." One by one the boys gave her a single hug, showing her how they cared for her.
"And we missed you all day long!" Came another chirpy and hyper voice, this one belonging to Boo Seungkwan who wouldn't keep his hands to himself and embraced the girl with tight,ness and fervour.
All the while their manager watched the scene unfold from the doorway.
"Manager, why don't you come join us?" The second eldest of the group asked him, leaning against the wall beside the entrance of the practice room.
"You're the ones who care for her."
"And you don't?" Jeonghan asked with a little smirk, knowing that he was right. "Just come over, she wouldn't want you to distance yourself." He stood up away from the wall and made his way towards the table, to join in on the festivities, followed by their manager.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in happy chatter and while eating the food that the boys had brought over.
-
The days at school went one after the other. In the morning and until four in the afternoon, she would be at the school taking Korean lessons and improving her speaking and writing skills. The progress she made was seen daily.
And after coming back from her in school classes, Ophely would turn to her French lessons by distance. She would look back at what her old timetable used to be and work on the work she was given by her teachers. During those moments the boys didn't disrupt her knowing that she needed to be immersed in the language to understand what was taught better.
However, on the second Friday, Ophely was all caught up with the work on both sides. There wasn't really homework in Korea, the teachers preferred the students to revise rather than work. So Ophely had no work for her Korean classes, and the French teachers had reduced the workload to do at home since the Holidays were coming close. But Ophely knew that she would get a lot of difficult work to do when the next week came. Teachers in France always loved to give hard work the week before the holidays, an excuse to give them lengthy work to do, since it wouldn't take time from other lessons.
So Ophely was done with school and was walking back to the company building when she thought about the quiet moment she had right now. So she changed path and went to a more crowded part of Seoul, where she could find street vendors and have fun.
Ophely let her hair flow around her as she looked around the streets, filled with people and lights. She had never been able to witness places like this in France, firstly because she lived in the countryside, but also because it wasn't very French to do that. On market day you could find street vendors with their stalls selling easy to eat food, but it wasn't the same ambiance.
She was going to make the most of her afternoon.
She walked for a while, looking at what was being sold, slowly making herself choose what to eat for dinner, and what to have as a little dessert treat.
"Hello," She smiled up to the elderly seller, "Is it possible to have a portion of Tteoksoon?" She asked as fluently as she could, trying to remember the formal grammar though.
She was met with a beaming smile and a radiant old woman, who laughed joyfully at the young teenager. "Yes, I'll get to making it." She said looking up at the teenager standing on the other side of the table. "Your Korean is very good." It was Ophely's turn to smile brightly, it was nice to have all of her efforts brought up by a stranger, it meant that it hadn't gone to waste.
"Thank you." She could only say as she took out her wallet, ready to pay the elderly woman serving her. "How much will that be?"
"Eight thousand won." The old woman said, Ophely took the notes out and handed them to the women, exchanging the paper for a pot of Tteokbokki, though she was extremely careful, it seemed that the elderly woman had filled the little cup over what would be advised. Looking up, Ophely could only continue to smile as the old woman winked at her.
"Thank you so much, have a nice day." She thanked the woman for her generosity and retreated back into the busy street, eating a bit of her warm food portion. Not before burning her tongue from how hot it was, and coughing a little too, she had forgotten about the spiciness.
Ophely took out her phone and took a picture of her buyings, proud of herself for doing it on her own. She shared the picture with her friend from France. She continued to eat the spicy rice cakes and blood sausage skewers as she walked through the street, looking at shop windows and overall taking in the fresh air. And the warm scent of the food she had bought for herself.
Going back towards the street she had bought her meal from, Ophely finally finished the cup and skewer, it had been more than she had thought. The two foods were quite filling. But she wanted something to cool down her burning mouth. It was good, but Ophely wasn't one to like having a spicy aftertaste in her mouth until she got home.
So she looked for another stand that had a sweet treat she might like.
She stopped in front of a seller that was giving out a steaming bun to some teenagers her age. She watched as the two tore the bun in two, leaving the deep red filling to be seen.
"Hello." She asked, "What did the two teenagers just buy?" Ophely pointed towards the retreating figures by her left. The stand owner looked at the couple and back towards the French teenager.
"Jjinppang."
"Is it sweet?"
"Yes."
"Can I buy one?" Ophely finally asked, happy that the man was answering her questions. She thought that she must have been a little annoying. Like any other foreigner who didn't know what the food was. She took note in her head that Jjinppang was a sweet steamed bread.
The man took out a napkin and put in one of the steam buns in it. "That'll be one thousand won." He said with the bun ready for the girl to take. Just like she had done with her other purchase half an hour ago, Ophely gave the man the money and with two hands received the food. Thanking the man once again with a smile and making her way through the street.
For a second, she didn't know how to eat the warm bread in hand. She didn't want a repeat of earlier by burning her tongue. So she blew a little on it and then took a bite of the exposed bun side, the cold air of the atmosphere having also helped in cooling it down.
It was warm, slightly sweet and with an unusual texture. Ophely liked it. She finished her first bite and took another as she went to look for a calmer area to eat it. It was soft, but also very bready and the red bean filling had a slight gritty texture, that somehow wasn't bad. It was a pleasant surprise. She took another picture and sent it to her friend, Flora, who was a huge fan of everything Korean. She would be a little jealous of her though.
With a full stomach and after having spent a nice afternoon walking through the busy streets of the Korean capital city, Ophely was ready to rest her legs. She pushed her backpack further up on her bag, adjusting it as she exited the busy street to find a calmer area. She called one of the boys, one that would actually answer the call.
"Hey, Hansol-ah." She called out once he answered, "Are you at the company or back home?"
"Huh?" She heard the guy mutter on the other side of the line. She must have woken him up from a nap.
"Pledis or Home?" She asked again, not having realised that she had switched to English, further confusing the guy.
"I'm at home." He grumbled out, "Is that what you asked?"
"Yes, I'll be back in less than half an hour." She said, hanging up the phone after that, knowing that the boy was going to go right back to sleep, and would have no energy to hang up himself. She wasn't going to make the call any longer either, it wouldn't be of any use.
Overall, Ophely had had a nice day on her own. It had been a while since she had been able to enjoy the country she was staying in.