"Hello! You must be Syra Lia! I am your roommate. I also work for 'TravelOUR'. You will be my assistant for the next few days. I am Amy, I am from America."
A super excited woman stands in front of me as I entered my new apartment. She was still young, not older than 35. She has got blonde hair and deep blue eyes. She had the ideal western body. At the first look she would be the kind of woman who you would call arrogant, but after she starts talking this thought slowly drifts away.
"Hello? You are Syra Lia, aren't you?"
I nearly forget to answer her. "Yes, yes. I am Syra Lia. I am 19 years old and from Germany. Wait, OK 19 German years so... I am born on the 27th January 1999, that means I am 20 years old in Korea, right?"
"Exactly. It looks like you already understood the difference between Korean and our age system. That's perfect, one thing less to explain you. I was born on the 26th February 1995." Younger than I expected her to be. She had a smile on her face that was brighter than the sun. I have the feeling that we are going to be good friends.
"Soooo.... Thanks for the nice welcome... but can I unpack now? I am really tired and jet lagged by the flight here and I don't want to seem impolite but I want to rest now."
"Of course! Of course! No problem! What do you want to eat for breakfast tomorrow morning?" I couldn't believe my ears. She is making me breakfast? She is definitely going to be my best friend. No doubts.
"Just make me something Koreans eat for breakfast. I want to get in touch with their culture so let's start with my second favorite thing in the world: food!"
"Wow, you are easier to deal with than my last roommate. She was so picky! OK. I will surprise you!"
Normally I hate meeting new people but she is an exception. I unpacked my suitcases and tried to put my clothes into my closet which was too small to put everything in. A poster on the inside of my door caught my attention. It's BTS I think, the band this guy at the airport mentioned. Sadly, I wasn't able to get his name or take a close look at him because he was wearing a hood and a mask.
I flinch as Amy entered the room. "I thought you may be hungry so I made chicken nuggets. I hope you like them."
"Have you just asked if I like chicken nuggets? To say I like them is an understatement. I LOVE them!"
"I am glad to hear this. I was afraid you wouldn't because I don't eat meat. I am vegetarian." Of course she is. I am maybe the greatest meat lover of all time and she is vegetarian. My luck again.
"Good to know, because I love meat. If you don't want to cook it, it's ok then I will make my own food or just eat yours without meat."
"It's fine. I just cannot eat it because I love every kind of animal. I cannot stand the thought of them being killed to satisfy my needs. I don't judge people who like to eat meat and I am fine with cooking it, I just cannot eat it." She gives the chicken nuggets to me and leaves the room with a bright smile again.
Gladly no one is able to watch me while eating those nuggets, because they may think I am rather an animal than human. Since I slept over the whole flight and was busy finding my way to my apartment, I haven't eaten something since I left my home 26 hours ago. I ached for these chicken nuggets.
After eating there was just one thing left to do: sleeping! My favorite thing in the world. I am able to sleep anywhere, anytime, no matter who is with me. I once slept 27 hours straight after being awake for 72 hours. I was 16 and lived the standard gamer life, so staying up late was nothing special, especially with my big brother by my side. So when there is an event that takes 72 hours in your favorite game, you stay awake for 72 hours. That is how it works.
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Normally I am not a morning person, but waking up to the smell of food is something that makes me happy. "Good morning Syra Lia! I hope you got enough sleep because there is a lot to do today. We need to leave in 2 hours."
"Still 2 hours time? Perfect." I take something of the breakfast she made. It looks a bit strange, but it smells delicious. I am able to take a closer look at the apartment now. It's pretty small. Nothing special, but still good enough to live in.
"Come on! Sit down next to me! It's a new episode of Idol Party with BTS!" BTS again. Seems like they are going to follow me through my whole life now. "As you speak of BTS, whose poster is it on the inside of my door?"
"Ah! It is mine. I must have forgotten it as I took my stuff out there. I used this room as my office after my old roommate left." OK. BTS will definitely follow me when she is a fan of them.
I sit down next to her. I never watched any Korean shows. I wasn't even able to understand a single word. Until one of them started talking in English. He talked about their current world tour and their success in America. But there was something about him. I recognized his voice from somewhere.
"This is the man from the airport." It wasn't my intention to say this out loud.
"Yes, their pictures are everywhere. Even at the airport."
"No! I could recognize this voice everywhere! He guided me to the bus stop as I was lost at the airport." I said looking at her. Her face looked like she had seen a ghost.
"Did you just say Kim Taehyung, to the world known as V, helped you to get the right bus? And you didn't realize it was him? Are you kidding me? This must be a sick joke."
"No, Amy. I swear it was him!"
"OK, Syra. You can say the truth now. It's impossible that it was him. He is an idol. Why should he help people finding the right bus at the airport?" She was right. He is an idol. Why should it be him who helped me? There are maybe a lot of men in Korea having the same voice.
"You are right. It's impossible that it was him."
"Switching the topic: do you like them? Their music? I have got two ticket for their fan sign tomorrow, I wanted to go with Yuna, my ex-roommate since she liked them to but yeah... She moved out. Do you want to go there with me?"
"I haven't heard to any of their songs."
"Say no more." Were the only word she said before pulling out here smartphone and turning on a few songs of them. It's a mixture of hip hop, pop and soft music. "How is this called?"
"It is called 'Butterfly'. Do you like it?"
"It seems like a good song to cry to. What are they singing about?"
"The butterfly is a metaphor for a girl. I think knowing this, you can guess what they are singing about."
"So it's a love song. Sounds nice."
"So you are going there with me?"
"Yes I do. But don't hate me when I don't get excited about it."
"No! No! It's fine! Thanks for doing with me! But we need to get ready. Only 30 minutes left."
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Amy was right when she said there is a lot to do today. I worked 13 hours straight, the only break I got was to eat something I brought us at Subway. Coming home was like going to heaven.
"Are you up to watching a few movies to relax?" I like watching movies to relax after a rough day.
"No, I need to look good tomorrow. Who would I be when I go to a fan sign of BTS with eye bags bigger than my eyes their selves?"
"Yes you are right. I will go to sleep now either. Good night."
Of course I am not able to get any second of sleep. It's already 3 AM and I need to be awake at 8 AM. I am just doing the same thing I did back in Germany when I wasn't able to sleep: going on a night walk. Maybe I will find a nice place.
Completely lost in my thought I walked through the streets of Seoul like a zombie, wearing Sweatpants and hoodie. I bumped into a man. "Sorry! I was lost in my thought and didn't realize where I go!" I shouted louder than intended. "It's OK. I was lost in my thoughts too."
As I looked into his eyes I couldn't believe what I saw. It was V. Kim fucking Taehyung.
"Hey you are the girl from the airport."
"I knew I was right! God damn I knew it! Sorry! I didn't intend to shout at you. But as I watched Idol Party today I said to my roommate that you helped me find my bus but she couldn't believe me. After realizing who you are I couldn't even believe myself." I started laughing but then I recognized the look on his face. "Do you even understand me? Today morning it seemed like you can speak English."
"Just a bit. I am learning."
"Wow OK. So basic English. I saw you on TV today morning."
"Yeah, Idol Party."
"Right. I said my roommate you helped me at the airport, but she didn't believe me." He just smiled. But there was a small kind of sadness shown behind it.
"Can you speak Korean?"
"Not yet. I need to learn it too."
"Maybe I help you? We can learn together. You teach me English, I teach you Korean."
"Wow. Ehm. Are you sure?"
"Sure?"
"You really want to do this? Learning together?"
"Ah. Yes! You look nice. Look there, the café."
"Yes I see it."
"Meet there tomorrow, same time?"
"Ok yes. I think we will meet there tomorrow." He smiled as he turned around and walked away without saying any word. Without even saying good-bye.