Chapter 2: Oppa, Saranghae.
"Seriously, do you even know where you were going?!" The guy was still infuriated with Se-Yi after she had collided onto him.
The lass got up from the ground in synchronization with the lad's. She dusted herself before asking him an important question that would determine if she could trust him further.
"Err, you don't know who I am?" Se-Yi wanted to confirm her suspicion. She had placed her hopes high that he doesn't.
"Who are you-lah?" The guy simply responded back, scratching his head in cluelessly, yet slightly peeved. As though he knew everyone he ever bumped into.
"Nevermind... Just help me!" Se-Yi quickly grabbed his arm like a clingy person. A part of her was already thankful that he doesn't know who she was. At least she knew that he could help her escape.
"Why?" A confused look that surrounded the guy's face. He didn't seem to trust Se-Yi at that very moment, suspecting something was amiss. Scam maybe.
"Bad people are looking for me. Quick, bring me somewhere safe! Please, hmm?" The girl continued, pleading with her puppy dog eyes, hoping that he would instantly help her. Part of her charm to act cute in front others.
Aegyo was the term they called in her country. The lad wasn't going to fall for that trick easily, but he could also see that she wasn't playing around either.
With a goofy looking T-Shirt, cap and sunglasses, she's definitely trying to hide from someone. Or at least she was attempting to.
"Okay..." He reluctantly replied, looking around for the nearest exit from Petaling Street.
The pair hurriedly walked outside of Petaling Street, en route to the nearby train station that was just walking distance.
Looking behind carefully, Se-Yi knew that her manager, nor her fans were anywhere in sight.
"We're safe! Gamsahamnida!" The girl immediately thanked the stranger she'd barely knew.
"Yeah, whatever, Ms. Tourist. You're free to go now." The guy simply put, looking forward to leave her by herself. But Se-Yi had other plans in mind. She wasn't done with him just yet.
"Let's get on that train! There!" She suggested swiftly as the guy sighed in disbelief. He had only meant to help her get away from the people that were looking for her in Petaling Street, but he didn't intend to go on a train ride with her.
"Why?" The curious man asked, having doubts about it.
"Oppa-ssi, I don't know the place here. If I take this train alone, I could get lost." The girl responded rather poorly in English, but it was enough for the man to understand. But in truth, she was rather frightful about the earlier events that took place with the group of teenagers she went along with. She needed someone who could at least protect from a similar situation.
The lad almost cringed at the thought of her first sentence when she called him that. He knew what that word was, and he hated it.
Leaving without much of a choice, he hesitated for a moment before agreeing to follow her. He didn't like one bit.
As they boarded the train, the pair sat down at the very end of the coach, where not one single living being was at sight. The lad suddenly turned his head directly at an enthusiastic Se-Yi, who was viewing the sights of the dark pitched tunnel.
There was really nothing to see, but she was still displaying that excitement that he had never seen before.
"Which begs the question now, who the heck are you?" He asked Se-Yi promptly. The girl turned to him, with her reaction clearly surprised. She thought for a moment on how to answer him, pondering the fact that he could probably kidnap her for ransom money should he learn that she was Ha Se-Yi of South Korea.
"I'm... Shu Yi." Lied Se-Yi convincingly. Or so she thought.
"That's not what I heard earlier. Someone was calling out; Se-Yi! Se-Yi! He was referring to you, wasn't he?" The guy answered back with another question, raising an eyebrow with suspicion. He wasn't dumb, but he was definitely sharp. He really did pay attention to the details of his surroundings earlier on.
Caught red handed with her white lie, Se-Yi admitted the truth embarrassingly. She revealed her actual name, knowing that she was taking a big risk.
"Ne... I'm Se-Yi, not Shu Yi."
"And you are?" Se-Yi asked after observing the averagely well-built, 5 feet 11 inches in height male.
In contrast to what she had seen earlier, he was quite bold looking, slightly fierce, and a person who doesn't joke around either.
"Just call me Jay." He replied in a quick way, resting his head against the window of the 2 coach train. He shut his eyes for a moment to digest the fact that was happening right in front of him. The weird, quirky girl he had just bumped into not more than an hour ago.
"Jay? Hmm, arasseo." The girl simply responded by nodding her head in affirmation. She pursed her lips, not wanting to make things awkward between the two of them.
"A-Arasseo? That doesn't sound like a Chinese word." Jay suddenly stared at her, opening his eyes. He had a bewildered look across his face and now his trust towards this mysterious girl seemed to be in question.
"Ne... I'm Korean." Se-Yi replied, smiling at him all of a sudden. The stakes were high, but she felt that she could trust him just from the way he talked. He was trustworthy from her judgement.
"Great." Jay pretended that he wasn't surprised upon hearing that, which in fact, pleased Se-Yi.
"Oppa, is it okay if I call you that?" Se-Yi's sudden question to Jay in a cheery way after being quiet for a short period of time.
"Call me what?" Jay looked at her confusingly.
"Oppa!" Se-Yi repeated the word, but in a more cheery way. Her eyes glittering in delight, while trying to make the lad feel more comfortable around her. But he could only feel goosebumps all around his arms. Hair strands shooting upwards from the kind of cringe that was setting in!
"Oh..." Jay's only dull response as he found that quite ridiculous.
"Oppa, you should be happy that a girl is actually calling you 'Oppa'! Hmm?" Se-Yi looked at him, slightly disappointed that he wasn't bothered by it. She had placed her hopes a bit high on this one.
"Well, I am not." Jay turned to her, showing signs of disinterest towards Se-Yi's thoughts about it.
"Which reminds me, aren't you supposed to go back or something? To... whichever hotel or house you were staying?"
Se-Yi blinked her eyes with curiosity, looking at him dubiously. And it was only then that she realized that today was the day she and Mr. Lee would have checked-out from the hotel! She doesn't have a place to stay at this point now!
"I don't have a home. My home is in South Korea." A guilty expression she could only respond back.
"Figures..." Jay rolled his eyes, pretty much guessing an answer like that from the Korean lass.
He proceeded to close his eyes to take a short nap, while Se-Yi continued observing the view of the city as the train came out of the tunnels.
Looking at his watch after 20 minutes of being inside the train, it was almost dinner time. The clock was pointing close to 7 in the evening.
"You must be hungry. You want to grab dinner or something?" Jay offered Se-Yi. He could see that girl was indeed hungry just from the look on her face. She nodded her head excitingly.
"Well don't expect anything expensive. I'm actually broke." He added, checking his wallet for the amount of cash he was carrying.
"Gwaenchanayo, I think it's nice to go for a change." Se-Yi responded positively to his offer.
But in reality, she was worried about the kind of food they served. It could very well affect her strict diet. But she didn't have a choice. She can't starve to death.
Stopping by at Wangsa Maju, the pair made their way to an Economy Mixed Rice shop that was nearby. The excited Se-Yi grew extremely curious with all of the dishes around.
"Hmm, Oppa! There is so much food here!" The girl was easily astonished by the amount of food on different racks and trays.
"Yeah, today seems to be a good day. Just look at that fish right there! And that meatball!" Jay pointed at the variety of dishes that were being served.
"<Well, there goes my diet plan... Might as well just break it since I never had a meal like this for a few years.>" Se-Yi thought to herself, taking the plate of rice that was offered to her by one of the waiters.
After selecting a number of dishes of her choice, Se-Yi briskly followed Jay behind, awaiting him to pay for the meal.
"This one's on me." He casually stated to her, watching Se-Yi nod her head like a little girl who seemed really eager.
With the 2 of them finally sitting down after searching for a table, they both started eating their meals. While eating, Se-Yi was already expressing her joy of the food that was not only reasonable, but tasty as well!
"Oppa, the food here is really tasty!" She said delightfully towards the lad.
"That's good to know. It still taste the same as it always does after all this time." Jay responded casually as he ate his meal fast.
"Are there anymore shops like this?" Se-Yi asked once more, interrupting Jay while the latter was trying to eat peacefully and quietly.
"Yeah, there are few." He replied, setting his spoon down before adding along,
"Do me a favor, will you?"
"Hmm?" The girl looked at him confusingly.
"Be quiet." Jay instructed her, sounding slightly stern which prompted Se-Yi to make a pouty expression. She knew that she had probably hit his limit of patience that clearly wasn't high.
By the time they were done with dinner, it was time for them to part ways. And that was something Se-Yi was highly afraid of. Her part of the reason? She had nowhere to go, nowhere to reside for the night. Meeting Jay was the only thing that made her welcome stay a little more secured. And if he were to leave, Se-Yi might end up in tomorrow's news. 'South Korean celebrity found dead' would be all over the headlines.
"What?" Jay looked at her as she made a puppy dog eyes once more.
"Oppa, I don't have a place to stay." Se-Yi admitted the problem that was bugging her.
"Then? How can you not have a place to stay?" Jay looked at her in disbelief, slightly irritated.
"I am from South Korea, remember?" Se-Yi simply reminded him, while crossing her arms. With her pouty expression that was still there, she attempted to trip guilt Jay, or make him sympathize her. "Hmm..." Jay thought about it for a moment, crossing his arms.
"The immigration office is closed by now. So you may want to stay in a hotel rather than staying at my place." The lad easily predicted where this conversation was heading.
"Why would I want to stay in a hotel? It is not safe for a girl like me." She replied in an upsetting tone. She proceeded to fold her arms, with her eyes looking downwards while she pretended to sulk. Jay sighed, knowing well the answer to that.
"So you're telling me that you would rather take the risk in staying at my place? Don't you think that's a bit absurd?" He didn't hesitate to give her a sarcastic look, as Se-Yi suddenly stopped sulking.
"I think that is a great idea! Oppa, I will pay you monthly rental for my time spent there!" Se-Yi stated with a smile across her face, much to Jay's dismay. The man hardly even gave her permission to stay at his place!
"I never said you could stay. Wait, aren't you worried that a guy like me could do something harmful towards a girl like you?" Jay was taken aback by Se-Yi's offer, and her seemingly fearless choice to stay at his place.
"Aniyo!" She answered positively with a smile of an innocent girl.
"Although you may look scary, but I think you are a nice person."
"That's poor judgement right there. But then again, I am too depressed to even bother about the world around me these days. Are you really sure about your decision?" He asked her once more, showing her a doubtful look. He was hoping that she would discard the idea somehow.
But that wasn't going to happen.
Se-Yi raised both of her thumbs up, with a cheeky smile that had Jay questioning her sanity. Never in his life would anyone, especially a girl he came across in one day would want to stay in his apartment.
In his mind, that was pure madness!
As the pair entered Jay's apartment, Se-Yi's enthusiasm immediately died-off upon seeing how deliberately messy his apartment looked.
The lass quickly headed over to the kitchen to inspect the bowls and other kitchen appliances in the cupboard. Much to her horror and chagrin, it was filled with dust and dirt. She even saw a cockroach running around the cupboard.
As filthy as it looked, she hid away her shocked expression as she didn't want to offend Jay in a rude manner.
"Jay-Oppa, this is a nice apartment, but..." The lass said to him in her soft voice, right before Jay interrupted.
"Nice? It's actually kinda dull from my point of view." Jay turned to her, rather odd about her way of compliment.
"It looks special, but a little bit dusty." Se-Yi's sudden change of character, forcing a smile in front of him.
"To be honest with you, I don't know what makes you think that this place is special-lah." He added, walking inside while shaking his head in disbelief.
"You're really out of your mind, girl. And I don't even know why." The lad's added statement that forced Se-Yi to just shrug cluelessly, as she followed him around the hallway.
Upon entering the bathroom and placing her bag on top of an old wooden shelf, Se-Yi was eternally glad to finally have a golden opportunity to take a shower after a long scorching day under the hot sun. Before turning on the tap, Se-Yi took off her cap and untied her hair bun, letting her long hair slide down. She still had her pink sunglasses on.
She then stared at the mirror for a period of time, thinking about the situation she was involved in throughout the whole day.
"<If he sees me like this, would he even recognize me? No, would he actually be like those fans of mine?>" She asked herself, worried that Jay might become a fan fanatic.
Right after saying that, Se-Yi started laughing to herself. She was already overthinking about Jay's reaction should he know that he was looking at Ha Se-Yi, one of the premier celebrities from South Korea! His jaw would definitely drop by surprise to even see a celebrity right before his very eyes!
It's practically every guy's dream to have a celebrity crush standing right in front of them, at the very place where they live. Se-Yi was confident that Jay was no exception from the other guys.
"<No, wait! What if he's an anti-fan? What am I going to do? Would he throw things at me? No, he wouldn't. He's not like that!>" A worried look plastered all over Se-Yi's face.
"<Or would he? Aish... I'll be really dead if he's an anti-fan! Most anti-fans would love to see idols they hate suffer. And I hardly know him!>"
Allowing her set of imaginations to take place, the celebrity girl was coming up all sorts of crazy possibilities and probable factors that could take place. Her main concern, if Jay was the kind of person that hated celebrities like her, she could probably end up getting hurt. Better yet, if he was the opposite, of which he was kind, compassionate and considerate person who won't hurt her, it would be a peace of mind to the girl to know that she could spend a few more days here in Malaysia.
Staying longer than that in his apartment, she could just pay him a large sum of money to substitute the accommodation instead of wasting her money in a hotel. But that still made her worry.
"<How is he going to react?>" She bit her lip, just flustered.
Se-Yi came out from the bathroom after a really long shower, wearing back the same set of clothes she had worn earlier, her hair that was still in the midst of drying up. Still drenched wet, and no hairdryer anywhere in sight, she just had to make do for the time being.
It didn't take that long for Jay to find out that the girl didn't have any spare clothes on her. He went up to her.
"What? No pajamas?" He suddenly asked, holding a cup of coffee he had made for himself.
Se-Yi shook her head 'No' as an answer without uttering a single word, prompting the lad to sigh heavily.
A puzzled look came across Se-Yi's face. Why wasn't he reacting to the way that she was hoping for? He is in fact looking at Ha Se-Yi without any form of disguise! She hardly had any heavy make-up on, let alone her pretty face that was probably her best feature. Is Jay from the Medieval times, or was he just obtuse?
Slightly peeved, but glad and relieved in some ways, she reminded herself that Jay doesn't know who she was, yet.
"You really are from outside of town aren't you?" The lad added as he walked inside his bedroom, shutting the doors behind him at the next second.
"<Tsk! Aish, really! Even though I've appeared on a variety of shows, and made appearances everywhere, I'm really certain that everyone in this country knew me. And he doesn't even know who I am. Strange!>" Se-Yi's very thought at that time while leaning against the wall. Half-smiling while shaking her head with pure dissatisfaction.
In no less than a minute, Jay came out from his bedroom, throwing long blue sleeve shirt directly at Se-Yi, to which she caught it by surprise!
"Ooh? Igo mwoya? Waeyo?" She looked at the clothing confusingly after catching it.
"You can't be wearing that to sleep-lah. You'll smell like rotten eggs by morning." Jay's only reason to Se-Yi.
Grinning happily at the sight of it, the girl was grateful that he showed some concern for her since she had almost nothing with her.
Jay glanced at Se-Yi oddly for a moment as he didn't expect anything out of her. He could see that Se-Yi was having thoughts of her own while observing the long sleeve shirt.
"Is there anything you want to say? You really don't look like you belong to this part of the world." He suddenly snapped his fingers at her, catching her attention that was drifting away from reality.
"Gomapseumnida." Se-Yi thanked Jay with a slight bow before she headed back inside the bathroom.
Jay almost chuckled at the sound of that, finding it slightly amusing.
Wearing the size-L size shirt, it was indeed too big for her as it covered her body almost entirely. Somehow, a smile formed around Se-Yi's face as she admired the shirt.
From what she could remember, she had never worn a guy's shirt before. This was her first.
"<I guess the saying is true. It is every girl's dream to put on their boyfriend's shirt. But he's not even my boyfriend.>" Se-Yi almost blushed by the wise quote, admiring the way the shirt covered her from top to bottom.
She could also smell residue scents from a cologne that was recently sprayed on the shirt. Sniffing it to find out the kind of cologne that Jay used, she was rather impressed. She couldn't remember the last time she dated someone that had actually used proper cologne.
"<'Boyfriend' material!>" Her admiration for Jay grew once more with a beaming smile, checking out the mirror once again.
"Oppa, how do I look?" Se-Yi asked Jay excitingly, while the latter was occupied with the news that was happening on TV. He turned around with a casual expression on his face.
"Oversized." He simply commented, watching the girl flapped her arms with the huge shirt like a penguin.
Se-Yi quickly went up towards the living room, witnessing him watching the news. She sat on the couch, right next to him, much to his annoyance .
"Today's report: Rising star actress, Ha Se-Yi, was reported missing. Last seen at the streets of Suria KLCC, witnesses have claimed that she boarded a train that stopped by at Masjid Jamek before her initial disappearance. Many have claimed that the young actress was kidnapped. If anyone knows the whereabouts of the actress, please do inform the authorities." The news reporter announced.
Se-Yi glanced over at Jay's face who seemed unfazed by the news.
"I got a question. What's your name again? Your full name." He suddenly asked, startling Se-Yi as she jumped by surprise!
"I, err..." Se-Yi couldn't really answer properly. Besides being tongue-tied, she couldn't possibly imagine telling him the truth about herself. Let alone with what he'll do to her.
"I don't have to guess that hard to know that you're the missing girl in the news, right?" Jay continued to stare at her. The kind of stare that made the girl trembled with fear for a second. But she had to maintain her composure.
"Ne..." Se-Yi answered truthfully, lowering her tone with remorse that signified she was the missing celebrity.
"Joesonghamnida." She added with an apology towards him.
"So why run away? If you're a celebrity, shouldn't you be enjoying the luxurious lifestyle?" Jay asked once more, giving Se-Yi a moment to ponder on a suitable answer to justify her actions.
"I-I got tired. Sometimes I want out of this. I want people to not disturb me for once!" Se-Yi explained further.
"Okay, I'll give you 2 options. The first option, should I call the authorities to come and get you? It's the right thing to do. Or the second, let this slide? Even though it is wrong." Jay proposed, sounding calm and rational.
"Aniyo! Not the first one! I just want to feel free in my life. Have you ever thought, how difficult it is for celebrities to go out like a normal person? We can't enjoy a cup of coffee when fans always surround us, just to take a photo with us." Se-Yi's explanation that caught Jay's full attention. He practically gazed at her with wonder for a moment before finally deciding.
"Fair enough. Do whatever you want with this freedom of yours, for now. We all deserve some rest at least." He got up from the couch lazily, switching off the television set.
"And by the way, whatever happens, I don't want to get arrested, because I'm not the one who actually 'kidnapped' you. Deal?" The lad suddenly said to Se-Yi, sounding both firm and straightforward.
"Arasseo. Okay!" Se-Yi responded right away with a grateful smile. It was probably one of the best thing she had heard throughout the whole day.
"You can sleep on the couch there. The bed is mine." Jay added as he walked into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.
Se-Yi, on the other side, still had a smile on her face, while resting on the couch comfortably.
"<At least he's not like one of those fans that would go crazy.>" The girl had finally assessed the situation about Jay, resting her eyes that were gradually heavier by the second.
But before she could do so, Se-Yi opened up her smartphone that she had left it off throughout the whole day. Completely forgotten to check her device that was probably filled with messages and missed calls that she was expecting.
Over a hundred missed calls, and thousands of messages flooded in within seconds of switching on her phone, causing it to crash so suddenly!
"<I didn't know there were so many phone calls!>" Se-Yi was wide eyed and intrigued with what she had seen, shaking her phone that was still stuck at its home screen. At that very second itself after it became better, her phone rang. This time, it was from her manager, Mr. Lee.
Picking up the call, her manager let out a sigh of relief, but started shouting over the phone almost immediately.
"<Ha Se-Yi! Why did you run away from the event?! Do you know how worried am I?! Where are you now?! It's already late at night!>" Her manager bombarded her with various questions.
"<I'm fine. I'm staying over at a friend's place. Why did you report to the police that I was kidnapped? Clearly, I wasn't!>" Se-Yi responded back in a defensive tone, hostile towards the elderly man on the other side of the phone.
Crossed and hurt, she technically didn't want her stay in Malaysia to be a bad one. It's situations like these that would tarnish her image easily.
"<That's not the point! The point is that you have to get back here, now! We're supposed to be on a flight to Singapore!>" Her manager shot back with a cold answer, feeling a sense of urgency towards the situation.
"<Well, I'm not returning back for the time being. This is my holiday, and I want to enjoy every single bit of it!>" Se-Yi stated firmly, without putting in consideration to return back to South Korea for the time being.
"<If you do this Se-Yi, your allowance, bank accounts and assets will be frozen. You would have no money to do the things you want. I hope you will think this through.>" Mr. Lee directly threatened her, hoping that she would change her mind at that very moment. He knew for a fact that the girl couldn't live a day without money. But he was wrong for once.
"<If that's the case, I'm fine with that! I can work here!>" Se-Yi's snarky remark that somehow surprised her manger with a wild decision like that. But deep down, her temper was boiling to the core. She had to play it cool to make it seem that she was independent on her own.
"<Don't do this, Se-Yi! Please, for your sake!>" He finally begged her to not make the wrong decision that she would regret.
"Adios, amigo! Hasta-la bye-bye!" Se-Yi greeted goodbye in Spanish, ending the call abruptly!
Se-Yi was clearly pissed with her manager as she attempted to fall asleep on the couch, but she couldn't. Although minutes gradually went by, the girl was still awake! All that anger she had harbored must have given her some energy to stay up longer than expected.
Gnashing her teeth in rage, Se-Yi got up from the couch, stretching herself. Throughout her life, anger often keeps her awake in the middle of the night, giving her the energy she needed to stay active during film shooting. But in this case, she had nothing to do. And somehow, if morning comes, she would be dreadfully tired.
"<What am I supposed to do now...?>" Se-Yi took a look around Jay's small apartment, seeing how dull the place really did look. Dusty, old, and wallpapers that were starting to tear out, the lass sighed heavily just at the sight of that. If she could, she wanted to redecorate the entire place.
Turning her head towards the kitchen, Se-Yi spotted a cockroach that was running around near the sink. Slightly disgusted, the girl quickly reached out for the newspaper nearby. She folded it and made her way towards the kitchen with a killer look across her face!
About an hour and a half later, Jay came out from his room, scratching his head. He too couldn't fall asleep. Naturally, it was quite common for him to experience insomnia on certain nights. And this was one of them.
Cracking his fists and neck, he paced his way towards the kitchen, having the assumption that a glass of water could ease the insomnia night. But seeing the kitchen lights on felt awfully odd. How would the celebrity girl be able to sleep peacefully with the lights on? Or was Jay too hard to her by letting her sleep uncomfortably on the couch?
Setting foot at the kitchen with dismissed assumptions, Jay immediately fell backwards by surprised, seeing Se-Yi still actively awake in the middle of the night while sitting on the floor!
But that was the least of what truly staggered him. Just seeing her cleaning the old dusty bowls with an old cloth and a bucket of water next to her, while swatting cockroaches that were running around with an old newspaper was truly stupefying for Jay!
"Annyeonghaseyo!" Se-Yi quickly greeted him, smiling sheepishly as it was rather awkward that she was caught like that. She proceeded to dispose the used up newspaper away at once as Jay stood motionless there, simply shocked!
"Too free ah?" Part of Jay's discussion with Se-Yi as they sat at the kitchen table. He wasn't thrilled to learn that she was meddling with things she shouldn't have. Afterall, she was the guest in his apartment.
"I... do not like to see your place so dusty and dirty." Se-Yi's defensive response in Basic English, lowering her head in embarrassment.
"It's not a crime, but why bother? It's not like I would notice anything different about it." Jay explained to her, indeed sounding disappointed.
"How... have you been living like this for a long time?" The girl asked in wonder, prompting Jay to raise an eyebrow. Besides not wanting to answer that question, he couldn't exactly understand the words she was trying to deliver.
"Your grammar's terrible. Here, take this." The lad proceeded to grab a dictionary from a bookshelf, handing it to the Korean lass. Jay was quick-witted to elude Se-Yi's question.
"Ige Mwoya? Waeyo?" Se-Yi was taken aback by Jay's action, accepting the dictionary he offered to her.
"I couldn't understand a word you'd just said. Perhaps you can translate that?" he asked, in which Se-Yi rolled her eyes, thinking of the trouble she had to translate from Korean to English.
"What is this? Why?" In a dull manner she implied, setting her eyes away from Jay while she pouted.
"Whatever. Get some sleep, alright? I don't like to see you up so late cleaning stuff. You're a guest here, got it?" Jay couldn't help but to lecture her a bit, watching the girl nodded her head obediently as she bit her lip with disappointment.
He got up from his seat, ready to head back into his room when he stopped for a moment, turning back to Se-Yi.
"And by the way,"
Se-Yi looked up, still having the disappointed look on her face, as she waited for Jay to speak his mind.
"...Thank you. It's been a long time. I couldn't remember the last time I even took the effort to clean the bowls myself." He clearly appreciated her effort in tidying up his kitchen.
He didn't ask for it, but she just did it. And that's something that Jay had to credit her; Responsibility, and Tidiness.
Se-Yi suddenly grinned happily, enjoying the compliment she received from Jay.
"Goodnight, Oppa!" The girl proceeded to wish him through her playfulness, watching the latter entered his room before he too replied from the inside.
"Night!"
Jay took his smartphone and dialed 999 on the screen, the emergency number to the local authorities. What went on in his mind through the night was the possible consequences should he face if he was caught for the 'alleged kidnapping' of Ha Se-Yi, the celebrity from South Korea. But that wasn't all. The girl herself shouldn't even be living in his apartment, let alone cleaning his bowls in the middle of the night. She's not a maid!
But as tempting as he wanted to hit the green button to call them, Jay couldn't. Se-Yi's words about wanting to be free from her hectic life was the only thing that held him back from calling the local authorities.
Shutting off his phone Jay kept the device inside the drawer, trying to withdraw negative thoughts about reporting Se-Yi to the police. He knew the kind of risk he was about to take, and he chose not to care, tucking himself with the blanket from his bed as he tried to get some rest.
On the other side, Se-Yi snuggled up on the couch, covering herself with her blanket while she let out a sigh of relief. She was still in a happy state after Jay had complimented her earlier. And the thought of it made her smile more, giggling with delight.
"<Aigoo! Why am I thinking about him? First, his shirt, and now his way of saying 'Thank you'. There's really something about him!>" The girl thought to herself while trying to fall asleep. But her eyes remained wide open as she thought about it once more.
"<I've never met anyone like that before. Could he... be the one? Not a fan, and not an anti-fan?>"
By the time morning came, Jay woken up by surprise to find breakfast was set by Se-Yi herself! Other than that, he saw the cupboard doors of the kitchen wide open. From the looks of it, Se-Yi had cleaned the dusty bowls throughout the whole night. She didn't get much sleep, from the way she constantly yawning every few minutes or so.
"Ta-da! Jjang!" Se-Yi said it out loud with full of enthusiasm, rubbing off her tiredness that was visibly there a second ago.
"What time did you wake up to do this?" A confused, puzzled look on Jay's face as he stared at her unbelievably.
"I could not sleep the whole night, Oppa. Insomnia, I think?" The Korean girl looked at the clock that was hanging on the wall. The needle was pointing 5 minutes to 7 o'clock in the morning.
"Wah, you really didn't sleep the whole night..." Jay had a wide shocking expression across his face as he saw how Se-Yi was full of energy.
He then turned his attention towards the dining table. Pancakes, Shik-Hae, some fried eggs, toasted bread, and sausages were all steamy hot and freshly made.
"W-where did you get all of the ingredients to make this?" Jay sat down, clearly befuddled with the whole thing while Se-Yi sat just across from him.
"Hmm? Ah, I went downstairs to the mini market. A lot of things there!" The girl casually responded, grinning at him.
Jay could only nod his head in amazement, but still astonished that Se-Yi had prepared breakfast right after cleaning most of the kitchenware throughout the night.
"Oppa, let's eat!" She hurriedly grabbed a pair of table knives and forks for Jay and herself.
"Yeah, okay." He answered, scratching his head in confusion.
Right after breakfast, Jay had a quick shower and got into his working outfit. He was running late for work seeing the needle of the clock that was now pointing at 7.30 A.M.
"Jay-Oppa, where do you work?" Se-Yi suddenly asked as she watched Jay tie his necktie.
"I work in a bank." He briefly replied, getting ready to leave real quick.
"Jinjjayo? Wah! Daebak!" The girl became exhilarated upon hearing that. Part of her did admire guys who actually works in a bank. She couldn't explain why she liked that, but it just became one of the very things that she truly enjoys. Or it was part of a trend that she remembered seeing a few years back.
"Hey, calm down-lah! You'll wake the neighbors up!" Jay simply signalled her to lower her voice. The Korean girl could not contain herself that she began giggling excitedly!
"Joesonghamnida! It is exciting to know that Jay-Oppa is working there!" Se-Yi's reason as she still had that bright cheerful smile all around her face.
"Okay, relax then. It's just a normal bank job. Nothing special, alright?" The lad had intentions to scold her, but he couldn't as time wasn't exactly on his side.
He quickly pulled out his credit card from his wallet and handed it to Se-Yi, who in return, looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"Buy yourself some clothes. And please don't overspend it on luxurious items. I'm not that rich." He explained briefly, making sure that she understood what he meant.
"Assa!" Se-Yi answered back ecstatically as she safely kept the card inside her purse. Jay could only give a sarcastic look that made the girl laughed more.
The lad took his strap bag, finally ready to head off to work. Locking the grill gate shut, Jay threw the keys back inside, making sure that it was reachable and visible for Se-Yi to take notice of. It was also a norm in Malaysia to simply throw one's set of keys inside the house for the other occupants to get out later.
Other than that, Jay only had one set of keys. He didn't have any spares for Se-Yi should she wish to go out later.
While in the midst of cleaning the table, Se-Yi soon realized that Jay had forgotten to take the lunch bag she had prepared for him.
"<Huh? He's forgotten his lunch bag...>" The lass muttered to herself as she grabbed the bag and headed outside. She took along the things she needed; like Jay's credit card, the house keys, a cap to wear, and some small changes. Stuffing it inside her backpack, the girl made her way outside. With most of the dishes rinsed and cleaned, it really wasn't an issue for her to just leave the apartment just like that.
As she raced down the stairs, she helplessly watched the bus Jay boarded in departed away from the bus station.
"<Aish! The bus left...>" She mumbled, slouching in disappointment. It was also just then, a taxi popped right next to her. All at the right moment.
"Cik, nak pergi mana?" The taxi driver asked in a friendly manner, rolling down his window as he watched the girl staring at him in a baffled manner.
"Huh?" A confused Se-Yi could only respond back dumbfoundedly without knowing how or what the local language was here in Malaysia.
"Where you want to go?" He asked again, this time in English.
"Oh! Oh! Follow that bus!" She hurriedly pointed at the bus that was far in the distance.
"Okay! Enter here, Miss!" The taxi driver unlocked the door for Se-Yi to enter into his taxi cab.
Following the bus throughout its entire journey, Se-Yi finally found the place where Jay was working at. It was a part of town that was quite a distance from where Jay was staying. The place seemed quite busy early in the morning. There was a Chinese coffee shop just at the opposite of the bank that was packed and crowded with hungry customers that were ordering their food.
Se-Yi paid attention to her surroundings, overseeing the vast amount of cars on the road, and people crossing the streets without care. It's like they weren't afraid to get knocked by oncoming traffic!
"That will be RM25." The taxi driver finally said to her, smiling politely after they had arrived at the destination.
As Se-Yi popped open her purse, all she had was 20 Ringgit from Jay's drawer before she left his place.
"Joesonghamnida. This is all I have." She said it in an apologetic manner.
"It's okay, Ah Moi. Can-lah, shouldn't be a problem." The taxi driver accepted the money from her, still smiling. It was all she had, and she certainly didn't looked like she knew the place that well herself.
The girl quickly rushed out from the taxi to halt Jay, who had just walked right inside the bank when the doors shut tight behind him. Attempting to enter by force, Se-Yi banged her head against the glass door by mistake!
"Ahh!" She quickly caressed her forehead that was in pain before realizing that it was locked.
"<What's this?!>" She couldn't budge the door open with her second attempt.
Looking around for a way to enter, Se-Yi saw the sign that says: Operational hours 9am – 4pm. She bit her lip, frowning towards the sign as she had to wait long before the doors could open again. It was hardly even 8.30am.
"<Really!>" A visibly irritated Se-Yi wasn't that pleased, looking for other doors to enter. It was all in vain as other doors too were shut tight. For security reasons obviously.
Leaving without a choice, Se-Yi sighed as she wandered around, trying to figure out her way in this unusual part of town. She didn't have to worry too much about her appearance since her long hair was nicely covered in within the cap, and the shirt that Jay had lent her, she folded the sleeves to make sure that she doesn't look too odd in it.
"<He told me to go shopping. I wonder if there's one nearby?>" Se-Yi looked through her smartphone for a nearby mall.
And sure enough, there was one within the vicinity of the area. A very big one in fact.
As a few hours went by, Se-Yi finally came back to the bank. Since the doors were opened, she made the move to finally pass the lunch bag she had been keeping for Jay. She instantly halted the first staff she saw inside the banking hall.
"Where can I find Jay?" Her first question to the random officer she encountered.
"Jay? Who's Jay?" The officer proceeded to ask back curiously, seemingly not familiar with that name.
Before Se-Yi could relate her next question, she took a look around the hall, trying to find the lad. But he was nowhere in sight.
"Oh? I thought he... works here?" Se-Yi seemed baffled for a second.
It was also then that someone from behind tapped Se-Yi's shoulder, spooking her a bit! She turned her head around just to see Jay looking at her, perplexed as to why she was in the bank!
"Why are you here?" he asked curiously , raising an eyebrow. He felt partly relieved that she was wearing the cap taken from his apartment to cover her long wavy hair. At least in some way, she was able to disguise herself a little.
The Korean girl then revealed to him the lunch bag she had personally packed for him, showing signs of excitement.
"Jjang!" She said it with enthusiasm.
Jay took her by the arm, and brought her outside of the bank to avoid any form of detection from anyone and everyone that she had probably made contact with.
"Wah, you really did packed lunch for me..." A speechless Jay observed the contents inside the bag. Rice with fried Kimchi, fried anchovies, fried egg and some Ribeye Beef.
"Dosirak!" She explained with her never ending smile towards the lad as he casually nodded his head. He didn't have a clue with the words Se-Yi spouted.
"What's a... Dosirak?" He responded back, rather quizzical.
"It's your lunch, in a box. Dosirak." The girl simply answered, translating the meaning. Jay pretended he didn't hear that, trying to keep things low profile to protect Se-Yi from being identified by other people.
They dined at the nearby restaurant, ordering drinks only.
"Nice?" Se-Yi looked at Jay while grinning, hoping that his feedback would be a positive one.
"So, those are the stuff you bought?" Jay continued observing, witnessing some of the bags that Se-Yi had purchased in the shopping mall, and somehow ignoring her initial question.
"Necessity items for a girl. But Jay-Oppa, you didn't even tell me if my food was nice or not." Se-Yi frowned.
"It's pretty good. Considering that the food itself is something that I haven't eaten before." The lad responded positively, trying out the side dishes that was well-prepared.
"Ne, gamsahamnida!" Se-Yi was quite pleased with his response. A smug satisfaction she showed towards him about her ability to cook well.
"Well, it's almost time." Jay suddenly realized that lunch break is almost over.
"You should head back home." He added, getting ready to leave when Se-Yi initially stopped him.
"Oppa!" she called out to him suddenly, prompting Jay to turn around, wondering what she wanted. Se-Yi had a fixed guilty-smile across her face.
"I... don't know how to go back to the apartment."
Jay shook his head, as he couldn't believe what he had just heard. He wished he could smack his own forehead just thinking about the problem he had least expected it.
"Okay-lah, I'll tell you what..." He proposed an idea.
"Stay in the office. Until my work is done, only then we can go back. Deal?"
"Kol!" Se-Yi snapped her finger, pointing at Jay in agreement! The lad had a befuddled look, not understanding her term.
"Kol?" He stared at her surprisingly.
"Ne. It's something when we agree to, we just shout, Kol!" Se-Yi tried describing to him the best way she could, only to confuse him even more.
"It really means, Call..." Se-Yi's cheeks turned red from embarrassment when she knew that Jay could barely understand her.
"Right... Whatever." Jay didn't want to know anymore as he headed back towards the bank.
Within an hour or so, Se-Yi was quietly listening to her own songs on the phone, while sitting down on a comfy chair when she was interrupted by one of the officers in Jay's department that was 2 floors above the Banking Hall.
"Uhm, excuse me, Miss?" The officer called out to her.
"Ye?" Se-Yi looked up quizzically, wondering what it was that he wanted.
"Are you here to apply for a car loan?" He continued, seeing how Se-Yi seemed disconcerted.
The girl shook her head, replying back negatively.
"Or are you here to pay for your loan or roadtax then?" The man added, with a manly tone to impress the girl who was more focus on the lyrics of the song she was listening to.
"Aniyo. I am waiting for my Oppa who is working here." Se-Yi replied truthfully.
"Your... Oppa?" The officer stared at her with a weird expression across his face. Se-Yi bit her lip, sensing that she has given away her secret. Jeopardizing herself was a risk she could not simply lose it.
"Ne, he's just somewhere around here." Se-Yi made attempts to change the conversation, so that he wouldn't ask who she was. She tried looking for Jay from where she was sitting, somehow noticing that he was nowhere in sight.
"And who is this Oppa of yours?" The officer asked once more.
"Jay." A brief answer from Se-Yi that had the officer laughing hysterically. It scared her a little from the way he laughed. Highly unusual.
"Oh? Waeyo? Why are you laughing?" Se-Yi stared at him bizarrely. To her, there was nothing wrong with Jay.
"That dude? Man, he sure is something special-lah. How did a cute girl like you ended up with a guy like him?" The officer continued, recovering after laughing for a long minute or two.
Se-Yi wasn't pleased upon hearing that. Let alone the amount of questions that he was asking her consistently.
"Not your business to know." She replied sternly, somehow giving the signal towards the officer that she wasn't interested in the conversation. Her face became straight and she showed no signs of amusement towards his hospitality.
Simultaneously, Jay came outside, carrying a stack of files when he saw the two of them talking. Just from Se-Yi's expression, he knew that she was experiencing problems.
"Is something wrong here?" The lad was quick to ask, setting the files aside next to a table near the entrance.
"Oppa!" Se-Yi wasn't aware of his presence as she stood up so suddenly.
"Nothing-lah. Just admiring your 'girlfriend' here who's overprotective towards you." The officer said to Jay in a sarcastic manner.
"Shouldn't you be processing loans rather than trying to kacau other people, Samuel? Especially the jelita ones?" Jay fired back without hesitation. He didn't hold back from the way he talked. That was his style. Strong and upfront about the situation.
Not wanting to escalate the situation that could get out of hand, Samuel left, leaving both Se-Yi and Jay to themselves.
"Jelita?" Se-Yi looked at Jay confusingly the moment the officer was no longer in sight.
"It doesn't matter. Just stay here, and don't touch anything." Jay firmly instructed the girl as he walked right back into the office, carrying the heavy load of files once more.
"So that's what jelita means..." Se-Yi became thrilled upon translating the word through the use of her phone.
"Charming, beautiful, nice..."
It was words like that practically made her day even more special. For someone who isn't supposedly a fan of hers, he does know how to acknowledge Se-Yi's beauty. But Se-Yi knew she was in over her head. Fantasizing like that could easily hurt her. Also then, another officer approached her. A female, this time.
"Who are you?" Se-Yi asked her.
"I'm Siti. How are you?" The Malay lady offered a handshake.
"I'm fine, thank you." The Korean girl replied politely, but felt uneasy and worried that the conversation could mislead again like it did with Samuel.
"I was told that you're a close person to Jay?" The lad then asked.
"Yes, why?" Se-Yi looked at her, trying her best to refrain from using any Korean words. "Nothing. Just wondering." Siti replied in a clueless manner. At that instance, she went up close to Se-Yi, wanting to tell her something important.
"It's good that you're his new girlfriend. He had a bad breakup a long while back. And he was very depressed." She suddenly stated to the lass.
"Huh? Jinjjayo? Really?" Se-Yi was indeed surprised to learn that as her jaw almost dropped, unsuspectingly saying a Korean word right in front of her.
"Yeah. And by the way, you're not a local, are you?" The lad asked once more, staring at Se-Yi's face that doesn't seem to look like anyone she had ever seen before.
Se-Yi crossed her fingers, hoping that Siti doesn't learn that she's looking at the missing celebrity that had disappeared the day before.
"I've never seen you before. But you really don't look like a local-lah. And you talk funny too. Where are you from?" Siti's question towards Se-Yi as the latter felt extremely relieved to know that her disguise worked.
"Annyeonghaseyo! I'm from South Korea. I'm... Park Shu-Yi." Se-Yi's own wit saved her by using the same name she came up with.
"Whoa! Jay is really lucky to have met someone like you then!" The officer was left in a positive manner after learning that. Se-Yi smiled gratefully as a response.
"I think so too." The Korean girl added, thinking about Jay as he watched him walk up the staircase.
"By the way, where are you working?" Siti proceeded to ask Se-Yi, trying her best to get to know the girl well.
The lass didn't know how to answer that. She couldn't tell out her true secret that she was an actress.
"This is my first time in Malaysia. So..." Se-Yi attempted to explain differently when she was interrupted by Siti.
"You should work also-leh! You can't just rely on Jay for income." The lady voiced out her thoughts and advice to Se-Yi, giving quite a shock towards the lass.
"Waeyo? Why...?" Se-Yi asked in a discreet way, eager to find out the reason behind. Although technically she already have a job, she was curious to find out where this conversation would lead to.
"Because here in Malaysia, it's really not easy to survive-lah! The cost of living here is extremely high, and the work of one person to support another could easily kill them." Siti further explained to Se-Yi as the latter nodded her head affirmingly.
"I think you can see for yourself how stressed up people are in here. Let alone Jay who went through a lot. It's not good to take things for granted." She added, with Se-Yi witnessing the staff from the outside. Their expression of displeasure and unsatisfactory towards the heavy volume of work clearly made them frustrated
Se-Yi, who was usually absent minded about her source of income while she was a celebrity, suddenly learnt the hard-cold truth about the working style in Malaysia. And with Jay that was working hard, she was already guessing that she was a burden to him in some ways.
"Ne..." Se-Yi's dull response, feeling guilty.
"Unnie, thank you for explaining!" The Korean girl got up from her seat and bowed her head, appreciating the advice Siti had given her.
"Why?" The lady asked surprisingly.
"Because you opened my thoughts of something." Se-Yi responded as she took her bags to exit the office.
Siti was left in a puzzled state as to where the girl was headed to.
"Where is that girl?" Jay looked at the time on his watch. Se-Yi was half an hour late. He wouldn't have thought that the girl would run off hurriedly to someplace she wouldn't know where.
"Don't tell me she got lost, is it? Mangkuk Ayun! That'll be hard to find her-lah like that!"
In no less than a second after that, Se-Yi surprised an unsuspecting Jay by jumping on his back, clutching onto him!
"Piggyback ride!" She gleefully greeted him, as Jay almost tumbled.
"Aiyo! You look like a bean, but weigh like an elephant!" Jay shouted at Se-Yi who was still clutching onto him. This only made her giggle more.
Right after Se-Yi got off, the question was still lingering in Jay's head. Where did Se-Yi went during the last couple of hours?
"Eh, where did you go-lah?" The lad had the urge to ask. It didn't feel right that Se-Yi had disappeared for 2 hours just like that. He even had doubts that Se-Yi might have over-spent on his credit card. The girl opened up her bag, pulling out what appears to be a gift for Jay.
"Oppa, gomapseumnida! My stay here is getting a lot more memorable with you making it successful!" Se-Yi expressed her gratitude.
Jay, feeling quite perplexed by her thoughtful intention wanted to know the reason behind it.
"Erm, why exactly?" A curious Jay wondered.
"And what's this again?"
"Open it." The Korean girl said to him in a cheery manner. Jay didn't hesitate to tear the wrappers of the gift, finding out that it was a scrapbook.
"This is a very interesting gift... What do I need this for again?" Jay asked in a peculiar manner.
"Our adventures together." Se-Yi didn't shy away from telling the truth about how she feels.
"Right... Thanks ah!" Jay simply nodded his head, finding it peculiarly odd.
The lad proceeded to walk towards the bus stop that was just nearby, with Se-Yi following closely from behind.
"Oppa, how was work today?" Se-Yi initiated the conversation as they waited patiently at the bus stop.
"It's okay-lah." Jay's short answer as he looked visibly tired. He rested his head against the glass panel while Se-Yi waited for him to continue the conversation, but it only ended there.
"Yah! Aren't you supposed to continue the conversation?!" The girl spoke out loud, attracting unwanted attention.
"Shh..." Jay signalled her to be quiet, but Se-Yi reacted with a sarcastic look while onlookers just observed the two of them.
"If only I could hit you right now, I would really want to." She added, continuing with that sarcastic expression.
"Well, that's a first from you." A surprised Jay suddenly looked at her, wide eyed. She had never said such things all this while.
"Ne. Don't be too surprised if I suddenly, *bam!* I will hit you!" Se-Yi threatened Jay by showing him her fists that were actually small in size.
Jay actually chuckled upon hearing that. Something that Se-Yi had not seen since the last 48 hours since she arrived in Malaysia.
"You would really hit me? Like really, really hard?" He inquired more, while being amused with Se-Yi's threat.
"Ne! So hard that you wished you hadn't messed around with me!" Se-Yi added, putting up a cute manner.
"Okay." Jay nodded, impressed by her statement. The girl wanted to add-on to her comments, but the bus had arrived.
Upon reaching back, the pair quickly bought their food from a nearby stall. Originally, Se-Yi wanted to make dinner for the both of them, but seeing that they were arriving back home late, that idea had to be scrapped.
As they both entered the apartment, Jay noticed the letters that were scattered all over the floor. A few sets of letters that he was expecting somehow.
"Huh?" Se-Yi looked at it curiously as she picked up one of them. From the looks of it, it was bank statements. She wanted to peep through the contents of the letter, but she couldn't because of Jay.
"Give me that!" Jay snatched away the letter from Se-Yi's hands hastily! He didn't want her looking through his things. The Korean girl didn't dare to say a word. Just from the looks of it, he was firm about it.
The only thing that was clouding her mind at that point of time was, the words that Siti had spoken towards her. Not to rely on Jay for income as he himself was going through a hard time. Se-Yi dismissed about the letters, putting the assumption that it was something of a privacy to him.
A couple of hours later, it was quite clear Se-Yi could hear Jay sighing heavily. Just by observing him from the living room, she carefully watched him counting something repeatedly in the kitchen.
He was counting his bills and trying to figure out how much of his salary would be deducted just to settle it. He was in distressed, somehow causing Se-Yi to feel the same way as well.
"Oppa, gwaenchanayo? Is everything alright?" Se-Yi approached towards him, with the lad fully unaware of her presence.
Hunching his back while jotting down something on a piece of paper, and scratching his head from frustration, Jay stared at her with grave thoughts before resuming with what he was doing. It took him seconds later to answer Se-Yi.
"I'm... fine." His words to reassure her, pretending to be fine as he sat upright.
"Why? Are you hungry?"
"Aniyo, I'm just wondering..." She wanted to ask him about his financial situation, but words couldn't seem to come out of her mouth.
"It's nothing." Se-Yi finally said, walking out from the kitchen. She couldn't help herself but to feel partly responsible.
What was running through her mind was the guilt of staying in Jay's apartment while eating and spending his money that didn't seem right at all.
If only she had her own money with her, she could easily spend it on necessities and pay Jay back for everything he has done for her. That's the kind of guilt that was bothering her.
"<Ahjussi, I need your help.>" Se-Yi spoke to her manager in a cute manner, which was a trait when she wanted something from Mr. Lee. The elderly man had already arrived in Singapore.
"<So do I. I need you to stop playing with your fantasy of a lost tourist, and come to Singapore immediately for your event!>" Her manager didn't hesitate to scold her.
"<You know that's not going to happen right?>" The girl implied it in a solemn way.
"<Well, I figured you would have said that. The Agency has finalized their decision to freeze all of your accounts and assets.>" Se-Yi's agent told her the devastating news, prompting Se-Yi to scream over the phone.
"<What?! How dare you?!>"
"<I've warned you, Se-Yi. You did this upon yourself.>" Mr. Lee said to her in a stern manner.
"<How could you?! How am I going to survive?!>" Se-Yi lamented as she almost teared up. "<There was no choice. You wanted this. And if you want out of this, just say that you're coming to Singapore. Be present there, and all of your accounts and assets will be unfrozen. And all of your problems are gone, just like that. It's really that simple.>" Mr. Lee made it sound easy for Se-Yi, trying to urge her to return back to her celebrity life.
The lass thought hard about it. Staring behind as she glanced at Jay, watching how he was still calculating the bills.
"<I-I met someone new actually. He is in need for financial support.>" Se-Yi stuttered, trying to win her manager through empathy.
"<It won't be a problem then. Only if you agree to this, you get everything back, and you can pay him for the things you owe. All I need you now, is to come to Singapore, alright?>" Mr. Lee advised her, not falling for her tricks like he used to in the past.
"<But I like him... even if he doesn't know it, or is just being obtuse about it. I don't feel like leaving just yet. There's just... a connection. Something that I haven't felt in a very long time.>" Se-Yi admitted.
"<What?!>" Mr. Lee shouted in full surprised, startling the people around!
"<It's okay. I don't need the money. I know for a fact that if I return back, things would get really messy. It's bad enough that it's already hectic in life, I do deserve some rest at least.>" The Korean girl finally made up her mind.
"<Se-Yi! Don't do this! This will not end well!>" Mr. Lee began overreacting, as a small group of people began to take notice of the elderly man's erratic behaviour in public.
"<Goodbye, Manager Lee. Thank you for everything.>" Se-Yi bid farewell as she shut her phone off.
"<Argh! That brat!>" Mr. Lee grew so annoyed that he began stomping the ground, attracting attention.
"What are you looking at?!" He then shouted at onlookers as they began snapping photos of him going deranged!
"Oppa, we should head to bed now. It's getting late and there's work tomorrow." Se-Yi went up to Jay just as the lad had finished counting. She could see signs of tiredness all around his face.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be in after this-lah." He simply nodded his head without showing any sort of emotions.
"Ne..." Se-Yi somehow felt a huge burden of worries had fallen on her back. She had never encountered such a problem throughout her whole life.
As far as she could recall for the past 10 years, she always had things under control. But this was something that was far beyond her control.
The following morning, Se-Yi prepared breakfast for Jay. That also includes the lunch box for his lunch like she did the previous day.
"You really didn't have to prepare this grand for me." A surprised and sleepy Jay was astounded by Se-Yi's cooking skill that was far from anything he had ever seen in his life.
"Waeyo? It's for my Oppa, cause he's my number 1!" A cheery Se-Yi said it gleefully, while holding up her Index finger. She was using the Aegyo charm on Jay. That was her way of being cute. From where she comes from, that was the norm for girls to act out in a cute manner.
"Cheesy... Please don't do that anymore. I would probably throw up after this-lah." Jay pretended to act sick, putting up with a vomiting motion as an add-on.
It resulted with Se-Yi hitting him by the shoulders, somehow giving him the surprise of his life!
Hardly any pain, but it was the least he had expected from her!
"Wah, you really did say that you would hit me. That's just... impressive." Jay started chuckling as the girl herself was shocked to see him laughing in amusement. She quickly put on a tough act to make it more realistic.
"Yah! You better not annoy me like that, arachi?!" Se-Yi warned him lightly, with a serious expression across her face. She couldn't contain her laughter, somehow laughing out loud.
"Deal!" Jay nodded as he sat down at the dining table to have breakfast.
"Oppa, do you know what this is?" Se-Yi proceeded to ask, showing Jay the lunch box she had prepared for him.
"That is... Dah Rosak. Which means, 'spoiled' in Bahasa Malaysia." Jay stated, somehow forgetting the actual word, but it rhymed with the word he had just spoken.
"Aish, jinjja!" Se-Yi grew impatient and irritated at Jay all of sudden, repeating the words she had once said to him.
"Dosirak!"
"I got it. Thanks a lot, Captain Obvious." Jay thanked her sarcastically, as the girl stuck her tongue out the sassiest way she ever could.
About an hour later, Se-Yi watched as Jay headed off to work in a hurried manner like he always does.
And just as he left, she made the decision to clean the apartment. Part of her reason, she was quite a neat freak back in South Korea. Unable to stand the sight of things that were dusty and dirty. It would only turn her off and make her sick inside.
While halfway cleaning, Se-Yi stumbled across the bills that were neatly folded and kept aside near the phone table at the entrance of the door.
As curious as she was the night before, the girl decided to open up the letters to see the contents of it. Though she shouldn't have, leaving it just like that would only make her more anxious curious by the second.
It was also a choice that made her regrets even higher as she became immediately depressed by the amount of money Jay had to settle. Among the expenses that he had listed down, one of it included Se-Yi as his top priorities.
"Se-Yi's personal well being..." She read out a single line between the letters that had her pondering. It was ticked with a question mark and a small note written there,
"How much would it cost to take care of Se-Yi?"
Se-Yi's heart grew distressed by just looking at it!
"<He really shouldn't have...>" The girl mumbled words discreetly to herself, as she kept the letter back in its original place where she found it.
Without a second thought, Se-Yi took a quick shower and wore smart casual clothes she had purchased the day before. Tying her hair up in a bun and applied small amounts of makeup to look differently, she was all set and ready to go!
Locking the door of the apartment, she raced down the steps of the stairs like a mad person towards the bus stop to halt a taxicab!
She was determined to do something that she never thought she would do in her whole life; And that was to get a job. Like a real job just like everyone else!
"Unnie!" Se-Yi called out to Siti as she barged into the office where Jay was working, surprising the other staff around!
Luckily for the girl, no one truly recognizes her from her make-up that solely made her different. But they immediately deemed her as loud and rude from the way she carried herself. Se-Yi couldn't care less, because that was the persona she wanted people to see as Park Shu-Yi, and not Ha Se-Yi.
"What are you doing here?" Siti asked her in a surprised manner, just befuddled at the girl who marched up right to her.
"I want to apply for a job here, Unnie! Who do I talk to?" Se-Yi's quick response, panting tiredly from running up the stairs.
"Err..." Siti clearly wasn't so sure about the procedures, but her finger was pointing at the Branch manager's room that was just a few feet away from where they were standing.
"Don't worry! I will impress him!" That was Se-Yi's strong determination to Siti who seemed doubtful towards her word. It was anything that she had ever seen or encountered in the office.
She helplessly watched the excited girl marching her way into the single room where the Branch Manager resided, with full confidence.
"So, why should I hire you?" The Branch Manager, Mr. Teo questioned Se-Yi, sounding quite uptight towards the girl that walked into his room unexpectedly.
"I need this job because... I need the money to support someone. His salary is not enough to cover us." Se-Yi answered truthfully, trying to speak as clearly as she could.
"But I see you don't have any qualifications or papers to show me. How to accept you?" He was hardly impressed by her statement, and words that seemed like empty promises.
"I am hardworking and dedicated to learn new things. Give me time to learn something, I can get it done! Promise!" Se-Yi added persuasively, trying her best to change his mind through her smile and charm.
Just then, Mr. Teo's office line began ringing. Attending the call that was more important, Se-Yi's eyes began observing around the whole office, trying to get a good look on how the place was like. Neat, organized, and well maintained. She pursed her lips, head bending low as she waited for the Branch Manager to end his conversation on the phone.
"Okay," Mr. Teo hung up the phone to continue his conversation with Se-Yi that was left hanging unexpectedly.
"We have a clerk who's on M.C today." He said, somehow confusing Se-Yi as she scratched her head, tilting sideways.
"M.C?" Se-Yi with a baffled look as she hasn't heard that word before.
"Medical Certificate. Nevermind that, you can replace her for today. If your work is in a satisfactory level, then the job is yours-lah." He made a deal to the girl.
"Oh? Then what about the other person?" Se-Yi was curious about the other clerk who called in sick. She didn't want any form of conflict in the near future.
"Don't worry, she'll be around. Emily will escort you to your new team." Mr. Teo answered her question.
"Ye?! Jinjjayo?! Ah, Gamsahamnida!" Se-Yi was too thrilled and excited that she didn't realize her own voice screaming in joy, startling everyone on the same floor, including the Branch Manager himself!
Mr. Teo quickly signalled her to leave his office at once!
"This is your new team." Emily brought Se-Yi to the highest floor, pointing at the team that Se-Yi was assigned to for the day.
She certainly had quite a different impression, witnessing how the working environment was awfully quiet and reserved. Dull, in better words.
But her presence itself became quite a buzz when everyone on that floor began to stare at the new girl in the office. Even with the simple make-up and smart casual, she was still beautiful.
Jay, however, was the only one who couldn't accept the fact that she was there!
He shook his head in disbelief while the girl silently waved at him, prompting Jay to turn his head the other way!
The last thing he needed was more unwanted attention from his co-workers. He couldn't afford a risk that big.
"Why the heck are you here?" He mumbled discreetly to the Korean girl, sounding both angry and upset the moment she passes by him, rather irritated just to see her.
"I want to earn money too. Waeyo?" Se-Yi's reason to him, smiling at him in a friendly manner as she walked towards the team she was assigned to.
"Park Shu-Yi? Are you... Malaysian?" The manager in charge, Ms. Chin, asked Se-Yi as she became oddly curious about her background. The 2 women were seated inside business manager's office.
"Aniyo, I am Korean. From South Korea." The lass answered, as eavesdroppers from outside were trying to get a glimpse of her.
"Oh, okay. Then you better learn fast from your colleagues right there." The manager pointed at the 3 clerks who were busy typing on their computers.
She made sure that Se-Yi understood the words properly, somehow having doubts that the girl could fully understand her.
"Ne, algaesumnida." Se-Yi bowed her head obediently as she walked out of the room shortly after that to meet her new colleagues.
"Annyeonghaseyo! I'm Park Shu-Yi. It's nice to meet you! Please treat me well!" Se-Yi introduce herself to her colleagues by bowing her head a little, as a form of formal greeting.
"Wah! You Korean ah?" One of Se-Yi's colleagues instantly asked her, astounded by Se-Yi's near-perfection pronunciation just from her greeting itself!
"Ne! I'm from Seoul, South Korea." The girl responded back with a cheerful smile, but was also careful about her 'other details'. Her celebrity status, that was still lingering in the air.
Although for now, she had to bury that status as she now sank herself to a normal working class citizen.
"Hebat! Bestnya!" A tanned female Malay clerk was suddenly hyped up when she heard that.
"I am Aisah, this is Lai Kuan, and that's Yasotha." She added, introducing herself and her friends to Se-Yi while the girl just smiled sheepishly. It felt a bit awkward at first to the girl, but she would have to bury that feeling to survive working here.
After half an hour of observing how her colleagues did their work, Se-Yi began hers right away. A simple one by just scanning requested files on a scanning device.
But it proved difficult for Se-Yi to focus on her work as she was constantly being distracted by other colleagues who were constantly asking her about background and why she chose to be in Malaysia instead of her own country.
She simply made up a story that would put it to rest. She can't risk telling them about her true nature of who she really was. With most of them being guys, Se-Yi just couldn't ignore them for being really friendly towards her.
While conversing with one of them, Se-Yi stole a glance at Jay who was on the opposite team, rather frustrated with his work.
Fully aware that Se-Yi was staring at him, the lad too looked up, staring back at her direction. Both of them had trouble look written all over their faces.
Se-Yi turned her head back towards the person she was talking to. She didn't want to sound rude by ignoring him.
This prompted Jay to sigh heavily as he continued his work.
"Jay-Oppa, let's take lunch together." Se-Yi suddenly appeared right in front of Jay after an hour or so, almost startling him!
He kept the file he was reviewing away from Se-Yi, before answering her request.
"Now? Why now? It's rather early." Jay's excuse as he looked at the clock.
"But Oppa, I'm hungry now..." The girl attempted an Aegyo expression, trying to get him to come along. It didn't work on him. Instead, it irritated him.
"Okay, okay! Give me 5 minutes to finish this up." He finally said to Se-Yi who rolled her eyes, walking away with a file in her hand as she headed downstairs.
"Oppa? Wow, Jay!" One of the girls decided to poke fun at Jay, which only angered him more.
"Keep your trap shut..." The lad's deep voice that intimidated and terrified them the next minute.
They knew that Jay was a man not to trifled with.
"Well, well, the pretty girl that Jay doesn't talk about. Why are you here? Waiting to go out for lunch with him?" Samuel, the officer that Se-Yi had met the other day, approached her at the entrance of the door.
"Yes. You want to join along?" Se-Yi asked in a nice way.
"With you, and you alone, perhaps?." Samuel's attempt at getting close to her almost immediately, earning nothing but the girl's distrust as she gave out a disgusted look on her face.
Samuel wasn't the first person to try that move on her. Se-Yi had many similar encounters prior to this.
Close to 72 hours ago.
A seemingly depressed Jay cracked his knuckles and yawned tiredly, while walking down a flight of stairs from his apartment. The look on his face showed that he was not in a friendly mood. Worse, he's not the kind of person who would simply help out anyone he doesn't even know. That's part of the reason why he doesn't keep that many friends, nor does he socializes with anyone else from the outside world.
He has kept it that way for a long time now.
On the day Se-Yi made her daring escape from her event, Jay had made his way to the LRT Station that was just walking distance from his apartment. He had plans to have his lunch at a Chinese restaurant just opposite of Petaling Street.
A place he enjoyed reminiscing about his past with his late-father who was no longer around.
Placing in his token into one of the turnstiles, Jay then makes his way inside the train that would take him all the way to Masjid Jamek. Another part of Kuala Lumpur.
Plugging in his earphones, he was dubiously unaware of the sudden announcement made about Se-Yi's disappearance from the train speakers, just acting out his normal life like the way it was. Dull and boring.
About half an hour later, the lad finally boarded off from the train. The surprised look he had upon seeing the vast amount of crowd gathering at the station!
"The heck is this-lah?" He wondered to himself, seeing how people were walking in pairs and holding up their phones.
"Typical Pokemon-Go players..."
He ignored the people around him, proceeding to make his way towards the exit. Much to his surprise, the path outside was crowded with people. Again.
His annoyance towards the crowd grew more by the second, finding it almost absurd to have a gathering of some sort.
"Sons of cats..." The only way he could curse as one of them bumped into him by the shoulders. Jay had to push his way around to get to the place he wanted to be.
Another hour went by later and Jay could be seen slurping on a bowl of beef noodles. The atmosphere that was quiet as hardly anyone passes by there.
The lad began to reminisce about his past. Something of which he does so very often from time to time.
Finishing his meal, Jay paid the cashier at the counter and made his way outside. Noisy and vibrant somehow from the traffic flow, he quickly crossed the road, walking towards the opposite side of the road to avoid getting knocked over.
Jay then paced forward, carefully observing the rows of shops that were really, really old. His surroundings made him feel like he was living in the 1960's... inside his mind. The kind of feeling he wished he was there.
While walking, Jay soon realized that he was about to enter Petaling Street. The place he knew all too well as a young boy many years ago.
Something inside gave the urge to Jay to walk there. He didn't hesitate, just following his instincts as he walked through the area that was both crowded and filled with traders of all sorts.
His depressed heart felt slightly better, but somehow he could still feel like he was missing something.
With his hands inside his pocket, Jay just continued walking past traders that were desperately trying to get his attention with discounted items that were way more reasonable than Jay had anticipated.
"Sir, sir! Have a look at our discounted shirts, bags, shoes and caps! Anything you want, we got!" One of the traders shouted vibrantly at Jay as the lad simply, and politely, rejected their offer.
While doing so, he could have sworn he had heard some noises going on at the middle of Petaling Street.
"Se-Yi! Se-Yi...!" The distinctive voice that caught Jay's ear, but he couldn't find out where the source of this voice was coming from.
Simply dismissing it as some form of trading going on, Jay paced forward once more.
It would be that fateful day that he would come across Se-Yi, the girl that was running through the oncoming crowd and collided Jay; causing both of them to fall towards the ground painfully!
Jay was in slight pain, getting frustrated by the carelessness of the girl that had unintentionally tackled him!
He looked up, seeing the girl for the first time. Her porcelain skin that was so fair like it was one of those commercials he would usually see on television. Dressed oddly in blue and in a cap. Her eyes. It was nothing like anyone he had seen before here in Malaysia. The most beautiful Chinese girl he had ever seen in his life!
The only thing was, she wasn't Chinese. She is South Korean. He knew nothing about that at that time. And he would eventually.