Park Jimin always prided himself on the space he was given alone.
It had been around 4 years since he had moved into Jung Hoseok's well-kept and well-known establishment named Human Hope, which was a charity programme he started as a part of joining artists against battling AI, when AI started to take over classical arts, he started the establishment and started renting it out to teachers who could come and teach the younger generations. He wanted it to speak against how a set of programmes couldn't undo what years of human art had given to society. Jimin had been struggling to land a job as a contemporary artist back then, because no one really required him for photoshoots anymore, since they could easily replicate it using AI.
Shows were his only hope but even then, people stopped coming to physical shows and instead liked to spend time at home, this was why when he had seen Hoseok's notice, he had run inside and asked him if he could land the job, and fell for Hoseok's bright beautiful smile, where the elder man said that the rent was only 200,000 won, (approx. 135 US Dollars) and Jimin's eyes had gone as huge as the plates his mother had at home and used specifically for Chuseok, because there was no way Hoseok only took 200,000 won. Even his studio apartment costs 5,000,000 won. (approx. 3,385 US dollars), and the recent place he had tried to rent out came upto to 450,000 (approx. 304 US dollars.) but there was no way he was gonna question and raise the prices, so he immediately signed the form and gave him the deposit. Hoseok had been extremely happy because other than him, Human Hope had only two other teachers. Hoseok for Hip-Hop and Jeon Jeongguk for Painting and Charcoal arts.
Jeongguk occupied Studio A and as well as B downstairs and Hoseok occupied Studio C right across Studio B, and gave Jimin Studio D upstairs, and Studio E would be kept empty until someone new came and occupied it. Jimin did not mind the quiet space and had started his work, installing all that he had needed there.
Just like that, a wonderful 4 years had passed, and Human Hope had crossed boundaries beyond being famous, so much so that Hoseok had to upgrade the architechture to make the rooms wider. Jeongguk had 34 12-18 yr old kids in Studio A from 9 am to 12 pm for painting, and then he would have another session in Studio B in the evenings from 4pm to 7pm for charcoal arts. Hoseok would occupy the 12pm to 2pm timeline, in accordance with the kids who were for both classes, and his had around 23 kids, all approaching teenage and few who were above it. Jimin, however, was in the calm and not amongst the chaos, which he personally loved, because his class was just 28 5-10 yr old kids and his timeslot was from 8 am to 11 am, because these kids were the most energetic in the mornings. He also had an evening session from 4pm to 7pm, for the second batch because apparently Contemporary Dance can really hit off when your instructor looks as pretty as him---Hoseok's words, not his.
That was when he met the new tenant.
Jimin loved it until he came into the Studio at 7 am in the morning to prep for the lesson, and saw a woman leaning against the counter in what he would call an embarassingly long top with slits at the side that went up to her waist, and underneath she had white washed denim--.. no that wasn't jeans. That was this half-pants that were resembling leggings but weren't exactly leggings. The top wasn't what he was he was familiar with, and that was saying something because Jimin had kept up with all kinds of Korean Fashion. But he could tell from the get to go she wasn't exactly Korean. She had darker, caramel skin, and had her long hair in plait that went down to her mid-back, but it was clear she had used a fishtail braid to keep it at that length, and the original size of it would reach around her back. Her top had a square neck, and the entire top was in a pastel purple shade, and had intricate embroidery down the front. He kept staring at her like he was a deer in headlights, because he genuinely couldn't place what kind of fashion that was. She also had a long net-like scarf around her neck, and she was staring down at her phone.
That was when Hoseok came in from the back with a new form, Jimin knew what kind of form that was. It was the registration form. He turned to the woman, pressed the form on the marble countertop and slid it to her, and she looked up from her phone, met Hoseok's eyes, spoke in perfect Korean, giving him thanks while she grabbed a pen from the pen stand and started filling out the form, Jimin was still staring at her when Hoseok looked up and saw him, "Ah! Jimin-ah? When did you come in?" Hoseok spoke, in Korean, (obviously), and he watched her hands pause, and she looked up and turned around to look at him, and he was taken aback by her. Her eyes had soft eyeliner, and her darker skin seemed to be a shade of caramel, and she had.. double coloured lips---okay, she was definitely not korean. She nodded at him, dipping her head in what she thought was a bow, because Koreans bowed to each other as acknowledgement and respect, and she parted her double coloured lips, the upper lighter than the lower, and said: "Hello," in perfect, formal tense korean, "I'm Judith Kurien, and I'll be occupying Studio E for Bharatanatyam Classes."
Jimin still kept staring.
This was all so weird to him, but he didn't wanna seem rude, so he hummed in acknowledgment, and said, "Jimin Park. Studio D, Contemporary Dance." He looked at Hoseok and smiled, and Hoseok returned a confused look back but Jimin did not care for it, and he went upstairs, taking two at a time.
The new tenant had already been, in some obscure department in his head, filed under things that i do not understand and do not want to understand.
this was gonna be a problem.
A/N: Hope you liked the chapter! this is just the beginning of the story and it's going to get even worse from here, so please buckle up!
the clothes she's wearing is authentically Indian, and it's a churidar, half-pants and a dupatta. Not long top and scandinavian scarf. :) the entire point of this story is to spread awareness and love about Indian culture, most specifically, Kerala Culture, since I'm from Kerala.
