#babelfish

Your first day of classes really could not end fast enough. So far they really were interesting. It was a different country, a different culture. You had made some acquaintances in your classes and that would be helpful if you had to miss a class one day. You were excited for the rest of your first week as well. You knew all of the classes would be interesting. You were here for school and you were planning to study and get your schoolwork done.

But you hadn’t seen Jun yet.

You arrived not too long ago. You really only had a few days in your dorm to get organized and deal with the jetlag before classes started. Add to that the orientation activities that you wanted to attend for international students and your family wanting to talk to you as much as possible and you hadn’t had time to see him yet.

It felt almost worse, being in the same city as him, being so nearby and not being right next to him. Jun had kept you up with a lot of the going ons of his fratmates. You knew that had all met their soulmates and you were excited to meet everyone, especially the soulmates of the people you already knew. You also knew that Jun had told them about you and it had you a little nervous if you’d live up to their expectations. 

You wrote on the margins of your page, practicing your Korean. You were only half paying attention to the lecture and taking notes occasionally. As much as it was a good class your ability to focus was quickly dissolving. You scribbled all over your page as the professor explained a piece of poetry and your mind drifted to thoughts of Jun. You kept glancing at the clock. You could swear the minutes were ticking by slower and slower. All you had to do was make it to the end of your lecture and then you could see him for the first time in over ten months.

As the lecture finally wrapped up you rushed to pack up your bag. You thought at first you might drop stuff off in your dorm and then go to see Jun but now you really couldn't wait. You found yourself dropping things as you tried to pack your bag quickly. Your phone nearly slipped from your hand as it buzzed.

[Is your class over yet?]

[Are you coming over soon?]

You smiled at the messages. Your Korean had gotten much better and you knew you could hold a basic conversation at this point. You could read most of his messages easily and you were happy that your studying had seemed to pay off. You weren’t totally fluent but you were so excited to be able to sit next to him and have a conversation.

You sent a quick response before hurrying out of the lecture. You were nearly tripping over yourself as you raced down the stairs and then down the street to his house. You knew it wasn’t all that far from campus but the ten minutes walk still felt like the longest walk you’d ever been on. You glanced at your phone occasionally to make sure you were going the right way and found yourself power walking and nearly running as you got closer and closer.

The day was warm though and as much as you wanted to see him you didn’t want to stink of sweat. You slowed down as you turned onto his street, catching your breath a little and shaking out your nerves. A whole pile of different emotions flurried inside of you as you sent him a quick text to tell him you were headed up the lane. You were worried that conversation wouldn’t flow well, or that his fratmates wouldn’t like you all that much, or that you would just be too different to really fit in in Seoul long term.

You didn’t have all that long to get absorbed in your worried before the front door swung open. A grin tugged at your lips as you locked eyes with Jun and a warm, comforting feeling that you had been missing for months washed over you. You watched the smile spread across Jun’s face and your heart fluttered at the sight of it. After so long it almost didn’t seem real. You had dreamed about him so many times and awoken disappointed but now you were really here.

It almost felt like something out of a movie. You ran towards Jun in what felt like slow motion and he ran towards you. You only vaguely noticed that a number of his housemates were on the front step, taking in the reunion. You could have swore that it took an eternity to close the space between the two of you.

You threw your arms around his neck and he hugged tightly around your waist. You giggled as he lifted you and spun you around and you had to give him credit, he was stronger than he looked. He set you down and held you tight to him, one hand staying around your back and one moving to hold the back of your head. You kept your arms tightly linked around his neck as your emotions started to overwhelm you.

“I can’t believe you’re really here,” he breathed.

“I can’t believe it either,” you replied quietly.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long and now I get to see you, I get to be with you and you’re here…” his voice sounded shaky as he trailed off.

“I know, I-” your voice broke as you started to cry. You heard Jun starting to sniffle as he held you as tightly as he possibly could, almost as if he was scared you would disappear if he let got even a little bit. You couldn’t blame him. You had imagined finally seeing him again and it felt like you might wake up any second and be back home, still far away.

You both slowly caught your breath and he let you lean back a bit to look up at him.

“Should we go inside?” you asked with a teary giggle.

“Probably more comfortable than the driveway,” he chuckled.

Jun wrapped his arm around you and kept you tight to his side as he led you into the house. You wandered through the house and he pulled you into the backyard where you were surprised to see a large group of people hanging out. As he led you through the back doors many of them looked up at the two of you and smiled or grinned at him.

“She’s here!” Jun announced and the backyard broke into cheers. You giggled and gave him a curious look and a blush rose in his cheeks.

“Did you organize this?”

He gave you a nervous smile. “I wanted you to meet a lot of them so this is…” he looked out over the group in the backyard. “This is our little family.”

“Jun this is so sweet,” you smiled.

There were a lot of people there and Jun was excited to introduce you to all of them. His family lived pretty far away and the longer you were there the more you could really see how much of a family they all were and how everyone’s soulmates fit into it. You remembered as many names as you could and talked to people and you could see how happy Jun was that you made fast friends with some of them.

But after everyone had eaten he managed to pull you away from the group, although you were becoming fast friends with Hannah, Jada, Byeol, and Yunhee. He excused the two of you to the kitchen to grab something, only to press you against the counter when you got there. You giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck as you gazed at him.

“And what was this really about?”

He grinned. “Something else I couldn’t do while you were halfway around the world.”

Jun started to lean down but you were much faster to close the gap, capturing him in a dizzying kiss. You felt like fireworks were going off in your heart as your lips moved against his. The feeling was electrifying and when you pulled back Jun looked dazed.

“You’re making a face,” you said.

“How would you even know that?” Eralia asked. You had asked your sister to braid your hair and of course she said yes because she had something to say to you.

“Because I know you,” you hummed. “I know when you’re making faces.”

“Fine, I made a face,” she admitted.

“If this is about Jun-”

“This is nuts,” she said. “It’s so crazy. What are you gonna do, move to South Korea to be with him? Move that far away from your family. It’s a totally different world, there’s no way he’s your soulmate.”

You sighed and rolled your eyes. Eralia was dramatic and your older sister. You knew she didn’t want you that far away but it wasn’t like you were her only sibling. And it wasn’t like you wouldn’t visit.

“Eri, this is as much a surprise to me as it is to you. I didn’t plan to meet my soulmate there. It’s not easy with the time difference and the languages, I miss him like crazy and I want to be back there with him every day.”

You turned in your seat to look at her. “We haven’t really planned out where to live or how our future could look yet. Honestly, right now we’re both just studying each others languages so we can talk a little bit. I know how nuts this is, but I’m not giving up on it just because it’s gonna be hard.”

Eralia placed a hand on her cheek. “I don’t want to lose my little sister, or to see you pick up and move your life and end up hurt, frustrated, or disappointed.”

“I won’t, Eri,” you sighed. “And you I have other siblings you can pester and baby when I’m gone. I’m not planning on staying right here my whole life.”

“Who taught you to be so bold, eh?” she chided.

“The same woman that taught you,” you shot back.

“Alright,” she sighed, moving your head again so she could finish your braids. “I’m going to miss you if you leave me here.”

“I know, and I’ll miss all of you. But what else do I do? Either way one of us has to make a big change and I love Seoul. I’ve picked up more of the language and I know that if he moved here and was around us he’d have a hard time understanding.”

“Does he even know English?” she sighed.

“He understands a fair amount of it. Well at least he does when we text…” you said quietly. “He… has trouble with my accent.”

Eralia said your name softly and you turned towards her again. “Listen I know what you’re thinking. I know this is difficult and seems impossible but I have to try.”

“You’re really sure you want to do this,” she asked.

“Absolutely,” you said.

She nodded. “Alright, you know I’m worried about you but if you have to try then do it.”

“Thank you,” you said. “I want this to work so badly.”

She started on the last few braids. “I know you do. I can’t imagine what it would be like if Desmond didn’t speak English. I know this is hard for you.”

“Yeah,” you sighed.

You had been thinking about the reality of it a lot now that you were back home. You were half way around the world from the man that you loved and it hurt. It was harder to talk to him being on a totally different schedule. You texted as much as you could, but you wanted to see him. You missed hearing his voice and seeing his face. You missed the feeling of his arms around you and the way he made you feel so at home. You had this constant, dull ache in your heart being away from him and it made you want to get on the next plane bound for Incheon.

Your evening was spent trying to focus on your school work but you kept checking your email. You had applied for a year abroad and you should have heard back today about whether your application was accepted. You knew you had just taken a semester off but your marks were great and you felt your application was compelling.

Your phone buzzed and you checked it quickly. It wasn’t the email you were expecting but seeing Jun’s name on your screen made your face light up in a smile. You opened his message and felt your heart fluttering at his words.

[Sweet pea! I miss you!]

[Did you get your email yet? I want to see you]

You had a feeling he’d roped Joshua into helping him write his messages again. He was getting better at English and you could guess he wrote the first message on his own but he might have needed help with the question.

[Not yet, Junnie. I miss you too!]

Texting him was so nice, but it always made you miss him even more. You just wanted to be there with him as soon as possible and it was terrible having to wait to go back to South Korea. You just wanted to be beside him.

[Can I call?]

You felt the grin that spread across your face from ear to ear as you sent a quick reply. A skype call came through within a second and you opened it eagerly. He was there on the other end, giving you a loving smile.

“안녕 자기야,” he said, even through the video chat you loved the sound of his voice. “너무보고 싶어!”

“I miss you too!” you whined. “So much it hurts.” You did your best to speak slowly and smiled when he seemed to understand.

“What are you doing?” he asked lowly and you smiled proudly at him.

“Homework,” you replied. “And waiting for-”

A ding caught your attention and you opened your email quickly.

“뭐야?” You only barely caught onto what he was saying as you read the email and gasped.

“What?”

You clicked back so you would see him. You felt silly for tearing up but you really couldn’t help it.

“My application got accepted!”

A large smile spread across his face. “You’re coming back?”

Travelling was just what you’d needed. You had only gotten a year into your degree before you started to feel unsure of yourself and what you really wanted to be doing. So during the second year you planned to take a semester off. You were thinking about maybe doing a semester abroad as well in your next year.

You weren’t sure why you were having such a hard time settling and relaxing somewhere. You didn’t hate what you were studying but it somehow still felt static and still at times. You felt like you needed to get out and do things so you had spent the summer and into the fall working abroad and now you were travelling around Asia for a while before returning home and getting ready to get back to school.

You didn't feel quite ready for the transition just yet. You were happy that at least you felt more secure in yourself and your choices on what to study than you had when you had set out on this journey but you loved seeing the world and getting to experience something else. 

Plus working abroad meant this had actually been affordable.

The only problem with falling in love with places around the world was not wanting to leave. You had been fine and even excited when you finished working to get the chance to see other countries and you’d taken full advantage of your time so far. You were travelling as cheaply and lightly as you could, but something about Seoul was feeling like home so quickly.

You hadn’t expected to fall in love with the big city. Jeju sure, you had spent the better part of your childhood on an island so you expected to love it. But Seoul was so different. It was big and loud and rushed and yet you managed to find little nooks and crannies all over that place that you loved. A quiet book store, a charming coffee shop.

Your limited Korean made it difficult to really communicate when you found these sorts of places. Big touristy centers and areas normally had enough English for you to get by. But you liked these little areas away from all of that. You liked to try and see what the people who lived there saw. Of course they saw the monuments and tourist attractions but you wanted to see where people could spend their day to day time.

You wandered down the streets in Hongdae, taking in the sights and sounds around the university. There were a lot of students wandering around with bags and books and some finding comfy spots at cafes to study. You supposed that students were students no matter where they were.

You wandered your way into a small coffee shop, paying no attention to the curious looks you got from the locals. You knew that dark skin and colourful braids were relatively uncommon here so it wasn’t too surprising that people were doing double takes and staring. Anytime you caught someone doing so you smiled at them and they normally gave you a sheepish grin in return. They didn’t mean anything by it. You imagined if you had never seen someone who looked so different you would be intrigued too so for the most part it had been okay.

You did your best to read the menu and spent a good long time translating it on your phone. You had picked up a little bit of Korean from your short time in Seoul so far, really just enough to introduce yourself, say that you didn’t really speak the language, and ask for directions. Your travel dictionary had helped a lot and the more you learned the more you wanted to learn. You were starting to debate on whether you would seriously start learning Korean at some point. It was so different from English but it intrigued you and if you were ever going to come back and spend an extended amount of time then it made sense that you should start studying it and properly learn the language. You’d picked up most of the alphabet and could sound out a lot of things which helped you a lot to know that 아메리카노 was americano and 마끼아또 was macchiato so at least you could order something.

You chose something off the menu and ordered in very broken Korean but the woman behind the counter just smiled and prepared your drink and gave you your muffin. Once your drink was ready you settled into a small table in the corner and surveyed the room. There were a lot of students here reading and studying. It was relatively quiet with relaxing music playing in the background. The shop had such a cozy atmosphere that just made you feel so at home and comfortable.

Well it did at first.

After a while of browsing your phone trying to decide how you would spend your evening you had started to feel overly warm. You knew your face didn’t show much of a blush but you had a feeling it was still currently as flushed as it could be. You pulled your braids back and held them up off your neck as you fanned yourself with your other hand. You could swear your heart was racing and you had no clue why. Where you panicking? Out of the blue with no reason or trigger at all? It wasn’t impossible but also wasn’t a common thing for you. 

The feelings kept getting stronger as you started to pack your things. You hoped the feelings would subside if you went back to where you were staying for a little bit to calm down. You could always go out in the evening if you wanted to. You should probably just go lie down and do some deep breathing or something.

You looked up as the door swung open and as you locked eyes with a tall, handsome boy you felt your heart start to beat harder than you think it ever had and a warm, cozy feeling washed over you. You had never felt so at home in an instant before just from looking into someone's eyes. What on earth was-

Oh.

The boy had a nervous smile on his face as he approached you. He started speaking to you very quickly and excitedly in Korean. You managed to pick up “Hi” “name” and “Junhwi” but that was it. You just stared, blinking at him, and trying to understand what he had said fully. The smile fell off his face a bit as he waited for a response. After a few more moments you slowly introduced yourself in Korean and told him he didn’t speak the language. Jun cocked his head to the side and asked something else. You could tell he was speaking in Chinese but you didn’t understand a word of it.

“I’m sorry, I only really know English…” you trailed off.

He looked utterly defeated. “My English is… very bad.”

You wracked your brain for any way to make communication easier. There had to be some way that you could talk to each other. “I mean, we could use google translate…”