Chapter 1

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Sun-Hee was sure she had walked this hallway before. Maybe she didn't understand the directions correctly. That was likely the case, because her Korean was a little rusty. "Mailboxes, mailboxes, mailboxes," she hummed to herself as she looked around another corner. Even the hallways were works of art in this building. The walls were shiny tan squares of granite and the floors were a mix of grey and tan Terazzo flooring. With all the glass railings, solid wood benches, and breathtaking chandeliers, Sun-Hee understood she would likely be one of the only college students living in such luxury. 

Moving into a new apartment was always a hassle. As she felt herself getting frustrated by being lost,  she took a deep breath and encouraged herself with the thought that next week at this time, she would be all moved in (most likely) and even know where the darn mailboxes were!  One thing Sun-Hee had learned over the years was that negative thoughts were self perpetuating. She needed to be kind to herself and give herself a break just as much as she should do that for other people.

After walking, what felt like, miles of getting nowhere, Sun-Hee decided to sit on a bench and rest for a minute. She gave herself a mental pat on the back for not spiraling into a pit of despair. It was her first day ever outside of the United States. She had arrived in Seoul this morning after a 15 hour flight that included two plane changes with short layovers. At barely 21 years old Sun-Hee didn't feel prepared to navigate all of this on her own. She had convinced her parents she could do it but she hadn't really convinced herself yet. 

Sun-Hee was going to start her senior year at Seoul University. She had attended Stanford University in California for her first three years but needed a fresh start after the disaster in her personal life last spring. But the self-love she had learned from a wise therapist was really helping her heal. And the fact that she could still encourage herself after the stress of traveling for the last day showed her she was strong and was ready for a change. Alright, enough sitting. She gave herself a mental kick in the butt, "Let's get it girl!"

As she continued to walk down the hall, she passed several nicely dressed people that would not make eye contact. Some were looking at their phones, others just looking straight ahead. She had tried saying "Excuse me." to a few who passed by, some didn't respond. One women gave Sun-Hee a horrible frown and shook her head. She knew that Americans were known to be overly friendly and that bothered some cultures, but she was wondering if she hadn't done enough research on Korean culture because she was unprepared for the rudeness she had just encountered. 

As she turned another corner she saw a handsome young man, probably in his early twenties, headed her direction. He was well dressed in a tan sweater and dark brown slacks. He was wearing a black beret on the back of his head and had a messenger bag strapped diagonally across his body. As he approached her he looked her in the eye and gave her a friendly, rectangular smile. Wow, she thought. What a beautiful smile. His friendliness made her take a chance.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry to be a bother, but can you tell me if the mailboxes are close by?" Sun-Hee said in slow but fluent Korean. He stopped immediately and gave her his full attention. Sun-Hee was thinking that his hair looked really soft and he had some beautiful professional looking brown highlights. But of course, this apartment complex with all its security and privacy wasn't affordable to just anyone. If he could afford to live here, he could certainly afford decent highlights.

"The mailboxes? No, those are on the other end of the building by the pool and the gym." He still gave her his friendly smile.

"Oh, okay, dang it." She said in English. Then with a smile she said in Korean, "Thank you for your help." Sun-Hee pivoted to head the other direction. The man continued walking following along behind her.  She got to another branch in the hallway and paused, not sure which way took her to the gym and pool. The nice man stopped and pointed to the sign on the wall with an arrow that said "체육관". (Gym)

She smiled contritely, "Thank you again. I'm sure I will find it today. I'm determined!" He chuckled a little at that. She turned the direction of the arrow and again they were walking the same direction. The truth was she could speak Korean but she couldn't read it. That is what happens when you grow up in a house that speaks Korean but attend American schools. 

The next time Sun-Hee went to take a turn, the friendly gentleman said "Can I please walk you to the mailboxes? If I leave you now I will worry that you wandered through the building all day, never finding them." Sun-Hee nodded with a relieved look on her face while thinking: Gosh his voice is nice. It was so deep and soulful, but had a nice up and down lilt to it.

"That is exactly what was about to happen. I was just going to spend my first day in Korea in a maze of tan granite hallways looking for my darn mailbox. I promise if you show me the way I won't bother you again." She smiled brightly so he didn't change his mind.

He chuckled a little, "It's no bother. Come this way. By the way I'm Taehyung." He did a little bow to greet her.

"Sun-Hee, nice to meet you." She pronounced it 'Soon-He'. She also gave him a little bow.

Taehyung and Sun-Hee chatted about the hassles of moving as they walked. Taehyung explained that he and his friends had moved into the building a couple months ago and he remembered learning his way around the maze of hallways. He explained the layout as they walked.

When they arrived at the bank of mailboxes, Sun-Hee found her number B302. While Sun-Hee wrestled with her key, Taehyung opened his mailbox, finding nothing inside he closed it again and explained that his roommate usually picked up the mail. He watched her struggle a few more seconds then offered "Can I try?"

Sun-Hee slumped against the mailboxes and sighed "Yes, please. Help this mail fiasco end. By the time you finish helping me I'm going to owe you a coffee."

Taehyung jiggled the key and worked to try to get her mailbox open, and turned his chocolate eyes to her and said "I actually don't drink coffee but I will gladly take a smoothy." Sun-Hee thought: His beautiful eyes match his beautiful smile and beautiful voice. Goodness, was there anything about this man that wasn't beautiful?

"Well I guess you better be successful opening it then because a smoothy costs about four times a coffee!" Sun-Hee laughed but then thought: Oh no, does sarcasm translate in Korean?!? 

Luckily, Taehyung laughed and said "I'm determined to get it open and get my well deserved smoothy! I think there is something pushed up against the lock, if I push the key in just a bit more..." And the door to her mailbox popped open. When Taehyung saw the contents of the mailbox he said "Well, that explains it."

Sun-Hee stepped over to see. The mailbox was filled to capacity. Magazines, advertisements, and envelopes filled every cubic inch. "Oh wow, I'm popular, huh?" Elbowing him a bit and giggling at her own joke. She tried to pull her mail out but it was stuck solid. Someone had really crammed it in there. She got ahold of the corner of a magazine but when she pulled it the corner tore off in her hands. She stood with a lost look on her face looking bewilderedly at the corner she was pinching in her fingers. This got another chuckle from Taehhyung. 

He gently took her by the shoulders and shifted her over. "Let me help..." He looked her right in the eye "...again." 

He wiggled a finger into the cram of papers and was able to pinch a good bit of mail, but when he pulled it out the entire contents came out in one chunk and landed on the floor. Magazines, letters, cards, everything sailed gracefully over the slick floors. Both Taehyung and Sun-Hee laughed and immediately got to their knees and started collecting the mail into a pile. They were both pleasantly surprised to find each other had a good attitude. Sun-Hee had been around moody, good looking men before and she had no room in her life for them now. At least she was hoping she wouldn't fall back into her old ways. After standing up, Taehyung gently put his pile on top of hers.

Sun-Hee smiled "Thank you. I'm sure by now I owe you a cookie to go with the smoothy." 

Taehyung beamed "Upgrade it to a pastry and I will show you where to get all your packages."

Sun-Hee's eyebrows came up "Packages?"

He reached over and picked out a couple pink slips of paper from her pile of mail, "Each one of these is a package notification."

Sun-Hee sighed and looked a little down trodden "This is the never ending adventure to get my mail today. I'm so glad you were here to help or I would be miserable by this point. Alright, pastry it is, lead the way."


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