Recipe for Happiness

"Hey, Watch it!" a man yelled as I made my way through the streets of Seoul with my bags, trying not to fall or step on someone. What I had not remembered from my visit when I was a kid was how the streets were always filled with people. The city did indeed never sleep.

"I'm Sorry" I mumbled but again I lost my balance and one of my bags hit a young man in the face. My face flushed a deep red as I noted as not only was the man very attractive, he now had a bleeding nose. Dropping my bags I hurriedly fished up a paper towel from my pocket, saying I'm sorry over and over while giving it to him. With a frown, the man took the towel, pressed it against his nose and gave me a long look that showed exactly how much he despised me at that very moment. Giving him a 90 degree bow I picked up my bags before bowing again, with another apology, and fled down the streets.

Great work, Rina. You've only been in Seoul for about fifty minutes and you've already given yourself enemies for life.

Finally I reached the apartment complex that housed the room I had rented for the week. The rent was ridiculous I concluded when I finally remembered the combination to the door, ridiculously high for such a crappy one room apartment. Even though my family wasn't a rich one even my bedroom back home was bigger; but I guessed when you're building homes in a city where (counting suburbs) over twenty-four million people lives. After all, I guess I was lucky getting a place to live in the first place.

A loud knock on the door interrupted my chain of thought, and as I opened the door to answer it, the sight that met me made my jaw drop.

He was maybe a bit taller than five foot seven, his hair bright orange and with huge, brown expressive eyes he looked like an over sized kid. If I hadn't spotted the Adams apple, I could almost have sworn he was a she. His hair was set up in a neat bun, and his clothes looked almost like something I'd buy - for myself. Before I managed to collect myself he stuck out a long, pale white hand and gave me a bright Colgate smile.

"Hello, I'm your landlord. Kim Heechul! I don't usually come knocking on peoples door like this, but you seemed a bit lost and so I wanted to come see if everything was okay" he spoke so fast I had to concentrate really hard to understand what he was saying. Being used to the south accents, the Seoul accent still sounded so foreign that some words almost didn't make any sense to me at all.

"Uh," I began, before realizing I probably looked like a dumbstruck idiot. Shaking my head quickly, I took his hand, shook it, and did a small bow. "Yes, I'm alright, Thanks" I gave him my best smile and then reassured him that the room looked nice and if I needed something he would be the first on my list of people to ask. He finally left, almost skipping down the hall and singing loud and cheerfully.

Smiling to myself, I closed the door and turned to face the place that would be mine for a week; but judging by my meeting with the landlord, it would probably be longer than that.
Sighing, I realized I had no money for paint or furniture; even though the room had a functional kitchen, bathroom and a fold-out couch, I still wanted to add my touch to it.

Dropping down on the couch I figured I'd look for jobs tomorrow. and ask the landlord if I could do some work on the place. But now, all I wanted was sleep.