Chapter Thirteen: Before the Trip to Myeongdong

The room that Yuqi Chen and her brother Zhe Chen had booked was a spacious suite with two bedrooms and a living room. Because they had been on a long, non-stop bus ride, both siblings were utterly exhausted. After exchanging a simple goodnight, they each took their luggage to the bedroom they had chosen.

Once he had settled his things, Zhe called their mother to let her know they had arrived safely. After chatting with her for a while, he hung up, switched the SIM card to the new Korean one he’d just gotten, plugged in his phone to charge, and started downloading Kakao. Feeling in need of a little refreshment, Zhe decided to shower.

When he emerged from the bathroom, the fatigue seemed to have melted away, and he couldn’t help but stretch comfortably. Sitting down on the bed, he glanced at his phone and saw that Kakao had finished downloading. Following an online guide, he quickly registered a new Kakao account.

He flipped open his sketchbook to the page with Hayoung Oh’s contact information, entered her number into his phone, and sure enough, Kakao automatically added her as a friend.

“Good evening, Hayoung. This is Zhe.” Looking at his Kakao friends list, which contained only Hayoung, Zhe opened a chat window. Just as he was about to type, his fingers hesitated, and after a long moment of indecision, he finally sent a simple greeting.

“Hi, good evening, Zhe. Are you done with everything now?” For a while, there was no response from Hayoung. Disappointed, Zhe was about to put his phone down when it vibrated gently. He picked it up quickly—sure enough, she had replied.

“Yeah, I’ve finished everything. I just happened to have some free time, so I thought I’d message you to see if you were still awake.” Unable to think of a clever opener, Zhe could only reply with dry, awkward words.

“Is that so? By the way, which hotel are you staying at, Zhe?” He hadn’t expected such a quick reply from Hayoung. Yet, soon after he sent his message, her reply popped up.

“Oh, my sister and I are staying at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. The environment’s pretty nice—I’ve heard the view is beautiful during the day,” Zhe answered, describing the hotel briefly and giving it a small compliment.

“The Grand Hyatt! That’s a famous hotel here in Korea, and you get to enjoy a beautiful view too. I’d love to experience that someday!” Hayoung, listening to Zhe’s description, suddenly found herself yearning for a stay at the Grand Hyatt.

“Hayoung, you should come and try it sometime if you get the chance.” Seeing her reply, Zhe couldn’t help but smile—after all, he’d basically just recited the suite description from the hotel’s website.

“I will! By the way, since you’re visiting Korea, have you decided where you want to go tomorrow?” After agreeing, Hayoung shifted the topic, asking about Zhe’s plans for the next day.

“I think tomorrow my noona and I will go to Myeongdong,” Zhe said, trying to recall his sister’s itinerary, though he wasn’t entirely sure.

“Myeongdong? On your first day, you’re heading straight for the shopping district?” Hayoung sounded puzzled that Zhe would choose a shopping street as his first tourist spot.

“Yeah, my noona said she wants to help me pick out some suitable clothes first.” Thinking of his own wardrobe, Zhe couldn’t help but want to cover his face in embarrassment. Most of his time from elementary to middle school was spent in uniform, with few opportunities to wear casual clothes.

With uniforms, there was little need to worry about matching outfits, so Zhe simply didn’t have many clothes to mix and match with. Once he explained this to his sister, Yuqi immediately decided that their first day in Korea would be dedicated to buying him new clothes.

“Hahaha, when I saw your outfit on the train this morning, my first thought was that you were going for something really alternative,” Hayoung teased, recalling Zhe’s appearance earlier. She couldn’t help but poke fun at his sense of style, even as she laughed.

“Was my outfit today really that out there?” Embarrassed by her teasing, Zhe began to doubt himself. He always thought he had a good sense of style—at work, people often complimented his fashion.

Wait—those compliments were from his work days, Zhe suddenly realized the problem: his sense of style belonged to 2022. This was 2012—a whole decade earlier. Maybe he was a bit too ahead of his time.

“It’s not really alternative, just… it doesn’t quite suit you, Zhe!” Hayoung replied after a long pause, as if trying to find a tactful way to put it.

Reading her message, Zhe suddenly saw the light. It wasn’t that his taste was too avant-garde, but rather that his style was too mature for his age—he lacked the youthful energy that a young man should have.

“Thank you so much, Hayoung. You’ve really helped me out this time.” Realizing his mistake, Zhe’s gratitude was heartfelt.

“You don’t need to thank me! Wait, Zhe, why are you thanking me all of a sudden?” Although she didn’t quite understand, Hayoung instinctively responded, then asked for clarification.

Zhe didn’t answer her question directly. Instead, he changed the subject, steering the conversation to their shared interest in games.

Lost in conversation about gaming, the two forgot all about the passage of time.

“Sorry, Hayoung, I really can’t stay awake any longer. My eyes just won’t stay open,” Zhe said, not even sure how long they’d been chatting. His eyelids felt impossibly heavy.

Forcing himself to squint, Zhe checked the time on his phone—it was already past midnight. The wave of drowsiness hit him even harder, and he knew it was time to rest.

“Alright then, Zhe, you should get some sleep!” Seeing how tired he was, Hayoung gave up on continuing the conversation.

“Good night, Hayoung,” Zhe said with a slightly apologetic smile, feeling himself drift off.

“Good night, Zhe! Go get some rest!” Knowing how exhausted he was, Hayoung urged him to go to bed.

—Apink Dormitory—

After saying goodnight to Zhe, Hayoung stretched lazily and got up to pour herself a glass of water. To her surprise, she turned around to find Bomi Yoon, the second eldest in their group, standing right behind her. Startled, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

“Unnie, why are you standing there so quietly? You almost scared me to death!” Hayoung pressed a hand to her chest, her voice tinged with lingering fright and a hint of reproach.

“Maknae, who were you chatting with just now? And who’s this Zhe? You looked so happy,” Bomi asked seriously, ignoring Hayoung’s complaint as she fixed her with a scrutinizing gaze.

“You saw and heard everything just now?” Alarmed by Bomi’s seriousness, Hayoung asked nervously.

“Of course, I pretty much saw and heard it all! Wait, no—don’t change the subject. You still haven’t answered my question!” Bomi nodded, then realized she was being sidetracked from her original query.

“Yes, Zhe is a Chinese friend I just met. He seems to be the younger brother of Sooyoung from Girls’ Generation—a really interesting person!” Though a little annoyed at being redirected, Hayoung explained how she’d come to know Zhe.

“Oh, I thought you were secretly dating someone. The rest of us are all still single, so the maknae shouldn’t think about sneaking off before her unnies!” Bomi pouted, making it clear that no one should start dating before the older members.

“Unnie!” Hayoung cried helplessly, flustered by her sister’s antics.

Their playful scuffle quickly drew the attention of the other members, and once again, the Apink dorm was filled with their usual chaos.