It matched her hair.

Ong Seongwoo lowly chuckled to himself, as he remembered yesterday's events. The once frantic lost night in busy Tokyo turned out to be very... nice. He had to give it to the unexpected Korean girl, Hyeju, for coming to the rescue.

Beacon of hope, he called her. She truly was. A one sure miracle in the dead of night.

But why was he comparing her flushed cheeks to her faded red hair as of now? He wasn't quite sure. It was definitely cute.

Very cute.

"Huh, I didn't think you'd be so entertained by someone putting a cast on a patient's arm."

Seongwoo jolted back into reality once hearing his sunbae's voice. They were surrounded by dull, white walls, rows of beds and equipment before them. In this particular room, only a few patients stayed. Right, we're in Eunhyuk-hyung's hospital right now.

They've been here since 10 in the morning. Seongwoo had followed after his hyung during his morning check-ups. Despite still being such a rookie doctor, Eunhyuk was one that was respected by his coworkers. And seeing every patient he tended was quite inspiring to see, since each one looked hopeful towards their Korean doctor. Seongwoo had watched as Eunhyuk took care after each of his patients with gentleness and care. Some, he even looked to have a casual bond with, like they were good friends. There were smiles on their faces after being seen by him. Eunhyuk also didn't fail to introduce Seongwoo to each person they met. Surely, it was to try to edge Seongwoo more into the scene, to get himself more familiar with the Japanese hospital.

After a lunch in the afternoon, Eunhyuk continued to show him around the hospital. They visited different departments as well as a few surgery rooms. In Eunhyuk's eyes, they were lucky to have seen two separate surgeries, one as simple as mending a broken bone in someone's arm to an open brain surgery. Even striving to become a doctor for about four years now, Seongwoo was still a bit uneasy while seeing those surgeries. He had to be thankful that, at least, he wasn't striving to become a surgeon, but just a doctor that took care of illnesses.

However, after seeing the surgery and the day threaded on, Seongwoo became less and less interested with everything. His mind began to wander on its own. Eventually, those thoughts mostly consisted of his red headed heroine.

He had to defend himself. "I, uh, I wasn't that entertained--"

"I know you're not, Seongwoo-yah," Eunhyuk chided with a playful shove of his shoulder. "You were blanking out for the past hour or so. And you tell me I'm in my own little world? What a hypocrite you are." Eunhyuk murmured something to the nurse that was fixing the cast, then he lead Seongwoo out into the hallway. "What's on your mind, kid? And I'm sure that it's not over your ultimate decision on the future."

Seongwoo frowned upon hearing his stalky friend's words.

He knew he had been too distracted. Actually, he had been thinking a lot since last night... about her, which defeats the purpose of him being in Japan in the first place. Hyeju left such an impression on him, it couldn't be helped. Wouldn't the memory of finding a Korean in the vast of Tokyo be very vivid to the brain? That would explain his running thoughts, wouldn't it?

"It's really nothing, just other stuff... like what's for dinner," the younger replied quickly, scratching the back of his neck. "Or like, was wondering if we can look around the city? Go somewhere cool?"

Eunhyuk hummed at the suggestions. His face was blank and Seongwoo wasn't sure what to make of it. His sunbae probably didn't believe his words... and to be honest, he wouldn't have believed it either.

"Of course we can go to cool places! You should definitely go sightseeing while you're here," the older nodded. He wrapped an arm around Seongwoo's shoulders, leading him further down the hall towards the elevators. "But, did you take a good look at the hospital and what we do here? That is priority."

The college kid pondered on the matter.

Even when being in an unknown hospital, nothing really stuck to him. Sure, he had a good enough reaction when he met some of the patients and saw the surgeries, but nothing to appeal to him for his future. He knew the procedures and the rules that go on, he knew what these doctors and nurses were doing very well. And he was impressed at his hyung's work ethic and determination. But... none of it lit a spark in him. Nothing that really told him, yes this is what you should do. Isn't that what should happen when you're goal-driven and passionate enough?

An image of his parents wavered in his mind.

They have done so much for him. He can't let them down.

He had wasted enough of his parent's time and money.

But...

"I'm still not sure, hyung," Seongwoo mumbled meekly. "Like, I know what I would have to do and all, but it's not something I could see myself doing forever."

"Well, is that not answer enough?" Eunhyuk answered, gazing at him with intense eyes. "Your parents should understand that this probably wasn't the right path for you."

"But I've been working towards a degree in medicine for all my college years."

The older interjected, "Then stick to it and have no regrets! I know people, Seongwoo. Those who go into a career they can't be proud about, they are lifeless. I don't want that happening to a bright kid like you." The two entered the elevator and shuffled in, pressing the button for the ground floor. "Looking at you, I can see a shit load of potential in whatever you decide, you have that strive. So you have to suck it up and decide. Plus, you not talking to your parents about you dream is damaging. You have to talk to them."

Seongwoo knew he was right.

But why did he have to be so scared?

Why can't I be stronger?

"Let's go to this one sushi place nearby. It's bomb!" Eunhyuk chimed all of a sudden, giving a shake to the younger's shoulders. The change in tone caught Seongwoo off guard, but he had to be thankful for it. If they continued on with this future chat much longer, he might've broken down. "Then right after would be good to get some dessert at the Lucky Cat."

The mention of the ramen shop caught his attention. "Uh, the Lucky Cat?"

"Yeah, they give me a discount for the desserts there. Other than the ramen, they have these Japanese cheesecakes that are so damn good. I've seen people go in there just for those!"

"How did you manage to get a discount from them?

Eunhyuk smirked. "I'm not saying you should use the power of being a doctor to your advantage but I helped the owner's family one time. And they were so thankful that they decided to give me a discount on the cheesecakes every time I come in." He gave a shrug of his shoulders. "It is a nice perk."

"Seriously?"

"Trust me! I did decline at first," the older male uttered to his own defense once seeing the unsure look on Seongwoo's face. "But they insisted and I am kind of weak for their cheesecake."

"Sure, hyung."

The two men left the hospital out to have the sushi at the restaurant Eunhyuk had recommended nearby. At a decent price, Seongwoo ate as much sushi and sashimi as he could handle, up to the point where he was pleasantly satisfied. Sitting in the authentic restaurant with his hyung, the fact that he had been in Japan for a whole day was finally sinking in. They had sat by the window as well, which overlooked busy streets. From those streets, you could see a few electronic billboards which flashed with advertisements (of course) in Japanese. He could see a lot of people bustle about even as the day gradually gotten darker. Tokyo was such a busy city and it was quite an extravagant change to the life he had at home.

The guilty thoughts he had about his future as a doctor was pushed to the back of his mind.

If he were to pursue towards singing and dancing, would there be a chance to do so? If he can't become an idol, maybe he can try a different way. A dance instructor? Someone who works behind the scenes? He can definitely try to act as well, he had been told he could be an actor if he really tried with his visuals and expressive reactions.

That'd be his next step if had the opportunity.

I'm already 21, can I really become a someone starting at this age?

"I just had a grand thought," Eunhyuk murmured out of the blue, as they were currently taking a cab over to the Lucky Cat after their delicious dinner. Seongwoo glanced over to the older male in expectation. "We should invite Hyeju-yah to lunch or dinner tomorrow. We should thank her properly for not letting you rot somewhere in the middle of Tokyo."

"Hyung, you're overreacting," Seongwoo huffed.

Honestly, his once sluggish body for eating all the raw fish felt energetic once again. Seeing Hyeju again? The idea somehow brightened his mood. And he really should treat her for helping him, he finally exchanged some money so he could do so! He wasn't sure how to approach that plan before, now he was grateful that Eunhyuk had brought it up instead of him. Hyeju was closer to Eunhyuk anyway, it was better that someone she would be more comfortable with to do so.

The younger bared a genuine warm grin at the suggestion. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea."

.  .  .

"Thank you for ordering from the Lucky Cat Ramen! I hope you order from us again and have a good day!"

The middle-aged woman from the other side of the door beamed at the deliverer for having brought the noodles at a good time. Once paid and tipped graciously for the delivery, the door closed behind the woman and Hyeju was off on her way. This was her seventh delivery for the night and with a tired sigh, she hurried back to the restaurant's scooter parked outside the customer's house and zoomed down the neighborhood street.

The day had been excruciatingly long for Hyeju.

She had to be a little bit thankful though. As she arrived to her school's campus for the early morning, the hangover hadn't been too bad on her. It wasn't like she drank too much to begin with, as she knew how to have plenty of fun without it. But it was a different story for her other friends she had gone to karaoke with.

Her friends and classmates Suki, Vu, and Michi all looked like they went straight to school just after rolling off of bed. While they tried to dress nicely and fix their hair, it still wasn't their normal selves, unfortunately. Suki had it worse as she had drunk the most last night, but she also didn't care all too much about her appearance. She merely wore an oversized panda sweater over leggings with worn-out sneakers to pair. Her long, black hair was thrown into a ponytail and a cap. She didn't even try on her makeup, only foundation and mascara at most. Vu and Michi may look a little more sober, they still looked like complete wrecks. The three emitted a dark aura that steered their other classmates away from them.

As she was the most sober of their group along with heavy-drinker Ken, it didn't avoid the disturbing feeling that their classes seemed annoyingly longer than usual. Hyeju was beginning to be more antsy and bored with the monotonous lectures. Within just mere minutes of the lecture in which she was usually excited for, her brain shut down on her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't follow after her professors' endless talking. It came to the point that their words began to sound like mush in Hyeju's ears. Maybe in that brief moment in her somewhat sober state, her mind couldn't comprehend the Japanese language.

She even remembered raising her hand thirty minutes into her second class of the day, to ask her professor if she could speak in Korean for her. Fortunately, Hyeju realized how incredibly stupid that would be if said aloud and dismissed it when the professor did call on her, saving herself from embarrassment. If she had done that, her friends would never let it down.

Hyeju knew from then on, she wasn't going to be able to focus from then on. The redhead accepted her fate and decided that she would ask Ken or one of her other classmates for notes after class.

The next thing she could do next was just let her mind wonder to the most obvious subject to think about.

Seongwoo.

The unbelievably handsome Korean stranger from last night. The very one that had graced her friend's family ramen shop that she so happens to work in.

She let out disgruntled sigh at the whole situation of yesterday's events.

Hyeju was pretty damn sure if he had asked her to join him in some illegal heist, she would've accepted in a heartbeat. It was kind of pathetic, she knew this. She wished she could just stop thinking of the guy she only met once.

But wow.

Why did he have to be so... attractive in every aspect?

It was actually quite surprising how snatched she was for this boy.

Honestly, she even cursed at Suki in her mind at lunch earlier today for being out-of-her-mind drunk that she had to be taken home, cutting off time she could have had with Seongwoo. And she had to inwardly curse at Ken too for rushing her much desired conversation with him. Seriously, couldn't Ken have been much less of a whining baby last night? If any of them were an embarrassment, it would be him for jumping to conclusions and childishly interrupting her time!

Would it have been better to not have met the mysterious man at all? She wouldn't be absorbed in such strong emotions if she didn't.

Goodness, without me, would he have slept outside in the dark and cold?

Hyeju shook her helmeted head, her attention back on the road before her. No, what she did was right. She had done a good deed for helping Seongwoo find his way to Dr. Lee. And really, this had to have happened for some reason. A kind of destiny that allowed her to help Seongwoo last night. What else would it have been? Two Koreans meeting randomly in the heart of Japan, that was very unlikely!

However, she wished that he wouldn't be so ingrained into her poor mind. Perhaps, because she was so out of it from last night's alcohol, her mind was having its hayday with a new target to focus on. Or maybe... she really was so affected by Seongwoo's charms that got her like this. It was crazy, she doesn't ever remember a time she had thought about someone this much other than her own family.

Just give it time, Hyeju.

She knew, as more days pass, she'll eventually get over this lowkey... okay, kind of highkey crush on him. She'll just have to suffer with her unnecessary feelings for a little while longer. With that thought in mind, she calmed down her frantic emotions and continued on her way back.

With fifteen minutes passing by, she finally returned to the ramen shop. She plucked off the helmet off her redhead and placed it into the scooter's back compartment. It wasn't until she had hopped off the vehicle when outdoor's temperature got to her; her whole body shivered at the coldness. If she remembered correctly, a cold front was on its way and it could possibly snow tonight.

Placing her hands over her chilled cheeks, she rushed into the pleasantly warm store. She hummed in content while the building's warmth defrosted her frozen skin.

"Hyeju-chan, hello," her most trusted friend ever, Akiko, greeted her as she entered. The short-haired girl's expression instantly changed seeing the state the younger was in. "Let me brew some tea for you to have. You're done delivering for the night!"  Before Hyeju knew it, Akiko had disappeared into the kitchen.

Hyeju had to giggle at her friend's motherly instincts.

She had met Akiko through a program in her university back in Busan, Kosin University to be more exact. The program allowed Hyeju and other interested students to chat with people from selected countries though a live video chat that corresponds with the languages the college taught. Hyeju had been learning Japanese since she was the age of 16, this would be the best next step to improve herself as someone who didn't have anyone to practice her Japanese on. 

At first, Akiko was merely helping her with pronunciation and wording. That slowly merged into the two Asian girls talking about their interests and what they have been doing throughout the day. Topics like the week Hyeju had multiple projects she would have for the classes for architecture, or the times Akiko would talk about the days of tennis tournaments and would flash her won medals. Before they knew it, they were chatting even outside the times they were assigned to chat through the program's online chat site. They had already exchanged usernames on the Line app and would use that to talk to each other whenever.

They had such an inseparable bond, despite actually being separated into two different countries. They shared music they enjoyed, chatted about the smallest things, would rant to each other if so needed. And having the other live and experience another culture, it was interesting to hear their advice as it can vary from their own. As there could be a couple things they may disagree on, they were close.

Nearing the end of Hyeju's second year of college, Kosin University announced their annual pickings of students who would want to study abroad. With her family's support, Hyeju jumped onto the opportunity as soon as she could. As Hyeju was a great student with great knowledge of the Japanese language, she was unanimously picked as one of the few students to study abroad to their country of choice.

And there she was, attending the same college as Akiko, Tokai University. She managed to gain a small but decent dorm room provided by Kosin and Tokai's efforts. Hyeju would then get majority of her meals from Akiko's family because they were so darn nice. The Mizushimas were even kind enough to give her a job in their ramen shop so she could have money to spend on other necessities as well as college.

Ah, she was rambling in her own mind again.

But nonetheless, Hyeju was so very thankful to have met someone like Akiko.

The fourth-year college student returned back into the main room with a teapot and cup in her hands. She motioned for Hyeju to sit at one of the vacant tables as she set down the piping-hot drink before her. Akiko even poured her the drink. "Here have it, my mom made it especially for you."

Hyeju was grateful. She took the ceramic cup into her still-chilled hands and took a tiny sip from the drink. She sighed in delight when she felt the hot liquid travel all the way down into her stomach. The tea was already having such a nice effect on her. Once Akiko saw the pleased look on her Korean friend's face, she continued on serving the remaining customers.

She took in her surroundings of the restaurant. It was a place that could only hold 15 available tables, the walls and decorations were, just as one would expect from the restaurant's name, feline themed. The ramen shop had a chic atmosphere to it that drew in majority of the younger generation. Even if Akiko's family didn't own the shop, Hyeju was sure she would have been drawn to it herself.

Even for a weekday like today, there were a good amount of people eating in.

And with the ding of the glass front door, that told Hyeju even more customers were coming in.

Her eyes drifted towards the entrance out of curiosity. Unfortunately, seeing the new customers nearly got her choking on her tea. Eyes wide with surprise, she stood up abruptly once making eye contact to the two men.

What was this? Did I think too hard and some kind of wizard granted me this wish to see him again?

"Dr. Lee, Seongwoo-sshi, hello," the redhead lamely stammered out in greeting. She felt her own cheeks heat up due to her embarrassing self. Can't she act cool just once in front of this beautiful man? "Are you two here for ramen again?"

Dr. Lee beamed brightly at the young girl as he shook his head. "Nope, we're just here for dessert, actually... And to see you!"

Hyeju blinked. "See me?"

"Oh, Dr. Lee, and hello to you again, Seongwoo," Akiko chimed after have served a couple bowls of ramen to a booth. "You were just here yesterday... unless you're here just for the cheesecake?"

"You know me too well," the doctor replied, his transition from Korean to Japanese smooth. "Two of those, please. Unless Hyeju wants one?" The girl could only nod her head at the offer. "Three cheesecakes with two coffees."

"Alright, coming right up." Akiko left the three to sit down in the booth Hyeju was currently in.

Hyeju happened to have the glorious chance to sit across from Seongwoo himself, who looked handsome as she remembered him. Before she could embarrass herself with anything, she decided to ask a question. She should make sure Seongwoo was feeling just fine in the foreign country. "So, Seongwoo-sshi, are you adjusting well to Japan?"

The boy smiled, causing a flutter of butterflies in Hyeju's stomach. "I am, thanks. Been a very--" He paused as he quickly glanced at the older man besides him. "...busy day."

"I bet," the girl chuckled before taking another sip of her tea. "Oh yeah, Dr. Lee, you said you wanted to see me?"

Dr.Lee clapped his hands together, as if to just remember their initial reason to coming to the Lucky Cat. "We wanted to treat you out tomorrow for helping Seongwoo find his way last night. You don't have classes tomorrow on a weekend, right?"

Hyeju shook her head. "No, I don't have any classes. But really, you don't have to do that! Of course one should help if someone's in trouble."

"We insist, Hyeju-sshi," Seongwoo himself input, leaning in so slightly over the table. "I would only regret it if we don't do anything. Just join us for lunch or dinner, your pick!"

A hum left Hyeju's lips as she gazed directly at the cute boy. This was her chance to spend a little bit more time with Seongwoo, just like she wanted to... basically dreamed of. This was making her go crazy, she shouldn't miss this golden opportunity. "Alright, how about lunch? Later at night, Akiko has a tennis match and I don't know how long that could take."

"Sounds great!" Dr. Lee replied quite enthusiastically. "You can pick a great place to go too. You can pick an expensive place, us men will pay for it all."

Hyeju beamed at the two guys, bowing her head slightly to thank them for the kind offer, her smile only growing a bit more at the mere thought of seeing Seongwoo again. Seeing him today was already a wish come true, but to actually see him tomorrow too? That was asking for so much!

"Here's your cheesecake and coffee, everyone." Akiko had arrived with their much anticipated dessert and drinks. This truly added to the delight that now moved Hyeju's heart.

"Oh, it has a cat on it!" Seongwoo pointed out in awe as Akiko set down the plates in front of the three of them. "It's so cute, I love it."

"You're cute," Hyeju murmured under her breath, surely only to herself to hear.

Okay, Hyeju. Let's savor every bit of this now before he leaves.

For the rest of the stay, she happily chatted with the doctor and the handsome not-so-longer stranger, their bond only getting a little bit stronger with the sweetness of cheesecake and the warmth of tea and coffee.

A/n: I'll just quickly introduce Hyeju and Ken's college friends, even when you've met them in the last chapter~

Name: Suki

Age: 20

Portrayed by Suzu Hirose

.  .  .

Name: Vu 

Age: 19

Portrayed by Ryan Potter

     ** Vietnamese; international exchange student like Hyeju

.  .  .

Name: Michi

Age: 19

Portrayed by Momo Hirai (Twice)