Pov Rose

Today big day was coming. Very big day. And it consisted in our moving. My father had some work in Korea, and my mother, having heard such wonderful news without thinking twice, began packing our bags.

- Honey! Today we finally return to our homeland! She rejoiced.

I was not against it, but I did not really want to part with Melbourne, the city where I lived almost all my teenage years. In addition, there I had a lot of friends, which I now see only with video chat. But I never rebelled against my parents and I was always in solidarity with their opinion. My parents are the best, and if not for them, my life would be completely different.

Earlier, even before he met my mother, my father often traveled, but I was born in Korea and lived there until the age of ten years, after which we moved to Australia and lived there happily until my seventeenth birthday. And in Australia, I had almost everything a girl of my age could dream of. A beautiful house, loving and understanding parents, studying in a private school with a bunch of cool friends. I even had a boyfriend. Well, or something like that ... Just a boy with whom I talked more often than with other guys. I'm not exaggerating if I say that I was quite popular, both among guys and among girls. I also studied well. Today I study several languages, because my parents wanted me to be an expert. But if we talk about the Korean language, with him I have a little different. I used to go for additional lessons in the Korean language, but not as often as now. When parents decided to move, I pushed him harder, and now, apart from additional courses, I also study at home. I hope that in my new Korean school more or less understand English, and I will not be too difficult to communicate with classmates.

But back to the move. Landing at the airport was successful, and now we are getting to the new house by car. So unusual to see the streets of another city. The weather is rather cloudy. It seems recently there was a slight rain, but there is still no sun. In the window opposite, flashed buildings with signs on which entirely Korean letters and rarely, where the names come across in English. One more thing that I'm not used to. I peer into the landscapes outside the window, and then I take out my camera and start photographing. The road turns out to be a bit blurry, but so it's planned. By the way to photograph - my favorite activity. Wherever I was, I always carry my favorite yellow Polaroid. I like to photograph everything I see. From the fallen autumn leaf under your feet, to tall buildings, which in Melbourne was full.

And even now I'm trying to capture the view in the window, when suddenly a sms comes on the phone, and I'm digressed. This is a message from Mark. The same guy with whom I often talked. He writes that everyone already misses me and wants to see. From this message, I smiled and began to write the answer.

- Does Mark write? - with a smile, my mother asked from the front seat.

I nodded and smiled back.

"He says that everyone is already bored." Mom, I so want to return - my smile disappears, and my lips plaintively pinched.

- Well, honey, you do realize that this move was necessary. But do not worry, on vacation you go to stay with them. Do not be sad. You will see in Korea that you will be very well, too, "says Papa.

"I hope," I sigh, once again hiding my face in the mobile phone.

I liked the new house. It was cozy, and all our things were already delivered there. They were delivered a little before our arrival. As soon as we inspected the house, I chose a room on the second floor and asked Mother to go for a walk. I was eager to see a new country. Mom wanted me to rest from the road, but I was not too tired. And she was worried if I was wrong, but I assured her that I would navigate the map on my mobile phone and return home not too late. Therefore, after twenty minutes I walked along the crowded streets of Seoul with unconcealed interest, like a tourist, examining every building and every person. So unusual. Although I am Asian, to see the same people in my environment, it was something new for me.

After wandering around the neighborhood with a camera in my hand, and photographing everything I see on my way, I'm a little tired and decided to drink something in a cafe nearby. Entering inside, I immediately felt the aroma of something sweet. The waiter did not really understand English, and I had to explain to him what I want in Korean. It turned out for me to say this from the first attempt, which surprised me very much. The guy understood and friendly smile was gone.

Enjoying the warm coffee, which the same guy decided to make me a discount (probably because I'm a foreigner), I soon left the cafe and stumbled further along the sidewalk. Having seen a turn around, I decided to turn around and found myself in a residential street with a lot of food shops. There were not so many people here, so I decided to take a walk around it.

Passing by one of the restaurants where delicious Tteokbokki was served, I stopped in the middle of the street, as I was attracted by the sky. Yes, exactly the sky. Here it was somehow different than there on the main street. After the rain, a big bright rainbow appeared on the pinkish sky, and it was just a sin not to take pictures. The picture would be beautiful. Therefore, enthusiastically pulling my camera out of the bag over my shoulder, I twisted around a bit to find the best camera angle and finally pressed the shutter button. Suddenly, nearby, I heard some discontented exclamations, to which I did not pay attention, as I was busy looking at the resulting photo in my hand. Smiling at the beautiful image, I did not immediately realize that these very exclamations were addressed to me. Raising my head, I saw in a few meters in front of a gang of guys in school uniform. They looked a bit different than I imagined the Korean schoolboys.

Their form, to put it mildly, sat on them not in the best way. Some without a tie, some did not have any jackets at all. One guy was blond, the second one had an unusual haircut, all the rest it seems, the hair was in normal condition. I looked at them, without realizing it myself, and only after a second noticed that each of them was holding a cigarette and letting smoke from the mouth, while they kept looking at me. Having noticed this, I hastily put my head back to the picture in the hope that these guys will not get attached to me, but, of course, this should have happened. One of them called to me. But I did not dare raise my head, pretending that I had not heard and was still examining the picture.

I already wanted to leave, but that same guy walked in my direction and stopped beside me. Now I had to lift my head and look at it.

"Hey, who are you?" - He turned rudely, screwing up his eyes at me and making another puff. He spoke Korean.

I did not know what to say to me, so I blinked my eyes silently.

"Is he dying?" He muttered and frowned, looking down at the photo in his hand. "Why photographed it?" He reaches for the picture, but I manage to hide it behind my back.

- What do you want? (English) - for some reason I began speaking in fear of English, without expecting it myself.

"Oh, a foreigner," the boy grunted and grinned. Okay, I'll pretend not to be local, maybe even so he will fall behind?

"What's there, Taehyung?" The guys called behind him.

- Everything will be now! - he waved to them and looked at me curiously. - Are you a schoolgirl?

I run around with my eyes and frown in confusion.

- I'm sorry, but I don't understand you, - this guy just smiles slyly.

"If you really need to know our language in Korea, or you would not have survived, and I'm sure you know him." You do not look like a tourist. So do not pretend.

Devil!, I figured out all the same. But how did he understand this?

"In short," his smile evaporates and he looks at me with a colder look. "I do not know what the fuck you are just taking pictures of us." I now have neither the time nor the mood to deal with this. For you it is noticeable that you are a schoolgirl. Therefore, if it suddenly turns out that someone in my school will see this photo, - he is threateningly approaching, and I timidly take a step back - You do not live. Anderstend?

I nod uncertainly, and the guy, giving me another grin, turns around and steps towards the others, making the puff on the move.

I scared and swallowed quickly to get out of there until that guy changed his mind and caught up with me.

As far as I understood, they thought that I photographed them while they smoked. Do they not want to know about it? Most likely, because, as far as I know, Korean schools really adhere to such rules very strictly, and disciples are punished for this with all severity. So the guy decided to warn me. Although it is unlikely that I will generally study with him in the same school. Chance is one out of a hundred. And generally I would not like to have such classmates as he. I definitely would not want to.