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Y/N had only recently found the courage to explore her new city. A little bit of courage is all it took to get her out of her apartment. Out of her comfort zone. Now here you are, on your 3rd bottle of soju, 2nd shot of rum, and you probably had a beer in between at some point. Yes a little bit of courage got you through the door, but liquid courage is what kept you out. Y/N is normally a social butterfly of sorts. So what is it about Seoul that makes you timid. Is it the numerous people with perfect Gangnam faces, tiny waists, and cherry red lips? Or is it the fact that you are surrounded by people who believe themselves to be apart of a collective whole? While you, with your brown skin, and brown ombre kinky curly hair, don't quite fit their mold. You are beautiful, this you know with every fiber of your being. But you are human. At first the stares and whispers were comical. A month in they proved tiresome, and now they were outright annoying. Does the beautiful lioness still feel majestic in their cage at the zoo? This lioness would say no, but in this moment Y/N felt free.A night out is all you really needed. Your coworker's were all too busy to accompany you. Or maybe they still feel intimidated by the new foreigner. South Korea is known for their safety, as well as their night life. Y/N was going to test out both of those statements tonight.You strolled down the main street of Hongdae, hair tickling your neck with every breeze drawn from the midnight hour. Scantily clad in your form fitting cream lace camisole, tucked into your plaid trousers, your only regret was not wearing something warmer than your favorite leather jacket. Your buzz kept you warm enough as you searched for your next destination. Y/N, a native New Yorker, was used to the nightlife scene. But Korea had so many options to choose from and who knew when you would muster up the courage to explore again. Bright neon lights flashed purple, then green, tinting your face. Noraebang.Hmm… The idea of letting out some stress by belting your lungs out was tempting. Not to mention it's a a whole lot cheaper than drinking at the bar. But the loneliness of renting the room by yourself would only remind you of the fact that you were in this strange country alone… Either way this decision shouldn't feel so life or death. Maybe it's the prying eyes that are distracting you from choosing.“You know… if you take a picture then it would last longer. Not to mention you could stare at it all you want and not be considered rude.” Your mouth moved before your brain even registered what you were saying in hangul to the two young men that had caught the attention of your four eyes with their very own. The taller of the two began to blush almost immediately, as if on cue. While the tanner young man bowed and began to apologize.“I apologize for our staring. We just… well you looked-"“Foreign?”“Aniyo, you looked lost. We weren't sure if we could help you, our English isn't all that great,” he looked down at his shoes while saying the last bit. His Gucci shoes. Mister tall, “dark” and handsome's English may supposedly be bad, but his fashion sense clearly wasn’t. Now, taking them both in fully, you could tell a lot about the two from just their appearance. Their faces were covered by dust masks, but it was still plain as day that they were attractive. They have to be your age, or younger. The shy one had urban street wear down to a T. His timbs almost reminded you of home. Almost. While his tan counterpart was draped in a designer trench coat that probably costs more than your entire outfit. They seemed somewhat athletic, the shyer of the two could probably bench press your weight in steel. But their eyes. Their eyes shone brighter than your future and you felt more at ease with the two strangers than you did with your coworkers.“Well as you can see I am not lost. Thanks for the concern.”You bowed curtly and began to make your way up the block. The ease you felt was probably your body tethering between being tipsy and full on drunk.“Uhh were you about to head into the Noraebang? We were thinking about going to a place up the block. They have open mic, it's a little more entertaining than getting a room when you're alone.”Stranger boy and friend seemed to have walked along side you without your knowledge. Note to self, don’t have 3 bottles of soju, 2 shots, and a possible beer in between, solo. But since you are already down the rabbit hole, why not venture more. “Wouldn't it be weird if I joined you two? Also, my boyfriend should be meeting up with me any minute,” you mused as you continued to walk to nowhere in particular. No matter how attractive these well dressed men were, you were not going to forget that this wasn’t a drama. You weren't Secretary Kim and they weren't your chaebol bosses whom would fall in love with you by episode 3. And who tries to make a friend at this ungodly hour???“You're welcome to invite him as well. Its not every day we get to meet a foreigner who is fluent in hangul and it really is a fun spot.”“So you were staring at me because I was a foreigner!” You exasperated. Your Dr. Martens boots halted your stride altogether. You were going to get to the bottom of the stares tonight, once and for all. Your newly found acquaintances both blushed this time. “Yes and no,” the tanned Gucci model replies looking back down at his loafers. “We first noticed you because you were a foreigner but -”“You're very pretty.” The second one blurted out. The most sincerest of smiles soon followed his outburst and you couldn’t help but smile back. So much for your fake boyfriend. With those 3 words you were going to listen to the 3 bottles of soju in your tummy that wanted to sing with attractive strangers. Why couldn't he keep his mask up so you could do the same? Your new found friends did not lie about the “Noraebang” open mic being entertaining to say the least. Everyone was inebriated to the point that they didn’t care to notice that your skin was brown, or how off key everyone was that took the mics. The rules for the open mic were simple. You buy a drink, you get to choose the next song to be queued. Let's just say the wanna be Beyoncés were drunk in love. Your partners in crime, whom you surmised to go by Guk and Chae, were too shy to take the mic but chose songs for others to sing with the purchase of their drinks. You on the other hand finally felt like you could be yourself. And with that realization you ordered a beer and chose to sing Bae Bae by BigBang. “Chae you have to do the parts with rapping while I sing! Otherwise I won't ever give another attractive stranger a chance to be my friend, ever again!” You beamed while grabbing his hand.“Chae?!” he repeated, either shocked by the fact that you heard his name over the music or shocked by the skinship. “Go be the main rapper for once, Chae,” Guk snickered through his face mask.Dragging Chae over to the singing area was only half the battle. He seemed worried to take off his face mask inside, which is ridiculous. The bar was non-smoking so what was he really protecting his lungs from at this moment? He was taking shy to another level. Where was the Chae that boldly invited a foreigner out with him? The beat dropped and you were just going to have to settle with a masked rapper. Chae got into character almost instantly once the first verse was done. You were no Taeyang, but you sang to your hearts content. One could argue that the two of you practiced this set before. There was a perfect balance of goofiness and showmanship present in Chae.
Within seconds Guk had bounced off the lounge chair and embraced the both of you. “Your voice isn’t all that bad Noona!”You clutch your proverbial pearls while pushing out your bottom lip ever so slowly. “Noona?!” You figured you were possibly older than the two but for him to insist you were older made you feel slighted. Did you look that much older? There was something about turning 26 last month that made you question if it was apparent to the world that you were basically 30, flirty, and thriving.“Don't pout Noona, we may have saw your age on your ID while ordering drinks,” Chae responds, a devilish grin finding it’s way onto his face. Before you can even reprimand the two little turds for scoping you out without your knowledge, Chae and Guk were guiding you off to the side of the bar where patrons were allotted space to dance. It was at this moment you really got to see the outlines of their bodies and feel just how fit the two were. It should be illegal to dance so well in a bar. You were taken by surprise and completely forgot their earlier wrong doing.The song was over before you knew it and without haste so was the night. Despite the fun you were currently having with Chae and Guk, the promise of an intense hangover and exhaustion began to overshadow your present reality. Thanks to Korea's unrealistic beauty standards, it just wouldn't do for you to return to work with bags under your almond shaped eyes.“I'm sorry guys, I should head out,” you shouted over the music. Someone was currently singing a popular, overplayed song. Everyone was dancing to the beat despite the off-putting singing.“Is it because of your boyfriend?” Chae whispers into your ear. Were the two of you always dancing this close? There was no way to gauge the distance between the two of you long enough to deduce the answer. He was once again a hairs length out of arms reach. Was it your turn to blush now? You felt the heat rise up to your face before you could save face.While looking down to admire his handy work, Chae couldn't help but smirk. “We should head out as well Hyung, we have work in the morning.” The way Guk said “work” you would have thought it was code for something unholy. Gucci loafers and trench coats aside, what were your new friends occupations? You barely managed to overhear their names. The amount of fun you were having trumped learning any details about your new and only native Korean friends. It was as if your thoughts were a open book as Chae handed you a napkin with messy digits aligned in the center. “If you ever find yourself not lost in Hongdae again, call me.”A faint shiver passed over Y/N’s skin, leaving goosebumps in it's wake. Who would have known. These two weren't very shy at all. You nodded slowly and mouthed yes in their native tongue. Something told you that you wouldn't be lost in this foreign country ever again. Guk and Chae said their goodbyes after hailing your cab. The sun was fast approaching the horizon and for a split second you felt normal. Looking up into the rear view mirror you were greeted once again by a fleeting gaze, this one belonged to none other than your driver. The zoo is open once more but the cage feels different.