Chapter 1 -welcome to seoul❤️
The first thing Angel noticed when she stepped through the doors of Hanseo Global University was that Seoul looked exactly like the city she had imagined from her K-dramas—and nothing like it at the same time.
The buildings were taller than she expected, the campus was enormous, and students seemed to move in every direction as if they had memorized every corner of the university.
Angel stood in the middle of the entrance with her suitcase beside her, staring at the huge sign above the main building.
**HANSEO GLOBAL UNIVERSITY — HGU**
She smiled so widely that her dimples appeared.
This was real.
After years of watching K-dramas from her bedroom in South Africa, she was finally here.
Seoul.
Her new home.
Her new university.
Her new life.
And maybe...
Her future Korean husband.
Angel quickly covered her mouth when she realized she had said that last part out loud.
**Angel's thoughts:** *Okay, Angel. You haven't even found your dorm yet. Let's calm down before you start planning your Korean wedding.*
She laughed quietly.
Her mother had warned her that studying in another country wouldn't be easy. Her father had reminded her to stay focused on her studies. But both of them had supported her dream from the moment she told them she wanted to study in Korea.
She was going to study English education, with the dream of eventually teaching little children in Korea.
She also wanted to become fluent in Korean and understand the culture beyond what she had seen on television.
This wasn't just a holiday.
This was her future.
Angel pulled out her phone.
There was a message from her mother.
**Mom:** "Did you arrive safely?"
Angel smiled and typed quickly.
**Angel:** "Yes, Mom! I'm at HGU 😭❤️"
Another message appeared almost immediately.
**Mom:** "Good. Remember why you're there."
Angel laughed.
**Angel:** "To study."
A pause.
**Mom:** "Exactly. Not to chase Korean boys."
Angel's eyes widened.
**Angel's thoughts:** *How does she always know?*
Before Angel could reply, someone bumped into her shoulder.
Her phone nearly flew out of her hand.
**Girl:** "I'm so sorry!"
Angel turned around.
A South African girl stood there, looking just as confused as she felt.
Her hair was styled in neat knotless braids, and her eyes almost looked hazel under the bright sunlight.
She had a cute smile and an expressive face.
The girl glanced at Angel's suitcase.
**Girl:** "Wait... you're one of the South African scholarship students?"
Angel nodded.
**Angel:** "Yes. You too?"
The girl's face immediately brightened.
**Koketso:** "YES!"
Angel laughed.
**Angel:** "Thank goodness. I was starting to think I was the only South African here."
**Koketso:** "Girl, I've been walking around for twenty minutes pretending I know where I'm going."
Angel looked around.
**Angel:** "You don't?"
Koketso shook her head.
**Koketso:** "Not even slightly."
They both burst out laughing.
That was how Angel met Koketso.
Not through some dramatic K-drama encounter.
Not while slow music played in the background.
Just two South African girls with suitcases, completely lost in a foreign university.
And somehow, it felt perfect.
---
### The Dorm
After asking three different students for directions, Angel and Koketso finally found their dorm building.
Their room was small but comfortable, with two beds, two desks, a wardrobe and a large window overlooking part of the campus.
Angel dropped her suitcase onto the floor.
**Angel:** "We're actually living here."
Koketso jumped onto her bed.
**Koketso:** "We're actually living here!"
Angel laughed.
She walked toward the window.
Students were walking across the campus below them.
Some were Korean.
Others were from different countries.
English, Korean, Chinese and other languages floated through the air.
It really was an international university.
Koketso came to stand beside her.
**Koketso:** "You know what I'm excited about?"
Angel turned.
**Angel:** "What?"
Koketso smiled.
**Koketso:** "Korean food."
Angel laughed.
**Angel:** "I thought you were going to say Korean boys."
Koketso gasped dramatically.
**Koketso:** "I can be interested in both."
Angel shook her head.
**Angel:** "You're already a problem."
**Koketso:** "And you're my roommate. So you're stuck with me."
Angel smiled.
She didn't know it yet, but Koketso was about to become one of the most important people in her life.
---
### The Cafeteria Disaster
Their first real challenge came that evening.
Food.
The university cafeteria was enormous.
Angel and Koketso stood in front of a menu filled with Korean words.
Angel stared.
Koketso stared.
They looked at each other.
**Koketso:** "Do you know what any of this says?"
Angel shook her head.
**Angel:** "Absolutely not."
**Koketso:** "Okay. Pick something."
Angel pointed at a random option.
**Angel:** "That one."
**Koketso:** "You don't know what it is."
**Angel:** "Neither do you."
**Koketso:** "Fair."
They approached the counter.
The woman behind it smiled politely.
**Cafeteria Worker:** "뭐 드릴까요? (What would you like?)"
Angel froze.
Her brain completely stopped working.
**Angel's thoughts:** *This is it. My Korean career has officially ended.*
The woman repeated herself.
**Cafeteria Worker:** "뭐 드릴까요? (What would you like?)"
Angel nervously pointed at the menu.
**Angel:** "That one, please."
The woman smiled.
**Cafeteria Worker:** "매운 거 괜찮아요? (Are you okay with spicy food?)"
Angel nodded confidently.
**Angel:** "Yes."
Koketso looked at her.
**Koketso:** "Are you sure?"
Angel whispered.
**Angel:** "No."
Koketso covered her mouth to stop herself from laughing.
A voice suddenly came from behind them.
**Boy:** "She doesn't understand what you're asking."
Angel slowly turned.
A Korean boy stood behind them.
He was tall, dressed neatly, and had an expression that made it immediately obvious that he wasn't interested in making friends.
His eyes moved from Angel to the menu.
**Joon:** "She asked if you can eat spicy food."
Angel frowned.
**Angel:** "I know."
Joon raised an eyebrow.
**Joon:** "You clearly don't."
Koketso stepped forward.
**Koketso:** "She said yes."
Joon looked at Angel.
**Joon:** "Then don't complain when you're crying over your food."
Angel's eyes narrowed.
**Angel:** "I wasn't planning to."
Joon gave a small shrug.
**Joon:** "Good."
Then he walked away.
Angel watched him disappear into the crowd.
**Angel:** "Who does he think he is?"
Koketso looked after him.
**Koketso:** "I don't know."
Angel picked up her tray.
**Angel:** "I already hate him."
Neither girl noticed that Joon had stopped walking.
He had heard her.
And for some reason...
he smiled.
---
### The Boy Everyone Knew
The next morning, Angel discovered exactly who Joon was.
She and Koketso were walking toward their first lecture when several students suddenly moved aside.
A group of girls began whispering.
**Girl 1:** "That's Joon."
**Girl 2:** "He's back."
**Girl 3:** "He looks so good."
Angel glanced over.
Joon walked through the hallway with two friends.
He wasn't smiling.
He wasn't trying to get attention.
He didn't need to.
People already noticed him.
Koketso leaned closer to Angel.
**Koketso:** "That's the guy from yesterday."
Angel groaned.
**Angel:** "Fantastic."
Then a girl appeared beside Joon.
She was beautiful, confident and perfectly dressed.
The hallway immediately became louder.
**Girl 1:** "That's Jiwoo."
**Girl 2:** "Joon's ex."
**Girl 3:** "They were literally the most perfect couple."
Angel looked at them.
Joon and Jiwoo didn't look like a couple anymore.
They barely spoke.
Jiwoo smiled at him anyway.
**Jiwoo:** "Joon."
Joon didn't stop walking.
**Joon:** "Move."
Jiwoo's smile disappeared.
Angel noticed.
Something had obviously happened between them.
But she had more important things to worry about.
Her first lecture.
---
### The First Humiliation
Angel entered the classroom and sat near the middle.
Koketso sat beside her.
Their professor walked in and began introducing the course.
After several minutes, he asked the international students to introduce themselves.
Angel stood.
Her heart pounded.
She introduced herself in English and then tried to say a few sentences in Korean.
She stumbled over the pronunciation.
A few students laughed.
Angel's cheeks burned.
She sat down quickly.
Then she heard a quiet voice behind her.
**Joon:** "That was painful."
Angel slowly turned.
**Angel:** "Excuse me?"
Joon leaned back in his chair.
**Joon:** "If you're going to speak Korean, at least learn how to pronounce it."
A few students laughed again.
Angel felt embarrassed.
But she refused to cry.
**Angel:** "I'm learning."
**Joon:** "Then learn faster."
Koketso turned around.
**Koketso:** "What's your problem?"
Joon looked at her.
**Joon:** "I'm answering her."
**Koketso:** "Nobody asked you."
A few students gasped.
Joon looked amused for the first time.
**Joon:** "You two really are friends already."
Angel turned back around.
**Angel's thoughts:** *I absolutely hate this guy.*
The professor continued teaching.
But Joon wasn't finished.
When Angel reached for her notebook, she realized it was missing.
She searched through her bag.
Nothing.
Then she heard laughter behind her.
Joon held up her notebook.
**Joon:** "Looking for this?"
Angel stared at him.
**Angel:** "Give it back."
**Joon:** "Come get it."
**Angel:** "Joon."
He smiled.
**Joon:** "You know my name already."
Angel stood.
She walked toward him.
Joon held the notebook just out of reach.
**Joon:** "Say please."
Angel stared at him.
**Angel:** "Give me my notebook."
**Joon:** "Not good enough."
She snatched it from his hand.
Several students laughed.
Angel returned to her seat.
Her hands were shaking.
Koketso quietly touched her arm.
**Koketso:** "Don't let him get to you."
Angel nodded.
But she could feel tears threatening her eyes.
She refused to let them fall.
Not here.
Not in front of him.
---
Across the room, Joon watched her.
He expected her to argue.
He expected her to shout.
Instead, she lowered her head and continued writing.
For the first time, something about her silence bothered him.
He didn't understand why.
He looked away.
**Joon's thoughts:** *Why do I even care?*
He forced himself to focus on the lecture.
But a few minutes later, he looked at her again.
Angel was smiling at something Koketso had whispered.
Her dimples appeared.
Joon quickly looked away.
**Joon's thoughts:** *She's annoying.*
He paused.
*Very annoying.*
But for some reason...
he couldn't stop looking.
---
That evening, Angel and Koketso walked back toward the dorm.
Angel was exhausted.
**Koketso:** "Forget him."
**Angel:** "I'm trying."
**Koketso:** "He's just an arrogant rich boy."
Angel laughed softly.
**Angel:** "How do you know he's rich?"
Koketso pointed toward the parking area.
A black luxury car waited there.
Joon walked toward it.
Before getting inside, he looked across the campus.
His eyes met Angel's.
Neither looked away.
For one strange second, everything seemed to slow down.
Then Joon's expression hardened.
He got into the car.
Angel watched it disappear.
**Angel's thoughts:** *Why did he look at me like that?*
She shook her head.
**Angel's thoughts:** *Whatever. I don't care.*
But across the campus, Joon sat silently in the back seat.
His friend glanced at him.
**Joon's Friend:** "You're staring again."
Joon frowned.
**Joon:** "I'm not."
His friend laughed.
**Joon's Friend:** "You are."
Joon looked out the window.
**Joon:** "I don't like her."
His friend smiled.
**Joon's Friend:** "I didn't say you did."
Joon went quiet.
And that was the first time anyone noticed something Joon himself hadn't.
He had started paying attention to Angel.
Much more than he should.
---
That night, Angel was getting ready for bed when her phone buzzed.
A message from an unknown number appeared.
**Unknown:** "You should be careful around Joon."
Angel frowned.
Another message arrived.
**Unknown:** "You don't know what he's capable of."
Angel stared at the screen.
Then a final message appeared.
**Unknown:** "And whatever you do, stay away from Jiwoo."
Angel's smile disappeared.
She looked across the room at Koketso.
**Angel:** "Koketso..."
Koketso looked up.
**Koketso:** "What?"
Angel slowly turned her phone toward her.
**Angel:** "I think someone is warning me."
Koketso's expression changed.
And outside their dorm window, someone stood across the courtyard...
watching their room.
**To be continued...**
