The Roller Coaster That Is Life

Nita's POV

2 Weeks Later

Nita didn't know where she was, she was clearly lost again. For the past couple of days she'd been going from one place to another looking for a decent apartment to rent, so that she could leave her hotel she was staying at. It was a nice place, but she needed to find a permanent place to stay, and she wanted to find a place quickly, so that she could save a little more of the money she was given to by her father. . . . . It's been two weeks since she left home and about the same since she left the states.
Her decision to leave the house was made for her, and two days after leaving the house, she had made the decision to leave the states. She had number of reasons to leave the states, but her main one had to be, the fact that, no matter where she decided to live, her family would know. She had a very large family, one could even say, she had a family member in every state. So when she sat down at a bar, had a couple of drinks, and had thought about the logistics of where to go, she decided outside of America. Her father had given her five thousand dollars, and she knew that an international ticket would cost at least two to three thousand, which left her with two to three thousand based on how much her ticket was. She had been right, her ticket was less than two thousand dollars, leaving her with three to use for other expenses. When she arrived in South Korea, she had decided to use some the cash for a room at a hotel, and save the remaining for her new apartment.
So far her luck was not on her side. Now she was in some shopping district in Seoul, clearly lost. The fact that she learned Korean while in the states was a huge help. She didn't have a hard time asking for direction, but she was sure people thought of her as a foreigner. Nita stopped in her tracks all of the sudden. She could hear a lot of women screaming, Nita looked down the pathway of the market and could see a man in dark sunglasses and a face mask running with a bag in his hand. She acted without thinking, she immediately moved out of the way, and stuck her foot out, right before the guy ran past her, causing him to face plant onto the concrete ground. Nita couldn't help it, the guy really pissed her off. Stealing a woman's purse, that's the worst, she thought. She immediately then, started to beat him with her purse. Without realizing that she had knocked more than half of the contents of her purse, she kept bashing him with her purse.
Nita never noticed the cameras around her, without thought she kept swinging her purse. When one man came to stop her she pushed him away, rather aggressively for a woman. When a second man came to help the first, the poor man suffered the wrath of Nita's purse, right in the "family jewels", he reeled over protecting his package. The third man seem to be a little smarter than the other two, he was a big guy, he snuck behind and grabbed her by the waist clearly lifting her off the ground and started moving back, "Put me down, Hightower, he was trying to steal from a woman!!! Stupid coward, targeting women, completely shameless!!!" Nita yelled in fluent Korean. When the man pulling her away said, "He's not a thief, he's a guest on the show!!! Please calm down!! He's not a thief!!" That statement took the air out of her balloon quickly, she stopped wiggling and throwing her purse around, the man set her feet down on the ground.
"I'm sorry what did you say?" Nita asked, clear confusion written on her face.
He looked at her, "He's a guest on a show at the moment, the women who were running after him, thought they recognized him, and where trying to confirm their suspicions."
"Can I ask? What show is this?" Nita was at a loss, she clearly had disturbed a shooting of a show.
"Running Man, the bag the guest was carrying was an extra clue he had found. He was running away from the women to avoid being discovered," the man said smiling.
Nita couldn't help but start to laugh, out of all the things to happen to her, she accidentally crashes the shooting of a Running Man's episode. Back in the states she would always watch the show, when she was waiting for another K-Drama to finish, so that she could have a marathon, it felt so unrealistic.
"Are you alright?!" the man asks her, clear worry on his face.
"I'm sorry, I'm fine, it's just the irony to this situation is funny," Nita says, she looked up at the man still smiling, his face looked at her questioningly, "I moved here from the States, I'm a fan of Running Man, I watched the show a lot back at home. The funny part is that, out of all the things that could happen, I end up crashing a shooting of a Running Man episode."
"Oh, okay," the man said, understanding dawning on his face, "if you want to meet any of the hosts, I'm sure they wouldn't mind, they'd probably pat you on the back, for adding more entertainment to the show," he finished, now smiling.
Nita didn't want to be any more of a disturbance than she had already become, "If you don't mind, I'd like to apologize to the man I beat with my purse. You don't have to tell me his name or anything, he doesn't even have to take off is disguise, I just want to apologize." Just at that moment, said stranger walks in, with a bag full of her belongings, and hands it to her.
Nita takes the bag and quickly bows, "I'm so sorry, I didn't know they were filming. I deeply apologize for my actions. If you're hurt anywhere, please let me know how much it costs, I'll be more than happy to repay you for the damages I've caused." She stayed bowed, she knew that her funds were limited, but she had to apologize properly, regardless of how much wealth the man in front of her had. She still had her pride.
Two hands fell on both her shoulders, the guest, was asking her to stand up, "You don't have to worry about a thing, I'm not hurt and I'm a strong guy, so no harm no foul," he said in English.
Nita had apologized in Korean, she hadn't expected an answer in English, and in such fluent English at that. She smiled, realizing that she already kind of missed talking in English, and it had only been close to two weeks since she left the states, "Again, I'm really sorry. I didn't know. If you're alright, I think I should take my leave now. I still have a lot of work to finish, before the day is out," she said in English.
"Do you not want to know who I am?" the guest asked.
Nita looked up at his shades and shook her head, "No, there's a reason why you have shades and a mask on. I don't need to know who you are, as long as I know that I didn't hurt you, then all's well that ends well. But it was nice to meet you, Mr. Guest Stranger," Nita gives another bow, picks up the bag with all her things in it, and her now, destroyed purse and leaves the set. She was hoping to find a place to stay, before the end of the day.

Later that evening

Nita dragged her tried feet into her now favorite coffee shop. Since the incident this morning, she'd been busy going from apartment complex to apartment complex looking for a place to stay. But with her luck, every place was either already full or was already leasing to someone. She was exhausted, so she decided to call it a day, and have a cup of coffee before she headed back to her hotel. She ordered her coffee and took a seat near the back of the shop, she decided to mark off the places, she'd gone to today, so that she didn't have to do it in the morning tomorrow. The server brought over her coffee and set it on the table. Nita was clearly engrossed in her list of potential apartments, she never noticed the cup being set on the table. Within a few minutes, her head lulled to the side and she quickly fell asleep, with her head on arm.

A Couple of Hours Later

Nita found herself waking up to the whistling of one of her favorite Super Junior songs, "No Other", she smiled in her groggy state, she loved that song, it was just to adorable. She woke up, beginning to stretch and pull out all the kinks in her arms and shoulders, when she remembered where she was. She looked around to confirm her surroundings, she was still in the coffee shop, and there was a stranger sitting in front of her. She blinked her eyes again, rubbing them a number of times, then she pinched herself, to make sure she wasn't still dreaming. The fan girl in her head was screaming bloody murder, but she was just sitting there not sure what to do. She shook her head again and again, until, "You're not dreaming, I'm definitely sitting in front you right now," she still couldn't believe it, Choi Siwon was sitting in front of her. CHOI SIWON!!! Her fan girl screamed, OMG!!!! IT'S CHOI SIWON!!!
Clearly at a loss for words, she just sat there staring. She knew it was rude, but she didn't know what else to do.
"Saying hello, would be a good idea," he said smiling at her, "you've already met me once," he added.
She looked at him questioningly, "I'm sure if I'd met one of my favorite idols, I'd remember," she whispered.
"You wouldn't know if you had, if they'd had their face covered," he shot back, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?!" Nita couldn't really think right now, she was still aww struck.
Smiling all he said was, "Running Man."
Running Man? Nita thought, suddenly replaying the day in her head along with the incident. "That was you!!" she practically yelled in the empty coffee shop, all the while looking around to make sure no one was here.
Siwon smiled, and Nita could feel the heat raise into her cheeks, she was, after all in front of her bias, she shyly looked down at the table, to see her journal. She looked up questioningly.
"It fell out of your bag and under trash can, one of the crew members had found and given it to me. I didn't know exactly where to find you, but luck was on my side, when I came to this coffee shop," he said taking another sip of his coffee.
"Gomawo, I didn't even realize I had lost it. Jinjja gamsha." She said taking it and putting it in the bag with the rest of her belongings. She got up, "I should be taking my leave, I'm sure you've also had a long day, I'll let you enjoy your cup of coffee in peace. It was nice meeting you Mr. Choi, as a fan I feel honored to have met you. Good night." Nita finished bowing again.
"You don't have to leave, I would prefer company, I always come late at night. There's never anyone here, would you mind having another cup of coffee with me, it looks like you didn't even touch this one," he said eyeing the untouched cup of coffee on the table, she had fallen asleep without even realizing that it was sitting on the table, "please I insist, it would count as a way of thank you, for returning your journal."
Nita set her things down by her chair again and took her cold cup of coffee to take a sip, "Wait, we'll just get another one," he said stopping her from drinking the now cold coffee.
"No it's alright, I like cold coffee too, please don't worry," Nita spoke politely. Now she was having coffee with her bias. Her fan girl was practically in a hospital, with a continues nose bleed.
"It looks like, you're looking for an apartment. I'm not sure if you know, but this part of town isn't always safe," he said picking up the papers he had in front of him. Realizing that those were her notes and addresses on potential apartments, she looked at him questioningly, "You shouldn't look through other's things, but to answer your question, yes I know, but right now my circumstances will not offer me a safer place. But once I've found a job, I'll improve my surroundings," she looked at him, he was looking at her too, but she couldn't see what he was thinking.
"I know someone who's looking for a renter, the apartment is in this part of town, not far from my place. If you're interested I could pull a few strings and help you out," he offered.
This surprised Nita, she wasn't entirely sure why he made such an offer, but had to ask, even though he was her bias, that didn't mean he didn't have an ulterior motive, "Why would you help a random stranger, and one who literally beat you with her purse?"
Siwon laughed, "You're right, but anyone could see that your intentions were good. You thought you were stopping a thief, someone who robbed a woman. As another woman, you saw an opportunity to stop me and took it. Your intentions were good. When I asked you why you didn't ask to see my face, you said there was a reason behind it. You apologized sincerely when you realized the truth and left Hulk your contact information in case something did happen to me after you left. All those things, tell me that you're not a bad person."
Nita felt like something was off, it felt as if there was more to it, then what he told her. On the other hand why would a celebrity like him risk a scandal, "How much would rent be?" she asked, it looked like he was being sincere and it never hurt to ask for more information, and she did need to find a place ASAP.
"If you're accepting my help, then that makes us friends right?" he asks her giving her his hand.
For fan girl was yelling at her to take it and love every minute of it, but something still felt off, "Yeh, it does," she says and shakes his hand.
"Even though, you know, I'm Choi Siwon, you can call me Siwon," he says with a cheeky smile.
Nita laughed, "I'm Nita, and you can call me Nita," as of two weeks she no longer had a last name and she hoped he wouldn't ask her about it either.
"Alright then, did you want to see the apartment now or tomorrow, it's not far from here," he asked clearly excited.
"Whenever your guy has the time," Nita finished, she didn't want to intrude on anyone this late at night.
"Now's as good a time as any, kaja," he says grabbing her arm and walking out of the coffee shop.

Siwon's POV

He knew it was wrong to read someone's private thoughts, but there was something about the woman who thought she was beating a thief that caught his attention. You could clearly see she wasn't Korean, but she spoke the language fluently, everyone understood what she was saying, there was no mispronunciations of words, it was like she was born and raised here. But he knew that was not the case, the guard that carried her off, was his bodyguard. When he asked The Hulk about the woman, he had told him, that she moved to South Korea from the states. He'd said she was a fan of the show and enjoyed watching it back home.
It wasn't just the fluent Korean that caught him by surprise, but also the fact that she didn't ask to see his face. He didn't know if that made him a narcissist, but his ego was kind of hurt when the woman didn't ask to see his face. What really got him was what she had said, "No, there's a reason why you have shades and a mask on. I don't need to know who you are, as long as I know that I didn't hurt you, then all's well that ends well. But it was nice to meet you, Mr. Guest Stranger." She had treated him as if he were just another person, part of his ego took a bruising at that thought, but there was a part of him that smiled a bit at the thought too.
After she had left, one of the crew members of Running Man, brought over a notebook to him, letting him know that it belonged to the woman that crashed the show. It was a pink faux leather bound journal, he had been going to set it on the table in front of him, but ended up dropping it. The journal fell open, and he'd noticed his name written in a feminine script. Obviously it had caught his attention, but he decided to be a gentleman and not open it again. He went on with the rest of his day, finished filming with Running Man, and then finishing up a photo shoot for one of his brands. Throughout the day, though he couldn't help but keep that journal in the back of his mind. He had become curious about his name in her journal. He understood that his name was probably written in a million female journals and diaries, but he had seen this one, and his curiosity was spiked. He'd given it to Hulk to hold on to, in case the woman came back to get it, but she'd hadn't. Now he was at home with the journal in his hands. He knew he shouldn't open it, that it was wrong prying into someone's private thoughts, but his curiosity won out in the end.
Hours Later
He'd just finished reading Nita's journal. Shaking his head, he couldn't believe what this woman had gone through. He could see that she was a detailed writer, she had written everything that happened to her in detail, he felt as if he understood her at some points and had felt lost at others. He'd also found out why his name was in there. She was a fan of Super Junior, apparently Donghae and he were her two bias. He smiled to himself, "I wonder what her reaction would have been like if I had removed my sunglasses and mask. Would she have fan-girled?" Shaking his head, he headed for the coffee shop near his place.
After all that reading, he needed some coffee as a nightcap. He walked in, received a smile from the girl at the counter, and ordered a cup of coffee, heading to the back of the place, to find a quite spot to sit and relax. Most of the workers here knew he came by at later hours, so there was always some discretion given to him. As he waited for his coffee, he started thinking about how he was going to get this journal back to its owner. He opened the front cover again, and saw her name, "Nita", he said out loud. "I'm sorry, did you need something, Mr. Choi?" the waiter asked him, as he set down the cup of coffee. "You don't by chance know a woman named, Nita, do you?" Siwon asked, looking at the waiter.
The waiter clearly looked surprised, "Neh, I do, she's been coming here for about two weeks now," he said, nodding towards a nearby table. Siwon followed the waiter's gaze to a female sitting or rather sleeping two tables away from him. Just his luck, when he'd hoped to hold on to the journal a bit longer, in the hopes of finding her and talking to her again, she ends up falling asleep at his coffee shop. "Gomawo," Siwon nods his head, and moves to the table Nita was sleeping at.
She looked exhausted even in her sleep. Brows creased with a permeant frown on her face. He decides to set the journal next to her sleeping form, when he noticed a list of addresses. He quietly removes the papers to take a look at them. Looking at the list he quickly realized these were apartment complexes on the more shadier side of town. He looked at her questioningly, "You shouldn't be looking for a place to stay around these areas, it's dangerous, especially for a foreigner." She couldn't just fall asleep at a coffee shop in that area, like she did here. Without thinking about the why part of this protective feeling, an idea popped into his head. And Siwon felt his smile grow wider at the thought.
What was the best way to wake up a fan? Siwon thought to himself. He then remembered that her favorite song by SUJU was "No Other." He smiled to himself, this was going to be fun. She woke up into the second verse of the melody that he was whistling, she had a funny, yet cute smile on her face, while singing some of the words to the melody. He didn't think she realized what she was doing it. His smile broadened.
Just as she was stretching this way and that and looking around the coffee shop, she looked straight at him and froze. A second later she was rubbing her eyes, once, twice, a third, and a fourth. Apparently she was having a hard time believing who was in front of her. Oh, she pinched herself, he gave a couple of more minutes, and decided to say something when she started shaking her head like a crazy person, "You're not dreaming, I'm definitely sitting in front you right now," he said, just so she would stop acting so weird. She just sat there staring at him, after a little bit, it started to make him feel uncomfortable. He was sure that she was shocked to see him here, in a coffee shop of all places. This was the best place for him to come, it suited his schedule because it was a 24 hour coffee shop, and it was close by his apartment. No longer being able to handle the quite between the two, he said, "Saying hello, would be a good idea," he couldn't help but smile, seeing as he'd already met her, "you've already met me once."
"I'm sure if I'd met one of my favorite idols, I'd remember," she whispered, it was so soft, he wasn't sure if she'd actually spoken to him or not.
"You wouldn't know if you had, if they'd had their face covered," he shot back, taking a sip of his coffee, now they were getting somewhere, she was talking to him.
"I'm sorry, what did you just say?!" she said with an unbelievable look on her face, clearly she hadn't figured out how and where they'd met, he smiled and said, "Running Man."
Now one could see the gears clicking in her head, she was connecting the dots, "That was you!!", she yelled, then quickly looked around to make sure no one heard her. There really wasn't any point, the shop was empty, with it being so late at night. He smiled at her and she went instantly red, it was kind of cute.
She looked from the table to him questioningly, silently asking about her journal, "It fell out of your bag and under a trash can, one of the crew member had found it and given it to me. I didn't know exactly where to find you, but luck was on my side, when I came to this coffee shop," part of what he said was a lie. He's opened her journal and saw an address and phone number written inside, in case someone had found the lost journal. He took a sip of his coffee, he didn't want to lose her trust before he even gained it.
She looked at him and said, "Gomawo, I didn't even realize I had lost it. Jinjja gamsha," he was taken back once again at how easily she spoke the language and went back and forth between, English and Korean, "I should be taking my leave, I'm sure you've also had a long day, I'll let you enjoy your cup of coffee in peace. It was nice meeting you Mr. Choi, as a fan I feel honored to have met you. Good night." She bowed to him on the last bit. He didn't want her go, he wanted to spend more time with her, even if it meant staying after the coffee shop got busy.
"You don't have to leave, I would prefer the company, I always come late at night. There's never anyone here, sometimes it's nice, but at other times I wish for company, would you mind having another cup of coffee with me, it looks like you didn't even touch this one," he finished, eyeing the cup on the table. She must have fell asleep before the cup got to the table, "please I insist, it would count as a way of thank you, for returning your journal," he added, he'd figure that she felt some sort gratitude for returning her journal, but honestly he'd felt guilty for reading it. After reading the her journal, he felt like he knew her already. He didn't want her to leave, he wanted to spend time with her. And the only way to spend more time with her, would be if she was close by.
A new idea popped into his head so quickly he didn't really have to think about it, he'd just offer it to her. He picked up the papers he was looking at earlier, "It looks like, you're looking for an apartment. I'm not sure if you know, but this part of town isn't always safe," he picked up the papers, to show her what he was talking about.
"You shouldn't look through other's things, but to answer your question, yes I know, but right now my circumstances will not offer me a safer place. But once I've found a job, I'll improve my surroundings," she finished, looking him straight in the eye. He was glad to hear she had some sort of plan laid out, with everything that's happened with her, he was surprised she wasn't hiding in a corner crying. She had gotten the courage to leave, not only her home, where she was raised and cared for, but the country she was so familiar with. Now she was trying to start fresh, away from everything she's ever known. Then he remembered his apartment, the one he owned but never used. He also knew she was full of pride, she would never accept anything for free or out of pity. Siwon was sure he didn't want to offend her, so he decided to proposition her, "I know someone who's looking for a renter, the apartment is in this part of town, not far from my place. If you're interested I could pull a few strings and help you out," he finished, there really weren't any strings to pull, the place was his and the floor above his apartment was the one he shared with the other SUJU members, so he would be close.
Surprise and suspicion was written on her face, "Why would you help a random stranger, and one who literally beat you with her purse?" Siwon had to laugh at that, the first reason being that to him, she wasn't a random stranger, he felt close to her, and second, she didn't even realize that her intentions were never bad willed. "You're right, but anyone could see that your intentions were good. You thought you were stopping a thief, someone who robbed a woman. As another woman, you saw an opportunity to stop me and took it. Your intentions were good. When I asked you why you didn't ask to see my face, you said there was a reason behind it. You apologized sincerely when you realized the truth and left Hulk your contact information in case something did happen to me after you left. All those things, tell me that you're not a bad person."
There was still a look of suspicion in her eyes when she asked, "How much would rent be?" Siwon smiled, the little boy inside of him was so happy, she was thinking about it.
"If you're accepting my help, that that makes us friends right?" he stuck out his hand, and asked the question, needing the confirmation. She paused for a second but said, "Yeh, it does," taking his hand.
"Even though, you know, I'm Choi Siwon, you can call me Siwon," he said, adding a bit of his charm, that just dazzled all the ladies, she laughed and said, "I'm Nita, and you can all me Nita." He knew she didn't like being asked her last name since the incident with her family, so he didn't brother with the question about her last name.
He couldn't wait to show her, he knew she wasn't going to say no, so in his excitement he asked, "Alright then, did you want to see the apartment now or tomorrow, it's not far from here."
"Whenever your guy has the time," she said, hesitantly. He was sure she didn't want to intrude on someone with it being so late. But she really didn't have anything to worry about, he had his keys, there wasn't any reason to wait around. He grabbed her arm and started walking towards the exit, "Now's a good a time as any, kaja!"

Notes