No Matter the Barrier

Chapter 4

Yongsung walked on the path as he had done so many times during his stay in California. He needed to get away from his brother and girlfriend. They made him feel so single at how sickeningly sweet they were to each other. His brother and girlfriend had invited him to stay with them while his condo building in Seoul was under construction. He did not know English, but his brother and girlfriend used Korean around him. She was still learning the language, but it was enough.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he saw a beautiful boy laying on a bench, fast asleep. His face was red and puffy, as if he was crying before he had fallen asleep, and his nose was red; somehow, despite that, he was a pretty crier. The boys phone rang, startling him awake.

Yongsung watched as the boy read who the caller was and declined, slamming his phone back on the bench with a scowl. He looked like he was going to cry again and Yongsung felt the overwhelming urge to help. So he decided to do just that.

"You okay?" Yongsung asked. His accent was obvious, and he felt slightly ashamed of it. The male's head snapped towards the sound of the gentle voice. Yongsung carefully approached the pretty male and noticed he seemed to be around the same age. He noticed the pretty sea glass colored eyes start to water again.

"Fine," the male managed. He had picked up on some English words.

"Do you speak English?" Yongsung asked, hearing the accent. Loup shook his head in response. "Talk about it?" Yongsung prompted, pointing to the boys phone. The male bit his lip. The stranger wouldn't know what he was saying, anyway. So he ranted, he told the boy everything and started crying again as he told the story. Yongsung sat next to the boy and listened to the pretty language being spoken. He knew hugs usually cheered him up, but he knew not everyone liked to be touched, especially by strangers, so he refrained.

When the male finished, Yongsung pointed to himself, "Yongsung, South Korea," he introduced.

"Loup, France," he replied, using the same gesture.

The two communicated through short English phrases they knew and eventually, with the help of Google translate, longer sentences. They decided to go get food after Loup had gone over the basic idea of why he was on a park bench. To say Yongsung was pissed would be an understatement. He didn't know why he was so worked up, he just felt connected to Loup. And surprisingly, Loup felt the same.

Yongsung found himself wanting to get to know Loup, and Loup wished the same for Yongsung.

They exchanged numbers on their way to the café and continued their conversations through translation. When they entered the café Julia's head shot up and she looked instantly relieved, then confused.

She approached them once they were seated. She grabbed his phone like usual. "Loup, you're here! I was worried when you didn't show up on time. Are you okay? You look like you've been crying! Who's this?" She babbled on the phone. Loup watched as the translated words appeared in front of him. He gave her a reassuring smile.

"I'm good Jules. Tyson cheated on me so I left and this gentleman has been cheering me up ever since. Can I have something random, though? Oh, and if Tyson comes in, you never saw us," Loup replied.

Julia scowled. "I'm going to kill him. How could he do that to such a sweet person! After everything you put up with for him!" She exclaimed in outrage. Loup gave her two gentle pats and told her to calm down and that he would be alright.

Julia sighed, but nodded. She looked towards Yongsung and grabbed her notepad. "What can I get you?" She asked. He typed something into his phone and showed it to her.

"Another surprise? You got it, have fun you two. This is on the house, by the way," she said into Loup's phone and walked away. Loup called a thank you after her and continued to converse with Yongsung. Julia brought back their drinks, and they thanked her before returning to their conversation; which was currently about music. Something they both apparently really liked.

When they finished, they headed towards a hotel so Loup wouldnt have to sleep on another park bench. Luckily, his debit card had been working in the United States or else he would have been on the streets for sure. They went up to the room and talked about more things. Loup had never felt so at ease with a person in his life.

Okay how was that? Thoughts on Yongsung?

Also can I mini-rant here? I'm so annoyed rn! The way it formatted from my now ex-writing app (I'll explain why we have parted ways if you want a story time) and it doesn't like and for of the quotation mark/apostrophe!!! So I have to add them all back in when I edit it on Wattpad along with reformatting everything. It's very tedious and not what I want to deal with before posting for you guys! But I digress, I hope that in the future when I start publishing my third book (because I already wrote my second one with my ex) I won't have any issues.

Please vote and comment if you enjoyed!

- Your Bea