Spring 2017

Itaewon-dong, Seoul, South Korea

Liam gazed blankly down at the walkway outside the tall black door of his villa in the affluent neighborhood of Itaewon-dong. It was two minutes before midnight and up until two hours ago, he'd been in Gangnam doing a photo shoot for GQ Korea beside Arabelle Lee an up and coming idol that was crossing over to dramas.

"Fuck," he mumbled when he felt his mobile vibrating in his jean's pocket for the second time in less than ten minutes. His inattention and sleepiness had the first call going to voicemail. Pulling his keys out of his pocket he stuck them into the lock with one hand while using the other to hit the accept button on his Bluetooth.

Without looking he knew that the person on the other end was someone from home in the states. "It's almost midnight here," he grumbled as he pushed open the door to his house pausing just long enough to close and lock the door behind him.

A response wasn't immediate but he could hear sniffling on the other side of the phone and for half a second he wished he wouldn't have answered the phone.

"Call me back when you're done crying," he sighed believing the caller to be his second oldest sister Mi Na who was currently divorcing her cheating husband. His sixteen hour day was making his frazzling his nerves as he attempted to run his fingers through his hair only to realize that it was stiff with products. "Ugh, I need to take a shower and wash this crap out my hair."

"Liam," breathed a familiar voice on the other side of the phone.

The budding feel of panic started to nip at Liam aThe woman that had contracted her with Pénte knew her Korean wasn't advanced but with all the dramas, movies and variety shows being released plus her willingness to work for less money had gotten her the spot and he paused in kicking off his shoes. "Erika, what's wrong?"

"God I'm stupid," whispered Erika.

Liam had to stop himself from agreeing. In all the years he'd known Erika he had to admit she was book smart but wasn't the most street smart. "What's wrong," he asked his sleep clouded mind clearing replaced by panic. "Is your father okay? Did something happen to my parents?"

"No," she sobbed on the other end.

Liam released a breath he didn't even know he had pent up, "what's going on then?"

"Ms. Ernhard," she sobbed, "Ms. Ernhard fired me."

Liam's eyebrows rose in surprise. Ms. Ernhard had been a teacher at A Wonderland Daycare when they were kids and had moved her way up until she was the daycare/preschool/kindergarten's director and finally the owner. "Why would she do that," he asked deadpan.

"She sold the place and they are restructuring," supplied Erika on another sob. "Now what am I supposed to do?"

Move here with me, was his first thought followed by try getting another job, but he kept quiet as he tried to get his overworked, sleep-deprived brain to function. Before he could say anything Erika was talking again.

"She told us five weeks ago and I've sent my resume to every school district and childcare center in Lake and Cook County and nothing! Not one call back! Not even one telephone interview," she exclaimed.

"Really," frowned Liam glad he hadn't voiced his snide 'look for another job' comment. Running a hand over his face he walked into the shadowed living room, his feet thankful for the heated bamboo wood floor. Not willing to turn on any of the lamps scattered around he walked toward the dark grey sofa before clicking on a lamp that would only illuminate the small area by the coffee table. Dropping on a seat his elbows fell onto his knees while he let his eyes take in the overflowing box of fan mail with a few stuffed toys on top before his eyes roamed to the polished slate coffee table was a small pile of mail. Everything was sifted through at his agency's office by security and then his manager. Reaching forward he plucked a bright yellow postcard from the middle of the pile and frowned as he read out loud,"All Bright Exchange Program."

"What," inquired Erika on the other end of the phone. "Liam, are you even listening to me?"

"Yes," he snapped glancing over the postcard. Flipping the card over his brows knitted together as he stared at a picture of a man pointing at a book on the desk of a child in a uniform. "I'm providing you with an alternate solution to your problem," he muttered rereading the information on the card. "You have a four-year degree why don't you apply to be an exchange teacher?"

"An exchange teacher," repeated Erika dumbfounded. "I never heard of that."

"Uh huh," hummed Liam, since he hadn't either. Looking through the envelops he found a pale yellow one that had All Bright in dark green letters in the return address. With hesitation, he reached for the silver letter opener and sliced the side and pulled out a crisp white sheet of paper ignoring the return envelope that fell to the floor. Skimming the hangul he quickly surmised the point; the exchange program was fairly new and looking for donations and/or volunteers. "Erika," he yawned tossing the letter on the sofa table, "when I wake up I'm going to email you a link and I want you to apply."

"You want me to come to South Korea," she asked her tone full of disbelief.

"Ye," nodded Liam responding in Korean. "I want you to come here for a change."

"A change," exclaimed Erika her voice rising in panic. "My Korean is intermediate at best and beginner at worst. And where am I supposed to live? Not with you! What about your career?"

"Erika," sighed Liam shaking his head before she became hysterical, "when one door closes and another opens you should actually try walking through it instead of being a naysayer." Liam stared down at his buffed nails shaking his head. "How many doors have opened only for you to walk to the one that was closed and pulled on it like your life depended on it."

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled dejectedly on the other end and he was sure she was chewing on her bottom lip with her patented pout.

Liam rose on a stretch ignoring how the white t-shirt rose showing off the muscles of his stomach muscles. Instead, his chocolate brown gaze moved toward the closed door of his bedroom longingly. "I'm not sure which part you think was easy," he bit out knowing full well she was referring his success in the Asian market. "But I can assure you that I ran through every door and never glanced back at the ones that closed."

"I know," exhaled Erika on the other end. "I'm just not you Liam. In LA you were scouted by TPJ Entertainment and flown to Seoul -."

"To go through training where my evaluations were subpar and let's not forget they dropped me," he interrupted trying to keep his voice level.

"You left TPJ and went to Circle Entertainment," continued Erika as if Liam hadn't spoken, "and debuted as the fifth member of NO Limit -."

Rolling his eyes Liam glanced over his shoulder toward the mantle of awards he'd received while part of the boyband. Snorting he gave a shrug, "where I was later kicked out of the group because Sunny put his weed in my pants pocket."

Erika continued as if Liam hadn't spoken, "After leaving NO Limit you signed with KStar and became a solo singer and," she continued excitedly, "went on to co-star in your first drama."

Suppressing a yawn, Liam decided not to add he'd only gotten the role because of the lead actor had returned from doing an international ninja film, and hadn't meshed well with his intended co-star.

"Erika," sighed Liam looking at his phone and seeing that over 20 minutes had passed. "I am just getting home from a long day and I need to shower and go to sleep. I have another long day tomorrow. Either fill out the application or don't," he ended.

"I will," came Erika's dejected reply. "I'm just scared and worried what will happen if people find out," she admitted. "The netizens over there can be crazy and your career," she ended in a mumble. "My dad told me majoring in art was stupid but I didn't listen."

Liam's fingers gripped the handle of the door to his bedroom.

Lt. Mitchel Anderson currently stationed at Great Lakes Naval Base had wanted his only daughter to join the Air Force or the Navy but ignoring the doors he'd work hard to open for her Erika had gone to college and racked up over $85k in student loans.

Scratching his forehead Liam pushed into his darkened bedroom and slide the dimmer halfway keeping the recessed lighting low. Nodding his approval Liam saw that his housekeeper had changed the sheets on his king size bed and the jeans and t-shirt he'd thrown on the floor were gone. Touching the sticky mess on top of his head again he grimaced before telling the same whopper he'd told her when she announced to him what she wanted to major in at college, "there's nothing wrong with a horticulture art degree."

"I know," exclaimed Erika, Liam was sure she'd thrown her hand in the air to emphasize her point.

"Good night," he grumbled making a beeline to the bathroom so he could take a shower. They'd wiped off most of the makeup but his hair felt like a crows nest.

"Night," came Erika's dejected response. "I'll be looking for the email," she ended before his Bluetooth beeped letting him know she'd ended the call.

Liam stared at himself in the mirror leaning forward so he could get a good look at the deep blue/black circles under his eyes. Grumbling he opened the left-hand drawer and dug around until he found a pack of under-eye patches that his manager Jae left. Jumping into the shower he made quick work of washing the gel out of his hair and any traces of makeup that wasn't already removed.

"Double Fuck," he muttered as he stood again in front of the mirror putting on the patches. He couldn't shake the traces of guilt he felt at encouraging each and every one of Erika's stupid decisions. But at the time he thought that's what boyfriends were supposed to do.

He'd been her best friend when he'd left for South Korea; young and dumb at 14 and she was 13. True to his word he'd kept in touch with her via email and MySpace and as the years went on they'd started using KakaoTalk.

During training, she'd been his little secret. He'd disregarded how his trainers stressed that all trainees should be focusing on fine-tuning their craft.

He'd started back up with the piano while taking singing lessons, dance classes, acting classes and went through modeling training but every morning he'd wake up and check his phone for messages from her and every night he'd do the same. As they'd gotten older and his career flourished and they stayed in touch.

It wasn't until his second year after NO Limit's debut that he was able to sneak back to Illinois using the excuse he was going to his youngest sister's wedding that they were able to stand face to face again. It was at that time Liam decided while staring into Erika's wide almond shaped eyes that he was going to take their friendship to the next level. He'd been 19 and she'd just turned 18.

He smirked as he remembered how he'd calmly talked her into letting him take her virginity in his childhood bedroom while his parents went to the grocery store. Most guys would feel some type of guilt or embarrassment, but not him; no matter what his parents thought he loved her. He'd almost talked her into coming to South Korea for college but then he'd stupidly told her how JaeSong Lee's career was destroyed by a scandal of him having a Japanese girlfriend. It was like splashing cold water on their relationship. Suddenly, Erika didn't want to come visit him in Seoul or anywhere outside the USA. She was terrified of ruining his career and nothing he said seemed to ease her doubts.

Now he stood on the cusp of something he didn't think would ever happen. Erika was coming to Korea and it had only taken him 14 years to get her there.

"I knew telling her that a degree in the art of horticulture was the major for her would work on of these days," he mused using a towel to pat dry his blonde-tipped black hair. Chuckling he threw the towel on the floor, the damn woman was allergic to almost everything including dirt and she'd happily followed his advice.

"Now," he mumbled pulling the blanket back to reveal that his red silk sheets had been replaced with dark teal ones. "I need a plan," he concluded as he laid down. "Management is going to have a fucking conniption fit."

(Age Liam 25, Age Erika 24)