Chapter Text
Marigold POV
Thank you for taking the time to meet with our team about the management position… Unfortunately….Thanks again for your interest and best of luck with your job search.
Slamming the lid of my laptop down with a loud thunk, I stared ahead out of the large window of my hotel room. The hustle and bustle of the city below was loud through the glass, pedestrians packed on the streets like sardines and cars and bikes weaving through their day to day dances.
I had arrived to Seoul about a week ago.
A month long trip organized with my best friend, Mars, as a way to unwind and spend time together after we both finished classes and received our respective degrees a month ago. While I chose to attend college back home in the states, Mars had chosen to come back here to Korea.
We met online in high school, both hugely into some online multiplayer game back then and came across each other during a random fishing event. Mars, being the extrovert that he is, started chatting while we completed various quests together and we eventually shared our info out of the game to talk more.
When we discovered we lived in the same state, we met face to face right after graduating high school. We've been inseparable even since, well online at least.
Physically, I haven't seen Mars since right before he left for Korea. Over 4 long years later, here I was, waiting in a lonely hotel room with nothing to do and no plans because Mars had landed himself a job. We had agreed not to apply for jobs until after our time together, however, Mars had been scouted by a large tech company and couldn't pass on the "opportunity of a lifetime".
I was already on the plane to Korea when I received the messages.
Mars had to go out of the area for training and wouldn't return until a few days before I was supposed to return to the states. That meant an entire 30 days in a new country alone and basically clueless about well EVERYTHING.
I had taken Korean and Japanese language classes in college, so communication would be relatively easy and not the issue.
Not knowing anything about the area was.
We had chosen Seoul specifically because it was where Mars spent most of his time and knew everything here like the back of his hand. I had been 100% ready to turn my brain off and let him drag me around like a rag doll, just enjoying the ride.
Now, I was left with a few recommendations from Mars and the navigation skills of a sea turtle.
Pulling my eyes away from the busy streets, I took another glance to my laptop. I had ventured out a handful of times since arriving to the hotel for food and drinks at the cafe near the hotel, but the rest of my time here had been spent applying for jobs back home.
The latest rejection letter had stung more then most of them had.
Having great grades throughout the process of getting my degree meant little when compared to my entire lack of hands on experience.
Wanting a job in the music industry was hard enough. Wanting a job in the music industry with absolutely zero experience in any shape or form was impossible.
It never mattered how nice, how dedicated, how eager I was, every single company I applied and interviewed for all wanted someone who knew what they were doing, someone they wouldn't feel they had to coddle and baby until they could confidently do things on their own.
My lack of experience wasn't the only thing working against me.
It was my health.
I had been diagnosed with a degenerative nerve disease when I was young. It had been carefully managed since then, but there was always one issue or another that I had to work through. When everyone else was out getting jobs and learning hands on, I was sitting in hospital rooms recovering from various surgeries and working through all of the mental health problems that came with the physical problems.
Instead of walking across the stage for my diploma, I had been attending yet emergency room visit due to the pushing myself past my limit and collapsing on the way to the ceremony.
I couldn't blame these companies for not wanting me on their teams after finding out my history. I wasn't required to explain my medical past during interviews, but it felt like the right option vs hiding the information and suffering from it later on if I was hired and something happened.
I was never the type to take the easy way out, but that just meant more hardship and heartache for myself.
With a heavy sigh, I reached to grab my phone from the edge of the bed before standing and stretching my arms over my head. The weather outside was lovely and I desperately needed a break from the 4 walls of my room.
Padding over softly to the full length mirror across the room, I slid the baby blue cardigan off the edge of the glass and pulled it on over my cream colored ruched long sleeve top. I glanced at the rest of my outfit and smiled softly. A pair of light blue jeans with tiny pearls dotted over the fabric and bows at the bottoms of the front pockets, silver rings rested on my ring fingers, a silver plated watch on my left wrist and silver bow earrings matched the choker on my neck. To complete the look, I pulled on a pair of cream colored short heeled boots with cream laces and a silver buckle at the ankle, along with lacy white socks that peeked just over the top of the boots.
Giving myself a soft twirl in the mirror, I checked my makeup and hair one last time, slid of my black mask and spritzed myself with a fresh floral perfume before stepping out of the room and heading to the elevator. The makeup today was soft. Pastel blue eyeshadow blended with a bit of glitter on top and a few swipes of black mascara. Makeup is one of the many things I was not good at and I did the bare minimum whenever I wore it, if I wore it at all. For my hair, I had it half tied up, half hanging down my back. The tie was a long silky white bow and it was a perfect contrast to the dark espresso brown of my hair.
The elevator dinged before the doors opened quietly. Stepping in, I relaxed in the back left corner across from the buttons after selecting the ground floor. It wasn't a long trip down, but the silence in the elevator always felt a little bit suffocating.
Pulling my headphone case out of my pocket, I pushed a single earbud in, replaced the case into my jeans, pulled out my phone and selected shuffle on a random playlist. After a few moments, the doors opened and I pushed off the wall, slid my phone in my pocket and stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby of the hotel.
It was not as loud as it usually is, only a handful of older individuals milling about the room. The attendant at the front desk bowed as I passed by and I did the same before stepping out of the building and into the cool air of the late afternoon. I spotted my usual cafe but instead of heading there, I turned and strolled down the street taking in the sights of people rushing past and the larger then life buildings that surrounded everything.
The music playing in my ear, I finally realized, was my favorite idol groups playlist. I had made the playlist at the beginning of college, adding all the current (at the time) and new songs that come out by my favorite groups. The playlist mainly consisted of Ateez, Stray Kids, Enhypen, TXT and Xdinary Heroes. There were a few other groups, but only a song or two of each. The main 5 groups took over the playlist, almost every song of each group had made it onto the list.
The groups had a big impact on the languages I had learned in college. Mars had already known both Korean and Japanese and had been incredibly helpful while I was learning. They had also been the reason Mars and I had so much in common when we first met. We both enjoyed the same groups and always enjoyed when new content or merch dropped, giving us just another way to bond and further our friendship.
Mars had actually come to Korea for college after receiving a scholarship based on his family lineage and connections with family he had in Seoul. Mars had been born in Seoul but had moved to the states with his mother when he was 13 years old.
I hadn't been so lucky, at first.
Born back in the states and given up less then 6 months later, I moved foster to foster for the first 10 years of my life before getting adopted by a wonderful couple, Danika and Estella (Or as I called them, mamma and mother). It was only 8 months after they adopted me that all of my health issues began, but they never hesitated for a second and gave everything they had to help me.
Even now at 25, they were the people I was closest with.
They had been so excited for me to come to Korea to spend time with Mars. I haven't had the courage or energy to tell them he bailed on me and I was stuck here by myself for another 20-ish days.
Just a little by Stray Kids played in my ear while I walked down the road. The sun was starting to set, the sky turning orange and the light of the day turning dusky. Spotting a convenience store, I turned into it and walked down the aisles of snacks and drinks before selecting a simple tuna kimbap and melon milkis before once again stepping out of the shop and continuing down the road. After a few more minutes of walking, a small bench came into few and I fished my phone out of my pocket and took a seat. Pulling my mask down, I took a bite of my kimbap and checked for any new messages.
(2) new messages from Mars and (6) missed calls from Mars.
I rolled my eyes and smiled to myself as I quickly ate the rest of my kimbap, disconnected my headphone and then hit the call button on my phone.
Mars answered after 2 rings.
There was shuffling on his end of the call before a loud yell followed by laughing had me pulling my phone from my ear with a grimace. I returned my phone to my ear to hear Mars still laughing.
"Mari, where were you? I called you so many times!"
"I decided to escape the confines of my room, figured I could do with a change in scenery. What was so urgent in the last 30 minutes I wasn't glued to my phone?"
More shuffling followed by a loud huff sounded down the phone.
"I made some friends and I'm currently at their place playing Mario Kart. I was calling you because I wanted to let you know I won't be home before you leave to go home." His voice became smaller as he continued. "I have a huge favor to ask of you and before you say anything, I know you're upset and you have every right to be and I shouldn't even be asking for anything but I have no one else I can ask."
I was quiet for a moment as his words sunk in. "You're joking right? I'm here for an entire month for nothing?" Anger started to seap into my bones before I could control it.
"Not for nothing! Think of all the exploring you can do! And if you agree to this teeny tiny favor, you will get to have a little more freedom from that prison you call a hotel room."
I let out a loud sigh and pulled my knees up on the bench with the rest of my body. I dropped my chin onto my knee and closed my eyes. "If you're not coming back, I should just try and change my flight to go home early. There's no reason I should stay here so long by myself when I should just go home and look for jobs."
"Mari, I'm really sorry. I wish things had worked out differently but I couldn't pass this up. This is-" I cut him off, my patience thin.
"I know it's important to you. I know. What do you need me to do, Mars?" He was quiet for a moment and I heard him stand, soft footsteps padding against hardwood.
"Sorry, had to walk to a different room. I wouldn't ask if I had another choice but I need you to stop around to my place and stay there while you are there in Seoul."
"I'm sorry what?"
"There was a break-in down the road from my place last night and I don't feel entirely secure leaving my apartment unoccupied for the entire time I'm here in Busan. The family members I trust to help are all out of town and I don't trust any of my other friends to go to my place. I can't come home early from this but I really don't want my place empty that long. I know I'm asking for a lot Mari, I understand if you just want to go home. But, if you want to go it's a big place and it's a really nice area. It's about an hour from where you're staying now, over in Hongdae. I think you would really like it!"
"I don't know.. What about my hotel room? How would I get over there? I really think I should just-" Mars cut me off.
"I can handle the hotel room and transporation over. I can handle everything I just need to know if you'll stay. I'll do everything I can to come home early but can you stay while you're here? Please Mari." I loud out a final, defeated sigh.
"Yes, I'll stay at your place. I'll go back to my hotel room and pack up. When can someone come pick me up to take me over there? I'm about 20 minutes from the hotel now and it shouldn't take me long to pack up. I can be ready whenever."
Mars let out a whoop of excitement.
"Thank you, thank you! I can send someone over to get you in an hour. I'll text you the door code. I don't really know my neighbors outside of the buildings announcement group but if you meet any of them, I'm sure they are nice! I've never had bad experiences. I really appreciate this Mari, thank you." He laughs in relief.
"You owe me, Marshal. You better find a way to come back before I go home."
He lets out a pained grunt. "Not the government name, no! You wound me. I'll never recover. Let me wipe my tears." He fake sniffles and I roll my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah." I end the call and tilt my head towards the sky, my head hitting the wall behind me softly. Taking a deep breath, I sat there with my eyes closed for a moment before letting the breath out loudly with a grunt. I wanted adventure, well here we go.