𝐌𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐓

1. THE BIG DAY

The ray of sunlight seeping in through the separated curtain folds fell on my eyes. The wind rushing in through the slightly opened window and the chirping of birds, all indicating that its already morning and time to wake up. I twisted and turned under my blanket to escape from the light.

"Y/n... How long are you gonna sleep? Get up already, or else we are gonna be stuck in traffic." My mother's super annoying voice made its way past the hall, from the kitchen to my room.

Usually, I just ignore her and continue my journey in the dream land but today it jolted me off the bed. 'IT'S THE BIG DAY.' I thought to myself and checked the clock beside my bed which showed 10:10. A sudden gush of anxiety and terror filled inside me.

I shouted while dashing towards the bathroom. "MOM! What time is it? Why didn't you wake me up early??"
"What do you mean by early? It's just 6 in the morning." She shouted back at me.
"What...!! But my clock says its-" I was confused for a second but the clock hanging in the hall clearly showed that it's just 6 o'clock.
"Damn. When did this stupid alarm stopped working? My soul just left to Seoul alone." I heard my mother chuckle at my desperation.

Its past 7:30 and I was standing in front of my full-length mirror, ready to go. I stared at the reflection of my suitcase in the mirror which was all packed by yesterday itself. I'm not always a planner and perfectly executing person. But this time, I was so cautious and planned and prepared all that I needed.

"It's Time. Be Bold Y/n. You made it this far." I said to my reflection. I took a deep breath and walk past the door with my baggage. Mom and Dad was waiting for me in the hallway all set to go. "Shall we leave? Your flight is at 10, right? So, it's better if we can leave now." my dad said with a concerned tone. "Sure dad, I'm done. Let's go." "It's for the first time in my life that I see this girl being ready on time." My mom exclaimed which broke us all into laugh, even though her words hid a little pinch of sadness.

We reached the airport at around 9am. Dad dropped us at the entrance and left to park the car. While I went through all the boarding procedures, my mom waited in the lobby, sitting on the chair watching me with a pair of teary eye. "Mom, please don't do that. You know that I won't be able to leave happy if you start to cry." I whined to her as I sat on the empty seat beside her. "No-no... I'm not crying. I'm just happy to see that my baby is all grown up now. She is even travelling abroad by her own." I smiled at her and saw that dad was walking towards us. He sat on the other side of her, putting his hands around her shoulder. "Has your mom started her usual emotional drama?" "As you can see." I said eyeing at her teary face.

"Good morning passengers. This is the pre-boarding announcement for the flight EK532 to Incheon -........"

Screeched the airport speakers indicating that it's time to board my 31 hours journey. I glanced at my hand that was holding the tickets which said TO SEOUL. I looked up at my dad, who was now the one with teary eye. "I think it's time. Shall we move?" They just nodded at me and started walking towards the boarding gate with my bags.

"Mom Dad, please don't cry, I'm not being married off. I'm just going for my studies. I'll be back in two years. If possible, I will come and visit you in between. And we can always stay connected via internet. So please don't be so sad." I said struggling hard not to studder or cry. I hugged them both and bid my farewell.

I boarded the plane in the economy class and for my luck, I was seated beside the window. 'Thank god. At least this will help me kill the time.' I thought to myself. Starring out at the wings of the plane, I drifted off to the thoughts of everything that happened during this course of time. How reckless and adventurous my school life was. How disobedient I have been yet how happy I was. My family, friends, everyone whom I'm gonna miss for the next 2 years. It does feel a little sad now that I'm leaving them all. But this was my dream, to study abroad and I got into my favourite university, Seoul National University. South Korea, a place where me and my friends dreamed about. A place where I wished to go. This really is a dream come true for me.

I was so immersed in my own thoughts that I didn't even notice when someone sat beside me.

"You seem so happy. First time on board?" A sweet girl voice asked me who seemed much younger than me.
"Oh! Yes, it's my first time on a flight." I replied to her reflecting the same smile as Her's.
"Wow...For me it's the second time you know?" She stated with an enthusiastic tone. She looked so cute and energetic. I realized that my rest of the flight won't be as boring as I imagined it to be.

Suddenly I thought that the flight has an overnight layover at Dubai. I was about to ask her destination when she asked "Are you also going to Dubai?"
"No... I'm off to Seoul." "Oh, then we are together only till the night." She said with a radiating smile.

Within a few minutes the flight attendant starts to show the safety demonstrations. It was really funny to see all the actions but they portrayed it smoothly. Everyone said that its too scary when the flight takes off but it felt so exciting to me. I was enjoying the view of my city and bidding a final goodbye to my place. The view through the window was mesmerising indeed. The tall ass buildings were all suddenly as small as tiny little ants. The cotton candy like clouds which passed over my head at a never reaching height, were now gliding in front of my eyes. It felt like a dream. I was immersed in the beauty of the sky when the girl next to me continued to talk.

"Hey, may I know your name?" "I'm Y/n. And what about yours?" "I'm Hessa." "Nice to meet you, Hessa. So why Dubai?" "Going back home after a short vacation at my parent's hometown. And you?" "I'm going for my studies." and thus the endless chatting took place.

She was really talkative and zestful. With her, the journey was becoming really great. She told me about her school and friends which all sounded wonderful. I too shared my story about my friends and my previous school days. Through the conversation, I get to know that she too has a wish to visit Korea and travel around the world.

**********

The time went on faster than I thought and it was already announcing the reach of Dubai Internationals. Hessa bid me her goodbye and we shared our numbers promising to contact each other. The later part of my journey was extremely boring with an Oldman beside me, who looked like he was in a rush to go somewhere. Does he have to pee? take a loo? What is he so hurry burry about. He kept on checking his iPad and was constantly talking to someone via EarPods. What a busy world of adults.

After 'an-eternity-later', came the announcement that I was eagerly waiting for.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the Incheon airport.-....."

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Hey readers,

Since you reached this end, hope you like my story. This is the first time Im writing something so please do bear with my mistakes.

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See you soon with the 2nd chapter.
Bye.