Jeju Fever | #yoonmin

1

Monday

The airport is surprisingly empty. The harsh lights shine down on the empty baggage carousel that is making a rhythmic squeaking sound, disturbing the silence in the large hall. Jimin is scrolling on his phone while waiting for his suitcase, almost too tired to take notice of how unusually empty the airport is. He hears a loud thump and looks up to the baggage belt to check if that was his suitcase, but it wasn't. He sighs, shifts to his other leg and returns his focus to his phone.

His Instagram is full of beautiful photos of Jeju island in all four seasons and every possible weather condition. Of course the algorithm knows about his trip to Jeju, he's been bombarded with travel advice and aesthetically pleasing cafe tips ever since he booked the flight. Now he just has to make sure his photography somehow stands out from the rest. Feels like an impossible task. Another wave of regret and anxiety rushes through his stomach when he thinks about it.

Sure, he's a great portrait photographer, but nature? Restaurants? Cafes? He really only took this assignment because the client, Hoseok, is a mutual friend with his friend Jin and Jimin can't say no to his Jin hyung. Hoseok runs a small agency in Jeju that creates personal travel itineraries and he really wanted some professional photos for his social media. Seemed like quite a simple task with a free trip to Jeju included, so why not, Jimin thought when he agreed. But now he's getting really nervous that he's going to screw up somehow.

Another couple loud thumps make Jimin look up again. Again, not his suitcase. He's only staying for five days, but since his camera equipment takes up all the space in his backpack he had to bring a small suitcase as well. Quite an old suitcase. He's a bit embarrassed by how it's being held together by duct tape, but he wanted to use it one last time before buying a new one. He'll buy himself something nice with the pay check he's getting from this job.

Another thump. That's his suitcase. He tucks away his phone and swings his backpack back over his shoulder and waits for his suitcase to make its way to him on the belt. With one elegant swoop he lifts his suitcase off of the belt and sets it down on its four old and tired wheels. Seems like going to the gym is at least also helping with mundane tasks like lifting suitcases without embarrassing yourself.

——

It's already dark outside. Jimin is waiting for the shuttle bus that is supposed to take him to the car rental place. There's really no getting around Jeju without a car. Hoseok told him he could just catch a ride with him to some locations which he often includes in his itineraries, but Jimin didn't want to depend on him like that. Besides, that would mean Hoseok has to wait for him to take the pictures and that would be way too nerve wracking. So, rental car it is. While he's waiting he's texting Hoseok that he has arrived and that he'll see him tomorrow morning.

When the bus arrives, Jimin puts his suitcase in the luggage storage area and gets on the bus. The bus is decorated with purple curtains with golden tassels and the seats are red velvet. Jimin smirks at the design and sits down on a window seat. Last time he was in Jeju he was quite young and doesn't remember much. His dad picked up the rental car while he and his mom waited at the airport. He's wondering if his dad sat in a bus like this and smirks at the idea. His dad would have hated it.

Once they arrive at the car rental service, Jimin makes his way to the front desk. It's a small little building with tons of tourist folders decorating the place. It looks old because of how the folders have changed to a pale colour. People don't use these folders anymore. Everybody is thrown into the social media travel algorithms full of photos and videos which tickle the brain way more than those old folders. It reminds Jimin of the anxiety he has about having to produce fancy travel photography. Luckily he gets distracted by it being his turn to talk to the service desk lady.

"Welcome sir, do you have a reservation with us?"

"Hello, yes I do." Jimin shows her the reservation number on his phone. The lady starts clicking away on her computer, looking for Jimin's reservation. Jimin looks around the room a bit more while waiting, but it's taking unusually long so he turns back to look at the lady. She has her lips pursed and a worrying frown has appeared on her face.

"Hmm... sir... I can't seem to find your reservation, can I see the number again?" Jimin unlocks his phone and shows her the number. More clicking sounds appear and a deeper frown forms on her face.

"Sir, I don't have your reservation in our system. I'm not sure what went wrong... Would you mind waiting for a bit while I ask my colleague?"

"Sure, go ahead." Jimin says calmly, but he's not exactly feeling calm. Without a car he'd have to rely on Hoseok, and he really doesn't want to have to do that. The lady asks her colleague at the desk next to her to take a look. The man sighs, comes over and starts clicking and around. And some more clicking. And some more... and then another deep sigh.

"Yeahh... sir, I think there has been a mistake. I can see your reservation but it got cancelled immediately and the car has already been given to someone else earlier today."

"Oh... okay, so, what's the solution? Can you give me another car?"

"Hmm noo... all our cars are reserved already."

"But... who cancelled the reservation? This isn't my fault right?"

"It's not your fault sir, but there's also nothing we can do about it now. We don't have a spare car laying around. We'll refund your money immediately but that's all I can do." The man says in a monotone and cold voice. It sounds like they encounter this problem all the time and just don't care much. There's always so many people renting cars in Jeju, they'll never go out of business anyway. The woman looks like she feels way more sorry for Jimin. She probably hasn't worked here for so long.

"Then, what am I supposed to do now?" Jimin asks, feeling the anger rise, but he's too tired to really start a fight. What can they do anyway? Like the guy said, they simply don't have a car for him. He decides to stay calm.

"Well, you can take a taxi? We're very sorry sir." The man forces a smile and nods to his colleague so he can get back to his desk to help another customer. The woman looks at Jimin with pity in her eyes while biting her bottom lip.

"Sir, I'm really sorry, this system is so old... Stuff like this happens sometimes. What you could do is wait until we close in an hour, then if someone hasn't shown up to pick up their car we can give you that one." She says, trying to sound hopeful.

"Oh, that's actually not a bad idea, I think I'll do that. Thanks."

"Sure. Not to get your hopes up, usually everybody shows up..." She admits. Jimin smiles and nods. He sigh loudly while walking to the little chairs in the back of the room and sits down. He looks down at his phone, it's already 7pm. He's going to arrive quite late at the Airbnb he booked, but hopefully that won't be a problem. While opening the app to check when the latest check-in time is, he receives a message.

"Babe, did you arrive? Can we call soon?"

It's from his ex-girlfriend. Ugh. They broke up five months ago but she still calls him 'babe' and wants to talk to work things out. Jimin has already told her so many times that that's not going to happen. Should he just ignore her? That would be pretty childish right... They were together for almost two years, but things just didn't really work out. Jimin can't even really put it to words why it didn't work out. It just didn't. They were more like friends to him and she always got so jealous... Annoying. He decides to just once again tell her the same thing.

"Look, I told you already many times, there's really nothing to say anymore. I'm sorry. And please stop calling me 'babe'."

He then puts his headphones in to watch an episode of the drama he's watching. He has an hour to fill on this uncomfortable chair anyway. What a great start of the trip.

——

One hour later the lady who helped Jimin earlier comes over to where he's sitting. Jimin looks up and puts his headphones away. Please give me good news, he thinks to himself.

"I'm so sorry sir... the last car was just picked up. Can I help you get a taxi to your accommodation?" She asks very kindly. Jimin smiles with his lips pursed and shakes his head slowly.

"Hmm, no thanks, I'll just use KakaoTaxi. Can I wait in here until it arrives?"

"Of course sir, that's the least we can offer you."