sunwoo went to an amiri fashion show in paris for the first time earlier this year. i'm also an idol and i just happen to be invited too and fly on the same day as him.
let's go with the flow✨✨
One sheep two sheep three sheep four..
A voice wakes me up from my soon to be slumber, "Aqsa we're at incheon airport." My manager says at a volume just a bit above from where I would like him to be at.
Damn, just when I was about to doze off, his timing was so off. I find my face in a position that would cause my mother to get in a frenzy about me getting wrinkles, but that doesn't last long because I spot the crowd of fans and reporters waiting to get the perfect shot of me getting off the van.
And so I give the people what they want. After what feels like a whirlwind of cameras and interactions, I get to the part where the only thing separating me from my 'first-class lounge' nap is security and a bunch of airport shops.
As soon as we get through security, I hear my manager's voice come from beside me, "What would you like from starbucks?"
I give him a look that says 'you better not be serious, man, you know we're boycotting'.
I see the moment it clicks in his brain and he looks away sheepishly, hand rubbing neck.
I tell him that he doesn't need to worry and that I will find a local coffee shop that we can get our goods from. When he opens his mouth to protest, he closes it back immediately and complies, seeing the stubborn look in my eyes that goes back generations.
So I am now set off to find breakfast for our party of 3, consisting of myself, my manager/bodyguard, and my cameraman because lord knows I always forget to film anything and everything.
I soon find a decent place and go to order when I see someone that looks familiar, but before I can look further, I hear the cashier go "taeum son-nim iyo" (next customer please).
"Here you go brother, your coffee." I hand my manager his order and then pass my camera man his too. Everyone around me knows that I'm a muslim, and that in islam everyone calls each other by "brother" and "sister". They also know about my habit of keeping this up in my daily life.
"I'm going to try and get some sleep if i can, before we board."
I wave to them and am about to leave when I see my cameraman rummaging through his bag, and when he finds what he's looking for, he hands me a vlog camera. "I know you might forget to film, but just in case you don't. You know what your fans want to see"
I smile at him and nod. This time I go around the lounge and try to find an open booth where I could get some privacy and I soon find one next to a sleeping figure. I shrug and try to head off to sleep, but just as I'm about to hit snooze, my phone starts vibrating, perks of always keeping it on silent. I grudgingly go to check who it is when I see it's my favorite aunty from India calling me, my frown turns downside up. "Assalamualaikum aunty rozy, kese ho app?" (how are you?)
The call goes on until sleep is a distant thought and soon I hear my flight being called for boarding, so I say salam and cut the call. I scramble to stuff all my things in my tote and am about to leave when I don't see the camera in my hands, I get it and as I'm walking, my focus on the camera, my head bumps into what feels like a sturdy enough back, but a back nonetheless. As I'm rubbing my head, this man it seems is turning around to apologize to me and I realize it's coffee shop dude, but more importantly when I look up, I see the face of Kim Sunwoo and I realize he's dashing in real life, truly the man I would love to look at for eternity. But then I realize he's apologizing to me, and so I snap out of my daze, and in doing that I also realize we've wasted at least 5 minutes of our boarding time. So I tell him to not worry about it, and walk away, leaving him confused.
See, boarding time for me is an incredibly stressful time because you get so little time, and there are these huge lines, and you have your carry-on and you have to make sure you get in the right aisle to lead to your seat otherwise it' such a hassle t get to the other side, not to mention everything has to be quick quick quick as there are people at your back equally eager to get to their seats and enjoy that find glass of airplane champagne. (even writing about this is giving me a headache.) So you can imagine the tranquility I get when I'm finally in my seat.
That tranquility is what I'm trying to picture in my mind as my eyes zoom about trying to catch a glimpse of the people I came with when I see them already on their way to the plane. I try to calm my self, In out In out In out, and with a sigh I join the line which is not as brain hurting as I imagined which would make sense considering I'm not with my loud indian family at the moment.
After what feels like a bajillion years, I'm finally in my seat which is so much more better than economy, would again, make sense since it's not.
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hope y'all enjoyed it
