Was It All For Nothing? - By Sarah Jaju

Taking off... (Part 35)

Hae-Jun:

"Head towards the main gate, and get into the buses. You're allowed to sit in whichever bus you wont, but you have to maintain order and do as you're told. Be present whenever the head count is taken," Ms. Seo instructed.

All of us nodded in acceptance, and soon enough, the hall was filled with laughter, murmers and giggles. 

"Lastly, I expect one very important thing from all of you...HAVE FUN! These days wont return, and will be your beautiful memories when you graduate, so make sure to have the time of your lives! Arasseo?!" Ms. Seo grinned delightfully. 

Everyone cheered with glee, our headmistress was truly the best!

"Go on, what are you waiting for?! Get out there, hakssengdeul! Have a wonderful trip, and stay safe!" Ms. Seo said, switching her mic off.

I put my arm around Hae-Ri, "You ready?"

"Always," she said, giving my head a tight squeeze, making my heart flutter.

"Khaja," I beamed, "Let's get the others and go!" (Come on)

"Eoh!" she nodded. (Yep!)

...

(In the bus)

Hae-Ri and I sat together, and so did Jessica and Ho-Jin. The great thing was that the seats were and facing each other, with a table-like model in the centre. On each seat, there was a space for 4 people, and it was more like a camper-van/bus, looking at the space. Hae-Ri sat next to the window and I sat next to her, while Jess and Ho-Jin sat parallel to us. Since there was space for 4 more people on our seats, we invited a few people to sit with us. 

The funny thing was that our seat had become the couple-hub of the bus. Hae-Ri's friend Min-Jae seemed to have befriended a girl from their year and was now busy chatting with her, while Sam - who had finally asked a her out - was sitting next to Kim Min-Soo and I. 

The bus was filled with a joyful atmosphere, as everyone was having a great time. After a while, I noticed that Hae-Ri was dozing off, and I gently shifted her head onto my shoulder, and slipped my fingers into hers. 

A few minutes later, we were at the airport. The teacher - Ms. Kim - informed us that we had to get down with our luggage and check in. 

After all the necessary procedures were done, our flight number was announced and we made our way to gate 13. After about 15 minutes, we had finally boarded the flight. For some reason, Min-Jae and his girlfriend hadn't turned up yet, and the teachers were getting anxious. I noticed that Hae-Ri was getting fidgety in her seat. 

"Musunil isseosseo?" I asked her. (Is something wrong?)

"Where's Min-Jae? It's really unlike him to be late, I hope he's alright," she said with a frown.

"Well, you can call him if you're worried, although I'm sure he'll turn up in a few seconds. We're about to take off, and there's no chance that he'd miss this," I assured, even though I barely knew this guy.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm sure he'll be-"

"Hae-Ri!" Min-Jae said, out of breath. Suddenly, he had popped up out of nowhere, "Is it okay if I sit here?" 

He was referring to the seat right next to mine, as it looked like that was no only vacant one remaining. I said yes without any hesitation.

The pilot announced that we would now be taking off, and our class cheered loudly and then burst into laughter, because a few of the other passengers were now giving us weird looks.

As we took off, Hae-Ri slipped her hand into mine, and whispered, "I'm so glad we're here."

"Me too,"

...