Seoulmates

Arriving

The plane ride was pretty uneventful. Ella read about half her book and talked some more with Jason. She had a hard time sleeping on the plane. Maybe sleep evaded her because she had slept until nearly noon that day, or maybe just because she was excited. Whatever the reason, sleep was doing it's best to avoid her.

After a few hours, it grew too dark to read and too quiet to talk with neighbors. Ella pulled out her new ear buds and plugged them into her phone. She scrolled through all the music she had downloaded. Akdong Musician, Got7, BTS, and 4Minute all flashed by on her screen. Finally she decided to just listen to her playlist titled, "Sleep." Pressing the shuffle button, she let her phone do its magic. The first song up was "Time and Fallen Leaves" by Akdong Musician. A more perfect song couldn't have been selected. The song was so soothing and spoke of memories and autumn leaves. Things that made her nostalgic and reminded her of the home she was leaving behind. Ella closed her eyes and felt a tear run down her cheek.

                                                                                    .            .           .

"Passengers, please buckle in. We are starting our descent and will face some turbulence as we  descend, so please stay seated. Thank you."

Ella looked down at her lap. She hadn't bothered to unbuckle (except for the one time that she got up to use the restroom). She looked over at Jason. He had been sleeping until a few minutes ago. Now he was groggily buckling his seat belt and gathering up his stuff. Ella looked at the seat between them. No one had claimed it so Jason's laptop bag occupied it during most of the flight. Ella set her book on top of Jason's bag and bent down to unzip her carry-on. Without looking up, reached for her book and ended up feeling something a little softer and a lot warmer. Ella sat up quickly and looked over at what her hand was holding. Jason's warm hand adjusted itself to hold hers.

"Uri Eunji-ga neomu yeppeuji (Our Eunji is very pretty)." Jason smiled. 

"Umm, anya. Nan an yeppeo. Keunde, gomaweo (Umm, not really. I'm not pretty, but thank you)." Ella blushed and bowed her head a little. She waited for a second, then realized she was still holding Jason's hand. She let go and hastily grabbed her book.

"Wow, you already act like a Korean," Jason chuckled. "You even bow when saying thank you!" He looked like he was about to lose it.

"Why is that so funny? I've got to assimilate if I plan of living there." Jason laughing stopped. 

"Wait, you actually plan on living in Korea?"

"Uh, yeah." Ella was a little offended. Does he think I can't?  "Is there a reason I can't?"

"No, I just," he looked rather uncomfortable, "I just didn't think you were planning on living there."

"Well, I do,"

"Daebak (Awesome)!  That means we'll be able to hang out!" Jason's embarrassed expression immediately widened into a grin, his bright teeth flashing.

"I'll probably be pretty busy with school and stuff, so I won't have a lot of free time,"

"What school are you going to?"

"Hanyang daehakkyo (Hanyang University),"

"Nadu (Me too)!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! What a coincidence!" Jason exclaimed. "I'm assuming you're going to live on campus?"

"Mhmm." Ella nodded.

"Unbelievable. I am too." Jason seemed so excited. Ella couldn't help but smile and share some of his excitement. It was nice to already have a friend in a place where she knew next to nobody. "What's your Kakao ID? "He paused. "You do have Kakao, right?"