There are Many Flowers in Seoul

Chapter Eight

Disembarking the plane was made easier by the fact the man who'd been so angry at Rose was delayed from leaving his seat by a female member of the cabin crew who'd insisted on speaking with him. Yuta kept an arm around his companion's shoulders, placing himself between her and the man for fear he might want to harass her again as she made her exit.

Together, they lingered at the carousel waiting on their bags. Hitomi soon joined them and Rose took great delight in relaying the tale of the weird pervert who'd cornered her by the bathroom and how he'd trembled in fear in the face of Yuta's anger. The man himself had since left the aircraft and joined the mob of passengers all waiting on their luggage. He stood on his toes to look over the heads of the crowd in a bid to seek out the girl who'd caused him such embarrassment on the flight. Once he'd caught sight of her, he raised his arm as if to signal Rose, but without knowing her name, he was unable to gain her attention.

'Do you think all Korean guys are like that?' Hitomi mused as they dragged their cases clumsily from the conveyor belt.

'No,' Rose said. 'I think there are just weird people in every country and I got unlucky.'

'Just so long as that's the only time you get unlucky,' Yuta added. 'I don't want to have to protect you from every pervert in the world.'

'Trust me, I don't plan on meeting more.'

'Me either,' Hitomi added. 'You know, in case you were worried about me.'

'I am. You both worry me. All the time.'

'I feel like I was just insulted,' Rose said as they walked away, oblivious to the man who'd elected to grab his bag rather than follow them immediately and lost the trio to the crowd once more.

'Same.'

'You were,' Yuta confirmed.

Rose punched his arm gently. 'You're meant to look after us. I'll call your mother!'

Yuta's eye twitched. 'Don't even joke about that.'

'Akane would totally fly out here,' Hitomi laughed.

'She'd drag him onto a flight to Japan by his ear,' Rose added.

'Okay, I get it,' Yuta conceded. 'I'll look after you. I never said I wouldn't.'

'So, where are we staying?' Rose asked cheerily as they passed through security and immigration. After receiving the all clear, they found themselves in a vast arrivals area. Everything was white and chrome, clean, modern, and beautiful. The ceiling made her think of a sculpture; all glass and straight lines which then gave way to glorious curves which swept overhead. 'Wow,' she breathed. 'Is this an airport or a museum?'

'Yah! Hey! You!' a voice shouted behind them. The man had finally made it through the arrivals gate. His shout not only drew the attention of the trio, but of a group of young women carrying signs and teddy bears. They shrieked at the sight of him and circled the man, all clamouring to be close to him with cries of 'Oppa!' and other adoring Korean phrases. The man smiled down at the girls nervously, speaking quickly as he attempted to dissuade them from bothering him or getting in too close. Again, he shouted towards them, 'You! Stop!'

'Who's that?' Hitomi asked. 'Is that the weird pervert?'

'I guess the girls here like guys like that,' Rose surmised.

'Come on. We have a car waiting,' Yuta urged. 'And we need to collect the keys. Let's go.'

'You know,' Hitomi said as they strolled leisurely through the airport, the many marvels of Incheon catching their attention as they briskly passed them by. 'For a pervert, he was pretty cute.'