When Two Unlikely Worlds Meet, Seokjin x Normani

Chapter Eleven

Traffic going to the airport was something Normani dreaded on every occasion she was the designated driver headed in that direction. Surprisingly, even after taking some time to use the facilities in the restaurant prior to leaving the premises around four-fifteen, they were able to arrive at the airport by five. The flight had landed fifteen minutes earlier and from the message from her dad after landing, they would be at the baggage claim area waiting for her. Her grandma did not like standing outside the airport waiting as her knees would hurt. She decides to use the daily parking, together they walk into the baggage claim area to look for her dad and grandma. Jin suddenly drew her up against him while they were walking, she had been distracted with her people search and a man pushing a cart piled up with luggage obscuring his view almost ran into her. Normani looked up in surprise and mouthed a hasty, "thank you Jin oppa," after realizing what had almost happened. It was at this moment that Normani finally sees her dad in her line of sight waving her over, with her grandma by his side. Motioning her hand in their direction she says, "Oppa, there they are, I see them calling me over." He looks to where she had pointed and catches Normani's dad's eyes, they stare at each other for close to a minute. Normani and Jin walk over to where they were standing. Normani takes a final small run into her dad's outstretched arms, receiving his hug and kisses on both her cheeks. She then turns to hug and kiss her grandmother as well. Jin holds out his hand to greet her father and bows his head at the same time, remembering that he may not be sure how things work when greeting older people in the States, Normani tells her dad that Jin is visiting from South Korea, to which he nods in understanding. She then captures Jin's attention and whispers for him to just hug her grandmother, which he does to her grandma's amusement.

The luggage had not yet arrived at the carousel, so they started a conversation about how the flight had been. As soon as the carousel started turning Jin offered to assist her dad with the bags, Normani's dad looked at him for a minute and then appears to have made up his mind on something and accepts his offer. "It's nice to have a young man willing to help out an old timer," her dad says grinning. Both men move to place the luggage on a cart as Normani continues talking to her grandmother. "Mani, is that the same young man from that party you went to the other day?" Her grandma asks as soon as the men are out of earshot. "Yes, he is grandma," Normani answers and look up into her eyes to try and read her reaction to this piece of information. "Well, he's rather attractive and handsome, isn't he?" She asks her. Normani could feel herself starting to blush at that but nodded in agreement. Her grandma then says abruptly, "I think that young man has a thing for you baby, you better be careful around him." Looking at her grandma in surprise, Normani sees a knowing smile form on her face as she then adds, "Yeah, you need to be careful baby because I can tell that you seem to like him right back." Normani becomes grateful for her dark complexion at that moment or she would have turned the shade of beetroot on her face. Her grandma had the knack for seeing right through her, sometimes it caused her great embarrassment at how easy it seemed for her grandma to read her hidden emotions and feelings. She then told Normani that she did not need to worry too much about it, feelings came and sometimes left, "If you are meant to be together, then things will work out to make it happen."

The conversation, driving back to Normani's apartment was filled with her dad asking Jin questions about himself, what type of work he did, why was he vacationing in LA and about his family. At first, Normani could hear the nervousness in Jin's voice as he tried to formulate the correct English response to the questions. She really wanted to intervene and assist but her grandma gave her a look that told her to stay out of the conversation. Within a few minutes, her dad and Jin had seemed to adjust to how they each spoke and the conversation seemed to flow better. It still took longer for Jin to find the right words but, her dad did not assist him with the words instead waited patiently for his response in an attempt to get him to feel more at ease. Once they got to the apartment, Jin took the luggage indoors with Normani and her grandma showing him where they went. Her dad took the opportunity to get himself refreshed as Normani and her grandma went to the kitchen to get dinner ready. Normani directed Jin to the living room and handed him the remote to watch some TV as dinner was being prepared, apologizing about the last-minute change in plans. Jin would have to sit down for dinner with them before getting the promised ride back to Khalid's house.