The Republic of ARMY

6. Cutie On The Plane

Days were rushing through to our departure day.

MIT took Nick as soon as I went back to my house in Gigiri. From then on, I was at work every single day. I worked a lot of overtime hours, putting final touches to the plan from my research. Eventually, the reconnaissance tour drew up and on the day before, we had one last meeting.

The groundwork was good, with the necessary equipment set up to welcome us. A few temporary shelters had been put up to host us, and they looked homely. They had surveyed the land and given feedback. They had also drilled a borehole and installed a tap so water ran constantly. There was a pump too that supplied water to the bathrooms and toilets.

There was a communal kitchen.

Everything was set up well. Almost a little too well. Almost as if they were trying to convince us to stay longer.

"Well, now all we need to do is go over and see how the canals can be set up. This will help in irrigating the land properly," Dr. Li said. "We still need you to go do some analysis there. There is a soil scientist on the ground already, and a bunch of other people who can help."

"Thank you Dr. Li," Mercy said.

"So... Is my boss coming?"

"Richard will be joining you and your team for this first week. We expect feedback every day."

Richard grinned as he high fived Mercy. I smiled as the poor girl internally swooned. There was definitely something there. I couldn't wait to see it get better for them. Mercy was so cute!

The end of the day came too quickly. My mum called to alert me about flying to Geneva after wrapping up with MIT. I told her I would probably contact her using satellite phones from the day after tomorrow.

I checked my social media as soon as I got home. My DM had blown up on Twitter, so had my mentions. A lot of BTS fans had confirmed that BTS had indeed been at Guangzhou. They had visited the same spots I had been at, and someone even recognized Jungkook whose face was covered and his hat was pulled low over his face. She noted his earring.

I laughed.

Their dedication was amazing.

Of course a few other people condemned me for sharing pictures of BTS and Namjoon specifically detailing his location. I shared those photos thinking I was all alone with some people in the background. I never thought that the people in the back would be BTS.

I updated my social media with a new photo post of me packing my bags up. As usual, I chose not to show my face. The suitcase was fully packed, so was my carry-on. I took a photo of my dark glasses too.

"Well, I can't wait for my new home for the next one week," I chortled before turning down the lights and going to bed. This was the simplest thing to do, and since I was exhausted, I easily fell asleep.

The next morning we were up pretty early. The company car picked me up and I caught a short nap on the way to the airport. Our flight was to Khartoum, and from there we would fly to Bir Tawil with the UN Peacekeeping chopper.

I was actually nervous.

The trip to Khartoum was pleasant, and there were a few Kenyans like me who were mostly flying over for business. I talked to my seatmate and it was actually fun. She didn't know much English, so I taught her some. I was fluent in French and had picked up some Arabic when we had an Emirate citizen working with us for a while.

In case you are wondering about him being a potential love interest, let us just say he knew he was hot, and he was in a relationship with everyone in the office.

Everyone.

Even Dr. Li was not spared.

Back to the story at hand, the lady, whose name was Mrs. Gamal, was very pleased to learn some English. She eventually dozed off, so I gladly kept busy after that.

Upon alighting, we were directed to the UN plane, and then we were off, the entire team of eight. Richard just came to flirt with Mercy. That much was obvious.

Our flight didn't take long, and we sat there wondering what we would do. Would we get attacked? Were we safe? Would the governments go back on their word? How barren was this place? How desolate?

Could I call my mum?

"You might need to do that once a week."

I cursed internally as I locked eyes with the handsome young man who said that. He had a much lighter skin tone than mine, but he was tanned. He had a gorgeous smile. I wondered if he was also going to live at our camp.

"I'm Curtis."

Like Curtis Cobain... Wait. Who is that?

"Raina."

"The team leader from UNEP? Whoa, I have heard so much about you! You are the lady with the amazing ability to turn barren land into fertile and green lands!"

I laughed at his enthusiasm. "You'll have to thank Mother Nature for that."

"Seriously, you are amazing!"

I awkwardly accepted his praise. What more could I do? Cute guys may be liars, but I did have green thumbs, and those roses my dad loved to pick for my mum any time they fought? Which was a lot of times? Were actually grown by his good-for-nothing daughter.

Don't tell him.

Actually, I have changed my mind. Tell him!