Chance encounters

Chapter 5

Sudden turbulence woke me up from my sleep and I looked around to see if anyone else is awake only to find Jin looking at his iPad intently. There were only a few hours left before we land so I unbuckled my seatbelt and went to the rest room to fix myself before landing.

As I returned to my seat, Jin looked up and offered me a smile so I smiled in return, my cheeks heating up.

"Did you have a good sleep?" He asked me

"I did actually. I was already tired from all the packing I did the day before so I expected to be knocked out the moment we were on the air." I laughed as I remembered how tired I was yesterday.

Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts. We will begin our descent shortly.

"That was quite a quick flight, don't you think?" He was looking at me as he tucked his iPad back in his bag and placed it underneath his chair.

"Well, yeah, since I was 90% of the time asleep." I joked around him, trying to ease my embarrassment from him seeing me with my just woke up puffy face.

"It's weird that I actually feel kind of sad in a few hours we won't be seeing each other again." I looked at him, stunned at what he said. I was trying to process what he said when there was a sudden drop in the plane that made me clutch the hand rests tightly that my knuckles were turning white. He looked at me and offered me an apologetic smile as he saw that the turbulence scared me.

"Yeah, this actually still feels like a dream but with everything, I consider myself lucky to even have seen you in person. I'm a big fan." At this point, I was already blurting out everything that came into my mind just to uphold the conversation and distract me from the landing. He chuckled at my response.

"I'm glad to have met a big fan of mine. It's not everyday I get to personally thank you guys for your support." He was smiling widely and that made my heart flutter a little bit. If you only knew how crazy I was over you guys before. It was only at this time I had my feelings subside to the normal level of fangirling.

As we landed, they announced that we can now start getting out luggage out of the compartment area. Me, being the tiny human that I am standing at 5'2, could not possibly reach my luggage and take it down without it falling on me. So I tried asking the stewards to help me get it but everyone seem too preoccupied since they all wanted to get off the plane. Jin was a gentleman. He stood up and helped me get my suitcase from the overhead bin and laid it down by my side.

"Thank you so much for that."

"You're welcome & it was really nice meeting you, Vera. I hope our paths would cross again some time, yeah?" He said as he turned around and walked off the plane with his bag hanging behind his back. The picturesque of a man I've idolized for so long walking away from me, bringing all my feelings with him.

"Annyeong, Kim Seok Jin."

-

I arrived at the small apartment that I will be living in for the next 2 or so years. Looking around, it was actually a nice neighborhood. There was an old couple who were waiting at the steps by the apartment so I walked towards them. I pulled out my phone to help me translate what I was trying to say to them. Technology is such a blessing.

"Good morning, Mrs and Mr Park. I'm Vera, we talked on the phone yesterday? I'm your new tenant here." I said. I smiled at how fond they are with each other, both holding each other's hand and standing there with gray hair and all.

They started speaking in Korean so I tried hard to keep up with the application on my phone. I pointed to it then looked at them and they understood what I was trying to say so they managed to talk a little bit slower so I could get a hold of what they are saying.

Hello Vera. It's nice to finally meet you. We fixed the room upstairs already so you don't have to do anything, just unpack then get some rest. It must've been a long flight.

I read the text and was already feeling a little excited and giddy at how things turned out here and my life in Korea barely started. I mean, it's kind of hard that I can't seem to understand their language just yet but I'll be able to live through it, I hope.

I went upstairs to check the room that they led me to. It was a small one bedroom apartment, with a bath, kitchen and a small balcony. I smiled cause the old couple made it so homey and I felt grateful to them.

"Thank you so much, Mr and Mrs Park for fixing everything. It looks wonderful."

They smiled widely and thanked me too then they went out to let me do my business and get settled in the new apartment.

It was already 12:30am when I finished unpacking my stuff. I stood up on the far side of the room and looked at everything.

I'm proud at what I accomplished in a few hours. I whipped out some instant ramen I bought in the grocery store a few blocks away and heated it up since I haven't eaten since earlier. I changed into my PJs and tied my hair in a small bun then I sit by the balcony overlooking a view of the small houses around this bustling city while eating my ramen.

My new home. My new life.
And now, a new adventure awaits me in the Land of the Morning Calm.