Isolophobia | kth

04

Out of fear, awkwardness, and annoying teenage tension, Remi felt her only option of being successfully abrasive was to smile a weird crooked smile, and slip into her seat so fast that the boy couldn't see her cheeks turning pink.

10 amateurish and uncoordinated minutes later, one pretty flight attendant did the rounds, informing Remi that they were just about to take off, and to make sure she was buckled up.

She did, and just like that, the plane had taken off before she could think twice. She didn't have time to be scared, so she enjoyed it.

She watched out the window as she sadly said goodbye to her country one last time, before curling back up into her own seat.

Remi had taken note of a small sliding door that separated her and the boy next to her. They didn't talk, and kept the wall between them closed. Remi started drawing, and figured there was no better reference than the glass of orange juice that she had been given. They spent the first 10 minutes in silence, trying to enjoy the comfort of the luxurious seats.

But Remi's head snapped to her left when she heard the door slide open.

She saw that the boy had pushed it open, and was smiling through the gate at her with soft, puffy bedtime eyes.

"Hi," he said casually, "I'm bored being alone. May we talk?"

"Yes!" Remi laughs in response, glad that it wasn't too awkward anymore, "What's your name?"

"Min Yoongi."

She nods, "Ah, I like that! Yoon-gi."

"Yes," he said with a slight fluster across his nose and cheeks, "What's yours?"

She nodded, "Choi Remi."

"Rem-i," he copied with a cute grin. "I like that."

She laughed, "Okay, Yoon-gi, are you from Seoul? Is that why you're heading there?"

"I'm not from Seoul, I do live there though," he shook his head, running his fingers through his soft hair, "I was born in Daegu, went to school in Taejeon, Gwaneum and Apgujeong."

"Wow," she sighed, "That's a lot."

"Yes. My group is taking a few months of rest in Seoul," he said casually while taking a sip of his orange juice. "I went to Australia to better my English for two weeks. You know?"

"Group?" she replied, feeling interested.

"You know BTS?" he nods and smirks, "Yeah, billboard singer."

"BTS?" she hummed, biting her lip, "It sounds..."

"Bangtan sonyeondan," he said, "We are very famous."

She found herself laughing again, this boy was funny. Although, she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not, with the whole boy-scouts thing, and being 'very famous' it all sounded like a comical hoax.

Then, it hit her.

Like a double-Decker bus.

To the face.

"BTS!?" she chirped loudly, "I know BTS! I knew you looked familiar from somewhere, oh my."

It had only just punched her in the face who this guy was. Suga, from BTS. She had heard his name, heard his voice and even seen his face many times before, and yet, it took her this long to recognise him.

Maybe it was because she never really looked at him.

And while Remi spent all that time studying Korean, she was faced with plenty of spectacular Korean traditions, stereotypes, cultures, foods, and most importantly: the music industry.