Barbie did not mind the idea of a stopover on her way back home from Australia, but four hours at Incheon airport with nothing but her phone and a magazine was enough to wear her body down with boredom. A full night's stay would have at least given her the chance to explore Korea's capital, a part of the world she had never seen before.

Nonetheless, she patiently persevered through three of those four hours, sipping her coffee and occupying herself with images she had captured on her camera of her dear cousins in Sydney. She was sad that her holiday was over but looked forward to returning home to her family and friends in New York.

Reaching the end of the camera roll, Barbie heaved a sigh and returned the camera to its protective case. She rose from her seat and decided to take another look at the airport's cultural centre that she had seen earlier.

It was a sweet little shop with staff members wearing traditional attire. One was assisting children with Korean art at the table and another was mechanically working at the cashier desk. Barbie walked around and noticed some pretty jewellery encased in glass. Her eyebrows rose at the prices and she quickly stepped back. It was best to not look at things she could never afford, especially after having gone on holiday.

Against her own advice, a shelf of Korean dolls at the other end of the shop caught her eye and Barbie was compelled to move closer. Each doll was hand painted and luxuriously clothed, a perfect present she thought for her baby sister, Kelly. Barbie silenced the voice in her head that reminded her of the many Australian gifts she had already bought for the spoiled child and approached the cashier.

"Hi, umm, would you take US dollars for that doll on the shelf?"

The boy behind the desk nodded and pressed his thumb to his forefinger, "US dollar is okay. Which one?"

Barbie followed him to the shelf. "I like the pink one, thankyou." She pointed to the doll that she assumed to be a queen.

He chuckled at her choice. "Pink?"

Barbie smiled and nodded.

He took it from the shelf and returned to the desk for boxing.

Barbie dug around in her wallet for $40 USD and internally wept as she said goodbye to the last of her money. She thanked the boy and took Kelly's neatly wrapped present from the desk, finally deciding enough time had elapsed and started for the gate. Only half an hour until boarding time, she thought.

She slumped herself down on one of the seats and flicked through her magazine for the fourth time. The area around her slowly started to fill up with people, families and couples and single travellers.

She eventually picked up her wheeler bag and joined the queue that had spontaneously formed while the first and business class passengers entered the gate. As the minutes rolled by, more and more people stood from their seats. Barbie turned around to look at the rest of the queue behind her and found herself glaring straight into the eyes of a hooded Korean man with a mask over his nose and mouth. He looked even more fed up with the clock than she was. Startled by the sudden eye contact, Barbie quickly apologised, receiving a curt nod in response, and turned to face the front, relieved to find the queue had ploddingly started moving for economy passengers.

The elegant air hostesses onboard politely directed Barbie to the correct aisle. Unfortunately, they did not provide her with a stepladder necessary to overcome the number of people blocking the way. Barbie stood and waited patiently for the passengers in front of her to load their hand luggage into the overhead lockers when she heard a deep monotone voice behind her.

"What seat are you in?"

Barbie turned around to see the same Korean man from the queue with the same fed up look in his eyes.

"Uhh, I'm in 52E," she said with an awkward smile.

"So what are you waiting for?" He grumbled through his mask.

Barbie frowned. "What?"

"Just go!"

He did not shout but his voice was forceful, enough to be rude by her standards.

Barbie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Go WHERE exactly?" She motioned with her hands at the crowd of people stuffed in the aisle.

"Move." He muttered.

He slid around Barbie lifting his bag in front of him. Barbie pushed herself up against a seat to let him through.

"Come," He said over his shoulder.

Barbie watched with interest as he pushed and waded through the crowded aisle, muttering a series of Korean phrases that sounded like "excuse me- sorry- excuse me- thankyou- excuse me- ". A couple of people almost fell over as a result but the man was without remorse and, even more to Barbie's surprise, the victims were not too upset.

She quickly took advantage of the space he had made and followed him through the crowd to her seat, excusing herself as she did. He was still walking ahead of her so she called out to him.

"Uh, thankyou, I guess."

He looked back and nodded before continuing on to the back of the plane.

Seeing his figure in full as he walked away, Barbie wondered how such a thin body could hold such a deep voice. She shook the thoughts away and shoved her bag into the overhead locker. She buckled up, kicked off her shoes and made herself as comfortable as possible in the economy-sized seat. She kept her earphones ready in hand for the entertainment that would start after take-off. It was going to be a long flight and she was counting on the magic of film to keep her from losing her mind, which had almost happened at the airport. But as the cabin crew made their final announcements, Barbie felt her eyes droop. She was tired and longed to be home in her comfortable bed. She knew the noise of take-off would rudely force her awake but she let her eyes close regardless.

The deep voice that had forced everyone aside in the aisle came back to mind and she chuckled to herself at the man's audacity. He did not seem pleasant but his voice had stuck with her and, for whatever reason, she wished that she could hear his voice again.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

My inspiration for Barbie is Margot Robbie.

And my inspiration for the masked man is Bang Yongguk.