Near the end of the flight, we were all incredibly cramped and quite grumpy. I had no idea of the local time, but it was pitch black outside. I never seemed to be able to fall asleep on airplanes, so I just looked through the window, which just showed soft silhouette of the Korean city below us. It wouldn't be long before the plane landed, the Captain announced in mispronounced English.
I glanced to my left to see what Aimee and Sarah were doing. Sarah was, predictably, sleeping and Aimee was reading a book and snacking on those tiny packs of peanuts the flight attendants often give out. My nose wrinkled at the scent, but I grinned, and continued to look out the window. Even in the dark, I could notice that the buildings were rapidly growing: we were finally landing.
The plane shifted subtle, curving just a little bit to the left. Even though I could barely feel the change, Sarah instantly woke from her sleep. She looked insanely awake, which was really odd for her.
"Wakey-wakey~" Aimee sung without glancing away from her book. Sarah gave her a little shove, even though she was grinning from ear to ear.
"Are we landing?" She asked, her pretty brown eyes so wide they made perfect spheres.
"I think so," I said, gesturing out the window. The girls leaned across my shoulder to look out at the Korean town that we were approaching. I could faintly smell those peanuts and it made me want to gag; I absolutely hated the smell of peanuts. As I coughed and sputtered wildly, the girls practically started jumping in their seats like little kids.
A short eternity later, the plane had landed and we were allowed to get off. In the frenzy created by the passengers wanting to be the first to leave the plane, I was far behind Aimee and Sarah, who I could spot far ahead exiting into the airport at the front of the plane. I laughed at their excitement, and then grabbed my messenger bag by my feet that held my carry-on luggage, which was mostly notebooks, translation books, my Kindle, and pens and pencils.
Seeing a gap in the aisle, I stepped out from my seat and reached up to grab my second bag from the overhead bin. The bag made a loud clunk! sound and absolutely refused to come out of the overhead bin. I stood on my tiptoes, and tried to see what the bag had got caught on. In the meanwhile, I was blocking many antsy people who wanted to get off the plane ASAP. Feeling their anger, I got all flustered and awkward, mumbling apologies. I tugged desperately at the bag's handle, which was facing me.
Suddenly, the bag came flying at me, causing me to fall backwards onto the plane seats that were behind me. Before I could even begin to turn red at my clumsiness, I realized someone was leaning over me.
A Korean guy with orange hair in a loose ponytail was leaning over me, one hand still on my bag, which he must have helped release. I only glimpsed at his face once or twice, and desperately tried to stand myself up. Oh, God, he was really cute. And I could smell cologne on him; it was musty and extremely intruiging. I must have looked like the biggest moron on the face of the earth. Feeling the blush rise to my cheeks, the boy helped me to my feet.
"Thank you!" I said quickly, avoiding his gaze.
"It's nothing," he responded with a heavy Asian accent. I swear right then and there my cheeks darkened about five shades.
I took my bags and scuttled towards the front of the plane, happy I was facing away from the boy. As I stepped out of the plane onto the jetway, the middle aged Korean pilot gave me a miniature bow and a terrible "Goodbye" which sounded like "Groodba".
Not wanting to seem disrespectful, I returned it quickly with a quick, "Annyong-hi kyeshipshio!" The pilot looked surprised for a moment before nodding his head again. Smirking a little to myself as I continued walking, I hoped the cute guy behind me had heard my smooth translation.
Finally making my way into the airport, I found Aimee and Sarah leaning against a large pillar, hands on hips, bags on the ground. At my arrival, Aimee smiled and Sarah raised an eyebrow.
"Where did you go?" She asked incredulously. Aimee started laughing at the way she asked it. It made me smile a little too.
"Sorry," I said with a quick grin. "My bags were giving me some trouble. I got some help from a cute Korean guy, though." At that, the girls seemed to stand up straighter.
"WHO?" Aimee shouted.
"WHERE IS HE?" Sarah demanded.
I glanced around the area quickly, searching for the orange-haired guy. I desperately tried to ignore the attention that Sarah and Aimee had called to us. We were totally enforcing the loud, obnoxious American stereotype. Even though there weren't many people in the vicinity, I couldn't seem to find the boy, though.
"Huh," I said aloud. "I dunno where he went. He was right behind me." Glancing back at the gate, I saw it was being closed, signifying all the passengers had left the plane. "That's super odd," I said again with a little frown. I tried scanning the faces of the crowd in front of us, but I soon realized I hadn't really saw the boy's face; only his hair and the scent of his cologne.
Aimee cursed lightly with a little frown and Sarah just shook her head at me, as if she were disappointed. "Oh Grant," she said dramatically, eyes dull. "I'll bet that was your only chance to hook up with a Korean guy. Good luck."
She's probably right. Dammit.