“Little Alice fell down the hole, bumped her head and bruised her soul.” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

Eunji had settled down on her seat on the plane destined to Soekarno-Hatta airport, Indonesia, and was waiting for the plane’s departure in fifteen minute ahead for around six hours flight. Most of her team members had been gone earlier that day, but Eunji had some other works to do at her office thus she needed to catch up on a midnight flight by herself. She took a business class on a two seats row seating by the plane window and the other seat beside her was still empty.

Jung Eunji worked at an international trading company that owned franchise cafés worldwide. As a new promoted manager she was given her first project as the team leader project for the company promotional in South East Asia. She was going to start the promotion in the most prospective business area for this project in Bali, Indonesia. It was like killing two birds with a stone as this business trip was not only for business purpose as she and her team member had also planned to enjoy themselves for a weekend vacation in that beautiful island.

Actually, she insisted that they all had to be back to Korea right after their business matter was done but in the end she accepted her employees’ suggestion to spend another day in Indonesia for vacation.

She was reading a business magazine provided in that plane when her seatmate made his appearance and Eunji looked up for a brief just to take a glance at a man in a worn-out army jacket with an unkempt hair and unshaved face sat on the seat beside her—a quite big contrast compare to her neat appearance in a formal blouse and tight mid-length skirt she usually wore as her office attire. Her hair was styled in a neat bun and her light make up highlighting her perfect feature more. Whilst, the man beside her looked like as if he had not taken any shower for weeks. Yet, Eunji’s negative judgment stopped as she smelt a faint scent of the man that smelt like a hint of cinnamon or coffee. Overall, he smelt good or perhaps it was just his cologne and the man had spread them to hide the fact that he didn’t take any shower.

Eunji tried hard not to smile at the thought. Jeez, why did she think of a stranger man’s smell randomly like this? She then looked up again at the man and found that the man was looking back at her with a curious look as if he had been staring at her for a while. Eunji instantly blinked while blushing but she immediately tried to control her expression and asked, “Yes?”

The man grinned widely at her, creating a pair of nice eye smile and his hand to her, “Hi, I’m Kim Sunggyu! May I have your name, seat-chingu?” And Eunji could only blinked confusedly at his very innocent introduction. Seriously, how can a grown-up man just instantly greets his seatmate who is totally a stranger as ‘seat-chingu’?

Since Eunji didn’t give any answer and just startled in her seat, the man then grab her hand and shook them eagerly, “Well, since we’ll be together during this six hours flight, I hope we can get along well can’t we, seat-chingu?” His grin widened before he sat straightly on his own seat and looked forward while adjusting the seat as his liking. Eunji blinked once, twice, then leant back on her seat while shaking her head and back to read her magazine.

“The seat is so comfortable, isn’t it?” he commented while bouncing on the seat innocently. Eunji looked at her side and tilted her head as she found that the grown-up man was somehow amusing in that sort of innocence.

“Is this your first time on a flight, Kim-ssi?”

He looked back at her and she swore that she saw him pouting for a brief before showing his wide grin back. “Hu-uh, it is. It’s obvious yeah?” he scratched the back of his head shyly. “And you can just call me ‘Sunggyu’, by the way,” he nodded for himself still in shyness before looking back at the front.

Again, Eunji blinked confusedly as she noticed that the man on the seat beside who look older than her was acting a little boy more likely. He looked cute despite how shabby his appearance was. Somehow Eunji found a real prove of a proverb, ‘Don’t judge a book by its cover’. “It is, Sunggyu-ssi,” she smiled before continuing to read her magazine.

“By the way, actually I’m worried of vomiting since this is my very first flight. Above all, it’s abroad,” he smiled sheepishly.

***

Unfortunately, his anxiety was coming true as just right after the plane had boarded, he had instantly stopped talking bubbly and his small eyes looked widened as if he felt anxious of everything surrounding him. She asked him several times, whether he was okay and he just answered with some quick nods while sitting awkwardly on his seat. An hour later, he then stumbled to get off of his seat to probably heading towards the lavatory. But to her dismay, he was still standing by her and was crouching towards her while he was throwing up right onto her lap (and other parts of her body)—and she couldn’t even dodging as she was cornered in her seat.

When he finished, they stared at each other in such a tensing ambience before she shrieked out and yelling various curses possible towards him.

The originally calm Jung Eunji had never cursed this much in her 28 years old life.

***

When the lavatory door was opened, he saw her glaring still in fury at him. After he cleaned for herself in another cubicle and changed his puke-tainted jacket, he had wait for her in front of her cubicle to beg for her forgiveness, again.

“Look, I’m so sorry. I was about to go to the restroom but I really couldn’t hold it back anymore, and I am really sorry to throw up on you.”

“Whatever,” she scoffed. “You had ruined my clothes,” she emphasized by throwing off her mess clothes into a bin in that cubicle in front of him. She had cleaned herself and had changed into a simple sundress covered by a blue denim vest and her hair was still damped and cascaded on one of her shoulder as she had washed her hair.

“I’m really sorry,” he glanced at the ruined clothes in the bin. “Please don’t be mad at me. Can you forgive me, please? Please?” he begged.

Eunji rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and huffed loudly. “Fine! I forgive you!” she gave up as he had been pestering her with his apology since then. “But I’m still mad at you,” she