"Calling all passengers of American Airlines AA3859, this is the pre-boarding announcement..."

Hannah stood in the middle of LAX looking around. The airport was crowded, as expected from the busiest airport in the United States, with tourists and locals bustling around her trying to get to check in time for their flight. This is her last day here and she hates saying goodbye. Not goodbye to her parents, obviously but to Santa Monica, with its beaches and the palm trees, eating gelato ice cream at the broad walk, walking on the pier on the evenings, her daily trips to the mall with Laura, and Laura, of course! How could she ever survive there in Korea without her best friend? 

"Okay, so you've got your passport and boarding pass, you've got your toothbrush, you've got your facial mist,you'v-" 
"A facial mist? Lili, is that even allowed on the plane?" Mr. Song exclaimed while his wife brushes him off. "Of course it is, don't you know how dry your face can be after you're stuck in that plane for long hours?" Hannah's parent continue to bicker with each other while the younger girl sighs. "Mom, Dad..please stop embarrassing me." 
Her father immediately stops his banter with his wife then glares at his only daughter. "I told you, you should call me 'Appa'. Just because we live in the States doesn't mean you stop calling me in Korean." Hannah rolls her eyes then looks at her mother for help. "Your father's right. Another thing, don't go around speaking in English over there. Use it as a chance for you to improve your Korean with the native speakers." "But my Korean's broken!" 

"And please, your name is Hana. Not 'Hannah'." Mr. Song spoke in Korean while he frowned deeper.  "Big deal." Hannah harrumphed. "Hana. I don't like this attitude of yours." Her mother spoke in a disapproving tone. 'Oh great, even mom's calling me in Korean. I can't believe this." Hannah thought to herself. "Don't dream of doing any thing what we wouldn't like you to do. We have eyes over there watching you." Mr. Song warned while his wife places a hand on his shoulder. Hanna- Hana swallows guiltily. "Don't have to remind me of that.." She whispered.

Last month, Hana had gotten drunk in a house party hosted by one of her high school classmates. It wasn't the first time she had drank underage but turns out she had drank too much for the night that she had ended up in a hospital for intoxication. Her father was fuming when she had gotten back from the hospital with her mother and decided to put his foot down with sending her off to Seoul for the summer to clean up her act. And to reconnect with her lost Korean culture too. 'Please don't ask me if I was drinking yesterday night..' She stared at her parents faces. What's wrong with drinking? Everyone drinks. Yes, she maybe was underage but soon when she's older she was going to drink too. What's the difference? 

"I hope you realize that this would be a good time for you to reflect on your actions. Okay, honey?" Her mom took her chin and smiled gently. "And if you fall in love with a Korean boy there, that would be superb." Her mom chuckled while Hana and her father gaped. 

"Mom!"
"Lili, what are you trying to imply here?!"

Mrs.Song laughed, patting her daughter's cheek. "I was just joking." She then returned her arms to her side, changing the topic to the checking if the boarding gate has opened but Hana swore she didn't miss her mother's mischievous wink to her. 

 

 

 

 

Fast forward 14 hours later, Hana soon found herself standing in line for immigration in Incheon Airport. She looked like a mess. Her hair was untidy with strands of hair coming out from her side braid and clothes wrinkled from sitting down for too long. She couldn't care less about her appearance. 'Ain't nobody to impress here' . She sniffed and moved a step infront when the line shifted. Hana focused her attention on the LCD TV screen that was fixed above the immigration officers. Instead of showing welcoming messages, the TV showed various music videos of Korean idols. 'God, what's so good about K-pop?' 

"Oh My God! It's EXO!" a couple of teenage girls (who came with their families) squealed from behind her. She continued looking at the TV screen as a music video with boys wearing dark make up started dancing and acting like wolves. Hana then took out her phone and quickly snap a photo of the music video. She could show it later to Laura and make a joke about how they all looked the same. "You're Korean too, Hannah." She could imagine Laura's response. Besides, she promised Laura, who was an avid K-pop fan, to capture anything about K-pop that she could find here. 

"That's impossible! It's Korea, for goodness sake! Everything is related to K-pop! And I thought you only had eyes on SHINee? Minho?" 
"Well, that doesn't mean I can't look at other K-pop groups too." Laura laughs then slows down her voice to a whisper "I'm having this huge crush on Taeyong now." 
"Taeyong?"
"Hey, don't judge! He's from the same company as SHINee but he's their junior instead. He's in NCT. Totally cute."  

Hannah shook her head as the memory of Laura and her's conversation from the night before she left. Sometimes she wonders who's the half-Asian one between them. Laura is Caucasian but she sure keeps up with Korean culture more than Hana. Hana stifled a laugh at the irony and focused her attention back again at the TV screen. A guy with dreadlocks soon appeared on screen and Hana widened her eyes in amusement. 'Dreadlocks? Seriously?' On an Asian guy?' That's quite cool but..'

"Next!" 

Hana took out her passport and walked up to the empty immigration booth, smiling at the officer. 'Looks funny on him.' 

 

 

 

 

"Hana-ah! Over here!" 

Hana smiled meekly as she pushed her trolley through the crowd. Her aunt and her cousin Ahra were waiting at the end of the hallway, smiles bigger than ever. "Anyeonghasaeyo, Chanmi imo." Hana greeted her aunt in her broken Korean, bowing 90 degrees. She may be too into the western lifestyle like her father said so but she could never forget the basic Korean etiquettes.  "Aigoo, your Korean's getting better every time I see you! How was the flight?" Her aunt smiled and hugged her niece. Her aunt was her father's sister. Although they lived in separate continents, her aunt made it a point to visit her only brother every Chuseok, bringing along her family which consisted of Ahra and her two younger siblings to America. Ahra smiled at her cousin attempting to communicate with her mother in Korean. "Stop smiling at me. I know my Korean's bad." Hana muttered in English when she hugged her cousin. "No English." Ahra giggled as she let go of her arms and patted her cousin's cheek. "Samchun told me to look over you here, but Anyways, welcome to Korea!" 

"Where's Ahreum and Jaehyun?" Hana asked as they walked down the huge airport hallway. "They're at home. Omma didn't let them come here cause they got into trouble with her about their idols." Ahra answered while Hana's aunt frowned. "That boy, he's only 15 but he's skipping school just to watch that girl group! And Ahreum! She should be focusing on her studies, not on idols!" Her aunt babbled as she walked through a set of glass doors leading to the parking area. Hana raised an eyebrow at her cousin. "And you, Ahra?"

Ahra snickered. "I've got my heart set on Infinite of course. Inspirit forever~" 

 

 

 

 

Hana glanced out of the window of her bedroom for the summer. She had already started missing the warm Californian warmth on her skin. It was summer in Korea too but it was different, way different. In Santa Monica, there were beaches and people usually flocked to the pier for the summer. Here, there were tall buildings, and buildings...and just, buildings. A smile appeared on her lips when her phone buzzed, a sign that Laura had replied her message. 

They show EXO music videos in the airport immigration? That is way freaking cool...but kinda weird? It's like our immigration playing Miley Cyrus for the tourists. Miss you already :(   -Laura

Hana giggled at the thought of Miley Cyrus music videos playing at the immigration counters of LAX when she heard her door opened. "Unnie, I guess you're not homesick?" A 13 year old girl slowly made her way into Hana's room. " Of course I'm homesick, but I'll get used to it soon." Hana smiled gently at the younger girl. She had a soft spot for the girl, sometimes treating her as her own sister. "That's good then! Enjoying the view?" Ahreum asked as she joined her cousin at the large window in the room. "Seoul is very...I don't know. Too many buildings for my liking." The house was overlooking the Han River and with the city lights shining beneath them, it was a picturesque view. "You'll get used to it." Ahreum replied, gaining laughter from Hana.

"I heard someone got into trouble?"
Ahreum mumbled out a reply. "I just really, really like Park Bogum! Omma doesn't understand me." Hana placed a hand on her shoulder. "I don't know who this Park Bogum guy is, but he sure must be a handsome one considering you're abandoning your studies!" Ahreum shrugged her hand off and gave Hana a 'Are-you-serious?' look. "Unnie, how could you not know who Park Bogum is?" "Well, I don-" Hana's sentence was cut off by sounds of girls screaming from the street below. She looked out the window, her face in confusion. "I thought there was an accident, but why are there girls surrounding that van?" Hana asked Ahreum, pointing to the van parked infront of the main entrance of the apartment building. 

"Ah, fans. They're still not giving up on them." Ahreum wearied as she shook her head.
"Fans? What?" 
"Well, not really fans. We call them saesengs. They would do the extreme just to get the attention of their favorites. We hired a security guard since it's a residential building but looks like they don't really care." Hana watched as the door of the van opened and five boys came out, wearing hoodies and masks. They ignored the screaming fans (there were only a total of five girls but their screams were like 20 girls instead) and quickly entered the apartment building. 

"Who are they?" 
"I told you, they are saesen-"
"No, the idols. Who are they?" 
"Oh...If I told you, you wouldn't even know who." Ahreum stuck out her tongue and skipped out of the room. 

Hana continued to watch as another van pulled up and three boys walked out of the van. Hana tilted her head, wondering if she should capture a picture and send it to Laura. 'Okay that's crazy. She can't know who they are by the top of their heads.' The girl then closed the curtains and walked out of the room to join her aunt and cousins. 

Little did she knew that her life was about to change after that moment.