Winter of 2010

"Sooyeon! What are you looking at?" A young man of 21 asked his girlfriend.

The young woman looked up and smiled. "Annyeong, Jinki. I was just looking at the pictures of New York City in the winter. It looks so pretty with the white snow and the twinkling lights of the tall buildings."

The man, Jinki, leaned in to see the pictures that his girlfriend was looking at. There were pictures of the Empire State Building lit up with blue lights, softly covered with a layer of white snow, surrounded by other buildings with snow and twinkling lights and pictures of people walking in Central Park, laughing and smiling. Jinki looked to see his girlfriend. He saw that she looked at the pictures with such a longing to go there.

"Sooyeon, do you want to go there?" he asked.

Without taking her eyes off the pictures on her laptop, the woman replied,"Of course, I do, Jinki. Who wouldn't? I mean look at all the tall buildings and the parks and the-"

Jinki stopped his girlfriend from rambling, and turned her away from her laptop so that she could he his face. "I'm serious, Sooyeon. Do you want to go there?"

Confused at his reactions, Sooyeon just nodded.

Jinki then smiled and told her,"Then it's settled. We're going to New York City for our vacation."

 Sooyeon laughed nervously and replied,"Come on, Jinki. Stop messing around."

Instead of saying 'Just kidding!' or 'Fooled 'Ya!' Jinki looked straight into his girlfriend's eyes and said,"I'm not messing around. My boss gave me a raise, and I want to go on a vacation with you."

"Jinki, I can't let you do that," Sooyeon said softly. "I know you've been working hard for that. Besides, I thought you were saving up for something?"

Jinki just smiled and said,"The thing I've been saving up for is this. I've been saving up for a vacation to go with you, and since you want to go to NYC, I think that we should go. It'll be fun, Sooyeon! I promise."

The man's girlfriend started to smile. "Are you sure, Lee Jinki? You don't have to do this, you know."

Jinki smiled widely and gave his girlfriend a hug. "I'm one hundred percent positive, my princess," he whispered in her ear.

"Then I say, 'New York City, here we come!'"

Two weeks later, the couple was waiting for their flight at the Incheon Airport. Jinki was completely fine with the idea of riding an airplane to the Big Apple, but his girlfriend was a completely different matter.

"Maybe we should just cancel our flight and have our vacation here in Korea," Sooyeon told Jinki nervously.

Jinki turned to face his girlfriend and grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Everything's going to be alright, Sooyeon. I promise. Besides, after our vacation, your sister's going to graduate from Seoul University, and you can brag to her about going to New York."

Sooyeon smiled at the thought of that. "That would be fun to do."

Jinki smiled. "Of course it would. Plus, you can brag to her that you have an amazingly cute boyfriend who paid for the trip and everything. You have every right to brag about me."

Jinki's girl rolled her eyes and laughed. "That's what you think. What are you going to do if I fall for some super cute American New Yorker? I might just tell you to go back to Korea by yourself and leave me in New York with him."

Jinki pouted and said,"Don't say that, Sooyeon. If you did that, I would be extremely heartbroken and I would probably punch the guy to death, then kidnap you back."

His girlfriend laughed and squeezed his hand. "That won't ever happen, Jinki. I promise." The woman then smiled and said,"Who''s assuring who now?"

Jinki pouted again and told his girlfriend,"Whatever, missy. I heard our flight being called let's go."

"Jinki, I'm scared," Sooyeon told her boyfriend.

Jinki looked at her and smiled. "Don't be. You have your knight in shining armor right here. Hey, do you want to trade spots with me? You can look at the gorgeous view."

Sooyeon smiled a bit and kissed Jinki's cheeks. "Thanks, Jinki. You're the best."

The two then switched places and made sure they both had their seatbelts on. Jinki put out his hand for Sooyeon to hold, and she gladly held it.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Korean Airlines. We will be departing Incheon, South Korea in about two minutes. Please make sure you have your seatbelts on, and enjoy your ride," a stuwardess announced.

"Ready?" Jinki asked, smiling.

His girlfriend tried to give him a smile, but failed. "Not really, but I don't exactly have a choice, do I?"

Jinki chuckled and squeezed her hand. "Don't worry, my princess. For I, Lee Jinki, shall make sure that you get out of this plane alive."

Sooyeon giggled and replied,"Alright, Sir Jinki. I'm trusting you with this."

The two laughed together and anyone with common sense could clearly see that the couple was deeply in love. Because they were too busy laughing, they didn't even notice the plane flying into the air.

When they finally stopped laughing, they both leaned toward the window to see the airport become as small as an ant, and the clouds get bigger and bigger. Soon, Sooyeon wasn't worried about flying. She was actually beginning to enjoy it. Within three hours, the couple had eaten lunch, planned what they were going to see in New York City, and laughed until their sides hurt.

"Jinki, I have to go to the bathroom. I'll be right back," Sooyeon told him.

Jinki nodded and gave her a kiss before she left. While he waited for his girlfriend to come back, he took out a diamond ring, with the words Sooyeon and Jinki forever engraved on it. The truth was that he had asked his boss for a raise because he was planning on proposing to Sooyeon. His boss, of course, agreed and gave him enough money to pay for the trip to the Big Apple and back. Jinki was going over what he planned to say to Sooyeon in New York, when the plane started to shake violently.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have hit a turbulance. Please do not panic. We will get out of it as quick as we can. Please remain seated with your seatbelts on. Thank you," the stuwardess from before announced.

Soon, everyone was murmuring nervously amongst each other. Jinki took off his seatbelt to get to his girlfriend, when a stuwardess stopped him.

"Sir, you can't get up right now. It's very dangerous," she told him.

Jinki shook his head violently. "No, I have to get to the bathroom. My girlfriend's in there. I have to get to her!"

Jinki was about to stand up, when the stuwardess pushed him back down. "Sir, my name's Im Yoona, and I'll make sure that your girlfriend is okay. Please, sir, stay seated."

Sadly, Jinki nodded. Before the stuwardess disappeared from his sight, he called out,"Yoona ssi! Please protect her. Tell her-"his voice cracked-"tell her that I love her with every inch of my heart."

The stuwardess turned back, smiled at him, then said,"I will. I promise." With that, she continued walking toward the bathroom.

Jinki bit his fingernails anxiously. He was filled with so much emotions you could probably write a novel trying to describe how he felt. He moved to the window-seat so that when Sooyeon came, she would be able to sit down quickly and do her seatbelt. Jinki looked toward the isle to see if anyone was there, but no one was there. His heart filled with dread.

Suddenly, the plane swerved to the right, then started falling. Fast. Before the plane hit the ground, Jinki looked at the empty space next to him and a tear fell from his eyes.

I love you so much, Jung Sooyeon.