Meeting Yunho
From Ms. Ngo to Ms. Kim
I couldn’t believe it was really him. I was going to sit next to Yunho for the next 12 hours! Mom and Mr. Kim just had to get tickets that were nonstop.
His stuff was in my seat. “Excuse me,” I said, but he didn’t hear me. I said it a couple more times, but there was still no reply. I didn't realize he was looking out the window and had earbuds in.
So I poked him lightly on the shoulder. *Oh my gosh, Violet would kill me for doing this too!*
He finally noticed me and took one of his earbuds out.
“Umm, your stuff is in my seat,” I said in English. I only managed to learn a little Korean. I would have to learn more when I arrive in Korea.
“Bwoh?” He said 'what' in Korean, I think. So I pointed to his stuff.
“Oh.” He moved his stuff to the floor. I remembered that it’s been a year since Michael Jackson’s death so maybe he was in California for a solo event because of it? I didn’t see the other members.
“Ummmm,” I tried to remember what I was able to say in Korean. “Ne ileum-eun Yunho, majyo?” (Your name is Yunho right?)
“Ottoke asyeosseoyo? Dangsin eun faniseyo? “(How did you know? Are you a fan?)
The only thing I understood was the word fan. I shook my head and tried to remember how to say friends in Korean.
“Ummm, my Chingus know you.” I only said friends in Korean, but obviously, he understood, since his stage name is U-know... I assumed.
“Oh…" I guess he recognized Mr. Kim because as soon as he saw him sit a couple of rows in front of us, he went over to him and my mom.
They started to chat a little before he headed back to his seat.
“So you're Junsu’s new sister,” Yunho said to me in English. I shrugged. I still couldn’t believe it.
“You know English?” I asked him.
“A little. So that lady next to Mr. Kim is your mom?” He had a bit of an accent, but I could tell he had been practicing English for a while. I nodded.
“Wow, she looks young.” He mentioned.
“She’s 40,” I said. “Oh, Nae ileum eun Lynn imida.” (My name is Lynn.)
“Nice to meet you.” He flashed a smile at me.
“Please fasten your seatbelts. We are about to take off. And please don’t forget to turn off your cell phones. They can be turned back on if you put them on airplane mode.” The pilot said over the intercom. Yunho and I did what he said, and I tried to relax.
“Gwenchana?” Yunho asked 'are you alright?' in Korean.
“I’m okay,” I replied in English. “It’s my first time on a plane so I’m just a little nervous.” I never left California before. I haven't even been to Vietnam.
“I see. Well, have some gum. It’ll reduce the popping that you’ll hear.” He said in a mixture of Korean and English. I didn’t get how it would do anything at first, but it was a big help as we took off. I heard some weird popping noises, but the more I chewed, the less I heard.
“Thanks, Yunho.”
“By the way, how old are you?” He questioned.
“I’m 22 in Korean age,” I replied.
“So you’re a year younger than Changmin.”
“A member of your group, right?” All I really knew about him was that he was the youngest, and the one who loved to eat the most in the group.
We started to talk in a mixture of Korean and English. Yunho even offered to teach me some Korean. I was thankful for that. We talked about all sorts of things. He talked about his band members and singing and dancing. I mentioned a little about me and my mom. Of course, I couldn't forget about my obsessed friends.
We eventually fell asleep. By the time we woke up, it was time for dinner.
“Oh no, it’s airplane food,” I said as the flight attendants started to pass out food. I've heard bad stories about airplane food. The two of us didn’t bother to eat much of it. We just drank the water.
“I know. That’s why I got some snacks to eat.” Yunho got some chips and a bag of trail mix out of his bag.
“Haha. I got some chicken sandwiches that I made earlier.” I took them out, too. "Do you want one?"
“Sure. Thanks.” I gave him one, and he took a bite out of it. "Omo, it's good!"
“Thank you. I like to cook.”
“So you prepared them yourself?”
I nodded and he gave me some chips too. We listened to DBSK’s music and other bands that Yunho was friends with or liked. Honestly, Kpop wasn’t that bad. Though I wish I could understand more of it. Heck, I couldn’t even understand Vietnamese music sometimes. Those Paris by Night or Van Son programs Mom got on DVD were some examples of Vietnamese music I always had difficulty understanding. (They’re Vietnamese musicals/variety shows)
Some girls noticed Yunho and asked for autographs. Luckily, the flight attendant was nearby so they couldn't take pictures.
After what seemed like forever, we finally arrived in Korea. I got to know a lot about Yunho, the leader of DBSK. It seemed that Yunho was going the same way as us since he lived near Mr. Kim.
Mr. Kim got our belongings, and we called for a taxi.
As soon as I turned the airplane mode feature off on my phone, I got a 2-way call from Violet and Emily. “Hello?”
“Hey, are you still on the plane?” Emily asked.
“Are you there yet?” Violet shrilled. She always yelled whenever she was on the phone for some odd reason.
“If I still was on the plane, how would I be talking to you right now? Where’s Olivia?” Usually, it would be a 4-way call, not 3.
“She’s sleeping and doesn’t want to wake up,” Emily answered. Emily and Olivia were roommates, while Violet lived with her brother.
“Oh, have you met any hot Korean guys yet?” Violet asked.
“Hang on,” I said to the two of them. I asked Yunho if it was alright to talk to them. He nodded.
“I met Yunho.”
“Ehhh? The U-know Yunho from DBSK???!!!” Violet shouted. Mom and Mr. Kim could hear her from 6 feet away. Yunho chuckled. Violet was super-duper, crazily obsessed with Yunho. He’s her first love, apparently.
“Yeah. He’s here right next to me. Hold on, I’ll let you talk to him.” I handed the phone to him.
“Hello? This is Yunho.”
“AHHHH!” Both of the girls screamed. “It’s really you!” They were true fans since they could identify his voice right away.
“I’m Violet, and the other girl is Emily. We are big fans of you and DBSK. We’re always going to support you. Your songs give us so much inspiration. Saranghae!”
“Thanks for supporting us.” That was all he said before he gave the phone back to me. He said he could still hear popping sounds and hearing Violet’s shouting didn’t really make it better.
“You guys, I have to go now. I’ll talk to you guys later. Bye.”
“You’re so lucky! Bye! Love you!” Both of them said in unison. I hung up and sighed. We arrived in front of Mr. Kim’s house, and man, was it big. More like enormous. It turned out that Yunho was only a couple of streets away from my new home. So he traveled with us.
"Bye, Yunho!" I waved.
"See you some other time." We dropped him off at his home first before going to my new home.
“Guys! I’m back! Come greet your new sister and Mom!” Mr. Kim shouted as we went inside. The inside looked even bigger than the outside.
Two shirtless guys came downstairs and approached us. I covered my eyes in embarrassment.
“You haven’t seen a guy’s body before? How cute.” *This voice is familiar. It sounds husky. But then, he sounded like a dolphin, too. Don’t tell me it’s Junsu.*
I opened my eyes."That's not it!" He was right in front of me.
“Nice to meet you, dongsaeng.”
Comments