CHAPTER 2: Arrival

Once I got into the plane I found my seat and plugged in my headphones. I didn't want to cry and besides, crying isn't going to make Cecily come with me to Seoul let alone fix anything. 

Just as I put my headphones into my ears, I felt another person sit down beside me, but I didn't bother looking at them. Sure I like being around people and socializing, though when it comes to strangers, I feel shy and nervous speaking to them. Without looking at the said stranger, I took out my camera and took a picture of the view outside the plane. 

I love taking photos. They speak of stories that we can't read but see visually with our minds - at least that's what I think. Photography is something of a stress reliever for me. I got my first camera when I was six and when everything was okay. Its one of the only things I can say that is one of my happiest memories from my childhood. 

PASSENGERS WE ARE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF. PLEASE KINDLY TURN OFF YOUR ELECTRONICS FOR THE NEXT FEW MOMENTS. WE WILL ALERT YOU WHEN YOU MAY BE ABLE TO TURN IT BACK ON. THANK YOU AND ENJOY YOUR FLIGHT.

A collective sound of groans and murmurs began and sadly, I took one last picture and placed my camera back into my bag. Only this time I turned to see my seat mate only to see his back towards me. Out of all my luck I got stuck with a male passenger. This is even more awkward than it was before. Quickly I turned away and listened to my music. My eyes began to droop as I listened to MR. MR's 'I promise'. I pulled my sleeves down and made myself comfortable enough to sleep. 

It's always the same nightmare. The room is exactly like how it was before it started. The furniture clean with not a single sign of what will happen next. I'm seven again - sitting on the ground covering my ears from the screams. I always know that ignoring the fighting never helps, it just makes it more real. All of a sudden I feel a hand grab me up from the floor and I'm blind folded. 

"Appa, why can't I see?"

"Min Hyun were going to play a game."

"What game Appa?"

"A game"

I'm pulled by the hand and hear a screaming woman. I know that screaming woman is Umma. 

"STOP THIS," she screams, "SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH TH-"

Somebody slaps my cheek and I cry out. The slap echoes in the room. I never know why, but it always feels like the slap burns and that's when the voices stop. The hand that grabbed me is gone along with the blindfold. I see everything and that's when I know something's off. I'm tied and my hands are out and all I can do is scream when I see something come down straight at me.

"Miss? Are you alright?" 

I'm startled awake by the man sitting beside me and suddenly I feel embarrassed. I quickly pull my sleeves down once again and look down, afraid of looking at his face. 

"Sorry" I murmured and turned away and stared out the window for the next few hours. 

My thoughts are all over the place. I shouldn't have fell asleep. I didn't take a sleeping pill or anything. Stupid me. I bet he thinks I'm a immature teenager. Who cares what he thinks, I'll never see him again.

As if to stop my excessive thinking the intercom rings out again.

WE WILL BE ARRIVING TO SEOUL KOREA IN A FEW MINUTES. PLEASE STAND BY AND WAIT BEFORE GETTING OUT OF YOUR SEATS THANK YOU.

Phew, less time to ignore my seat mate. Thank god! In less than five minutes I'll be taking my first steps into Korea and that's when the easy part comes. My halmeoni sent one of her workers to pick me up and then I'll be at her house setting up my room and trivial things like that. All I have to do is get good grades in school and take