Chapter 1

 

Dara’s POV

“Thank you ahjussi!”, I said while waving goodbye at my cab driver. I held onto my luggage and breathed deeply, ahhh the air smells so fresh and crisp. I took a good look at the sign ‘Seoul International Airport’ before turning around and walked towards the main entrance. 

“First day of work, here I go!” I said while inserting bobby pins into my gelled up bun. 

Today was my first day of working as an air stewardess. One can only dream of having an occupation which provides the luxury of travelling around the world with all expenses covered for. Well, maybe not all, just the flight and accommodation but that’s already awesome enough!! The best part? My first job assignment is to Paris!!

Oh, how lucky am I to be able to fly to such a romantic and luxurious place on my first day of work. 

"Today will be a great day! Yipee!"

I took confident strides as I made my way towards the departure hall and can’t help but notice the stares I’m getting from different sorts of men. I ignored them and just continued to stroll my way down.

"Nothing's going to ruin my day." I stood in front of the boarding gates and felt so amazed by how grand it looked. Sure, I’ve been to the airport a few times when travelling but standing here as an air stewardess just made everything feel so different. I took a good glance at the transparent glass roofs and continued walking.

I focused on the mesmerising view above me that I didn't even notice someone sitting by the bench, holding onto a fashion magazine, legs stretched out as if he owns the place. 

"What a beautifu- ACK!" With that, my beautiful face landed flat faced on the ground, my luggage thrown aside carelessly. 

There were gasps around and that's when I realised everyone was looking at me, my fours spread out on the floor. 

Oh… dear floor, please just swallow me so I can escape this embarrassment!!!

“How am I going to face my colleagues later??” I sighed.

I glanced towards the left and saw the cause of my misery. 

The man looked at me weirdly, wondering what I was doing on the floor, not knowing that he was the cause of my fall.

He stood up, checking his watch while whistling a tune as he grabbed his Sesame Street luggage bag and walked towards the boarding gates. 

'He didn't even apologize!' I screamed in my mind furiously.

“Alright Dara, everything’s cool.” I stood up and held my chin high, continuing with my footsteps, although with slightly less confidence. 

‘Wait, is he boarding through the same gate as me?! He can't be working in the same cabin as me can he?’, I thought to myself as he passed the boarding gate only for cabin crews.

'Yeah, I'll work at the business cabin while he works at the economy cabin.' I cheered myself on.

I hurriedly settled my luggage and proceeded to my cabin, where the chief was awaiting. 

“Good evening everyone, my name is Park Ji Yeon but I’m used to being called Gummy. I’m the Chief of cabin crews and will be guiding you guys alongside this flight. The 9 of you will be serving the economy class cabins. We also have two new colleagues today. Please introduce yourselves." 

"I'm Sandara Park, but please call me Dara." I gave my brightest smile and waved to everyone. 

In the corner of my eye, I could see the other newcomer and he was glancing around as if he were bored. 

‘How rude of him’, I thought to myself.

"Kwon Ji Yong." He said smugly. 

I turned to face him fully and that’s when I got a glimpse of his face.

"YOU!" 

 

 

 

 

Writer's POV 

"YOU!" Dara shouted and pointed a finger at him. 

Jiyong backed away a little and raised a brow, looking at her as if she were some mad woman. 

"YOU!" Dara continued pointing towards him, her voice a little louder this time. 

"Me?" Jiyong raised an eyebrow. 

"You ruined everything!!!" She shouted once more before pouncing onto him. 

She wrung her arms around his neck and started strangling him. 

"GET.. THIS.. CRAZY.. WOMAN... OFF ME!!" Jiyong demanded while gasping for air. 

“Why must you be here!!!! AHHHHHHHHHH” Dara screamed into his ear.

The other flight attendants immediately started pulling Dara off Jiyong, trying to prevent her from doing anymore damage to his hair and uniform. 

 

 

 

 

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After what seemed like an eternity, they finally managed to calm the both of them down. 

"Dara, care to explain your behaviour?" The Chief asked her. 

"Ask that ugly homo over there!" She retorted. 

"Me? Ugly? Homo?" Jiyong scoffed unbelievingly. 

"Why else would a grown man carry a childish luggage like that!" 

"For your information, it is designer made and there is only one of it in the whole wide universe ahjumma." He emphasized on the last word. 

"Who you calling an ahjumma?" She hissed angrily. 

"Who else?" He mocked. 

"Why you-" 

"PEOPLE! Please calm down and let's settle this in a professional manner!" The Chief stood in between them, breaking their argument. 

"He started it!" Dara glared at him. 

"You attacked me first!" 

"Well, I wouldn't if you did not-" 

"PEOPLE! The plane will take off soon so please do me a favour and put all of this behind, unless you wanna get fired on the first day of work!" The Chief said again in a harsher tone. 

“Fine, I don’t wanna waste my time arguing with stupid girls like her anyway.” Jiyong replied with annoyance.

"Hmph!" Dara scowled before crossing her arms and looked away. 

"Dara, you'll pair up with Jiyong to serve Cabin C."  Dara was about to protest but decided not to when the Captain shot her a stern look. 

"Bom and Seunghyun will be in the cabin as well and they will guide you two along. 

 

 

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"Yeoboseyo?" Dara said after she excused herself from the cabin. 

"Stop mentioning about him omma, I don't care. There’s a reason why I’m taking up this job. And I'm trying my best...” She said in an annoyed tone, but made sure not to raise her volume too loudly. 

"I'll be fine omma, just take care of yourself and I'll be back before you know it. Take care of Sanghyun too. Annyeong." 

She sighed and hung up the phone.

While turning around, preparing to head back to the cabin, she was greeted by her number one nemesis. 

“Turn off your phone will you? It’s a rule all crew members abide by.” Jiyong reprimanded her.

Dara ignored him and rolled her eyes before exiting the cabin room, shoving him aside roughly. ‘What’s his problem?!’, she thought to herself.

Dara sulked as she walked towards her cabin area, instead of the business class she wished for, she was assigned to the economy class and what’s worse was that she was paired together with the person that ruined her day! She shook her head and just decided to think positively, she should enjoy her first day of work anyway.

 

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. It is now 1905 hours Korea timing and we will be departing for France in 25 minutes. The flight is approximately 11 hours and 39 minutes, with Korea being 8 hours ahead of France in time difference. Thank you for choosing 21 Korean Airlines and I wish you all a enjoyable flight. Cabin crew members please prepare the aircraft for taxi and take your seats thereafter.” 

 

Hearing the announcement, the cabin crew hurried towards the passenger seats, helping them pack their luggages up into the storage areas. 

Once they ensured that all passengers were seated, they headed to the front where the drop down seats were available. 

They got seated down and fastened their seat belts, preparing for the plane to take off. 

Dara followed and stowed all the necessary items before making her way to one of the seats in front.

As she fastened her seat belt, she felt someone tapping her shoulder. 

“Hi, I’m Park Bom but you can call my Bommie! You’re Dara, right?” A lady with doll-like eyes smiled at her while asking.

“Yes, Sandara Park.” Dara nodded.

“I’m sure we’ll have a fun time working together, I can’t to introduce you to the rest!” Bom giggled.

‘Wow, she sure is friendly, and this seems like a fun group of people’, Dara thought to herself and begin to anticipate the next 11 hours of this journey.

 

 

-DING-

 

The 'fasten your seat belt' light signal was switched off, suggesting that it’s now safe for people to get off their seats.

The crew members unfastened their seat belts and headed to the kitchen to prepare the passengers' dinner. 

“Bommie-ssi, what are we having for dinner?" Dara asked as she placed the food packets into the microwave for heating. 

“Please just call me Bommie, we’re all friends now anyway! There are two choices, the oriental or the international choice. Usually, we’ll just pick whatever that’s left by the passengers.” She gave a sincere smile before heading back to stack the tray. 

Dara set the microwave to 15minutes before grabbing more food packets out of the cupboard. Bom was about to walk off when Dara called out to her. “Bommie!”

“Yeah?”, Bom took a glance back. 

“Could you show me where to get the drinks?” Dara asked sheepishly.

“Follow me!”, Bom didn’t wait for Dara’s reply and pulled her towards another end of the cabin.

When they both entered, a sight of 3 guys greeted them.

“Oh, it’s Dara! I saw you falling down at the boarding gates!!” A guy with chinky eyes smiled at her.

Dara felt her cheeks redden and just gave a sheepish smile.

“Dara, this is Daesung. And right here we have Seungri and Youngbae! The guys usually settle the drinks because most of them have experience as a barista.” 

“Nice to meet you guys!”, Dara gave a warm smile.

“YAH! Why the hell are you taking so long Seungri?!” A girl with cat eyes said as she walked into the room.

“Oh and that’s Chaerin!” Bom added while Chaerin just flashed a quick smile before dragging Seungri out to attend to the guests.

“There are still some others but you’ll meet them along the way. You’re in Cabin C with Jiyong right? I think it’s time to check on the food, hurry hurry!!” Bom shoved Dara out and towards the kitchen area.

 

 

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“Yo Jiyong, so what’s up with you and Miss Fiery?” Seunghyun nudged Jiyong while chuckling.

“Nothing’s up, I don’t know why she’s acting all crazy towards me but my guess is that I caused her little accident out at the boarding gate earlier on.” Guying shrugged.

“Accident?”

“Yeah, well I accidentally tripped her so she embarrassed herself.”

“Oh, that’s why. I see. Funny how a clumsy girl like her decided to be an air stewardess though.” Seunghyun chuckled again.

“Oh hyung, you’re here! And with Mr Jiyong!” Seungri appeared out of nowhere.

“Yeah, Jiyong’s my childhood friend Seungri. You guys will get along pretty well.” Seunghyun patted both their shoulders.

“Can I call you hyung..?” Seungri blinked his eyes at Jiyong.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Jiyong replied, a little amused.

“Cool! We’re gonna have lots of fun together!!” Seungri beemed like a kid.

“I’m gonna go attend to my row now, catch you guys later!” Jiyong walked towards his cabin.

As he was pushing his trolley down the aisle, he overheard a conversation Dara was having with one of the caucasian passengers. 

 

“You.. you’re giving this to me?”

“Just take it, baby.”

 

Jiyong glanced over and saw a swarovski bracelet being placed on her hand. 

‘I bet she’s going to accept it, how typical’, he thought to himself and continued pushing his trolley down the row.

“What would you like, Ma’am?” Jiyong politely asked a lady dressed in white.

“Are you on the menu?”, the lady glanced at his name tag before continuing, “Mr Kwon?”

“I guess you’d like the international then.” Jiyong placed the food on her tray and walked off before she could reply him.

‘Gross.’ He thought to himself before attending to the next customer.

 

"Would you like the oriental meal or international meal Ma'am?"

"Any coffee or tea for you Sir?" 

"Would you like orange juice instead?" 

Dara heaved a sigh of relief when she finally finished walking down her row. 

She swore she repeated those three sentences for almost 20 times. Her cheeks are now aching from the constant wide smile she has to maintain while speaking. She looked at the bracelet on her wrist and furrowed her brows together before shaking her head.

Feeling her tummy grumble, she walked excitedly back into the cabin room to grab her dinner. 

"I thought I placed the last packet of the international meal here?" She frowned and scratched her head. 

"Oh, that was yours? I thought no one wanted it so I took it already." She heard a voice from behind. 

She turned around and saw Jiyong sitting down comfortably, with he packet meal half eaten in his hands.

"I wanted the international one!" She said with a maddened voice. 

"I wanted it too. The oriental one didn't look appetizing to me." He said while paying no attention. 

Dara groaned in frustration.

“Stop acting so pampered and being all picky with your food, just grab the oriental one and go.” Jiyong added. 

Hearing his words, she stood up. Trying to control her boiling emotions, she walked into the bunk rooms to look for the rest.

 

 

 

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“Yah, Jiyong ah.” Seunghyun entered the cabin all of a sudden.

"Yeah?" Jiyong asked. 

"Not trying to be rude, but maybe you should've just given Dara the international meal box." 

"Isn't it a first come first served basis?" Jiyong said with slight irritation. 

"Uh huh.. But I overheard Bom telling the girls that Dara’s allergic to seafood.” 

Jiyong widened his eyes at Seunghyun's remark, feeling slightly guilty at his act. 

“Damn!”, Jiyong cursed and felt like the world’s biggest . 

‘It’s not my fault I didn’t know right?’, he tried to comfort his conscience,

Well, what’s done is done, he’s eaten all the food and can’t do anything about it.

He scratched his head frustrated, beginning to question himself. 

Should he apologize?