Hoisting the strap of my purse, I secure it a little closer to my body, as I continue to walk down the small hallway. It doesn't take me long, before a female flight attendant, greets me with a polite smile at the end. I easily return the warm gesture with a happy beam of my own, just before presenting her my ticket, for her to examine. She's pleased with it, and with that, then gestures for me to step inside the airplane, to look for my seat.

And because I can't speak or understand the Chinese language, I'm simply forced to pretend as though I know what she's just said, as I make my way pass her.

Many people are already inside, and are either trying to put away their bags, or are already settled within their seats. With my boarding pass still in my hand, my eyes continue to scan for my seat number, as I proceed to squish myself down this narrow pathway. It turns out that my spot is at the very end, and upon seeing this, I smile a little more to myself—not having anyone sit behind me, means that I'll be able to lower back my seat for however much I want to!

A tiny giggle emits from me, but it instantly stops, when I see how the seat next to the window, is already occupied.

Oh no...

There, dressed in a pale blue dress shirt, and some white trousers, is a golden-brown haired male. His eyes are glued onto the book in front of him, and the more I continue to watch him quietly read away, the more my eyebrows begin to crease together, with how disappointed I feel.

Aish, I was really looking forward to that window seat, and—

Two dark orbs finally acknowledge me, and it makes me blink a little, feeling somewhat startled by the intensity in them.

I guess since this is a Chinese airline, he must be Chinese, so I'll just—

"Uh, h-hello," I nervously stutter, in my awkward English.

The stoic expression doesn't leave his face, and instead of voicing something back, he just nods his head once at me, before returning his attention back down towards his novel.

I finally occupy the empty seat next to him, (tsk, I knew I should have arrived earlier!) and then gradually make myself comfortable. Everyone eventually settles themselves down, and this leads the flight attendants to start checking if the luggage compartments are tightly secured. I let my eyes wonder around for a bit, until they at long last, land on the window besides me, to see how the plane is now bit by bit, reversing out of its spot.

And because of the person sitting beside me, just happens to be right there, my curiosity can't help but start to observe his features.

A high nose, somewhat pouty lips, and a clear complexion—his hair seems to be perfectly styled, to suit his face, and although I've now come to the conclusion that he is rather handsome, my mouth is slowly frowning, because I feel as though his skin is much better than mine.

Because from what I can see, he doesn't seem to have any dark circles, whatsoever!

Ah, I wonder what his secret is.

Maybe I can ask him and—

Turning my head away, my arms automatically stretch out, to pretend as though I wasn't looking at him at all. I then force my attention down onto my nails, and because I can still feel his eyes watching, an awkward cough emits from me. He soon goes back to reading his book, and when I feel his gaze leave me, I breathe out a subtle sigh of relief. Maybe I shouldn't ask him about his skincare routine and whatnot, since...he seems to be really into that book of his.

Yeah.

I now busy myself by switching my phone over to airplane mode, and then clicking in my seatbelt. The plane finally takes off, and after a bit, the ride is smooth enough for everyone to unclip their belts, to do as they wish. This is when the flight attendants begin to hand out some headphones, and upon receiving these, I now begin to play around with the touch screen, curious to see the list of entertainment that we're being offered.

And to my luck, there actually is something that I want to watch—Monster's Inc. University!

Happy with that, my hands make their way for the small packet of peanuts in front of me, and begin to open them, as the movie slowly starts off. I frown at the tough packaging, so I put in a bit more force, into tearing the packet open, which actually results in me letting out a gasp, when the peanuts come flying out into my face. Some of them end up bouncing over to my left, and scattering themselves in that spot, and it makes me gulp, as I little by little, turn my head over to look at my seat buddy.

He's obviously not reading any more, as his eyes are now staring at the peanuts that sit on his book and lap.

, I've just basically showered some guy with honey salted peanuts.

Blurting out an apology, (to which I end up mentally slapping myself, for rapidly speaking in Korean) I'm about to hastily dust the editable pieces off of him, when he stops me, by doing it himself.

"It's okay," he calmly says, and my eyes widen a little.

He just spoke in Korean!

Ah, so maybe he's not Chinese, and is also Korean, as well...?

But...something doesn't feel quite right.

For some reason, he seems to radiate a more Japanese aura, than either Chinese or Korean.

Hmm, it must be his pretty-boy features; that's a popular trend in Japan, isn't it?

I'm suddenly forced to push aside my train of thoughts, as I see how his eyebrows are pinching together, which clearly tell me that he's not okay, about the raining peanuts. It makes me sink a little lower into my seat, as I quietly mumble another apology to him, but he doesn't say anything else, as he cleans up the mess. Not wanting to trouble him any further, I just keep quiet, and go back to watching the movie like how I intend to.

It works though, and thanks to my new distraction, I soon forget about the embarrassment, and find myself enjoying the story.

Although, there are times when I would accidentally burst out laughing, causing my seat buddy, to have a slight crease, appear in between his eyebrows. This would then make me nervously smile at him, hoping that my apologetic expression, is enough to make him not feel too irked about my giggling. He eventually resorts to placing on the headphones, and I'm pretty sure that this is his attempt to mute out my laughing or so.

My attention now shifts over to the two flight attendants, pushing a huge metal trolley down the aisle, and seeing this, I can tell that they're handing out food for us all to eat. The ladies soon reach me, and when I meet their smiling faces, I automatically return the cheerful look, while taking off my headphones. They say something in Chinese, and when the male next to me replies back in the same language, I do a double take at him.

He easily ignores the surprise on my face, as he carefully accepts the tray of food from the woman, who is now saying something to me.

I have no idea what she's just said, so the only thing I can do is crumple my brows in uncertainty. The flight attendant blinks at me, and then repeats what she's just said, which makes me utter out an unsure "sorry?” Her lips curve into a surprised circle, which is then followed up by some more Chinese, where the only thing that I can seem to understand, is how she appears to be a little perplexed with English.

The two flight attendants now look a little confused, as they mumble to each other, and the awkward air only seems to escalate from here, until—

"Pick one," speaks a voice, from my left. "Fried rice, dumplings, or instant noodles."

"...Dumplings," is my slow reply.

With that response, I watch as the guy next to me, calmly speaks to the two women.

I can't help but feel slightly awed, at how he's managed to switch from speaking Korean with me, to now talking in Chinese, with the two workers. They nod their heads in understanding, looking more at eased, and with that, soon place down a tray of food onto my desk. The only thing that I can understand, is their 'thank you's, (since it was something that I had heard a lot, while visiting China) as they now go to serve the people, on the other side.

Directing my eyes over to my seat buddy, I show him an appreciative smile. "Thank you," I gratefully say.

"You're welcome," is all he says.

And even though his simple answer may be his way of ending any further conversation, I actually see this as the complete opposite.

"So...are you Japanese, or Korean?" I question, while taking a bite of my dumpling.

"I'm neither," he responds.

His answer makes me raise my eyebrows up in astonishment. "Oh?" I say, with a tilt of my head. "Then...then what are you?" And since my wording for questioning his background, comes out a bit rather odd, I can't help but giggle a little, at the strangeness of it. "Oops, sorry—didn't mean to imply that you're an alien or anything!" I laughingly say, with a sheepish grin. "I mean, where are you from?"

But he doesn't seem to find my joke very funny though, as he pokes his fork into a piece of watermelon.

"Canada," is his answer. "I'm Chinese, and was born in China, but I reside in Canada."

My eyes light up once again. "Wow, you're from Canada?!" I say, in awe. "No wonder your English sounds so good..." I murmur. "And not to mention, your Korean, as well. Is it hard to balance all of these languages?"

He simply shakes his head at me. "Not really," he says.

I purse my lips to the side in thought. "Hmm...it still sounds hard..." I quietly muse. "So what made you want to learn Korean? I mean, knowing Chinese and English is understandable, but Korean is a little out of nowhere, isn't it?" I curiously tilt my head to ponder a little more. "Do you perhaps have a distant Korean family member, of some sort?" Another idea suddenly appears in my mind, causing me to brightly clap my hands together. "Or maybe you have a Korean girlfriend?!"

The chirpy feeling in me slowly begins to die down, when I see him blankly stare at me, and from that look, I can just tell that he's judging me.

Hmm, this guy doesn't seem to talk much, huh?

I inwardly sigh to myself, and then show him a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry," I coyly say. "You don't have to answer that, if you don't want to..."

Although surprisingly, my seat buddy doesn't criticize me, like how I thought he was going to.

"Work," he simply utters. "I learnt Korean for business matters."

Taking in that information, I just quietly nod my head at him, and because I feel as though he doesn't want to talk to me anymore, I go to finish off the rest of my dumplings, leaving him in peace.

The rest of the plane ride consists of me falling in and out of a very uncomfortable sleep, flicking through the music list offered, and wondering up and down the narrow pathways, as an attempt to stretch out my numb legs. I'm not sure if my seat buddy is either okay with the confined space, or is just really good at hiding his discomfort, because everything that he does is just so...so normal? As in he's so cool and composed with getting up, eating, or resting his eyes.

I'm guessing he must do this a lot, to be doing it with style, or something.

"Attention, this is your captain speaking," announces the pilot's voice. "Please be properly seated, as we are now preparing for landing. I repeat, please be properly seated, as we are now preparing for landing. Thank you."

At the mention of landing, I can already feel the dread, starting to sink into me, as this is the one thing that I hate the most, about flying.

Because it's only a matter of time, before my ears start to feel the pressure, straining, and hurting them, which causes me to bite down my lip with a wince. I remember being told by mom that it's best to plug my fingers into my ears, to help it from feeling too much pain, and even though this is exactly what I'm doing right now, it doesn't seem to be working. Dad has also said that it's good to yawn, but my ears are hurting too much right now, for me to do that.

A sudden tap on my shoulder is felt, and when I look at the source, I see a flight attendant, offering me some earplugs. I gladly accept them by happily thank her, where I then right away, go to make use of them. She says something to me in Chinese, and the only thing I can get out of it, is that it has something to do with the male sitting next to me, as her attention turns over to him, and then back at me. I'm a little confused, and when I look over at him, I feel even more puzzled.

My seat buddy appears to have his attention focused on the window, so I'm not quite sure what he has to do with these earplugs that she's just given me.

When the wheels of the plane, officially land onto the ground, and ultimately come to a stop, I feel myself breathe out a sigh of relief. I swiftly unplug my ears, grab my belongings, and then stand up, to start making my way out. My seat buddy is right behind me, and although he's being forced to stand somewhat close, I'm once again, feeling surprised by his height—this guy is so incredibly tall, I'm starting to wonder how I missed this, when we were stretching our legs together!

The two of us slowly exit the plane with everyone else, with our baggage in mind. I stretch out my arms, happy to be out, and as I do this, I see that my model-like seat buddy is now further ahead of me, instead of behind me. It makes me blink in bafflement, as to how he managed to get himself up there so quickly, but when I remember his height, it makes me flatten my eyes with a sigh. He eventually disappears out of my sight, as I finally claim my luggage, to then leave the place.

Outside, the sounds of people walking and talking, as they pull along their suitcases, echo through the tiled walkway. I can't help but find myself eavesdropping slightly on a group of boys, who just so happen to be on my right, as I continue to pull along my own baggage. They sound quite ecstatic to be back home again in Korea, and hearing that, I can't help but silently agree, too. Not that my trip to China, to relax, and see Victoria again was bad or anything, but it just feels really nice to be home again, you know?

Out of nowhere, a blur of red abruptly zooms past me, causing me to flinch back a little in surprise. I recognise it as one of the boys from the group on my right, and quietly watch, as he goes to throw his arms around a young girl, taking her by surprise. She lets out a startled shriek as a response, making the people nearby turn their heads towards the two, to wonder what's wrong. The red-haired boy doesn't seem to care about the attention though, as he blissfully laughs away, to the girl's yelling.

"Seyong, what the hell was that for?!" she shouts, looking quite flustered.   

A cheesy smile, automatically spreads across his lips. "Hyeri-ah, I'm just so happy to see you!" he chirpily announces.

The red-haired boy gives her another squeeze, while the rest of his friends laugh, obviously amused by her suffocated expression. She then gives him a harsh nudge, which causes him to finally let her go, and this resorts to the two bickering for a bit. But despite the annoyance displayed on her face, from the boy's great use of skin-ship, I can see how her features gradually soften, as she finally takes a hold of his hand into her own. The group eventually disappear, as I let out a small sigh, at their reunion.

Now that I think about it, it would be nice to have someone waiting here for me, too...

“Yah, why are you just standing there?” probes a voice.

I immediately snap out of my thoughts, and look up, in confusion.

“Are you spacing out, or something?” questions a dark haired male.

I blink at him for a bit. “What are you doing here?” I ask, with a puzzled arch of my brow.

He's taken aback by my comment, and instantly frowns. “You don’t see me for four weeks, and that’s the first thing you say to me?” he asks, in an offended tone. “Aigoo, I was expecting something along the lines of, “Woohyun, I missed you!” but I guess not...”

I roll my eyes at him, and when I eventually let out a laugh, he smiles at me.

Now that he mentions it, it really has been a while, since we last saw each other, and I guess the feeling has finally hit me now, because without warning, this sudden wash of happiness, makes me jump in for a hug, startling Woohyun, as he almost stumbles over, from the impact.

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty rude of me, to not tell you how I kind of missed seeing your ugly face, on a regular basis,” I playfully say.

My best friend instantly shoves me off, to cross his arms. “Excuse me?” he huffs. “I am the most handsome guy that you will ever meet in your life!”

Our playful banter doesn't last long, as he eventually gives me a hand with my luggage, and then leads me out of the place, and towards his car. I guess it turns out that Woohyun didn’t have work at this time after all, if he's here with me right now. He automatically begins to fill me in on his life during the drive, in exchange for what my four week life in China was like, with Victoria. Not much has seemed to change, except for the fact that he and Sunggyu are now a little better known.

Actually, scratch that; they seem to be quite popular, if they’ve now earned quite a few 'fan' girls. The two work as singers, who would perform for a variety of events, ranging from fancy restaurants, to wedding ceremonies, so I guess it's to be expected, especially from the classy bars and such. So for someone who is dearly important to me, I'm glad to hear how he and Sunggyu are now receiving more recognition, and how they sometimes work with another friend of mine, named Yejin.

Woohyun and I met back in high school, so we’ve been friends for quite some time. Although, we didn’t really start speaking to one another, until around eighth grade, when our maths teacher had formed a seating arrangement, to her liking. But even so, we were just the acquaintances who would greet each other in the hallways. We eventually became a little closer as the years went by, and even though he nags at me like crazy, I’m very thankful to be friends with him, as he's always made the effort to be there for me.

At long last, the sight of my house finally comes into view, as Woohyun slows down the car. I thank him for dropping me off, and he tells me that he would help me unpack, if it wasn't for some work arrangement, that he has to sort out. I'm fine with him not helping, (actually, I'm more than fine, because all I want to do right now is sleep) so I just usher him out, and to be on his way. But since Woohyun knows my lazy habits quite well, and I know his nagging trait too, we both have an idea, of what the other may do.

"No really, if you don't unpack, then I'm going to yell at you," he says, while giving me a pointed look.

I frown at him, with an exasperated sigh. "Okay, dad, is there anything else that you would like me to do?" I dryly say.

"Yes," he answers. "Make sure you do your laundry, as soon as possible."

A grumble comes out of me. "Anything else, mom?" I dully say, with flattened eyes.

Woohyun beams at me. "No, just those two," he happily says. "Come on, you're twenty three, so start acting like it, and take responsibility!"

I scrunch my nose at him. "Ew," I unpleasantly squeal. "Responsibility is gross. You used to praise me for not liking it, but now..."

My voice trails off, for Woohyun to laugh at me, and with a shake of his head, he begins to reverse out of the driveway. I give him another wave of goodbye, and watch as his car slowly disappears out of sight, before finally pulling my belongings into my house. The comfortable feeling of content immediately wraps itself around me as I now step inside, with my usual giddy homely feeling. I kick off my shoes, and am now dragging my suitcase into the lounge room, when I notice something.

It's empty.

My entire house is completely empty.

This shocking discovery causes me to let go of my suitcase's handle, as I now rush around the place, in bewilderment. My pantry has been cleared, and the things inside my fridge, have appeared to be been cleaned out, too. I (strangely) still have my black, leather sofa, but my dining table appears to have disappeared elsewhere. My feet now rush themselves up the carpeted stairs, to see that every object in my bathroom is gone.

It gets even worse when I run into my room, because instead of seeing my bed, and everything else, I now see an empty open space.

What happened here, and where did everything go?!

The only remains of my bedroom are the glow-in-the-dark stars that I've stuck up onto the ceiling, when I was a child. I'm glad that they're still here, but their presence doesn't exactly put my emotions at ease. The mixture of confusion, shock, and anxiousness, are all currently whirling around in me like a frenzy, and I have absolutely no idea what to do, or who to go to. I'm thinking of calling up Woohyun right now, but how do I begin to tell him about this, without sounding crazy?

My nervous thinking, has my feet eventually bringing myself outside, and then slowly back down the stairs. I numbly sit myself down onto the last step, and then lean my head onto the railing, to ponder some more. Could I have possibly been robbed, while I was overseas? But that couldn't be it, because my neighbour would have said something to me. I've asked her to sometimes glance over, and inform me right away, if there's something out of place, and everything seems fine.

I don't understand—what could have happened, for me to come back home, to an empty house?

Out of nowhere, the sound of some keys being jingled, make me straighten myself up.

I didn't just imagine that, did I...?

My senses become more alert, now that I see the doorknob being rattled, and when it finally comes to open, my eyes enlarge with shock.

How can someone else, have the keys to my house?!

And when I see that it's the same golden-brown haired male, who was sitting next to me, a few hours ago, I'm not sure how I should feel, with this new range of bafflement, being brought up from within.