It was a very regular day, not particularly eventful, when you sat hurriedly next to an extremely good-looking stranger in Terminal D4 of Gimpo Airport.

You were scheduled for a flight to Jeju Island for a university project you had to work on with a group of friends. You also had decided to fly 1 day early, just to settle down, unpack, and enjoy a day in the ever-so-scenic Jeju.

 

Because you sat in such a hurry, as to not lose the seat to 12 other strangers eyeing that same spot, your bag of homemade cookies fell out of your hand, some of them scattering all over the floor in front of you. A very audible sigh left your lips, as you shifted to the very edge of your seat and bent down to clean up the mess and gather whatever is left of your dear, precious snack.

 

2 short seconds later, a bigger hand joined yours in picking up the fallen cookies. It was soon followed by a knee and dark hair that blocked part of your view, too focused on the cookies. The Hand gently wrapped the waste in a sheet of tissue paper, then disappeared, along with the vision obstruction. A gentle thud was heard to your right, from what you assumed was a trash bin.

 

By now, you had the bag of leftover cookies that you saved tucked safely in your left hand. You dusted the crumbs from your knees and sat back comfortably. The Hand soon reappeared next to you, lacing its fingers with the other hand.

 

“Thank you,” you whispered.

 

“For?”

 

“Uh… helping me with… the cookies?”

 

“Ah, yes, um… sure.”

 

The voice next to you was rather cold, but your cheeks strangely started to grow warm.

 

“Um… do you want some?”

 

“Want what?”

 

“The… cookies?”

 

“Ah, yes… Thanks.”

 

The Hand reached to your bag of cookies, contemplated for two long seconds, and picked one carefully.

 

“Did you make them yourself?”

 

“Yes… Does it taste okay?”

 

“It’s absolutely delicious.”

 

“I’m glad you like it,” you say, your voice sounding a bit unsure.

 

Silence lingered between the two of you, and your cheeks grew hotter by the second. The Hand dusted off cookie crumbs from it, and rested atop the knee of its owner. You played with your hands, checking out your nails, as you waited to board the plane.

A flight attendant soon announced that the plane was boarding, so you shot up to the front of the line, without a word said to The Hand’s owner. Disappointment tugged at your chest, but it was both embarrassing and a waste of time to come back.

 

So you boarded the plane, stowed your luggage safely in the top compartment, and sat down.

 

Oh great, it’s an aisle seat. You hate it when your knee gets bumped while you’re asleep. Or even when you’re awake, honestly. Well, it’s not a long flight anyway, you’ll be fine…

 

A hand grabbed your elbow, probably mistaking it for the handrest, and a long, labored sigh was heard from behind you. You looked at the interruption’s culprit, and it was The Hand! Sitting behind you! Such luck. Now you won’t ever be able to sleep out of nerves.

 

“Hi,” a voice said. Your ears picked it up, instinctively turning to the source of sound. There The Hand’s owner sat, his face covered with a mask and hat. You looked down a bit, afraid of eye contact, as you feel your face heating back up.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Can I have another cookie?”

 

You mentally counted your remaining cookies, then took one after realizing there was quite a lot left. You spun slightly to pass it to The Hand. Of course, you had expected The Hand to accept it shyly, but his face greeted you instead through the gap between the seats. your eyes, somewhat studying your features.

 

Instant warmth crept up to your cheeks, as you moved the cookie towards him.

 

“Thanks a lot,” he said, gently accepting the cookie. “My name is Eun-woo.”

 

“I’m Yoo-jin,” you replied, somewhat taken aback.

 

“Nice to meet you,” he paused, “It’s a beautiful name.”

 

“Thanks…? I got it for my birthday.”

 

Eun-woo smiled warmly, a childlike twinkle in his eyes. Your remark seemed genuinely funny to him, apparently. You chuckled.

 

“Why are you going to Jeju, Yoo-jin?”

 

“Just for a project. I’ll be doing it with my friends from university, but they’re going to arrive tomorrow. What about you?”

 

“I’m in a boygroup called ASTRO,” he smiled, “We’re going to film something exciting!” As he said that, his face brightened up. He must be very passionate about it, then.

 

“Ah! I’ve heard of you guys somewhere. Sounds cool, unlike my reasoning,” Not knowing what else to say, you finally ended the conversation with an awkward “talk later, Eun-woo.” A stewardess approached you, so you swiftly turned back to face the front for take-off.

 

This Eun-woo guy is cute.

 

The plane took off with no problem as you plugged your one of your earbuds. You relaxed at the sound of soft piano at the start of the song. Before long, your bladder started to tag at your senses, and as soon as that annoying seatbelt sign turned off, you rushed to the plane’s restroom. After you relieved yourself using the incredibly cramped (and loud) toilet, you started to make your way back to your seat when the plane jolted to the right.

 

You bellowed a thunderous “sh*t!” that could probably wake up people within a radius of 5 meters, followed by a loud thud as you crashed into a fat middle-aged businessman sitting right next to the aisle where you were walking. He let out a yelp and instinctively pushed you back, and you ended up on the floor, with tomato-red cheeks (and probably -cheeks too, that fall was hard). As you struggled to stand up with a painfully throbbing palm, from the corner of your eye, you could see Eun-woo unbuckle his seatbelt and rush to your aid. However, the plane decided to shake again, harder this time, and you muttered hopeless as you saw Eun-woo collapse four rows in front of you.

 

At this point, the stewardess from take-off has started to stand up to help you, but she too was unsteady due to the now-constant rocking of the plane. Eun-woo was able to get up with the help of a strapped-in lady near him, and he has started to walk shakily to help you. When he finally reached you, he grabbed your arm gently and helped you up together with the stewardess.

 

Still, as if blind to your trouble, the plane lurched again, to the left this time, sending all three of you down. You landed on top of his leg with the stewardess on top of you. She immediately apologized, but she was greeted not by consolation, but by Eun-woo’s gleeful laugh! You could see how his eyes narrowed and how his nose creased at the bridge, how his shoulders shook, and that his pupils were shining with utter happiness. You don’t reckon you’ve seen anyone this happy since your kindergarten best friend successfully pranked your teacher, right? It was refreshing and extremely contagious—within two milliseconds, you can feel a smile creeping up your face, too.

 

All three of you erupted in laughter, holding your stomachs as you laughed and laughed while sprawled on the filthy airplane carpet. Soon after, the middle-aged man’s tummy started to move up and down as he laughed, and the tummies of the men next to him did, too. The lady that helped Eun-woo up has already started to giggle long ago, and even the baby and his parents near you have smiled real, real wide. Eun-woo continued to drown in laughter, hugging you, tapping the floor, tearing up…

 

This man is a treasure, you thought, treasure.

 

The pilot finally sent a message that the plane will stabilize by now, and you were finally able to reach your seat and safely wear your seat belt. One thing, though—your cookies are gone. Your dear, precious cookies! You started to frantically search for them; next to you, under you, on the floor, on the crack between the seats, they were nowhere to be found.

 

You feel a tap on your shoulder.

 

“This ended up under my seat,” a voice said.

 

You looked back.

 

There The Hand was, holding your cookies, trying to hold back a snicker, his eyes bright as ever. He gave the crinkled packaging back to you, your hands brushing ever so slightly…

 

“Thank y-“

 

“-pfft—”

 

The merry sound of your combined laughter echoed throughout the plane, and continued to linger in the air around you as you endlessly thought about him and the gleam of his eyes in the flight, in bed, in the morning, in your first date, in your millionth date…