wanderlust

/ˈwɒndəlʌst/

noun

a strong desire to travel.

 

6 AM. SEOUL, INCHEON AIRPORT.

Business people all around, frantically running to their terminals, some of them don't even care about their surroundings and occasionally tend to run into some poor souls. It's a busy day at Incheon Airport, it's more crowded than usual. Not because summer break is starting, it's not even close to any kind of vacation. It doesn't make any sense. Why today out of all the days?

That's what Seulgi has been thinking of for the last ten minutes, silently staring at the announcement board. Dozens of flights are getting cancelled, the board changes every few seconds, and she's having a hard time finding her flight. 

Flight to Dubai: Cancelled.

Flight to Hong Kong: Cancelled.

Flight to Moscow: Cancelled

Flight to Hanoi: Cancelled.

Hanoi. Seulgi let out a deep, annoyed sigh and sat back down on one of the benches surrounding the board. That was her flight. The one flight that was supposed to be her life-changing field trip. She always dreamed of seeing the world, but never had the time or money to do so. Now she finally had the guts to drop out of university after realizing it was not what she wanted, and this is what she gets for doing so.

"Karma", she thought to herself.

Seulgi always wanted to become an artist, it was her big dream. She was the one sketching in math class and getting scolded for doing so. But studying what she thought would be her big dream, made her realize it was the living soul out of her. She couldn't enjoy art anymore and needed a break from all of this. A break to find out what she wants from her life, not anyone else. She didn't want to lose her one big passion like this. She needed inspiration, cultural influence and definetly some personal growth. She was longing for it so bad, the feeling of wanderlust was taking over. But what was she going to now? She was about to burst right on the spot.

Seulgi clenched her fists and let out an annoyed sigh.

"Guess that's not gonna happen for now.", she murmured and stood up. Pulling her suitcase behind her. 

She walked past the many travel companies attempts to get rid of their flight tickets. Many cheap offers, but nothing that caught her attention. When she almost lost hope, she realized that she'd have nothing if she went back now. She had to leave in some way.

Passing more offers, she spotted one that sparked her interest: Japan, Tokyo.

Of course, Seulgi has been to Japan before, but always found it to be fascinating. After Seulgi finished school, she went to Japan with her friends and had the time of her life. She always looks back to that week.

Nostalgia is a strong feeling. Walking through the streets of Harajuku, trying out all the different clothes they offer. Collecting things at gacha machines, eating at their favorite ramen restaurant, she felt like going there again. But what about the other flight?

The price was cheap enough for Seulgi to pay, but would get a refund for her cancelled flight? Why should she do that? That's a lot of money afterall, and a completely irrational decision to even think about. Seulgi however, still asked.

"Is the flight to Tokyo still available?", Seulgi asked curiously.

"Would you like to buy it?"

"A lot actually. I really need to get out of here.", she said while grabbing her wallet. She really couldn't care less, at this point. If it wasn't for her being absolutely done with her life in South Korea, she probably would've just waited for the next flight, but today was different.

So she bought the ticket, didn't have to much time left until boarding began, so she grabbed a sandwich from the duty-free shops and went to her gate. The long corridors stretched to what felt like forever, many people ran past Seulgi, trying to catch their flight. Her sandwich in one hand, suitcase in the other, she also took faster steps. She took a bite of her sandwich, but it didn't satisfy the feeling of yearning. She was hungry, but not for food.

She was excited.

Seulgi took a deep breath, only a few minutes apart from her new beginning. Even if it didn't go as planned, she was glad she eventually still found an alternative.

A long line waiting to get to the airplane formed in front of her, as the announcement echoed through the hallway. people were chattering, but it got quiet quickly.

"Good morning passengers. This is the boarding announcement for flight 17B to . We are asking those passengers with small children or any passengers requiring assistance, to line up first at this time. Please have your boarding pass and ID or passport ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes from now on. Thank you for your attention."

The announcement then repeated in all important languages, each time more passengers understood what to do.

The line slowly started to take shape, and people started rummaging their bags for the boarding passes and other necessary papers. So did Seulgi, except she had a hard time holding everything in place whilst looking for the necessities. She already had her sandwich in to be able to use both of her hands to look for everything, but it wasn't enough. Her suitcase broke loose, and bumped into the person in front of her before she could do anything against it.

The woman turned around and stared at Seulgi, visibly confused.

"I'm fo forry!", she mumbled with the piece of bre