Bom was already asleep on her seat beside me. She was beaten like a log.

Despite her constant nagging to delay the wedding, she still helps me with my wedding preparations. But she said she’ll only do it if we make a quick visit to Korea on our way back to Paris.

I was hesitant to agree to her condition. We were behind schedule. Our client is waiting for us in Paris. We have to finish restoring his old house before the wedding. We only have a month.

So here we are. In a plane going to Incheon.

I didn’t inform Father of our sudden visit. We could just come and go without telling him. But there’s no way my father will not know. His connections in the industry sometimes scares me. He’d go ballistic if I didn’t see him.

We just came from Luis’ hometown. His mother insisted to make my wedding gown in Batangas. I had to bring the fabrics and other materials from Paris. My soon-to-be mother-in-law was boasting  of her favorite wedding gown designer. I’m quite impress myself when I met him and saw his creations. He’s one of the best in the industry, I agreed.

After making myself comfortable on my seat, I pulled out one wedding invitation from its box. The design was hand embroidered by locals in Batangas. It was delicately done. The Swarovski crystals on each flower were like dew drops.

I returned the invitation inside the box. I put it aside together with my handbag.

I need something to drink. I waited for a passing flight attendant instead of pressing the button to alert one of them.

I watched as one female flight attendant came out from the VIP section. Her face was beaming. She almost ran down the narrow aisle to join her colleagues at the pantry behind the Business Class section.

That was weird. I thought to myself.

“It’s really him!” The girl squealed like a teenager.

“He smiled at me. I thought I was going to faint in front of him.” The girl kept fanning herself with her hands.

“He’s so gorgeous. I thought I’ll never see him again. He just disappeared.” The other girl butted in.

“But, I didn’t see him on the ground. Did he come from Sydney?” Another girl asked.

“Probably.” The first girl answered. She started pulling a tray from the pantry shelf. A bottle of Vodka and a bucket of ice.

“Where are you going with that?” The other girl asked pointing at the liquor on the tray.

“It’s for Jiyong. I think he wanted to get drunk. And when that happens, I’m going to get pregnant with his child.”

“Dream on, girl. GD will not waste his seed on you.” The girl snorted.

“We’ll see about that.”

She removed the scarf around her neck and ed her blouse low enough to expose her proud chest.

“Oh! You’re so dead when the supervisor see you like that.” The girls warned her.

“The hell I care. That’s G-Dragon in there. This is my chance.” She left the pantry along with the tray of liquor on her hands.

My eyes were glued to the girl making her way to the VIP section.

Did I hear it right? Did they say G-Dragon?

Is Jiyong onboard the same plane with me?

Is fate playing a trick on me?

When a flight attendant passed by, I tugged at her arm impulsively which caused her to sway.

“Do you want something, Ma’am?” She asked politely.

What was I doing?  Why do I feel agitated knowing Jiyong is onboard the same plane?

“I’m sorry but, I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation at the back.” I paused.

“Did you say Kwon Jiyong is in the VIP section?” I continued.

The girl looked around before leaning a little bit closer to me.

“Don’t tell it to the others, Ma’am. We’re not allowed to disclose the names of our VIP passengers. Are you a fan as well?” She whispered.

“Sort of. We we’re old friends.” I whispered back.

The flight attendant raised an eyebrow at me. She must be thinking I’m as delusional as them.

I was restless on my seat after confirming Jiyong’s presence behind the curtain separating the VIP and Business Class section.

Should I talk to him?

Should I ask him why he didn’t come to see his daughter?

Why he disappeared all of a sudden?

So many questions left unanswered. But, I already decided to move on. Gon-ah is better off without her real father. Luis is more than willing to take the responsibility of taking care of me and my daughter.

I wanted to wake Bom from her sleep. I know she will push me to speak to Jiyong. She will even drag me from my seat if I refused to see him.

What should I do?

My eyes caught the box of wedding invitations.

Is it really necessary? Do I really have to do this? Should I just ignore the man who caused my daughter sadness.

When I remembered Gon-ah’s pleas to see his father once again, my jaw’s tightened.

I couldn’t bear the sight of my daughter throwing tantrums asking for his father. She was constantly crying during the first week of our return to San Francisco. She wouldn’t eat and just sit in a corner sobbing while holding the stuffed rabbit toy Jiyong gave her before we left Korea.

It broke my heart seeing her like that. I ended up scolding her and cried with her afterwards.

I had to rush her to the hospital when her fever wouldn’t go down after crying almost the whole day. She was insisting we go back to Korea to see her Poppa.

She was hallucinating due to high fever. Calling his father again and again.

The doctor said it was due to emotional stress.

How could a five year old little girl suffer from emotional stress!? She should be playing around without any worries.

Damn these flight attendants. I silently cursed. They wouldn’t stop bugging me. Asking me every now and then if I need something. Or if I’m  comfortable enough in my seat. Offering me this and that.

I had to fake a smile to each and everyone of them. And I thought seating in the VIP section was a privilege. Can’t blame them, though.

I was scribbling some lyrics on my notebook. Headphone on my ears. A sign I didn’t want to be disturbed.

We just finished filming the music video of the new girl group’s debut song in Sydney. I had to fly back to Korea and leave the crew behind. YG needs me in the company immediately.

My grip tightened on the pen I was holding when I felt another presence near me.

I didn’t look up hoping she would just go away.

But she just kept standing there.

I tilted my  head a little bit to the side. The person standing next to me was just wearing jeans.

Shoot!

Another passenger. Those flight attendants must have spread the words about me.

If she was able to access the VIP section, it’s either she’s a VIP passenger or from the Business Class.

I suppressed myself from looking up from what I’m doing.

Something is not right. She should be giggling or fidgeting like the others. I could feel her glaring at me instead. How long is she gonna stand there?

I removed the headphone on my ears and looked at her. I was about to say something harsh but, the expression on her face made me flinched.

Why is she looking at me like that?

Do I know her?

Her eyes were blazing with so much hatred.

“Do you want something?” I asked the girl. She is still pretty despite the deathly glare she’s giving me.

The anger in her eyes was replaced with disbelief. Her lips parted in astonishment. She turned stiff.

Her hands clenched into fists. I noticed she was holding a piece of paper.

She shoved the paper in my face.

It was a wedding invitation. A very nice and expensive one, that is. The bride’s name is Sandara Park. Her name seems familiar. I thought I read it somewhere before.

“I’m sorry, Miss. But we don’t do weddings.” I returned the intricately designed wedding invitation to her.

“Why don’t you ask Super Junior or Shinee instead? I heard they do those kind of stuff.”

I laughed at my own joke. I hope nobody heard me say those things. My temple started throbbing.

“Is that your game, Jiyong?” Her voice was quivering with so much pain. Her words were piercing through my heart as if I could feel her own pain. Why does my chest hurt seeing her like that?

“After giving false hope to my daughter, you’re just going to pretend you don’t remember? That you forgot all about us?”

She was holding back her tears with all her might.

Daughter? Is she saying I have a child with her?

An image of a faceless child flickered in my mind. All I could see was her shiny curly hair.

“Sorry, Miss. But I don’t really know you. I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I apologized to her. She must have mistaken me for someone else.

She raised her clenched hand and hit me real hard. Her tears started falling.

“Maybe that will make you remember what you did.”

She threw the invitation to my face before turning her back on me.

“Keep that. If ever you decided to remember us, you might want to come to my wedding.”

AHHHHH! My head.

I tumbled back to my seat clasping my head with my two hands.

Flashes of memories swirled inside my head. It’s making me dizzy and nauseous. Flickering fleeting memories. Indistinguishable blurry faces. People screaming. Blood. Darkness.

I almost ran to my seat making some of the passengers glanced at me. I tried to hide my tear-stricken face. But, before I could make it to where Bom was, I heard a commotion where I came from. I turned around to see the flight attendants rushing to the VIP section. There was tension among them.

“Where have you been?” Bom asked. Her brows knitted when she saw my face.

“Were you crying?”

I ignored her. My mind was at the VIP section. What just happened?

“Dara, are you alright?” Bom asked once again.

Instead of answering her, I stepped on the way of the flight attendant who just came from the VIP section. Her face was troubled.

“What happened in there?” I asked.

She hesitated before leaning close to me.

“Kwon Jiyong fainted. He’s still unconscious.”

My eyes grew wide. That can’t be true. I was just there talking to him. He was perfectly fine a while ago.

“Dara! Dara! Are you alright?”

Bom was on her feet. I stared at her helplessly.

“What’s happening?” She shook my shoulders vigorously.

“Jiyong.” I uttered. My voice was shaking.

“What are you saying? I can’t understand?” Bom held my shaking hands.

“It’s Jiyong. He’s in  there.” I said incoherently.

I found myself running back to where Jiyong is. Bom was at my heel.

Oh, God! What happened to him?

Jiyong was lying on his seat. A man who appeared to be a doctor was checking his vital signs. I tried to squeezed myself between the people hovering over Jiyong. One of the male flight attendant tried to get on my way.

“Ma’am, please go back to your seat.” He asked politely.

“What happened to him?” I asked out loud. Nobody answered my question.

“Ma’am, this is not your concern. Please go back to your seat.” He asked once again. He tried to pull me back, but I whisked away his hands.

“Tell me what’s happening here.” I demanded. My voice tightened.

“Dara?”

Bom was already beside me. She apologized to the attendant.

“Dara. Calm down. He’s just unconscious.”

“But, I was just talking to him. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have approached him.”

All turned their gaze at me. Even Bom doesn’t have an idea of what happened. Bom’s eyes were telling me to speak no more.

“Did you notice anything unusual before he fainted?” The doctor asked. I felt Bom’s grip tightened on my shoulder.

I got confused. Did I really hurt him that bad?

“His heartbeat is unstable. Blood pressure is a little too high.” The doctor announced. He started injecting an IV drip on Jiyong. His complexion doesn’t look good.

“This is all I can do for now. We have to bring him to the hospital if he remains unconscious until we landed on Incheon.” He nodded at the flight supervisor signaling her to disperse everyone.

I stayed rooted on my spot. We still have an hour to reach Incheon airport.

“Are you related to Mr. Kwon?” The doctor asked when the crowd disappeared except for the supervisor and the co-pilot.

I just stared at him. He handed me something.

“Is this yours, then?”

It was Bom who took the invitation from the doctor. She gave me a questioning look. I just nodded at her.

“It’s kind of personal, Doctor.” Bom told the doctor. He was quick to understand.

“Is he alright?” Bom asked.

“I just gave him first aid treatment. We’ll know about his condition when we see his medical record.” What he said was not comforting.

“I’ll leave Mr. Kwon on your watch. Can you do that?”

“Yes, Doctor. We’ll inform you if we see some changes.” Bom answered.

“It’s my fault, Bom.” I told her once again. “I was too angry. I slapped him.”

“What?!”