Plane rides would easily go down in Jia’s list of her least favourite things. Cramped spaces, crying babies, ty audio quality, unknown plane food, and not to mention unrelenting restlessness. There was just something about being on an airplane that made it extremely difficult to sleep. She was happy the trip was only 3 hours.

The second Jia gets wifi, she turns on her phone and her email’s her childhood and best friend, Fei.

I hate you for not coming on this program with me. There are only 10 of us and I’m pretty sure one of the guys has been sniffing me whenever he thinks I’m not paying attention. I was so bored on that air plane ride I would’ve dyed my hair that awful green colour you hate if I had the stuff for it. Ugh, in other words, I’m in a horrible mood and I miss you why aren’t you here with me?

She puts her phone away when her teacher calls for her and the rest of her class who had taken a bathroom break before getting their baggage and heading towards the arrival area. Jia sighs and shoves her phone into her pocket, hoping to God that at least her living arrangements are far, far away from this strange group of students.

“Jia, are you paying attention?” the only kind of normal person she knows in the group snaps his fingers in front of her face. His name is Tao and he’s a year younger than her. They’ve talked a few times because he’s seen pictures of her cat over instagram. He’s quiet and doesn’t say much, including on the trip over to Korea.

He just smiles at her and calls to her attention when she starts spacing out, like she usually does.

She wished that she got to sit next to him so she had some sort of semblance of company on the plane. Unfortunately, the kid’s friend actually came on the abroad excursion with him and was sitting aisles away. Jia was stuck sitting next to a girl who wouldn’t stop asking questions about the colour of her hair, her multi-coloured nails, her outfit and the weird scars on her skin.

Luckily, that girl is far away from her now, with her own small group of friends.

Jia’s starting to feel lonely again.

The sea of foreigners doesn’t die down as Jia looks for her name amongst a crowd of people. She has separated from the group and won’t see them until classes start, not that she has a problem with it. It was Saturday and that day was still rather far away.

She’s more than relieved to find out that she’s one of the few students who won’t have a partner staying with her. Although she’s nervous, almost terrified about being in a completely new environment, she’s happy she only has to deal with those people in school.

Jia looks at her phone again, making sure she has the hangul for her name memorized. It would be embarrassing to end up running into the wrong family. She whispers the greeting she practiced on the way over when no one was looking and her eyes scour for her name on a sign. She’s suddenly extremely conscious of her pronunciation and feels gross nervousness taking over again.

And that’s when she sees it. It’s another head of deep black hair, with long hair and bangs, like every other person seems to have around here, but this head is bouncing up and down, waving a sign in the air. Jia wonders how she didn’t see the image earlier and smiles for the first time at seeing her own name.

She doesn’t know where the energy comes from, but once she sees the face of the girl holding her name her pace quickens and she’s more determined than ever to get somewhere in that ing airport.

There’s a small clearing and Jia sees more clearly the girl with her name and two other people, most likely her parents standing behind her. They’re all wearing identical grins and Jia feels a little weirded out, but she smiles back awkwardly anyway and bows towards them.

“Meng Jia?” the girl asks, waving the sign in front of Jia’s face in case she hasn’t seen it yet. At first Jia is a little intimidated by her size, the girl was much taller than her. And she’s slightly annoyed by the shaking paper in front of her face, but upon second glance, she sees that the girl has a cute smile on her face and that intimidation and annoyance instantly disappear.

In fact, the nervousness and anxiety that had been building up since she left home disappears instantly upon seeing the girl’s smile up close. Is she glowing? Jia fights the urge to wipe her eyes wondering if she got high without realizing it on the plane ride over.

“Yes, that’s me,” Jia forces out in her best Korean. She bows again for good measure and tries her best not to look nervous. The other girl laughs, a hardy laugh and Jia wonders if she said anything wrong. She frowns and the other girl stops for a moment to wave her hands, waving the sign again in the process.

“Oh, I’m sorry I wasn’t making fun of you or anything! I just thought your accent was really cute.”

Jia isn’t entirely sure of what the other girl says but smiles and nods awkwardly anyway, thinking that she has the gist of it. The forced muscles soon relax when the taller girl laughs again, and she finds herself smiling and sort of chuckling for no reason.

Her laugh is certainly contagious.

Jia finds out that her parents are just as nice and she appreciates that they’re speaking slower so it’s easier for her to understand. She’s a little ashamed and can feel some people staring, but she finds it easy to ignore them after a few seconds.

As she unloads her things into their van, she sees Tao and his friend (she thinks his name is Yixing) going into another car and nods when Tao waves at her. He looks a little lost when he turns back to Yixing and their host family and Jia almost chuckles, knowing exactly how he feels.

“A friend of yours?” the girl asks as Jia gets into the car. She doesn’t realize she’s still looking into the other direction.

“Kind of,” Jia answers, fiddling with her hands. The foreign car smells kind of weird and despite the big size of the vehicle, the girl is very much close to her face, so she’s feeling a little dizzy. “I don’t really have friends here.”

The other girl looks surprised and shakes her head before wagging her finger. It’s not until then when Jia realizes that the girl is still holding onto the sign with her name.

“Don’t say that,” she says, still shaking her head. Jia wonders if she’s getting dizzy because her head just won’t stop moving and that has got to hurt. “I’m your friend now, okay?”

Jia finds herself smiling genuinely again as the other girl places a hand on her heart, a determined look on her face.

“I’m your new friend, Suzy.”

---

The ride over to Suzy’s house takes a while and Suzy’s parents explain that they’re more out in the country, away from the big city life. They ask Jia if she minds and she shakes her head, she doesn’t mind at all.

As the giant buildings and busy three lane streets start to dissolve into two way lanes and open fields and trees, Jia finds herself falling in love with Korea more and more. It’s not like she’s never seen pictures before, but she’s always wanted to see it in person. She and her best friend were big fans of the country, having slowly been learning the language on their own.

It just so happened that there was an exchange program happening. It was expensive, but Jia saved her own pocket money for this trip, even if she had to go alone.

Fei had to work the summer even though she promised Jia she’d go once the news of the trip came out. Jia was pissed when her best friend cancelled on her, but of course the anger dissipated for she couldn’t remain too angry at her best friend for long.

And soon she finds herself thinking about Fei, her best friend who is at home, probably reading her email and rolling her eyes. Jia had been way too excited about this trip for too long to be complaining about it the second she got off the plane.

She suddenly feels a bit of her sulkiness from the trip creeping back, but when she turns and catches Suzy’s eyes for a brief second and gets that nearly breathtaking smile as a response, she feels it disappear again. So quickly, so easily, and Jia wonders if the girl is magic.

Jia turns away and smiles to herself. Because now, sitting quietly in the back of Suzy’s family van, looking out the window, she really finds no more reason to complain.

---

Suzy’s family owns a cute little house in a small neighbourhood near a park. The houses all look incredibly similar, with little differences here and there with the outdoor decorating. Jia squints as she tries to read the hangul on the sign hanging above their door, but gives up quickly thinking that it probably just said welcome or something.

The second Suzy’s parents park, Suzy dashes out of the car and practically flies up to her room.

Her parents notice Jia staring and they chuckle, Suzy’s father placing a strong hand on Jia’s shoulder, almost scaring her with its sudden weight.

“She’s been so excited about your arrival since our family was given the okay to be your host for your trip,” he explains, chuckling before opening the back of the van. “I hope her energy isn’t too much for you. She’s usually a quiet girl, but when she gets excited like this, she gets really pumped up.”

Suzy’s mother laughs along with him, smiling at Jia as well and she can definitely see the resemblance.

“We’ve all been greatly anticipating your arrival, but Suzy has prepared the most for you.”

Jia isn’t sure if she should be excited or slightly frightened. She finds herself simply appreciating Suzy’s parents slowing down their speech for her and she’s still analysing what they’re saying.

What could Suzy have possibly prepared for her?

Suzy’s father offers to carry all of her bags up to the guest room and Jia can’t bring herself to refuse. She brings her carry on and follows behind a little stiffly and awkwardly, practically waddling.

When she enters the house, she closes her eyes and takes in the scent. It’s weird, like the smell in their car but she finds herself liking it. It would be home for the next month after all.

Suzy’s parents give her privacy as they allow her the time to settle down in the guest room. She dumps her bag onto the bed and s her suitcase. She takes out a few clothes before giving up and lying down in her new bed.

She’s face down in the pillow and she can tell that it was recently washed. Her host family seriously went all out just for her and it makes her happy, way happier than she expected. After a few seconds, Jia turns around to face the ceiling before really taking her room it.

It’s simply decorated, with minimal furniture but an abundance of family pictures. She finds it comforting and she finds herself drowning in a sort of warmth that she’s never experienced before. It seems a little familiar, kind of like that feeling she gets when she sleeps over at Fei’s house and the two are sharing her bed and sleeping together as if it’s the most natural feeling.

And that’s when Jia realizes it’s that bizarre feeling of belonging. And she never expected to be encountering it so early in her trip.

She closes her eyes, thinking she could just unpack after a little nap. It was finally time to catch up on some much needed sleep.

Her thoughts are immediately interrupted however when she notices that her door is a little bit more open than it was before. She had left it slightly open in respect for her host family, but figured if it was anyone from Suzy’s parents to Suzy herself, they would’ve come on in already.

She gets up from her position and stares at the door with concern as it slowly opens up a little more and more.

And that’s when she screams.

A small puff of fur tackles her on her bed and she’s scrambling, unsure of what to do with the small creature. It’s her, sniffing her and head butting her and she wants it to stop, but she doesn’t know how to do that without hurting the small creature. Normally, she wouldn’t really show much restraint but she wanted to be somewhat respectful to her host family by not killing whatever family pet was assaulting her.

And that’s when Suzy barges in, alerted by Jia’s cries with a piece of paper in her hand.

“Damon, stop!” she cries out, rushing over to Jia’s side and quickly snatching up the small dog. The creature barks in her arms, looking at Jia suspiciously.

“I’m so sorry, Jia,” she mumbles, petting her dog and sitting down on the bed where Jia is cowering just a few centimetres away. “She’s not usually like this but I guess it’s my fault for not telling her you were coming. I probably should’ve shown her your picture first or something.”

Jia isn’t sure what to say and her eyes don’t break contact with Damon. She’s only ever had animal encounters with one creature and that was her cat, who would only bat her eyes at Jia if she had food in her hand.

Suzy, realizing that Jia was still a little startled quickly steps out of the room to put Damon down and closes the door shut behind her. She frowns, hearing the little guy claw at the door but knows that it’s best that they were separated for now.

She walks back to the bed and is glad to see that Jia’s relaxed now.

“I’m sure Damon will warm up to you,” she says, smiling widely. “Now, tell me what do you think of our house? It’s really home-y right?”

Jia nods, smiling a little, “Yeah. Thanks again for having me.” She bows again, for probably the millionth time since she got off the plane and she’s starting to feel her back reacting. But the pain is quickly forgotten when she sees a piece of paper in Suzy’s hand.

“Is that still my name sign?” Jia asks, laughing a little.

Suzy shakes her head, “It does have your name but it’s something a little different.”

She bounces a little in the bed as she readjusts her position, causing Jia to bounce a little on the bed as well. She loses her balance for a second but fixes herself before Suzy can notice.

“Ta-da!” Suzy announces proudly, fully revealing the sheet of paper in her hand.

It’s a crudely drawn map.

“Did your little brother or something draw that?” Jia asks right away, looking closely and inspecting the crayon covered paper. She swore the description said that the family only had one child.

Suzy puffs her cheeks as she pulls back the paper and replaces it with her face.

“I made it!” she exclaims, surprising Jia with the close proximity. “I worked hard on it, so I’m going to ignore the fact that you said that okay.”

Jia’s mouth doesn’t close as Suzy goes right into explaining the map. She’s talking extremely fast and all she can pick up is park, pond, stream, trees, school, and town.

“Oh sorry, did you get that?” Suzy asks, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. “I forgot I have to speak slower with you since Korean isn’t your first language. Here, I’ll just go over it again with you but slower.”

The two spend the next two hours going over the hand drawn map and Jia wonders if she’ll be able to finish unpacking before she has to sleep.

The thought is immediately interrupted when Suzy’s mom calls them for dinner and Suzy’s dragging her downstairs.