Chapter 1:

The Beautiful Stranger

♛♛♛

It’s been two weeks since Choi Youngdo went to the States.  Forgetting his feelings for Eunsang was never easy for him to do however, taking a time off from the busy streets of Korea surely helped him.  It was now the time for him to return and face reality again. 

The flight attendant escorted Youngdo to the first class seats.  He then decided to find it on his own.  He checked his seat number again if that was the right one because someone was already sleeping on his spot.  When he turned around to ask for help, the flight attendant had just left. 

“Chogiyo”  Youngdo said to the person on his seat in a silent tone however, the girl didn’t even budge.  It looks like she was in a deep sleep already.  “Chogiyo.” He repeated himself but it’s just no use. 

Youngdo is not really a person who has the patience of a saint.  He slightly kicked the seat to wake up the person and again, the girl didn't move.

“Yah.”  Youngdo said as his patience grew thin.  He kicked the seat loudly this time.  Finally the girl opened her eyes and yawned.  She scanned her surroundings and found an irritated Youngdo before her.  She was slightly pissed off at how Youngdo woke her but decided to just keep her irritations to herself.  The girl controlled her emotions and looked at him with curious eyes.

“Little girl, I think your lost.  That’s my seat.  Go on now while I’m still asking nicely.” Youngdo said with a forced smile. 

The girl sensed the sarcasm in Youngdo’s tone.  She simply sighed and said to him with a forced smile: “I believe this is my spot but since you’re asking nicely and I’m in a good mood today, I shall give it to you.”  She stood up and sat on the free chair near him. 

Youngdo was a bit surprised with her remark.  No one has ever dared to speak like that to him since Cha Eunsang.  He cleared his throat and sat on his spot.  He glances at the girl every now and then and this was not unknown to her.

The girl was not really that patient either.  Her irritation was starting to show as Youngdo kept looking at her and anyone in her position would feel the same.  She finally looked at Youngdo and said to him: “Got a problem?”

Hearing her speak like that reminded him of Eunsang again.  He said to her as a grin formed in his mouth: “Nope.”

The girl just glared back at Youngdo and looked at her watch.  She was excited to go to Korea but the delay of the flight and not to mention, the annoying guy beside her were dampening her mood.

After five minutes, an announcement was heard from the speakers.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome aboard to Arcturus Airlines 635 bound for Seoul.  We’re very sorry for the delay.  The captain has estimated our flying time to be 13 hours and 35 minutes since take off.  Please fasten your seat belt and refrain from smoking while the no smoking sign is on.  Thank you.” 

“Finally.”  The girl said regaining her happy disposition.

Youngdo saw this and smiled at the girl’s reaction. The girl noticed it and asked him again.

“Is there something on my face?”  She said blankly.

Youngdo squinted his eyes and leaned a bit to look at her.  She wore a beanie and glasses that hid a bit of her face.  He observed that the girl was actually beautiful.  He shook his head to say that there was nothing on her face.

“I see.  Then why do you keep looking at me?”  The girl asked him frankly.

He acted as if he was thinking then simply said in the end with a mischievous smile:

“No reason.”   

Actually, the reason why he kept on looking at her was because she had already caught his interest from the moment she opened .  Also, Youngdo finds her pretty amusing to watch.  She was irritated a moment ago, was happy for a second then back to being irritated again.

Hearing his answer, the girl rolled her eyes and turned her back.

“Oh come on, let’s get along.  We’ll be together for 13 hours.  What’s your name anyway?”  Youngdo said with a grin.

“I don’t talk to strangers.”  The girl said with her back still facing Youngdo.

“Well, I talk to strangers.  I hate to break it to you, but you just talked to me a while ago.”  He said with a playful smile on his face.

The girl rolled her eyes again, put on her earphones and ignored him.

Youngdo laughed silently and decided to stop teasing her as he himself was becoming sleepy.

♔♔♔

The plane finally arrived to Korea.  The flight attendant woke up Youngdo seeing that he was the only one there.  He stood up and stretched his body as he had been sitting for what seems like an eternity.  He turned to look at the seat next to him and thought to himself:  the beautiful stranger had already left.

...and there goes chapter 1 ^^