June 3, 2019

It was chaos. It was 1 am and everyone was running around making sure they had everything they needed for the trip. My dad was patiently waiting downstairs yelling every few minutes how much time was left before the uber picked us up. Each time he did, I would hear a groan from my brothers' room as he got more frustrated the more time passed.

I only had to finish packing up my toiletries and I would be done packing, still my blood was pumping making me double check everything to sure I didn't leave anything important behind.

As my dad yelled there were 30 minutes left, I picked up my pace. Olivia and Macy were busy looking for a pair of Olivia's shoes that she had thrown in the room during the day, making my room a bigger mess than it was before. 

The real chaos came from my mom. She ran around the house screaming random reminders of things to bring with us. At the same time, she was cleaning the house at the very last minute. She would always do the same for every trip we went to, always.

I heard Youngjin call out to Macy so she would sit on his suitcase and help him close it, but Olivia protested, telling him she had to find a pair of shoes and she couldn't do it alone. Suddenly, the shoes came whizzing by almost hitting her in the head. Apparently, she had left them in his room. Having found the shoes, Macy made her way to his room to help him after making sure Olivia was not hit by the flying shoes.

Finally, I had finished with my suitcases, they were so heavy that bringing them downstairs was a struggle. They banged on the stairs as I dragged them down, making sure I didn't tumble down the stairs at the same time. 

"Nari, pick up your luggage you're going to damage the stairs," my mom screeched from the kitchen.

"Oops," I muttered, already being in the living room and sitting down beside my dad.

The next two to come downstairs were Olivia and Macy with their suitcases in tow. Unlike me, they did it gracefully and without any banging.

Just as my dad was about to yell there were 5 minutes left my brother came running down the stairs.

"Alright, now that we are all here. Make sure you have your passports," my dad patiently said as he stood up from the sofa.

We all reached into our backpacks simultaneously to check, I rummaged around through my headphones, wallet, charger, and other stuff till I found it at the very bottom of the bag. I let out a sigh of relief because if I didn't have it there, I wouldn't know where it was and my mom would murder me. 

Just as we made our way outside the uber arrived.

The ride to the airport was uneventful, we were quiet and tired. My parents were whispering amongst themselves talking about who knows what. I know my dad was excited to go back. It was his home where he was born and raised. I remembered hearing him talking excitedly to my mom the other day about meeting up with some old friends of his.

On the other side, my mom was excited too, but it was more about going on vacation and getting to visit my grandparents. She loved Korea, but she was not so attached as my dad was since she doesn't remember living there. She did miss my grandparents a lot though. After so many years living in the US they decided to move back.

In no time we were in the airport's terminal waiting to be called. The girls and I looked around the stores to pass the time and talked along the way.

"I'm so excited to visit South Korea I've wanted to go for a while," Macy told us as we walked around the airport.

"I'm sure you will like it, I remember when Olivia came last time, she was in love with it, she didn't want to leave," I told her, thinking back to two years ago when Olivia came with my family, "I basically had to drag her to the airport."

"Everything is just so beautiful there and it's very different, it's an experience," Olivia added.

"We'll take you wherever you want to go," I said, giving her a glance, "Don't you worry about that."

She simply beamed a smile at me. Even though it was about 3 am she was still a ray of sunshine.

"So, Nari have you talked to Taehyung recently?" Macy asked.

"Yeah, we've been texting, and we Face Timed last week," I told them recalling the conversation.

"Really?" Olivia turned to look at me surprised. She knew I was not a fan of video calls.

"Um-yeah," I nodded avoiding her look.

"Cool, how is he?" Macy questioned curiously.

"He is good, I think, probably tired from the tour," I replied truthfully.

"I can imagine it must be hard to be traveling constantly to do shows," Olivia frowned.

"They must go home soon though the muster is coming up," Macy remembered as she looked at the calendar on her phone.

"Oh, that's true!" Olivia exclaimed, "The anniversary is coming up."

"We actually talked about meeting up soon since we are both going to be in Seoul," I revealed.

With all the getting ready for the trip I had forgotten to mention that small detail.

They both turned to look at me with different expressions, Macy was curious and surprised, whereas Olivia had a mischievous stare.

"On a date?" she asked with a teasing smile.

I knew this was coming.

"No, we're friends and since we have been talking for the past month, we thought it would be cool to see each other again," I explained trying to defend myself.

"What are you going to do?" she asked again

"We aren't sure we have the date planned but nothing to do yet," I mumbled.

"I'm sure you will come up with something soon," Macy reassured patting me on the back. 

I saw Olivia open her mouth to make a snarky remark when the intercom announced our flight would soon be boarding. We hurriedly made our way back to my parents and brother. Getting closer I saw my brother asleep with his neck pillow on and his mouth open, a little drool on the side of his mouth.

"Good you're here," my mom said as she stood up.

"Where are you going," I asked, seeing her gather her things.

"We got called to board," she answered as she made sure she had everything.

"No Mrs.Seong, it was the first-class passengers," Macy politely said.

"Exactly, us" my mom said with a nod.

I got excited I had no idea we would go on first class. This would make the airplane ride even better. I could already imagine the comfortable seats, the better meals, the quietness.

"Oh my god, you got us first class seats?" I happily exclaimed.
"Oh no honey, just me and your father," my mom cleared up and just like that my perfect plane ride was shattered.

"What?" I muttered a frown forming on my face.

"Yeah, you know we are getting old and we want to be comfortable," my dad explained trying to ease the situation.

"Sure, just forget about your kids' commodity," I whined being dramatic.

"You'll be fine, plus you have Olivia and Macy to be with you," he tried to cheer me up.

"Whatever," I huffed

"Come on Hun the line is almost done," my mom called to my dad.

"Behave," he then said, turning to look at us with a warning look.

"Yes, dad."

As they walked away Macy burst out laughing at my reaction waking up Youngjin in the process.

"What? What's wrong?" he sleepily mumbled.

"Nothing--," I tried answering, but he interrupted me.

"Where's mom and dad?" He spoke looking around confused.

"On their way to first class," I bitterly said.

"Does that mean I'm stuck with you?" he asked, "Ugh, they told me they would take me with them, it's so unfair," he whined like a little kid as he crossed his arms and a pout formed on his lips.

"Shut up already," I snapped, feeling the exhaustion in my bones. 

Half an hour later our section is called, and we go to board the plane. Macy had her camera out wanting to record this trip since not only it was to a place she had been wanting to visit for a long time, but also because she was going with her best friends and it was her birthday soon. Once we were in the aisle of the plane Youngjin kept bumping into me by the third time I had to say something.

"Will you just stop and actually pay attention to where you are going. I swear if you are doing this just to spite me fine mission accomplished just stop or else, got it?" I was tired I just wanted to go to sleep and he kept annoying me.

He stared blankly at me until he took a headphone out of his ear, "What did you say?"

I was fuming I was about to smack him when Olivia pulled me to keep walking.

Finding our row Youngjin was going to place his bag on the top compartment, but as he did, he hit me in the head instead. I heard Olivia suppress a chuckle as Macy gasped.

"Ow!" I moaned placing my hand on the spot he hit with his bag.

"I'm so sorry I didn't mean it," he quickly apologized knowing my mood was not the best.

"Yeah, you did, you are so annoying," I accused him being fed up with the situation.

"Okay Nari, let's sit down and you can take a nap," Macy cooed in my ear as she grabbed my shoulders and sat me down. 

If you hadn't noticed I get very problematic when sleep deprived. Youngjin, who was annoying me by accident was the target for the night. Deep in my reasonable, but dormant mind, I knew he didn't mean it, but the tiredness got to me. They were all aware of that which is why my brother didn't fight back, Olivia held her comments, and Macy was just being her sweet self and helping me avoid further conflict.

Macy sat in the window seat as I sat next to her, then, on the other aisle sat Olivia with Youngjin on her side. They got along together pretty well, not that he didn't with Macy, but he has known Olivia practically his whole life making her someone not only important in my life but his too.

Remembering I promised Taehyung I'd let him know when I took off and landed I took out my phone.

'On the plane ✈️'

Picture attached

-Nari

I thought maybe he wouldn't answer not recalling the time zone he was in, but before I turned off my phone, I received a response.

'Have a nice flight Nari-ah ❤️❤️❤️'

'Say hello to Seoul for me'

Picture attached

-Tae

Seeing his message, I turned off the phone with a smile on my face my anger dissipating temporarily.

Once the airplane was in the air and we are given the okay to take our seatbelts off I put my neck pillow on lean the seat back the most it can go, grab my headphones to cancel out the noise and go to sleep.

A few hours later I wake up with a stiff neck despite the pillow, wiping some drool with the back of my hand. The cabin was dark, Macy was leaning her head on the window fast asleep and Youngjin was leaning his head on Olivia's shoulder also asleep.

"Liv?" I whispered, not knowing if she was sleeping or not.

"Hm?" she hummed turning to look at me.

"Why are you awake?" I questioned we barely slept the night before she surely must be tired.

"I slept for about an hour I couldn't afterwards," she responded with a quiet tone since a lot of people were sleeping.

"Why is that?"

"I'm excited," she said shrugging.

"That much?" I asked, knowing there had to be more behind just being excited.

"Well, yeah, who knows when we'll be able to do it again," she started saying, "And this time it's different," she sighed but seeing my face of confusion she explained.

"We are in college, Youngjin is old enough to join us in our adventures this time around, the three of us are here, it's nice..." she trailed off.

I hadn't thought about the things Olivia said. We were growing up we just wrapped up our second year of college. Time had gone by so quickly soon enough we'll be graduating and taking different paths. Olivia would probably go to law school, Macy was interested in interior design so who know where she will go, and I... wasn't sure what to do yet. I have stuck to my comfort zone for two years and haven't pushed my limits. I wanted to have more experiences while in college and not just social but academically too. I'll have to work on that when we get back home.

"Can I ask you something?" Olivia whispered from beside me.

"You know you can," I smiled at her. She was my best friend, practically my sister there were very few things I didn't tell her and eventually I would cave and tell her anyway.

"What is going on between you and Taehyung?" I thought she would ask with a cheeky smile but she had a serious look.

"What do you mean? We are friends I told you this before," I responded not knowing what she meant.

"Are you planning on something more?"

"Not really, that was not why I started talking to him," I answered honestly.

"Do you like him?" she asked with a knowing look.

"I don't know..."

"Think about it... I'm not saying to act on it, but think about it," she mysteriously said. 

"Why?"

"I don't want you to notice when it's too late, promise?" she said, extending her hand with her pinky finger up.

"I promise," I smiled, linking our little fingers.

"So, do you think you can introduce me to one of them?" she joked.

"Livvy!" I whisper shouted.

It was difficult to say if what I felt for Taehyung was due to me being a fan or if I actually liked him for him. The thing was I often forget I'm talking to someone famous, so I maybe do like him? It's hard to say when we have only communicated through the phone. For all I know he could be a different person in person.

The rest of the flight was boring eventually everyone was awake. The flight attendants gave us our meals and we entertained ourselves watching some movies or talking among ourselves.

At some point dad came to visit us from their little bubble of first class.

Seeing my pouting face, he laughed, "Nari-ah don't be like that."

"Like what?" I frowned crossing my arms.

"Petty," he spoke.

I hmphed and looked to the other side. I wasn't really mad. I was just being dramatic, and dad knew it, so he just chuckled ruffling my hair.

"How is it over there, is it fancy, did they give you Champaign?" Jin desperately asked.

"Yes, and yes," Dad said telling Jin how different it was over there.

"I thought you were going to take me with you," Jin cried, "Aren't I the baby of the house?"

"Youngjin you are 18 you are not a baby besides, weren't you saying the other day you wanted us to treat you like a grown up," my dad told him raising his eyebrows.

"Well yes- no- ugh," Jin gave up slumping in his chair.

"Exactly life is tough buddy," dad told him with a shake of his head, "I came to say we are landing soon. Your mother and I will be waiting for you in the station where you pick up the luggage, alright?'

"Yes, sir," Macy piped up from her spot by the window.

"Are you excited Macy?" Dad asked her, noticing her fidgeting.

"Very much I can't wait to see everything," she gushed as she gestured with her hands.

"Good, I'm sure you will all have a great time," with those words he turned and left to the front of the plane.

When the plane landed, we are all relieved to get off. We could properly stretch out legs and breathe fresh air. Soon enough we had gathered our luggage, my dad got the rented car and off we went to the hotel. On the way I sent another message to Taehyung.

'Your home 🏙'

Picture attached

-Nari

'I can't wait to go back 😫'

-Tae

'Only a few days left 🥳, and you'll sleep in your own comfy bed 🛏,'

-Nari

'I'll also get to see you again 👽'

-Tae

'I'm looking forward to it 🤩'

'We still need to plan what do to 😱!'

-Nari

'Don't worry leave it to me 😉'

-Tae

'Mysterious Tae is back? 🤨'

-Nari

'Yes, and he has a mission 🧐'

-Tae

'Alright then I trust you 😌, I'll talk to you later we arrived at the hotel ✌🏻'

-Nari

Dad parked the car in front of the hotel and gave the keys to the valet. We unloaded the bags and went inside. Checking in there were two rooms reserved one for my parent and one for the girls, Youngjin and I.

"Such a comfortable bed," Olivia sighed as she laid on the double bed, "I am exhausted."

"We can't sleep now it's only mid afternoon," I reminded her. We had to get adjusted quickly to the Timezone.

"Uughhhh," Olivia groaned, burying her face on the pillow.

"You should have slept more on the plane," Macy said, looking outside through the room's window. She was adorable, on the way here she was all 'ooh and ahhs' looking at the scenery and the city of Seoul.

"Mom said to get ready because in about an hour and a half we are going to Aunt Minji's house for dinner," Youngjin told us as he walked into the room and plopped down beside Olivia.

"Thanks," I responded, kicking off my shoes.

"You're welcome Noona," he said with a wink

And there we go again. It was a habit of his to call me Noona when we were either in Korea or around family because they tended to judge him for being disrespectful towards me. Not that I cared. Being raised in the United States made us different from our cousins we knew the rules of honorifics and everything but did not use it. When we were with family, they always scolded us for being disrespectful so we had to reach a middle ground that when we were with them we would do our best to use the correct terms.

"Hey, we get to see Hana," Olivia mentioned with a smile.

Hana is one of my cousins that is around our age. She has visited us before in the US where Olivia met her and when we came two years ago, we also visited her. We got along great.

"You've met her right Macy?" I asked her not being sure.

"Yep, when they visited last year," she responded. 

Sneakily, I made my way to the bathroom. I saw Jin with a towel on his shoulder, but he was focused on his phone and he didn't see me go into the bathroom. Slamming the door and locking it, I heard him yell after me. With a laugh, I discarded my clothes and took a very refreshing shower.

Soon enough, we were all ready to go. We made our way to my aunt's house and had some delicious Korean food. Afterwards we talked to Hana and caught up with our lives.

"How long are you staying?" she questioned from her place on the sofa.

"We aren't sure, but definitely for a few weeks," I responded in English.

We were talking in English since Macy didn't know much Korean yet.

"Great, my classes end in about a week afterwards I am free to go out," she excitedly clapped her hands.

"We'll let you know!" I said,

"It'll be nice to have someone who knows this place better than us," Youngjin told her.

We kept talking about the things we could do when out of nowhere Hana gasped.

"What's wrong?" Macy asked worried.

"I almost forgot... Nari what happened in the BTS concert?"

"Oh, that," I trailed off, "A girl was choking I was there, and I helped her?"

"That's so cool! My cousin is a hero," she squealed.

I saw that Olivia and Macy looked at me wondering if I would tell her about meeting the boys, but I kept quiet. I shook my head, letting them know my decision.

It wasn't that I didn't trust her, but she would get so excited and start asking all types of questions. I was not in the mood for that it was already night and the jet lag was taking effect. 

Finally, at around 9 pm we went back to the hotel. We barely talked as we got ready for bed and in a few minutes, we were knocked out.

The adventure would start tomorrow, for now we will rest.

A/N:

This chapter came out to be slightly longer.

Aww who knew Olivia could be so caring and serious.

What will Tae plan for their hang out?

If I am not mistaken next chapter will. not be in Nari's POV.

Please, always remember to vote and comment. I care about what you guys have to say and what you would like to see in the story! Share this story with your friends, drag them along the journey :)

-Nikki Marie 💜