Incognito ✓

Nice to meet you

Reader's POV

Do you believe in miracles? Well, I do. Not because I just celebrated my birthday with a celebrity but because I just got bumped into first class. Can you imagine the surprised look on my face when the staff at the boarding gate told me that now I was to sit in first class? Thank God for masks, otherwise, it would have looked absolutely comical. 

I was busy exploring my little first-class cabin that I almost missed the person who had seated himself in the cabin on the other side. Was it really my lucky day? I get to travel with the Kim Seokjin? Now, this has to be the best birthday ever. I am gonna be a good fan and respect his privacy. Maybe take a few glances but that's all. I'm gonna pretend like he is just another passenger on the same flight as me. That's all. I had gotten the window side seat and was praying for the seat right next to me to stay unoccupied. Don't get me wrong, even though there were only two seats in a cabin with an optional partition in between, I wanted to have the cabin to myself. Was the luxury already getting to my head? I decided to ground myself by remembering the congested seats that I initially had in the economy section. As I was channeling my inside gratitude, The stewardess brought a variety of colored drinks and for a moment I was trying to compose myself. I picked a pink one that screamed bougie and was carefully sipping it to find it was too distasteful that I almost gagged. And to my surprise, that was the exact same reaction on the other side too. Looks like we both were fooled by the looks of the fancy pink drink. His mask was off and I was now 100% sure that he was indeed the person I had thought he was but I didn't let that show.

"Not so tasty as it looks," I said with an awkward chuckle to which he responded with a similar smile.

I placed it right back on the table and immediately set to search for toffee or something in my purse to get the disgusting taste off. I was pleased to find my stash of sweets which I so happily popped into my mouth and offered another one to my co-passenger. He happily accepted with a 'thank-you'. I was busy trying to tame the giddiness in me at this small interaction that I almost missed his question.

"So you are headed to Seoul?"

"Ah, looks like it. Unless they are gonna throw me off at some point." I said with a chuckle.

"Well, let's hope that doesn't happen."

"I promise to be on my best behavior," I said with the most serious look I could muster. Soon we broke into a fit of giggles. The stewardess was back with some warm wet towels, a set of magazines, and some snacks and that had taken away all my attention from the handsome man on the other side. The first class was truly different. You wouldn't even get a cup of water before taking off in the economy section. Since this is gonna be like once in a lifetime, I am going to make every bit of this experience. It must have been 20 minutes or maybe just 5 minutes after take-off and I was already bored. The magazines seemed too boring for my taste and I didn't want to watch a movie since that was what I have been doing at home. What can I do that is exclusive to first class? What did people usually in first class do?  Should I talk to others? Maybe I could get one of those coloring books they get for the kids. 

Ten minutes. Ten freaking minutes was all it took for me to ask the stewardess for a coloring book and some colored pencils and to be bored out of my mind. Would it be weird if I started a conversation with Seokjin? Nah, I shouldn't do that. It would be rude. Also, it did seem like he was pretty busy with- is that a doll? If my memory is right, that looks like RJ, the alpaca. That is so cute. I was gushing over the cute doll that I almost caught his eyes. Thank God, he didn't see me sneaking looks, or else it would-

"Is there something you wanna tell me?"

"W-what? Ah, no. I was just bored out of my mind. So I thought maybe I could talk with someone. I really can't sit without talking. Even when during examinations, I flee out of the hall like in half the time and find a living being to talk to. Sorry, I'm rambling. I will shut up now." I had successfully embarrassed myself in front of a celebrity. Was this the second bad thing for the day?

"I don't mind actually. I was pretty bored myself and I had slept all morning so I can't seem to sleep too."

"That's great. So...what did you see in Malaysia? I really wanted to roam around but my layover was only four hours."

"Oh, I couldn't roam much either. I was here to meet a friend so we just went by some beaches and Langkawi Geopark."

"I have heard amazing things about that place. Maybe I can visit on my next birthday, I guess." I said making a mental note to add Malaysia to my to-visit places. 

"So what do you do?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm an architect. Not the fancy one, but the one who is behind the repeated revisions and night-long hours."

"My brother is an architect too. I do know about all the long hours and hustles."

"Ah, that's nice. So what do you do?" I had asked the stupid question before even I could process it. Seokjin was taken aback for a few seconds but then he was quick to answer.

"I work in the music industry."

While I had half expected him to ask the classic 'Do you know BTS?', this was a good enough answer to gauge the situation. He didn't want to be JIn of BTS right now. But Seokjin, a normal guy in his early thirties; a passenger on a flight from Malaysia to Seoul and was stuck talking to a wacko. So I'm gonna steer right away from anything BTS related and jump right into anything but that. 

"That must be amazing. I know nothing about music so I am gonna skip right over any questions about that." I said with a chuckle. Our conversation soon covered the different cuisines we had tried and how there should be a restaurant kind of place where one could try a different cuisine a day. Was it the relaxed atmosphere or was it the other noises in the plane, he seemed too far for a conversation. But it seemed like he thought the same too because he gestured if it was okay to sit right next to me. And I happily smiled.

*~*