five days | kim seungmin

01 | new york

park minjoo

"minjoo-yah, wake up!" my mom's voice called from the doorway.

i had fallen asleep after snoozing my alarm, my hand still on my phone.

"no... i want to sleep more..." i mumbled. it was summer break anyway.

"park minjoo! we're going to be late for the flight!"

right! we were leaving for new york today! how could i forget? i propped myself up on my bed.

"i'll be ready soon, eomma." my mom left with my bedroom door open.

i stumbled into the bathroom.

oh god. my hair was a mess.

i tried my best to comb my hair after lazily brushing my teeth. i changed into some comfortable clothes, because the plane ride to new york was going to be quite long.

☆☆☆

my dad dropped my mom and i off at the incheon airport. he couldn't come on the trip with us because he was busy with work.

"bye, dad," i gave him a hug.

"have fun, minjoo-yah," he gave one last wave before getting into his car. i waved back, watching him drive away.

i rolled my suitcase along with me as i followed my mom around. we checked in at the desk, then walked to our designated gate.

i sat on a chair, texting my friend.

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lee chaeyeon

i'm finally leaving omg i'm so exciteddd

chaeyeon: omggg ur so lucky

chaeyeon: i'm stuck here alone :(

haha sucker

chaeyeon: >:(

chaeyeon: hope u have a safe flight tho

thx

chaeyeon: send me lots of pics

kk

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"passengers for gate 98, please begin boarding now," a voice spoke from the speakers in the airport.

"that's us," my mom stood up, gathering her stuff.

we stood in line to board the plane. when it was my turn, i gave the worker my ticket. she smiled as she gave it back to me after ripping it in half.

every time i come to the airport, i'm always taken aback at how pretty the flight attendants are. they're tall, pretty, and nice.

meanwhile there's me looking like a potato in my baggy sweater and leggings. i mean, they're comfy.

i got the window seat, so i stared out at the airplanes near us.

i was very excited to visit the u.s.. i was born in america and grew up in san francisco. when i was nine, i had to move to south korea because of my dad's work. i was going to the u.s. after nine years.

my mom had booked us for a five-day long group tour in the eastern u.s. we would be traveling with other korean families.

i was lowkey worried that i would be the only teenager, because my mom said the last time she went on a group tour, it was full of elderly people. i was also an only child, so i didn't even have any siblings to stick with.

oh, whatever. i pushed these thoughts away.

for now, i just needed to figure out a way to spend fourteen hours on this plane.

☆☆☆

i spent the flight watching movies, listening to music, or just blankly staring at the back of the seat in front of me. i never seemed to be able to fall asleep on planes.

the food was okay. not as good as my mom's cooking though.

☆☆☆

after what seemed like a million years, the pilot made an announcement.

"we will be arriving in jfk international airport in about thirty minutes. we hope you enjoyed the flight here, and that you will visit our airline again."

thirty more minutes. minjoo, you're almost there.

☆☆☆

i could feel my ears popping as the plane got closer to the ground. it lurched forward as it landed in the jfk airport. the plane slowed to a stop in front of a gate.

"we have safely arrived in new york, everyone. once again, we thank you for using our airline. we hope you will visit us again," the pilot spoke. "please wait until the seat belt light turns off. then you may start leaving the plane."

☆☆☆

i tried to pat down my hair that was getting everywhere due to the static inside the plane.

once i felt that my hair was neat enough, i looked around at all the people in the airport.

i was in the u.s. again.

i felt like my nine year old self, when all of my friends knew me as mia park.

one of the tour guides from the group tour agency that my mom had booked from drove us to the hotel we were going to be staying in.

the hotel was pretty nice, and i got my own bed to myself. i was about to text chaeyeon that i had arrived, when i realized that i couldn't use mobile data on my phone. i wasn't in korea anymore.

we had an hour of free time before leaving to times square, so i decided to ask for the wifi at the front desk.

"eomma, i'm gonna go ask for the wifi downstairs," i said as i took my phone and hotel room key.

"don't you know you can just call the front desk using that phone?" my mom pointed to the phone lying on the table.

"oh. right," i'm so dumb. "but i wanna check out this hotel, it looks cool."

"fine. don't go talking to random strangers though," my mom gave me permission.

i left my room, closing the door behind me.