CHESKA’S LEGS WERE STARTING to feel numb. It seemed like a decade as she waited to be interviewed by the Immigration officer at Incheon International Airport in South Korea. Her flight was delayed by two hours because of the storm. And she had been standing in line for an hour already. She only have two hours to catch her flight to Jeju Island, and she needed to get to Gimpo Airport for that flight, which would take her less than an hour from Incheon.
She turned on her cellphone and messaged her friend Mikha.
Cheska Reyes: The line at the immigration was taking too long. I might not catch my flight to Jeju.
Mikhaella Gregorio: Just calm down. That line will be over soon.
Cheska Reyes: I highly doubt it. Why did I even think of passing through Incheon? The queue here is way too long. And the airport for domestic flights was even at a different place.
Mikhaella Gregorio: You said it's cheaper if you go to Incheon first. You ask for it, friend.
Cheska prepared for that trip for two months. They waited for the seat sale and the cheapest was at the beginning of autumn. She saved up and prepared for a two-week vacation leave. She was a bit nervous because it was going to be her first time leaving the country on her own. It was her first time dealing with visa processing. It was her first time leaving the country that has nothing to do with work.
She convinced Mikha to go with her but her friend refused. Her ‘meeting’ with Doc Darryl was her personal journey, Mikha said. She must do it on her own. Her friend also said that it was time for her to learn and discover something about herself.
But Cheska felt something was holding her back. First was her delayed flight due to the storm. And then this, the long queue at the Immigration. There were that two people that were deported back to their home country as well because the Immigration felt like they were going to do something bad if they were allowed in South Korea. But she had come a long way. Just a few steps more.
She stroked Doc Darryl's face on the screen of her cellphone. "Just a few hours more and we’ll finally see each other, Doc Darryl."
"Who's that? Kpop?” asked the man behind her in the line. He was sitting next to her earlier on the plane and had said he was going to Seoul to work for his brother who married a Korean.
"No. He’s my boyfriend,” she said proudly. "We will meet here in Korea."
“Weh? Your boyfriend was that handsome? That was an actor, I’m sure. You’re just imagining him as your boyfriend. Filipino women come here to Korea for their favorite actors and those Kpop idols. Trust me, they won't pay attention to you.”
Yeah, great! Sometimes those who easily throw insults were those who were not even on the level of Piolo Pascual or Henry Caville’s handsomeness. And this guy even looked like horses just trampled on his face. Anyway, she may not be really beautiful but at least she was a good person with a good heart. And she also has the right to be liked by handsome men eventhough she was not an actress nor a supermodel.
“Can you not be a party-pooper? What can I do if my handsome boyfriend noticed me? You’re not the one who paid for our flight fare to get here. We will do whatever we wanted to do.”
She would not say that her handsome boyfriend is dead. She didn’t want to get insulted even more. What mattered was that Doc Darryl liked him when he was still alive.
“You don’t have to snap at me like that, miss. Chill.”
“I am chill.” You’re just a dickhead.
“There you go again. Sigh. You would have been my type of girl if you’re not like that. What a waste.”
“Really. Well, you’re not my type,” said Cheska and walked toward the Immigration officer. She would rather be a spinster than be with that kind of man.
She would not let that person ruin her day.
She smiled at the immigration officer with full confidence, praying that he would stamp her VISA. Cheska had a smile of success on her face passed the Immigration. Pulling her hand-carry backpack, she finally went out of the airport.
After buying T-money that she would for train rides, public transportation, and payment to various establishments, she headed to the train station. She boarded the All-Stop-Train that would take her to Gimpo International Airport.
She looked at her wristwatch. “I still have an hour to check in. That is more than enough.”
She took a deep breath and watched the trees that were already changing their colors because it’s almost the autumn season. She really was in South Korea now. She felt like she was on the set of a Korean drama, just like Doc Darry’s description to her about his home country. Just like what she saw in his pictures.
Doc Darryl, I feel like you're getting close to me. Like you’re with me now.
“Next station, Gimpo Airport. Next station, Gimpo Airport,” the voice prompt said.
She noticed an old woman enter the vehicle. She thought she was in her fifties and was carrying two bags of sacks. She was with a tall man who had his shirt’s turtleneck up, covering half of his face.
Cheska stood from her seat and offered it to the old lady. She was getting off the next station anyway.
"Kamsahamnida," the woman thanked her.
The man she was with guided the old lady to her seat. Cheska could not see the man’s face clearly but she noticed that he had a wide shoulder under his black leather jacket. His jeans fit perfectly, showing off his nicely shaped legs and torso.
He has a nice built. It was not Cheska's habit to look at the postures and forms of the men she meet. But there was something that pulled her attention to this man. Nice butt.
She looked up. Now, I am a butt girl. So much for being attracted to someone’s character.
"Kamsahamnida," the man thanked as well in a deep voice.
When she turned around, his turtle neck was now pulled down and she finally saw his whole face. Her world was shaken as she continued to look at the man.
He had a very familiar face.
The face that she sees before she goes to sleep and when she wakes up. The man she sees on the lockscreen and wallpaper of her cellphone. The main reason why she was in South Korea now.
"Doc Darryl," she whispered softly.