Finally, the intense aroma of the seasoning woke me up.
I had tightly closed my ears and mouth with an eye mask and earplugs, but the smell of ramen was what was actually disturbing my sleep.
I couldn’t block my nose, this was unfair.
‘….’
Rolling the earplugs away, I focused in the dark cabin and heard the sound of wheels rolling and the slurping of noodles being sucked in.
The flight attendant sister with a cart of ramen passed right along the aisle next to me.
I wasn’t that hungry, but the smell was enticing.
I adjusted the chair that was laid flat so that I could recline and returned to a sitting position.
The sound of the wheels rolling closer.
“I’d like ramen too…”
Peeking my head towards the aisle, I asked the approaching flight attendant sister for some ramen.
“Yes, understood.”
The flight attendant sister, after receiving the order, spoke softly in a machine-like voice with a consistent pitch.
Shiyeon was still sleeping well.
Not long after, the rolling sound of the wheels stopped beside my seat, and as soon as the flight attendant sister took out the table to set down the food, a steaming bowl of ramen was placed on it.
Feeling a special guilt over eating ramen on a night flight.
I separated the wooden chopsticks with a loud crack and aimed the chopsticks towards the noodles.
As I slurped the noodles into my mouth, it felt like all the results of the exercise I had done over the past few days were neatly erased.
Still, isn’t it okay?
A special ramen eaten on a plane.
For me, who had been using less soup in ramen while pretending to eat with Shiyeon, it was in some sense a nice stimulation.
“Phew.”
After finishing the noodles and only leaving the broth, I let out a heavy sigh.
I had eaten past the point of fullness, way too much.
After filling my stomach, the smell of ramen wafting around me no longer bothered me.
Still, I shouldn’t fall asleep right after eating.
Thinking that, I didn’t recline the chair and fiddled with my smartphone in the dark cabin.
Movies were fine, but nothing beats games for passing the time.
After playing a few rounds of games until the discomfort faded, at the moment when I was adjusting my chair to recline again.
“….”
As I was making contact with the chair amid the noise, I happened to make eye contact with Shiyeon, who had blinked awake.
Just when I tried to sleep, she woke up; the timing was quite unfortunate.
Shiyeon immediately reached over to tap my shoulder, so I took out the earplugs I had stuffed in and decided to listen to what she was saying.
“Bathroom…”
At that sound, I quickly sat up, shoved the earplugs into my pocket, and gestured for Shiyeon to get up as I rose first.
I passed through the aisle toward the bathroom I had checked in advance and gestured for her to go in after opening the door for her.
With a light sound of closure, the door shut.
“Ahh.”
Standing guard at the bathroom door, I let out a long yawn that I couldn’t suppress.
Was it because I hadn’t been able to sleep even though I tried?
Overwhelmed by sudden drowsiness, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes tightly.
It was certainly an uncomfortable position to fall asleep, but just as my consciousness was fading,
With the sound of the door opening, I abruptly opened my eyes wide.
“Get back to your seat.”
After a brief exchange, I gestured for Shiyeon to return to her seat as I entered the bathroom this time.
The strong scent of air freshener was enough to chase away the drowsiness.
It was quite different from the stench I expected to find in a public bathroom; instead, it smelled pleasant, unlike the school bathrooms back home.
After finishing my business, I washed my hands and shook them in the air once.
I wiped off the remaining moisture by rubbing it against my clothes.
After lying down again on the straight chair and letting out a big yawn, I took out the earplugs I had shoved into my pocket and pressed them into my ears with my fingers.
I properly plugged the charger into my smartphone and, with my belly feeling full, I fell asleep again.
That night on the airplane was spent sleeping on and off throughout the day.
‘Hmm….’
To the faint sound coming through the earplugs, I opened my bleary eyes.
It’s a strange ceiling.
Of course, it’s inside an airplane.
After realizing how much time I had spent sprawled out, my mind quickly cleared as I opened my eyes.
Even if I closed my eyes again, it didn’t seem like I would fall asleep, so I stretched and got up, thinking it might be time to be awake.
‘Guuuuuh-!’
“Phew.”
While internally screaming, I stretched outward, releasing a refreshingly relieved sigh along with a short exhale.
The airplane window, which I had covered with a blanket.
Glancing up at it, I noticed a bluish hue of dawn and the sky.
Not according to local time, but my smartphone was set to Korean time.
According to the time in Korea, it was currently 6:23 PM, which meant there were still 2 hours and 30 minutes remaining until arrival.
When I searched for a time zone calculator and entered the information, the result popped up showing it was 2:23 AM in Los Angeles.
So, it was almost dawn in the sky.
While I was thinking about how amazing the earth is, I looked at the time on my smartphone and thought.
‘Then, it will soon be dinner time, right?’
Sure enough, after a little while, flight attendants started passing through the aisle.
They were asking around about what meals would be served.
Should I call this dinner, or a late-night snack? Or should it be considered breakfast according to local standards?
Either way, it was quite ambiguous, but it seemed like the meals were somewhat calculated according to local time, with Western-style options including yogurt topped with blueberry jam, butter spread with bread, fruits, cream soup, and so on.
As for the Korean food, there was a simple meal like Hanwoo songi porridge that could be easily prepared.
For snacks, there were options like the ramen and triangle kimbap we had eaten at night, and it was quite a wide range of choices.
“Shiyeon, let’s eat.”
“Phew.”
As Shiyeon let out a big yawn without covering her mouth, she lazily raised her upper body.
She seemed to have slept enough, as she immediately sat up without her usual whining.
Thinking about it, since she had slept well at home and then dozed off again on the plane for about three hours….
There was no way the human body would permit more sleep.
“What do you want to eat? I heard there’s porridge and bread.”
“Porridge bread! Hehe!”
Shiyeon combined the two separated words and giggled.
I wonder if it’s around the age where she learns such wordplay.
I can’t remember what was so funny about silly puns like that.
Just looking at the legendary collections from the festival gallery is dozens of times funnier than those puns.
“What are you going to order?”
“Bread!”
“What will you have for your meal?”
As I was carefully choosing the menu from the menu board, the flight attendant sister approached at just the right timing.
At first, it felt awkward to start a conversation, but since Shiyeon’s eyes were fixed on me eagerly, I had to place my order.
“I’ll have the Hanwoo songi porridge, yogurt, and bread.”
The journey on the airplane wasn’t that long in itself, but overall, it was a repetition of eating, sleeping, and needing to relieve oneself.
While it was a comfortable and affluent life, I couldn’t help but feel that it was somewhat excessive.
Once we got off the plane, I nervously followed behind the uncles amidst the widespread murmur of unfamiliar English words.
People with dark skin, which is rare in Korea.
And something smelled like a spicy rotten kimchi mixed with wasabi that stung my nose.
Some of the uncles ahead waved their hands while grimacing.
“Ugh, this smell never gets easier to get used to, no matter how many times I come.”
“What is this smell?”
“You guys are here for the first time, right? This is the smell of foreigners.”
‘Wow, damn….’
“This strange smell….”
As I cursed inwardly, even Shiyeon plugged her nose, calling it a strange smell.
Is this scent what they call normal? Even though it’s a season where they hardly sweat?
With this, summertime would definitely be a no-go.
In any case, we headed to the first hotel for check-in with the schedule set by the uncles.
With so many people, there were several cars.
Given that they were high-ranking officials, they didn’t skimp on taking a single car, so we ended up sharing a ride with one of their cars.
Although lawmakers often look like trash on TV or in news articles, being together like this made them feel just like ordinary uncles without much difference.
“By the way, I heard from Jiun that you are magical girls, right?”
“Yes.”
The uncle who was a lawmaker and had known Jiun.
Naturally, when people gather, they tend to be curious about each other.
After briefly answering the question, the uncle continued speaking.
“Why did you suddenly join our training schedule?”
“Ah… well, that’s…”
Looking back now, it was an absurd reason that led to this trip.
I explained that I was bullied for regularly going to school instead of traveling, and while searching for a good overseas trip, it turned out like this.
After hearing the whole story, the uncle let out a hollow laugh as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Ha, you got teased for going to school regularly?”
“That’s right, have you heard of the term attendance champion?”
“Wow, that’s the first time I’ve ever heard of something like that.”
The astonishment was mutual.
The uncle, who seemed to feel my anger a bit, chuckled and tilted his head while looking out the window.
