RSL Ch 4

After landing at Incheon Airport, I exchanged contact information with the Co-pilot, Jeon Seong-wook. There was a part of me that wished to quickly make acquaintances at the company to adapt more comfortably. Besides, he was sociable and had a good personality. If I had to make a colleague, someone like him seemed suitable for me.

It was late at night, and the company’s bus was set to depart only after 30 minutes.

“Where are you located? If you’re near Gimpo or Banghwa, I can drive you there.”

“Ah…”

He offered to give me a ride. I awkwardly told him where I was going and asked if it was possible.

“A hotel? You’re still staying in a hotel?!”

I did. I hadn’t even found a place to live in Korea yet. That’s because I fled so suddenly. Han Jae-yi’s frenzy was actually for a reason.

Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook entered the hotel name I mentioned into the navigation system and started driving. Throughout the journey, we exchanged opinions about the recent Russian plane crash. He dropped me off at the hotel and turned the car towards home.

The doorman opened the door in the lobby, pretending to recognize me. Having greeted each other for over a week, he seemed to remember my face. Of course, the uniform played a significant role in that.

“I didn’t see you yesterday.”

“Yes. I was on a layover.”

I asked him if he’d like to join me for a cigarette, and he looked at me for a moment. It was nighttime and I couldn’t see the manager, so I offered again. He didn’t seem to mind and took the cigarette I offered him.

“I don’t like to smoke alone.”

“Haha. Well, I do. I guess you’re a pilot?”

“Yeah. I just came to Korea, so here I am.”

Whenever I smoked, Han Jae-yi was always there for me. Even when it was obvious that he had just smoked with other friends, he would always follow me when I got up from my seat and ask for another cigarette.

Maybe it’s because it’s become a habit, but I don’t like smoking alone. So, my smoking amount, which was originally not a lot, has increased considerably since I came to Korea. I was trying to convince myself that there was a good reason for that.

So to recap, I’ve found a replacement for Han Jae-yi. My feelings for him were mixed with sexual desire, which made me feel ridiculous like I had found a one-night stand.

The doorman, dressed in a dark gray hotel uniform, looked like a college student, well-groomed, and well-built. If I wasn’t in Korea, I might have asked him to sleep with me just to be sure, but here, I’m pretty sure I’d get called to the police.

Suddenly, I thought about how many times I had a sexual desire for Han Jae-yi, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t many because I didn’t know what those feelings were. To be more honest, there were exactly two times.

We met when we were fifteen, when I was very curious about that kind of thing, and we always hung out together. Whenever we were at home watching a movie or looking at some weird magazine together, we would both m*st*rbate once.

He probably thought I was also turned on by the sexy scenes in the movie, but the order was a bit different. My lower abdomen started to heat up when I saw Han Jae-yi’s bulge sticking out from before. Well, at the time, I mast*rbat*d once a day, so I thought it was nothing special and just ignored it.

I remember the second experience more vividly. It was shortly after I graduated from Gimnazium (a German secondary school). The old Volkswagen that Han Jae-yi was driving got stuck in the middle of a country road. It was raining heavily and we only had one cigarette left.

Puddles of rain and the stench of water. I bumped into Han Jae-yi as he got out of the car. He was as clueless about cars as I was, but he popped the bonnet just like he’d seen on TV. Since we didn’t really know what to do, we looked at it for a while, closed the bonnet, and got back into the car. I don’t remember what we said to each other.

Anyway, the rain was falling, and the car was soaked. While waiting for the tow truck, I contacted ADAC. Han Jae-yi, helping himself to the last cigarette, began to smoke freely. At that moment, with wet hair, his silhouette, leaning against the driver’s seat, looked incredibly sexy. Han Jae-yi, at the age of nineteen, often wore a short-sleeved white V-neck shirt, and his not fully developed upper body clung provocatively to the wet shirt.

I remember feeling awkward and saying something like, “Why are you smoking in the car?” as I opened the window slightly for ventilation. The rain had started to seep in gradually. Seeing me like that, Han Jae-yi handed me the cigarette he was smoking, saying, “Come on, you can smoke too,” with a teasing smile.

I made a puzzled expression, but it wasn’t because of Han Jae-yi. It was because of the sudden realization of how amusing my own face must have looked when he approached me at that moment. It was the day I first wondered if I might be gay.

“Thank you. I’ll go in.”

Suddenly, all my self-consciousness disappeared. Perhaps because I was too silent, or maybe my smoking partner got bored and left on his own. Despite suggesting we smoke together, I spent the entire time thinking about Han Jae-yi. Even if he had left, I had nothing to say. I also tidied up and went up to the room.

There was still about a month until the cargo shipped by my father arrived in Korea. I needed to find a place to live before that. After handing my uniform, which still smelled of cigarettes, to the laundry service and taking a shower, I fell asleep.

There were no flights for the next four days. Considering it a good opportunity, I went to look for a property. Not knowing how to find a place, I called the only friend I had in Korea, Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook.

Feeling like I was bothering him, I asked various questions. Despite that, he coincidentally mentioned that he also had no flights today and offered to go with me. Was this what friendship felt like? I was starting to like Korea a bit more.

“Please get in.”

“Thank you. You probably want to rest since it’s your off day.”

“I don’t have kids yet, so I still have this freedom. Won’t be the case next year. Haha.”

He mentioned that his wife was five months pregnant. He drove skillfully. Watching him, I thought maybe I should buy a car, but for now, I wanted to focus on finding a place to live.

It turned out he really had a real estate contact. Mr. Jeon pointed to me and said to the real estate agent, “This gentleman hasn’t been to Korea for so long that he doesn’t know much, so please find him a good house.”

I was hoping I wouldn’t get scammed, but I found an unexpected group of helpers and found a house in half a day. The speed of the process was unbelievable. In Germany, it would have taken me a week just to get an appointment to see the house. If I could have found a place so quickly, I wouldn’t have gone to a hotel. Thinking in line with German social norms, I ended up spending money unnecessarily.

As a gesture of gratitude, I offered to buy dinner for Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook. Upon hearing that, he grabbed my hand and took me to a restaurant.

“You haven’t tried this, have you?”

I was shocked after using the search and translation functions to find the meaning of the food called Seonji. I was shocked to find that they served a variety of dishes, including a meat soup. He suggested I order that if I wasn’t feeling adventurous.

“Well, let’s give it a shot.”

I’ve been disconnected from Korea since I was eight years old. It was also a country I never wanted to visit until I flew back six years ago. Every time Han Jae-yi flew into Korea, he asked me to come with him. Each time I declined, but he respected my wishes and never asked me again. It was ironic to think about how I, who had never wanted to visit Korea, ended up coming here first when I was sad.

“Did you sign a five-year contract?”

“No, it’s three years.”

“Wow, that’s short. Will you go back to Germany afterward?”

“No, the conditions didn’t come in any better.”

Technically, I am a foreign employee. This was not the case with Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook, who was a Korean national and joined the airline as a lifetime employee. Foreign captains earn more money than their Korean counterparts, but their contracts are shorter. I knew that if I didn’t renew my contract after three years, I would have to find a new job. Nevertheless, I signed the contract without hesitation. That’s how desperate I was.

“When is your next flight? Do we have any overlapping schedules?”

He pulled out his phone and checked his schedule. I had one day of standby tomorrow, and I was scheduled for Frankfurt three days later. I would be flying an A380 for the first time in a long time.

“We don’t have any flights together this month, but we overlap about once a month. Airbus tends to rotate a small number of crews.”

I considered it fortunate. On the return to Incheon, I let him handle the landing, and his skills were decent. It wasn’t the perfect landing that Korean pilots jokingly referred to as the “perilla leaf landing,” but it was good enough. I wanted to fly with him more often.

“Do they have house parties in Korea too?”

“Oh, housewarming parties? Yes, they do. Will you have one?”

“Yes, once my luggage arrives. Until then, I need to meet a few more people.”

“You’ll make friends quickly. The rumor has already spread that a good-looking unmarried captain has arrived.”

“That feels good.”

“Right, hahaha.”

Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook had the skill to make people feel at ease. I considered myself lucky to have my first flight with him. I wanted to experience some luck in life, something like happiness obtained by chance rather than through effort.

After finishing the meal, he dropped me off at the hotel. The move was scheduled for two days later. Moving was just about getting my body in; all I had to do was load three bags onto a taxi from the hotel.

The house I signed for was a villa, and it was brand new. With no substantial amount in Korean won, I paid a deposit and increased the monthly rent. The landlord was delighted with my offer, and we stamped the deal right away. That’s how I got the house.

I ordered furniture online. How could they deliver so quickly? And with a free delivery fee. Should I give a separate tip to the delivery person? Everything was confusing.

I also sent a message to Co-pilot Jeon Seong-wook. He replied with a ‘Welcome to Korea’ and an emoji waving its hand, saying that it was his usual style.

 I boarded the bus heading to the airport for my next flight.

Honestly, my mind had been unsettled since yesterday. I had to land in Frankfurt, the place I left hastily. A three-day layover seemed too long. Even though it was a journey that Han Jae-yi wouldn’t be on, I couldn’t help but feel restless.

Could it be that he misses me?

Oh, I leaned back on the bus seat and closed my eyes.