"So I guess at the end of the day I take more from my dad's side of the family than Mom's, and that's why I'm so tall," I said, although the sentence spilled out of my mouth sounding more like it was composed of one single word.

"I mean you're tall, but not that tall," Tae Yang said. He fared a lot better after the same amount of drinks as me, but the subsequent hiccup told me he was still feeling it. Further proof, when he stood up he smacked his head with the ceiling. "Shit, why is the ceiling so low? Did I grow?"

I laughed with my face only because my voice was stuck in my throat.

He swayed as he said, "Show me."

"What?"

He scooted to the hallway and raised his hand to his forehead level. I rose to the challenge with shaky legs. We'd been sitting for like three hours, chugging booze as we waited to be deplaned and the whole experience wasn't conducive to taking any firm steps. I helped myself up with the seat and leaned against it as I stood in front of him, measuring my height against his.

I pointed vaguely at him. "Right back at you. You're what, an inch taller than me?"

Tae Yang scrunched up his face. "Damn, you're right."

Like two upturned turtles, we awkwardly shuffled back to our seats and plopped back on them.

Ever since he opened the first bottle, a dam broke that made us spill random trains of thought and go into the oddest tangents. So far we'd covered food faves and dislikes—a topic where each of us had a lot to say—fashion and style, which led me to the issue of heels and how they made me look like a gorgeous giraffe.

"In any case," he continued, sighing as he made himself comfortable again. "If people can't deal with how tall you are in heels that's their problem."

I nodded. "True, and a lot of guys have that problem, actually."

Ah, shit. I shouldn't have moved my head. Everything was spinning now.

Tae Yang snorted. "Then they can wear platforms."

As the words registered I started giggling, which soon became infectious to him. In the back of my mind, I knew the comment wasn't that funny, but if I didn't laugh I'd start crying and I definitely didn't want to do that.

Nope. I just had to keep talking.

"So," I said, pushing my hair back away from my face. "What do you do for a living, Tae Yang?"

What do you know, alcohol really had helped me learn the correct pronunciation of his name and I enjoyed saying it. It felt like an important word. Something I needed to remember.

He cleared his throat a couple of times as he rolled the sleeves of his sweatshirt up. "Uh, musician."

"Ooooh. Music teacher. That's cool." I squinted at him and his clothes that looked like they cost my annual salary, and added that to the fact he was in first class. "You must be rich, huh?"

He choked in his own saliva.

Waving my hand, I said, "I mean, I don't think music teachers make enough for first class. Am I being rude? Sorry, I really am shitfaced now, thanks."

For the first time since we met, Tae Yang flashed a grin so wide I could see all his pearly whites. "We just bonded over a life or death experience so I'll give you a pass."

"In that case I'll come clean." I shifted around on my seat so I could face him, and so no one else in the cabin could hear my big confession. "I'm only in first class because the airline overbooked my original flight and I raised a huge stink about it, but really I'm from the proletariat. I should be flying with the luggage."

"Nah." He shook his head. "You're too tall for baggage requirements."

That made us dissolve into giggles again until someone shushed us. Most people were asleep, preferring a different type of blackout to cope with the passage of time stuck in what could have become our coffin.

Tae Yang reached for the liquor bottle and found it empty.

"I think there's still some beer," I said, grabbing a can and shaking it, which confirmed the opposite. "Bummer, looks like we're dry."

"Blessing in disguise," he slurred. "We're going to regret this tomorrow."

"Of all the things I'll regret tomorrow, this won't be it." Offering my fist to him, I said, "Thanks for making this bearable, partner."

He bumped it with his bigger fist. "Likewise."

With the lull that followed and the lights off in the cabin, I closed my eyes and let exhaustion win. I slept like the dead, which meant that when I came back to the land of the living, everything hurt and it sucked.

Every content in my stomach rose to meet the day and I had to swallow it back, not to spill all the joy all over my seat mate. Tae Yang was still out, sprawled on the seat like he was comfortable in his bed. Damn him and his proficiency in making soju bombs.

Then I realized what woke me up. A flight attendant was making an announcement in Korean. When the English translation came, it was news that we were finally ready to start the off-boarding process to change to a different plane. I braced myself with the armrests for a second, working on my breathing to hold back from puking, before turning to my seat mate and poking him in the arm.

It was like trying to poke a rock, not just because it was solid muscle but also because he didn't react at all.

"Hey," I called out, still poking him, still getting no response. "Tae Yang?"

Nothing.

"Don't tell me you went and died in your sleep after surviving all that?" I asked, leaning forward to check his breathing. Good, air still came in and out of his nose. I clapped in front of his face and absolutely nothing happened.

People around us were getting up and grabbing their things with the same fevered rush of kids after hearing the last school bell ring for the day. I could leave him there and let the flight attendants figure it out, but whether we had truly bonded or I was just hungover, I felt responsible. So I grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him hard enough to make the whole plane quake.

"What? Next song already?" he shouted, bolting upright with such energy that our heads collided.

Points of impact: his forehead versus my mouth.

"Ow!"

As if he weren't hurting too, I smacked him on the shoulder. "Wake the hell up, we're deplaning."

There were tears in the corners of his eyes as he rubbed his forehead and said, "Thanks."

Finally stepping out of the plane of doom and breathing fresh air was a gift from God. I had half a mind to kneel down and kiss the ground, but that would make me empty my stomach so instead, I wobbled across the tarmac and onto a bus that would take us to the new plane. I swayed on my feet while holding onto my hand luggage and a pole.

On the new plane, we were instructed to sit on the same seat as before. As soon as Tae Yang and I took our seats, I said, "Just so you know, I won't wake you up when you land."

He rubbed the red spot on his forehead. "I appreciate that."

I snorted.

After paying careful attention to the safety instructions this time, I blacked out. I didn't even feel the plane take off or hear if they went around handing out food. They could've passed caviar and Crystal for all I cared, I needed a moment of rest and I got it. For ten solid hours.

What woke me up was incessant clapping. After opening my eyes and finding myself on a plane, my mind threw me back to flying in Venezuela, where every time the pilot succeeded in landing, people would clap. And shit, after the trip we'd had, if the pilot stood in front of me I could kiss them.

"Welcome to San Francisco International Airport," a flight attendant said over the speaker.

"I've never heard anything more beautiful," I said.

"Agree, and I play music for a living," Tae Yang grumbled beside me as he took out his phone.

That reminded me, I needed to let my mom know that I was in one piece. I was hoping to not put her through the notion that she might have just been left alone in the world. Hopefully she had continued her streak of not watching the news and she had no idea the ordeal I'd just gone through.

After powering my phone up, a barrage of texts and missed calls from her and everyone in my life told me that, nope, this was happening.

I crossed myself and dialed her back.

"CECILIA MARIA!"

The scream was so loud I had to pull my phone away.

All I could hear as I put the device against my ear again was crying.

"Estoy bien, mamá," I whispered to her. Although I really wasn't. But I needed to get back home and in her arms before I attempted to make sense of my own mortality. "No llores."

"Cómo no voy a llorar si casi te me moriste?"

I grimaced. "No llores porque después me pongo a llorar yo y todavía me falta montarme en un avión más."

And after this, Bryce could stick business trips up his ass.

"Ash, stop crying," Tae Yang said beside me. "I'm fine, you won't need to replace me."

Ah, that must be his girlfriend or something.

Finally, the line of people waiting to leave the plane moved. I grabbed my hand luggage and joined them.

In my ear, Mom said, "Que Dios y la Virgencita te bendigan, mija. Que los angelitos te acompañen."

"Gracias, mami."

Once we hung up, I realized how the last time we talked on the phone from the hotel in Seoul could've been the last. And that made my eyes sting with the heat of a volcano.

"Keep it on the down low, okay?" Tae Yang said behind me, still on the phone. "I don't want a big deal coming out of this."

Mood.

Alas.

"Yeah, I'll text you the time of arrival so you can pick me up. Bring a greasy burger with you."

I hit a stop once I finally came face to face with the entrance to the customs area. A quick scan showed me the way towards arrivals from visa holders like me. It was where the majority of people went and was crammed with hundreds of people who couldn't all have come out of our airplane.

Meanwhile, green card holders and citizens breezed through customs in a matter of seconds.

I sighed. One day I'd be able to join them.

"Where are you headed?" my ex-seat mate asked and I pointed towards the big crowd. He pointed the opposite way.

"Oh," I said. "I guess this means goodbye."

"Yeah, I guess so."

I stuck out my hand. "Thank you for keeping me sane."

A small smile drew his lips up. "Likewise."

He shook my hand and I held on, trying to memorize the features of the guy who kept me company through the scariest experience of my life. I wondered if years down the road I would be able to remember him when he became just a memory.

When we finally let go and turned away, every step I took towards the line for customs impressed how monumental this moment was. I had just survived a waking nightmare. After one more plane, I'd be home.

The layover felt endless after spending two hours in line for my passport to be checked. I almost cried in front of the TSA officer and luckily she was understanding of the situation. When she finally stamped my passport and said welcome to the US, I felt that in my bones.

The flight back to Orlando was in good ol' economy class. I was back to the real world of cramming my long limbs into a tuna can and apologizing to my new seat mates every so often.

Plural, because I was wedged in between two people for the entire flight.

Every time there was the smallest disturbance in the flight, I jumped out of my skin, which meant elbowing the strangers or startling them too. By the time we landed in Orlando and extricated ourselves from our seats, they were both sending evil stares at me.

I was disoriented when I walked out into the gate. The bright Florida sun filtered through the windows like the haze in a dream. Or maybe that was just me. The past forty eight hours didn't feel real.

At the baggage claim area, I wondered if my suitcase had even survived the whole mess. Maybe it was still stuck in Japan or worse, in Korea. I had packed dozens of samples I'd been eager to distribute among friends and Mom, but if I lost them that wouldn't be the worst of the trip.

"We meet again," a familiar voice said behind me.

I startled and when I turned, found myself face to face with Tae Yang.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

He put the black cap back on his head, though it didn't hide his smile. "This was my final destination."

"No way, it's mine too."

I stood there, blinking at him like he was an apparition.

He tapped his chin. "Hmm, some people might call this fate."

"Wow, I didn't think I'd ever see you again," I blurted out, which only made a corner of his lips tilt.

"Why leave it to chance for the third time?" Tae Yang shrugged. "What's your number?"

My jaw unhinged.

I didn't like giving my number to strangers because that usually led to weird messages and worse pics. But he wasn't a stranger anymore. And he'd been so nice after the circumstances made him come out of his shell. Plus, he was one inch taller than me and willing to wear platforms.

With all that in mind, I gave him my number. He rang me from his phone so I had his as well.

"See you later, Cee," he said, picking up the suitcase he must have collected before and walking away.

As he disappeared from view and I was alone again, I told myself, "Welcome home."

SONG OF THE DAY: Europe - The Final Countdown

meet-cute completed