Paris to Seoul    

Stepping on the plane felt far more right than wrong. Dasom knew what she was doing was bad. Leaving her parents to believe she was heading to school in London and then going to a place she had not been to since she was a child. But still, for a change to happen, she had to do this herself. She couldn't live in such confinement anymore of them controlling every portion of her life yet ignoring her wishes at the same time and even if this was an extreme method to travel and lie to her parents, it was the only way to send them a message. Her last message of hope that she couldn't live under their control anymore and dictation of how her future should look, even though they weren't a part of her life, they were determined still dictate it and she was going to break that chain once and for all.   

Hearing the message, that the plane had arrived, did fill her up with nerves. But she was soon on board in her yellow uniform and traveling halfway across the world to the destination she had been planning to go to for months now.    

"Would you like a drink?" A stewardess asked.    

Dasom broke out of her thoughts for a moment and looked up to the see a friendly smile, gazing at her school uniform quietly. She had gotten many stares because of it but she had managed to brush them off. At this moment not much was phasing her other than the fact she was going through with this plan.   

Dasom wasn't running away forever, only until her family discovered she wasn't at school and found her. Hoping that it would be long enough for them to see how much she hated that life and wouldn't go back. It wasn't as if she had woken up one day and decided to do this. It had been a build-up of pain and frustration over the years that had hung over her when they wouldn't listen to how much she hated school. One girl could only take so many years of bullying and ignoring how she felt by her parents. And so, this happened when she saw a flight to Seoul one day and decided it was her only option of escape. It had sparked something in her seeing that city name, the need to leave in such a way that would change her drastically.  

"Miss, would you like a drink?" The stewardess repeated. Snapping Dasom back into the moment again. Every time she thought about it this always happened.   

"Uh, some tea would be nice. Thank you." Dasom replied.  

The woman nodded and began to pour out the drink, soon handing it to Dasom but didn't let it go as her grasp tightened around the cup.   

"Are you okay?" She asked.   

Dasom was taken aback but responded politely. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"    

"It's just. That uniform. You do realize you are on a plane to Seoul, yes?" Dasom nodded. "Then your uniform..."   

Dasom looked down at her clothes and forced a laugh. "I forgot to change before I got on the plane that is all." She lied. She knew that her school was famous so of course questions would be asked given it would seem she was heading in the wrong direction.  

Thankfully, the woman simply nodded back. "Oh, I see. I was making sure. If you need anything, do let me know."   

"I will, thank you." Dasom forced a smile before the woman continued and she sighed back in her seat.    

She did feel so on edge knowing she was only seventeen and running away on her own. It was a risk and since she was barely five feet three and had an extremely youthful face for her age, she knew that her being alone would hold many questions for her. Going to London was a different sort of journey because it was so close to Paris and this uniform was known for that destination given the royalty that attended it and the many wealthy families, it was famous. Dasom took off her blazer and wrapped herself in a provided blanket to avoid any more moments like this. She was on edge and though she knew it would hardly stop her, she felt she couldn't take the chance.    

The rest of the journey she tried to sleep. She knew if she sat and thought about this all she would begin to regret it and feel guilty she was putting her parents in this position and because of how they had raised her she had always had a problem with guilt. They had instilled it into her that everything she thought was wrong and they were always right, and she couldn't let herself get into that frame of mind. That girl they controlled was gone and dead. She had to accept this.   

Dasom soon drifted off before waking to the calls the plane had arrived at Incheon Airport and before she knew it, she was standing in the terminal with her suitcase and having a slight crisis that this was all not a dream. She had freedom for the first time in her life and it was a hard concept to grasp.   

Even though she didn't completely have hope in what she was doing; she still did know why she had chosen to come to such a faraway destination. It had been because her parents were from here. It was the only place she knew she could go for refuge or so she hoped. She knew her grandmother still lived here. The only member of the family she knew existed outside of her parents and Dasom had always remembered her grandmother, she had loved her and thought even though this would be a foolish place to go and probably be caught within a week, it was her only option.    

She was seventeen and had never traveled without her parents' control in some way. Therefore, this was a happy medium. The only problem was when she moved over to France at five years old, they had stopped speaking to her grandmother and all she could find about where she lived was an address on a crummy old piece of paper after going through her mother's things when the idea sparked to try and stay with her gran for a while. She had placed all the hope that she still lived in this place and if not, she was in trouble. But she couldn't think of that. Her main problem was going to be the navigation to get there since she spoke to her family in English or French, she would have to use her rusty Korean. It was going to be difficult but good practice at least.   

She looked up to the screen to see the time blaring back at her, eight in the evening. Right now, she would have been settling back into her dorm as her parents thought she was doing but, her body was halfway across the world and trying to keep her spirits for this plan alive.    

I can do this. Freedom is all I wanted and now I have it. I must stay strong. Dasom reassured herself.   

It seemed to work as after sorting out some money from euro to won amongst other essentials for while she was a resident here, she knew the next thing was to get a taxi to take her to her destination, hoping that it still existed. She couldn't help but feel like everything had gone too smoothly. Everything felt so easy, too easy and that was not like her life usually. She hoped it would last until she found her grandmother at least.   

As she went and stood outside, a brisk wind hit her skin that soon woke her up to reality again that she was in South Korea as she heard the familiar language all around her. Dasom looked at the lines of taxis out front. This all made her feel so grown up. She was doing things for herself, even if that was as simple as taking a taxi. She had taken a secret flight here. She didn't even know who she was becoming but it was strange having control over something for once in her life and as she flagged down one of the taxi drivers her palms couldn't help but sweat at the freedom as it still was such a foreign feeling.   

"Excuse me, can you take me right now?" Dasom asked as a taxi pulled down his window. He smiled back and she was glad her Korean still seemed to work. It was so long since she had talked to natives and usually mixed English or French the times she did speak with her parents.    

The man got out of the car and nodded, slamming the door shut. "Yes, I can take you. Did you just land?" He asked and raised his brows as he looked over her school uniform as if she was a lost student.   

Dasom nodded. "Yes, not long ago."   

He pulled his phone from his back pocket and pulled up a map. Soon ignoring the uniform. "Where are you from?"   

"I came from France."   

"France? Did you come by yourself?"   

"Yes." She smiled. Not wanting to think about the fact she had run away from home.   

His brow raised. "For school?"    

Dasom faked a response and tried to divert the topic. "Yes, for school. Is Seoul far from here?"   

The man held his hands to his head, letting out a yawn. "Not too far. Is that where you wish to go?"   

Dasom nodded. "Yes, I have the address in my bag."   

"Okay, while you get that I'll put your suitcase away." Dasom nodded back and followed him around the back to the trunk as she rifled through her bag to find the address.   

She hoped he could read the ink that had faded, as the darkened paper made it more difficult to see the lines.   

At least Dasom felt happy her Korean was still up to par and after getting the paper and smiling to herself at the fact she still knew the language well, the man was about to place her suitcase in the trunk of the taxi when he clicked the button to open it up and there was a body lay in the foetal position inside.    

A scream escaped Dasom's mouth as soon as she saw the body laying all crumbled up in the tiny space.   

The man placed down her suitcase and seemed annoyed more than shocked a woman was lying in the trunk of his taxi. "I can't believe this..." He groaned. Placing Dasom's suitcase out of the way and going to the woman. "What are you doing here?!"   

The woman held still for another moment, before lifting her head swiftly to reveal an ajumma and her eyes pierced open. "What am I doing..." She spat. "What are you doing leaving me like that!"    

The ajumma began to climb out of the car, throwing her black hanbok dress over the side of the car before touching the ground. It was an older lady who brushed her greying locks out of her face and stood up straight. Dasom's eyes blew open out of shock as to why this man had a woman in the trunk of his taxi but it didn't seem to faze him in the way it did her.   

The taxi driver backed up on the pavement as the woman straightened out her dress. She was barely five feet and just came up to Dasom's shoulders but as she stood tall, she suddenly pulled out a brown stick from her sleeve and began chasing the taxi driver.   

"Mother, stop it!" The man yelled as the ajumma threw the stick in the air and begun to chase him around the car in circles as he tried to avoid each motion she swung at him.   

"You think you can leave me for another woman, eh? I'll show you." She yelled. Taking as many aims at him as she could.   

He danced over each hit as best he could. "Mother, I'm not my father!" He added.   

The woman clicked her tongue. "You would say that to get out of this. I knew you were cheating on me, that is why I followed you and here you are with a young girl. I caught you!"    

The taxi driver pleaded. "I'm not your husband. What are you doing?!"   

As the parade kept unfolding, Dasom stood to have no idea what was even happening nor why this woman had been hunched in the back of this man's taxi and now trying to destroy him.   

"Excuse me, can you take me to this place or not?" Dasom interjected.    

The driver placed his hands together as he looked at Dasom from the other side of the car, the woman on the other side as he tried to avoid her. "I'm sorry, my mother gets it in her head sometimes that I am my father and have cheated on her."   

The woman suddenly stopped after a few moments and looked Dasom's way as if what had unfolded hadn't happened.    

"Where do you need to go?" She asked in a calm tone. Placing down the stick for a moment.  

Dasom handed the driver over the crumbled old address over the car nervously.   

"Seoul, where in Seoul? I can't read this writing." He said, narrowing his eyes at the fading script.  

The ajumma suddenly snatched it from his hand at his moment of distraction. "Is this your lover's address?"   

The driver sighed. "Mother, this girl is a customer. I'm not your husband, I'm your son."    

She was about to bite back but her eyes suddenly changed as she narrowed her gaze closer to the paper. "I know this address..."   

"You do?" Dasom gawked.   

She nodded. "Yes, my old friend lives there. This address is at a bunch of small apartment complexes behind the fish market."   

"Where?" The man said looking over her shoulder. "I can't make it out."   

She shot him a glare. "Because you are blinded by love, that is why. But yes, I see the street name and know the number. Who are you?" The woman finally acknowledged Dasom.   

"Uh, the woman that lives at this place is my grandmother," Dasom replied, nervously at the fact this stranger somehow knew this address.   

"Yeongmi?" The woman cackled a deep laugh. "My friend doesn't have the hips to be a grandmother."   

"How do you know her?" Dasom queried. Gathering she was making it up even though that was her grandmother's name and it gave her goosebumps at the thought.   

"She is a friend of mine. I live near the fish market." Dasom had no idea of where this place was or what market she was referring too but this woman truly seemed to believe she knew it and was determined to hold back the paper.   

The man tried to take the paper away, but the ajumma held onto it tightly. "I'm trying to take this girl to her destination. Can we please not do this?" It seemed the guy was used to the strange behavior of his mother, but Dasom still couldn't believe what had just happened.   

"I will take her." She spat. "I don't trust you and your cheating ways."   

"Mother, I'm your son. I'm not your husband! Dad has not been a taxi driver for fifteen years now."   

She sent him a piercing gaze and he soon silenced. After hurriedly putting Dasom's suitcase in the trunk, the ajumma got into the front seat.   

"I'm sorry about that. My mother has dementia and is prone to these strange happenings." The driver sighed just before Dasom closed the taxi door.  

Dasom nodded back in understanding even if she was so confused by the crazy moment. She was tired and half-delirious herself from the flight, so it all made it seem even weirder. She had to follow along as the ajumma held on tightly to the piece of paper and Dasom needed it so she couldn't yet run away. Reluctantly she closed the door, and they set off on this strange journey to only hope her grandmother still lived in this apartment complex this woman claimed to know of even though Dasom couldn't trust what this ajumma was saying, especially, given how they had just met.   

Dasom had only arrived here and such a strange incident had unfolded, and she was simply at the airport, maybe this had been a bad idea after all, and she was too nervous to break out of it.