Missed Flight

"Where am I?" Nitya asked as she slowly blinked her eyes open, to see a man sitting in front of her. She tried to sit up with a jerk, when she saw that the man was still holding her hand and looking at her continuously.

"Don't get up, you need to rest!" The man finally spoke, but a Korean lilt was evident in his tone.

"Hangug-eseo wass-eoyo?" ("Are you from Korea?") Nitya asked in Korean, in order to confirm if she had guessed it right.

"Ne! Dangsindo hangug-eseo wassseubnida?" ("Are you from Korea too?") He replied with surprise, adding "Dangsin-eun hangug-incheoleom boiji anhseubnida!" ("You don't look Korean!")

"Ani ('No')! I am not from Korea, that's why I don't look Korean," Nitya replied in English this time, with a big smile on her face. But the smile was replaced by alarm when she remembered, all of a sudden, that she had a flight to catch. She tried to get off the bed, while trying to keep the anxious tone in her voice to a minimum, as she was in front of a stranger.

"Can you please tell me the time? I have a flight to catch!"

"Um...it's 2:30 pm." The stranger replied after a quick glance at his watch.

"Oh no, I need to rush! I am sorry, we will talk some other day. Thanks for your care, I will be leaving my number with you so that you can send me the bill. My flight is at 3:30 PM and I still need to get my stuff and reach the airport in time." She completed her statement and tried to get down from the side of the bed, but before she could be able to stand up completely, she felt a sharp and intense pain shooting up her left leg. She would have collapsed from the pain if the stranger hadn't held her in his strong arms at just the right moment.

"You need to relax and listen to me carefully!" The stranger was talking to her once again.

"But you do not understand, I need to catch that flight! It's really important to me and I can't miss that flight, I am already late. Can you tell me where my phone is?"

"Can you listen to me once? What date was your flight?"

"11 September, and that is today! I have to go to the airport, why aren't you understanding this simple fact? I have told you already, I will seriously compensate for the bill, and I am extremely grateful to you. I will definitely express my gratitude as well, but not today. Please tell me how far the airport is from here." She asked the stranger, while shouting at herself "WHERE THE HELL IS MY DAMN PHONE...THE JAIKARS ARE GOING TO KILL ME, IF THE KASHYAPS SPARE ME FIRST!? HOW COULD I HAVE SLEPT FOR THREE HOURS STRAIGHT!! REALLY NJ...YOU ARE REALLY REALLY STUPID!"

"You have been unconscious for one day and three hours straight, not just for three hours. And the flight that you wanted to board has already left yesterday. If that is enough explanation for your queries, can you stop panicking now and listen to me carefully?"

"Wha- what did you just say? I missed my flight yesterday? And I have been unconscious for one whole day?!"

"Yes! Don't you remember the incident that happened yesterday?"

Nitya started laughing, totally baffling the stranger, but at the same time mesmerizing him with her cheerful laugh. Then she spoke again, "I think this is my last day on Earth, so let's introduce ourselves to each other in a formal way. Hi, I am Nitya Jaikar- but you can call me NJ. And you?"

"You don't know me?!" The stranger asked in shock.

"Have we met before? If we have, and you are Mukul's friend then I am really sorry. My memory is really lousy when it comes to remembering people. Mukul must have told you this, if he considered introducing me to you- because he is really possessive; you know this, right?"

This statement felt like a dragger in the stranger's heart. He could feel a twisting sensation in his guts, and it was clearly visible on his facial expressions as well. 'What was he thinking? How did he just assume that she must be single without any confirmation?'

He blurted out "Mukul- is that your boyfriend?" This was his question instead of the reply Nitya was awaiting!

It took a few minutes for it to click. "Wait a minute, you don't know Mukul? Then how can you be his friend, and where can we have met before? By the way, he is my twin- not my boyfriend. But who are you then?"

"I am Kim Ji-hun, a singer and actor from Korea, and my stage name is J."

"Oh, okay! I think I have heard the names of your brothers and their friends as well- no, actually I think I have heard their speech somewhere. I don't remember it clearly- but I am pretty good with voices, and I think that is why I was finding your voice familiar. Anyway, I am a research scholar and I am doing my Masters in Ethnography and ethnic origin of Mongolian races. I am supposed to present an important paper in Korea after twenty-five days, but before that I had to present the demo in three days, and now I can't go there. My whole trip and effort might get wasted, that's okay; but my co-author's effort will also be fruitless, all because of me! So can you please help me and lend me your phone once, I am unable to find mine. I know I might be coming off as selfish, but I really will compensate you and I am extremely and deeply touched by your favor; now that I remember what happened yesterday. And judging by you staying by my side, you must have brought me to the hospital. But there was another man as well, how is he? He also needed medical supervision! I hope he is fine as well."

Nitya asked her question, explained her concern and narrated her side of the story, all in one breath. All this while, J had been looking at her without blinking once, as if by blinking, he would end up missing the most important detail about her- and he couldn't afford that. 'He had almost given himself a heart attack, assuming she was already committed; for some reason, he was already feeling attached to this girl, as if he had known her from the very beginning. And how could someone be so kind, she was still thinking about her co-author and the man she didn't even know the name of!'

He handed her his cell phone, "Here, you can make as many calls you want to. But I request you to please listen to me first without panicking, and make your calls after I've said my part."

Nitya looked at him with a startled gaze, and stated "If you ask me not to panic, I am going to start panicking even before you start saying whatever you want to say. But anyway, you can tell me anything. And don't worry, if you are going to tell me that you are very busy and can't stay with me in the hospital anymore, let me clarify that it is totally okay. I will manage to get the tickets for any flight for Korea tomorrow itself, and once again, I am really grateful for your help."

"No! That's not the matter; what are you talking about? I can cancel all of my schedule just to be with you, even when you are totally fine. And right now that you need assistance, no appointment is more important for me. But that's not what I wanted to talk about. Actually, you can't leave tomorrow. Your leg will take a minimum of 15 days to recover. Till then, you can't leave the hospital." J explained the full scenario in a nutshell.

Nitya screamed, "What!!! What will I do now?"

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She opened her eyes again to find herself fully drenched with sweat. What the hell? Again, a new dream with the same guy?!

"Should I talk to Surbhi about this?"

She then made her way to Surbhi's room, stumbling through the dark hallway in a half-asleep daze. She located the door, but stopped abruptly with her fingers still in mid-air to knock at the door. Without saying a word, she returned to her room and sat by the window. She knew she had to keep it to herself; if Surbhi panicked and called Mehul Bhaiya to let him know, the chances of him leaving her alone for the next fortnight would be next to zero!

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