Wrong Luggage, Perfect Curves

Min-jae was on the verge of losing his patience as he stood in front of the airport gate, scrolling through his phone looking for the airport service contacts. In his perfectly organized world, he couldn't imagine that anyone, even himself, could take the wrong suitcase. But then he saw her.

She was tall, graceful, and in a completely inappropriate dress for arriving in Korea – tight, sparkly, it accentuated every curve of her body. Her movements were careless as she tried to stop a taxi. Min-jae found himself staring, then quickly averting his gaze.

"Eyes down, Min-jae," he told himself. In Korea, that's not done. Even when you look at someone, it's discreet, almost imperceptible. But there was nothing discreet about this.

Like a hypnotized man, his gaze returned to her. The colorful bag slung over her shoulder bounced as she walked, and her curves moved as if defying the laws of gravity. How does she even walk with that? he thought, completely baffled.

At that moment, Claire raised her hand to stop a taxi, and her dress stretched tight. Min-jae quickly turned his head, but it was too late. Claire noticed his gaze and raised an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, monsieur! Could you stop staring at my...bag?" she said loudly, interrupting his thoughts.

Min-jae froze like a caught schoolboy. "Bag? Oh... Yes, your bag!" he said suddenly, trying to regain control of the situation.

Claire crossed her arms, looking at him with a mild sense of amusement. "Is this common in Korea? Or are you just...special?"

Min-jae felt his ears turn red. "It's not customary! I mean, it's not customary to stare!" he stammered, realizing how much worse it was getting.

As they exchanged these awkward sentences, Min-jae tried to focus his attention on her suitcase. He needed to steer the conversation away from her...and her appearance. But the more he tried to act professionally, the more striking her style appeared to him.

Claire sized him up from head to toe, clearly enjoying his discomfort. "Well then, monsieur, what do you want? Just so you know, I don't sell autographs."

"Your bag isn't yours. It's my bag! This my...papers inside!" he said desperately, pointing at her suitcase.

Claire followed his gaze to her suitcase. "Oh, non! This is my suitcase! Black, with an Eiffel Tower sticker. See?"

Min-jae took a deep breath, trying to calm his mind. He didn't want to admit it, but this situation had completely thrown him off balance. Instead of dealing with business, he was now standing on the street trying to convince a woman he could barely understand that the suitcase in her hands was actually his.

"Listen," he began, leaning in closer to appear more serious, "let's open the suitcase. If it's not yours, problem solved."

"And what if it is mine? Will you apologize for the rest of the day?" Claire said, crossing her arms again.

Her confidence was driving him crazy. Min-jae wasn't used to women challenging him so directly, let alone women who... distracted him with their appearance. Unfortunately for him, Claire seemed completely unaware of how much she was confusing him.

"You won't believe it until you see," he said, unzipping his suitcase. When he opened it, colorful pieces of clothing, cookbooks, and a small bottle of perfume were clearly visible.

Claire suddenly leaned in, looking at the suitcase with a shocked expression. Then she turned her gaze toward her own suitcase. "Wait a minute... But how? My suitcase... you mean you..." She paused, then burst out laughing.

"You really took my suitcase! Oh, monsieur, this is incredible. A Korean man carrying my dresses!" she said through her laughter, her eyes sparkling.

Min-jae felt his cheeks burn. "I don't carry dresses!" he said quickly, maybe too loudly, drawing the attention of passersby.

Claire looked at him with undisguised amusement. "Then how about this – you take your suitcase, I take mine, and we go our separate ways. Deal?"

But Min-jae wasn't sure. Was it really that simple? Part of him couldn't shake the feeling that maybe... this was some sort of trick.

"How do I know you're really a tourist? Maybe... maybe you stole my suitcase?" he said, surprised by his own words.

Claire paused for a moment, then leaned toward him, lowering her voice. "Monsieur, do you really think that I – a Frenchwoman who barely speaks Korean – would spend hours at the airport just to steal... what? Papers and a suit?"

Min-jae couldn't deny the logic of her argument, but something in her tone made him doubt her motives.

As they stood on the street, Claire suddenly pulled her suitcase toward her, turned, and started walking down the street. "Alright, if you don't trust me, I'll move on. It was nice meeting you, monsieur!"

"Wait!" he called out, following her. "You can't just leave like that!"

Claire turned around, smiling, her hair flowing in the wind. "Who's going to stop me? You?"