I thought the KBS was my only shock for that day, until we reached the building where we were going. After we parked the car outside, looking up, I could not see the end of that tall building. I wondered how people accessed the top floors of that building, but I decided not to ask.
We walked into a lobby, which was clean, well lit and tastefully decorated with lots of live plants. I had no idea you could grow plants inside a building. We walked all the way across the lobby and stopped outside a steel wall. I wondered what we were waiting for, but again, I did not ask.
Then the steel wall in front of us slid open. There were people standing inside the small steel compartment. They all stepped out. My mind started racing. Who were those people and where did they come from?
Before I could process that thought, my sister whisked me inside. Another few people entered and the steel doors slid shut. That is when my nightmare began. With a single jolt that made my stomach turn, I felt like we were floating in the air. I felt unsteady, like I was going to fall flat on my face. There was nothing to hold on to unless I grabbed the strangers in front of me. I did not want to embarrass myself, and more so my sister. I took a Bruce Lee Karate pose, by sliding my legs apart while bending my knees slightly for stability. Then I stretched my arms straight out in front of me, with the palms facing outward ready to grab anything or anyone in case I started going down.
We made it to our floor. I think it was the 15th floor. The steel cubicle stopped with another sudden jolt and again the sickening upheaval in my stomach returned. I prayed not to throw up. I didn’t. The whole trip up, my sister was calmly watching the changing numbers on the cubicle and now she calmly stepped out as if walking into her living room. Why wasn’t she concerned about this thing that made the stomach do back flips? How can she be so calm in such turmoil?
I realized I was the only one harboring such thoughts, so I quickly reorganized my thoughts and matched into the office beside my confident sister. “I am with her”, I wanted to tell everybody, so that they did not judge me independently, but rather associated me with the beauty, confidence and poise that was my big sister walking right there beside me.
Nobody seemed to care, or even notice me.
