Seoul

How is it that no matter how early you plan on getting to the airport, you always end up running late?

Something always throws a wrench in things, today it’s an ungodly amount of traffic clogging up the roads from the heart of Seoul to the airport. Nothing would be worse than missing one of the most important flights of your life.

This business trip to Tokyo will almost certainly lock in the promotion to Director of Sales. All you have to do is close a high stakes deal with one of the hottest up and coming Japanese tech companies.

No pressure.

The deal is at the finish line. There are just some final small details that still need to be ironed out ahead of the formal signing ceremony tomorrow. After that though, it will finally be hello, promotion.

You can’t, by any means, miss this flight.

Thankfully, this particular Uber driver is not messing around. The man is on a mission. He’s swerving, speeding, honking, and cursing his way there. How does this guy have a five-star rating?  You close your eyes and grip the oh shit handle to keep from getting thrown around the back of the car since you get motion sick so easily. To make matters worse, you are praying that your suit doesn’t end up a wrinkled mess.

Right as you open your eyes to tell him you’d prefer to live today, the car screeches to a halt in front of the entrance to the terminal.

“Sir, we have arrived. I hope you enjoyed the ride today. That traffic was terrible, wasn’t it?”

You’re taken aback by how polite he is, it’s like he’s been a chauffeur for the rich and famous for years. Before you can respond, he hops out of the car. What is this guy doing?

He opens your door and bows, “Sir, thank you again for letting me drive you today, it has been an honor. Let me grab your suitcase out of the back of the car for you.” You slide out of the car with your briefcase, still stunned. A simple “Thank you” is all you can say as he brings you your suitcase.

“No problem at all, sir. Hope you have a great trip. Seems like you have some important business to attend to with that dapper suit you have on.” You look down at your suit, somehow, someway still as crisp as it was when you took it off the hanger this morning.

“Very important business,” you say as you can’t help but let out a laugh at the absurdity of it all.

“Well, I wish you the very best, sir. Hope it all goes well.” He extends his hand, you shake it.

“Thank you very much, hope you have a great rest of your day.”

The driver bows and then gets back in the car as you put your briefcase on top of your suitcase. So that’s how he hangs onto that five-star rating even though his driving is straight out of Crazy Taxi.

You make your way inside the airport and thanks to your driver, you now have a comfortable amount of time to spare before your flight. It’s of course crowded in the terminal lobby, but it’s not crowded with people getting ready to fly somewhere. Instead, you notice a lot of the people have cameras out. They’re surrounding a group of people trying to make their way to the security lines upstairs, yelling at them and probably blinding them with all the camera flashes.

Well, at least it looks like they have security guards, whoever they are…

Wait…

Is that?

You start to actually listen to what the people with cameras are yelling.

“See you in Tokyo, Ahyeon. Love you!”

“Asa, have a safe flight!”

“I wrote this letter for you, Ruka. Please take it, please please please!”

Holy fuck… it’s BabyMonster. And they’re going to Tokyo. Wait, you’re going to Tokyo. No way they’re on the same flight, right?

Fuck.

By no means are you a huge K-Pop fan. You don’t have the time for that. But like many dudes in their 20s, you have a celebrity dibs list with your friends that happens to include many K-Pop idols. It is extremely dumb and immature, but it makes for hilarious arguments when you all get together. One of your buddies even keeps a stupid spreadsheet of it all. It’s very much like Ross in that one episode of Friends where he has the laminated hall pass of celebrities he’s allowed to sleep with.

Totally ridiculous, yes.

But it is fun. That’s all that matters in the end, right?

There’s only been one woman who has held the top spot on your list ever since that day last summer. Even though you can’t see her, you know she’s right in the middle of that chaos.

That day last summer…

You walk into your buddy Han’s place with a six pack of beer and two pizza boxes in hand for your monthly K-Pop catchup. It’s become a nice tradition where Han shows you new releases he thinks you’ll like while getting to catch up on life.

“For some reason they didn’t throw me out when I asked for pineapple on your pizza. I really wouldn’t blame them if they had,” you joke, setting the boxes down on the kitchen island.

Han laughs. “Fuck you man, it’s good. I keep telling you that it’s normal over here. I know it’s like one of the most hotly debated topics where you’re from.”

“Pineapple doesn’t belong on pizza, there’s no debate. It’s settled science.”

“Settled science?” Han rolls his eyes and continues to laugh. “Okay man, whatever you say.”

You pull two beers from the six-pack, slide the rest into the fridge, then grab the pizza boxes. “Here’s your nasty ass pizza, if you can even call it that,” you say, handing him his box as you both head to the couch. You set the beers and your box on the coffee table.

“I’ll make sure if you ever lose a bet to me in the future, you’ll have to eat an entire pineapple pizza,” he promises, opening his box.

You pop the caps on the beers and hand him one.

“Cheers,” you both say, tapping the bottles together.

“So, bro, what are we starting off with today?” you ask, taking a big bite of your pepperoni pizza. Nothing beats the basics.

Han sets his “pizza” down and grabs the remote. “It’s a group I haven’t shown you yet. I think you’ll like them. This song kind of has those late 80s/early 90s American hip-hop vibes I know you love.”

“It’s really all I listen to now thanks to my dad.” You can’t help but reminisce. “It’s all he would play in the car while I was growing up. That era was all about just having a good time, it’s why I love it so much. None of that serious, deep shit we get from today’s rap.”

“Well lucky for you, that’s exactly what this song is, it’s just a good time and it doesn’t take itself seriously.” Han hovers his thumb over the play button on the remote. “This one is called Hot Sauce by BabyMonster.”

“BabyMonster? That’s their name?”

“Yeah, I know. Just give it a chance.” He presses play.

As the video plays, you can already tell this is right up your alley. This beat is bouncy. Han’s right, it really does feel like that era. The opening chorus sounds so familiar. The pacing, the instrumental. Oh, “It’s Tricky.” That’s the song it reminds you of, your favorite Run-D.M.C. track.

Right as you start to really take a liking to the song, you see her.

The cat-like eyes.

The long black hair.

The facial expressions as she raps.

The retro fit and the headband to bring it all together.

You have never seen someone this beautiful before in your life.

Your brain malfunctions. The reaction you have is almost identical to when Joaquin Phoenix’s character in Signs first sees the alien on the TV. Your body involuntarily jumps, you gasp and cover your mouth, almost choking on the pizza.

Han turns to you and asks, “Are you good dude?”

“PAUSE… pause the video,” you almost shout, trying to keep your emotions in check.

“What? What’s wrong? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Who the fuck is that insanely hot woman?” You point to the TV. Somehow, it’s perfectly paused on a still frame of her.

“Wait, what?” Han looks at the TV. “Oh. Her? Yeah, that’s Asa.”

“Asa,” you dreamily say, mesmerized by her.

“Yeah, I know. She’s both gorgeous and ridiculously talented. Easily my favorite member of the group.”

The couple of years of being in your friend group makes your instincts kick in.

“Dibs. I want her on my dibs list. At the top. Easiest fucking call of my life.”

Han all the sudden gets the biggest smile on his face. “Well well well... how the turntables.”

The number of times the Office is quoted by your friend group sometimes makes you regret introducing the show to them. “What’s so funny Michael Scott?”

“Unfortunately for you, I already called dibs.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Tough luck bro, you can check the spreadsheet. Ian already updated it and everything.”

You get out your phone and check the spreadsheet. It’s there. Han has dibs. “Fuck. Just let me have it instead, who gives a fuck?”

“No,” Han laughs at your demand.

“Come on man, what can I do to make that happen? I’ll do anything.”

Han rubs his chin, thinking. “Hmmmm… you know what? I think there is something you could do.” He opens his pizza box. “If you eat half of this PINEAPPLE pizza, I’ll let you have dibs on Asa.”

It took you less than half a second to decide.

“Deal.”

You promised yourself from that day on it would be the last time you’d ever eat pineapple pizza. Never again.

And now, ironically, you find yourself in the same airport with the woman that caused that to happen. You couldn’t see Asa at all though, thanks to the mass of people going up the escalator with them.

Han isn’t going to believe this. You glance down at your watch. Still time to spare. Seeing enough of a buffer has built up between you and the crowd, you get on the escalator.

It’s tough to admit to yourself that you are a little nervous. You can feel your heartbeat increase and your hands start to sweat a little.

Why are you always like this? Such a stone-cold killer at work, but an anxious wreck when a woman you’re attracted to enters into the picture. You haven’t even seen her yet and you’re like this. Get it together man. The continuous camera flashes while you go up the escalator aren’t helping either. Should’ve brought your shades.

After becoming almost blind, you get to the top of the escalator, seeing the last few bodyguards follow BabyMonster into the VIP security lane. You walk up to the security line entrance and show them your ticket and passport before letting you through.

Having been through this process so many times for business, the routine of putting your bags on the conveyor belt and taking out everything from your pockets to put in the X-ray bins is basically second nature. The last thing you put into the bin is your phone before you look up.

Asa’s right across from you in the other lane, putting her own personal items in a bin. She is wearing a simple black dress that comes up to a collar around her neck.

Just like you, the last thing she put in is her phone. Then she looks up.

Your eyes meet.

No joke, you hear the opening riff of “Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer play in your head like you’re in some early 2000s romcom. It’s the first time something like this has ever happened.

It’s like time has stopped as you stare at each other.

She smiles and gives you a small wave.

What?

Trying to be as normal as you can, you smile back and give a small wave of your own. Something inside you though decides to take a little bit of a risk and do something on top of the smile and wave.

You mouth the word “Hey.”

Her cheeks redden just a little as she mouths “Hi” back at you, still smiling. You can feel your cheeks begin to redden too.

Then you see her start to point to her right and nudge her head that way.

What is she doing?

“Sir, are you okay? I need you to please step through the scanner.”

The song in your head stops. You look at the security officer trying to wave you through, and then you look back at Asa. She gives you a knowing smile and tiny nod, gesturing like that’s exactly what she was trying to tell you.

You give her a small nod and wave of thanks. Her cheeks redden even more, making her way through the scanner in her lane.

Off she went. Never to be seen by you again.

That was your one moment with your biggest celebrity crush. It will never happen again. Something you know you’ll replay an ungodly number of times in your head.

“Sir. Please, you’re holding up the line.”

The normalcy of everything returns. You go through the body scanner, grab your two bags, and shovel your personal items from the X-ray bins back to your pockets before making your way to your gate.

As you walk, you take out your phone to text Han.

Han

Dude you’re never going to guess what just happened at the airport

It’s crazy

Crazy in a good way

I’ll call you once I land in Tokyo

By the time you finish the text, you arrive at your gate. Thankfully, they’re already boarding first-class. Working at your company does have its perks. The gate attendant scans your boarding pass on your phone. “Have a great flight, sir.”

“Thanks! Hope you have a great day.”

You look down at your phone to recheck what seat you have. Aisle seat in the third row, not too bad, even though the window is better. You make your way down the boarding bridge and onto the plane, exchanging basic pleasantries with the flight attendant.

It seems you’re one of only a few people that have boarded the plane in first class. That’s weird, figured it’d be a more packed flight. You put your briefcase on your seat and then lift your suitcase up to place in the overhead bin. While pushing it in, you hear what sounds like a large group of people board the plane. They’re boarding coach already?

You close the overhead bin and look to see the source of all the hubbub.

It’s them.

BabyMonster.

And ALL of their staff.

You watch them fan out among the remaining first-class seats on the other side of the plane with some staff going back to coach.

If the staff is sitting on the other side of first-class and in coach, that means…

You look to your right.

“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer starts playing again in your head before you realize SHE’S right there BESIDE YOU.

Asa’s seat is the one directly in front of yours. And at the moment, she’s struggling to get her suitcase up into the overhead bin. Not letting your sudden spike in anxiety freeze you in place, the chivalrous upbringing by your parents takes over.

“Here, let me help you with that,” you say, reaching down to her suitcase handle.

“No, that’s fine. Don’t worry about it, I…” She slides her hands on the handle at the same time your hand grabs it.

You accidentally end up grabbing the back of her hand.

Oh… fuck.

Her hand is so soft.

Surprisingly, she doesn’t try to move her hand out from under yours. The two of you just stay frozen in place for a beat too long before you let go. “Fuck… I mean… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

Asa smiles at you with a hint of blush on her cheeks, “Don’t worry about it. That felt ni—” She catches herself, sounding slightly nervous? “That was my fault.”

Why does she seem so flustered? Why would someone like her ever be flustered?

“It’s not your fault at all. I should have asked you instead of just going ahead and doing it,” you say, attempting to be as cool as a cucumber.

“I want you… you can do it, if you want.” It’s apparent she’s trying hard not to make eye contact with you for whatever reason. You grab her suitcase and lift it.

Holy shit. It is heavy. No way you can show any sign of weakness in front of her, not a chance. You show the slightest signs of struggle getting the bag into the overhead bin right next to yours. You close the bin and dust off your hands. “There we go. Anything else you want me to do to yo—”

You catch yourself. Really man?

“Anything else I can help you with?”

Asa lets out a small giggle. “No, I appreciate it though. Thanks for putting my suitcase that up there. I really don’t know why it’s so heavy.” She lifts her head and finally makes eye contact with you again. That same guitar riff starts playing in your head yet again, realizing how close she is now. You look down into her eyes, taking in how much more beautiful she is in person. Obviously, you knew she was gorgeous before this, but being so close to her just amplified it to infinity. So close to her that it was almost as if you could—

“Asa! Quit flirting with that cute boy and come sit down, the plane is going to take off soon.”

You both snap out of the romantic(?) trance and look to find Ahyeon, with her head popped above her seat, laughing. Asa turns to you and places a hand on your forearm.

“Thank you again for helping me.”

“No problem at all, anytime,” you say, giving her one last smile.

She lets go of your forearm and goes to sit in her seat beside Ahyeon, leaving you to sit down in yours, dumbfounded at what just happened. Asa touched your arm. What the fuck? Is this real life? And what the fuck was that soul searching stare down the two of you had?

The rest of the passengers board the plane while you contemplate what to do or to say or whatever option you have in a situation like this. Guess there’s nothing you really can do, you’re on a fucking plane.

Wait, did Ahyeon call you cute?

Does that mean Asa… noooo… it can’t. Not a chance.

Stop.

There’s really no point since the plane about to take off. Just go back to what you usually do.

You take out your iPad and put in your AirPods. Since you’ve been dealing with this company in Japan the last few months, you’ve been diving into any TV series or film that involves Japan. During that time, you have already made your way through the essential Japanese directors like Kurosawa, Ozu, Miike, and obviously Miyazaki.

More recently, you’ve been catching up on American-made media set in Japan. You finished Tokyo Vice the other week and absolutely loved it. The next show on the list is Shōgun.

Last night, you downloaded the first half of the season to watch on your trip and blew through the first two episodes. The need to binge the entire series after those first two episodes has increased exponentially. There is so much potential. Now is it better than Tokyo Vice? Maybe. All you know is you need to see what happens to Blackthorne.

You start the next episode, even though your mind is still somewhat distracted by that moment with Asa and how right it felt. You want to feel that again.

No.

You need to feel that again.

Stop.

Just watch the show.

You get as comfy as you can in your seat and put your full focus onto the screen.

After a while, even though the show is amazing, you can feel yourself start to drift. You always end up falling asleep on planes. It’s tough not to with the monotony of flying.

You can’t help but to close your eyes.

You open your eyes.

The air is freezing as you take in the nighttime scene around you. You’re in the middle of a forest, standing on the edge of an onsen, the steam rising off the hot spring water. You turn and see what you assume is a ryokan. Guess you’re on vacation here? You’ve always wanted to go to one. Light snow begins to fall, while you shiver and wrap your arms around yourself.

Wait…

You look down.

You’re completely naked.

Someone starts to slide open the door to the warmly lit ryokan. There’s no way you’re going to let anyone catch you like this. You scramble into the onsen.

It’s scalding hot at first, but as you settle in, it becomes more and more soothing. You find an underwater ledge to sit on and sink in until the water is up to your neck. The cold air against your face provides a perfect contrast to the heat enveloping the rest of you. Now just stay here and relax until whoever that is leaves.

As stealthily as you can, you turn to see who came out of the ryokan.

Your jaw drops.

You can’t believe your eyes.

It’s Asa.

What the fuck?

She’s wearing a white yukata with her hair up in a messy bun. A big smile spreads across her face.

You’ve been spotted.

She walks straight up to the edge of the onsen holding a couple of bottles of water.

“You already got in? You said you were going to wait for me,” she jokes.

You sit there in silence for a moment, staring up at her, your brain not comprehending what the fuck is going on.

Asa kneels next to the water. “You doing okay? You have that look on your face again.”

Coming to your senses, you respond, “I’m… I’m fine. You… you just… you’re taking my breath away.”

“What, in this?” Asa gestures to her yukata. “This isn’t anything special. It’s just what this place provides. Do you think we get to keep it?”

“What?” Might as well roll with this, whatever this is. “Oh… ummmm… I guess we can ask them if they’ll let us.”

“Awesome. Let’s ask them tomorrow before we go on that hike.” Asa place one of the bottles at the edge of the water. “Make sure you drink this, handsome. I don’t want you getting lightheaded in here.” Did she just call you handsome?

You are getting lightheaded. It’s not because of the hot water.

It’s because of her.

Wading towards the edge of the water, you grab and open the bottle before taking a swallow. “Thank you. I’m feeling better already.” As you take another swig, Asa stands back up.

She starts undoing the belt of her yukata…

What is she doing?

…before opening up the front of it, revealing a long stretch of milky skin from her neck all the way to the bare gap between her thighs, like she’s recreating that one scene from Titanic…

WHAT IS SHE DOING?

…and letting it fall from her shoulders in what feels like slow motion.

The yukata drops past her perky breasts…

Her tight midriff…

Her sculpted hips…

And down her luscious legs to the ground.

She’s completely naked in front of you. The falling snowflakes melt as soon as they touch her scorching hot body.

You immediately do a spit-take with all the water in your mouth the second you see her on full display.

“Oh, stop.” She rolls her eyes and laughs. “You don’t have to react that way anymore, you know? You’ve seen me like this plenty of times now.”

YOU HAVE??

She slowly makes her way into the water and you can’t help but stare. You swear she’s purposefully swaying her hips as she steps in to play with your mind even more.

“God, this feels so good. That cool winter breeze too? Oh yeah, I can stay in here for a long time. Especially since I’m in here with you.” She makes her way over to you, her perky tits bobbing with the waterline.

Even though the onsen is hot, her alluring eyes freeze you in place on the underwater ledge. She bites her lip and grips onto your bare thighs underwater. “Hey there, mind if I take a seat?”

Just play it cool. “Yeah, sure, go right ahead.”

Asa straddles you, pushing your now rock-hard cock against your stomach. “Wha—” is all you can muster.

“What, cat got your tongue? That’s too bad, because I was hoping I could use it for this.” She instantly crashes her body into yours, her tits pressing into your chest. Asa runs her hands through your hair and pulls you in until her lips meet your own.

Fireworks.

You melt into her mouth as your tongues intertwine. The dam holding back your insatiable hunger in your core breaks. You can’t get enough of her.

It feels like something you’ve always needed.

Your hands grip her ass, making her moan against your lips. Then, there’s a different kind of heat you start to feel under the water. The heat of her folds starting to grind up and down the underside of your cock.

It makes you moan right back into the passion of the kiss.

You never want this to end.

Sadly, Asa has other plans. She pulls away, glances at your mouth and then back into your eyes.

“Fuck,” you both say at the same time.

“You’re unreal,” you breathe, your hands sliding up to the curve of her hips. Is this real?

Asa gives you a seductive smile and then leans in. Not to kiss you again, but to whisper something in your ear.

“You know, I’ve been having this problem.” She nibbles at your earlobe.

The only thing you can manage with the pleasure overloading your brain is a simple “Yeah?”

“Yeah, I’ve been feeling soooooooo empty.” She grabs a hold of your hard shaft with one hand.

There’s not a chance you’re going to be able to say another word. You can only nod.

“I was hoping you could help me with that again, just like you did last night.” She kisses your neck.

“And this morning.” She starts moving her hand up and down your length.

“To make me feel full.” Her hand moves the head of your cock to the entrance between her folds.

Your body slightly shakes. Asa pulls her head back to stare deeply into your eyes.

“Do you think you can help me one more time?”

You look at her and say, “Yea—”

The turbulence from the plane descending to land shakes you awake from the greatest dream you’ve ever had.

“Pssssst. Hey… do you… do you think you can help me one more time?”

It’s the same soft, sweet voice from your dream. It’s Asa’s voice.

Wait… Asa’s voice?

You rub your eyes, trying to reestablish the reality of being on a plane. She’s leaning around the side of her seat into the aisle with one earbud in, looking at you. “Hey… do you um… mind helping me one more time?”

Dazed, you say, “Yeah… sure… I’d love to.” Love? Why use that word of all words the second time you’re talking to her? “What can I help you with?”

Asa hesitantly points to the ground near your feet. You look down and see a phone right next to you on the floor. “That’s my phone,” Asa says. “With all the turbulence, it fell out of my lap, slid back and ended up right there.” She points again. “Would you mind grabbing it for me, please?”

Oh, that’s all? A lot easier to solve than the problem she had in your dream. You give her a smile and say, “Sure, no problemo.” Problemo? Come on, man. You reach down and grab her phone. Out of habit, you look down at the lit-up screen and see she’s listening to music.

Not just any music.

“Kiss Me” by Sixpence None the Richer.

You can’t help but chuckle at the irony. “How in the world do you know this song?”

“I heard it when I went to America for the World Tour. And for some reason, it randomly started playing in my head today.”

“Same here,” you blurt out before you can process what you’re admitting.

“Oh?” Asa’s cheeks become suddenly flushed. You feel yours turn just as red as you realize what that means.

Throughout the day, the two of you have been hearing the same exact song, for the same exact reason. There’s a long moment of silence as you both avoid eye contact, the phone still in your hand. Her phone.

You break the awkwardness and hold it out to her. “Uhhh… here you go.” She stretches her arm out and clumsily loses her balance. “Ah fuck,” she gasps, trying to grab onto whatever she can to keep herself from falling into the aisle. She latches onto your hand holding the phone and regains her balance.

You both look down at her hand gripping yours, then look up at each other. Asa is the first one to speak. “I’m so sorry.”

“Um… don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re okay. You are okay, right?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks for saving me.”

The two of you laugh before she realizes she’s still holding onto you. “Oh.” She quickly retracts her hand. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay. It felt nice.” Why do you always word vomit at the worst possible times? “I mean, I’m just glad to have been able to help you.” Decent save. “Here’s your phone.”

Asa takes it. “Thank you again for your help. I’m Asa, by the way.” She does a small wave.

You chuckle. “I know.” Then you introduce yourself.

“It’s nice to finally know your name. I forget sometimes that people might actually recognize me out in the wild.”

“More people probably recognize you than you think. They’re just too nervous to say anything. You stand out no matter what room you’re in.” Word vomit.

Asa gives you an endearing look as you feel the bump of the plane landing on the tarmac.

“Oh my god! Can you just give him your number already, Asa.” It’s Ahyeon. She’s apparently been listening this entire time to what she thinks is the cringiest romcom ever.

“SHUT UP, AHYEON!” Asa snaps back, probably a little too loud. The interruption makes her look more confident as she turns her attention back to you. “Sorry about her. Anyways, how long are you going to be in Tokyo for?”

“I’ll be here for just about 48 hours, have to close a business deal tomorrow morning.” You haven’t really even given any thought to the impending biggest deal of your career until now. “What about you?”

“Pretty much the same, we’re just performing on a TV show tomorrow night. Listen… um… would you want to maybe grab some food afterwards or something? I’m going to be pretty hungry with that show ending so late.”

Not needing to think about it at all, you respond, “Yes, I’d love to.”

Asa seems surprised. “Really? Oh, cool. Let me give you my number.” You hand her your unlocked phone and she types her number in. Holy fuck. She hands your phone back. “There, just text me and I guess I will see you tomorrow night.” She gives you a big smile like the one from your dream.

“Looking forward to it.” The plane comes to a stop at the gate as you’re stuck in your seat in disbelief over now having Asa’s number in YOUR phone. Everyone starts getting up to grab their bags, and once again, your chivalrous upbringing kicks in. You stand up before Asa can get out of her seat, you take her suitcase out of the overhead bin, place it down, and pull up the handle.

Asa gets up. “You’re too sweet. Thank you so much.” She places her hand on top of your hand that is holding onto the handle and gently strokes the back of it with her thumb. “You’ve done so much for me today, I feel like I owe you something.”

“You asking me out on a date repays any and all debts, easily.”

“It’s a date now?” she says with a playful smirk on her face.

“Ummmmm…”

“What, cat got your tongue? You might want to get it back, I think you’ll need it on our date.”

You stand there at a pure loss for words.

“See you tomorrow night, then. Don’t forget to text me, okay?” Asa squeezes the back of your hand.

You can only nod as you let go of the suitcase.

She gives you one last smile before the staff and bodyguards wrangle all the members together and get off the plane.

People from coach stream by you as you stand there. You unlock your phone, and seeing her number there in your contacts verifies that somehow, all of it really just happened. It makes you feel strangely confident. It feels like you’re on the path the universe wants you to be on. That all of this is meant to happen.

You grab your bags and get off the plane, knowing exactly what you want to do next. Pulling out your phone, you call the first person in your favorites list, Han.

“Yooo, what’s up man?”

“Hey, bro!”

“I’ve been waiting for you to call and tell me what happened at the airport. What crazy good thing can possibly happen at an airport? You were already in first class, right?”

“Yeah, thankfully. Anyways, things got even crazier on the actual plane. You’re really never going to believe it. First off, I have to say thank you for making me eat that pineapple pizza last summer.”

“What the fuck are you talking about? The pineapple pizza you ate for dibs?”

“Yes.”