Keep it together, Haerin. I repeat this mantra over and over inside my head, trying to keep my cool on my seat and stare out of the window plane. We’re not flying until after ten minutes or so. I stare ahead and remind myself that Sehun picked me up this morning, not as my boss but as a friend, and we drove to the airport together. It’s making me feel things. I feel like a high school girl just from the fact that my stomach is tying into a billion knots because my crush recognizes me. Of course, I stop myself from feeling this way and ignore all the fuzz in my stomach and my melting heart because I am not a high school girl. I am an intern. I am part of one of the biggest production houses in all of Korea and I have a shot in this industry. Even so, it doesn’t change the fact that I have possibly died that night Sehun danced with me under the light of the moon with Ed Sheeran singing in the background. Sehun’s smile won’t leave my head. I can still feel his hand enveloping mine, and the other at the small of my back even though he’s nowhere in sight as of the moment. I can still feel his breath against my lips and his face inches away from mine from that time in the kitchen when he lowly asked me if I was trying out to be his future wife. Oh god. The thought adds more fuzz in my stomach that I actually start to hug it and bend forward. Stop it. Please.

“Are you okay?” I look up and see Mr. Kai looking at me, worriedly. He places his bag on the trunk and sinks on the seat next to me, “Your stomach hurts?” He asks.

“No!” I answer, shaking my head as I give him a wry smile, “I- it’s a habit of mine. I do it before the plane takes off. It helps me not catch jet lag,” I am such an idiot. I want to slap myself and probably throw myself out of the plane later when it takes off. He just gives me a look, like I’m the weirdest person he has ever encountered and I don’t think he’s wrong about that.

“You were almost late,” I say, desperate to change the topic.

“I drove by your house to pick your up but your brother said Sehun already brought you here,” He tells me and I blink at him. What?

“Sorry, I didn’t- I didn’t know. Sehun came unannounced, too. I didn’t know he was going to pick me up either,” I sheepishly give him a smile, feeling bad that he drove all the way from his house to mine to pick me up but I wasn’t there anymore. I hate wasted efforts. Now I feel bad about it.

“Sehun?” He asks with an arched brow, “You call him Sehun now?”

“I- he- we- um,” I stop myself from stuttering and sigh, “He allowed—well, more like commanded—me to call him that when we’re outside the office and not working,” He nods slowly upon hearing my statement and I don’t say anything. Mr. Kai gives me a look like he’s mulling over my answer.

“By the way, we get a day off in New Zealand after the shoot,” He tells me, “I want to spend it with you.” He smiles at me warmly and I reciprocate the action. I honestly don’t know how to feel about him wanting to spend the day off with me. Part of me thinks I should probably join the staff and let the bosses have their own time together.

“That sounds nice, sir,” I say and scratch the back of my neck, “But…I don’t want to be a burden.”

He laughs at me, “Trust me, you’re never a burden to be with. I like your company.” Mr. Kai flashes me another warm smile but this time a little more enthusiastic, “So, go with me, alright?” Before I could answer, Sehun is already standing behind him and giving us both a look. I give him a smile but something feels off. This is how I know it’s not Sehun but Mr. Oh.

“Plane’s about to take off,” He says to Mr. Kai deadpanned.

“Oh. Alright then,” Mr. Kai stands up and then eyes at me, “It’s a done deal, Ms. Kim. No backing out,” He points at me and walks away. What done deal? I haven’t even answered yet. I haven’t gotten the chance to- ugh. Never mind. I let out a sigh knowing that spending the day off in New Zealand with Mr. Kai will cause new set of rumors. It’s like being in the front page of a celebrity magazine, except the article isn’t something to be ecstatic about.

Mr. Oh sinks on the seat next to me and we both fasten our seatbelt. He isn’t even doing anything but I feel tensed seated next to him. My heart is thumping like crazy and if I had a heartbeat monitor intact, people would think I am having a heart attack at this very moment. I want to lean forward and hug my stomach to get rid of the endless fuzz in it. But I would only look stupid and Mr. Oh has seen so much of that already. I don’t glance at him because I can feel him look at me. Meeting his eyes might cause my death before the plane speeds off the runway. I stop breathing and I look out the window. I am more nervous of being next to him than taking off thousands of feet off the ground.

His effect on me is beyond belief. Even his breathing is attractive now? I’m dumbfounded. I start to worry, how am I going to work with him when I’m anxious around him? I should have not danced with him last night, at least not with an Ed Sheeran track or under the moonlight. It’s truly a movie moment I’ll never forget.

The pilot speaks up and tells us that our flight is approximately twelve hours and we will be arriving in Wellington, New Zealand at a specific time I didn’t hear because I’m more focused on watching Mr. Oh untangle his earphones. The attendant reminds us to turn off our phones and where to find the life vest in case of any trouble.

Twelve hours next to Mr. Oh. Twelve. No big deal. I can just hold my breath for the next twelve hours and maybe live to see the next sunrise in Wellington. When the plane takes off, Mr. Oh settles his laptop across him and he starts working. He opens a few documents, reply to a few client e-mails and I just sit there next to him, watching his fingers dab on the keyboard as earplugs cover his ears.

I pull out my own earplugs and decide to listen to some music. I shuffle my playlist and something of Coldplay comes on. Having memorized the lyrics help me take half of my attention from the fact that my heart is beating so rapid and my lungs are constricted at the very moment. I close my eyes and let the music take all my attention away but when I do, I am struck with the image of Mr. Oh’s smile inside my head. That beautiful smile. I don’t open my eyes, I want to, but not really. An image of him laughing plays in my head, the happenings of the night before replays and I can feel my stomach tie into knots. I idly wonder, will this feeling ever stop?

And I can’t get over, can’t get over you. Still I call it magic, you’re a precious jewel. The song seems to be mocking me, too, huh? Well, there’s no way I can protest. I cannot get over him and the way he so comfortably just pulled me back last night and swayed along to the music, his hand enveloping mine, and him generally just being inside my house. And it did feel like magic the entire time he was there, it was as if we were both on a spell last night, we were just comfortably talking and teasing each other but I did occasionally blush and burned red for all the times he called me babe so nonchalantly like it’s an everyday thing and god I wish it was because it sounded good. And he is like a precious jewel, he’s perfect and delicate and rare and beautiful and so much more…his future wife is definitely going to be the luckiest girl in the world. I mean, to have a man like him? It’s more than winning the lottery.

The fact that Mr. Oh is already such a successful man at the age of twenty-two makes him an ideal man. But I find him even more ideal with the fact that he’s as real and as raw as he can be. Guaranteed that he is genuine because he can speak straight and he can say what he wants—sometimes a bit offending—but he knows why he says it and people tend to misunderstand but underneath all the bad words lie a good intention. Mr. Oh isn’t sharp because he wants everyone terrified of him. He’s sharp because he wants everyone to improve themselves and to be more than what they settle for. I didn’t get it before and I thought he was just being an but now I do. I see a good man in him; a man who knows how to care but afraid to show and admit it because the people he cared for the most walked out of his life like he didn’t matter.

I feel so bad for him that I can hear my heart breaking louder than the song I’m listening to. I start to wonder if Mr. Oh is as sad as I think he is, if he’s ev