Jisoo hated airports.  She loved flying.  But airports?  With all the lines, and the crush of people, and the constant announcements on the overhead speakers that you could barely figure out what they were saying?  If there was a way to fly that didn’t involve going to an airport first, Jisoo would take it in a heartbeat.  Because airports were so tough for Jisoo to handle, the others had set up some system that they never told her about where they’d take turns being her airport buddy and helping her get through to her seat.  She didn’t know how they did it, but they always managed to pick the one who helped her in the way she most needed to be helped that day.  Rosé was always caring and sympathized with Jisoo’s situation, listening to her fears and laying them to rest.  Jennie was brash.  She threw her head up and her shoulders back and strode through the airport, daring anyone to impede her progress, carrying Jisoo along in her wake.  And Lisa - airport days with Lisa were the best of all.  Lisa told silly jokes and made up games for them to play, and actually made going to the airport fun.  But, of course, that was before everything changed.  She hoped Rosé was her airport buddy today - she felt like she could use a little TLC.

“Hey Chichoo!”  Lisa exclaimed as they put their bags in the back of the van for the ride to the airport.  “Guess who’s your airport buddy today!”

“Yay, airport!”  Jisoo tried to fake being brave, but inside she just wanted to crawl in a hole.  Here she was, dating the most wonderful woman in the world, and she couldn’t even get through an airport by herself.  Sooner or later, Lisa was going to get tired of it, figure out that she deserved better, and that would be the end of Lisoo.  She wasn’t sure if she hoped that day would come quickly, in hopes that it would hurt less if it came soon, or if she should hope it was as far as possible in the future, so she’d have more time to build up her store of memories of time with Lisa.  Memories that would have to last her the rest of her life.

Jisoo got into the van and waited for the others to finish stowing their luggage and join her.  She pulled her hat down a little further over her ears, and wished that the glasses she was wearing were sunglasses so that she could hide behind them better.  If the others noticed that Jisoo was being quieter than usual, they just chalked it up to her usual pre-airport jitters.  She was glad that none of them asked what was wrong, because then she’d have to lie and say “nothing” - she couldn’t tell the truth about this when Lisa was sitting in the seat next to her, bubbling over with excitement.  And the others could always tell when she was lying, so they’d start pushing her for the truth, and either she’d tell it and ruin Lisa’s day or she wouldn’t tell it and ruin everyone’s day.  She made a mental note to try to talk to Rosé about this as soon as they could get a little privacy, but until then, she just concentrated on being as small and unobtrusive as possible.

******

They got to the airport, checked their bags, and headed for their gate.  Unfortunately, Jisoo was only about 4 steps in when she made a huge mistake - she stopped for just a moment and looked around.  Just that quickly, the other three were swallowed by the crowds.  Jisoo looked around frantically.  Was that Jennie?  Was that Lisa?  Or was that Lisa over there?  That was Rosé, right?  Everywhere she looked she saw someone that looked like one of her friends, but none of them actually were.  And since they were counting on Jisoo having her airport buddy, they hadn’t even told her the flight number or what gate they were leaving from or anything.  And even if she had known, it wouldn’t have mattered because her feet were frozen in place.

Just then Lisa came rushing through the crowds toward her, almost at a full run.  “Jichoo!  I lost you for a second there.”

Jisoo chuckled weakly.  “Yeah, I stopped to look around for a second and just that quick - poof! - you all disappeared into the crowds.”

“Well,” Lisa said decisively as she skidded to a stop in front of Jisoo, “let’s don’t let that happen again.”  Her voice became a little quieter, just barely audible.  “And let’s not let Jennie find out about this.  I already feel bad enough about losing you, I don’t need to add on her being pissed at me about it.”

Not trusting her voice, Jisoo nodded and took the arm that Lisa offered, clinging to the sleeve of the taller girl’s denim jacket like a drowning woman would clutch at a rope.  She didn’t want to get lost again, especially not if Lisa would get in trouble because of it.

Lisa guided Jisoo through the various security checkpoints and to their gate.  Once there, she established Jisoo in a chair and went to a kiosk nearby to buy them bottles of flavored water.  When Lisa returned with the water, she kept Jisoo occupied with various balancing challenges until it was time to board their plane.

When they got in line for their seats, Jennie asked everyone what seat they were in.  They each read off their seat numbers and she thought about it for about half a second before she started ordering everyone around.  “No, that’ll never do.  Lisa, switch seats with Jisoo.  Rosé, switch seats with Lisa.  No, that’s still not right.  Jisoo, you and Lisa switch places.  And Rosé, switch seats with me.  There’s now everything’s the way it’s supposed to be.”  Jennie was in the window seat on the left, with Rosé next to her, then the aisle, then Jisoo, then Lisa in the window seat on the right.

******

They were almost 6 hours into an 11 hour flight and all starting to get tired of being on the plane.  Jennie was under headphones, watching Mean