As the hours passed on the plane ride, Jongin and Anna never drew a breath. They talked about everything from film tastes to their childhoods. It seemed like they had known each other for years and Jongin couldn't believe how nice it was to chat with a girl without any pressure of being Kai and a member of EXO. As Anna told a funny story about growing up in a small town in the USA with her precocious sister, he tried to hide his infatuation. Her green eyes lit up as she spoke, so expressive and captivating as she talked with her hands to describe the story. Her words seemed to fade away as he watched her boy. "My gosh, her lips looked delicious... so red and plump," he thought. Forcing himself to focus once more on the story, he chuckled as he imagined what a funny kid she must have been. Her life seemed so normal and he couldn't help but wonder how his life would have been if he had decided not to pursue music and dance.

"Jongin?" she broke into his thoughts, her voice tinged with a hint of worry. "Are you ok?"

He smiled suddenly and looked at her fully in the face. "I'm fine," he said. "I just couldn't help but be a little jealous of your story. It sounds like you and your sister are really close." He wrinkled his nose at his next statement, "I love my family too, but I didn't... don't actually... get to spend much time with them. I can't help but wonder what I miss out on."

She tilted her head at his comment, "Why don't you get to see them much? Work?"

He looked at her sharply, wondering if she really did know who he was, but her eyes seemed innocent as she looked at him with concern."Yes, mostly work. I have to travel a lot for my job."

She shook her head as if she understood, "I travel a lot too but for a mix of work and pleasure. I'm a photographer and so I spend all of my free time traveling the world in search of the next great picture. That's why I'm going to Korea. A friend lives there and told me I should come stay for a while. Evidently, the countryside is really beautiful and full of old palaces and temples. I mostly like to take pictures of scenery and old buildings, so it sounded like the perfect place to visit next." She smiled before continuing, "I'll stay there until I run out of money, then go home and sell some pictures and then do some part-time work to earn more money to travel." Her eyes light up as she talked about her work, the passion for her job fully evident in her expressions. "My favorite place I've traveled so far has been Thailand and Peru. What about you? What's your favorite place to visit?"

Jongin bit his lip as he thought. As one of the biggest stars in the world, there weren't many countries he hadn't visited. However, his trips were always for work and were always packed full of busy schedules that didn't allow him to do much sight-seeing. Racking his brain, he thought of the few places he had actually managed to see in his travels. "Well," he started slowly, "I know it's not that special, but LA is still one of my favorite places to go. I especially love the drive from LA to Malibu. I try to always go up there for the day when I'm in LA. There's a great little place there on the pier that I love to eat at. It's called..."

"Malibu Farms??" she exclaimed suddenly, a hopeful tone in her voice.

"Yes, actually! How did you know?" Jongin replied.

"Because that is my all-time favorite place to eat in all of LA. I go there every trip! I love their organic food- it's so fresh and delicious. Like their hamburgers are so good but my favorite thing is one of their drinks. It's the..."

"Fresh Green Juice!" he finished her sentence. Laughing at her expression of disbelief, he said "That's my favorite too! That taste of sour green apples with kale and stuff. I can't believe you know that restaurant. It's such a small place that not many people go there."

"That's part of why it's so great!" she laughed. "It's so pretty inside and so very modern Californian. But I love to sit outside on the shady side of the building and eat at those small tables where I can look out at the water and coast. It's so beautiful!"

"It is," he sighed. "The weather is always so nice and the rocky shore of that area is just beautiful. One time, I rented a house there for 3 whole days and walked to the pier to eat at Malibu Farms every single day. Ahhh," he closed his eyes as if contemplating the food and atmosphere, "I wish I was there now."

"Normally, I'd agree," Anna broke in quietly, "But at the moment, I'm quite happy right where I am."

Jongin opened his eyes to look at her and found her staring at him, honesty in her eyes as her cheeks flushed a light pink. His heart seemed to literally skip a beat as he took in her gaze. "Well, now that you mention it," he said softly, "I'm pretty happy where I'm at as well." He smiled as her cheeks turned even pinker. The moment seemed to suspend in time, their eyes locked with each other. The noises of the airplane cabin seemed to fade away into the background as they suddenly seemed to move in closer. Jongin reached out and traced her cheek with his finger. Her skin was so soft and she seemed to melt into him, leaning in closer at his touch and lifting her beautiful face towards his. He had no clue what he was doing, but he couldn't stop himself. Cupping her face with his palm, he leaned in further until he could feel her breath against his skin. Her lips parted as he was mere inches away and he lowered his lips to hers. 

All of a sudden, the static of the loudspeaker came on, "This is your captain speaking. We are now preparing for our descent into Seoul. Please prepare the cabin for landing. We'll be on the ground shortly."

Jongin and Anna jumped away at the interruption, remembering once more where they were. Clearing their throats and settling back into their own seats, they starting to bring their chairs to an upright position and gather their belongings and trash. Sparing a glance at Anna, Jongin looked at her and caught her gaze. Her eyes had turned darker, the dreaminess gone from them to be replaced with something deeper.... desire?

Whatever it was, Jongin didn't have time to find out as the flight attendants came to gather the trash and empty beverages of the first class passengers. When all was quiet and the plane started to descend, Jongin knew it was time to speak. "Anna," he started with hesitation, "I know this is crazy, but I know we have a real connection here." He paused, his usual confidence gone as uncertainty flooded him, "Do you think... I mean... would you like to give me your phone number? We could meet up for dinner or coffee or something while you're here in Korea."

She looked up at him with a smile that reached her eyes. "I'd love to," she said.

All he could do was smile in return.

Shortly thereafter, they had exchanged numbers and were walking together to baggage claim. Jongin's bag came through first and he waited as she looked for hers. She had left her carry-on and purse on the luggage cart she had parked at his side. Suddenly, Jongin heard a phone begin to ring. He smiled as he realized it was "Monster," one of his favorite songs that EXO had ever released. Looking around to see which fan it came to, he felt a sudden sense of dread when he realized it was coming from Anna's purse. "But... why did she have that as her ringtone?" he thought in confusion. "I thought she didn't know who I was?"

He glanced around as the ringing stopped and saw Anna making her away across the hall with her luggage in hand. Catching his eye, she smiled happily, her eyes lighting up when they met his. Something must have shown on his face because she slowed as she approached him, "Jongin?" she said worriedly, "What's the matter?"

He couldn't speak and only looked at her as his heart tried to deny she had pretended not to know him. "Was she just one of the sasaeng fans who followed EXO members around on planes to try to meet them?" It seemed his brain couldn't compute what he was dealing with at that moment, but suddenly her phone began to ring again. You can call me monster.....

Her eyes flew to his frantically, panic evident on her face. "Jongin," she started, "It's not what you think!"

But as he met her scared glance and the way she reached out for him, he knew it was exactly what he had thought. "I thought you were different," he croaked, "I thought you actually liked me for me. But you're just the same as all the rest." He took a step back, bumping into her luggage cart.

"Jongin, no! I swear..." she started. But Jongin-- no, Kai--- stepped further away from her, shaking his head as it begin to pound. It was time to accept the fact that Jongin didn't exist anymore. He was just Kai. And that was all he would ever be again.

With that thought in mind, he turned around and exited the airport quietly, hailing a taxi to take him back home... away from airplanes and away from a charming passenger who had been in the seat beside him.