The last week of July going into August was always the worse week of the summer. Sierra shifted uncomfortably on the hot, sticky leather seats of the taxi. It felt hotter inside of the car than outside, but she wasn't sure if she should complain to a complete stranger about air conditioning. Besides, she was more than sure it was nice and cool inside of the airport. Though the car reeked of cigarettes and stale beer, her mind was a million miles away — she'd be attending a concert with her best friend in just a few days.

The thought made Sierra let out a little squeal that sounded like someone releasing a quick spurt of helium from a balloon, which made the cab driver jump and the car swerved, nearly hitting another. “Are you okay miss?” His eyes caught hers in the rear view mirror and she meekly nodded, embarrassed. The man chuckled softly and returned his gaze to the highway ahead of them. Unable to restrain herself, she took out her phone and quickly tapped out a message:
 

omg i think i just gave my cab driver a ing heart attack

She waited a few moments before her phone chimed and vibrated, alerting her that she'd received a reply. “Wut. How?” Sierra giggled to herself and explained. The car rolled to a stop and the cab driver turned around, clearing his throat loudly when she didn't automatically look up to acknowledge him.

“That will be...,” he turned back to his meter and called out the amount she owed him. It was more than the fare calculator quoted her online, but she could stand to spare the few extra dollars. She all but jumped out of the car, practically shaking with anticipation as she pulled the suitcase's strap over her shoulder and went inside of the building.

The smell of food and sanitizers hung in the air heavily, feeling so much unlike the warm and cozy room she had back home. Though the smell of an airport wasn't new to her, experiencing it all on her own was. She usually had someone with her, but today was her first step out into the world.

She was free to do as she pleased now.

Checking her bag took forever, solely because someone deliberately ignored the common airport standards and insisted on bringing most of the things banned by new policies. “I wonder where they are?”

She turned her head towards the sound of the voice she'd heard. Two women with magazines chattered excitedly like chipmunks looking for the lost treasure cove of acorns. It wasn't unheard of for celebrities to pass through Atlanta's airport, but when they did, they were often hard to recognize if you hadn't seen them dressed casually. Briefly wondering if such a thing would ever happen to her, Sierra took her baggage claim info ticket and headed to the metal detectors.

After what felt like hours later, she was finally ready for her flight. It had been her intention to simply pick a chair and wait for her flight to board, but damn if she wasn't bored. Knowing she'd go nuts if she didn't find a way to kill time, she scanned the area and noticed a novelty store. Her face lit up with glee as she pictured picking out the best gift for her best friend, something to commemorate this trip. She'd already promised her brother and grandfather some goodies from Dallas, so it made sense to do the same for her long lost “twin.”

The shop smelled heavily of incense, something floral yet woody — warm and inviting. Trinkets of every sort lined the light wood shelves, from tea cups to dream catchers. Various every day items one could find elsewhere but decorated with a distinct style that reminded one of the great Georgia state. She took her time looking at each item with care, wondering what would be the best yet safest gift to give — after all, children can be very destructive and deadly.

Her eyes settled on a snow globe with a small scale of downtown Atlanta inside. For some reason, a sense of calm mixed with pride filled her and she knew this was it; this was the perfect gift that her bestie would love. Her fingertips lifted the object with care and precision, as if it could break by her merely touching it this way. It was cool and smooth to the touch, and even included the state song. She turned towards the cash register — it was near the entrance, right? — and took one step. She met a solid form that caused her to lose her loose grip on the globe.

It shattered loudly on the ceramic tiled floor, the glass shards barely missing her toes. “!”

“Damn. I'm sorry.” The voice wavered between alto and tenor, throwing Sierra way off. She lifted her eyes to the speaker's face and went brain dead for a full sixty seconds. Those eyes. That nose and mouth. Even without the makeup, she knew him well enough. “Are you hurt?”

The concern in his voice made her heart do a somersault then triple the pulse. She felt a brief moment of vertigo and knew she'd end up hitting the ground if she didn't get herself together. “N-no, no.” she stammered out, averting his concerned eyes as she feebly tried to pick up the cold and wet pieces of the snow globe. “I'm fine. Thank you, for asking.” She had to force herself to focus, to not stop cleaning up the mess and simply stare at the miracle in front of her. She spotted a forgotten shard off to the side and immediately reached for it,

BANG

She saw a red flash behind her eyelids as pain spread from her temple and out across her skull, making her lose her balance and sway to the side. She realized she was falling a second too late, but strong hands reached out and grabbed her shoulders, pulling her upright again. “Careful. I'm so sorry. I didn't see.” Even with his dark sunglasses, hat, and lack of makeup, she knew who it was almost instantly. The blush across his cute face was enough to make a flower cower in shame.

“No, no! It's okay. I'm okay, I promise. ” She smiled brightly and added in a low voice, “I love your group.” He froze, eyes wide with panic but she merely shook her head. “I'm not gonna freak out.” Though it took him a second, he seemed to accept her words as truth. The shop owner finally caught on and rushed over to help with the mess. She reluctantly went back to shopping, heartbroken that there weren't anymore snow globes like the perfect one she'd had before. 'I can't believe this. But then again, it was Ren from Nu'est; Certy will understand.' A thought struck her hard like lightning and she realized something no fangirl should ever forget — she didn't get a picture or autograph of him!

Sierra looked around, but he was long gone. “Dammit.”

“Flight number 2901 to Dallas is now boarding. Flight number 2901 to Dallas is now boarding.”

“!” She rushed to the cashier with a different snow globe then walked as fast as she could to her terminal. As expected, the passengers were filed in line in front of the stewardess as she checked their tickets before letting them pass. The line s around a pillar, allowing her a clear view of the passengers as they stepped up to the podium. At the front of the line a familiar hat and sunglasses stood out. She nearly choked on her spit. “Ren?” She covered as soon as his name left her lips.

As if he'd heard her, his head turned in her direction and their eyes locked. With each second, her eyes widened in shock until he broke the trance and stepped forward in line. He leaned in and spoke softly to the stewardess, glancing over his shoulder for a second at Sierra. At first she was confused but that was quickly swallowed by doubt as fear took over. What was he saying? Would he have her taken off the plane? Could he even do that? Was he afraid she'd freak out on him or something? The thought of being put on a different plane made her worry. She'd barely been able to get this flight; if she had to take a different one, she might not make it to Dallas in time for the concert with the holidays coming up.

By the time she stepped up to the podium, she was on the verge of an emotional, if not mental, breakdown. Fearing the worse, she held out her ticket with a shaky hand and held her breath. Surely, it wasn't everyday that one got kicked off of a flight because her bias asked for it. “Ma'am, I'm sorry. There's been an issue with your seat.”

Sierra's skin went cold as the woman's fingers flew over the keyboard in front of her, eyes focused on the screen. “W-what's the matter?”

“There's...a conflict. Someone's already seated with your seat number. So you'll have to be moved elsewhere.”

“Like a different flight?”

Maybe the woman caught the thin thread of fear in her voice, but she looked up and smiled warmly. “Heavens, no. You'll be seated in first class, as an apology for the error.” She patted Sierra's hand and went back to her keyboard. “Your new seat is 15. Are you okay with a window seat?”

'First class?' “Y-yeah, sure!” She smiled, relief washing over her in warm waves as fear shrunk back down into its corner.

“Great!” The lady smiled and gestured to the steward standing to her right. “He's going to show you to your seat.”

Sierra blinked a few times, nodding absently as the overly smiley man led the way down the corridor to the plane. Her mind was a buzz of activity - questions, scenarios, excitement - as she diligently followed him through the aisles to the front of the plane. He parted a curtain and motioned for her to go through. “Fifteen is on your left, the window seat.”

Sierra led the way with him following, noticing how few people there were in this section of the plane. Noticing the numbers on silver plates on the back of the seats, she followed the numbers until she spotted an occupied 14 next to an empty 15. “Here it is.”

The person sitting in 14 turned his head upon hearing her voice and smiled. The steward, with quick reflexes, caught her purse for her with a smile. “Here's the lady you requested, sir.”

“Thank you.” He nodded as he stood and stepped to the side, gesturing with his hand to the seat beside him. “I hope you don't mind, but I wanted to talk with you a bit more.”

Sierra could only blink. Perhaps he mistook her calmness earlier for something that she could do at any given time, not realizing that it was one of the very few times she'd thought of the consequences of acting the way she honestly felt. “I... I...”

His bright, friendly smile faltered and the sparkle in his eye dulled. “I-I should have asked.” He looked to the steward and spoke quickly in Korean, his normally warm and soothing voice filled with despair and panic.

“Um, ma'am,” the steward had his eyes on Ren as he attempted to translate, “if you prefer, you can have any of the other unoccupied seats here, unless you'd rather return to your original seat.”

“I thought that seat was occupied already?” Sierra tilted her head to the side in wonder before shaking it and holding out her hands to Ren. “No, no. I'm okay! I'm just shocked that you requested that I sit with you.” She half-laughed with a hand pressed over her heart. “I mean — am I dreaming? Because things like this don't happen unless I'm dreaming.”

That beautiful smile returned as color returned to Ren's cheeks. “Oh, okay! I was worried that you were upset with me.”

“How could I be? It's you! I'm actually going to your concert in Dallas.” She nearly lost it when his soft fingertips grazed her elbow as he guided her to the seat next to his, waving off the steward with the other. “You're really serious about this. W-why me? Why would you go through all of this trouble for a stranger?”

He sat down beside her, pulling a blanket over his legs and leaning on the armrest between him. His cologne, light and spicy, reached her nose and she bit her bottom lip to keep from touching him. “You didn't give me away in the airport. Our music may not be a big thing here, or well known, but still the place was crawling with our fans from the Atlanta concert looking for us. One word from you would have blown our cover and delayed the flight.”

“Oh! That.” She laughed awkwardly, fiddling with the zipper on her jacket. “That was one of the few times in my life where I thought before I acted. I don't usually do that. You know, thinking first and stuff.”

He laughed, a warm chuckle she'd never seen in any of the videos she watched of him. “Well, then thank you for having that rare moment for me.” His hand touched hers casually. “So tell me about yourself. We have hours to waste.”

As the plane loaded up and geared up to take flight, the two continued talking. He asked every question he could think of, about her family and friends, likes and dislikes. He was thrilled to know that she loved anime as much as he did and had even watched most of the shows he had; they suggested new shows to each other with promises to make sure to follow up and let the other know what they thought of them. “A-are you sure it's okay for me to have your phone number? Won't your manager or agent be upset with you talking to someone like me?”

“Someone like you?” He paused, as if something odd had struck him. “There's nothing wrong with someone like you because you're the only one like you.”

The words reached her heart, filling her with warmth and love from the top of her head down to her toes. “That's beautiful. T-thank you.” A yawn caught her unexpectedly and she mentally cursed herself for staying up all night solely because she planned to take a nap on the plane so she could hang out with her best friend and family. As much as she wanted to fight it, she felt her eyelids drooping with each passing second.

She was going to crash next to her bias. Well, .

“You look sleepy, Sierra. How about a nap?” Ren offered his blanket, taking it upon himself to cover her ignoring the open mouthed stares of his band members. He wasn't one to stand on tradition and formalities; he only did what felt right and natural to him. Once Sierra was tucked in, he gently pulled her head to rest on his shoulder and shifted down in his seat to accommodate the size difference between them.

“I don't want to be rude.” She weakly protested. “I should cherish this moment and stay up with you.”

He made a tsking noise and waved his hand. “Don't worry about it. I'll never forget this moment, so I hope you won't either.” She tried to reply, but sleep claimed her quickly.

She woke with a start. “Miss?” She looked up at the steward sleepily. “We've arrived.” For a moment she didn't understand what he was saying. She glanced at the empty seat beside her and her eyes widened.

“Wait. Where is —” she sat up and looked over the seats to see that she was the only one still there “— where is everyone else?”

“They've all gotten off the plane already. I was asked to allow you to sleep as long as possible.”

“Oh.” She looked away, not wanting him to see the tears that formed in her eyes. She had hoped to say goodbye. To get a picture or an autograph before they parted ways. Sure she'd see him on a stage, but she'd never be able to speak to him again outside of a rare text message about anime. Dejected, she picked up her phone left in his seat face down and stuffed it into her purse, following the steward.

As she waited for her bag in luggage claim, her phone chimed and vibrated. Of course, her friend would want to know if she'd made it there safely. She took out her phone and pressed a button on the side, waking it up. What she saw floored her.
Her unlock screen had been replaced with a selfie picture of Ren. Her jaw dropped open as she stared at it, nearly unable to believe it was real. The phone vibrated again as a reminder so she reluctantly swiped her thumb across the smooth surface and nearly lost her . Her wall paper was a different selfie of Ren, this one signed with her name inside of a heart. A sneaking suspicion crept into her mind and she went to her phone's camera gallery, slowly sinking to her knees with the biggest grin she'd ever had in a long time.

Nearly eighty pictures of Ren in different poses, with his group, had filled her phone's memory. She scrolled through them all, laughing at some while fighting tears at the fun she'd missed out on. On the second to the last picture, the group held up a sign that asked Sierra to join them as their VIP guest for the concert with her friend. She covered and merely nodded to herself, knowing damn well there was no other place in the world she'd rather be.

The final picture was of Ren sitting next to her with her head on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully. His lips were pressed to the top of her head, eyes closed in what looked like bliss with Sierra's lips curved in a smile. To anyone else, it would look like two close friends taking a picture. And she loved it.

Her phone buzzed and chimed as an incoming text message notification popped up. She opened it, fully expecting Certy to want to know where she was, but was surprised to find that it was a video message.

The camera juggled around shakily before Ren's face came into view, him smiling wide. “I hope you don't mind that we kinda went overboard with the pictures. You'll be able to save them, I hope. Um, did you rest well? Can't wait to see you tomorrow, Sierra!” He blew an exaggerated kiss and winked before the video stopped.

Sierra stared at her phone for a bit before it hit her like a truck. “TOMORROW??!”