I never fully came to understand how it all happened. But, I became incredibly grateful for the fact that it did happen, and that was all that mattered to me. It was totally coincidental; hundreds of thousands of girls would have killed for the seat I got one day on an airplane, because it opened my door to fame, success and power. It opened my door to happiness. It opened my door to love.

 

I got on the plane, my hands sweating slightly. My backpack was slung over my shoulders and my hair was tied back tightly in two long dutch braids my sister had done for me before we had split ways. I didn’t dare to take them out, because if I did I knew my golden hair would be incredibly frizzy from the humidity of Shanghai. Chloe had already boarded her plane back to Tokyo after our two week long vacation touring China, so I was alone on an enormous A380 double decker, five - seats per row plane for 13 hours straight. 

Taking a deep breath, I handed my ticket to the flight attendant. She took one look and tapped another flight attendant’s shoulder. He took the ticket from her hands, furrowed his eyebrows in confusion and then nodded.

“Ma’am, we had to move your seat. There was a misunderstanding with a woman and her cello,” he said with a thick Chinese accent. 

I grinned; buying a seat for an instrument was nothing new to me. I had grown up surrounded by musicians. “That’s alright, I totally understand.” He led me a little ways down the second aisle and pointed at a row of first class seats. Confused, I looked at him. “Sir, my seat was economy, not first class.”

He shrugged and gave me a friendly wink. “This was the only open seat. The one right in the middle, ma’am.”

Dope, I thought to myself. I’ve never been in first class before. This should be lit. I slid into the third and middle seat, shoved my backpack underneath the chair in front of me and stretched out my legs. So much room! As more people boarded the plane, I pulled out my phone and earbuds and started to blast YG and Eminem in my ears. At last, the trickle of people slowed to a stop and I frowned. Was there really nobody sitting next to me?

Then I knew something weird was gonna happen. 

Two large, strong men dressed in black suits stepped in the plane and began to walk down the aisle. Behind them were four of the most beautiful people I had ever seen. The one in front was on the shorter side, maybe five foot ten or eleven. He had longer, light brown hair covered by a black baseball cap. His face was mostly concealed by a white face mask, but he had strong eyebrows and kind dark eyes. Small crosses were dangling from his ears. He was wearing a green and white striped sweater with skinny blue jeans and white Air Jordans. He looked very nervous, and a light sheen of sweat made his skin glisten.

The one right behind him looked much less friendly. He had dark black hair highlighted with tints of blond, gelled up and shaved a little on the sides. He had a slight frown on his face, a strongly defined jawline, and eyes that seemed to soak up every little detail as they flickered around the cabin. His ears were also pierced, but with studs that shone in a way I had never seen. After staring at them for a few minutes longer, I decided they must be diamonds - real diamonds. He was wearing a long white shirt, black ripped jeans, and red dress shoes that matched the scarlet shade of his leather jacket.

The third one was like a mix between the first two. His black hair was parted in the middle and had a single wave throughout it. His eyes were soft and pitch black, but had a glimmer to them that made you feel… insignificant. Framing them perfectly were a pair of gold - rimmed, round glasses. He, unlike the others, had an easy smile on his face that lit up his features. He wore a white shirt complimented by a blue and yellow plaid suit jacket, light blue jeans and Vans just like mine. He tapped the second one on the shoulder and whispered something that I couldn’t make out.

The fourth one was the one who peaked my interest. He had hair that was bleached blonde and carelessly styled up in a messy yet stylish way. His face was incredibly defined, with strong cheek and jaw bones. It was thin and strong, soft and intimidating at the same time. He wore a gray shirt and dark jeans with a jacket that had a military look to it; the fabric was black, and the buttons and cuffs were golden. He had airpods and two small golden hoops in his ears, and around his neck was a golden cross and chain. His eyes were what shocked me, however; he looked at me and they pierced straight through mine. Eyeliner framed them seamlessly. They were a stormy gray, startlingly cold, and they seemed to read my mind.

The two bodyguards stopped in front of my row. I swallowed nervously. The first boy gave me a smile and looked at the men. “这里?” he asked, and I recognized the Mandarin word for ‘here’.

One of the bodyguards nodded. “我带你的包, Luhan,” he said swiftly. I picked up only the last two words; Luhan. That must be his name.

Luhan gave his bags to the bodyguard and they got hoisted up into the bunker. The other three boys followed his lead and did the same thing. The bodyguards said a few more things before slowly walking to the rows respectively in front and behind us to sit down. Their eyes didn’t leave the four guys.

A lot of bickering followed. 

“喂, Luhan, 为什么你会坐在靠窗座位上?” The third boy asked from behind the second one. 

“闭, Yixing,” Luhan replied. “如果你想要的话，这是你的.” 

“Dibs on 过道座位,” the second boy said quickly. His voice was deep. 

The fourth one tore his eyes away from me and glared at him. Then he sighed in defeat. “好的，好的. 我会带窗户.”

“好,” Luhan said, motioning to the third boy (who I guessed was Lay). I stood up so that he could brush past me and sit down next to the window. He gave me a small smile and turned to look outside.

I returned the smile as calmly as I could.

Then Luhan brushed past me and we both sat down. “你好，我叫 Luhan. 你呢?” he asked politely. This one I understood - hello, my name is Luhan. What’s yours? His eyes were smiling, so I assumed underneath his mask he was as well.

“我加 Luna，你好.” I managed to make out as the fourth boy sat down next to me. He had begun to stare at me once more.

When he heard my name, Luhan nodded as if he understood. “American, then?” he said with a slight accent.

I sighed. “Unfortunately, yeah. You speak English?”

All of the other boys had perked up when they heard me talk in my own language. My sister had always said that people loved ‘exotic flavors’, and I had always scoffed at this; why would anyone ever like an American? We were the most plain, the most tasteless. Clearly, however, she was right. “Yeah, we all do,” Luhan replied casually. “Do you know who we are?” he then asked under his breath.

“Um… I don’t think so, no. Should I? Who are you?”

The boy in the window seat spoke up. “I’m Yixing. I’m a member of EXO, the last remaining Chinese member because these three bailed on me,” he said, jabbing his thumb at the other boys. “I also come out with singles and albums on my own.” Now he gave me a real smile, teeth and all. He had dimples and blinding white teeth.

“Luhan, obviously,” Luhan picked up. “I was the second to leave EXO and pursue my own singing career in China. So far so good, and I’m making a lot more gain.”

I turned and looked expectantly at the two boys next to me. The fourth one was still staring into my eyes, so the second was the first to pipe up. “I’m Kris. I was the first to leave EXO, for reasons I won’t go into. I’ve had a really successful career so far in both Asia and the U.S.” His voice was soft and cautious.

“I’m Huang Zitao, call me Tao,” the boy next to me said almost instantly. I held my breath and dared to return his piercing eye contact. “Last to leave EXO. My solo career has taken off in China.” His eyes simply mesmerized me. They were slightly shaded around the edges, a kind of intense I had never seen before.

“I must apologize, I’m not going to be the most talkative. Flying is my biggest fear. But, uh,” Luhan spoke. “You live in Denver?”

Hesitantly I tore my eyes away from Zitao and looked back at Luhan. “Well, I live forty five minutes outside the city, near Boulder. It’s this hippie town, the first in the US to legalize . But I do live in Colorado. What brings you guys there?”

Luhan, Yixing and Kris all replied “concert” at the same time Zitao replied “you”.

I looked back at him to see a devilish yet warm smirk on his flawless face. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Luhan’s smile falter and Yixing roll his eyes before looking back out the window. Despite myself, I felt my face begin to turn pink and tore my eyes away from him as quick as I could. 

“Attention, passengers,” a woman’s voice came over the intercom in time to save me from a reply. “Please watch the informational videos on emergency procedures, now playing on your television screens. We will be taking off shortly.”

“So, what kind of music do you guys make?” I asked pleasantly, trying to ignore the extreme boy vibes I was getting from Tao. 

“I do pop,” Yixing replied “And some rap. Mostly just anything I can dance to.”

Luhan nodded. “I only sing. Mix of ballads and pop songs.”

“Kris and I are rappers,” Tao said, finally saying more than a few words at a time. “I can play you one of my songs if you’d like,” he continued, taking on airpod out and offering it to me.

Kris smirked. “I’m better than Tao. But whatever.”

Tao tore his eyes away from me to look at his friend. “Oh, shut up, Kris. I’ll play her one of all of our songs, how about that? She can decide for herself.”

The other three boys nodded and put in their own earbuds as I smiled at Tao nervously and accepted his airpod. He nodded at me comfortingly and pulled out his phone to look up a song. “We will start with Yixing. This song is called Sheep. I freaking love it.” The song had a strong bassline and was more or less one huge flex. I’m the lead sheep in China… What can I say, man?  It was in both Mandarin and English, and the bass drop was fire.

“Alright, now let’s do Kris. Let’s see… 大碗宽面 is his best Chinese one, so that’ll do.” I didn’t understand most of the song because it was in Mandarin, but I picked up the words for noodles and bowl a lot.

“What was he singing about?” I asked once the song ended, confused.

Tao smiled slightly. “Literally a big bowl of chinese noodles. But it’s a hella good song. Now for Luhan… this one’s mostly in English, you should be able to understand it. The lyrics are something magical, I kinda feel them right now.” He winked at me.

Did he just wink at me? My heart skipped a beat, as if I had missed a stair on the way down. Take your time, love me in the middle of your longest night, I’ll be sure to lift you if you promise me, give me your affection and your honesty… If I could feel your touch, if I could be your love; I want to go beyond, I want to go to far, now tell me I’m not the only one…

The song ended and I took a long exhale. “That was really good. Lyrics were really pretty.”

Tao nodded and looked at me with his piercing eyes and a slight smirk. “Just wait till you hear mine. It’s in Mandarin, called Beggar.”

The song came on, but I could hardly focus on his melodious voice. Had he really said he felt those lyrics? Did he imply he was feeling them with me, or just in general? He was incredibly hot, obviously, and so far he was being exceptionally kind and friendly with me. I felt super comfortable around him. Bonuses including him being a celebrity… and rich… 

I sighed and shut my eyes, loosing myself in the beautiful vocals and sound effects of the songs. Suddenly, the plane flight didn’t seem as long.