One would think that after living with someone for quite some time, they would be used to all their habits and quirks. Yet here they were, staring at Sakura’s open eyes as she slept like she was some old relic in a museum.

“Yo, how does she sleep like that?”

“No one knows, Yena unnie. No one knows,” Wonyoung said as she poked Sakura’s cheek.

Chaeyeon sighed from the back of the crowd, coffee cup in her hand, “Guys, leave her alone. You guys should take a nap too.”

“Yeah guys,” Hyewon placed her arm around the main dancer, “listen to the girlfriend.”

Chaeyeon panicked, “W-what? Who said-”

“Girls, Chaeyeon’s right. Go to sleep. Fiji is three hours ahead and they wanted us there in the morning,” Eunbi walked up to Yujin and pinched her ears, “And that’s why I told you to sleep early so that we wake up early.”

“Ow!” the tall girl broke free from the leader and rubbed her ears. “How is it my fault that Yena unnie and Hyewon unnie wanted to play Minecraft until midnight?”

“Wait, they let you stay up?” Eunbi glared at the two women the puppy named. Yujin nodded and Eunbi pinched her nose bridge, “Come with me, both of you. We need to talk.”

After the leader’s interjection, the group dispersed and went back to their seats and began to do their own things. Hyewon and Yena sulked behind Eunbi, trying to defend themselves and justify their actions. Yujin leaned on Minjoo’s shoulder and was immediately knocked out, and the latter scolded her softly for staying up so late while running her hand through her hair. Hitomi shared her bread with Chaewon while exchanging, what Chaeyeon would assume, horrible and cringy pick-up lines. Yuri had her eyes closed but was singing softly to some unheard tune, and Wonyoung was singing their song, Airplane, while Nako cheered her one with some imaginary lightsticks and a fanchant personalized just for the maknae.

Chaeyeon looked at the sleeping Japanese woman in front of her and smiled, taking her seat next to her. She got closer and examined Sakura’s face, starting at her lips and when she got to her eyes she almost laughed out loud. “Yena unnie is right, how do you sleep like that?”

Sakura’s eyes fluttered open, “Jjaeyeon?”

The main dancer jumped back faster than she’s ever had in her life, her face flushing in the process. “Y-you’re awake!”

“Why are you so panicked? Are we about to miss our flight?”

Chaeyeon cleared and sat up straight, thanking the heavens silently that her coffee didn’t spill, “No, no we aren’t, you just scared me. I thought you were dead with your eyes open like that.”

The Japanese woman laughed while rubbing the sleepiness out of her eyes, “Stop talking about my eyes. You’re lucky you’re cute, or else I would’ve slammed you on the ground.” She patted the dancer’s head and snuggled up on her arm.

“Hmm yeah yeah, you can try fighting me, you weakling.” Chaeyeon rubbed her neck and willed the second blush coming in to stop thanks to the woman next to her. “Plus, I like talking about your eyes because they’re pretty,” she said without thinking.

“What?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

They stared at each other for heaven knows how long before abruptly looking away at the same time. Chaeyeon coughed and sipped her coffee, hiding her face behind the cup, while Sakura closed her eyes once more. She noted that the older woman did pull away and remove her embrace on her arm, and that eased Chaeyeon, making her smile. She relaxed and sipped her coffee, thinking about their newly established relationship and its dynamic.

For some reason, Chaeyeon became hyper-aware of every action and act of affection she does for Sakura, and she hated it. She hated that she knew that she was being too cautious, she hated that she would be too conscious of lingering touches and prolonged eye contact, and she hated that this started happening after they began going out. The only thing that brought her salvation was that her awareness only occurred when they were out in public and surrounded by people that could easily recognize their group. Luckily, it was incredibly early in the morning and their company still has not disclosed to the public that they were going to appear in Law of the Jungle. They were also fortunate that the day of their departure happened to be the day the airport was fairly empty.

Chaeyeon was forced out of her thoughts when she felt Sakura shiver next to her. The older woman peeled herself away from Chaeyeon’s arm and stretched, complaining about how airports were way too cold early in the morning, yet in the same breath saying that she enjoyed the atmosphere.

Without a second thought, the taller of the two removed her hoodie and handed it over, “Here, unnie.”

Sakura graciously took the hoodie, “What about you? Aren’t you gonna be cold?”

“Unlike you, I had the brilliant idea to wear a long-sleeved shirt underneath,” Chaeyeon said sarcastically.

Sakura popped her head out of the hoodie and smoothed it out, “Hey, I’m wearing long-sleeves!”

“Yeah, but it’s so thin, I would hardly call it that.”

“Wow, okay then, just disrespect your elder,” Sakura chided with obvious mirth.

Chaeyeon nodded and then yawned, “I’m gonna take a nap before our flight.”

“Sure, Jjaeyeon, sleep well.”

Sakura adjusted herself so that Chaeyeon could lean on her shoulder comfortably and smiled as the younger woman slowly drifted off to sleep. Having already woken up and shaken the drowsiness off her dainty self, she took out her phone and played PUBG. She was careful to not move too much for the fear of waking the young dancer up. Of course, some of the matches she played got to her nerves and there were many times where she shifted abruptly and almost woke up Chaeyeon.

After enduring loss after loss, and the occasional win here and there, she decided to call it a day. “GG,” she typed in the chat one last time before pocketing her phone.

Their manager clapped to gain the attention of the girls who were awake “Girls, it’s almost time to go-”

“Oh my God! Is that IZ*ONE?”

Sakura sighed. It’s just their luck that a small group of people noticed them while they were caught off guard. They had a camera too, so maybe these people were going on vacation. Sakura saw her members waking up the others who were asleep, so she followed suit.

“Hey, Jjaeyeon, wake up.” She gently shook the dancer awake, “We’re about to leave soon, you can sleep on the plane.”

“Huh?” Chaeyeon rubbed her eyes, yawning, and then giving Sakura a lopsided grin, “Are we getting ready to go?”

Before Sakura could answer, the other woman came close, wrapped her arms around Sakura and buried her nose in her neck. In any other case, she would have returned the display of affection, maybe even kiss her forehead, but now was definitely not the time. She stilled, feeling the heat rush past her neck and face and up to her ears. Chaeyeon doing that to her would’ve made her heartbeat like that (and it has happened) regardless of the circumstances they found themselves in.

“J-Jjaeyeon, as much as I love it when you do that, there are fans here and one of them has a camera.”

“What?”

Chaeyeon peeled herself off of Sakura and whipped her head to the side, avoiding the older’s gaze. The Japanese woman discreetly held Chaeyeon’s hand, she felt the younger stiffen at the touch and all she could do was sigh. She wished she understood why Chaeyeon began to act like that ever since the day they kissed in the camp. In fact, they have not kissed on the lips since that day, only going as far as caressing each other’s cheeks and pecking on the forehead. Sakura wanted to know the reason why Chaeyeon was so jumpy and insecure about them. It’s fine if she wanted to keep it under wraps from the public, and Sakura was sure that everyone in the group if they ever got into a relationship, would want to keep it that way. But could Chaeyeon at least show something more than hugs and cuddles to her while in the comfort of their dorms?

“Sorry, Kkura unnie, I’m just…”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll be here,” Sakura said the last part because she doesn’t fully understand what made Chaeyeon act like this, but she wanted to give the younger a semblance of understanding to make her feel safe.

Chaeyeon relaxed a little but still a little rigid, “Thank you.”

At this point, the young lady, maybe about the same age as Wonyoung, with the camera came over to their group, the nearest to them being Nako, Wonyoung, and their manager, Sebin. She asked their manager if she could take a group photo with them. Sebin was about to say no but Wonyoung told her it was fine as long as the girl didn’t share the photo online and kept it as a personal souvenir.

Sakura laughed. Despite being the youngest, Yujin and Wonyoung could suggest the perfect compromise for certain situations. It made her and the unnie line incredibly proud of them for being able to make decisions in place of them and she was glad that they have taught them well.

Sebin gathered the members and asked them to pose for a photo. She took the camera from the girl and ushered her to go to the center of the group. After some adjusting, their manager snapped a few photos and then gave the camera back. Then they took some individual selfies on her phone.

Before the young lady went back to her group, she tugged on Chaeyeon’s sleeve, “Can you please sign this photocard of you?” She tried to whisper and keep her voice down but Sakura heard her, “Your photocard is the only one I have on me right now and I don’t want to make others feel bad even though I love you guys all equally.”

“I’d gladly sign it!” Chaeyeon nodded vigorously, excited. “What’s your name? So I can put a message on it.”

Sakura smiled at the sight and left them to join Hitomi and Chaewon to hear what kind of cringy things they were saying. Since Chaeyeon’s mood seems to have lifted, Sakura was fine with letting her interact with the fan. She was glad that the fan distracted the dancer from her previous distress, even if the fan’s appearance was the cause of that mental distress. Nevertheless, she still thanked her silently and she could never get mad at their fans. Although, the awkward interaction, if could call it that, between Hitomi and Chaewon might make her go mad. Who taught them those atrocious pick-up lines?

Once the girl left, their manager gathered the members and their luggage led them to the terminal gate. “Please collect your bel