Soyeon remembers exactly when her heart first beat for Yuqi. 

They’re on the way to the airport, all six of them travelling in various states of hype for their first ever reality show. It’s amazing, Soyeon thinks, how quickly they managed to rise up, how soon they got their first win. It’s just too good to be true, and half the time she feels like pinching herself to make sure it’s not just a figment of her imagination.

And now they’re filming their first reality show. Soyeon’s pride is twofold - not only are the girls going to have the time of their lives with the show, but they’re also going to film a music video for Minnie’s first ever self-composed song on their album. The girls’ excitement is infectious, and Soyeon finds herself filming their crazed screaming in the car, amused beyond belief.

Her camera’s focused on Soojin, her only same-aged friend in the group. “You look pretty, Soojin,” Soyeon croons, because it’s true. Soojin smiles and blushes like she always does, adorably shy off-stage. Grinning, Soyeon is ready to pour on the praise before her keen eyes spot Yuqi pouting behind Soojin.

How can someone be so cute while they’re frowning, Soyeon will never know.

“Yuqi, don’t be angry,” Soyeon teases. Yuqi gapes in surprise before bursting into laughter, hearty cackles that warm Soyeon’s heart. 

(Off-camera, Minnie raises her brows at Soyeon’s reddening cheeks and exchanges knowing glances with Miyeon.)

#

They’re not sitting together. Why aren’t they sitting together? Soyeon glances over across the aisle where Yuqi and Soojin are happily vlogging, their faces too close to each other for comfort. Her eyes travel down to the red shoes Yuqi is sporting - her first ever birthday present to the younger girl. To Soyeon’s delight, Yuqi had been bragging about them to the camera just now.

Now Soojin swings the camera so it’s facing Soyeon. Yuqi gazes at Soyeon expectantly, pursing her lips. Soyeon quickly blows kisses to the camera. Not to Yuqi, but to the camera (or at least that’s what she tells herself) and makes silly faces when Yuqi starts fooling around. Yuqi snorts and redirects the camera back to herself. She quietly mumbles something - Soojin laughs in response.

Behind them, Shuhua jumps up in her seat and bonks Yuqi on the head. “Stop flirting with my Jinjin!” she fumes.

“Oh my god, Shuhua, calm down,” Yuqi says, rolling her eyes. 

“Yeah, Shuhua, calm down.” Soojin steals a glance at the youngest member of their team before pulling herself up to full height. Her additional three centimetres isn’t much, but couple that with a withering stare, and Shuhua shrinks under Soojin’s cool gaze.

“Sorry,” Shuhua mutters.

Soojin softens at the kicked-puppy look on Shuhua's face. “There’s no need to be jealous, Shu,” Soojin says, reaching out a hand to cup Shuhua’s cheek. Shuhua immediately snuggles into the warm hand, quickly kissing Soojin’s palm. “You know I love you.”

Yuqi mimes puking and turns around to face Soyeon. Meeting her eyes, Yuqi pulls a face. “That’s so gross,” she shout-whispers across the aisle to the older girl.

“Yeah.” Soyeon finds delight in Yuqi’s bemused eyes, in the way she scrunches up her nose, in the red sneakers (that Soyeon bought for her) clicking together as Yuqi kicks her feet up in the air. Soyeon wishes she could say the words that Soojin so easily says to Shuhua, because they’re so simple, letters strung into words tied together into a sentence that expresses the fluttering feeling in her heart. 

But she can’t, so she mirrors Yuqi’s expression and wrinkles her nose. 

“So gross.”

#

Sometime during the ten-hour flight, Soyeon finds herself staring at her blank mini-television screen, unable to sleep. Next to her, their manager is past knocked out, no doubt exhausted from having to usher six lively kids around everywhere. Soyeon tries her best to relieve their manager of this stress as much as she can, but sometimes she just gets so swept up in the hype, you know?

Especially when Yuqi’s involved - Soyeon definitely has no control over herself then.

Peering over the aisle to where Yuqi is, Soyeon sees feet peeking out under a blanket. The seat is fully reclined; Yuqi must be sleeping. Soyeon silently unbuckles her seatbelt and tiptoes the two feet across the aisle, just to check. That’s right, just to check, because Soyeon’s the leader and it’s part of her job scope.

Yuqi’s freckles are like stars, scattered across her cheeks to form constellations exclusive to Yuqi - and Soyeon, too, when she takes her time to trace out imaginary lines in her head, connecting them together. The blanket provided by the airline is bunched around Yuqi’s waist, leaving her top exposed to the cold air-conditioning of the plane. Soyeon gently, (slow and careful, Soyeon, you know Yuqi is sensitive to even the slightest touch in her sleep, and you don’t want to disturb your Sleeping Beauty) gently unfurls the blanket, properly tucking the Chinese girl in. She stops short when Yuqi shifts and murmurs in her sleep, her cheek brushing against the inside of Soyeon’s wrist.

Holding her breath, Soyeon retracts her hand. She presses her wrist to her own cheek, to her own lips, imagining that her wrist is Yuqi’s cheek, and softly kisses it.

A discreet cough draws her attention. Soyeon glances up behind Yuqi’s seat at Minnie, woken up from her deep slumber, staring at her through slitted eyes. Minnie delicately raises an eyebrow, but says nothing.

“Please don’t think I’m weird,” Soyeon mouths.

Minnie blinks at her, then closes her eyes. Soyeon doesn’t miss the quick smirk that quickly disappears from Minnie’s face. Heat flashes through Soyeon’s cheeks, and to save herself from any further mortification, creeps back into her own seat. Lying down, she stares at the underside of the overhead baggage cabin and sighs.

This is going to be a long night.