Quick note – I LOVE THIS BANNER. Omgg <3 credits to ilovecookies. Exactly what I wanted! Thank you for spending time making this for me!

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“Right next to each other? Really?” Mi-hee took the tickets from Jonghyun to take a look for herself. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Come on, I think we’re supposed to meet up with the swim team and the teachers around this time,” Jonghyun said, standing up. Before Mi-hee could do anything, he threw the completed drink cups away and cleaned the table effortlessly.

“Let’s go!” He flashed another blinding smile.

This guy… he’s kinda weird… Mi-hee smiled. But it’s cool. I like his personality. I can see why he’s popular.

“Alright.”

“Wait a moment, I’m getting a call,” Jonghyun said, taking out his iPhone. “Hello? Oh, CL-sshi. Wait, where? Gate 59? Alright, we’ll be there. We? Oh, I have Mi-hee here with me. I’ll intro- alright, see you soon. Bye!” He hung up and shouldered his back pack. “They’re waiting for us. We should get going.”

“Of course,” Mi-hee nodded and with that, the two walked brusquely to meet up with the swim team. After a few minutes walking, they saw them standing impatiently at the gates.

“Hey guys, sorry we’re late,” Jonghyun offered, bowing to the sponsor teachers.

“Yeah, I-I’m really sorry,” Mi-hee added, bowing low.

“Where’s this Mi-hee you were talking about?” CL asked, flipping her hair behind her as she checked her reflection in her phone screen.

“I wasn’t even aware that we had another student with us,” one of the sponsor teachers whispered.

“Mr. Lee told me himself,” the other said, who seemed to be in charge. He looked at the empty space beside Jonghyun and saw the girl faintly. “Mi-hee, am I correct?” he offered his hand. “I’m Mr. Shin.”

Mi-hee stretched out slightly, surprised that another teacher saw her. Taking his hand, she tried to smile back. “Park Mi-hee Mr. Shin.”

The swim team squinted hard at the seemingly empty space and then began to see the faint silhouette of a petite girl.

“Woah, creepy,” Bom muttered under her breath.

“She’s like a ghost…” Dara responded back in the same fashion. “Like an air girl.”

Mi-hee heard their mutterings and sighed under her breath. What else was she supposed to expect?

“The plane is about to let passengers on very soon. We’ll all be sitting in the same section, two to each row. If you need any of the teachers, Mr. Shin and myself, Ms. Kang will be sitting in the front. On the last row, Coach Kim will be there by himself, so if you need anything, ask us first.” She eyed the twelve students warily. Five pairs of girl eyes and seven pairs of boy eyes stared back. “I don’t want you guys ordering any alcohol or anything stupid like that. Alright?”

“Yes Ms. Kang,” Minzy replied sarcastically, exchanging looks with some of the boys sneakily.

“Maybe we should go through some introductions,” Mr. Shin said, turning to Mi-hee. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“Uh… I’m in your g-gym class…” Mi-hee squeaked.

“Really?” Mr. Shin frowned. “Maybe I should get glasses…”

“Er… it’s not your vision that’s the problem sir.”

“Hmm, doesn’t hurt to check. Anyway, why don’t we introduce ourselves?”

“We already know each other…” CL groaned, annoyed.

“Yeah, Mr. Shin, this is ridiculous!” Bom added, shifting her Louis Vuitton purse to her other hand.

“Good day. This is the crew of Korea Air’s 747-Boeing passage to Milan is starting its first call for passengers with young children, seniors, or those traveling as a reserved group. First call, gate 59, passage to Milan, Italy.”

“Let’s go!” Coach Kim roared, trying to put some excitement into his swim team. This was the chance of the lifetime, and who cared about petty introductions anyway?

“I’ll tell you who’s who once we’re on the plane,” Jonghyun whispered, his friendliness of the morning still pumping through his system. Then again, being a genuine person was his type of character anyway. These kinds of things came naturally to him.

“I think I know a few already,” Mi-hee said, following the swim team. “But thanks anyway.”

“No problem, any time. Let’s go.”

Mi-hee walked silently behind the entourage, watching the different expressions of the popular kids.

That’s the person they call Key, right? Or is that Minho? I know that’s Taemin. Pssh, he looks like a girl with that hair… and… that is… er… what’s mushroom boys name again… she looked at the boy we know as Onew, the name escaping her.

They stopped suddenly, reaching the table. One by one, the swim team passed the receptionists their passports and other documents. And, one by one, they were let in. Mi-hee gulped, knowing that some other trouble was about to rise because of her.

“I’m right behind you,” Jonghyun whispered into her ear, placing his hand on her shoulder like a lost toddler.

“Thanks,” Mi-hee sighed. Like that, the two passed the checkpoint and caught up with the swim team. Efficiently, the team found their surprisingly wide seats on the plane, securing their belongings in the over head compartments. Reaching their seat, Jonghyun turned to Mi-hee. “Which seat do you want?”

“Er…” Having never traveled by plane before, she took a wild guess. “I’ll get the window.”

“Good, because I’m afraid of heights,” Jonghyun grinned, unashamed.

“Really?” Mi-hee gasped loudly, then closed , not wanting to seem rude. She quickly sat down on her seat.

“Ever since I was a little kid…” Jonghyun sat next to her, leaning his head against the head rest.

“You learn something every day,” Mi-hee offered positively.

“I guess so. Now tell me something about you that I don’t know about yet.”

“Umm… I’m a girl?” Mi-hee said unhelpfully.

“No, you’re a dinosaur who plagues the earth looking for little children to eat.” Jonghyun rolled his eyes sarcastically.  

“Hey, how’d you know?” Mi-hee played along, her eyes wide. “I’ll just have to eat you up too!”

The two paused for a moment.

“That’s… what… she… said…” Jonghyun erupted in laugher. “AHAHAHAHA!!”

“No! I didn’t mean it like that! Wait! Jonghyun!!! Come on!” Mi-hee flushed and slapped him on the arm, fighting her own smile.

“J- th- way- you- oh… HAHAHAHAHAHA!” he couldn’t stop laughing.

Red-faced, Mi-hee looked out of the window, feeling the airplane’s engines begin to move. This is going to be one loooong flight…

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“So hear me out. There was this one time, when the guys and I were out in my dad’s old cabin. We’re in the middle of nowhere, two hours away from Seoul and mosquitoes ferocious.”

“What did you do next?” Mi-hee asked curiously.

“What do you think we did? Taemin had this absolutely genius idea to make a flamethrower with a lighter and aerosol can.”

“Do you know how dangerous that is?”

“Calm down Mi-hee, when you get six teenage guys together in one place, you begin to act a little stupid,” Jonghyun reasoned, eyes asking for permission to continue the story.

“So…” Mi-hee grinned. “What happened?”

Jonghyun grinned back, glad to have piqued Mi-hee’s curiousity. “Anyway, so Dong-sun volunteered to try it first.”

“Oh my God, that guy really is an idiot,” Mi-hee joked.

“Here’s the funny thing. Minho switched the cap so it would flare into his face.”

“WHA-” Mi-hee looked around, feeling the angry glares of the other passengers. “What? That’s mean!”

“Don’t worry, no one was hurt,” Jonghyun replied. “His expression was hilarious. He dropped it and screamed like a little girl.”

Mi-hee felt the corners of her lip rising, even though the humor was a little erse in her mind. “That would be a pretty funny sight,” she agreed.

“Can you two zip it?” CL ordered from behind them. “You have been chatting for five hours non-stop and we have another seven to go. So can we PLEASE get some peace and quiet?!”

“Yeah, peace and quiet!” Bom echoed.

“Sorry CL,” Jonghyun turned to face the girls and stuck his tongue out. “I’ll try to be more quiet.”

CL shifted in her seat, seeing Jonghyun smile had erased all her anger. “Fineeee… Thank you…”

Thank you? When did CL say thank you? I didn’t even know it was in her vocabulary… Mi-hee thought to herself.

Jonghyun turned back to face Mi-hee. “Are you thirsty?”

“Mm, I could use a glass of water,” Mi-hee responded.

“Excuse me, m’am,” he looked out of his aisle to see a female flight attendant standing a meter away. “Can we get some water?” He flashed her a bright smile.

“S-s-sure! O-of course!” she responded back, flustered. She didn’t except such a nice smile! “I’ll be back in a minute.”

“Why do you always do that?” Mi-hee inquired to Jonghyun after the attendant left.

“Do what?” Jonghyun cocked his head, confused.

“Smile… like…” she tried to imitate it and failed miserably. “It can give them the wrong impression.”

“Smile?” he beamed, causing Mi-hee to look away. Her heart beat faster and faster. “I like smiling… that’s probably why.”

“Er…”

“Well… I don’t know. It just feels right,” Jonghyun whispered.

“I don’t understand, how can you be so positive, all the time? Twenty-four seven?” Mi-hee’s mom often told Mi-hee that she was a happy child, but it didn’t seem to be as bright as Jonghyun’s personality.

“Hm… maybe it’s because I enjoy making people happy in general,” Jonghyun answered thoughtfully. “Ever since growing up, I hated fights and bickering. And you know… if saying something or doing something puts a smile on someone’s face, and then I’d say that honestly…? It makes me happy too.”

What a pure boy… Mi-hee mused. Naïve, but you know what, without his help I wouldn’t of been able to get out of that airport, let alone past the checkpoints.

"Well... I can say first hand…” Mi-hee twiddled her thumbs. “I can say, from first hand experience, you’re… you’re good at what you do.”

“I try,” Jonghyun shrugged. The attendant came back with the cups of water. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” the attendant grinned a little too widely, Mi-hee noticed. He’s just giving some girls the wrong impression… jeez.   

“Shut up!” Bom whispered harshly from behind them.

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Mi-hee rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and checked her watch on her left wrist. When they left Seoul, it was around 10am. If Mi-hee calculated correctly, the flight was around 11 hours. Since Seoul was 7 hours ahead of Milan and they were supposed to arrive at 9 pm (Seoul time) that meant that in Milan it was only 2pm in the afternoon when they would arrive.

Checking her watch, which was still set to Seoul time, it was 8pm.

Around this time, Mi-hee felt a continuous pressure pressing down on her right shoulder. She turned around slowly and squinted through the dim cabin light, unsure of what it was.

She gasped silently, her lips forming a solid ‘O.’

Jonghyun?!

He was leaning against her shoulder, completely out like a light. Mi-hee watched his face, slightly in awe with his peaceful expression and features. She studied his face, noting every eyelash, every breath that escaped his lips and flushed.

Why am I watching him sleep!! She abruptly tried to remove his head from her shoulder. Mi-hee was about to let it rest awkwardly on the headrest when…

He woke up…

“Mi-hee?” He mumbled sleepily. He blinked twice and saw her hands on his face. “What are you doing?”

“Um…” Mi-hee bit her lip, wracking her brain for an excuse. “Your head was resting at a really awkward angle.” She turned her neck for emphasis. “I moved you because you’d probably have a really bad cramp.”

“Oh, thanks!” Jonghyun said while massaging the few chinks in his neck.

Crisis averted, Mi-hee exhaled.

“Hello, this is your captain speaking. We’ll be touching down in Milan in approximately fifteen minutes earlier, allowing you to leave the plane in fourty-five minutes. Right now our flight attendants will be going around giving everyone a light snack before touchdown. Please remain in your seats as we begin our dissent. Thank you.”

“Chiacchiere?” The flight attendant offered.

“In English please,” Jonghyun joked.

“Fritters with dusted sugar,” the flight attendant confirmed, passing Jonghyun one.

“One more please.”

“Oh, um… okay.” She passed another, which Jonghyun in turn passed to Mi-hee.

“Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t see you there,” the flight attendant apologized rapidly. “I swear you weren’t there a mom-”

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” Biggest understatement of the century much?

“Er… bye!” The flight attendant, completely weirded out, moved to the next aisle.

“Er, byee!” Jonghyun mimicked and Mi-hee tried to withhold her laughter that was threatening to burst out of .

“So… Mi-hee, what exactly are you doing with the swim club?” Jonghyun asked, taking a big bite of his chiacchiere.

“I’m in the newspaper club… so I’m covering the event,” Mi-hee answered, nibbling on her snack. “Mr. Lee kinda forced it on me…”

“Well, I’m glad you’re coming. It’s nice to have a friend come along, besides the usual crew.”

“T-thanks?”

“It was a compliment, dummy.” Jonghyun pinched her cheeks. “There must have been more to that. The school doesn’t often send newspaper club representatives to overseas events.”

“You’re right,” Mi-hee replied, noticing Jonghyun’s observation skills. “Well… you see, I’m putting together a portfolio for a photography magazine in Seoul. I want to get into their summer internship program… and to do that; I need to have different pictures in five different categories.” She ticked off one by one with her fingers. “The Portraiture, Macro, and Landscaping categories I’ve already selected pictures for. But I still need to figure out what I’m doing for the Fashion and Sports requirements. The school’s sports teams aren’t really compelling for me, and I don’t know anyone who could be my muse…”

“So Mr. Lee signed you up, knowing it would be a good opportunity?” Jonghyun finished, wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“Yeah.” Mi-hee scratched her neck. “He said I could kill three birds with one stone.”

“Three birds? Unusual…”

Mi-hee chuckled. “This way, I get the pictures for my portfolio, and the newspaper gets the article.”

“What’s the third bird that you need to kill?” Jonghyun inquired.

“Um…er… I think Mr. Lee wanted me to make some friends too. I know, it sounds damn pathetic…” Mi-hee bit her lip. “I’m really nervous to be honest.”

“I don’t think it’s a bad idea. You’re stepping out of your comfort zone. Everyone needs to do that once in a while.” 

“You think so?”

“For sure.” Jonghyun shifted in his seat, lacing his fingers together. “Could I ask you a favor?”

“Favor? What’s up?” Mi-hee asked, used to the casualness and friendliness of their conversation up to this point.

“Well…” Jonghyun looked behind him nervously, as if he was worried someone would overhear. “Don’t tell the others this, but the library and book club needs some pictures taken of some new books that we just got shipped. For records and stuff like that.”

“You’re… you’re in the book club?” Mi-hee grinned.

“Don’t say it so loudly!” Jonghyun put a finger to her lips. “Do you want the rest of them to hear?”

Mi-hee felt herself shiver by the unexpected skinship. “Sorry. But… I didn’t think-”

“I was the person to read?” Jonghyun completed, taking his finger off her lips. “Yeah, I know. I’m a closet nerd,” he whispered, grinning. “Comic books, manga, if it has words, I’ll read it.”

“Anime too?!” Mi-hee whispered back.

“Naruto, Bleach, Death Note, you name it… I’ve even watched one episode of Shugo Chara…”

“I didn’t know you were such a dork!” Mi-hee giggled.

“Hey, at least I’m a good looking dork who gets good grades and has a social life,” Jonghyun muttered back.

Mi-hee was about to respond back with something witty but the plane suddenly lurched forward. She let out a little whimper, having never been on a plane before. Holding her armrest tightly, she clenched her eyes together. All flight I was fine... ugh...

“Hey, you alright? It was just a little bump. It means we’re landing soon.” Jonghyun turned his head to face Mi-hee, worried. “Have you never been on a plane before?”

“There’s a first for everything,” Mi-hee croaked.

“Don’t worry,” Jonghyun said, squeezing her shoulder. “You’ll be fine. This is all normal. Take a deep breath… yeah, like that… good, how do you feel now?”

“B-better,” Mi-hee admitted. “Thanks.”

“No problem,” Jonghyun responded. “Put your seatbelt on, we’re here.”

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Dayturnstonight again~

This story is so much fun to write. I keep saying that. ahaha... oops... ^_^

Hope you like it so far! The trip is about to start!

I actually had to do a bit of research about Milan, having never been there personally.

If someone notices any errors (about time zones, etc, let me know!)