EXO-M slumped into their seats and with an exchanged thumbs up for their hard work that day, fell into a deep slumber. 

 

-x-

 

The boys awoke with a jolt when the plane seemed to land and a loud voice was heard through the speakers. "We are extremely sorry for the inconvenience," it said. "Due to technical difficulties, we are forced to make a stop here until the plane engines are fixed. It should take five to ten hours at the most, so for now please feel free to remove your seat belts. Again, we apologize for the delay." 

 

Their manager groaned and quickly whipped out his smartphone, contacting SM of the delay. Next to him, Tao had started tearing up and turned around to face his elders, who were seated in rows of two behind him. "Geges," he whined, "does this mean we're...stranded?!" 

 

Kris and Luhan, who were sitting next to each other, tried to reassure their maknae that no, they were not stranded and tried to calm him down. Behind them, Xiumin and Chen were wide awake and had whipped out their video games, arguing with each other in Korean. 

 

Lay rubbed his eyes and shook his head awake. As he stared in front at his group members, he realized that there was an uneven number, which meant-

 

He turned his head to the right and saw a girl around his age sleeping lightly. Lay had been so exhausted the night after the concert that once he reached his seat, he had fallen asleep, not noticing who he was sitting next to. 

 

He stared at the girl. It didn't seem like she was traveling with anyone. With a panic he wondered if she was a fangirl. It would be absolute torture if she was one of those crazy obsessed fangirls who stalked them everywhere (no offense to them; Lay loved his fans and was forever grateful to them, its just that there were those fans who, well, were a little too fanatical about EXO) because they seemed to bring little peace. Lay was suddenly reminded of the fans who mobbed Luhan and the rest of them at the airport, and the ones who had tried to obtain his personal information, and he sincerely prayed that the girl next to him wasn't a fangirl. 

 

Soon, the girl stirred and slowly opened her eyes. She sat up and stretched, then blinked her eyes before noticing Lay staring at her. "Oh," her voice was bright and cute sounding, "hello." She spoke in English with a slight accent, and she tried to comb her medium-length, straight black hair with her fingers. 

 

"He...llo," Lay responded slowly. 

 

"Why has the plane stopped?" she looked around curiously to see the other passengers walking around and chatting with each other. 

 

"Uh..." Lay struggled to find the words to reply, and the girl noticed this. 

 

"Ah, what languages do you speak?" 

 

"Mandarin...and Korean." 

 

"Ah, gomen, gomen!" She waved her hand in front of her face, then thought for a moment before saying in Korean, "Sorry! I figured since we had just flown from an English speaking country..." she giggled and grinned at him. 

 

"You're Japanese?" she nodded, the grin still on her face. "Are you by yourself?"

 

She exclaimed a "Hai!" and stuck out her hand. "I'm Suzuki Karin. Nice to meet you!" 

 

She was a bubbling burst of energy, and Lay couldn't help but smile back. "I'm Lay from EXO." 

 

"Lay? Your name is Lay?" She dig into her backpack and pulled out a small bag. "...as in, Frito Lay?" She held out a bag of chips, pointing at the large 'Frito Lay' logo on the side. 

 

Lay stared at her until she laughed at his expression. "Gomenasai," she struggled to hold in her cheery laughs. "I shouldn't laugh!" 

 

Soon enough, Lay joined her in the laughter. "That's fine. A lot of my fans call me that too." Their laughing died down, and he asked, "You don't know who I am, do you?" He wasn't trying to be arrogant; he knew perfectly well that although EXO was indeed popular, not everyone in the world knew who they were. He was just taking precautions, in case the girl was a fan. 

 

She shook her head, and Lay proceeded to explain to Karin about EXO and his group, and she seemed to understand what she was talking about. She smiled her congratulations when he mentioned how they were a newly debuted group, exclaimed a few comments when he told her about his sunbaes ("Oh, you're in the same agency as Shojo Jidai?! Sugoi~"), and cooed in excitement when he said they had just finished a concert and were heading back to Seoul to prepare for their next comeback. 

 

"Oh! So you're in the group named EXO? I think I've heard of that before, somewhere..." she tilted her head to the side. Then she made an 'oh!' sound again and jumped excitedly in her seat. "Since I don't know much about your group, teach me about it! I'll be your fan!" Karin brought out her smart phone and pressed the screen rapidly until she stuck the phone in front of Lay's face. 

 

It was open on YouTube, and she had searched 'EXO Lay' and came up with a number of hits. "Let's watch your videos! Which one first?" she grinned innocently and Lay took the phone from her and proceeded to show her his first teaser. 

 

They watched Lay's teaser and Karin clapped her hands happily. "Your dancing is awesome, Lay-kun! The dance was so cool too.  I'm going to learn it next time!"

 

"Haha, thanks," Lay replied, flustered. "Are you sure you want to learn the dance? Even I had problems learning it." 

 

Karin nodded vigorously, her bangs slapping down on her forehead. "Daijobu! I'm a dancer too!" She gave him a thumbs up and a cheeky grin. 

 

Lay looked at her in surprise. He hadn't expected that this ditsy, air headed girl next to him was a dancer as well. He had always told himself not to judge a book by its cover. Lay suspected that she was one of those characters who, although dense and innocent, had another side to them that they showed only in certain situations, much like himself. 

 

"Lay-kun seems really different on-camera!" she exclaimed excitedly. "This Lay-kun on the video seems so sullen and cool while the Lay-kun sitting next to me is so sweet and funny. Weird~ How can someone act like two different people?" 

 

'What a coincidence,' Lay thought to himself. 'I was just thinking about that...' 

 

"Yixing," he blurted. "That's my real name. Lay is just a stage name, so I guess you can take Yixing and Lay as two different personas, but still one person?"

 

"Y-i-x-i-n-g," she said slowly. "So Yixing-kun is next to me, while Lay-kun is on video! Ahh, kakkoi." 

 

Lay gave her a hesitant smile and proceeded to show her more videos of himself. He had never met someone so bubbly, so innocent, so honest, and so...real. As in, true to herself. He wondered what exactly she was doing alone on a plane to Korea; he was a bit concerned, especially for a girl like her. It wasn't his business to pry, so he kept his thoughts to himself as he watched her eyes sparkle in delight at his own teasers and scenes in their music videos. In his heart, Lay hoped that Karin would be alright on her own once they reached Seoul. Through his trainee years, he knew what it was like to step foot on a foreign country all alone, and the girl to his side seemed too helpless to find her way around such a big country by herself. 

 

Lay listened intently as Karin blabbered away excitedly about his precious group's songs. She showed a passionate love for music, and her smile was so bright and so infectious; Lay felt drawn to the curious girl, something he had never felt before. 

 

"Kawaii~" she cooed as the two watched another one of Lay's teasers, this time one he shared with one of s. "Yixing-kun, the guy dancing with you is really cute~" 

 

Lay felt a frown appear on his face as he stared at his fellow member - Sehun, in this case - dancing with him in the teaser. He didn't know why, but he felt a little upset that Karin had found his dongsaeng cute. 

 

"But~ But I think Lay-kun is the most handsome of the EXO members!" Karin eye smiled sweetly, and Lay's frown turned into a smile as his face flushed a bright pink. 

 

"Ne, Yixing-kun, what song is playing in this video?" 

 

"Into Your World, Korean version," Lay responded. 

 

"I want to listen to the full song!" Karin's face brightened. "It's so beautiful~" 

 

Lay's heart fluttered slightly, and he wondered if it was possible for Karin to be even happier than she was then. Hastily, he reached into his backpack and pulled out his mp3 player, scrolling through his songs until he found "Into Your World". 

 

Digging once again in his backpack for his earphones, he rummaged through it for a few seconds before he realized that he probably forgot his earphones back at his dorm. Embarrassed, Lay explained to Karin, "Um... I seem to have forgotten my earphones. Do you have a pair?" 

 

Karin laughed brightly at Lay's flustered expression. "Eh~ It seems like Yixing-kun is forgetful. Here, we can use mine!" She brought out her pair of earphones, a pastel pink pair with flowers decorated on it.

 

'It seems to fit her personality,' Lay thought, amused. 'Pink and cheery, just like her.' 

 

Karin plugged the earphones into Lay's mp3 and they each put on one earphone. Lay pressed play, and he watched Karin sway to the sweet melody. He tensed as Karin unconsciously leaned closer and closer to him, and he felt his heartbeat as it drowned out the sounds of the song. 

 

Lay stared intently at Karin, who had rested her head on his arm with a small smile. He felt his face flush and he decided that he liked being in this position with her. 

 

-x-

 

Lay woke up two hours later, when he felt a sudden jolt urge his eyes open. Lay's eyes traveled down to the girl sleeping next to him. Karin's head was rested upon his shoulder still, and his head had previously lied on top of hers. The earphones were still dangling in their ears. Lay's ears perked up when he heard muffled laughing in front of him, and when he faced the front he saw his band mates staring at him. Xiumin and Chen were trying to stifle their laughter. Luhan had a smirk on his face and had held up his cellphone, clearly taking a picture of the two, while Kris and Tao were trying their bests to keep straight faces. 

 

"Hey lover boy," EXO-M's manager called out without looking at him, his eyes still glued to his smartphone. "The plane's landed, so go wake up your girlfriend." 

 

"She's not my girlfriend!" Lay choked, his voice cracking a little at the end of his sentence. He blushed, embarrassed, and his band mates chuckled. Next to him, Karin fluttered her eyes open and she stated innocently at Lay, yawning cutely. 

 

"Oh, the plane's stopped?" she murmured before noticing all of EXO-M staring at her and giving them a small smile. "Good morning!" 

 

Lay smiled at her cuteness, his dimples showing. EXO-M saw this and whistled, making Lay flustered again and Karin just smiled brightly, oblivious to their teasing. 

 

-x-

 

"I guess this is goodbye?" Karin frowned sadly, sitting with Lay on a bench at a corner inside the airport, chatting as Lay waited for s to come back from the bathroom. It was the middle of the night, and fortunately they had chosen an airport where their fangirls had no access to. 

 

"Yeah...where are you headed?"

 

In reply, she dug in her pocket and produced a small business card. "At this place!" she gave an innocent smile. 

 

Lay's eyes widened as he scanned through the card. "You're going to...SM headquarters?!" She nodded, confused. "Why didn't you say this before?!" 

 

"The plane ride was fun~" she chirped in reply. "I forgot about my destination!" 

 

"B-but, why are you headed to SM?!"

 

"Oh, a fancy looking guy came up to me last month and asked if I wanted to join SM, which he said was a company for idols. So I said sure!" 

 

Lay's jaw dropped dramatically as he stated at the girl in front of him. Was she seriously that dense? To think he was on the verge of tearing up because he wouldn't see his newfound friend anymore! Which would have been totally embarrassing, because he wasn't Tao, the guy who cried so easily; no, he was Lay, the cool and calm EXO member, and Yixing, the energetic, forgetful guy. Guys like him don't cry over never seeing a person again, especially one he barely met a day before. 

 

"I'll miss you a lot Yixing-kun," she pouted. "I wish I could be friends with you forever~ But when we leave this airport..."

 

"You should've said this before! We'll still see each other!"

 

"Eh?"

 

"I...I work there! At SM entertainment! That's the company EXO's under! So we can talk anytime!" 

 

Now it was her turn to be shocked. Her jaw dropped before reverting back to her usual happy grin. "Then we were worried for nothing! Silly us~"

 

"How can you be a trainee at SM when you don't know anything about its artists or the company itself?! Idiot!" Lay flicked her forehead. "Thank god you can speak some Korean, or you'd be dead!"  

 

She scratched the back of her head sheepishly and smiled again. 

 

"Well then, what are we waiting for? SM awaits!" Lay gave a dramatic Superman pose and she laughed, and together they hummed the Mission Impossible theme as they ran to join the waiting EXO-M members and their manager. 

 

-x-

 

"Karin-ssi, your dancing is seriously amazing! Keep this up and maybe you can debut soon!" One of the choreographers praised her affectionately, giving her a pat on the back. She grinned back in response, bowing and giving a loud, "Thank you!". 

 

Soon the members of EXO-M entered the dance room, and they quickly bowed before warming up to practice their latest choreography. Karin was one of EXO-M's backup dancers for their upcoming performance; when Lay saw her he gave a grin and hurried to her side. 

 

The two chattered happily as they stretched. Meanwhile, the rest of EXO-M watched Lay amusingly. "I should've known. No wonder Yixing was so excited to practice today," commented Kris with an amused smirk. 

 

"He'd use any excuse to talk to his girlfriend~" Chen sung. 

 

Lay whipped around to face them. "She's not my girlfriend!" he cried exasperatedly. 

 

She turned to face him with a pout and wide eyes. "Yixing-kun, we're not friends?" Her fellow backup dancers sighed at her denseness. 

 

"No, no, we are friends! Those guys meant 'girlfriend' as in, like...dating and stuff-" 

 

"Dating...? Oh~ So we're not dating? Wait...what's dating again?" she tilted her head in confusion. 

 

Lay opened his mouth to speak before Tao cut him off, saying, "Not yet~"

 

"How many times do I have to tell you! We're just friends!" Lay dramatically flailed his arms in the air. 

 

"Yeah, keep telling yourself that, lover boy," they retorted with a chuckle. 

 

Turning back to Karin with flushed cheeks, he watched as she gave him a sweet smile, and he was suddenly reminded of the moment, so seemingly long ago, that he saw her on that plane ride to Korea. The world around him disappeared and all he could see and feel was Karin and Yixing, sitting together. His heart clenched and his brain whizzed, and a melody popped into his head. 

 

It was pink and cheery, just like her.