"When you told me I'd be going on a triple date with a hot guy, I was thinking along the lines of wealthy business man, or y security guard. Not lonely and pathetic pilot, Jongdae!" Subin hissed into her friend's ear. Jihyun gave her an insincere apologetic look but Subin was still quite upset. "It could've been anybody!" she exclaimed. She started to list off the names of people who would've been better candidates than Jongdae, who, from the looks of it, wasn't happy with his date either. "Kyungsoo, Kris, Luhan, hell, I'd even go out with Kim ing Jong-" Subin shut as she started to realize what she was saying. She was about to say 'Kim ing Jongin' but seeing as how Jihyun was currently on a date with him, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea. Also, it was Jongin.

Nudging Saerom, Subin tried to get the flight attendant to back her up, but Saerom was too busy awkwardly talking with Yixing to pay her any attention. Sighing, she looked at her evil friend who had set all of this up. "This better be a drama free night or else I will never talk to you again."

Jihyun nodded, assuring her that it would be. "Now come on, the boys are already ahead of us! Lets go!" Grabbing Subin's thin wrist, the hyperactive security guard dragged her over to their dates. 

Jongin smiled as soon as he saw Jihyun pulling a rather reluctant looking Subin up to them. "Hey," he greeted smoothly, making Jihyun's knees go weak. Subin rolled her eyes as Jongin greeted her also. "Jihyun," he said, glancing at his date before looking back up at Subin, "will you, Saerom, and the boys go in and get a table for us? I have something to say to Subin." Jihyun nodded as she eagerly walked inside of the restaurant where the others were waiting. 

As soon as the door swung closed behind Jihyun, Jongin's eyes became intense as he stared at Subin. Raising an eyebrow at him, Subin asked what he was doing but was shushed by the odd pilot himself. "Look," he started, running a hand through his soft jet black hair, "I know me and you had a thing, but I think it's safe to say that it's behind us now." Subin's eyes widened at what Jongin was saying. 

"What are-" Once again, Subin was shushed as Jongin continued to speak. 

"I'm on a date with Jihyun tonight while Jongdae hyung is your date. Please respect that and don't let your feelings for me get in the way." He gazed fiercely into her eyes. "I know you like me, but please control your urges and be happy for your friend." Patting her on the shoulder, the delusional man offered the confused and bewildered Subin a smile. "I'm going in first," he said, starting to walk away. "Come in when you accept that are just friends. It's okay if you take your time, I know how much you're hurting right now." With one last smile, Jongin walked through the doors of the sushi restaurant, leaving Subin there to mull over what the crazy pilot was saying. 

"What the ." That was all she could say. Scoffing, Subin shook her head disbelievingly. "Kim Jongin has officially lost his mind," she decided. As she pushed the doors to the restaurant open, she muttered, "This kid actually thinks I like him. How cute."

The sushi restaurant was packed, even though it was only a small airport restaurant. It was Saturday night, after all, so it made sense the the place was crowded that night. Weaving through the long lines of people, Subin finally found the table with her friends and their dates. Seeing as the only seat open was beside Jongdae, Subin groaned in annoyance. "Perfect, just perfect," she muttered quietly as she took the seat. As she sat down, Jongdae accidentally elbowed her as he fixed his shirt, and he mumbled an insincere apology before going back to look over his menu. With a roll of her eyes, Subin hoped the night would be over soon. 

"So what do you guys want?" Subin heard Jongin ask. Jongdae told him some weird sounding name of a sushi dish while Subin was still deliberating on what she wanted that night.

Never having really eaten sushi before, Subin was overwhelmed with all the strange names and options. None of the names really stood out to her as she flipped through the menu for the third time. With a sigh, she gave up and told Jongdae, "I guess I'll just have what you're having." Jongdae just grunted in reply. Obviously, he was not a very happy camper. 

For a little while, everyone made small talk with each other as they waited for their food to come out, well, sort of. Jongin and Jihyun were talking animatedly with each other (actually, Jihyun was doing all the talking while Jongin just listening attentively), and on the other side of Subin and Jongdae, Yixing and Saerom were laughing and smiling shyly at each other. Subin turned to Jongdae and opened to say something, but one glare from him and she shut . With an annoyed sigh (why does she keep sighing that night) she wondered what she could do to make the night not a total bust. 

As she was thinking, the group's server came out from the kitchen with their dishes and set them in front of their respective owners. While everyone else immediately dug in, saying how delicious their food was, Subin looked down at her plate, uninterested. Now that she thought about it, what else could she have expected from a dish called 'Caterpillar Roll'?

Subin picked up a single piece and tentatively raised it up to , only to drop it back onto her plate when Jongdae spoke to her. "It's not going to kill you, you know that right?" She nodded, slightly offended, but at least he was talking to her now. Jongdae didn't let her say anything. "Just try it. If you don't like it, I'll eat it," he offered. 

Surprised by his sudden kindness, Subin was a bit taken aback, but nodded. Picking up the piece of sushi once again, she raised it to . This time, the piece of sushi actually made it into  and she chewed on it thoughtfully before swallowing it with a pained expression. "Yeah," she said slowly, pushing her plate towards her "date". "You can have the rest."

Jongdae laughed. "I'm assuming you don't like it. More for me then." And without any hesitation, he accepted her dinner plate. "You sure you don't want a piece?" he teased, raising one towards her face. 

Laughing, Subin swatted it away and shook her head at the man. "No thank you!"

Hearing the laughing and giggling duo, Jihyun stopped talking and excitedly showed Jongin. "Look!" she said, nodding her heads towards the playful pair. "They're getting along well."

Finally looking up from his food, he looked at Subin and Jongdae enviously. He wanted a date like that. More like, he wanted Subin. 

Don't get him wrong, Jihyun was hot, like really, really hot, but she was just so annoying. She kept talking and talking, and would never stop. By the time their food had come out, Jongin had tuned Jihyun's excessive blabbering out and focused on his food. The sad thing was, Jihyun was too busy going on and on and hang even noticed he had stopped listening and replying to her. 

"Don't you think they'd make a cute couple?" Jongin suddenly heard Jihyun ask. "I mean, not as cute as we would be, of course," she said with a flirting smile.

One more glance at the still laughing duo and Jongin bitterly said, "Adorable." Jongin watched miserably as Subin leaned in closer to Jongdae as he told her something – something funny apparently since she burst out laughing the moment he told her. 

What Jongin didn't know was that the giggling pair were talking about him. "You know he's staring at you right?" Jongdae whispered into Subin's ear. 

Subin laughed as she nodded, whispering back, "I've noticed for a while now. He looks like a love sick puppy." She spared a glance at him, but the moment their eyes met, Jongin looked back down at his food. "It's kind of cute," Subin said, a small smile flitting across her features. "You know, in a younger brother way," she added quickly when she realized what she was saying. 

"He still likes you, you know." Jongdae leaned back into his chair and gave Subin a knowing look. "Everyday he still tells all of us how hot you are and how much he wants to date you."

Subin was starting to get irritated. She didn't  understand why Jongin was still infatuated by her. She thought she had made it clear that she didn't date younger guys. Especially not ones that were cocky, troublesome, and heart breakers. "If he likes me so much then why is he on a date with my friend?" Subin looked over to Jihyun and Jongin. She scoffed when she realized that he was paying her no attention at all. "He doesn't even look interested in her!"

An amused smile formed on Jongdae's face. "Looks like someone is a bit jealous," he sing songed. 

Subin rolled her eyes. "Not jealous, just confused," she admitted. "If he likes me, he needs to prove it and not beat around the bush like that. Do you know what he told me out there? He said that I should get over my little crush on him because he's dating Jihyun. The nerve of him," she muttered. Jongdae just gave her a look that made her feel as if he saw right through her. 

While Saerom was happily digging into her sushi, Yixing was staring at his plate with a weird expression. Although one of Saerom's favorite food was sushi, Yixing had never tried it before, and he was kind of hesitant about trying it now. It was understandable, at least in his mind, because it was raw fish, he was not so willing to put that into his body.

As Saerom ate piece after piece, she noticed from the corner of her eye that Yixing was just sullenly pushing his food around on his plate with his chopstick. Wondering why the man wasn't eating, she leaned over and asked him. “Are you not hungry?” she questioned.

He shook his head and looked at her with a small smile, telling her, “I am, it's just...” he trailed off and pointed to his food. “I'm not really a sushi kind of guy,” he admitted. “I've never even had it before.”

Biting the inside of her cheek, Saerom really wanted to tell him to at least try it, but seeing his facial expression, it didn't look like Yixing's determination to not put the sushi in his mouth would break any time soon. Saerom felt bad that while she and the others (minus Subin) were enjoying their meals, Yixing was just be sitting there. Saerom opened to say something, but then she heard the unmistakable growl of hunger coming from Yixing.

Sighing a little, Saerom decided to be the better person and accommodate Yixing's dislike for the food on his plate. Even though sushi was a favorite of hers, Yixing's hunger took precedence over it. Saerom was willing to compromise and come up with a solution that would work for the both of them. Giving him a kind look, Saerom suggested, “How about we get out of here and go get something to eat where we'll both enjoy the meal?” Nervously, she shook her leg up an down, an old habit of hers that reappeared every now and then when she became uneasy and insecure. She was afraid that Yixing would reject her offer.

Fortunately, Yixing nodded and seemed more than relieved that Saerom had offered to go somewhere else. “Thank you, but are you sure?” he asked, giving her a concerned look. Yixing didn't want to ruin her evening just because he was a picky eater. “I can always get something by myself when this is all over, you don't have to sacrifice your dinner for me.”

“It's okay,” she said, smiling to reassure him that it really was. “I can get this anytime, but you sound hungry, and it's not much fun here anyway. Not with them.” Nodding her head towards the other four, Yixing got her point. Between Jihyun talking obnoxiously loud, Jongin staring at Subin, and the latter laughing with her newly made friend, Jongdae, none of them had paid much attention to Saerom or Yixing. Saerom was starting to get bored anyway, so it didn't matter much to her whether or not she stayed with her friends. “I'll even let you pick the place,” she offered.

Yixing nodded excitedly, thankful that Saerom was such a kind person (though she would disagree with that statement). “So what's the plan? How are we going to sneak out of here without them noticing?”

Resting her head on her left hand, Saerom thought about it for a moment before she finally came up with the perfect idea. “You tell them that you're going to restroom but then leave. After five or ten minutes, I'll say that I also have to go to the washroom and then go out front.”

“And I'll be waiting for you out front?” Yixing asked for clarification. Saerom nodded, confirming the fact. Grinning, Yixing agreed to it. Although it wasn't the most exuberant plan, it was better than anything he could come up with, and he'd take what he can get. Clearing his throat, pushed himself away from the table and stood up, announcing, “I'm going to the washroom, I'll be right back.” No one besides Saerom really heard him, nor did they care much. Leaving with a final wink in Saerom's direction, Yixing escaped first.

The next five minutes were pure torture for the flight attendant. No one was bothering to talk to her, except for Subin, who only asked if Saerom could pass her napkins because somehow Jihyun had spilled her drink all over herself. She checked the time on her phone for the tenth time that minute and nearly shot straight out of her seat when she realized that five minutes had finally passed and that she could now finally “go to the restroom”.

Standing up, Saerom told the table that she would be back in a few minutes and told them she was going to touch up her makeup. As she walked purposefully towards the long hallway leading to the restaurant’s facilities, she glanced behind her at the four still left at the table. Seeing that none of them were even paying the least bit attention to her – they were all trying to help Jihyun clean herself up – Saerom immediately made a sharp left and strided quickly to the main door. Pushing the heavy doors outwards to exit the sushi bar, Saerom was finally free.

True to his word, Yixing had waited for her right outside of the eatery. He had been leaning against the opposite wall, but smiled and stood up straight when he saw Saerom. “Ready to go?”

"Where are we going to eat?" She didn't care much where they were going. Although nothing would beat the sushi she had just left behind, anywhere was alright with her. She followed Yixing as he started to walk forward.

Yixing looked behind him and with sparkling eyes, he said, "A nice little place I like to call McDonald's."

Jongdae looked around, wondering where the two that had been sitting beside him just minutes ago disappeared to. Leaning over to Subin, he asked, “Uh, do you know where Saerom and Yixing went?”

Subin shrugged, not paying much attention as she grabbed more napkins and handed them to Jihyun. “I think they said they had to go to the bathroom,” she said distractedly. “Dammit, Jihyun!” she shouted as the stain on the girl's dress wouldn't go away no matter how hard she dabbed at it. “This isn't going to come out.”

Groaning, Jihyun accepted her fate. “My new dress is now all ruined!” she exclaimed dramatically. “I hope I still look okay though...” she trailed off as she sent a glance towards Jongin, hoping that he'd get the hint and compliment her or at least tell her she still looked good.

Jongin wasn't even paying attention.

With an annoyed grunt, Jihyun sat back down and scooted closer to the young man. “Jongin,” she cooed, making sure he turned to look at her. When he finally snapped out of his daze and turned to look at his date, if you could even call her that anymore. “What are we doing after dinner?” Clinging onto his arm, Jihyun cutely pouted at him.

Jongin was at a lost for words. He was going to have to spend even more time with Jihyun? He was seriously starting to get annoyed with her. He also hadn't planned for anything after dinner, and didn't know how to reply to Jihyun's question. Looking to his hyung for help, Jongdae just smirked at him and mouthed the words 'this is your problem'. This close to smacking his head against the table, Jongin opened his mouth to come up with a crazy excuse, but he was saved by the bell. Well, in this case, by Jihyun's ring tone.

With an annoyed sigh and a confused expression on her face, Jihyun took her phone out of her purse to answer it. “Hello?” she asked as she flipped her old phone open. “Yes, I am Jihyun.” Her annoyed expression turned to one of concern. The three at the table looked at her in confusion as her tone became more and more desperate. “What? Are you serious? I'll be right there. Yes, yes. Thank you.” Jihyun hung up and stood up, grabbing her coat and jacket in one swift motion.

“What's going on?” Subin asked, her obvious concern for her friend shining through. “Is everything alright?”

Shaking her head, everyone could see that tears were starting to form in the girl's eyes. “No, my brother got in a car accident. He's in the hospital right now. I have to go.” Jihyun wiped her eyes with her arm and looked at Jongin, and thanked him. “I had a great time, thank you for the date and the dinner.” She loosely wrapped her arms around him for a hug. “Bye Subin, and it was nice to meet you Jongdae.” She waved goodbye and then ran out of the restaurant.

An awkward silence ensued once Jihyun left the table. Jongin was now without a date, and Subin and Jongdae were never really on a date in the first place.

“So, uh...” Jongin and Subin both spoke up at the same time, saying the exact same thing. Uncomfortably, they looked at each other and told the other to go first.

Jongdae, who was now feeling more like the third wheel than anything, decided that he had had enough for one night. Standing up and faking a yawn, he said, “Well, this was fun” Scratching the back of his neck, he looked between Jongin and Subin, one whose eyes lit up at the thought of him leaving, and the other who was sending him telepathic death threats telling him not to leave. Deciding to ignore Subin's vicious glare, Jongdae made up his mind to leave and let the two who had some obvious ual frustrations to have an awkward evening by themselves. “But I'm going to leave. Thanks for dinner.” As Jongdae walked out, he couldn't help but turn around and with a wink, call out, “Be safe, kids!” He ran out the door before Subin could run after him to murder him.

Jongin was like an excited little kid who finally was able to talk to his crush. Subin was less than enthusiastic.

“So...”

“Well...”

They both spoke up at the same time again. Subin stopped and looked at the younger man in front of her. Jongin looked back at her, and at the last moment, gave her his signature smirk. “I bet you're happy now that you get to be alone with me, right?”

This was going to be a long night.

Laughter could be heard from the far corner in the red and yellow fast food place. As Saerom picked at the fries her and Yixing were sharing, Yixing was devouring his Big Mac. “I'm serious,” Saerom said, trying to convince him that her story was true. “It really happened.”

Yixing swallowed the food in his mouth before chuckling, still not believing her tale. “You're trying to tell me that Jongin accidentally cursed at Sehun over the intercom and the whole plane heard him drop the 'f' bomb?” Yixing shook his head, still not being able to imagine that. “Jongin would never do anything to jeopardize his job.”

“Hence the 'accident'. He didn't really mean it, but I mean, there were kids and parents of the kids on the plane, and I'll be the first to say that that flight was filled with a ton of complaints from angry passengers,” Saerom said, remembering it like it was just yesterday. “Didn't he get suspended for a couple weeks?”

Yixing shrugged. “Maybe, I forget. I remember him getting suspended, but not what for. That was probably it, though,” he mused. Then he laughed. “That's probably why he was so pissed. He hates to not be able to fly.”

A silence ensued, but not an awkward one. The awkwardness diminished between the two, thankfully, and now, there was nothing but comfort enveloping the couple.

A while later, Saerom quietly said, “Jongin must really love being a pilot, huh?” She looked at Yixing and wondered if he loved his job too.

Yixing nodded thoughtfully, agreeing wholeheartedly with her statement. After taking a sip of his coke, he said, “He does,” and after pausing, “we all do.” That answered Saerom's question. But it only piqued her interest even more. Sure, Saerom loved to fly (sometimes, anyway) but she could never imagine being a pilot. She wouldn't be able to deal with the pressures of being a pilot. She had enough anxiety as it was about being a flight attendant.

After a few moments, she finally decided on a question to ask. “What's it like? Being a pilot and all?” she asked. She was curious, very curious.

Yixing tilted his head, as if mulling over the question. Saerom noticed that it looked like he had a million things he wanted to say at once. Finally, Yixing decided on saying one thing. “It's the best feeling in the world, to be able to fly through the skies like that.” Saerom stayed quiet, chewing over his words. She wondered if what he said was true, if it was really the best feeling in the world. Then she wondered if the others felt that way too. Yixing seemed to be able to read her thoughts today, as without even being asked, he expanded. “The others love it too, you know.”

“Why?”

Yixing shrugged and leaned back into his chair. “Why not?” he shot back.

“Fair enough,” Saerom retorted. She was still nosy though. She wanted to know why being a pilot was so freeing for them when all she could think about that certain job was the fear surrounding it. “But I still want to know.”

“Have you ever sat in the cockpit and leaned back in your chair mid flight to just look at what's going on around you?” Yixing asked, looking at her with a seriousness even he didn't know he could pull off. Saerom shook her head, telling him of course she hasn't. “That's why,” he said. Saerom still didn't understand, and she voiced this out loud, only to be met with a sigh. “You'll understand one day.”

“How?” she questioned. She was sure she'd never be able to experience anything like that anytime soon, if ever. “I don't think there's any way that's possible.”

With a small smile, all Yixing said was, “I'll take you on a plane ride one day. I'll be in the pilot seat with you in the copilot seat.”

Saerom didn't know how to take that. Was it like a date? No, she thought. It's a friendly outing, that's all. After a few more silent moments of her debating with herself over the offer, she finally decided. Saerom nodded, agreeing to it. “Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Why am I still here?” Subin muttered. After Jongdae had left her with Jongin in the restaurant, she was sure she'd be able to sneak away after a few minutes. An hour later, she wondered why she hadn't escape sooner. “Where are we going?” She looked at Jongin, only to see his back. He was in front of her, walking quickly as he led the way to wherever it was they were heading to.

Jongin turned his head around and smirked at her, making Subin want to gag at the playboy. “You'll see,” was all he said. Sighing, Subin just complied. She sped up her pace. Jongin was walking quite quickly and she didn't want to lose him (although she kind of did). There were a ton of people in the terminal and she almost lost sight of the younger man a couple times earlier from having to dodge other passengers.

“Jongin, you're walking too fast,” she chided, having a hard time keeping up with him. “Slow down, will you?”

The young man rolled his eyes, but stopped anyway. Spinning around on the balls of his feet to look at her, he scoffed and , saying, “What, are you too old to be able to walk fast now?” Glaring at him, Subin ignored him as she basically sprinted – as well she could in her heels – up to him. “Finally, grandma,” he joked.

Choosing to be the better person, she paid no attention to his immature taunts. “Will you tell me where we're going?” she asked again. After an awkward ten minutes sitting at the sushi bar by themselves, arguing over who would pay the bill (Jongin won, since he wanted to be a gentleman. Subin didn't want to have to owe him later, but ultimately lost the fight), Jongin asked if she wanted to go somewhere. At first, Subin was suspicious, but when he reassured her that the place they were going wasn't sketchy and he promised not to get too handsy with her, she agreed, although rather reluctantly. She had nothing better to do anyway.

“You're really inpatient, you know that?” he asked, purposefully ignoring her question. “We're almost there, come on!” Without even hesitating – hey, this was the infamous heart breaker we're talking about here – he grabbed Subin's small hands with his and pulled her along.

Subin shot him a look that could kill, though he didn't see it. She tried to wriggle her hand free from his, but it was no use, he had a deadlock grip on her, as if he was afraid she'd run away the moment he'd let go (which was sure to happen now after he pulled that move). “You promised not to be handsy,” she reminded with a low growl.

Jongin laughed. “I said I wouldn't get too handsy, and I also said I would try. It wasn't set in stone.” Before Subin could angrily retort, Jongin pulled her through a door marked 'Employees Only' and led her outside into the dark night. “We're here,” he said, letting go of her hand, which Subin was very much glad for. Jongin walked a few feet away from her with his arms in the air as he gestured around them. A genuine smile was on his face as he exclaimed, “Isn't it beautiful?”

Subin looked around, not exactly sure what was so 'beautiful' about the fenced off area beside the landing strip. This was where pilot trainees were taken to observe airplanes. It was also where an employees went to hide out for a while if they were avoiding someone. Subin would know, she's used this area many times. It was restricted to everyone other than employees, and everyone except the newbies also knew that it was a popular make out spot among coworkers. Realization dawned on Subin, and she started to back away from Jongin. “I swear to god, if you come near me I will not hesitate to kick you.”

“What are you-” Jongin realized what Subin was talking about and laughed, shaking his head and hands, making it clear that that was definitely not the reason why he took her out to this area. Although he was up for it if she was. “No, I didn't take you out here so we could make out.”

Subin let out a visible breath of relief, but her guard was still up. “Then why are we out here?” she asked, keeping her distance just in case.

Jongin didn't say anything. He nudged his head out towards the runway and pointed at a plane about to takeoff. “Don't you think it's nice out here? To see the planes take off and land?” He looked up peacefully at a plane that was had just taken off and was now in mid air.

Looking up at the same aircraft Jongin was looking at, Subin couldn't find anything beautiful about it. To her, it was only a big piece of metal racing through the sky. When she told him this, Jongin spun around immediately and faced her with a frown. “How could you not see the beauty in that?”

She just shrugged, still not seeing what he saw. She was starting to wonder if Jongin was drunk or something. He was starting to sound a little crazy. Jongin just shook his head, his rare gentle smile returned to his face. “You don't get it.” Jongin turned his head to look at her. “Subin, how many people do you think it took to fly that plane?”

This was a trick question, Subin knew it, however, she didn't know exactly how it was a trick question, so she took the obvious route. “Uh, two?” she asked.

With a small snort, Jongin said, “A lot, actually.”

“How are you going to ask me a question even you don't know the exact answer to?” she asked, starting to get a bit annoyed. She had no idea what Jongin was getting to and she didn't really care much to know either.

“The people that made the plane, that's an indefinite number. Then you have to account for the ground staff that direct the plane, then the air traffic controllers that talk to the pilots. And of course the pilots themselves. There'll always be an unfixed number every time.”

“I'm lost.”

He just smiled. “It's okay, you don't understand.”

With a sigh of defeat, Subin agreed. “I don't.” Nothing else was said after that. Jongin continued to look at the planes and Subin continued to wonder what was so beautiful about it. After a while, she turned her attention to Jongin. She wondered what he was thinking – she wondered why she even cared – and then after that thought, she wondered who he really was. One minute he was a total asswipe, the next a total ert, and then the minute after that he's mysterious. Subin didn't know why, but she wanted to know what was up with the boy standing next to her.