Chapter 24

            Author’s Note: From this chapter on, I will address the girls by their stage names to reduce confusion. They may occasionally call one another by their real names, but they will be called their stage names otherwise.

            Chrome Entertainment, with all its secret research and girl group production, was quite lucky to be able to afford business class seating to China.  After quickly heading through airport security, they made their way onto the plane to be seated.

            “There are ten of us,” Ellin explained excitedly as she walked with Choa.  “It doesn’t matter if we sit in our assigned seats as long as we use the seats we paid for.  Dohyun will probably try to sit with the Captain or something…I want to try sitting with him though…”

            “Unnie, you really shouldn’t try to start something with him,” Choa insisted as she rolled her eyes.  “He’s basically our manager.”

            “Listen, I know someone like him could never like someone like me, but it’s worth a try,” Ellin sighed spitefully.

            “What?  No, that’s not what I was saying.”

            As they all walked down the middle of the plane, they watched carefully as Dohyun led them down the aisle, cheerily swinging his carry-on bag back and forth.  The Captain’s low voice could be heard calling from behind them all, and Dohyun quickly dropped his bag in the middle of the aisle and rushed to the Captain. 

            Ellin and Choa stopped where Dohyun dropped his bag and looked at their tickets.  “It looks like we have all these seats,” Ellin informed excitedly.  “Do you think Dohyun will sit here?”

            “Well, he left his bag there,” Choa told warily.

            “Choa-yah…”  Ellin gave a bright, pleading grin as she took Choa’s arm.  “Do you think…if I sat in one of those seats…would you sit in one of the seats on the other side of the aisle?”

            “Unnie, we agreed to sit together,” Choa said with gritted teeth.

            “Yes…but…”

            Choa grew angrier as she observed Ellin’s puppy eyes.  But she took a deep breath and decided that this was all just a phase that would end soon enough.  She smiled weakly and patted Ellin on the arm.

            “Sure, unnie.  But if I end up sitting with Wifi Jung, I’ll be really upset with you.”

            “Ah!  Thank you, Choa-yah!”

            After giving Choa a tight hug, Ellin sat down in the window seat nearby.  Choa sat in the window seat across the aisle, looked at Dohyun’s fateful bag, and chuckled quietly.  She knew Ellin would probably regret her decision after being starstruck by Dohyun.

            Choa’s mind began to race as she realized their very first performance was about to happen.  Their song “Bing Bing” was different from the usual K-pop song.  It was meant to display cuteness and uniqueness.  They had practice the choreography a thousand times, and Choa had worked on her lines until they were perfect.  This was going to be an amazing performance.

            Soyul and Jina sat together behind Ellin, and Serang and Geummi sat together behind Choa.  When the Captain and Earman Kim sat together in front of Ellin, Choa knew she would be stuck with Wifi Jung.  He was such a jokster; no one would want to be on a plane with him for hours.  As Wifi Jung approached their seats, Choa gave a long sigh.

            “The two of you aren’t sitting together?” he asked, looking back and forth at the two of them.

            “Um, no,” Ellin informed anxiously.

            “Ah, well, you’re ruining the seat pattern,” he sighed.

            Ellin watched in horror as Wifi Jung suddenly took a seat next to her.  She helplessly leaned away as he shuffled with his carry-on bag.

            “Ah!  Wifi Jung!” she cried.  “This seat…it’s…”

            “Are you saving it or something?” he laughed.  “Ellin-ah, you can’t have two seats all to yourself.”

            Ellin looked at Choa with wide eyes, but Choa only giggled quietly.  The whole situation was incredibly amusing…until Dohyun wandered over to them.  He picked up his bag and pointed to the seat next to Choa.

            “Excuse me.  Is this seat taken?”

            “What?”  Choa looked up at his smirking eyes and gave a slight cough.  “Uh, no…No one’s sitting there.”

            “Alright.”  Dohyun carefully placed his carry-on in the compartment above and sat beside Choa.  She barely scraped her eyes away from him long enough to notice the ever-increasing helplessness on Ellin’s face.  Unfortunately, Ellin’s obvious discomfort wasn’t amusing enough to distract Choa from Dohyun’s overwhelming presence.

            “Um…Would you prefer the window seat?” Choa asked timidly.

            “Ah, no,” he grinned amiably.  “Isn’t this your first international flight?  You ought to be able to see the cities below.”

            “Okay…”

            Though the seats were big enough for each of them to have their own comfortable space, Choa found herself leaning away from Dohyun.  As she leaned toward the window, she desperately wished to simply jump out of it.  Even if the plane was already in the sky, she would rather fall thousands of feet into the Yellow Sea than spend hours sitting next to Dohyun.  Socializing was hard enough with her members, and it had always been difficult with men.

            “Do you feel ready for your debut?” he asked suddenly.

            She forced herself to look at him and give a smile.  “Well…I think so.”

            “You seem more confident than that,” Dohyun chuckled.  “The Captain has told me all about you.  You’re definitely the most confident member with singing.  And every note is perfect.”

            “Ah…Thank you,” she said, withdrawing further into discomfort.  “I can’t imagine why I feel so confident.”

            “I think it’s because you’re good!” he told boldly.  “Did you do a lot of singing in the Academy?”

            Choa froze.  Dohyun had become a thousand times more intimidating with the use of just one word.  “The…The Academy?  Are you referring to….”

            “Oh…I can see why you would be reluctant to talk about it,” he said apologetically, looking down at his lap.  “Those memories weren’t particularly pleasant.”

            “Not at all,” she confirmed miserably.  “How…How do you know about it?”

            “The Captain shared your files with me before I joined the mission,” Dohyun explained, shifting awkwardly in his seat.  “I’ve actually been assigned to managing your care for the past few years.  Choa-ssi…I’m really sorry.  I shouldn’t have even said anything.”

            “Ah, no, it’s okay,” she said quickly, realizing he was becoming more uncomfortable than she was.  “You’ve been assigned to our care?”

            “Yes,” he assured with a weak smile.  “When I made top security clearance a few years ago, I was immediately assigned to managing paperwork pertaining to your educational funding and other things.  I’m sure Ko Soomin has explained how it works to you.”

            “She has, but I never met anyone involved in the process.”  She gave a small bow and smiled.  “I’m very grateful for your work.  And I know my sister appreciates it greatly.”

            “She’s been in a difficult situation, hasn’t she?” he sighed dejectedly.  “I think she’ll pull through soon enough.”

            Before Choa could respond, the flight attendants began issuing safety rules through the speakers.  The plane’s powerful engines came on, and liftoff was inevitable.  Choa looked out into the darkness of the airport as it slowly faded away.  Soon enough they would be above the Yellow Sea with a view of nothingness.

            “You should definitely try to get some sleep,” Dohyun suggested.  “You won’t have much time for sleep once we get there.”

            “You’re right.”  Choa leaned up against the window, wrapped her arms around herself, and closed her eyes.  The plane’s air conditioning was particularly overwhelming for her skin and throat.  She immediately found Dohyun’s words useless as she realized she wouldn’t get any sleep on this flight.

            “Here, this should help.”  Before Choa could open her eyes, she felt a warm, fuzzy blanket being draped over her.  She sat up abruptly and watched as Dohyun’s eyes opened widely.  “Ah, did I scare you?  I’m sorry.”

            “Ah, no!” she exclaimed hastily.  “I wasn’t scared…I just…didn’t expect it.”

            “Well, just try to get some sleep,” he smiled, folding his arms and relaxing in his seat.  “We have a long day tomorrow.”

            Before Choa closed her eyes again, she peered over at Ellin.  Wifi Jung had fallen into a deep sleep and rested his heavy head on Ellin’s shoulder.  She pouted over at Choa and shook her head.  Choa smirked and gave Dohyun one last look before closing her eyes and unexpectedly falling asleep.