The second that Mark Tuan awkwardly steps over other people to get to his seat, he could tell that there’s something different about today. Was it because he got off the wrong side of the bed this morning? Was it because he almost forgot his passport and just barely beat traffic to check in on time? Or was it because –

An empty water bottle knocks him on the elbow.

“Sorry,” the girl next to him apologizes. “I’m sort of a klutz.” She smiles then, and Mark has a weird feeling of déjà vu. Her eyebrows slightly furrow, like she’s thinking the same thing.

“Did you – ”

“Do I –”

They stop, sharing a bewildered smile. “You can go first,” she offers graciously.

“Did you…by any chance, attend Hanlim Arts High School?” He his head, trying to rack his memory.

She nods slowly. “I was just about to say – you looked so familiar. I saw you around quite a bit back then.”

Mark grins. “You have an amazing voice.” He remembers when sometimes he would purposely walk past the practice rooms on the way out of school just to catch a glimpse of her voice, even if that path took two minutes longer. But he would never tell her that, of course.

“Ah, thanks,” she smiles to herself, twirling a strand of hair around her finger. Her eyes flutter up to meet his. “Mark, right?”

He nods. “Ayeon?” He likes the way her name rolls off his tongue. (He also likes the way her eyes almost disappear when she smiles in confirmation.)

The atmosphere cools down a bit and both are thinking deeply. About what, he doesn’t quite know.

“Do you still do all that? All the flips and stuff?” she wonders.

“I technically can, but I still don’t know what my career will be yet. I’m not quite sure what I’m doing with my life, to be honest.” A shaky laugh.

“I don’t know when my debut will ever be. Been training for four years,” she sympathizes. “Sometimes I wonder if I should just give up so I can eat as much ramen and meat that I want,” she chuckles darkly.

He looks at her in surprise. “I think – I know – you’ll make it. You are very talented and there’s no way they’ll keep you locked up forever.”

She smiles gratefully. “Thanks. So what have you been up to these days?”

Mark makes a face. “Okay, don’t laugh because this sounds really cliché.”

Ayeon raises an eyebrow. “Okay, I promise I won’t.”

He takes a deep breath. “I deliver chicken.”

She has to hold back a laugh.

“I told you not to laugh!” Mark exclaims, lightly smacking her arm. He freezes when he realizes what he had done. Oops.

He is even more perplexed when Ayeon breaks out into a fit of giggles, not at all fazed by his sudden touch. “What?” he asks.

“Sorry, I’m just imagining how you’d look like in a chicken delivery boy uniform. But you know what’s funnier?”

Now it’s Mark’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “What?”

“You dressed in a chicken delivery boy uniform while also doing your martial arts tricking moves.” She almost dies laughing at this.

Today is a day when Mark apparently feels like digging his own grave (anything to make her laugh – he admits). He lights up. “I have pictures on my phone,” he offers, pulling them up on his screen. “Gotta admit, it kind of accentuates my figure,” he jokes.

“I’m not gonna argue with that,” she murmurs, the smile still etched on her face.

(And so Mark and Ayeon spend the rest of the plane ride talking about the old days and filling each other in about old classmates and sharing interesting pictures on their phones, and he decides it’s kind of nice – like reuniting with a kindred spirit.

“So uh, do you think once we get back to Korea, you could deliver chicken to my place?” Ayeon wonders.

Mark shrugs. “Sure. I’ll give you my number. What’s yours?”

He’s not going to lie: he was quite smooth with that last one. Ayeon, too.

He sets her contact name as Ayeonnie and he grins – life just got a little bit more interesting.)

author's note: thanks for reading! that's a wrap for this drabble collection! may or may not continue any of these into full-sized one-shots, who knows. may also do a spin-off sequel not about an airplane, but about an airport hMM HOW ORIGINAL :P anyways, hope you enjoy!