aespa's 5th member (aespa X Male reader)

Part 28

(Y/N POV)

There is a specific kind of chaos that only exists at 30,000 feet in the air when you are trapped in a private jet with four girls who have been best friends for years and one Maknae who is just trying to survive the flight.

We were officially on the "SYNK: HYPER LINE" World Tour, heading to Los Angeles for the first leg. After the explosive response to my return in Korea, the international fans were practically foaming at the mouth to see the five-member lineup in person.

"Y/N-ah! Look! I'm a cloud!"

I looked up from my laptop—where I was trying to finalize a remix for the dance break—to see Winter pressing her face against the window of the plane, her nose squished flat.

"You're a kimbap, Minjeong noona. Sit down before the pilot gets annoyed," I muttered, though I couldn't help but smile.

"I'm bored," Ningning announced, sprawled across two seats in the back. "Y/N, come play Mario Kart with me. I'm going to destroy your soul."

"I'm working, noona. Unlike some people, I have to ensure the audio for the LA Coliseum doesn't blow out the speakers."

"Boo! Nerd!" she shouted, throwing a plushie at my head.

"Quiet down, children," Giselle said, though she wasn't much better, currently wearing three different pairs of sunglasses and taking selfies in the mirror. "Y/N, does this pair make me look like a rockstar or a fly?"

"Both. A rockstar fly," I answered without looking.

I felt a presence beside me. The seat next to me dipped, and the familiar scent of expensive perfume and strawberry chapstick filled my space. Karina didn't say anything; she just slid the headphones off one of my ears and leaned her head on my shoulder.

"You've been staring at those waveforms for three hours," she whispered, her voice husky from the lack of sleep. "Rest. The Coliseum isn't going anywhere."

"I want it to be perfect, Noona. This is the first time I'm performing for an international crowd since... everything."

Karina reached out, her fingers gently closing my laptop screen. "It will be perfect because you're there. Now, look at me."

I turned my head. We were so close I could see the tiny flecks of gold in her dark eyes. Since the "hiatus" ended, the boundary between us had become paper-thin. In the dorm, we were inseparable. On stage, our chemistry was the talk of the industry. And here, in the quiet hum of the jet, it felt like the world had shrunk down to just the two of us.

"You're doing that thing again," she murmured.

"What thing?"

"Thinking too much." She reached up, her thumb smoothing out the space between my eyebrows. "You're the Maknae. Your only job right now is to let me cuddle you because I'm cold."

"There are blankets right there, Jimin-noona."

"Blankets aren't warm enough," she pouted, her arms sliding around my waist, pulling herself into my lap.

I froze, glancing toward the back of the plane. "Noona! The others—"

"Giselle is too busy, Ningning is in a gaming trance, and Winter is currently trying to see if she can balance a spoon on her nose," Karina whispered, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Nobody is looking."

I sighed, giving in. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her close. She was small, but she fit perfectly against me. She let out a contented hum, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

"If Dispatch had a drone outside this window, we'd be finished," I joked.

"Then I'd just have to marry you," she said casually.