1 salt✅

NY✈️SK

I sat back with my eyes closed. The trip home was going to be long. I felt my arm being shaken and forced me to open my eyes. Dongju was the culprit.

"What? You couldn't ask someone back there?" I asked slightly ticked off.

"Can I stay up here with you...?" he asked in such a low voice you could've missed it if you weren't listening.

I had never seen Dongju like this. Did something happen while I was knocked out? I stole a glance at Hwanwoong who seemed to be not giving us the time of day. I looked back at Dongju who looked at me expectantly.

"I guess... though, there isn't a place to sit." I said then grunted when he suddenly sat on my lap without warning.

"Thanks..." Dongju said before scooting back.

I wrapped my arms around his waist then internally sighed. I closed my eyes and hoped I would be able to fall asleep again.

ㅠㅛㅠㅛ

I found myself waking up then having a mini panic attack. I calmed down as I recognized the person to be Dongju. He quietly slept as he leaned against me. I looked towards Hwanwoong who looked as if he was completely alone on the plane. I expected some form of jealousy, but none seemed present. Dongju groaned then snuggled closer. I never really saw this childish side of him before. I patted his head then heard someone walk in.

"Oh, he's here." said Keonhee as he looked at us.

"You thought he jumped or something...?" I asked a bit surprised.

"Maybe... we kind of picked on him..." confessed Keonhee as he fidgeted.

That explained his quietness and pleading eyes that said they wanted to stay with me. I glared at Keonhee as I sat up holding Dongju.

"Did you really have to? He's human and has feelings. Couldn't you be more careful with what you said? You don't know what could trigger him." I scolded as I watched Keonhee shrink back.

"Well, I came to apologize, but he's asleep... Can you let me know when he's up?" Keonhee said as he eyed Dongju.

"Yeah. And tell the others they need to apologize too." I said before Keonhee left. I then looked at Dongju. I frowned and held him close. "Don't let them get to you..."

"Seo." Hwanwoong called out. I hummed in response. I shifted my gaze to Hwanwoong who looked at me with a serious look. It spooked me slightly. "How did it feel having his ass on top of your dick?"

I looked at him in shock at the question. Was this his pent up jealousy? He looked as if he had more to say, but was giving me a chance to explain.

"You heard everything though... There wasn't much else for him to sit so... and it's not like I asked him to sit." I said in response to his question.

"He could've sat on the floor. I don't like this arrangement." Hwanwoong said with hostility in his voice.

"You're taking this too seriously. Do you think I'd just fuck around with someone else who gives me attention? I'm not that low, Hwan." I said as I tried controlling my volume so the others couldn't hear.

"How can I be so sure, huh? You can say that and the next day up and be in bed with someone who isn't me!" said Hwanwoong angrily.

I kept quiet as I thought. I looked at him with sad eyes.

"It's happened before hasn't it...?" I asked softly.

Dongju sat up then stretched. He rubbed his eyes then looked at us. We started to panic as we were afraid of what he had heard.

"What happened before?" he asked half asleep.

"Us harmonizing. Go head back with the others. They're going to apologize, okay?" I said as I ushered him out.

I closed the door then looked at Hwanwoong. I sat back down and waited for his response.

"Yeah... I thought we were serious..." he said with a heavy sigh. "Imagine coming back and finding a guy's clothes scattered around and a naked guy in your girlfriend's bathroom."

It didn't sound pleasant, probably because it wasn't. I frowned heavily as I noticed his face started to glisten around his eye and cheek. I left my seat then wrapped my arms around his neck. It was obvious it still bothered him.

"You did nothing wrong, she did. She didn't deserve you. Despite having met in the strangest circumstances, I can say for certain you're a great guy. Hell, you can fly a plane for pete's sake." I said before kissing the top of his head. "Don't remember bad times and look forward to the good ones."

He held my hand then gave it a small kiss. I leaned down towards his cheek and planted tiny kisses leading up towards the corner of his eye.

"Stop... you're making me hot." he whined despite motioning for me to kiss the other side.

"I'll stop once you say you like me." I teased before kissing the other cheek.

"I like you. A lot. So much. I want us to get m-" he said then stopped. "Get matching bracelets..."

The last part sounded forced. Was it not what he originally meant? I didn't voice my question as he probably had a good reason on why he kept quiet.

ㅠㅛㅠㅛ

We all stretched out as we had finally made it back to Korea. Surprisingly, I didn't miss it. We all looked at each other then burst into laughter. No one knew what was so funny, but in the end it didn't really matter. Despite the severity of our situation, we had become close to one another. Even with the hiccups we had in the beginning. We all quieted down and let silence fall over us.

"Ready to end it all?" I asked as I looked at each of them.

"Not sure what you mean by end as there could be more, but sure, why the hell not." Youngjo said with a smile.

"You know it." Geonhak said as he made an okay sign.

"And bring everyone back!" Keonhee said with a thumbs up.

"And give the young ones a future." Dongju said.

"I'm on your side no matter what." Hwanwoong said with the brightest smile.

Little did we know that then was really the beginning of the end.