Chapter 22 – First class

The flight that day was international, New York to London and I was working in economy class. Not that I minded. While most of my fellow flight attendants preferred to serve in Business or First class, I liked economy. It was never boring, there was always someone ringing the bell and that meant the flight went quicker. My experiences of business and especially first class were very entitled people, rude and dismissive. Give me tired, everyday people who needed some more snacks to keep them happy any day over someone who thought their 4 course Michelin style meal was sub standard.

"Marley," I heard my name called and turned to look at Beth who was hurrying up the aisle towards me. We were on board, about to begin greeting passengers as they were starting to scan their boarding passes to enter the plane. "Swap with me?"

"Why, what have you done," I asked, rolling my eyes and continuing my walk as I scanned up and down the aisles to make sure everything was in order for the passengers.

"No, no, nothing yet," she answered, smirking a little. "But that man, the one I saw when we were walking through the departure lounge, he is on our flight. He's in coach though so swap with me so I can serve him, please?"

"The one who smiled and couldn't take his eyes off you as we walked away," I asked, grinning as she blushed a little. I knew exactly who she was talking about, he was incredibly good looking and seemed to have thought Beth was more than a little appealing, almost spilling his drink as his head pivoted to watch her. I didn't blame him, she was very beautiful and we'd had a giggle about it even as she'd turned back a few times to look at him.

"He was so well dressed I was hoping he was in my section but he's walking down the ramp now and heading your way."

Business class and First class always boarded fairly last minute, once the chaos of economy was mostly over and so they didn't have to sit for quite so long. "If you really want to, that's fine this time." I had seen the flight manifesto, first class only had 10 people in it and that meant a fairly easy trip for me. "Just run it past the dragon, I mean, Keith and let me know." She grimaced and scurried off. The dragon was our head flight attendant for this flight. He was actually only a dragon before the flight started when the stress of making sure everything was immaculate turned him into a raging beast if things weren't sorted. Once we were in the air, he returned to his usually sweet and pussy cat like self.

Giving one last look over the rows, I walked up the plane towards first class, hoping to meet Beth there to swap over if that was indeed happening. I hoped so for her sake, she'd been single for about 8 months, her last boyfriend an idiot and she needed someone to smile at her like that man had done. I was single too, married only to my work and happy to fly all over the world, getting paid to sleep in hotels where I didn't have to do my own laundry or change my sheets. This life was great, while I was young at least.

A slightly frazzled Beth met me halfway, smoothing herself down as the first passengers began to filter through. "He said yes but only because he knew you'd have this area already sorted ready. First class is ready for you too. How do I look?"

I tucked a stray piece of hair under her hat and gave her the once over. "Stunning as always, I look forward to hearing all about your mystery man."

She grinned, excitement bubbling in her eyes. "I hope first class sleep the whole way for you," she laughed and then we headed separate ways to begin our roles, smiling at passengers as they began to find their seats.

Through the curtain of business class, I waved out to Trina who was on that area and then into First Class where I'd be mainly working with Keith. He grunted when he saw me, even as I grinned at him. "You've made Beth very happy."

"I actually did it more for me," he answered and I raised an eyebrow, questioningly.

"The first class passengers are all Korean and you speak a little, right?"

I cracked up laughing. "You mean you know I watch Kdramas so naturally I'm fluent now?"

"I didn't say you're fluent but you definitely know more than the three or four words I know."

"Which are," I asked, stepping alongside him to fold a few more napkins ready for when our passengers arrived.

"Hello, thank you and I love you."

"Why do you know I love you?"

"That girl I told you about last year, the one I dated briefly? She was Korean and said it a lot because she knew I couldn't understand what she was saying. So one day I looked it up and freaked out. We were only on date number two when she first said it and I, well,"

"You have commitment issues," I offered into his mumbling and he frowned at me.

"Don't tell me you'd be fine with someone saying I love you on the second date?"

I shrugged, love was a complicated thing so who could really say. "Maybe, for the right person."

"Well, she wasn't the right person and I'm now very happily attached to Poppy." His one year old King Charles Cocker Spaniel.

"Well, I do know more than that in Korean but I'm not sure I'm going to be much help. I'll try though," I answered, wondering if there would be anyone famous, maybe an actor I had seen on a show. I'd only started watching Kdramas fairly recently, devouring them in the hotel room in our downtime, trying to talk my fellow flight attendants into watching them with me but they were a bit too cute for most of them. That's what I liked about them, the cuteness. It was an ideal and perfect boy meets girl world where everything worked out, simple and sweet. That's kind of how I wanted my next relationship to be, cute and sweet. I was over the bad boys I'd dated in the past. Give me a guy who gave me butterflies (nabi, I knew that one in Korean) while music played in the background any day and I'd fall at his feet.

We could hear the sounds of economy filling and even the odd murmur of business class passengers settling through the curtain near us but our first class passengers hadn't arrived yet. I hoped they wouldn't cut it obnoxiously fine, arriving just before we needed to take off. That wasn't an abnormal thing or even having to hold up the flight for them but then I heard feet as they headed up the gangway and into our area, my face instantly sliding into professional smile mode. As Keith and I stood in each of the aisles, we greeted our passengers as they arrived, escorting them to their seats and taking bags to put in the areas designated for them. Most of them were dressed very casually, comfortable clothes for a long haul flight making me realise they probably flew a lot. Others were dressed all in black and from their physique, I assumed they were some kind of security. This definitely made me think they might be actors but they were all quite young and from what I could see around the baseball caps, masks and other things they wore around their faces, they were good looking.

The men I escorted to their seats were very polite, bowing and smiling as they sank into their spots, chatting to the ones nearby and calling across the plane to others. It could be a rowdy flight but at least they'd be polite while doing it. I didn't need to say much to them, noting their seatbelts were put on as soon as they sat down and they didn't try to make their beds up just yet. Clearly they'd flown enough to know that there were rules about when they were allowed to have that done.

"Excuse me," one of them called from his seat and I smiled as I walked over. He was quite young, beautiful brown, large eyes looking up at me from under his hat as I stood near him. "When food come?"

"You can eat whenever you would like, we just need to be in the air first sir," I said and he furrowed his brow a little, turning to the gentleman sitting across from him who was looking down, fiddling with something on his lap. It looked like he was trying to get his phone to play music so he didn't even look up, just answered distractedly.

"You need to wait JK, you know we have to be flying first."

"I'm hungry through," he replied in Korean and I spoke up.

"Would you like me to get you a snack before we bring the meal?"

"Oh, yes please," he answered, not making direct eye contact and blushing a little as I nodded.

"Would you like a snack too sir," I asked the gentleman he'd spoken to and he glanced up briefly to say a quick no before he looked down and then up again as he did a double take.

"Ah, no thank you, maybe later," he said in careful English and I smiled as he looked away again, wondering what he looked like under the mask, noting a small dimple near his lips. His eyes were intense as they blinked up at me but very pretty. Were all of them super good looking? Beth could have her one man in economy and I would happily bring food to this group of men all flight.

"No problem," I answered as I smiled and walked away.

"She's pretty," I heard another of them say to him in Korean and that I understood, biting my lip as I made sure not to react. I got hit on all the time while working, it wasn't even uncommon for passengers to suggest joining the mile high club. Maybe it was boredom, definitely stupidity, like I'd risk my job for a few minutes in a cramped, usually not very pleasant smelling space. I was mostly polite but made it clear that wasn't happening. It was flattering to hear from the lips of someone attractive though. I wasn't even sure who had said it, a new voice I hadn't spoken to but it didn't matter, they were all good looking and I secretly enjoyed it.

Walking to the food prep area, I reached into the snacks and began to quickly prepare something for the one that had been called JK. There wasn't a huge amount of options that were allowed to be eaten before take off, our nicer snacks needing to be chopped and prepared on a plate and not just delivered in a sealed wrapper but this man seemed to just want something quick to tide him over. I felt a little self conscious, aware of a few sets of eyes on me as I walked back down the aisle, passing it to the man who had now taken his bucket hat off, running his hands through his hair to smooth it down.

"We can check with you about what you'd like to eat and bring you drink once we're flying which should be in about 5 or 10 minutes," I said and he glanced from me back to the man he'd spoken to earlier.

"You can eat properly soon Kook, this will be just for now," he translated into Korean.

"Ok, ah, thank you," he dipped his head to me and I thought he was endearing.

"Of course," I smiled as I turned to walk away, catching the man and his seatmate watching me before quickly looking away.

"This is going to be a nice flight," the other man said in Korean and the English speaking man sushed him.

"Enough Jin, you'll be sleeping most of it anyway."

"You won't be, she's just your type Namjoon."

"You mean she's a woman," one in front of them laughed, turning around in his seat to laugh.

"Shut up Jimin," he answered, putting headphones in his ears to block them out but I noticed his ears went a little red at the tips.

The bustle of getting ready to depart kept me busy for the next ten minutes as we made sure our passengers were comfortable. Apart from a few interactions that mainly involved thank yous, I didn't need to speak in any Korean as those few words were clearly ones they knew. And as we soared into the sky, Keith and I unbuckled ourselves so we could begin the process of finding out what they'd like to eat and drink, dropping menus off for them to browse. It was a long flight and they'd have several chances to eat although some had already closed their eyes and looked like all they wanted was sleep. The security kept a close eye on us as we moved about the cabin and I wondered if they'd stay awake the whole flight.

"What would you like to drink," I asked the passenger in front of Namjoon whose bright smile lit up his face as he replied.

"Do you have soju?"

"We do actually," I answered, knowing we had ordered some in because of the nationality of our passengers.

"Oh yes, soju please. And soda." He called back to Namjoon who translated.

"He'd like a glass to mix them in please."

"No problem," I answered them both, a little caught up in Namjoon's eyes when I replied. Shaking my head to focus, I turned to the one next to the Soju drinker whose eyes were closed. "And for you sir?"

"Hyung? Yoongi hyung? Do you want a drink?"

He opened his eyes, sleepy but stunning and I swooned again, holding myself together, just.

"I'm awake Jimin-ah. Ummm, whisky?" His voice was deep and thrummed through me. I can survive this flight, I repeated inside my head. I am a professional.

"That's no problem."

Turning to JK, he was already ready with his order, mouthing the English to himself as I walked over.

"A glass of milk and a beer please."

I had never wanted to say awwwwww so much to a passenger before, or at least to one over the age of four but he brought out all the sweet eyes and I held myself back from saying anything about his selection.

"Good choices. What kind of milk?"

He panicked at my question, likely using unfamiliar words and I racked my brain for any Korean words I knew that might help him but Namjoon stepped in again, paying attention. I wondered if he was always this attentive to what was going on around him.

"Do you mean flavour?"

I turned to Namjoon. "Actually, we don't have anything flavoured other than chocolate milk but we do have 1% and regular milk."

"Chocolate or plain JK?"

"Can I have one of each," he asked, not in the least bit concerned to be ordering chocolate milk as an adult.

Namjoon looked at me sheepishly. "He'd like chocolate milk, plain milk and a beer. Is that OK?"

"Of course, I can bring you all of those," I nodded to JK who smiled his thanks.

"And you sir," I said, internally holding myself while Namjoon looked at his menu.

"Just still water for me please." And then as if he needed to explain himself he continued. "I need to be clear for, ah, work."

"Flavoured or just water," I asked, finding them all endearing. And hot. Especially the man sitting in front of me.

"Just water, in a bottle is good. Or glass. Whatever is easy." His words tumbled and cheeks pinked but I understood.

"I'll bring all those for you," I addressed them all as I walked away, giving Namjoon a chance to return to a normal colour. I couldn't tell if he was always that way but the blushing was cute. Was he a little effected by me? The Kdramas I'd watched showed that men and women didn't interact the same as we did in the Western world. They were more cautious and not as obvious with their feelings, taking ages to work up to asking each other out. But that was a TV show so how true it was to their culture was still an unknown to me.

"Don't say a thing Jin," he muttered as the man next to him started laughing, louder than he probably needed and drawing the attention of some of the others close by.

"Why are you red hyung," I heard a voice ask as I disappeared behind the curtain. They definitely liked to tease each other. This flight was going to be enjoyable.

Two hours later, drinks and dinner had been served and devoured, finished off like they never ate food which I appreciated from a distance. Most had asked for their chairs to be made up into beds and had started settling to sleep, some already gone with the cabin lights dimmed to make sleeping easier. I was tucked away, sorting things for the next meal which would be in a few hours time when Beth came through the curtain, on a mission to find something. She smiled when she saw me, grabbing my hand to pull me away from the passengers so she could talk.

"I got his number," she said, grinning at me.

"Your mystery man," I asked, distracted by the conversation I had overheard earlier. Why did his ears go red?

"Jake, his name is Jake."

"And you already have his name? Good work girl," I laughed, focusing back on her excitement.

"A name, his number and a plan for a date." Her grin spread all the way across her face and I was happy for her.

"That's great Beth, I hope he treats you right."

"I hope he bends me over the bed by date number four, have you seen those hands?"

My eyebrows shots up at her words before we both dissolved into giggles, smothering them with our hands. "At least you didn't say on the first date," I said, trying to control my laughter.

"I am a lady after all," she said attempting to look serious and then we dissolved into giggles again.

"Very professional girls," Keith muttered as he walked into our area, grabbed a blanket for one of the passengers and stalked out again, shooting us a glare.

"He's just jealous because when he goes home next, it'll just be Poppy waiting for him. Meanwhile, you'll have Jake waiting for you."

"Speaking of which, I better head back to him, I mean them, I just came for these as we'd run out," she said, grabbing supplies and leaving me with a smile on my face. I was glad the swap to economy was working out for her. I definitely wasn't minding it myself, caught up in the thought of brown eyes so I was surprised when she popped back through into the service area 30 seconds later.

"Did you forget something else," I asked, rummaging for a bottle opener.

"That's BTS," she hissed quietly as she leaned over to whisper loudly in my ear.

"What's behind the scenes," I asked, looking around confused.

"No, no, the guys in First class are from BTS!"

"Is that a Kdrama you've watched without me?"

"Focus Marley. BTS is a Korean band, it looks like all of them are there with some security from what I could tell. Some of them are asleep so it's a little difficult to see in the dimly lit cabin. Lucky you, they are so good looking!"

"They are definitely all very handsome and really nice," I answered, thinking I should Google them when I had the chance.

"Good looking, nice and obscenely rich," she said, hand over her heart as she spoke.

"Jake?" I asked her and she smacked me in the shoulder lightly with her hand.

"I said they were good looking, I didn't say I wanted them. They're all yours."

"I just want one," I answered, chewing my lip.

"Ooooo, which one," she asked, attempting to peek through the curtain without making it obvious. It was probably a good thing most of them were settling to sleep.

"They called him Namjoon I think," I answered, trying to remember if that's how they had pronounced it.

"Oh, he's the leader. He also goes by RM. Good choice, he is amazing."

"He has more than one name?"

She laughed quietly. "Oh Marley, for someone who is into Kdramas, you know so little about Korea. They're the biggest band in the world right now and RM is his stage name."

"That makes sense," I said, leaning back on the counter. Biggest band in the world, where had I been to miss them? Working and in hotel rooms watching TV. Clearly I was missing out on big chunks of what was going on in the world.

"He speaks great English too," she said as she walked away from me, wiggling her eyebrows.

I thought about that for a moment, his words so far having been clear but stilted with short sentences. If he spoke great English, why was he pretending he didn't? The alert light came up that someone needed my attention and I popped back into the cabin area, scanning the lights on the ceiling, heart beating a little faster as I noticed it was coming from Namjoon's seat.

"Yes sir," I whispered as I leaned close, aware everyone around him appeared to be sleeping. His eyes grew large as he saw me leaning down and he appeared to blush.

"Ah, my seatbelt is stuck." He looked quite embarrassed and I tried to put him at ease.

"Oh, OK no problem, ah, let me have a look," I said, feeling weird about this even though it wasn't the first seatbelt that had jammed over the years. He pulled the blanket away from his legs and I leaned in more, fully aware I was rummaging around in his lap as I tried to work out what he had done, trying not to touch anywhere I shouldn't. It wasn't working from that angle and so I crouched next to him, attempting to lift the latch before noticing it had a piece of the blanket jammed in the closing mechanism. "I see what's happened, there's a piece stuck in here," and he looking down, noticing what he'd missed earlier.

His hand came to try to pull the blanket free and brushed against mine, quickly pulling back as they touched. "I can try," he asked, glancing at me briefly.

"Sure," and I pulled my hand away, feeling a tingling where his hand had brushed mine.

He yanked hard a couple of times, defined muscles flexing against his top and it came free as he fell back, enabling him to open the latch so his seatbelt fell open. "Thank you," he said, clearly embarrassed.

"That's no problem at all sir," I said, going to stand up from my position and his hand shot out to steady me as I stood before he pulled it away again. That sent another zing and I wanted to stay and talk, having no real reason to though. "Was there anything else you needed?"

"Ah, no, no thank you," he said and I smiled down at him.

"Just call if you need anything else, OK?"

He nodded, giving me a small smile as I turned to leave.

"That was smooth as always Joon," Jin muttered into the blankets and the darkness next to where Namjoon sat, making it worse for Namjoon as I walked away, pretending I hadn't heard but smiling to myself as I did.

Pulling out my phone, I quickly Googled BTS. If I was going to be serving these men, it would be good to know more about them. Or at least that was my justification as I zoned in solely on Namjoon. Hiding my phone whenever Keith or a passenger needed me, I was highly unprofessional over the next half hour as I kept pulling it out to check more information on him. Namjoon, Rap Monster, RM was highly intelligent, eloquent in his speech and music and sweet with dimples that I'd briefly seen but came out when he smiled a certain way. And then there was the other side of him; the buff, strong leader who definitely gave off daddy vibes. He was even more attractive than I'd given him credit for when I'd seen him in this environment, quickly saving a few images to my phone before storing it away as I heard movement approaching where I was standing.

And the man himself came through the curtain towards me, stumbling a little when he saw me.

"Ah, bathroom," he asked and I pointed to the small room near where I was, moving out the way so he could pass without touching me, although wishing I could let him He was taller than I thought now that he was standing and definitely worked out.

As he went in and closed the door behind him, I disappeared, giving myself distance from the man who was going to make this flight difficult. Only because now I had to pretend he was just another passenger and I thought he was hot. I'd definitely be looking him up more when we got back to the hotel tonight.

The attendant bell rang and I walked out to see one of the other passengers was awake.

"I'm sorry but can I please have another pillow?" He was speaking in Korean and I got some of the words but he looked around for Namjoon to help him before realising he wasn't there. He picked up the pillow from under his head and held it up, his deep voice switching to English. "Ah, two more please?"

"You want two more pillows, sure," I said in Korean and his eyes lit up.

"Oh you can speak Korean?"

"Only a little," I replied.

"You speak well," he answered with a smile that stretched his whole face and I marvelled how a group of such famous men could be so nice and sweet and attractive. Korea needed to go on the list of places I wanted to visit if the men were like that.

"Thank you, that's very nice of you. I'll be back shortly with those," and he nodded as I disappeared.

I found the extras for him, handing them over with a smile and a question of whether there was anything else. He shook his head as he pulled an eye mask over his eyes, tucking his legs and arms around the spare pillows, attempting to sleep again. I smiled as I walked back through the cabin, gathering empty glasses before going through the curtain, almost colliding with the door to the bathroom as it was swung open.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, are you OK?" Namjoon quickly crouched to help collect what I was holding even as I did and we banged heads a little, both reaching up to rub where we'd clashed, his cheeks turning pink. My hat had come off, hair falling a little out of it's bun and our faces were unhealthily close together, his nose just inches from mine. His eyes were extraordinary and his mouth... I wanted it on mine and startled at the immediate thoughts swirling in my head. Never had I wanted to join the Mile High Club until right this second.

"Sorry, sorry," he said again, "I'm not very coordinated. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine...sir," I tacked on at the end, eyes not leaving his.

"Namjoon is fine. Sir is only for very specific times." His eyes stayed glued to mine as well and our feet seemed to be anchored to the floor where we had settled.

"Oh," my mouth fell open as I absorbed his words but then I saw his face colour again and he attempted to retract his words.

"No, that sounded, wrong. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

"Don't apologise, sir," I smiled, "I quite like calling you that. I looked you up, some online even call you daddy."

He looked startled and I wondered if I had well and truly crossed the line. But here we were on the ground, staring at each other, not having moved for a few minutes and our eyes were speaking more than our words were.

"So I've heard," he answered quietly.

"Your English, it's stronger than before."

"Yes, well, I can actually speak OK but you made me a little flustered so I couldn't talk clearly before."

"And your friends teased you about it," I added, acknowledging I heard.

"At least you didn't know what they said," he laughed softly.

"Mmmmm," I replied, not wanting to admit I had understood more than he knew. I tucked my hair back into the cap and he reached up to help me, fingers lightly grazing my cheek as he did. "Thank you," I said, wondering how much longer we could stay like this before one of us gave in, feeling the charge in the air between us. His eyes flicked to my mouth and then back up to my eyes and I gave a small nod, acknowledging I knew what he wanted to do, so small it could easily have been missed if he hadn't been looking at me so closely. Even across the cultures, I knew he'd understand.

He cleared his throat, words still coming out a little roughly when he spoke. "I want to but I shouldn't," he said and I knew what he meant. He was too well known to let anything happen here and now.

"Oh, I understand," I smiled lightly, touching his cheek as I was going to stand up but he stopped me, resting his hand carefully on my wrist.

"I shouldn't but I will," and he leaned forward, just a little, brushing across my mouth so softly that it felt like a breeze as his breath exhaled across my lips.

"Oh," I said again, this time a small exclamation of desire, resting my mouth again on his lips to let him know once wasn't enough. They slid smoothly together as he gently pulled me closer, holding me as our mouths moved in a moment of surrender to each other.

We broke away as we heard the sound of someone walking up the aisle towards the bathroom, a glance between us as we stood and quickly stepped apart. One of the security men appeared, looking between us. "Is everything OK Namjoon-ssi?"

"Of course, I was just in the bathroom," he replied as he went to go back through the curtain to his seat, not looking at me as the security guard eyed me for a moment before following after him.

Resting my hand against my lips, I was smiling when Keith came through the curtain a few moments later, catching me in a daze.

"Are you alright," he asked, rummaging, in the supplies bin next to me.

"Mmmhmmmm," I answered, not really listening, mind firmly fixed on beautiful eyes and soft lips.

"Do you need me to swap sides with you," he asked, raising an eyebrow. "You don't think I see the flirting going on?"

"Who is flirting?" My heart was beating a little quickly, I didn't want to lose my job.

"Most of the men you're serving on your side."

"Ah no, it's a cultural thing, they're actually very polite and being friendly. I'm fine."

He regarded me closely, likely noting my appearance. "Sorry, I tripped earlier and my hat came off. Can I have a minute to check my hair? Watch my side too although most of them are asleep?"

"Sure, yes, you do look a little ruffled."

I dropped my face so he didn't see me looking guilty and dashed into the bathroom cubicle. My hair was still a little messy out from under my hat and so I took it off to fix my hair properly, noting the colour to my cheeks brought there by Namjoon. I had many opportunities in my job to have something happen with a passenger but I'd never given in. Until now. But that was as far as it would go, a quick moment in the air that made my body thrill. In just a few hours they'd be landing and gone. I sighed. Being single had looked OK until about four minutes ago.

Straightening myself up, I gave one last look at my appearance and went out to continue my job, hoping whatever had happened wouldn't be too obvious when I looked at him. So, it was a slow and somewhat cautious walk as the bell dinged again and I walked back to where the light glowed above his head, switching it off before I turned to look down at him. His mouth was an instant distraction as I went to speak then paused before trying again.

"Is there anything you need? Sir," I added because I needed to, pursing my lips to hold in my smile, attempting and likely failing to look professional.

"Can I have another water please? I'm oddly thirsty" He looked directly at me this time, no blush on his face, his eyes burrowing deeply into me.

"I'll go get you one, was that all?"

"Tell her what you really need Joon-ah," Jin whispered, louder than necessary, smirking as he said it. Obviously Jin had picked up on what had been going on or maybe Namjoon had said something when he came to sit back down. They were clearly close.

"No, that's everything. For now," he said, lips just managing to hold in whatever he was feeling, eyes torn between something that looked intense and whatever frustration he was feeling at his friends candour.

"Well, you know where I am if there was anything else you needed."

"Oh he knows," Jin said, not even looking up and I had to quickly turn on my heels to walk away before I cracked up, Namjoon looking sharply to his right as I did as I heard a muffled 'oooofff' where I can only assume the friends were having a 'discussion.' Just before I disappeared out of earshot, I heard the man with the three pillows pipe up.

"She speaks some Korean you know," he said in a sleepy voice.

"What?" The hiss of his voice was recognisable as I moved out of hearing. Namjoon now knew I could speak some Korean and I'd heard what had been said earlier.

We didn't have a chance to talk privately again during the flight, a small embarrassed smile sent my way when I passed by to help someone else. But as I did go past, I was very deliberate about how I moved and if my hand happened to graze his shoulder as I went by or if I needed to bend down and pick something, invisible, off the floor near him, it was all just an innocent coincidence. So by the time we needed to gently wake the passengers for landing and prepare the cabin, I felt a little like I was burning from the inside out.

As they sleepily sat their chairs up, stretched, tucked away personal items, I walked up and down, checking on them all.

"Ah miss," Namjoon asked quietly as I went to walk past, leaning closer to hear him even as I kept an eye on security who were keeping an eye on me.

"It's Marley sir."

"Marley. Will you stay in London long?" His question caught me off guard. Was there more to what he was asking?

"Not this time. I leave again first thing tomorrow."

"Oh, we have a lot of interviews and things tonight." His brain seemed to be ticking and I didn't dare to think there was something in what he was saying.

"And do you ever fly London to Incheon?"

"I haven't done that flight before, it's not my normal travel route," and he looked maybe a little disappointed at my words. "But, I'm keen to see new places. Maybe I could ask about doing that flight sometime."

"Sometime soon, in about two weeks maybe even," he said and I understood, butterflies fluttering a little in my stomach.

"Maybe I can look into that." I would definitely be looking into that.

"That's something you could find online. The schedule for our travel is often quite easy to locate."

"Oh, is there a reason I should do that," I asked, wanting a little more concrete answer before I put myself out there.

"Maybe I know a good tour guide in Seoul. Someone who can speak both Korean and English. Like you apparently."

I blushed a little as he smiled before I noticed the security was getting agitated at how long we were talking. "Of course sir, I'll grab that for you," I said loudly enough for them to hear as I went to stand up, Namjoon looking confused.

"Your men aren't happy," I said softly as I went to walk away.

"Whatever you bring back, make sure it comes with a way to reach you," and I nodded as I turned to go, mind going a million miles a minute.

"Did you just ask for her phone number," Jin asked with a laugh.

"In a round about way, I think," he answered and I grinned, scrawling it on a napkin and walking back with the napkin and the water, handing it over with a smile as I was called over to another passenger.

Namjoon POV

I played with the napkin, running it between my fingers as we came in to land, closing my eyes as I thought. It wasn't like me to put myself in this situation but I was only young once and this flight attendant, Marley she'd said, was a little captivating. When we'd kissed and she'd come back in for more, I'd wanted to explore it further, knowing it couldn't happen here and now. And frustratingly, if I'd wanted anything to happen in London, we were too busy and she would be gone. I smiled to myself though, at least I had her number.

I should really put it into my phone now, I thought as I reached to grab my phone and do that, just as we bumped down on the tarmac, just as my opened bottle tipped and ran all over the napkin, number disappearing in a mixture of wet paper and running ink. Jin took one look at what had happened and laughed so loudly everyone turned to look at him.

"It's OK everyone, just Namjoon-ah being Namjoon."

"Sibal," I swore, amidst all the noise of the plane decelerating, trying to mop the water up to salvage the phone number but seeing it was pointless.

"Don't worry," Jin said, "these things have a way of working themselves out."

"But hyung, when I don't text her, she'll think I'm not interested. I basically invited her to Seoul and then I'd be ghosting her."

"Hyung will sort it," he said, reaching down and into the satchel he had at his feet. Grabbing out a note book and a pen, he ripped out a sheet and scrawled some words on it. Showing it to me, I felt relief at the words on it, reaching to take it out of his hand.

"No, Namjoon-ah, security is watching, I'll handle this," and he pressed the call button, even as the plane rolled to a halt.

Marley hurried over as soon as she was allowed to unbuckle herself. "Is everything OK," she asked him, quickly glancing at me before she looked back to Jin.

"You take rubbish please," he asked with a wink, handing her the empty water bottle and the piece of paper.

"Of course," she said, a little confused at his gesture but looking at me as I smiled before she was hurrying away to finish the process of getting all the passengers off the plane.

"What if she thinks it's rubbish and screws it up hyung," I asked fighting with my seat belt and winning this time, unbuckling it as I gathered my things.

"She's intelligent, she'll work it out," and I hoped so, the flight number of our departure back to Seoul the lifeline for me to see her again.

Marley POV

"Thank you for flying with us. Safe travels. We look forward to you flying with us again. Have a great day," I called out as the passengers walked past us and out onto the gangway.

Namjoon had hung back a little, in the last group departing from our First Class area, patting his pockets to make sure he had everything.

"Thank you for flying with us," I said a little shyly as he finally walked past, another group member and security flanking him, making it hard to speak.

"I'm sure I'll be seeing you in a few weeks," he said and then seemed to second guess himself. "I mean, if you want to, where you fly is completely up to you of course. No pressure."

I put him out of his misery. "Message received," I answered and he broke out in a grin as he walked away, band mate slapping him on his back.

"In a few weeks huh hyung," he said, looking back at me and then at a clearly embarrassed Namjoon as they walked away and I floated off into the possibilities of what just a few weeks could hold.