The flight attendants directed passengers in economy to their seats once the first-class guests had been shown through and bowed politely to everyone joining them for the trip, thanking them for choosing to fly with their airline.
Rose watched them over the back of her seat, in awe of their efficiency and unwavering politeness, even when some of the passengers responded to them gruffly or made lewd comments to their friends about the pretty cabin crew. A few tried to look around them into the first-class section, as if hoping they might luck-out and be upgraded like they were in a movie.
Rose couldn't blame them, she hardly believed she was there herself.
Seoul.
Rose was on a plane to Seoul.
'Rose,' Yuta captured her attention. For the first time in a long while, he wasn't in a suit. Instead, he was in a pair of black jeans and a grey t-shirt, his black coat draped over the wall of his personal cubicle style seat. Only an aisle separated them, and Rose couldn't help but wonder if she might get to see him sleeping cutely during the flight.
Hardly likely; it was only going to take about two hours.
Rose dropped back into her chair and smiled at him. 'What?'
'Try to act like an adult.'
Rose pouted. 'I was only looking.'
'This is first-class.'
'I know.'
'So, act like you belong here,' he instructed.
'Like a snob?'
'There's still time to send you back to your parents, you know?' he threatened.
'How would auntie Akane feel if you threw sweet, precious me off a plane all alone?' Rose teased.
Yuta cleared his throat and found that he was suddenly very interested in the buttons on his armrest.
His mother – Akane – had come to see them off from the airport along with Hitomi, Robert, Lily and Takashi. Isao and Mitsuki were too busy with work to take the time out to wish them a good flight, but Rose knew they'd have been there if they could, and that was what mattered. Akane had been quick to warn Yuta to look after Rose while they were away, scolding her son when he joked that he would leave her in the Han river if she misbehaved.
The most difficult person to leave behind had been Hitomi.
It would be difficult to face everything South Korea might throw at her without her best friend at her side, but Rose had promised to email Hitomi as often as she could, and to bring her back some beauty products when she returned.
The few months would fly by, and soon Rose would be back in Japan and return to her position as the daughter of the famous couple, never knowing who her friends were or if she'd get a moment's peace.
Still, as she sat on the plane with only a pouting Yuta for company, Rose couldn't help wishing that Mitsuki and Robert had thought to send Hitomi with them.
'Hold the door!' a familiar voice called. 'Heyyy! Wait!'
Both Rose and Yuta turned to look over the back of their seats as a girl crashed through and bumped into an attendant.
''Tomi?' Rose asked.
'You're kidding,' Yuta groaned.
'Hey!' Hitomi hurried over to them and hugged Rose, slipping into the seat beside her. 'You really thought you were going to fly without me? I'm your best friend!'
'How did you convince Mistuki to let you leave?'
'She doesn't know. Not yet. Dad's gotta tell her, isn't that great?'
'Not for your father, it isn't,' Yuta said. 'Don't you two ever think of anyone but yourselves?'
'Sometimes,' Rose replied.
'No,' Hitomi said.
'If you make this trip difficult, I'll send you both straight back,' Yuta warned. 'I mean it.'
'Can we send you back if you make things difficult for us?' Hitomi asked.
Rose laughed, 'In the hold storage in a suitcase!'
'Miss,' a flight attendant approached the group. 'Please could you take your seat in economy?'
'You're not in first-class?' Rose asked. 'Can't we upgrade her?'
'I'm sorry,' the attendant said. 'This section is fully booked, and the last first-class passenger has arrived. This way, please.'
'I'll see you guys in a couple of hours, okay?' Hitomi said. As she was led away, she shouted back, 'Don't leave me at the airport and run away!'
'She shouldn't give me ideas,' Yuta muttered.
Hitomi apologised quickly to a man she bumped on her way through to her seat; he was the last first-class passenger to board. The man found his seat with an attendant's help and dropped into it. He didn't look prepared for a flight; he'd come in late, he wore sunglasses, and immediately put on a pair of headphones to ignore the safety announcements.
Rude, much?
An announcement soon filled the aircraft cabin;
'Due to weather conditions, we may experience some turbulence during our flight today. Please be mindful of seatbelt warning signs.'
'Turbulence?' Rose immediately fastened her seatbelt.
'Right, you've never flown before, have you?' Yuta asked. 'It's fine. The plane will just rock a little.'
'Really?' Rose asked, a hint of fear clear in the way her pitch rose at the end of the word. 'Promise?'
With affection in his eyes – that of a brother for a younger sister – Yuta vowed, 'I promise.'
The turbulence wasn't as mild as Yuta hoped. Rose dug her nails into the armrests and closed her eyes tightly, praying the plane would stop rocking. They'd been in the air for only half an hour before it struck, rocking the plane from side to side and making the overhead compartments rattle violently. There was nothing to be done while the seatbelt sign was illuminated; it was too dangerous for Yuta to get out of his seat to comfort Rose, and he could only watch from the other side of the aisle as she whimpered with each fresh jolt.
It seemed an age before the sign was shut off. Immediately, Yuta unfastened his seatbelt and crossed the aisle to bring his arms around Rose. It was impossible for him to scold or make fun of her when she appeared so small and helpless. She turned towards him in her seat, relieved to be held against Yuta's chest and for the plane to have settled into a steady course.
'You're okay,' he told her. 'It's over now. I'm here.'
'You promised,' she sniffled.
'I know, I'm sorry. I didn't want you to be scared, that's all.'
'Can we get a boat back?' Rose pleaded.
'Sure,' he agreed, knowing they'd be on another plane in ninety days. 'I'll get your dad to buy us a yacht and pick us up. Okay?'
'Okay,' she agreed.
'How about you use the bathroom and freshen up?' he suggested.
Rose nodded, and Yuta helped her out of her seat. She staggered on the first few steps, her knees weak with fear, but soon found her confidence as she walked down the aisle and into the vacant airplane toilet. The door locked behind her, Rose closed the lid on the toilet and sat on it, glancing into the wall mounted mirror and wiping the tear tracks off her cheeks.
Yuta must have thought she was pathetic to be so frightened of a little rocking on the plane, but it was so unlike anything she'd ever experienced before, and her mind had been full of niggling fears that they'd crash into the sea that she hadn't been able to stop herself from panicking.
Then... he'd hugged her.
It shouldn't have made her blush, but Rose couldn't remember the last time Yuta had held her so tightly. In fact, there was a good chance it had been when Sam had died, and that had been a long time ago. His default feeling towards her since she turned seventeen seemed to be perpetual frustration with the odd moment of concern.
Was it wrong that she was happy she'd been frightened just so she could see Yuta's caring side again?
A fist banged against the door and Rose jumped back.
'What?' she asked first. Defiantly, she added, 'This is occupied!'
From the other side came a language she didn't understand.
Korean?
'Occupied!' she shouted back. 'Wait!'
'Japanese?' the unidentified male asked, adjusting to the language. 'Open up!'
Annoyed, Rose stood and yanked open the door only to find herself staring up at the man who'd been last on the plane. The sunglasses were still on, his blond-tipped black hair was tousled, and he peered over the top of them to look her up and down.
'Move,' he ordered.
'I said it was occupied,' Rose countered. 'Don't you know you're not meant to interrupt a woman when she's in the bathroom?'
'Okay, okay,' he said. 'You move, and I will give you something.'
Rose blushed as her mind took her down a dark hole and to a perverse assumption of what that might imply. The girl ducked back into the toilet and slammed the door in his face. There was no way he was going to enter that tiny space and give her something while they were up in the air – or if they were on the ground, for that matter.
What a pervert!
'Hey!' he banged his fist against the door again. 'Don't you know who I am?'
Rose opened the door, her anger getting the better of her. 'Yeah.'
'Good.'
'You're a pervert.'
'What?' he exclaimed. The man grasped her wrist and pulled her towards him in a bid to remove Rose from the toilet, so he could use the facilities. 'Hey, get out of there now.'
'Take your hand off me!'
'Is there a problem here?' Yuta asked, squaring his shoulders and looking down into the shorter man's face with a scowl so cold it could freeze the ocean. 'What do you think you're doing.'
The man released Rose so suddenly that the force with which she'd been trying to pull away made her fall against the door frame. She yelped in surprise and pain, clutching a hand to her shoulder.
'She did that to herself,' the man pointed out at once without a speck of guilt for his part in it.
'Hey,' Yuta spoke directly to Rose, 'what have I told you about talking to weird people?'
'Weird?' the man sputtered.
'He's a pervert, too,' Rose added.
'Hey, weird pervert,' Yuta spoke menacingly. 'Stay away from her, or you won't make it to Seoul in one piece.'
Rose ducked past the man and walked back to her seat, Yuta close behind her in case the man followed them. Confused and incredibly insulted, the stranger stared after the Japanese pair before he locked himself in the toilet. Through the thin walls, they heard an angry shout and a string of unpleasant sounding Korean – both were certain he was cursing – before they made a mutual decision to put on their headphones and block everything out for the rest of their journey.
Rose chewed her thumbnail and sank down into her seat, using the low walls around her to conceal herself in case the man spotted her and wanted to tear into her for calling him a weird pervert.
It was hardly the best start to her trip, and Rose could only hope it wouldn't get any worse.
All this, and they hadn't even landed yet.
Rose smiled to herself, regardless.
Wait until I tell Hitomi about this.