DAHYE WOKE UP from her sleep when she felt something nudge her shoulder softly. At first, she didn't pay attention to it and twisted away, pushing her cheek deeper into the pillow provided by the airplane. It was oddly comfortable, and she felt herself melt further into the arms of sleep.
However, the nudging came back again, this time a little more persistent. Groaning in annoyance, she finally lifted up her head and turned to her side. Peeking through sleep-clouded eyes, she tried to make out the silhouette of someone next to her. She rubbed her eyes and pressed her palms against her face, trying to wake herself up. When her vision was less blurry, she saw Jay was sitting next to her, his hand on her shoulder. He was looking down at her and was the perpetrator without a doubt.
Scowling, Dahye pushed her hair back behind her ears. "I was sleeping Jay," she mumbled out, her voice soft and ridden with sleep. Jay felt his heart melt inside his chest when he heard her speak and patted down her hair softly. He was acting like this not out of romantic love, but from a place of brotherly love that he had developed for Dahye over the years he had known her for. They were similar to each other in a lot of ways, the only exception being Dahye hating parties and having a calmer and less wild personality.
"We have a few minutes until we land. I wanted to wake you up in case you needed to freshen up before we get to the hotel." He spoke in a low voice. Dahye twisted in her seat and looked about. Most of the plane was still sleeping, evident from the midnight flight they had taken. She realized that besides her and Jay, the rest of the group were awake, including; Kisok, Hyukwoo, Seonghwa, Hoody, and Mintaek. They were busy with putting away the things they had taken out during the flight into their bags, looking just as tired as she was feeling. Seonghwa, from the bitter expression donning his face, was without a doubt cursing out Jay for picking a flight at such an ungodly hour, and she knew that Kisok wasn't any different as his hands aggressively shoved his belongings away. She couldn't blame them—Jay had decided to take a midnight flight so that they would get to the hotel earlier and be able to sleep during the day and be well rested for the award show at night. He also hated having to deal with the overwhelming crowds of the airport and the city traffic in the morning. But that meant that she would have to run on coffee and energy bars throughout the day, and painkillers for her headache because her sleeping schedule had been thrown off the rails thanks to just one flight.
"Yeah, I have to use the bathroom anyways. Thanks for waking me up." She leaned forward to grab her bag. She placed it on her lap and dug through to find her toiletry bag and clasped her hand around it when she felt the smooth plastic touch her palm. "I'll be back in a few minutes." She informed Jay and got up from her seat after placing her bag on the soft cushion. Jay nodded his head and started to gather his own things. As she walked towards the bathroom, Hoody and Seonghwa smiled at her, while Hyukwoo kept his head down and scrolled through his phone. Dahye frowned, motioning with her eyes down at Hyukwoo. Hoody shrugged her thin shoulders while Seonghwa gestured at his phone, meaning he would text her after they had landed. Dahye nodded her head and walked away from their seats.
She opened the door to the bathroom and locked it behind her. She had always hated airplane bathrooms because they were so cramped and small. Although the first class bathrooms were a little bit more spacious than the others, it was still too small to awaken her claustrophobia. Shaking her head, Dahye placed her toiletry bag on the sink. She pulled her hair out the braid it had been haphazardly twisted into before they boarded the plane the night before and combed through the tangles with her fingers. Afterward, she brushed her teeth and also washed her face, thanking herself for using two of her best face masks during the night. She wanted her skin to look at least somewhat decent since they were supposed to be in front of cameras for almost four hours at the show, and an additional two hours prior at the red carpet. Although she didn't care much about award shows, she still wanted to look her best because, after all, she was representing AOMG Music.
She exited the bathroom and walked back to her seat. Most of the passengers were awake now, eating the breakfast served to them and preparing their bags. She sat back down next to Jay and placed her bag by her feet. He had changed the red hoodie he had been previously wearing in favor of a plain white shirt and sweatpants for a pair of black jeans. Dahye leaned on his shoulder and watched as he scrolled through his twitter feed, liking a few posts that caught his eye. Most of them were from fan pages that had uploaded videos from his latest concerts, as well as edits of him and numerous cute, funny, and supportive comments. Dahye felt her own chest warm up at the small smile painted on Jay's lips, feeling so lucky that she was best friends with an artist who cared so much about each and every one of his fans, and worked equally as hard to give them the best version of himself, both as a person and an artist.
"So, what's the plan for today?" She asked him after he turned off his phone and stuffed it into his pocket. He arranged the earbuds that were dangling from the headset jack around his neck and pushed his hair back before replying her.
"We're supposed to go to the hotel first to check in and drop off our luggage, settle in, relax for a while, and then get ready for the award show. There isn't much to do since I'm sure everybody will be sleeping to have more energy later tonight." He explained and reached into his bag. He pulled out a thin folder that had a few sheets of paper stashed inside of it. He thumbed through all of them before pulling out a schedule of how their day would go.
"What time do we have to arrive at the venue?" Dahye asked him as her eyes scanned over the time-table, looking at the different colored boxes that held each of the events they would have to take part in during their stay in Hong Kong.
"The red carpet is going to start at 7 pm, and the show itself is supposed to run past midnight. Of course, there is the afterparty, so we won't be back at the hotel at least until...I would say 3 am. And that's if the traffic is decent." Jay explained, internally cringing at the number of people he would be forced to talk to during the three different events of the night. Unless it was about work and he knew the people personally or didn't have them in his blacklist, he hated making small talk. The reason why all of the big media moguls and CEOs wanted to talk to him was so that they could boast about their sales or how well their stocks were doing in the market. Fuck that, he rolled his eyes. He wasn't looking forward to standing on his feet all night long nor interacting with egotistical men who didn't give a damn about their artists in reality.
"Do we have to stay at the afterparty for all of it? I would actually prefer to go back to the hotel to sleep in or at least grab dinner." Dahye shuddered at the thought of being stuck at a party that wouldn't end until the early hours of morning. Since she was already a shy person, she didn't know many people and wouldn't have a reason to talk to them. And since she didn't drink, there wouldn't be a reason to get drunk and have fun. Great, just great, she cursed at herself for not bringing any flat-soled with hers and only packed the heels that Hoody had let her borrow since Dahye owned mostly boots and sneakers. She preferred comfort over style, but it certainly wasn't the case for this occasion.
"I would leave if we could," Jay shrugged, putting the folder away after we looked at it one more time.
"What do you mean?" Dahye's eyebrows furrowed. Couldn't they leave after the award show? Dahye was sure that the party was optional, so she couldn't understand what would keep them there for so long.
"The boys from H1GHR are coming, so I need to introduce them to the others as the CEO." He ran a hand over his face. He did look tired, the dark circles faintly visible under his eyes. The makeup artists would easily cover them up with generous amounts of foundation and concealer, just like a mask that hid everything that was going on in their lives.
"I thought we were supposed to meet them after we went back to Seoul? I didn't know that they would be coming here with us." Dahye frowned, thinking about the sub label Jay housed the younger artists in. Even though most of them were exceptionally talented, it would take a few years until they became acknowledged.
"Yeah, change of plans I guess," Jay laughed nervously, thinking of having to control the younger kids and making sure they weren't getting drunk or making a fool out of themselves. "The MAMA panel sent me additional invitations for them and I thought, hey, why the hell not?"
"It's not for a bad cause that I have to suffer in my heels for the entirety of the night, then." Jay laughed at her comment, shaking his head at the thought of Dahye pouting in a corner the entire night and looking very much in pain. No doubt the heels she would be wearing were actually Hoody's, and Jay knew for a fact that Dahye hated uncomfortable shoes, let alone standing in them and talking with people she didn't know and pretending to have fun.
"I'll make sure that you have a good time there."
"Hmm, only if you buy me dinner." She replied while leaning back in her seat and crossing her legs in front of her. Jay rolled his eyes but nodded anyway, knowing that Dahye wouldn't agree to spend such a long amount of time in a place where she would be uncomfortable.
"Deal. Do you wanna get bubble tea and fried chicken from that restaurant we went to the last time?"
"That's why I love you so much." Dahye gave him two heart fingers and Jay pretended to cringe at her cuteness. He could never say no to her, especially because she had done so much for the company and him. She was one of the only people he could trust with his whole heart and never let down.
Dahye smiled at herself as Jay took his hand in hers and rubbed his thumb over the skin in a brotherly manner. She didn't know where the feeling had come from so suddenly, but the butterflies in her stomach told her that something good would come out of this trip.