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“Hyung, can I sit next to you? Please?”
Jake looked up from luggage inventory to find Ni-Ki hovering above him.
He had a vague idea of when the sitting-together would happen, but just to be sure he asked, “In the car or on the plane?”
The maknae tilted his head down and broke eye contact. “Plane.”
“Of course, Ni-Ki-ah. I’ll even let you have the window seat if you want.”
Jake smiled as Ni-Ki said a “Thanks, hyung,” and hurriedly left.
He obviously knew that Ni-Ki was anxious about the flight despite having had to fly from home to Korea. It wouldn’t be that long of a trip to Jeju Island, but if he could do anything to make his dongsaeng more comfortable, he will not hesitate to do everything possible.
He himself was a bit nervous on planes, but the Mom Friend Override was strong with Jake. After all, Ni-Ki is practically his son.
Jake packed his Switch, which he almost forgot, and hoped they could use it to distract themselves while in the air. Hopefully, the other members won’t be as nervous; Jake’s heart couldn’t handle it if they were.
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The car ride was, well, a car ride for Enhypen. They were excited and somewhat shell-shocked, not believing that they are visiting Jeju Island together (albeit for work but STILL). Nonetheless, each member was a bit anxious about the flight, with some more concerned than others (Heeseung was most worried for the members and Sunoo was just vibing).
Ni-Ki made sure to sit next to Sunoo in the car, wanting his comforting presence and skinship (the cuties were holding hands). His best friend, while unbothered by the idea of their plane ride, tended to him in his fidgety state.
No offense to Sunoo or the others, but Ni-Ki felt like he needed Jake next to him in order to stay as calm as possible while in the air. Pre-boarding, however, he needed Sunoo’s attention. It just felt right, and the last thing he needed in his already stressed pre-debut-idol life was to be overwhelmed at the wrong time and place.
He looked out the window and saw an aircraft coming in for its landing. He held his hyung’s hand tighter.
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Eyes closed and breathing a bit roughly, Ni-Ki held onto his hyung’s hand, the other subconsciously frozen into a tight fist. They were mid-takeoff, and the maknae was blasting SHINee sunbaenim’s music through his airpods. His hyung stayed close didn’t disturb him, not wanting to trigger a panic attack.
About two songs later, now well into the sky, the Aussie checked on him.
“You good, man?” Jake squeezed Ni-Ki’s hand, noticing that he was staring off into space. He had chosen to sit in the aisle seat; just thinking about looking out the window made his stomach hurt.
Coming back down to Earth (metaphorically), Ni-Ki looked at his hyung, thinking about what to say.
“Can we… can we play on the Switch?” He thought it would be a good way to distract himself, seeing how music’s effectiveness was fading. It just made him want to dance the stress away, and he nor his surroundings were in an appropriate state for that to be practical.
“Of course.”
Turns out, trying to open a backpack with one hand is difficult, but at least it drew some tiny laughs out of the maknae.
Propping the screen on the small table attached to the seat in front of them and handing a remote to Ni-Ki, Jake selected Mario Kart on the home screen. He hoped that their competitiveness will drown out all their worries.
It worked like a charm.
Although he is a caring hyung who will do anything for his dongsaengs, Jake did NOT go easy on Ni-Ki. Being Sunghoon’s soulmate and part of the ‘02z has definitely brought out his competitive side more since meeting them. On top of that, he was a striker for his old soccer team, which brought forth his fiercer side. However, he still made sure that both of them had fun while murdering each other with banana peels and blue shells.
Staying somewhat quiet was the hardest part. Jake was pretty sure Jay, who was napping, kicked his seat at least once in warning, prompting Jungwon to lightly slap him (“Hyung that’s rude, they’re just having fun.” “But Wonie! I’m trying to sleep!” “Then ignore them and let me cuddle you before I go sit with Heeseungie hyung.” “FINE.” “Who’s loud now?”).
As the rounds bled on, Ni-Ki forgot about his anxious thoughts, worries of how he was mid-air as a soon-to-be-debuted idol. He was too occupied with thoughts of Mario Kart and beating Jake hyung at said game.
“Noooooooo!” whisper-screamed Jake as his Luigi fell off the side of the track, effectively giving Ni-Ki an advantage. Taking the opportunity, his Bowser raced ahead, ready to take this win (again; they were at a solid 7:7 at the moment).
A crackle of the overhead broke him out of his concentration.
“We will be descending in the coming moments, please stay in your seats and prepare for landing.”
Pausing the round as he processed the words, Ni-Ki looked at his hyung and said, “We’re landing already? Did we really play video games the whole hour?”
Smiling in his adorable Jakey way, he answered proudly, “Yep! You did so well the whole time, too, all thanks to Nintendo! Even now you look more comfortable than when we boarded.”
Shying away slightly at the praise, he said, “Yeah, I… I feel better, too.” He reached for hyung’s hand again and continued with, “Thank you.”
“No problem, man. You know, to celebrate we should buy bungeoppang as soon as we land.”
That caught his attention. A blonde head whipped to his member’s face. “Please?”
Laughing into his answer, he said, “We’ll have to ask the managers but I’m sure everyone else will be hungry as well.”
“Imagine telling our parents what we did in Jeju Island. ‘What did you do, Ni-Ki-ah?’ ‘I landed and ate bungeoppang! That’s all I remember, honestly.’ Their faces would be legendary!”
As they descended, a patch of turbulence was hit and Jake subconsciously tightened his grip on Ni-Ki. The latter, now having shaken most of the anxiety and feeling pretty confident, reached with his other hand and ruffled Jake’s hair in an attempt of comfort.
His own reaction drew giggles from himself, but nonetheless, he leaned his head into the touch.
“You know that I have bragging rights for Mario Kart now, right, hyung?”
“Yah! We didn’t finish the last game!”
“I was winning anyway.”
“Just wait until you play the other members, I’m pretty sure Jay-ah and Sunoo-yah are certified video game masters.”
“We’ll see,” said Ni-Ki as they came in for their landing, now unbothered with the situation thanks to his Jake hyung.