Date: April 26, 2025

  International flights are bad enough.

  Now imagine spending eleven hours wedged between Leo and Ethan.

  This isn’t just a flight.

  This is a psychological experiment on my sanity.

  Sunday, 9:32 AM – The Seat Assignments

  I stared at my boarding pass.

  Then at the seating chart.

  Then back at my boarding pass.

  There was no mistake.

  I was in the middle seat.

  Between Leo and Ethan.

  “It… wasn’t me,” Samantha whispered from my right, peering at my ticket, answering a question I hadn’t even asked yet.

  “Hannah?” I asked, already bracing for the answer.

  Samantha pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Hannah’s busy with the product launch prep. I, uh, heard her ask Priya for a favor…”

  I closed my eyes, stifling a groan. Of course.

  I could practically see Priya’s mischievous grinSaturday, 3:42 PM – The Sleeping Disaster

  Three hours in, and Leo was barely awake.

  Despite loudly protesting earlier that he was not going to lose the bet about who would fall asleep first.

  His head tilted slightly to the side, eyes fluttering shut.

  I nudged him. “You losing the fight?”

  Leo blinked, sluggish. “I don’t lose.”

  Ethan, without looking up: “You’re losing.”

  Leo scowled, sitting up straighter. “I’m resting my eyes.”

  I smirked. “Yeah? You always snore when you ‘rest your eyes’?”

  Leo froze.

  Then—horrified— “I don’t snore.”

  Ethan finally glanced at me.

  Very casually, he pulled out his phone.

  And pressed play.

  A recording played.

  Of Leo, a few years younger from what I could tell.

  Snoring. Loudly.

  Leo shot up. “WHAT THE HELL.”

  Ethan sipped his water. “You snored during the offsite in Hawaii.”

  Leo grabbed for the phone. “DELETE THAT.”

  Ethan leaned away, completely unfazed. “Can’t. It’s evidence.”

  I was wheezing.

  Leo turned to me, betrayed. “Ada. Back me up.”

  I gasped between laughs. “I— I can’t. I’m sorry.”

  Leo cast his attention back to Ethan accusingly. “So how many other videos of me sleeping do you keep, Park?”

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Louise sent this to me.”

  Leo paled.

  His eyes flicked to me, then back to Ethan, who was smirking far too smugly.

  I had no idea who Louise was, but it was no secret that Leo was very well known in the office.

  Leo groaned, rubbing his face. “I hate both of you.”

  Ethan smirked. “Rest your eyes, Leo.”

  Leo muttered something about revenge.

  But ten minutes later?

  He was asleep.

  And snoring.

  Again.

  Saturday, 4:28 PM – The Almost-Thing

  I was half-asleep, caught in the murky space between resting and dreaming.

  Vaguely aware of the low hum of the plane, the distant sound of the page animation as Ethan flipped through his Kindle, and the warmth of something pressing against my shoulder.

  It wasn’t until the warmth shifted slightly that I realized—

  It wasn’t something.

  It was someone.

  Leo’s head was on my shoulder.

  I blinked, the drowsiness dulling my reaction.

  For a moment, I just sat there.

  Registering the weight, the way his breathing was even and soft, the fact that this felt oddly normal.

  And that was what startled me the most.

  Because Leo—the human embodiment of loud, dramatic chaos—felt… comfortable.

  He looked younger like this. The arrogance stripped away, leaving something quieter. His jaw relaxed, lips slightly parted. And weirdly, there was something… Was it sadness?

  A kind of vulnerability I couldn’t look away from.

  Is this his charm?

  Was this what they saw?

  The women who woke up to him—did they all feel this pull?

  The curiosity. The quiet urge to lean in, just to see what lay beneath the effortless charisma.

  I inhaled slowly.

  And that was when I felt it.

  Another presence.

  I glanced up.

  Ethan.

  He was still looking at his kindle, still seemingly unbothered. But I could sense it, that he was waiting, waiting to see what I would do.

  And for the first time on this flight, I hesitated.

  Long enough to notice the way Leo’s hair tickled my shoulder, how the weight of him against me was solid, warm, uncharacteristically quiet.

  I should have moved immediately. That would have been the normal reaction.

  But I didn’t.

  Because for those few strange seconds, I wasn’t sure I wanted to.

  Leo shifted slightly, mumbling something in his sleep.

  And that was when I finally snapped out of it.

  I nudged him, harder than necessary.

  Leo groaned, shifting away. “Hngh?”

  I cleared my throat. “Nothing. Go back to sleep.”

  Leo yawned. Didn’t even question it.

  But when I glanced back at Ethan, he was still reading.

  Then, casually, deliberately, he shifted.

  Stretched his legs slightly, adjusting in his seat so that his knee bumped mine.

  A small touch.

  Barely anything.

  But he didn’t move it away.

  And neither did I.

  The warmth of it, even through layers of fabric, sent a sharp current of awareness through me.

  A part of me wanted to call it an accident.

  But it wasn’t.

  Not when Ethan turned another page in his Kindle without looking at me.

  Not when he didn’t shift back.

  I inhaled sharply, my pulse kicking up.

  This was different.

  I could feel it.

  It sat heavy in the air, in the inches that still remained between us, in the way my leg suddenly felt too warm, too aware.

  And the worst part?

  I didn’t know if I hated it.

  Or if I wanted to stay exactly like this.

  The thought was dangerous.

  I coughed, shifting abruptly, crossing my legs to break contact.

  My face felt hot. I definitely needed water.

  Ethan didn’t react. Didn’t say anything.

  He just kept reading. Like nothing had happened.

  Which somehow made it so much worse.

  Saturday, 6:50 PM – The Final Hour

  The plane was quiet.

  Leo was awake again, stretching lazily, rubbing his neck.

  Ethan was still reading. It was like he was attached to his kindle.

  And me?

  I was staring out the window, pretending I wasn’t still overthinking what just happened.

  Then, out of nowhere, Leo nudged me.

  I turned. “What?”

  Leo grinned. “Tokyo bets. Who’s the first person to embarrass themselves?”

  I scoffed. “Easy. Eric.”

  Leo nodded. “Agreed. Second place?”

  I tilted my head. “You.”

  Leo clutched his chest. “Wow. Betrayal.”

  Ethan finally spoke. “Third place?”

  I shook my head helplessly. “Me, probably.”

  Leo chuckled. “Nah. It’s definitely Ethan.”

  Ethan tilted his head. “Statistically unlikely.”

  Leo grinned. “I dunno, man. I feel like this trip might surprise you.”

  Ethan raised an eyebrow. “What, you have a plan?”

  Leo leaned in slightly, smirking. “Always.”

  And for the first time in eleven hours, I felt it.

  The sharp tension between them that had been simmering since the storm night.

  The tension that had been ignored the entire flight.

  The tension that, now that we were about to land, felt like it was only just beginning.

  I exhaled slowly.

  Here we go.