The first thing Romeo noticed when he woke was the silence.
Not the absence of sound. A private jet was never truly quiet. There was always the low vibration beneath the floor, the steady movement of air through the cabin, the occasional shift of leather when someone moved in their sleep.
But compared to a stage, it was silent.
There was no music, no countdown, no thousands of voices calling his name. Just the aircraft moving through the night.
Romeo opened his eyes slowly. For a moment, he didn't know where he was. Then he felt the weight against his shoulder.
Jaylen.
Romeo looked down. He was still asleep.
At some point during the flight, Jaylen had moved closer. One hand was still holding onto his, fingers loosely tangled together like he had done it without waking.
Romeo almost smiled. He carefully shifted his arm, trying not to disturb him. It didn't work.
Jaylen frowned immediately.
"Don't."
His voice was barely audible.
Romeo looked at him.
"Don't what?"
"Move."
A quiet laugh escaped Romeo before he could stop it.
"You were awake?"
"No."
"Then how did you know?"
"Because you always do that."
Romeo looked back toward the window.
"Do what?"
"Try to move away when you think someone needs you less."
Jaylen's eyes remained closed, but he snuggled closer, leaning more into Romeo's shoulder. The words sounded too serious for someone who was half asleep.
Romeo rolls his eyes but didn't reply.
Jaylen opened one eye.
"See?"
"See what?"
"You got quiet."
"I was already quiet."
"No."
Jaylen closed his eye again.
"That was your extra quiet."
Romeo stared at him for a second, then shook his head.
"You talk too much."
"You like it."
Jaylen says boastfully,
"I tolerate it."
"Same thing."
Romeo didn't argue. He shaked his head instead, he wouldn't argue with a child.
Across the cabin, Dain had not slept. Not properly, anyway.
His headphones rested over his ears, volume low enough that he could still hear the world around him. A old habit that he simply couldn't detach from. He had tried sleeping without music before. It never worked. Silence made his thoughts louder.
The song playing now was one he had found years ago. He couldn't remember where.
That happened often. There were songs he knew by heart but couldn't remember saving. Places he recognized but had never visited. Feelings that arrived before memories did.
He stared at the dark window beside him. The clouds outside looked different at night. Less like something you passed through. More like something you disappeared into.
"Still awake?"
Dain looked over.
Ashe had lifted his head from the seat. His hair was slightly messy, a rare sight considering how carefully he usually looked after himself.
Dain removed one side of his headphones.
"Yeah."
"Thought so."
"How?"
"You do that thing."
"What thing?"
Ashe smiled.
"The thing where you pretend you're resting."
Dain looked away.
"I am resting."
"You haven't blinked properly in five minutes."
"Resting and sleeping are not the same thing.."
A pause.
"...You counted?"
"No."
Another pause.
"I estimated."
Dain shook his head.
"You're weird."
"I've heard worse."
Ashe leaned back again.
For a while, neither of them spoke. They didn't need to. That was the thing about knowing someone for a long time. Eventually, silence stopped feeling empty.
The peace lasted another thirty seconds.
Then—
"You're cheating."
Dain didn't need to look up.
Jeremy and Gage..., as always.
"I'm not cheating," Gage said.
"You just pressed the same button twelve times."
"It's called technique."
"It seems more like panicking to me."
"I'm adapting."
"You lost."
"I was distracted."
"By what?"
Gage looked offended.
"By your annoying voice."
Jeremy laughed.
"That wasn't there ten seconds ago."
"It was emotionally there."
"You're unbelievable."
"Yet you keep playing with me."
"Because watching you lose is entertaining."
Their voices were quieter than usual. They knew everyone was tired. They just didn't know how to stop being themselves. And maybe nobody wanted them to.
At the front of the cabin, their manager glanced away from his tablet for the first time in several minutes.
The boys were scattered exactly how they always were. Romeo pretending he wasn't tired. Jaylen attached to him like gravity worked differently around him. Dain disappearing into his own world. Ashe quietly noticing everything. Jeremy and Gage turning exhaustion into an argument.
Some things never changed. That was comforting.
His attention soon returns to the unread emails and messages on his tablet. Another message meant another schedule adjustment. Another schedule adjustment meant another person asking if the transition would be difficult.
He already knew the answer.
Yes.
Of course it would be difficult.
They had spent years building a world where everyone knew their names. Now they were being asked to walk into a place where nobody was supposed to care.
School— a normal routine and a normal life.
He almost laughed at the idea. There was nothing normal about them anymore.
Romeo looked toward the front.
"Hyung."
Their manager looked up.
"Yeah?"
"What time do we arrive?"
The manager checked the screen.
"About seven hours."
Romeo nodded.
"Okay."
That was all but the manager knew him well enough. Romeo always said okay when there was nothing else he could say.
"You should sleep."
"I'm fine."
"That's exactly what tired people say."
Romeo smiled faintly.
"Then I'm tired."
"Good. At least you're honest."
Romeo closed his eyes again. This time, Jaylen's grip loosened but not completely.
The jet continued forward.
Above the clouds, the world was quiet. For a few more hours, nobody needed anything from them. No cameras. No stage. No expectations. Just seven people crossing an ocean in the dark, carrying a life that was about to change and none of them knew it yet.