Fly Me Through Life
“i..i can’t...wait..i can’t..please no...nono...i can’t...he..them..” broken incoherent words were then heard escaping yoochun’s pouty lips as all their attentions were trained on him....
“wh..what do you mean Yoochun-sshi? Are you okay? What’s the matter?” taken aback by the fear he heard making it’s way through the sleazy man, Changmin finds his heart clenching. The pure fear and child-like imprintment in his scrunched features, left Changmin with a foreign urge to just encircle this man and shield him from the terrors of life itself, but Changmin settled with just giving the other strength through strong firm grasp of hand. Intertwined ,taut and warm.
“i..’sob’...i can’t please don’t make me ....’sob’..they..they..all of them.’sob’..me... Yoohwan-ah..” broken sobs and heartfelt pained gasped was heard as Changmin tightened his grip.
‘What happened to you, Yoochun?’
Flashback...
The flight that day started off fairly good. The sky was blue with a couple of light clouds, not enough to even shake the plane as they went through. And not to mention he got a call from his brother hours before departure ,saying that he missed him and that after he get back to Korea he’d take a whole week of holiday . That being so they both can finally catch up on their lost times and just be together like the good old days , before he was such a hot shot pilot that ended up flying to every connnected continent in every available flight with little to no off days in between.
Yoochun started of as a mere trainee at a tender age of sixteen after he discovered his passsion, his dream. The fact that the sky was his limits and being a very competetive person in nature, he found himself wanting to challenge it, to conqure the only limit he has. He entered the ‘Flight Academy’ and graduated as top trainee of the year, earning him a faster track for his flight records , than compared to the rest.
At the early age of twenty years old he was then the youngest pilot,well in the way of completing his hours of domestic flights. Completing twice as fast as most trainees did . Jeju was then like his backyard that he frequents as much as his brother’s place was.
Now twenty one years old, Yoochunhad travelled through most of the Asian countries including Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philiphine and also the few parts of Australia.
He liked being a pilot, it means he ensure that their journey is completed ,his target uphold but mostly he loved the responsibility, the dependentment that he felt with every opening speech at the beginning of each flight , the security the blue skies gave him and the accomplishment the drums of engine left him as they touched down. And flying through clouds, trying to gain the upper hand was his secret fetish. The sweaty palms, the undivided attention , and most importantly the part when everything passed and sighs of relief swept through. Then the swell of pride filled him, all appreciated and known.
He had already reached the optimum height for autopilot when his musing ended, because nowadays flying had been like a sort of auto pilot for him.’ Push this, pull that , metre okay, engine both drumming beautifully and he is done’.
The sky was a pretty shade of light blue with sparsely located clouds and the sea that they were flying above ,shone with a lighter shade. He was then flying back from Gold Coast , Australia , so yeah just a mere practice for him as the route has been one of his earliest ones, once he regained his continents flying license.
He was contemplating,on going out and checking the ‘market value’ out there and maybe get him some love, but the thought of his trip with Yoohwan left him smiling like a love sick fool already . ‘really he should get an award or something for loving his brother that much. Huh. I even let my body be deprieved when thinking of my ddongsaeng. Okay maybe i need to thank my brother for reducing my chances of contracting STDs....’
While Yoochun was laughing inwardly,while remembering all Yoohwan’s reactions to his ‘one night stands’ that, he saw limping out of his room at the early hours of morning, he missed the silent call of danger issued in the air. The static eating up the atmosphere. Clouds were then dancing in circles around the plane with a rhythm that matches the rain dance, only they were the rain itself, all big dark, and unbidding.
It was not the sound of additional engine lulls that broke his mind spree but more of the absences of it. When one of the engines decided to break itself the twin drumming of motors pushing wheels of metals were reduced to one.
‘What the... . what’s going on?’ suddenly confused by the situation Yoochun cursed inwardly.
As he was trying to coclude the extent of their engine’s damage, stuttering voice of his co-pilot shook him even more...
“ca...captain...i...i think you...yy..you need to see this!”
“I am seeing it!”
“nono....not that !...this...” the frantic sound of his First officer troubled him.
Brows furrowed, Yoochun looked up , because really what can be more important than their failing engine. Once the he registered the bleakness of the surroundings , he frozed.
“what’s happening? First officer? What happened to the sky?” questions formed itself faster than he could process them.
“i...i...don’t...i ...know..” his first officer was then hyperventilating his answer out. All short , scared and unsure.
“first officer?? First officer? Co-pilot Henry!”
“Snap out of it Henry! Now is not the time for you feel scared! We need to think how we’re going to by pass this storm with just one functioning engine, one moving blade!”
Nodding hesitantly , the one called Henry then found himself steering his fears away.’ I can’t be scared...i can’t be scared...it’s not the time..i need to fix this’ as the thoughts left him, twin pairs of orbs focused itself on their monitors.
Avoiding further damage , Yoochun quickly turned off the other engine killing the propeller, so that now propeller and force from both sides, are equal. They, couldn’t let it whirr on as there was a possibility that the uneven force from both side of the aircraft might bring them into a deeper problem. As the propeller turned into a stop, the silence thickened , confused questions and concerned conversations between the passengers were heard.
They decided to calm the raising tension that they could feel rising from other occupants of the aircraft.
“ To all passenger’s and flight attendants of flight KE 2378 alike. We are having a slight problem with the changing weather and might have to brush through a few heavy clouds. This action might cause a few tremors and shakes . Please be remain seated buckled until the seatbelt sign is off. We have already taken a few safety measures to ensure the safety of all passengers. We will try our best to reduce the level of unwanted events. Flight attendants take your seats . And everyone let’s pray for all of us.”
As soon as the speaker is turned off , Yoochun sighed deeply.
‘‘ what they don’t know won’t hurt them right captain? Well pull through this and pat ourself in the back for being able to fly through a storm with just one engine! It’s not unheard of right?” Henry who had heard his sigh quipped.
“no!”.....’ But it was never this bad storm and this heavy clouds’ not wanting to kill his first officer’s determination Yoochun kept his thoughts more to himself.
Since they’were flying atop the Pacific Ocean the distance between him and the aircontrol tower were increased, thus the effort needed to acquire connection harder and with one of their engine down, sources depleting and the storm building with heavy statics, Yoochun found himself fumbling with the plastic communicator..
“Aircontrol tower. This is Captain Yoochun from flight number KE2378 do you read me? We have just lost one of our propeller and are now heading into a storm.” Yoochun’s voice were heard trying to contact their control tower hoping for some sort of assistance or even emergency advices.
“....zzzz...this is the aircontrol tower, please report in details your situation. Wheeeeeeeee................zzzzz” as the operator was trying to get into the depth of the situation it ended with hollow statics. Their voices drifting to mere vibrations of meaningless chords.
“aircontrol tower please respond... Hello....anybody there?...”
The communicator which before was spilling up concerned voices, remained unresponsive all hard, cold and dead.
Yoochun was on his own then , and for the first time responsibility scared him....
-------
Yoochun who had finally collected himself , settled both his hands on the wheels , preparing for the most challeging flight he knew he’ll ever have.
With both the propellers out, they were then just gliding . Gliding towards their doom or is it their savior? Because really the cloud doesn’t look half as inviting as the clouds that kids tend to draw in their family portraits and the sound of clashing thunders left very little to their imaginations of the severity of the situation that they’re riding into.
As the plane glided slowly towards the dark clouds with only as much as half of their previous speed, Yoochun found himself thinking back to his younger brother, his family, his home.
‘yes...Yoohwan-ah! Hyung promise that i’ll get through this. I’ll get through this and we’ll get to go our vacation okay?! Just..just wait for me..i promise you.’
Just before the head of the aircraft started to disappear under heavy clouds of terror, Yoochun glanced briefly to his silent First officer, Henry. Smiles were exchanged, promise were written and determination peaked.
‘We can’t afford any other solution. So we’ll get through this, cause it’s what we’re expected to do.’
Slowly the gliding aircraft were then swallowed by the growing dark hanging clouds. Sunshine left them as they prepare to fight for what they were worth.’ Everything and anything....’
----
The inside of the cloud was nothing like what they had imagine. It was dark but to some extent still bright , it was as if they’re in some sort of a padded room all closed up , and stuffy. All the turbulance and thunders from before were halted as soon as they were completely engulfed by this visible mass of liquid droplets.
The occupants’ of the flight found themselves marvelling the wonders of life , completely oblivious to the turbulance that both their Captain and First officer were having.
All because they knew that ,’ the worse has yet to come. It’s not entering that troubles them, it’s the exit .’
As they glided slowly out of the moving mass, the plane started to rumble as turbulance with a much greater force than before hit them. Thunders and lightning danced around, the slowing aircraft and Yoochun felt fear gripped. He was scared for himself, his officer’s and mostly his resposibilities that were still oblivious to their predicament.
As they moved out of the cloud , the shaking of the aircraft increased in folds, leaving the passenger’s in a shrieking mess, all loud wails and shaking fears. When the plane was suddenly strucked by a lightning, leaving a burning gash on it’s left wing, only then realisation set itself .
With a burning part ,chaos took over. Oxygen masks popped down into the cabin sending the passengers scrambling to attach to it.
As they made their way slowly through the storm, the damage on the left wing worsened. The once burning hole turned into a limp limb hanging on my a fiery thread. All loose and useless.
The change in stable pressure between both sides of the cabin groaned the aircraft. Angles suddenly shifted as they leaned more on the right. Internal alarms set in the plane itself flared. Warning them of the coming dangers with the new turned of events as the metal sweeshed and swooshed like the hand in ‘the Grandfather clock’. Slow, mechanic and heavy...
Though knowing there was nothing he could really do to reverse the turn of events ,Yoochun held on tight to his wheels, trying to maintain a somewhat comfortable angulation of safety.
Sweats formed itself along his hairline as he fought his way to dominance over his falling aircraft.
The difference in the pressure and force from both side, plus the turbulance of dark clouds carrying heavy thunderstorms sent their plane spiralling down it’s own path to the open sea.
As the freefall continued at a now much gathered pace with the help of gravity, Yoochun quickly revised his pilot’s 101 guide during emergency, in his head...
‘Setting aim for the safest place to land’ is always first but but ‘getting the plane to land safely or at least reduce the possibility of greater damage’ was always the gist of it. As the memory sets in, he tightened his grip and pulled it softly upwards, trying to soften the inevitable crash by lenghtening the impact time with the open sea.
The fall’s pace reduced by only a mere ticks and by the time he was breathing in relief for the change in the free fall angle, they were already hitting the waters..
-----
The impact of them breaching the water’s surface, sent an even heavier groan through the mass of flying metal. Sparks flew, screws unhinged and the next thing they knew is that , the plane had given way to the much denser liquid. Screws and metal pliant, letting the water flow in through their damaged outer layers.
Screams of help and shrill cofusions once again filled the silent spaces but only now with hurried scrambling sounds of scrapping feets and swapping hands of help.
Emergency doors were opened by unoccupied flight attendants and dazed passengers were then directed to jump into the clear blue sea, once they had worn their life jackets.
Darkness greeted them as soon as they jumped. As the mass of floating people grew, the aeroplane sinked even deeper burning with a much brighter flame as wires fried itself materials charcoaled, just like a big bonfire at the end of a school year. Though different to an extend, this doesn’t burn their past miseries, it burnt their hope for the future. Leaving them blanked and bleaked.
Blinking lights of urgency gathered resembling a large unidentified sea monster, all mysterious , and dangerous. Only now the danger is not to another, but to themselves.
----
As the shook weaved through , Yoochun quickly recovered from his stupor and started to unbuckle his seatbelts, stumped Henry was shook back to reality as the whooshed of the waves sent salty breeze through the now opened cabin door.
The previous buzz had left as a large amount of passengers had already left the cabin , jumping into the open, under strict instructions from the cabin crews.
Before leaving the cockpit , Yoochun and his First officer pulled over their life jackets from beneath their seats . One last longing gaze was then thrown before the pain and acceptance flickered in.
‘Their plane was lost. Is this a victory worth celebrating or a failure worth crying over? Did they save those poeple or submit them to a more painful fate?’
As they splashed their way into the now much disturbed water surface, anguish shouts of adults waiting for recognition and wails of children wanting attention drowned them.
‘This was their doom’ hearing these Yoochun found himself dying just a little bit more .
‘I failed them. I failed my responsibilities. I failed to protect them...’ saddened by the helplesness gripping him tight, Yoochun let himself drown it in, literally and figuratively.
Hours passed , as they were left floating .The sunrose slowly in the horizon. Tired , gaunt faces accompanied with sunkened eyes greeted his gaze. Helplesness clothed their worn out body.
The storm which was still brewing when they had their crash , had then left. Leaving behind an expanse of clear blue skies full of hope for a better tomorrow, and Yoochun found himself praying just a little harder, holding just a little closer to his belief, his faith.
Day in and day out they were left floating their way. The only signs that they’re still alive was the tugging feeling of thirst that increased with each move of the sun and the occasional cry of pain seeing another of them submit to their inrefuttable ending, death. Graves build in the deep watery beds.
Their body system moving almost mechanically trying to salvage the last of their fat storage, minimizing the use of energy and shutting down their system, almost as if they were a group of Polar bears in process of hibernating.
After countless shouts of help and sunkened bodies later, help finally arrived. The incessant calling of human interaction and the swishing movement of the blade cutting through the air , lit a flame of desire in the survivors. The desire to live, the desire to make it through and just mainly the desire to not die here, alone and far.
‘This is Pacific Patrol Crew. We would like you to stay afloat in groups as the marine team is on their way’ an authoritative voice from the hovering helicopter brought them more happiness than Santa could ever do to any adults.
“help!!!! Help us!! Don’t leave us.”
“we’re finally going back...we’re going back.”
Cries of help and rejoicement floated through the air leaving the group of exhausted people in a very much pumped situation. All hopeful and bright.
“Captain...captain Yoochun, we made it...you and i we made it!!!it wasn’t in vain.....i knew we could do it...” words of happiness escaped Henry, the co-pilot’s chapped mouth , instilling trust and encouragement in the silent captain’s heart.
“.....yes Henry...i guess we did...”
------
Minutes later , the water was halved as a rescue ship came in their way. All big and comforting. Then and only then they sighed their relief. Cause now they’re safe. They’re found and they’re saved.
Rescues boats were lowered, floats set adrift.
Bodies hauled, warm blakets thrown over and darkness were welcomed. All because they were safe, they’re going back..
Once the ship anchored at the nearby harbour, all the survivors were then sent for emergency treaments at one of the nearest hospital in Singapore, apparently their days of floating and drifting across the opened sea had pushed them nearer to the small island nation.
----
It took Yoochun two months to recover his strength from the whole crash as dehydration and direct unscreened sun exposure for days, after jumping from a burning plane, left him in a severe state of shock and a third degree burn. All white and painless.
But it took him much longer to recover his mental health and to stop reliving the nightmares every shut of eyes. Screams of help haunted him, as much as the fire licked his bare skin.
A year later after much promises and comfort hug from his ddongsaeng, who had taken a plane to Singapore just to bring his brother back saw Yoochun taking his first flight back to Korea, back to his hometown. But not before eating two sleeping pills , leaving him knocked out for the rest of the flight except for the bboarding process and long after the plane had landed.
His last flight.
End of flashback...
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‘this is my plane now. And no matter what happen i will land this safely! Cause it’s my responsibility, it’s my job, it’s what i was born to do. To fly’