Long Flight | NCT Taeyong

Chapter 8

Taeyong's POV

I'm jolted awake by my alarm suddenly playing. I wake up and rub my eyes with a small yawn.

I look to my right and see Chaemin, looking at me. It doesn't look like she did anything suspicious, like taking pictures or anything. Good.

We start talking about setting songs as alarms. Ah, so she does it, too.

"What was your song for today?" I ask her curiously. She immediately hides her face behind her blanket. Cute. Wait, Taeyong, what?

"Was it 'Long Flight'?" I joke, not expecting it to actually be the song. I just think it would be funny, since we're on an airplane today. Chaemin uncovers her face, looking very surprised. Wait, was it "Long Flight"?

I start teasing her about who her bias is. This is actually kind of fun. She keeps on getting flustered and won't stop covering her face.

After a while, she gives up and just goes to sleep. I shrug and take out my AirPods again. Listening to music and sleeping are my two main ways to pass time on an airplane.

Soon, I hear Chaemin moving around, which means that she must've woken up. I'm about to ask her who her bias is again, when dinner comes.

 I choose the blue meal, because it's the better one, of course. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Chaemin choose the same one as me. Copycat. I mean, I guess I don't mind.

I start eating, and finish within a few minutes. I check the time and see that we should land within an hour. I hope there won't be any delays - I'm ready to get back to the dorms, and if they're not burned down yet, I'll rest, unless I have to babysit the Dreamies or something.

Just as Chaemin's finishing up her meal, I hear the static of the overhead microphones turning on. Chaemin freezes, and I assure her that they're just about to make an announcement. I hope it's to inform us that we're landing soon.

"Attention all passengers. We will be landing very soon," an officer says, and then repeats it in English. I smile, unable to wait until I see one of my managers so they can take me back to the dorms. No matter how many times I've been on an airplane, I always can't wait to get back to sleep in the comfort of my bed.

But the microphone doesn't shut off. After a pause, the officer says, "Actually, there will be a delay of a few minutes, due to turbulence ahead. Please bear with it, we're about to land soon." I sigh as he repeats it in English. 

Turbulence. I'm pretty used to it - there was this one flight where we almost threw up because almost the whole thing was turbulence.

To my right, I see Chaemin's eyes widen. "Turbulence?" she says, her voice almost a whisper.

"Yeah, it's not that bad, the plane just kind of rocks to and fro, but it's nothing serious. It's better at the front of the plane," I say, trying to reassure her.

"B-but, are you sure it isn't bad?" she stutters, looking nervous.

"Don't worry, I've survived a whole flight of it before. It happens all the time. It's similar to when a cruise encounters rough waters, just not as bad," I answer casually.

"I've never been on a cruise before," she admits, not making eye contact with me.

"I promise it isn't that bad. It'll be over soon, once we land," I continue, trying not to get annoyed. Although, I do think that it would be scary if it were your first time experiencing turbulence. But, as I've said before, it isn't that bad.

"O-okay, if you say-" Her sentence is cut off by the plane tilting to the right because of the strong winds.

I sit there, unbothered, watching her in amusement. Her hands are gripping the armrests of her seat. The strap of her backpack is hung on her right arm so that it won't slip across the floor - which, it wouldn't, even if she put it on the floor. Her face is pale, and she's biting her lip, probably to keep from screaming. How interesting. Is she really that scared?

"Is it really that bad?" I ask, trying not to burst out laughing from her terrified state

"Yes! You said it wasn't really bad!" she gasps as the plane continues to tilt in all directions.

"Because it really isn't that bad," I answer, looking out the window at the darkening sky.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN? HOW ARE YOU SO CALM?" she exclaims, glancing at me and seeing my calm state.

"Trust me, it can get a lot worse," I shrug, shuddering as I remember all of those rough flights. I consider the weather on this flight to be good - I've experienced much worse. This is the only turbulence on this flight so far, which is pretty decent for a flight.

Chaemin just stops talking and squeezes her eyes shut. Is she being dramatic, or is this actually a normal human's reaction to turbulence on their first flight? I start thinking about this as the plane continues being tossed in all directions by the wind.

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Thank you for reading!