MY MARTIAN. minsung

forty seven

“Are you ready for this?”

Chan asked, nudging Jisung with his elbow.
They were pretty close to landing, and all of them were getting a bit antsy. They were strapped into chairs, Jisung next to Chan at the communications bay, and Changbin was in the pilot's seat.

“Obviously.” Jisung tried to be snarky, but the fidgeting of his hands gave him away. He was nervous. Chan and Changbin had filled him in on a bunch of stuff that'd happened in the past two years.

Apparently, people had done fundraisers to help him get off of the red planet. #bringhimhome had been trending on Twitter for over a week- as surprising as that was. Billboards with pictures of him in his space suit were plastered all over the largest cities. When his friends had originally told him all of this, Jisung didn't believe it.

He'd started tearing up when they told him. All that time on Mars, he never thought so many people would care. He doubted that even his friends cared, and here they all were, risking their lives and careers for him.

Changbin seemed just as jittery as Jisung, if not more so.

“Hey Bin, you good?” Chan shouted into the cockpit, looking at him with concern.

“Yep. Totally.”

“Y'all are lyers, I hope you know.” Chan said, shaking his head.

“I'm worried about seeing.. Minho again.” Jisung said quietly, eyes shifting down to look at his clenched hands.

“I want to be there for Felix but I feel like we'll be like strangers to one another.” Changbin said, loud enough for them to hear.

Chan sighed, letting his hand slide down his face. “Am I seriously the only one with a healthy, strong relationship here? Calm down guys.”

“NASA to the IIIRacha craft. What’s your status? Over.”

Chan reached for the headset from his seat, maintaining eye contact with Changbin and Jisung the whole time. “IIIRacha copy. Six minutes to landing, over.”

Jisung took a deep breath.
This was it.

“Changbin, I'm gonna need you to pilot it down steadily. Jisung, stay right there. One of us will call you if needed.” Chan instructed before turning all his attention onto the communications equipment.

Jisung from a few years ago might've complained for having nothing to do, but this new Jisung was quieter and more reserved. He stayed quiet and respected orders.

“One hundred meters to touchtown.” Changbin said from out of the cockpit.

Chan repeated it into the radio.

Jisung just listened.

“Fifty meters.”
The same process repeated itself.

“Twenty and counting.”

Chan beckoned Jisung closer. “You do the countdown.” He whispered so NASA couldn't hear.

Jisung simply nodded and waited until Changbin gave him a signal. When he did, they all braced themselves, and Chan held the radio close to Jisung's mouth.

“Three, two, one- touchdown!”

Sobs could be heard on the other side of the radio, and Jisung felt tears in his eyes yet again.

“Was that him?”

“It sounded like him!”

“He's safe! He's really safe!” The voices of thousands of unknown people washed over Jisung, and he felt himself get unsteady on his feet.
Chan caught him in a hug before he fell, and Changbin unlatched himself to come and join them. “You're a hero, Jisungie.”