Emerging Storm

Hidden In Plane Sight
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The interior of the airplane was much more luxurious than any of them had expected. The moment they stepped inside, there was a chorus of “ooh”s and “aah”s coming from the passengers. The seats had the same dark maroon shade as the color of the flight attendant’s uniform. It wasn’t even the small and stiff ones people sat on in the economy class; they were as big as those in the first class rooms and could technically fit two people in one seat. It even came with a built in massager per seat, a larger TV monitor, and the heavenly broad space to extend their foot as much as they wanted. There were four seats per row; two towards the left and two towards the right with a small walking space in between them that could only fit one food cart like the regular airplanes. That was perhaps the only thing that needed fixing in this nearly perfect plane.   The lights on the ceiling of the plane created a beautiful white glow as it illuminated the interior with a majestic halo. The day turned darker outside, but it was so bright inside they could easily lose track of time. The luminosity lit the way as people tried to find their own seat numbers.   “This place is huge!” Seollin remarked as her eyes turned bigger at the last word, emphasizing her comment. She looked around her like an excited child, never being in such a luxurious airplane before.   “Hyung, thank you for taking us here. Hyuuungg, this place is awesome!” Tae Hyung added as he began to cling onto Yoon Gi and held on to his arm with an unintended aegyo face.   “Stop acting like cave people who never saw an airplane before,” Yoon Gi said in embarrassment as he walked to the very back seat. Before he could even move, the other two had already beat him to it and began running to their seat number which was closely located to the now open kitchen and the lavatory at the very back.   “OH!!! Even the kitchen is bigger!” Tae Hyung nearly screamed for everyone to hear, pointing to the place with excitement. It looked just like the kitchen his mom always used to cook in, minus the stove since the airplane only used convection ovens. There were multiple drawers inside, and he had the urge to open them one by one just to satisfy his curiosity. He even recognized the typical cart trays, and he immediately wondered what today’s dinner would be.   “They have a coffee maker, OMG!” Seollin yelled alongside him, pointing at the machine as if it was her first time ever seeing it.   “Whoaaaa….” the two mouthed together in amazement. And at this point, Yoon Gi pretended he didn’t know them.   “Are you lost?” Hyesun, one of the stewardess suddenly appeared from an entrance behind the kitchen. It made the other two at a total loss, probably wondering where the secret passage would lead them to.   “No, we’re just admiring the whole plane,” Tae Hyung answered with a wide grin.   “Yes, it is amazing. I still need to get used to this all as well,” Hyesun told him with a chuckle.   “But you’re the stewardess. Don’t you know your way around here?” Tae Hyung wondered out loud.   “I was a last minute addition, so I didn’t get to study the plane. It isn’t like any other boeing I’ve been scheduled for before, so I need to get used to it too. And to be honest, I am still new at this whole thing so, I should probably keep working,” the stewardess answered with a polite nod before she closed the curtains around the kitchen with the word ‘CREW’ printed on it in big bold letters.   “Oh, true,” Tae Hyung nodded, he turned around to his friend, only to realize that there was a very, very dark aura coming from their boss. Yoon Gi had been staring at them as if he couldn’t wait to get off the plane just to finish them off on land. He did not have to say anything, but the look on his face was enough hint for them to behave.   “Sorry, sorry,” Seollin apologized to him with a chuckle as she walked to her seat, the golden chains around her neck jingling and making a lot of noise as she did so. And once she stood in front of her seat, her eyes widened in shock as she nearly stopped breathing. Next to her was none other than the orange haired police detective whom she was already sort of crushing on.   “Hey, Jin Seollin, right?” Jimin immediately recognized her. It was hard to forget someone with so many bling and a hat with SWEG written on it.   “Y-you got the wrong person. I am her twin sister,” Seollin answered nervously, trying to keep some of her image. She liked this person, and the thought of having to sit next to him for 14 hours and 50 minutes with those big fat golden chains around her neck was just mentally painful.   Jimin laughed at her response, noting how she had a dilemma written all over her face. His detective instincts kicked in immediately. “What’s wrong? Have you eaten something weird previous to this flight? Are you carrying something heavy with you?”   Before Seollin had the chance to answer, Yoon Gi appeared next to her, pushing her slightly aside. He glared at Jimin mercilessly, almost killing him with his ruthless aura. “Do not speak to my employee if you wish to live,” he threatened.   “Are you going to kill me? Min Yoon Gi, isn’t it? If you do, it will only add more suspicions to SWEG Corporation,” Jimin said with a smirk.   Yoon Gi was silenced as he turned around, unwilling to deal with the police detective. It seemed as if he knew something was up and he did not want to draw more suspicion on him. He was about to sit back, but felt Seollin holding unto his arm.   “Boss, can I please take off this stupid hat and necklace? Please, my future depends on it,” she pleaded in desperation.   “No! No! No! This is our team uniform! Where is your sense of unity? Nothing is more sweg than this,” Tae Hyung answered on his behalf from his seat. He ignored the way the real estate agent next to him, Kim Su Ho, made a face at his noisiness.   Su Ho already knew this bling wearing guy would become a nuisance, and he wished he could get of him to get rid of the embarrassment.   “What he said,” Yoon Gi sat down.   Seollin knew she was doomed. It was going to be a long flight.     “I wonder if the compartments are big enough to fit in all the equipment,” Myung Soo said as he walked behind Aemi who led them to their seat. He was holding his precious photography equipment that were too fragile to be checked in as luggage. Not by himself though, as Woo Hyun also insisted to help reasoning that girls were not supposed to do heavy work like these. Still, the girls were stubborn and wanted to help by carrying the lighter stuff.   “I never knew photography came with so many instruments. Isn’t it just a camera?” Woo Hyun asked blankly.   “No, pa bo, a true photographer needs more than that,” Hyun Mi slightly nudged him with a laugh, knowing he probably forgot those times he posed in front of cameras for his political campaigns photoshoots.   “True. We need a tripod, an umbrella, a softbox, extra batteries, the powerpack which is the heaviest. And that’s only to name a few,” Myung Soo started listing a few items, seeing the confused look on Woo Hyun’s face.   “Even if you explain it, he still wouldn’t understand it,” Hyun Mi said teasingly.   “All I know is how to take good selcas, and that’s enough,” Woo Hyun muttered as Hyun Mi patted his cheeks to tell him it was okay and found it cute nonetheless.   “Our seat is supposed to be here,” Aemi said, looking at the tickets that were supposed to be for L’Studio, and back at the seat number to match them. But seeing how a tall guy was occupying the seat, she scrunched her eyebrows in confusion.   “Is something wrong?” Seul Yi asked, tired of waiting already. She just wanted to sit. The only reason she carried the equipment was to make a good impression on Myungsoo. Letting the objects fall from her hands wasn’t going to do the trick, but it started to feel heavier the longer they stood.   “Uhm, excuse me, but this is our seat,” Aemi nudged the tall guy who was leisurely sitting there.   “No, this is my seat,” the guy insisted without even budging.   “May I see your ticket then?” she challenged him.   The guy pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and grabbed the ticket before handing it to her. He watched her as she studied it while squeezing her eyes as she noticed the number.   “Mr. Lee Sung Yeol, your seat is 7A, this here is 2C,” Aemi told him as she flattened her eyes.   “Oh really? The 7 and 2 looked similar to me,” Sung Yeol’s attitude immediately changed as he began to get up to move away with a laugh.   “Stupid,” Aemi remarked quietly.   “What did you say?” Sung Yeol gave her a shocked look.   “It’s stupid! A 2 and a 7 are obviously different, how could you have mistaken them?” she asked, placing her hands against her hips.   “They completely look the same,” Sung Yeol said as he moved closer to her to show his logic behind the numbers, shoving the ticket in front of her. “They only differ one . One !”   “Whatever, you’re still stupid,” Aemi insisted with a small smirk.   Before Sung Yeol could continue with the fight, Hyun Mi had already interrupted the fight as she told them to stop. “We apologize for the misunderstanding. I do agree that 2 and 7 look the same, sometimes I think the number 8 and Infinite symbol are similar as well. We take full responsibility of our mistakes, so can we please just forgive and forget?” she asked nicely. Because in situations like this, it was better to admit fault even if it wasn’t your fault.   “Okay, I’ll let it go,” Sung Yeol said, giving a glare at Aemi.   “But before you go, can you help us put these stuff in the compartment?” Hyun Mi tried asking, giving him a sheepish grin as he stared at her in disbelief.   “These ‘stuff’ are precious materials important for your shoot,” Myungsoo retorted, offended as she called it stuff.   “Shameless… The rumors were true.. She is truly shameless,” Seul Yi whispered, slapping her own forehead as Woo Hyun chuckled, completely used to it by now and finding it charming even.   Sung Yeol could not believe he actually fell for it as he took the heavy equipment from Aemi’s hands and helped her push it in the compartment. “A thank you would be nice,” he muttered.   “I was afraid you wouldn’t understand the words, so I kept quiet,” Aemi replied dryly.   “Okay, stop for real!” Myung Soo spoke as he got between them before anything would emerge. After placing the equipment in the baggage compartment above their heads, he thanked the tall guy who walked to the back of the plane, and he took his seat towards the window as Hyun Mi and Woo Hyun sat behind him. The question was, who would occupy the seat next to Myung Soo?   Aemi and Seul Yi immediately stared at each other, electric shocks appearing from their eyes. Both were pretty obvious with their affection towards Myung Soo and wanted to be the one besides him for the entire duration to Barcelona.   “You sat next to him in the car, let me sit next to him now!” Seul Yi said.   “But your office desk is besides him, you already sit next to him every day,” Aemi insisted.   “It’s not enough! You can just go sit with that 2-7 guy since you two match together so well!”   “We don’t match at all! I’m not even interested.”   “But I-”   Before the two could continue fighting, Yerin casually walked passed them to take a seat besides Myung Soo. Chan Yeol soon followed afterwards and took the seat on the other side of the path area, already shaking his head. The journalist stared coolly at Aemi and Seulyi who gave her a dumbfounded look.   “My seat,” Yerin spoke.   “You two will sit at 2C and 2D,” Myung Soo pointed at the empty seats in front of him as the two girls faced each other with equal disappointment. They fought for nothing. The seat next to Myung Soo was never for the L’Studio members in the first place.     After everyone was seated and the baggage compartments were all closed, they could finally see the airplane moving away from the airport. There was a sudden static noise before the captain gave his welcoming message.   “Oeso wa, first time with Siren Moros 4959?” a deep charismatic voice greeted them all. “Ayo, ladies and gentlemen, I am your captain Kim Nam Joon speaking. Today I, and co-captain Kris Wu will take you to your destination, Barcelona.”   “Oh boss, this guy got sweg,” Tae Hyung commented excitedly as Yoon Gi nodded in order for him to stay quiet.   Suho already silently grunted under his breath as he stared outside the window. The clouds were more interesting than his seatmate.   “It is currently 8 PM in Seoul, and the flight duration to Barcelona is expected to take 14 hours and 50 minutes,” Nam Joon continued.   Ji Yeon smiled as she heard this, proving she was right. She knew her numbers well. She was the math genius after all.   “We are about to take off soon. We ask you to please fasten your seatbelts at this time and secure all baggage underneath your seat or baggage compartment. Table trays are in the upright position for take-off. Please turn off all personal electronic devices, including laptops and cell phones. However, they may be used when set on flight mode. Please refrain from doing so until we’re up. Smoking is prohibited for the duration of the flight. Thank you for choosing Siren Moros. Enjoy your flight.”   As soon after the announcement was made, Eun Kyung looked up from her phone to see Hee-Jin approaching her for the final check-up before the flight. Already she could feel the hatred boiling inside her, grabbing furiously unto her phone.   “Miss, please turn off all electronic devices as we are about to take off,” Hee-Jin said kindly using the tone she was trained to use. It hurt to smile to the wife of her crush, but she had to bear it. She had to show her sweetest smile, because it was her job.   “But we aren’t flying yet, I’ll do it later,” Eun Kyung replied.   “This is for a safety precaution, please turn it off now,” Hee-Jin tried again, her smile turning stiffer.   “I’ll turn it off as soon as we move mid-air,” Eun Kyung was just stubborn.   Hee-Jin let out a deep sigh as she held in the urge to lash back against a passenger. She knew she shouldn’t, and even felt Min Seok slightly brushing against her hand to calm her down. It helped as she cooled down enough to signal for her partner to help out.   Kyung Soo appeared in a flash as he got the cue from Hee-Jin who motioned towards Eun Kyung. “Miss, please turn off your phone, we’re about to take off,” he recited the same script.   Eun Kyung stared at him, momentarily starstruck by his adorable appearance. The words escaped as she felt all airy and fluttery inside her heart. She promised she wouldn’t look at another man again. She made up her mind to mend her relationship with Min Seok this time. But this cute male flight attendant made things harder.   “Who are you chatting with anyway? Just turn it off. They asked you three times.” Min Seok was the one who lost it as he snatched the phone from Eun Kyung’s hand and turned it off with force before handing it back to her.   “N-No one in particular,” Eun Kyung stammered quietly, relieved he didn’t check her phone as she placed the device back in her bag.   “Even if it is that other man, I don’t care,” Min Seok spoke, glancing over towards Hee-Jin, seeing how she gave him an appreciative smile for his help. He couldn’t help but smile as well.   A few rows behind them was another problematic passenger as Sang Hee tried to talk to the owner of Happy Pill. “Sir, we have to put your luggage on top of the compartment. It is too big to be placed under the seat,” she spoke a little timidly towards Chan Yeol, the guy who had witnessed her make a mistake before.   “It’s not that big, it’s fine,” Chan Yeol insisted.   “Are you kidding? I feel like I’m sitting on a rock. I can feel it from here,” Sohee uttered since she was seated in front of Chan Yeol and had to be stuck with the luggage underneath her. The comment earned her a small chuckle from Jong In besides her.   “Does it really bother you?” Chan Yeol asked in disbelief.   “Just move it, hyung. It’s still safe in there. Don’t you feel sorry for her?” Jong In asked, cocking his head towards the girl.   “Yes, feel sorry for me, please,” Sohee whined jokingly, as Jong In laughed even more at her refreshing personality.   “Fine, but I’ll do it myself,” Chan Yeol told the stewardess as he picked up his luggage.   Yerin couldn’t help but keep her eyes on him and his movements. It was the same luggage he was acting so defensive about before, guarding it with all his heart as if it were his precious baby. She wondered what was inside it.   “Hey, did you notice that girl in the black hoodie before?” Woo Hyun suddenly asked in a low whisper, but it did not go unnoticed by Yerin as she closely eavesdropped on the couple behind her.   “That tall girl who looked really cool but buried her face?” Hyun Mi responded as she shrugged. “I am not sure. I don’t even know most of the people here. Why? Is something weird?”   “Well, I can recognize everyone on this plane except for her,” Woo Hyun uttered as he shifted his position uncomfortably. “It’s just odd that the entire plane is filled with famous people, and there is one person who does not fit the picture. Am I just overthinking things?”   “Maybe you don’t remember her. We should just enjoy being in the presence of all the famous people,” Hyun Mi laughed, completely with zero suspicions towards the situation, and unwilling for him to get so worked up about it.   Yerin turned her head back as t
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Blu3Wind
The prequel to HIPS is completed! Check out the latest chapter to see it~

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Purple-Peng
1301 streak #1
Chapter 14: I finally finished this today! This might be my top favorite mystery story here.
I also read the blog posts about the random facts of the story and I love how much research is put into the story. I like the foreshadowing used in scenes that I never paid close attention to like how the killers did their thing without no one suspecting them.
Of course, I will be reading the prequel, "The Target".
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #2
Chapter 12: I guess I was right about who Sheep is but I didn't expect who Wolfie is. Remember how in one of my earlier comments I mentioned how I suspected one person of being a killer.
Mira and Sohee are like the examples of friends for life but when it comes to death, one wants to survive and won't hesitate to get rid of the other to make sure they live longer.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #3
Chapter 11: I started this story with Hee-Jin being a character whose storyline I'm interested in but now it's Hyun Mi who caught my interest. I nearly thought she did die in this chapter but luckily she's still alive. I like how Hee-Jin is taking her relationship with Minseok slow, it might also be because she doesn't want to get together with him after Eun Kyung died.
Mira and Hyerim found one killer, which means one of the other survivors is the 2nd one.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #4
Chapter 10: Is it bad that I hate Hyerim because of how she manipulates Seong Yeon? Also, poor Hyun Mi, she lost the love of her life.
Reading about Seong Yeon's death scene made me think of that one scene in "Halloween 2" where Michael Myers uses boiling water to kill a nurse at the hospital. I turn away from the screen when that scene pops up. I can handle reading gore but seeing it in movies. dramas or video games just disgust me.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #5
Chapter 9: Not going to lie but I like how everyone is suspecting one another to be the killer. They don't realize that they're slowly making it easier for the killer to get rid of them.
I think I, maybe, kind of got an idea who one of the killers might be. Something that happens in this chapter made me realize that the person is doing it as revenge for what the others did to them.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #6
Chapter 8: No offense to Sung Yeol, Seong Yeon, and Mira but that is no way to prove someone is a killer, it's more of falsely accusing an innocent. I like how Hyun Mi points out how she trust Woo Hyun and knows he isn't the killer.
I still wonder how can Sung Yeol tell that it's Suho based on the killer's height, some of the other guys might be a similar height. Then I suddenly have a thought that maybe the killer could be one of the girls.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #7
Chapter 7: I'm getting the idea that everyone on the plane must have or may have once committed a crime and the killer is delivering their form of justice against them. Also, something tells me that plan to fake a death might backfire and the person who pretends might die from it.
Since I watch a lot of horror/thriller films, I feel like there might be more than one killer. Like one does the killing and the other one kind of tells the killer where the victims are.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #8
Chapter 6: I feel like elevators are the most dangerous unexpected weapon to kill a person because you never know when something bad will happen when you're in one.
I also began noticing that all the characters say something that makes me suspicious of them. It's like very common of each of them to begin accusing one another because the person they suspect does something suspicious, that might end up backfiring on them especially if they're wrong about the culprit.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #9
Chapter 5: I still find it weird for people to be doing "things" in an airplane bathroom.
The part where Eun Kyung hit Hee-Jin made me nearly think Hee-Jin might be the next to die. I like how she talked back to Eun Kyung who cheated on Min Seok first but have the nerve to get angry at Hee-Jin when it's her actions that lead to Min Seok getting to know Hee-Jin.
Purple-Peng
1301 streak #10
Chapter 4: I feel like the body count is increasing since it looks like 3 people died in this chapter.
No offense to Eun Kyung but if you're trying to rekindle the love you and Min Seok had then you shouldn't be thinking of starting something with another guy.