You couldn’t breathe.

You couldn’t move.

You could only panic as you looked at the silver cables that you were supposed to trust to hold your weight as you stepped off the wooden platform and swung through the empty air up through the yoyo part of the final section of the zip line tour.

Your heartbeat doubled and then tripled as you saw, in your mind’s eyes, yourself walking off the platform. In your mind, you went too quickly and whooshed along the cables at high speed to literally smash into the pole on the other side.

It was midday and the sun was beating down yet you were cold, so cold, as the fear that you had managed to suppress for the past five sections returned fully blown. Your pulse roared in your ears and blocked out all external sound. Beads of sweat popped up along your forehead and upper lip. Your legs felt weak. Your palms began to sweat and then, dear God, you couldn’t breathe.

You were trying to but the oxygen you took in seemed to get lost on its way to your lungs. No matter how hard you tried you couldn’t get enough oxygen. Dark wings fluttered at the edges of your vision and you began to shake.

You tightened your grip on the wooden railing in a desperate effort to keep yourself upright. You were holding on so tightly that your knuckles were white and your nails hurt where they dug into the wood. You took a step back from the edge of the platform, flatting yourself against the inside wall of it. Your pulse jumped against the skin of your wrist and neck.

The pretty blonde attendant lady was suddenly there undoing the fastening of your harness. was moving so you guessed she was speaking to you. Her hands ghosted about your body as if she wanted to help but didn’t know how. Distress showed plainly on her face and you wondered in a snarky manner what she had to be distressed about. You were the one trying not to pass out.

You blinked and she was gone. Standing near you was Seunghyun, concern in his beautiful eyes and the wind blowing strands of his long hair into his face. His eyebrows were knitted together and his mouth moved harshly in what was probably a curse. Then he seemed to blow out a breath and his face softened and he reached for you, pulling you against him and wrapping his arms around you.

He rocked you, a gentle motion that soothed you and let you calm down enough so that your vision stopped swimming and your heartbeat slowed down. When you could hear over the rush of blood in your ears you realized that he was whispering into your ear and his words brought on a rush of emotion. He was singing “Oh Mom” to you and you felt tears start as he entered the chorus. You had stopped shaking and now you hugged him back, slipping your hands around his waist and pressing them flat against his back, so close to him that you heard his heart beating beneath the ear that lay on his chest.

Your eyes closed for a moment, exhaustion from the panic attack that was just now fading away grabbing a hold of you. The weakness you felt now was not from fear and you sagged against Seunghyun, sure that he would do whatever it was had to be done now.

When your lashes parted again you were still on the platform but further removed from the edge of it back to where the seats were. Your head was resting in Seunghyun’s lap and he was your hair. The zip line attendant was standing off to the side. You shifted your head and Seunghyun’s hand stilled then moved out of the way as you sat up. You could see tiny dots of color moving around on the ground below where you were meant to wait for the attendants after having done the final line. You squinted and recognized the dots as the other people who had been in your group.

You slid your feet from the bench to the ground and stood, stretching as you looked around. The view from up here was freaking gorgeous. Seunghyun had stood with you was lacing your fingers together even as you thought that. He leaned in and kissed you on the lips, catching you by surprise. You hadn’t expected him to do that in front of the attendant. You deepened the kiss and smirked when he pulled back with the beginnings of a blush staining his cheeks.

The blonde woman cleared and your attention was drawn to her. She looked at the two of you and then at the cables. Somehow, you knew what she about to say before the words was left her lips.

“That’s the only way down unless you want to wait an hour or more for the firefighters to come and get you,” she said apologetically.

“,” you and Seunghyun spoke simultaneously and you shut your eyes against the image of your body hitting the pole on the opposite side. Seunghyun squeezed your hand to show support and kissed the side of your head.

“Is there any way we can go together?” You heard him ask.

“I’m afraid not,” the attendant replied.

“Jagi, I’ll wait with you. We’ll be fine,” your boyfriend’s deep voice rumbled.

“Ani, we’re not staying up here. I’m going to do this. I can do this. I’m stronger than my fears,” you said, sounding far more confident that you felt.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. I can do this.”

“If that’s what you want to do…” he trailed off, casting a dubious glance between you and the cables.

“I think I should go first,” You said, fighting to keep your voice steady as the panic began all over again.

“Really?” Both Seunghyun and the attendant seemed amazed and if you hadn’t been scared out of your mind you would have been deeply offended at their lack of faith.

“Yes! Now let’s do it quickly!” You ordered, stepped forward and beginning to attach your harness to the cables with fingers that shook. The attendant stepped in and finished doing it for you, running through the ten second safety check and walking you out to the little gate the opened inwards from the edge of the platform. You stepped to the very tip of the wooden structure and froze.

“Seunghyun!”

“Yeobo?” He came quickly, peering at you curiously.

“Push me,” You commanded.

“What?” His brows knitted in confusion.

“I need you to kiss me and then push me off this godforsaken thing.” You explained as your breath sped up.

He captured your lips with his and kissed you until you were filled with a heat that had nothing to do with the sun and your skin tingled. Then, in an instant, you felt him leave you and a hand touch your back. With a shove that you felt even as you fell through the air for those few seconds before you reached the end of the rope, you were off the platform. You squeezed your eyes shut and screamed as you whooshed along the line. You zipped way past the middle and came to within ten feet of the pole on the other side, then swung back to the middle and once again zipped towards the pole on the other side, stopping further away from it this time. When you swung back to the middle, you stilled and hung there for the space of several heartbeats until you felt the cool metal of the moveable ladder touch the skin of the side of your knees.

You were able to swing your feet over the railing of the ladder and onto one of the rungs midway between it with some help from the male attendant who detached your harness from the cables and led you down to blessed land. You all but collapsed onto the bench the other members of your group were sitting on; gaze trained upwards waiting for Seunghyun’s descent. After the ladder was wheeled back out of the way and the okay shouted up, there was moment of expectation followed by a loud “Oh, !”

Seunghyun whooshed down just like you had done, almost a straight line as he tried to obey the instructions you’d all been given at the beginning of the tour about keeping your body straight to maximize your swing. He swung back and forth a couple of times and came to a stop. The ladder went out to meet him and then he was down, walking towards you.

You shot to your feet and ran to him, undoing his harness and yours with deft fingers. When they hit the ground with a clank you jumped on him, wrapping your legs around his waist and crossing your feet at the ankles, just above the curve of his . “Thank you,” you whispered against his neck.

“Jagi,” he breathed the word, kissing your neck before he continued, “you have nothing to thank me for. You were the one who faced one of your worst fears today. I’m so proud of you, baby.”

You had no words left. You contented yourself with slipping your hands through his lovely hair and thrilling to the feel of his arms around you.