The plane was about to take off soon.

Fiddling my coat pocket, I took out my phone and prepared to switch it off. I lit the screen up and out pops a notice:

 [You have 5 missed calls.]

My eyebrows furrowed in bewilderment. My phone wasn’t on silent mode, and I didn’t have any events prior to boarding the plane… so technically, I would have heard the calls. And there were all five of them, too. How the hell did I miss so many calls…?

It was a really odd occurrence.

I was about to click on the pop-out screen when

*Beep. Ladies and gentlemen, at this time, we request that all mobile phones, radios, pagers and remote controlled toys be turned off …*

The announcement abruptly marked the end of my investigation of the strange missed calls. It could only wait until we landed in Korea, I thought.

But this weird and unsettling feeling overcame me for quite a bit. It was an inexplicable, foreboding feeling. And suddenly, I recalled that day back in the hotel… and the mysterious twenty-six second voicemail of nothingness… and the several times on this trip where I had missed a couple of phone calls.

Was it some kind of coincidence…?

Or maybe, I thought as I looked at my phone, there was something wrong with my phone.

-

I made a mental note to check it out when I returned back to Korea.

-

*Beep. Flight attendants, prepare for take-off please.

-

I looked out at the skies above from my window seat. The skies were a magnificent azure blue mixed with puffy white clouds, almost like that of a painting.

It was beautiful.

I smiled up at the skies.

I was going to see you soon, I thought then.

-

I closed my eyes and prepared to sleep on this dreadfully long plane ride.

But then, out of nowhere came this awful ringing sound originating from my right side. It started as a low humming sound but gradually, it grew a bit louder.

I opened my eyes, irritated, and looked over to where I thought the sound was coming from.

Looking across the row, the manager hyung beside me was fast asleep, while the second manager hyung beside him was focused in reading some book, as though the piercing noise wasn’t any hindrance to his reading at all. Further down the row, there was an elderly couple talking and smiling, and another lady listening to music.

It was so weird.

Why the hell did everyone look so damn calm and composed when the ringing sound was so annoying?!

My right hand moved to cover my right ear from the sound. The sound was getting a little high-pitched.

And then a darker thought appeared in my mind.

Was there… something wrong with the plane?

This scary thought punched a hole of fear in my heart. What if there was something wrong with the plane? Was the sound coming from the engine… or was it some kind of mechanical fault…? Panic raced in my mind, and I shifted in my seat, looking out towards my right.

Jiyong.

I flinched. Snapping out of my thoughts, I looked and realized that it was the second manager hyung calling me.

Jiyong… are you okay?

He had a look of uncertainty as he talked to me.

I’ve been calling you, but you seemed to be in some kind of trance. You… okay?

I…

My voice was dry and caught in my throat.

Clearing my throat, I tried to speak again. I’m fine, I said, even though my mental stability at this point was highly questionable. …But what is that noise? I asked.

Huh?

You know, that pitchy ringing sound. I said, my head nodding off in the direction of the noise.

His eyes shifted for a bit, before the refocused and met my gaze.

-

Jiyong… there is no sound… what are you talking about?

-

I blinked.

No sound?

-

My right hand left my ear.

And I listened.

-

And there was an utterly soundless blank.

-

I looked back at him, speechless and unsure of what to say. There was really no sound.

But I was so sure that I had heard something.

That awful ringing sound felt so real and suffocating just moments before, yet it has disappeared without a single trace at this very moment.

-

Did I really hear that sound?

-

My eyes felt glassy and unfocused.

I felt so… disorientated.

-

What just happened?

What exactly just happened?

-

Jiyong, he says, with a gentle pat on my right shoulder.

-

Go to sleep. Maybe you’re too tired.

-

I nodded numbly.

-

I repeated those words in my head like a chant of comfort.  

There was no sound. Maybe I was too tired.

-

Maybe, I was too tired.

-

A/N: Sorry lovelies for the late update T_T and thank you for waiting patiently >< I just wanna thank those who newly subscribed and the old readers and supporters :) I love you guys all the same ^_^ And just like the title of this chapter, i am tired too D: haha. anyway, there's a little lack of Chaerin here and there, but I do hope you understand that this story is mainly focused on Jiyong. Thank you for reading! :))