--

“How is it like up there?”

In between the static noises, he can hear a muffled but familiar voice saying loudly: “it’s rocking awesome up here!”

---

When the Korea Aerospace Research Institute announced that they will be signing the International Space Station Intergovernmental Agreement and thus sending a team of Korean researchers and potential astronauts for an immersion program at the NASA Mission Control Centre at Houston, the Flight Dynamics Officer Song Minho’s heart bursts from joy. That very day, he gathered his childhood friends Jihoon and Hyuntae and treated them a luxurious Korean BBQ set in exchange for their patience and ears in listening to his ugly sobs and giddying exclamations about the newly made partnership.

For someone whose life has been devoted for space expeditions, he spared no time to waste. In the speed of a lightning, he approached his directors, pulled out all-nighters, tidied up his resume and whatnots so that he could be among that team of three KARI will send to Houston. He has always been a er for space: when most adolescents’ room is full with movie posters or pin up girls or their favorite band, Mino’s was full of nebulae and supernovae; when people collect anime figurines, he made his own model of the Curiosity rover; when people’s dream of being an astronaut stopped when they reach middle school, Mino started his day praying that soon, he will be part of the crew that directly oversee a rocket launch.

That day came to life when he, along with a biotechnologist and a data engineer, were chosen as the lucky three.

“Mom, have you made sure that’s all the newspaper and tabloids?”

“Your sister and I have spent five hours in numerous bookstores and magazine stands, cutting articles and pasting them on this wall – I assure you we’ve got it all covered,” his mother said with a long sigh.

Mino glanced at the board his mother hung on her home and gave a cheeky smile. As unbelievably narcissistic as it sounds, he actually convinced his mother to collect clippings of any magazine or newspaper articles about the Three Young Koreans that will soon be among the world’s frontrunners in space exploration. He went on to hug her tight and together with his sister and parents, enjoyed a hearty family dinner in a nearby usual.

---

No matter how alluring and comforting a new place is, or how pathetically lacking one’s origin is, they will always find solace in a familiar setting – especially when that particular setting is thick with the sound of metal utensils clanking and the sizzle of juicy, tender meat.

“Next week, we will not just be the Three Young Koreans. And honestly, I’ve had enough of the they are just lucky or political pawn bull. We’ve come a long way from Daejeon and here we are at the pinnacle of our career!”

“Pinnacle of our life – if I may revise. Thanks for holding by. Jjan!”

Clinks of three glasses and they gulped their soju clean.

“Ahh. You must be very nervous, hyung,” Mino asked.

“I assume it’s a rhetorical question, you dork. The past three years I’ve been counting down days to launch date but now that we’re less than a week away, nervousness kicks in and excitement shies away,” the older guy responded as he pour the Jinro soju to his empty glass.

“But oppa, you’ll be the second South Korean in space. Just how awesome is that! The chances are, mind the pun, astronomical!”

“Just so you know Haneul, I’m so not going to miss your lousy pun in space,” and with that, Lee Seunghoon, biotechnologist and astronaut, gulped his second glass of soju empty.

“Just so you know oppa, I can sabotage you quite easily with a line of code,” said Kim Haneul, who gained public recognition by pointing out the grave security fallacy in KARI’s IT system during her university years (albeit her intelligence, the gods didn’t bestow her with creative writing skills as her codename during her white-hacking day was sky9urL_rock5), landing her a job in KARI.

The night went on with all sorts of topic – twenty-something identity crisis, choice of career, Higgs boson, best Korean food in Houston, and how to poop in space (they utilize fan-driven suction system before exposing the waste to a vacuum tube). Haneul excused herself earlier as her boyfriend came to pick her up and the two men are left with plates of meat still uncooked and a long list of desserts all for themselves. They didn’t complain – especially Seunghoon, who will feast on mostly freeze-dried foods for six months to come.

---

“How is it like up there?”

In between the static noises, he can hear a muffled but familiar voice saying loudly: “it’s rocking awesome up here!”

All eyes were set on the Soyuz spacecraft as it brings inside them three people from different nationalities, age, beliefs, and characteristics in a mission for science. The beauty of science is that it transcends beyond any manmade boundaries. It doesn’t recognize your political preference, your skin color, which class you were born into and which God you pray to. They do not discriminate. Science is an endless work of understanding the world: the tiny little cells on the tip of your finger and the distant spiral galaxy some billions of light years away. A triumph of science is a triumph of mankind.

Thus, when the spacecraft aligned and docked perfectly with the International Space Station, mankind had a small win. Not only the whole mission control that cheered and exclaimed in happiness and pride – there were also some little children who whispered to their parents their newly found dream to become an astronaut and the sigh of relieve and immense sense of pride from the crew’s family and loved ones.

After a round of control calls and briefs, the astronauts were excused to take a break and familiarize themselves with the space station. Mino, on the other hand, being 400 km down the atmosphere, was teary eyed. His maneuver plan he meticulously prepared for the rendezvous was perfectly executed. Flashing on his eyes was his presentation during elementary school on how he wanted to work in a space agency. If he could magically show up to that classroom in Yongin he wanted to hug that little boy and say to him “you made it”.

The earth made a full rotation and Mino was still at awe for what happened the day before. He didn’t sleep a lot, nor did he attend the celebratory drinks held in a nearby bar. Instead, he sat still in his desk in the mission control room, gazing lovingly to the screen that shows real-time image of parts of the earth from space and on the other side, a minuscule fragment of the pitch black outer space. The borderless space is humbling. He sat there for more than an hour or so, until a new line of chat popped in his personal screen:

Don't forget to blink.

He looked to his surroundings and saw that most of the people in the room were either fixated on their own screen or sleeping hence they couldn’t be possibly teasing him. Then he saw [ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] and let out a small gasp followed by a cheeky, excited smile.

[HOU.Song;Minho] YOU’RE TALKING FROM SPACE just how cool is that!!!!

[HOU.Song;Minho] How can you even know what I was doing

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Obviously it’s way past your schedule to be online but here you are.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] And truthfully Mino, you’re the biggest space geek in the entire South Korea.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] You’re so obvious, meh

[HOU.Song;Minho] How was the first toilet experience, I know everyone needs to go to the toilet firstly due to the gravitational change

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] You don’t need the details.

[HOU.Song;Minho] Did you cry when you arrive?

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Obviously.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] You should be here.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] It’s surreal.

---

The morning call and briefing went for over two hours, with detailed planning of the activities the crew will carry out that day. The first day is usually the most challenging – with the astronauts familiarizing themselves with their new home slash office, and adjusting with life on space with multiple sunrises and sunsets in a day.

On earth, Mino and Haneul were sharing a bowl of chips for an afternoon snack.

“My sister sent me this. Seunghoon’s face was literally on the cover of every major newspaper! Chosun Ilbo, Dong-a Ilbo, The Korea Times – you name it. And they chose a dashing picture of him too. Here, complete with his spacesuit. Don’t you think it’s dashing? If only I don’t have a boyfriend I would totally hit on him.”

“Can you just not.”

“Seriously though why is that guy not dating anyone? It has been three years since we lived here but I don’t recall him dating anyone.”

“Well in parties he tends to be a bit uncontrollable. Remember that time when he kissed like, I don’t know, three girls and a guy in one standing-”

“Well of course I do! And him pretending not to remember anything the next day. Oh wow I miss him and his bastardly acts already.”

Mino didn’t confirm nor did he deny her last sentence.

---

[HOU.Song;Minho] How was your first breakfast on space?

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] We had a dehydrated muesli and freeze-dried apricot and berries, so yeah, it’s cool.

[HOU.Song;Minho] Yum.

[HOU.Song;Minho] How did waking up feel like?

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] It gives you a floating feeling.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Pun intended.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Don’t tell Haneul.

[HOU.Kim;Haneul] You can’t have a pun party without me!

[HOU.Kim;Haneul] HELLO OPPA GREAT JOB I LOVE YOU SOUTH KOREA IS PROUD OF YOU YOUR HANDSOME FACE IS ALL OVER KOREA’S NEWSPAPER FRONTPAGE I’M SO PROUD

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Save the article clippings for me!!!

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Have you guys solved poverty and world hunger while I’m in space?

[HOU.Song;Minho] Not quite but Ben & Jerry’s launched red licorice topped cherry cheesecake so that’s the important news of the day.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] I was just away for one day and why is the world getting out of hand.

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Keep me updated with interesting earth news, will you?

[HOU.Kim;Haneul] Ok oppa I will update you with my pun of the day everyday

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon] Shut up skygurl.

---

[HOU.Song;Minho] Earth news of the day #13:

Beyoncé released a new album. She’s still killing it.

---

People assume that the reason Song Minho stays in the office longer these days is due to his diligence in studying and evaluating the trajectory for the next flight for supplies coming twenty days from now. Others who know him better assume it’s his infatuation with space so that he stays around to watch the live camera just to get a glimpse of earth from space.

No one knows him best, apparently. Yes, it was initially his infatuation with space. Yet after days of chats and the new video call feature, it turned into his infatuation with the Man in Space.

“So how are your microbes doing?”

“It is not evident yet but based on preliminary data, I think the hypothesis is correct – they react differently in a zero-gravity environment. Their movements are more sporadic. Still two weeks to go to be sure, though.”

“How about the fitness test? Any learnings on that?”

“Except the fact that my bone density and muscle mass is slowly eroding and no scrumptious post-workout street food, nothing fancy. Anyhow, enough about me. How about you? How is the flight trajectory going?”

“Everything’s good so far, we are still simulating the many options now.”

“Ah I see.”

“Yeah. Do you miss earth? It has been six weeks.”

“Yes, I guess? Even with the superb view from up here you will still miss the comfort and familiarity earth has to offer. It has been the only home for billions of people rich and poor, genius and challenged anyways. We are hardwired to live on earth. But I want to stay longer up here! If only teleportation is possible.”

“I envy you so much!”

“Then come up here. Ship yourself inside the next supply flight. I’d be gladly welcome you with open arms. We can watch the aurora borealis from up here together; it really is the nicest view so far. Would be nice if I have someone to share it with.”

Mino was not sure whether it’s the chicken pesto panini from his dinner that’s already bad or it’s just Seunghoon might actually be implicitly flirting with him but surely he feels something’s odd in his stomach. Maybe it’s the butterflies in his stomach (which sadly is now dead because you know, gastric acid), but he doesn’t care, really.

---

[HOU.Song;Minho] Earth news of the day #43:

There is a new exhibition down at Museum of Fine Arts, Houston!!! I know you don’t care so much but I REALLY WANT TO GO. 

---

“Are you ready for tomorrow, oppa?” Haneul asked to Mino inside their three-partied video call. Having lived inside the housing together for three years, along with it facing dirty comments and surviving from racial and prejudiced jokes, where commonly other astronauts would have call their spouses during their spare time, Seunghoon finds that calling Haneul and Mino is the closest thing to home.

“The simulations have been redone a hundred times and the calculations reevaluated a thousand times – theoretically it should be fine, so I’m hoping for the best! Ready for more earth foods, huh?”

“Yeah and waste disposal! I still find it hilarious that a space shuttle is needed to dispose poop.”

“I still find it hilarious how the only Korean in space right now finds the most amusing thing about living in space is the poop experience,” one can always trust Haneul for these comments.

“Can we act more like respectable delegates of our Republic in this global mission, I swear to the gods in heaven you do not want these video calls to be recorded and broadcasted later in a documentary, and then the whole South Korea thinks that all we care about is poop.”

The conversation went on and on for almost an hour – full of unnecessary bickering, laughter and borderline inappropriate jokes you wouldn’t expect to hear in an earth-space station call.

“Okay so your busy skygurl needs to log off right now.”

“What is it again this time? Boyfriend came pick you up? You need to tell him, though, to stop picking you up before end of meetings and conversations,” Seunghoon said.

“And really, our housing is within walking distance. You don’t need him to pick you up every now and then. Or at least try to bring better foods from your dates, I’m bored of breadsticks,” Mino added fuel to the fire.

“You know what I am grateful for you guys but at the same time questioning why I even keep up with you for so long.”

“You know you love us Haneul.”

“Yeah you practically can’t live without us.”

“Yeah you actually don’t need a boyfriend Haneul, you have us.”

“Yeah it’s two for one price: all good things come in two.”

“Ooh what was that? Ooh it’s envy knocking on my door, poor guys don’t have someone to cuddle with. Ooh what was that again? Ooh it’s my phone ringing! Sorry, socially capable skygurl needs to log off for real to meet the man of her dreams. Good bye my lovely hot messes! See you tomorrow for the supply flight!”

“You know, her boyfriend wears old-fashioned glasses like those in the eighties, but it gives off an outdated feel instead of an indie, vintage feel. He has a questionable fashion sense too,” fashion-savvy Seunghoon strikes.

“Sooner or later I think she will cut ties with us,” as the two of them laughed. Teasing Haneul is one of their most favorite things to do. “Ok great! Now I’ll be off too, big day tomorrow!”

“Hey I think I’m above the American continent right now. Look up and wave your hands, I’m waving to you right now.”

“Haha I waved back, hyung. See you!”

“Hey before you leave,” he paused.

“Yes, hyung?”

“There is this song I found yesterday and I couldn’t stop listening to it. Thought I want to share it with you. I’ll send you the link later via chat. Give it a listen, okay?”

“Sure! Just send it later. Thanks and see you tomorrow!”

---

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon]: https://soundcloud.com/watertowermusic/the-moon-song-studio-version

---

It’s flight day – these days are when the control room is the busiest. You can feel the tense in the air. People walk with their boards on their right hand and their quick sandwich lunch on the left and their steps are light but rapid. Nothing else is in their mind besides their own job tasks and in their head they replay over and over again the little details of the things they need to perfectly conduct.

Flight Dynamics Officer Minho, however, is slightly absent-minded today. The flight path he so meticulously created is by now at the back of his head due to the continuous exercises and simulations for the past month. He is a bit nervous, for many of today’s path and plan came from his idea and calculation. But mostly his absentmindedness is attributed to last night’s song.

The Moon Song.

It must be his super sensitive sense when it comes to space, he thought, that makes his world topsy-turvied on the first listen. On a second listen, it didn’t get any better. On a third listen, it still did not make any sense. Only after a couple of hundred listens he decided that for the sake of today’s flight he’ll keep the questions he has left hanging for a while.

The cargo is ready, and so is the module that goes by the name Dragon. The control room is ready, and so is the ISS crew receiving the module in the other end. This unmanned spaceflight has been countlessly done to transport vital supplies so it should be an easy task.

T-10 minutes and everyone is alert in their own position.

Mino was checking on the modules condition when a message popped out:

[ISS.Lee;Seunghoon]: good luck!

Mino’s heart was about to burst out of queasiness and this message came in the most unfortunate of timing. He decided to leave the message hanging as the key phase of the launch is coming and he couldn’t afford any distraction.

T-10 seconds and everyone’s attention is focused on the spacecraft.

It’s time and the Dragon spacecraft beautifully jerked upwards and flies extravagantly, leaving a trail of dense white smoke. For some people responsible for the launch, it was time for a long sigh of relieve. For Mino, however, it’s still just the start of the strenuous hours for he and his team had to ensure the spacecraft follows several burns and path at the right time, velocity and angle as to secure alignment with the ISS.

The task is simple: aligning the spacecraft with the ISS. The detailed, nitty gritty part of it is incredibly complicated, where the spacecraft had to conduct several burns to get to the same orbit with the ISS and at the right velocity to minimize the risk of collision.

Several minutes passed and the first rocket boosters are detached from the spacecraft to release unused weight. By this time the spacecraft is well above the earth and earthling onlookers can only see the bright light getting smaller and smaller.

Several hours passed and the other boosters and ers are detached, leaving only the cylindrical module behind. Hours left to the end of the nerve-wrecking flight. The ISS crew, including Seunghoon, is in full contact with the ground crew.

“And that’s the fourth burn! Great job so far, everyone. Keep it up,” said Director Amy Roberts, the Flight Director.

“Great job, ground crew. We are closely monitoring it. So far the trajectory and position of Dragon and ISS is well within range prescribed in the plan. Ready for fifth burn,” on the other end, Astronaut Tim Bennett responded promptly.

“The fifth burn will launch Dragon into the same orbit with ISS. Commencing sequence in 3…2…1…” and as the countdown goes to zero, the computer-programmed Dragon spacecraft successfully launched itself to the same orbit as ISS.

“We can confirm that the Dragon spacecraft is now in the same orbit with the ISS. Thank you, ground crew,” said Seunghoon. Mino couldn’t lie that on top of the successful maneuver of the spacecraft, hearing Seunghoon’s voice makes him feel more accomplished.

Unable to contain his excitement, as well as thinking that there is no one else he wanted to share the success thus far more than Seunghoon, Mino replied, “thank you, ISS.”

After a fifteen-minute break, the ground crew resumed to planning for the execution of the last, and arguably most vital burn: launching the spacecraft slightly in a different angle with the ISS to minimize the risk of collision between the two satellites. The trajectory is already designed and has been coded into the Dragon’s autopilot system and the crew is just doing final rounds of checks after adjusting to the conditions of the rocket launch.

When they’re done they went back online and she announced, “Ground crew is now back online and ready for the next burn. ISS crew, can you hear us?”

“We can hear you perfectly fine, ground crew. Preparing for sixth burn.”

“Preparing for sixth burn. This will be the final step before the rendezvous with the ISS. Commencing in 3…2…1…”

Contrary to everyone’s expectation, however, the sixth burn was a failure.

The spacecraft didn’t move to the necessary angle albeit the fuel has been used up according to the calculation. The small red dot in the upper right corner of every screen in the mission control room is blinking, alerting of the technical failure.

“Ground crew to ISS, ground crew to ISS. As you noticed the sixth burn didn’t go according to plan due to machinery and propulsion crash. Our team is now calculating the impact of the incident to the trajectory. Song, can you give us an update please,” there is uneasiness heard thick in Roberts' voice.

“Give me a second, Director Roberts.”

. .

“Officer Song, we are waiting.”

Please don’t, please don’t.

“Officer Song.”

“Yes, Director Roberts. There is significant increase in the risk of collision with the left wing of the ISS due to the orbital misalignment. If this happens this will create major impact for the ISS and the Dragon spacecraft. With the current velocity and angle, probability of first collision might happen in the next 70 minutes.”

Whispers, murmurs, and gasps are heard across the room.

“I ask for everyone’s attention: please remain calm, we have to think this through. Flight Dynamic Officers, any thoughts on the solution?”

“Director Roberts, if I may?” Mino’s colleague, Viktor Kurylenko, responded. “Manual maneuvering is out of the question because the spacecraft is unmanned, and the ground crew cannot control it from here. The Dragon spacecraft model, however, is equipped with a manual maneuver takeover in a panel on the exterior of the spacecraft.”

no.

“So if possible, when the spacecraft is within the closest safe distance with the ISS, an astronaut could take over the control of the spacecraft using this panel, enabling the spacecraft to be moved out of the way.”

“Officer Song, calculate the closest safe distance along with the velocity of the spacecraft on that position.”

.

“Director Roberts, it will be approximately 300 meters in a velocity of 20 centimeters/second, giving us a window of 25 minutes for the takeover.”

Silence ensued. 25 minutes to do the takeover, maneuvering, and ing the spacecraft into a safe angle is a tiny window.

“It’s a tiny chance but it’s the best plan so far. We will start preparing the spacesuit for the space walk,” Astronaut Bennett responded.

“Director Roberts,” Mino said with a trembling voice. “Although probably we all have this in mind, perhaps no one would want to bring it up. But it is my obligation to notify the possible scenarios of the plan.”

.

“Go ahead.”

“In the best possible scenario, the manual maneuver is successful and the spacecraft evades collision with the ISS and docking with the ISS can commence. I have identified three worst possible scenarios, one, the manual maneuvering is unsuccessful and the craft will collide with the ISS resulting in serious damage to the ISS. Second, the maneuver is successful as to avoid collision with the ISS, but with a misaligned angle annulling the chance of rendezvous with the ISS due to the large difference in the two orbits. Three, the misaligned angle and velocity are larger than the second scenario, making the ISS safe from collision but the spacecraft drifting away from ISS orbit and further into the outer space.”

Some people let out a long sigh, while some sunk in their seats. Some others started to pray to their own gods and some others went frantic in search for an impossibly ideal solution.

“Thus in order to prevent scenario one, two, or three from happening, we need to ensure the angle and velocity is just at the right and precise range.”

“Yes. Yes thank you Officer Song. As tough of a job as it may sound, we will continue with the plan. All crews standby for crisis. Astronaut Bennett, who will do the spacewalk and maneuvering?”

Please don’t, please don’t.

“I will.”

Oh for the love of the heavens, no.

“Astronaut Lee, with no offense, are you qualified for the job, noting your level of seniority compared to the others?”

“Director, I believe I am, I have been successful in re-docking the Soyuz spacecraft last month and conducted an exterior repair the month before, hence I believe I could do the job.”

“Bennett do you concur?”

It is a static radio sound on the other end.

“Bennett, do you concur?”

Please say no.

“I concur.”

---
The moment of truth. It is T-30 minutes, and in five minutes, Astronaut Lee Seunghoon will do his second spacewalk of his life – the only difference now is that more eyes will be focusing on him.

On earth, Mino is as distressed as ever. Not only was it his initial trajectory plan that failed (although it is attributable to engine failure), he had to make the calculation for the contingency plan, and if that’s not the worst part, it had to be Lee Seunghoon who is going to do all the work. Haneul came to him with a worried look on her face, hugged him for what feels like an eternity before returning to her desk. At that moment he wished he could close his eyes and have everything reset when he opens his eyes, with the whole brouhaha nothing more than a nightmare.

“All crew standby. Spacecraft approaching.”

“Ground crew, check.”

“ISS, check.”

“Astronaut Lee, check.”

T-27 minutes.

“Astronaut Lee stepping out of the ISS. Dragon Spacecraft in the line of sight. Waiting for spacecraft to approach closest safe distance.”

T-25 minutes.

“Astronaut Lee leaving ISS for Dragon Spacecraft,” Seunghoon’s voice is confident and assertive. To some extent, it was reassuring. If only the stake wasn’t so high.

“Good luck, Astronaut Lee,” said Bennett.

“Good luck, Lee,” said Roberts.

“Good luck, hyung,” whispered Mino.

Seunghoon, in a 136 kilograms spacesuit, freely flew into the vacuum space. Mino and the rest of the team look at the live screen nervously. Seunghoon managed to safely arrive to the spacecraft, to many people’s relief.

“I am commencing the manual takeover,” said Seunghoon with a clear and detailed report in every step of the intricate process.

Please, God, let it be a successful scenario.

T-15 minutes.

“Manual takeover process completed. Please advise on the angle and velocity required.”

“I am sending it to your console right now, Astronaut Lee,” said Kurylenko.

Again, silence. This time around, it is the most uncomfortable.

“Officer Kurylenko, received, thank you. Commencing manual maneuver in 3…2…1…”

The spacecraft moved – yet again not the right angle required and expected.

“Officer Kurylenko, Officer Song, can you check your numbers? Why didn’t the spacecraft move as much as planned?” Roberts raised her voice.

“Based on the statistics, theoretically they match, Director. It could be because the engine failure was graver than we imagined. And Director Roberts,” Kurylenko paused, “we don’t have the data for the impact of the engine failure.”

Tense.

“Director, I can calculate based on the deviation just now the impact of the engine failure,” Mino said in a rushed voice.

“Do it. Be quick. We have less than 10 minutes.”

“I’m on it.”

During what seems like the quickest minutes of his life, Mino crunched his numbers down, spreadsheet after spreadsheet and formulae after formulae. Accompanying these calculations is The Moon Song – and Mino really, really hates it, not because it is distracting, but because of its puzzling meaning and a long list of unanswered questions which can only be asked relying on the numbers he produced.

“Director Roberts,” Seunghoon called her, now not as assertive as he was.

“Director Roberts, I think the time will not be enough.”

What?

“Astronaut Lee, I am working on it, please give me one more minute.”

“Officer Song, if the calculation is imprecise, noting the close distance between the spacecraft and the ISS, the probability of collision is huge and that is not something we can afford.”

Mino doesn’t like where this is going.

“Director Roberts, I am asking your permission to use all the remaining fuels in the spacecraft.”

“NO, you cannot! I am almost done – just give me a few more seconds!”

“Director Roberts, this is the only certain way we can evade the craft from colliding.”

“God damn it, hyung!”

Bennett and Roberts are silent.

“Here! I’m done with the calculation. I sent it to your console; you just need to put it in the spacecraft manually. For crying out loud, hyung, don’t be reckless,” Mino’s shout is slowly turning desperate.

“Astronaut Lee, you do know the consequence of doing such?” Bennett asked with a hushed voice.

“Yes, Astronaut Bennett, and I am willing to take the consequence.”

“For ’s sake,-”

“Astronaut Lee, just to be clear with you, if you use up all the fuel you do know that the angle will be uncontrolled and there is very minimum chance of rendezvous with the ISS?” Roberts asked.

“Yes, Director.”

Bennett and Roberts are silent, unable to make a decision. If they were to follow logical decision making, Seunghoon’s proposal is the most logical solution – yet how could you authorize someone to do such thing and still be able to sleep at night and face everyone the day after?

“Director Roberts with all due respect, we are four minutes away to probable impact, I need your authorization now.”

Nothing.

“Director Roberts.”

“Don’t do it, hyung.”

Still nothing.

“Director Roberts, as part of my obligation to conduct logical decision making, as well as taking safety and risk mitigation as priority into my actions, herewith I am making the decision to use all remaining fuels and launch the spacecraft into safe angle.”

“Astronaut Lee,-” Roberts finally said something.

“Director Roberts, I am doing what is best for the institution and the program – the ISS holds researches to many of science’s unanswered questions. It has to continue. Thank you for allowing me to join.”

“Lee, can we think this through,” Bennett opened his mouth albeit as fruitless.

“Astronaut Bennett, I am sure you would do the same if you were in my position. Thank you for the lessons and guidance during my short tenure in ISS. Don’t forget to pull the suction hard – the left wing toilet is faulty on that regards.”

“Seunghoon-oppa, please, you know I need you around.”

“Hyung, don’t do-”

“Good bye mission control. Thanks for trying.”

And with that, the craft launches with full velocity in an angle away from the ISS, drifting into the pitch, black space – and along with it, a man in space looking tenderly into the blue marble he has always called, and will always call, home.

---

--

-



[HOU.Song;Minho] Earth news of the day #63:

I miss you.

---