The watch lit up brighter than before, meaning that it is near. Youngjae's watch lit up with a series of letters and a new number.

An expected yet unexpected place.

1,000 km.

"Damn, Youngjae." That's all the two boys can say.

"My soul mate is drawing near," he said. "And I'm nervous and excited as hell."

"Is it because you don't have any condoms?" 

"YUGYEOM YOU BISH."

***

After eating his lunch (which took longer than expected since airplane food is surprisingly delicious), Mark burped and chuckled softly. The stewardess, Dahyun, took Mark's plate and smiled. "Do you want some dessert, Sir Mark?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Just call me Mark, and yes, I would like to have some."

She quickly went to god-knows-where and came back almost immediately with a plate of banana crepe and glazed chocolate on top. "Here, its the last one."

"Thanks, Dahyun."

"You're welcome, Mark."

"By the way, are you straight?"

He didn't know how to answer that question so he furrowed his eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

She laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I was just curious. You're not homophobic, aren't you?"

"No? Not exactly? Why are you asking?"

"Curiousity, I guess. You seem to attract men and women so why not ask? You know a middle-aged woman from the middle row asked me if you were single. And a businessman also asked me if you wanted to negotiate about "business"." She smiled goofingly.

Mark laughed. "Really? Well tell them that I'm going to be taken soon. And about your question, yes, I am straight."

Her eyes widened. "What? Well what if--"

"I don't know. But whatever and whoever it is, I would truly accept and grow to love that person because that person is destined for me and the universe never fails when it comes to that."

Then, some people from the middle row clapped. The two turned where was that coming from.

It was the businessman and the middle-aged woman, clapping and smirking,

"Well spoken like a true Miss Universe," the middle-aged woman said. "I remember when I was in your age."

"Eomonni, please stop connecting yourself in this. I adore people like you who stay to his word. And your soulmate must be really lucky." The businessman smirked.

Mark suddenly spoke Korean. "Thank you."

The three people's eyes widened and said in chorus, in Korean, of course. "What? You actually speak Korean?"

He blushed. "Well yes, I studied in Korea several years ago."

"That makes sense."

Mark smiled and glanced at his watch, with a new set of letters and numbers.

An expected yet unexpected place.

987 km.

He smiled fervently. And at the same time, an alarm on top of him flashed red and was triggered. It was the same at the other passenger's seats. 

"Wait, what is happening?" He heard Dahyun said. The alarms started alarming and continuous flashing of red on top of him.

The people started growing into panic. Mark turned to Dahyun, who was just standing there. "What is happening, Dahyun?"

Before she could answer, the plane rocked a little harder. Fear was growing among them. She held on to Mark's seat and said, "I don't know! Just buckle up your seatbelt and hold on."

"What? What about you?" He asked as he buckled up immediately. The plane then rocked continuously. 

"I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself." Dahyun stormed to god-knows-where.

People started shouting and panicking as the plane rocked harder. Mark held on to himself and his seat as he was all buckled up.

Then the person spoke through the intercom. "Attention Passengers! This is your co-pilot speaking. The pilot is unavailable at the moment and we are having some difficulties in controlling this plane. And kindly sit back and buckle up. And get ready if something happens, I am so sorry for the inconvenience."

The people were somehow in a mid-life crisis. Instead of buckling up and staying calm, they stood up and ran in panic. Mark just stayed still because he knew it was for the best to calm down.

The plane's rocking turned unbearable. Some people rolled off because of the rocking, some opened the emergency hatch and jumped off. 

The co-pilot spoke through the intercom again. "Attention Passengers, our engine failed eventually. Brace yourselves. We are very sorry."

"WHAT." Mark's eyes widened. "DON'T TELL ME WE'RE GONNA DIE." 

Am I going to die?

Don't tell me that this plane is going to crash.

Don't tell me that we're all going to die.

Don't tell me that I'm going to die.

I still have someone waiting for me. 

I want to see my soulmate. 

I've waited my life for this, please.

"Mark!" It was Dahyun's voice 

"Dahyun!" He turned to her. "Are we going to die?"

"We're in the middle of East Sea. There's a high chance that we won't make it. I'm sorry." She gave him an apologic look.

"What? So what are we gonna do?" His face was full of fear and panic. 

"There isn't much time. This plane will crash in the middle of East Sea. And there's nothing we can do but pray." She answered with the same emotions.

"But. But.. what about meeting your soulmate? What if we die? We'll never see them. We'll never get the chance to hug them and love them. I don't want to die, Dahyun."

The plane's engine started giving up on them and the screams of the people started getting louder.

She was panting. "No matter what happens, no matter what situation we are in, you will always and truly find the desire of your heart. Not now, not at this point, but soon. Don't ever let this situation let you down because you will meet your soulmate no matter what happens. Brace yourself, Mark. Even if you die, your soulmate will always love you."

Mark sighed for the last time and glanced at his watch, maybe for the last time.

767 km

"I think it would be nice to have you in my life. Just imagine you and me meeting and being together eternally. I can't wait."

Mark stared at Dahyun, who was smiling warmly.

"That's the last clue, Mark," she said. "It was given to you early since you don't know if its your last moments here on earth."

"W-who said this?"

"Your soulmate, of course. It was from the mouth of your own soulmate."

Before Mark could react, the engine failed them fully and the plane fell as fast, floating them by gravity. Mark couldn't cope up what was happening at that moment.

This is a life-or-death situation and Mark has to face this. But he still cannot get off the words that his soul mate said to him, he was happy. He may plunge into the deep East Sea, he may drown, he may freeze, he may die. But his last clue assured him that everything is alright. 

He may live or die. But dying means that he'll never be able to say to his family that he loves them, he'll never be able to say to Dahyun a simple thank you, and he'll never be able to tell his soulmate what he truly feels. In fact, he always loved his soulmate even though he hasn't seen in person. He always did, much more if they'll meet.

The next thing he knew, his body crashed into a hard surface that hurt his back and plunged deep into the sea, leaving him unconsious.

***

Bambam finished washing his dishes and was about to go to the bedroom until he saw Yugyeom on the couch, his eyes glued on the TV screen, and it was news. Which was unusual since Yugyeom doesn't watch news.

"Since when were you so interested in watching news?" he said intriguing.

"Shut up! I can't hear the reporter! Geez."

"Why are you even watching that?" he asked as he moved closer and saw a female reporter speaking. And she's live at the airport.

"Plane 198 from Los Angeles just had a turbulence in the middle of the East Sea. It was said to have crash landed and the main reason why is because of the engine failure of the said plane, according to sources. The state of the passengers of the plane are still unknown. But it is certain that many lives were taken. We are still looking for more details about this said incident."

"And so what if a plane from Los Angeles crashed?" Bambam said carelessly. Yugyeom glared at him.

"Are you plain dumb or just acting dumb?"

"What?"

"Kindly call Youngjae and tell him to get his over here, now."

"You can't tell me what to do! I'm older than you!" 

He shrugged. "Alright. Be thankful that I'm your soulmate and you're older." He stood up and went to his room, where Youngjae was sleeping peacefully.

Yugyeom clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. "Bambam! Give me a bucket of cold water again!"

***

"So what if a plane from Los Angeles crashed?" Youngjae said mindlessly, yawning.

Yugyeom swears that he'll slap the both of them and at the same time maybe not because he's the only one who has a brain at the moment.

"Your watch." Without hesitation, he pulled Youngjae's wrist to him and stared at his watch. But he then looked up in a disappointed face. "Your clues still hasn't changed."

"Duh, it's because the last clue will be revealed when the soulmate is near you." Bambam added.

"Do you even know where does your soulmate come from?"

Youngjae shook his head. "There aren't clues related to that."

Yugyeom pulled out his phone and searched something on Google. His eyes turned into saucers. "HOLY ."

"What?" the two said in chorus.

"Before, your distance was 9606 kilometers right?" The youngest asked, still dumbfounded. Youngjae nodded.

Yugyeom showed his phone screen to the two and oh well,

Distance between Los Angeles and Seoul is 9,606 kilometers.

Bambam was the first one to speak since the two were absolutely speechless. "Youngjae, your soulmate is from freaking L.A. And the number of distances decreased largely these days, and this time, it stopped. So that means--"

"So that means my soulmate is in that plane! And the plane crashed! And I don't know whether the person is alive or not!" 

"Calm down, Youngjae. Maybe your soulmate is fine..??" Yugyeom said, unsure. Because how could a person survive from a plane crash and plunge into the East Sea?

Youngjae was sad and scared. What could have possibly happened to his soul mate? Even though he hasn't met his fated one, he is still scared. Many possible happenings crossed his mind.

The thought of his soulmate dying.

The thought of not meeting his soulmate.

The thought of not having a simple glimpse.

The thought of his soulmate dying and leaving him alone.

The thought of his soulmate not making it.

The thought of being alone and scared without his soulmate.

The last one totally triggered Youngjae's insides.

It may sound weird or ridiculous, but Youngjae wanted to sail a boat and go to the middle of East Sea and plunge in to save his fated one. If he can, but he cannot. 

"But what if..your soulmate died?" Bambam broke the thick silence that almost embraced them.

He looked at Bambam as if he was crazy. He didn't utter a word. What are the odds of that? But still, the chances of dying was inevitable. 

"Yeah, what if. I mean, no offense. But your soul mate surely is in the middle of East Sea after a plane crash that you don't know whether anybody even survived."

Youngjae shrugged, but just to hide off the tears he's holding. "Yeah sure. My soul mate