“Good morning ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are currently cruising at an altitude of 35000 feet at 900km/h. The time is 6:05pm. Estimated time of arrival, uhh, 8:20pm local time. The weather looks good and no changes that may affect this flight. The weather in Tokyo is clear and cold with a relatively low 17 degrees for this evening. If the weather cooperates, you’ll be able to see the city lights of Tokyo as we descend for our final approach. I’ll talk to you again before we reach our destination. Until then, sit back and enjoy the rest of the flight.”

“So… another normal day in the world’s most wonderful office.” Jeongyeon remarks as she marvels upon the colors that the setting sun leaves along the clouds.

“It sure is”, Captain Park replies. “35000 feet in the air. Always feels like the first time.”

“Yeah.”

Flashback…

A 5 year-old Jeongyeon huddles in her father’s arms, “Daddy, I want to fly.”

“Hmm… don’t be scared this time though.”

“I won’t be.” 5 year old Jeongyeon replies with a smile, enough to confirm what his father is about to do.

“Here we go, 1… 2… 3…”

At the end of the countdown, Jeongyeon’s father lifts her up in his arms up in the air. In response, Jeongyeon raises her arms up in the air pretending she has wings like a plane. She giggles and smiles at her heart’s content.

Laughs were heard even outside the room. Jeongyeon’s mother decided to check what the father and daughter were laughing about. As she enters the room, she hears Mr. Yoo say, “Jeongyeon, you’re going to be a pilot like me when you grow up, okay?”

“Ok dad.” Young and innocent Jeongyeon replies instantly while flailing her arms signaling her father to put her down. And Mr. Yoo puts Jeongyeon down above his chest and embraces his arms around the kiddo.

Mrs. Yoo saw the whole event and couldn’t help herself but admire the wonderful family that she has.

“Do you mind if I join your cuddle session?” Mrs. Yoo surprises the father and daughter duo.

“Of course mommy!” Jeongyeon affirms her mother’s requests and Mrs. Yoo immediately joins the embrace locked in the king-sized bed of the master’s bedroom.

Young Jeongyeon feels content having both her parents around with her. And she never forgot her promise to her father, to become a pilot like him.

Present day…

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We will now commence our descent for our final approach. We will be dimming the lights for you to see Tokyo’s night skyline. As of the moment, the weather seems to be clear and no expected changes were announced by the ATC. We will be arriving in Haneda International Airport with the same estimated time of arrival, 8:20pm local time. Please sit down and keep your seatbelts fastened. I’ll talk to you again once we’ve successfully landed. Until then, please sit back and enjoy the view and the rest of the flight.”

“You land the plane First Officer Yoo, this is part of your assessment.” Captain Park says with his signature smile and cheery personality.

“Oh I sure would love to.” Jeongyeon replies with optimism clearly marked all over her features.

“You seem excited,” Captain Park notices Jeongyeon smiling all too frequently and along the way, it creates a warm and comfortable atmosphere in the small and cramped cockpit. “Anyone or anything you’re looking forward to meet?”

“My wife is waiting in the airport actually.” She replies excitedly and smiling all around. Confidence fills her actions but not to the point where it is immoral.

Captain Park didn’t expect this young and beautiful First Officer to have a ‘wife’. But being the mature and open-minded person that he is, he replied, “Well I’m sure she’s also excited to see you.”

“I’m sure she is.” Jeongyeon replies confidently.

“Then land this plane smoothly.” Captain Park replies supportively. “Don’t hesitate and remember everything you have learned back in base camp.”

“Will do Captain.”

As Jeongyeon prepares to enter Haneda International Airport’s traffic pattern, she adjusted her radio and disengaged autopilot. She also checked every other instrument to make sure they are functional.

“KE 2703 Heavy requesting permission to enter Tokyo Haneda International Airport Traffic Pattern.” Jeongyeon calls out Haneda Tower while she attends to lowering her airspeed.

“KE 2703 Heavy cleared for entry, downwind of RWY 16R.” Haneda Tower responds.

Jeongyeon banks and rolls her plane to the left for a 45 degree angle of entry to the downwind leg of RWY 16R. She does this maneuver smoothly earning silent praises from the Pilot in Command, Captain Park.

She successfully enters the traffic pattern and goes to enter the Base Leg. She then reported her plane’s status to the tower for accurate landing calculations to be assisted by the runway’s Instrument Landing System, ILS for short.

Jeongyeon then banks her plane to the left to enter the Finals. In this leg, she is expected to lower her airspeed and deploy her flaps to achieve a safe landing speed.

“Flaps 2, airbrakes armed, throttle at 15%”, she says while trying to line up with the runway.

Captain Park sees a lot of confidence in Jeongyeon. She never flinched and was always precise with her maneuvers. Captain Park can only watch as his First Officer guides the plane to line up with the runway.

“Flaps full, landing gears down, throttle at idle.”

“200”, a voice from the plane’s computer is heard. “100”, Jeongyeon has managed to achieve a safe rate of descent. “50… 40… 30… 20… retard. Retard.” By then, Jeongyeon has pitched up her aircraft to flare enabling her main landing gears to touch the ground first then the nose wheel follows suit.

What a smooth landing it was. “Full reverse ”, she says as she pulls the throttle to her for full reverse to help slow down the aircraft.

“A smooth landing I must say First Officer Yoo.” Captain Park remarks as he was amazed by Jeongyeon’s smooth and precise landing.

“Thank you captain”, she says while blushing.

She was extremely relieved to have made such an achievement. Her mind was about to blow up and her core was getting all excited, but she suppressed those feelings since she wanted to remain professional in the presence of her superior.

“I’ll handle the taxi, you check the instruments and gather the checklists.” Captain Park says while he prepares to take control of the vessel.

Jeongyeon gathers all checklists required for turning off the engine and safely disembark from the aircraft.

“KE 2703 Heavy, proceed to Gate 103 through taxiway 4A. Exit at 1A”, the tower commands.

“Affirmative.”

After Captain Park successfully maneuvers the plane to the gate, Jeongyeon immediately starts to attend to what the checklist requires her to do. Starting with the flaps, brakes, and throttle. She then turns on the auxiliary power unit (APU) for electric power before turning off the engines of the aircraft.

As the jet bridge successfully connects with the aircraft’s doors, Captain Park unlocks the cabin door locks and calls out, “Cabin crew you may now open the cabin doors.”

Jeongyeon felt so accomplished for her first landing, entirely done by her own without the help of her superior. Now she thought to herself, “I have a lot to tell her later.”

“What a great and successful flight it was First Officer Yoo.”

“It was Captain, I couldn’t have done the landing successfully without your mentorship.” Jeongyeon replies with utmost respect for the Pilot-In-Command.

“I believe your…” Captain Park was about to say ‘husband’ but remembers what the young pilot has told him earlier. “wife is waiting for you. We should now disembark.”

First Officer Yoo and Captain Park exits the plane and walks through the gates. Then along a hallway that leads to the immigration. The sound of wheels rolling along the shiny tiles and their gaps fills the hallway. Jeongyeon thought to herself, “I never expected my life to be this interesting.”

As the duo approaches the Immigration, they were guided to go through a counter only for aircraft personnel and crew which gives them advantage over the long winding lines that passengers have to go through just to pass the immigration.

“I’ll go ahead captain”, Jeongyeon says as she was anxious to see her wife.

“Sure, go ahead. I’ll stay here for a while”, Captain Park replies.

Jeongyeon hurriedly walked through the spacious grounds of the terminal towards the exits. She managed to keep her poise as required by the company never to show bad posture. Eyes were staring all over her. Both men and women admired her professionalism as she walks through them. She heard a lot of murmurs, which she believed to be compliments as she has heard a lot of these from her coworkers. She leaks of confidence and maturity, along with a touch of womanliness as she strides to exit the large terminal.

The doors slid open only to reveal a woman. Her elegance and her aura blinds the young pilot’s eyes. Jeongyeon honestly thinks that she sees an angel in front of her. She notices the entity to be walking towards her. Jeongyeon’s confidence immediately went down as the woman is only inches away from her and starts to lock Jeongyeon in her arms.

“Welcome back love”, the woman speaks in a relaxed and warm tone. This sends tingling sparks to Jeongyeon’s spine. She shivers but unknowingly reciprocated the hug by impulse.

“Were you waiting for me too long?” Jeongyeon was curious since her wife usually comes to fetch her an hour early which made Jeongyeon worried if either her wife was bored or sleeping in the car without the air conditioner .

“You know me, I’m always excited to see you”, the woman says as she tightens the hug and buries her head in the crook of Jeongyeon’s neck.

“I’m also always excited to see you, Mina”, Jeongyeon replies as she kisses the crown of her wife’s head.

“Let’s go home, shall we?” Mina asks Jeongyeon. “I know you’re tired.”

“I want to have dinner first.” Jeongyeon replies and it surprises Mina because Jeongyeon usually goes home straight after her flights.

“You seem very enthusiastic tonight”, Mina wonders and slowly creates space between them while she raises an eyebrow, curious as to what her wife has to say.

“I have something to tell you”, Jeongyeon says excitedly. “But it has to wait until we have dinner.”

Mina pouts and frowns, but she knows what her wife has to say is worth the wait. “Okay…”

“I’ll drive”, Jeongyeon insisted signaling Mina to pass the keys to her.

Jeongyeon opens the door for Mina and guides her to enter the car, unscathed. She then placed her luggage in the sedan’s trunk, then she closes the trunk carefully. She enters the car and starts the engine. The sound of the car engine is muffled to the point that the couple wouldn’t know