The bond she had with them was strong...

She was there, no matter what...

Good or bad...

It’s been a week since Ari arrived back in Korea. It felt nice to be surrounded by people she knew and loved, no doubt about that. The fact that Taeyong and she had been spending more time together and going down memory lane felt really good. There were surely a lot of nice memories and moments that they shared together, not only with Taeyong but with the rest of them as well.

***

“Do you remember this beach?” Taeyong asked as the two walked down the shore.

“How can I forget?” Ari chuckled. “We used to come here often after school and eat ice cream.”

“It’s also the place where I first learned how to surf,” Taeyong grinned. “You freaked out.”

“That was scary!” She frowned. “It still is!”

“And your racing is not?” He raised an eyebrow.

“That’s not the point!” She huffed.

He chuckled. “Aren’t you the cutest?”

She rolled her eyes and walked off.

Taeyong smirked and walked after her. “Wait up!”

***

It felt nice to have him around.

It felt nice to see him smile.

It felt nice to hear his voice.

During her stay in Italy, she missed it all. Not only him but the others as well. But at the same time, her stay in Italy helped her. She was able to recover. Ari managed to let go of most of her demons and move on. Well, almost all of them. She still had problems with being touched, but it wasn’t as severe as before, so in a way, it was an improvement.

It was something she had to do alone, despite her parent's worries.

***

“Sweetie-”

“Don’t worry mom,” Ari said, cutting her mom in mid-sentence.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” She smiled. “I got this.”

Her mom sighed heavily. “Alright, but you can always count on us at any time, okay?”

“Mhm.”

***

She never wanted to worry her parents. She wanted her mom to be happy, but as a parent, she was worried for Ari. Ari was aware of that, but she always reassured them that she was fine. It was easier said than done. They were no fools.

***

“Don’t lie to me, child…” Her mother barked. “I know how you breathe. What’s going on?”

“I am just tired, that’s all. It was a long day…” Ari tried to get out of it.

“Byun Ari,” Her mom spoke again. “You can fool others but not me.”

“Mom, I am fine, really, I am. I gotta run, I have an exam tomorrow, I’ll call you later!”

Before her mom could say anything else, Ari hung up.

***

“What’s gotten you so deep in thought?” A familiar voice said.

Ari cracked a smile on her lips and turned around. Taeyong stood there with a tray of food in his hands.

“Just random thoughts, I guess,” She smiled.

Taeyong raised an eyebrow and sat down next to her. “You haven’t touched your food. Are you sure you are okay?”

“Yeah, I just trailed off. Being back here brings a lot of memories.”

He smiled and nodded his head. “Alright then. Let’s eat. There is a long day ahead of us.”

“Let’s eat,” She smiled, picking up her chopsticks.

Taeyong did the same but this time, he reached for her tray and removed the eggplants from it, giving her his meat.

“I know you don’t like eggplants,” He winked.

“You remembered, I’m amazed”

“Yah! I keep telling you that I am not old!”

Ari chuckled and the two started to eat, letting the silence fall between them.

*

Ari rolled the lollipop in , as she was leaning on her elbow, her eyes locked on the book in front of her. Lesson 18, Gear and flaps, autopilot. A lesson that she was familiar with, but had to deal with it. It was part of the schedule and it was led by Jongin. Taeyong sat behind Ari and poked her lightly with a pen, making her jolt a little bit and sit up.

“Yes?” She whispered as she turned to look at him.

“Here,” He smiled, handing her another lollipop. “You’re favorite strawberry flavor.”

She smiled and took it. “Thank you.”

“Anytime,” He winked.

Jongin eyed them and smirked. “Byun Ari!”

“Yes?” She stood up immediately.

“When are pilots obligated to turn on the autopilot?” He asked, crossing his arms across his chest.

“With most airplanes, pilots must wait until they've reached an altitude of at least 400 - 1,000 feet before turning on autopilot. That said, most pilots like to hand-fly until an altitude of around 10,000 feet. After going over 28,000 feet, it is mandatory for pilots to have autopilot engaged,” She replied right away.

“Very good, you may sit down,” Jongin said. “Kim Taeyong.”

The latter stood up. “Yes?”

“What happens when an airplane loses too much altitude?”

“It goes into a stall. We must react quickly, if not it will crash,” Taeyong replied.

“Sweet,” Jongin replied. “Now sit down and pay attention.”

Taeyong sat down and nodded his head, neither one of them saying a word until class was over.

*

Classes were finally over and it was time to go back to the staff room to get their things and head to the hangar. As Ari and Taeyong walked down the hallway discussing the classes they had, Areum approached them, with a file in her hand. A smile cracked on their faces as they saw her.

“Ma,” Taeyong smiled.

“Mom.”

“I was just looking for you kids,” Areum smiled. “I need you on a flight.”

“What kind?” Ari asked curiously.

“Local flight to Jeu, 2 hours there and 2 hours back,” Areum explained. “I was unexpected but consider it a part of your test. Baekhyun will be there.”

“Are you sure, ma? I mean we-”

“Positive,” Areum winked and showed a thumbs up. “Get ready and we’ll see you in 15 minutes.”

With those words, Areum turned around and left.

“Ready?” Taeyoung asked.

“As I’ll ever be.”

*

“Welcome abroad,” Baekhyun said the moment the two entered the cockpit. “Please, take a seat, so we can begin.

The two nodded and sat down. Baekhyun was sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, looking at some papers in front of him. Taeyong sat in the engineer’s seat and buckled up. Ari did the same and looked at the board in front of her.

“You know what to do,” Baekhyun spoke, not taking his eyes off the papers.

Ari nodded and put on the headset, checking the parameters as she started activating the switches one by one.     Taeyong in the back checked his parts, confirming with Ari at the same time. Baekhyun observed but didn’t say a word. He let them be.

Ari reached for the radio switch and turned it on. “Korea Air 002, request to taxi.”

“Korea Air 002,” The person replied. “Taxi onto runway 3c, to your right. Wait for further instructions.” 

Ari did exactly that, taxing onto the given runway, carefully looking around, and making sure that her place was on the clear. From time to time, Baekhyun wrote something down and then looked at the board in front of him, nodding his head occasionally. Ari knew him well. Baekhyun was serious about his job. If he has something to say he will, if not, it means you are doing a good job.

“Korea Air 002, we have you on radar,”  The controller went on. “You are clear to take off.”

“This is Korea Air 002, copy that!” She spoke before turning to the passenger. “Dear passengers this is your captain speaking. We are about to take off and we wish you an enjoyable flight."

Ari pushed the throttle and the plane started to move again. Gradually the speed started to increase.

“Flaps?” She asked.

“Flaps,” Baekhyun confirmed.

The plane’s nose started to lift and soon it was in the air.

“Gear up?” She asked, switching on another switch.

“Gear up.”

“Altitude and weather?” She looked briefly at Taeyong.

“Climbing to 20 000 feet,” He spoke. “Clear sky.”

She nodded and kept her eyes on the coordinates. Once at 28 000 feet, she turned the autopilot on and leaned into the chair. Baekhyun smiled and showed thumbs up.

“Amazing job,” He grinned. “Both of you.”

They smiled and high-fived.
 

Class with Chanyeol was always fun, it's like learning new stuff she d