There are happy moments...

There are sad moments...

That is life, but with friends and family, it was a lot easier...

It was the beginning of another day, she had to face them again. She woke up before her mother and father came to check on her. She fixed breakfast for herself and quickly got ready. She was soon on her bike ready to go to the pilot’s school. She needed to be alone, and her parents understood that. 

Had the party with her friends made her forget things? For a while. 

Had she told them why she hadn't answered her phone? No. 

They understood she needed space to recharge. Her brother however took the hint when he was warned he was stepping over his boundaries. Jieun understood him, he was worried for her. But she hated being taken care of. She doesn’t need someone to pick up her broken pieces. It makes her feel weak. 

***

“You know you can talk to me, right?” Ari murmured, hugging her. 

“I know. I just don’t want to talk about today.” Jieun said, snuggling. 

Nari joined in. “We are just worried.” 

“I know...but like I said...” Jieun trailed off. 

“Offer still stands,” Johnny said, “you don’t need to carry your burden on your own.

“Thanks, cousin. I appreciate it.” 

***

Once on the main highway, she sped up, zig-zagging between the cars. Her bike leisurely rode down the motorway, her thoughts ceased to exist. That’s why she liked bikes and planes. They made you forget about negative things. Machines understand you in ways nobody can understand. Parents like Areum worry for reasons, but parents like Eunji are lenient and let you know your mistakes. 

Jieun did race, but she never let people trip her from the bike. She doesn’t do it for money or personal gain. She does it for her own pleasure; to unleash her anger on tires. And that is what she had done. She had let herself go, speeding up. Suddenly two bikes approached her - Ilhoon’s and Ari’s. Whatever she did, she couldn’t escape them for anything, but she wouldn’t have it any other way. She couldn’t usher them away. They closely followed her all the way to the airport. 

Soon the building of the airport was approaching and the three of them parked their bikes in the parking lot. Jieun got up from her bike and took her helmet off. She grabbed her bag from the back seat, approached them and Ari greeted her. 

“You can’t escape from us, got it?” 

Jieun smiled and hugged her tightly. “I know.” 

Ilhoon stood quietly aside, as Ari pulled back she smirked. “For now, I am leaving you with my brother. I know he wants to be with you alone,” she teased. 

He rolled his eyes, watching her leave. Jieun blushed at her words. She won’t deny, that she liked the sound of that. She won’t forget what he had done for her yesterday. He was with her, handling her being silent and refusing to eat. She approached him and embraced him tightly. His arms came from around her. 

“I am sorry,” she murmured. 

“What for?” 

“Refusing to eat,” she murmured. 

“Don’t worry, I know you didn’t feel like eating,” he murmured, “I was just worried since you didn’t eat.”

She let out a hum. “And I thank you for being with me. I feel safe and protected around you.” 

“I’d do anything to see you smile.”

“You being here is enough to make me smile,” she looked up at him. 

His hand cupped her cheek, his thumb slowly caressing her skin. She leaned into his touch. It lasted for a long moment before he retreated his hand back and instead took her hand in his. She smiled looking at him, following him inside, to see students heading towards the wardrobe. They stopped, he was about to head towards where Johnny was waiting for him. 

“I am having a class with your dad,” he said, “will you be okay?” 

She nodded. “I will be, don’t worry.”

“See you on lunch break,” he whispered. 

She smiled softly. “I’m looking forward to it,” she murmured.

She kissed his cheek quickly before she walked off. 

*

Everybody grew silent when Chanyeol appeared. His aura was darker than usual, she could sense it has to do with what happened yesterday, Nari told her last night that Chanyeol punished those who spread the rumors. And that he wasn’t very happy with how they tried to put blame on Jieun. It was a bad move, according to what Nari said, it pissed him off further and he had personally interrogated them about matters they were supposed to know. 

Today, seeing her uncle makes her feel guilty. She wondered if was it her fault. Is she to be blamed for being overly sensitive? She wished she was like Nari or Ari. She wished she could control her emotions like her dad does, but it’s impossible. She's not a Capricorn but a Pisces. 

They are overly emotional and she is no exception. 

“Imagine a situation in the air: you and co-pilot have to fly, something happens, engines stop working, you have to act quickly,” he began, “you are enemies, would you put your differences aside and try and work together through a problem or you would die both and so your passengers?” 

Others looked among each other and one dared to reply. 

“We would put aside everything we have, and we would work together as a team." 

Chanyeol nodded. 

"There's no room for arguments," he said, "for disagreements, hatred, dislike. You are holding more than one life. Yes, Jieun is my niece. And that is not your concern about who she is, or what she is. I and each of your instructors treat everyone equally. So should you." 

Jieun felt someone's hand on her shoulder and turned to see its Taeyong. She smiled. 

"You're not alone, sis." 

"Thank you, Tae." 

Ari gently squeezed her shoulder as well. “It will be alright, JiJi.”

"Sorry for not answering you guys on texts," she whispered. 

“No worries about that,” Taeyong said. “I later found out you were with Ari and Ma Areum, so it’s fine.”

“You’ve seen my face long enough,” Ari joked. “You got tired of me, so no worries,” She winked. 

Jieun rolled her eyes. 

"How can I ever get bored of you, Gus?" She dramatically sighed.

“You mean Maverick junior?” She stuck her tongue.

Taeyong chuckled silently as he watched them, clearly amused by their behavior. It surely hadn’t changed, not one bit. Even when they were kids the two had their moments. At some point, they were hugging each other and the other they were chasing each other because one or the other said something. It was nothing new, but it was surely amusing each time.

The three finally focused back on the class and on what Chanyeol was saying. He was pacing up and down the classroom, once again, repeating the rules. Manners. Behavior that is allowed and not allowed. Sadly it was something that he shouldn't be teaching, but he was because apparently, some have forgotten them or never had them.

Was it giving him a headache? Yes.

Was it obvious? Yes.

“This is the last time that I will talk about this,” Chanyeol continued. “This is something that you should know by now. One more outburst like this, not only towards Jieun but towards others as well, the punishment will be much more severe than grounding you from flying.”

Silence set in between all of them.

“Have I made myself clear?” He asked again.

“YES!” They all said in one voice.

“Good, now let’s start with today’s lesson and see what you remembered from our previous classes.”

They all opened their books and focused.
 

Ari was in the office, filling in some reports from the flight she had earlier that morning. She wasn’t the type to leave the reports for the last minute, so instead, she did it right away and got over it. As she was finishing it up, her phone went off and she reached for it.

Johnny asked me out!

- Nari

*

O la la! Have fun!

- Ari

*

I’m nervous! :(

- Nari

*

It will be alright, brat. Relax! You got this! ;)

- Ari

*

YAH! Who are you calling a brat, you brat?!

- Nari

*

You! :P

- Ari

*

-_-

- Nari

*

I love you too! Girl, have fun! <3

- Ari

*

Thanks, RiRi! I’ll let you know! <3

- Nari

Ari chuckled and shook her head, placing her phone away and focusing back on her report. She was happy for her cousin. Nari deserved to be happy and be with a man she loves. Truly those two matched each other well. In the same way, Taeyong matched her. Speaking of which, the two had lunch plans. She looked at the clock on the wall and quickly finished her report before her time to leave came. 

*
 

Where are you? I’m on my way.

- RiRi

*

Same! I should be there in 15 minutes.

- TaeTae

*

See you there!

- RiRi

Taeyong placed his phone back into his pocket and continued walking down the road. Last night’s conversation with Eunseo made him feel better. The stress was g