Chapter 5:

It had been hours since they had jumped from the plane and the storm was passing.  The waves had died down to a gentle rock and the rain had stopped.  The sky was still covered by a blanket of cloud but Leeteuk could see the sun starting to rise on the horizon, giving them light to take in their surroundings for the first time.  There wasn’t much to take in though, just an endless expanse of water that stretched as far as the eye could see.  Sungmin and Ryeowook where finally asleep but Kangin remained awake encase they could spot anyone else of the side of the boat.

Leeteuk ran through the list of things he knew in his head, trying to lessen the worry that was eating slowly at his soul.  He had three of his 14 dongsaengs with him and they were alive and well.  The last time Kyuhyun had been seen he was in a boat and was not hurt.  They didn’t know anything about Yesung after he landed in the water and as far as they knew he was on his own.  Heechul had jumped with Hangeng and they where one of the ones with a boat so as long as they had managed to inflate it and get in they where alright.  Siwon and Kibum where the other pair that had one of the lifeboats.  Siwon was a strong swimmer and he was sure that they had managed to get in the boat but the other members situations where unknown.  They still had to find 11 people for their family to be complete again. 

Leeteuk shook his head to clear it.  The information did not make him feel any better.  He felt his eyes closing and shook he head again, now was not the time for him to be falling asleep.  He tried to focus on anything to keep himself awake and his eyes fell on Kangin.  The younger man was awake and still holding Ryeowook close.  He too was scanning the horizon, searching for any sign of the others.  Leeteuk smiled, he really did depend on Kangin, especially in times like this.  Just by having him close he felt more relaxed and more assured that they would pull through this and everything would be okay.  Kangin was squinting on into the distance and Leeteuks turned he head to see what he was looking at.  A spot of orange would be seen against the dark blue. 

Leeteuk jolted upright to start paddling the boat towards the dot of orange a few hundred meters away from them.  In his hurry to get up he woke Sungmin who fell forward into Ryeowook with a cry.  Kangin steadied the two before joining Leeteuk in paddling.  The confused members looked up and noticed what had their leader so excited and began yelling at the top of their lungs to get the boats occupant’s attention. 

As they neared the boat, yells could be heard as the other realised they had company. 

Leeteuk felt like he could cry with happiness, for in the boat was another three of his missing dongsaengs.  Heechul and Hangeng seemed to have managed to stay together and where sitting closely beside each other waving their arms and paddling their boat towards theirs.  The other member made Leeteuk panic slightly, as much as he was overjoyed to see Zhoumi practically jumping up and down in the boat, his presence there and the fact that there was three not four people in the boat meant that the youngest member of the Super Junior family had been separated and was now added to Leeteuks list of members that where alone.  Henrys smiling face was not among those in the second boat but Leeteuk tried to push away his fears and focus on the fact that they had found another three members safe. 

Awkward hugs where exchanged over the sides of the boats before Leeteuk medially asked if they had any new on the 8 still missing members at the exact same time as Heechul asked. 

“Zhoumi and Henry got separated when a wave dumped them.  They had landed in a particularly rough patch of waves.  Zhoumi said Henry resurface but he was too far away for him to get too and the currents where pulling them in two different directions.  We found Zhoumi soon after but we haven’t managed to get to anyone else.  Though Hangeng recons he saw another boat a few hours ago but that was back when the storm was really bad and we couldn’t find it again.”  Heechul said.  Leeteuk nodded, relived in the knowledge that they had sighted another boat. 

“What about you guys?” Heechul asked, just as worried as Leeteuk was.  Heechul knew who had been paired with who before he jumped and Sungmin hadn’t been with Ryeowook. 

“We found Ryeowook soon after we jumped but Yesung had already gone missing by then, they got split up when they landed in the water.  Sungmin found us after he got split from Kyuhyun.  The last he saw of Kyu he was in their boat and safe.  I haven’t heard or seen anything from Siwon, Kibum, Donghae, Eunhyuk and Shindong.”  His voice trailed off as he listed the members that where still unknown. 

Heechul lent over the side of the boats and put his arm around the leaders shoulder.  They had pushed the boats so they where side by side and they had their arms hooked in the hand grips of the other boat to stop it drifting apart. 

“I’m glad I found you guys, I can finally have someone to talk to.” Heechul said in an upbeat voice, trying to raise the mood of his fellow members. 

“Hello? What are we?” Hangeng said gesturing to himself and Zhoumi. 

“You’re great to talk to when you’re speaking Korean.  Do you know that when you two panic you revert back to Chinese?  I couldn’t understand a word you where saying for the first three hours we were in the water.” The small fight between the pair put a smile on everyone’s faces.  It somehow made everything feel more normal to Leeteuk, like they were getting back to their old selves. 

They drifted like that until the sun was high in the sky, talking and trying to keep everyone’s moods up.  Leeteuk was starting to feel a bit better now that their party was seven members strong but then Ryeowook said something that gave him a whole lot more to worry about. 

“Leeteuk-hyung, I’m thirsty.” The eternal maknae said innocently.  Now that it was mentioned Leeteuk had started to realise how thirsty he was himself.  They had no drinkable water with them and they would not last drifting around in a boat forever. 

“Okay listen up, our next step is to find land.  As much as I want to stay here in hopes of finding the other we have to get water, food and shelter.  The others are smart, they know they need to get to land and they may have already beaten us to it.  We get to land and go from their okay.”  Everyone nodded but Heechul raised his hand. 

“Which way is land?” He asked.  They didn’t have a compass on them or any way of know what part of the ocean they were in so Leeteuk made an executive decision. 

“We go that way.  Its 50-50 chance any way we go takes up to land or at least a shipping lane.  The current is already going that way so we can reserve out energy by going with it.  Heechul, Hangeng, Kangin and I will paddle while you three sit in the middle and hold the boats together and look out for land or any other sign of life, okay.”  Everyone nodded, glade they had something to focus on rather than just floating around. 

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They began pedalling, following the current that was already pulling them in the right direction.  It had been hour and the sun was starting to set but Leeteuk felt like they hadn’t moved at all. 

“Okay, time to stop.  The current will continue to move us but we need to rest.”  Leeteuk said to his dishevelled boat-mates.  They all lent back into the boat as the sky begain to darken over their heads.  The cloud had cleared and they were staring up at the rapidly appearing stars.  Sungmin and Ryeowook where amusing themselves by trying to count as many start as possible but kept getting mixed up with each other’s numbers. 

Leeteuk moved closer to Kangin and leaned into his side. 

“I don’t know what they put in these flashlights but it looks like we still have plenty of battery left.” Kangin said flickering it on and off to light up the small boat.  Leeteuk nodded into his shoulder as his eyes drooped closed.  He hadn’t slept since they got on the plain and too much had happened in between then and now.  Leeteuk felt the world around him start to fade out but just as everything was about to go black Kangin was shaking him back to reality. 

“W-What?” Leeteuk stammered in confusion and panic, his mind running through the list of things that could make their situation even worse than it was. 

“Leeteuk, wake up.  There is a light out on the water.” At this Leeteuk shot up and looked to where Heechul was pointing out his side of the boat.  There was a white light waving back and forth with a few little red flashing dots beside it.  Kangin switched their torch on waved it to let the other boat know they had seen them.  Leeteuk began switching everyone’s little red lights on to make their spot even more obvious against the black ocean. 

Voices carried across the water as the boats got nearer and neared until Leeteuk could make out the three tired faces in the newly found boat.  When the boat got close enough Zhoumi and Hangeng reached over and pulled the sides together like they had done with the other two boats.  With warn out faces and red eyes from crying and the salt water Siwon, Shindong and Eunhyuk where greated with hugs and more tears from almost every occupant of the boats. 

After the wave of relief Leeteuk quietened, noticing the unmatched pairs in the new boat with a solemn heart.  He had told himself to be ready to face more split groups but to see what members were missing made his chest hurt.  Siwon was without Kibum and Eunhyuk and shindong had obviously been crying for the loss of Donghae. 

Leeteuk was the first to speak, hoping that they had at least seen their missing partners alive before they were split.  “What happened, how – how did you get split?” He asked slowly. 

“Kibum and I jumped and we where together when we landed and got in the boat but we got hit by a rogue wave not to long after that.  When I turned to check on him he wasn’t there.  The wave pushed him out of the boat.” Siwon said quietly.  “I found Eunkyuk and Shindong clinging to each other once the storm passed and I could see well enough.  They said Donghae got lost when they landed in the water.” He added so Eunkyuk didn’t have to mouth the words himself. 

“Their smart, will find the five of them, don’t worry.” Leeteuk said trying to give them confidence as well as himself. 

“Five?” Siwon said his head snapping up.  He looked around the boat and realised that they was not the only ones that lost their partners.  Leeteuk filled him in on everyones statuses and what they knew of the five missing members and their plan to find land. 

They made sure the boats where safely secured together before relaxing and letting the current take them in the direction they wanted to go while they slept.  Leeteuk adjusted the count in his head and allowed himself a small relived smile.  This morning the count had been 3 found and 11missing but now it was 9 found and 5 missing.  This time Leeteuk allowed his eyes to drift shut as he lie in between Kangin and Heechul with Ryeowook in his lap and fell into a dreamless sleep.