The next day, Lay and Kris woke up at 4:30 AM to get ready for their flights to America. Kris would be heading to Las Vegas and Lay would be heading to Seattle. Both flights were longer than 20 hours so the men had to leave a day ahead of everyone else so they could be prepared for the mission in time. 

They quickly packed up all their belongings and left the hotel, calling a taxi to take them to the airport. 

At the airport, they ate a small breakfast in a café while waiting for their flights. When they finished eating, they sat together in silence. 

Kris’ flight to Sacramento was called first. Lay stood up with him and they nodded to each other before parting ways. As Kris headed to the terminal, Lay headed to a set of empty chairs and made himself comfortable while he continued waiting. 

Kris strolled onto the plane, casually looking for his seat- which was next to an elderly woman. She was holding a book as she stared out of the window and she turned to smile politely at him as he slid into his seat next to her. Kris pulled out his phone and put his headphones on, exhausted for some reason and too tired to care if there were any potentially dangerous guests on board. He could handle them later. 

20 minutes after Kris had boarded, Lay's flight to Seattle was called. He stood up and briskly walked to his terminal. He found his seat on the plane- thankful that it was by the window- and slipped his headphones in, keeping an eye on the exits for any suspicious looking people while thinking about their missions. 

 

Suho and DO woke up at 7 AM and made sure they had everything packed before heading down to breakfast. The couple ate in silence before going back and retrieving their luggage. After checking out, they headed to the airport and checked in. They sat together in silence as they waited for their flight to Seoul to be called. When it was called, both men stood up and walked to the terminal, smiling at the flight attendants behind the podium. On the plane, they sat together, DO next to the window and Suho by the aisle. Though they were quiet the entire morning, DO's hand wiggled its way into Suho's and Suho smiled as his fingers were squeezed softly. DO smiled back at him and they each got lost in their own thoughts as the plane finished boarding and took off. 

 

Luhan woke up at 8:45. He stared at the clock, willing the numbers to be wrong so he could go back to sleep. Groaning, he rolled over to face his boyfriend. He poked Sehun's upper lip as he whispered, "Sehun. Sehun wake up. Do we have anything to do today?"

Sehun mumbled as he changed his position, turning his head to face away from Luhan, "No. Go back to sleep."

Luhan grinned in relief before scooting closer to his boyfriend and snuggling into his back. 

 

Chanyeol woke up at 9:30 and ran into the bathroom to pee. When he got back out, he noticed Baekhyun lying a little too close to the edge of the bed. He chuckled as he walked over and rearranged his snoozing lover so he wouldn't fall off the bed and hurt himself. Chanyeol winced slightly as he felt the scars on his back pull a little. He wished he could see the scars and assess how much longer it would take for them to heal. 

Chanyeol sighed as he slipped back into the bed and cuddled into his little lover, thinking about that night. Yeah, he threw all caution to the wind when the explosion happened but it was only because he’d been thinking of protecting Baekhyun. He remembered that heart-gripping fear that filled him when he thought of Baekhyun not surviving. That one thought had short-circuited his brain, causing him to forget any types of special procedures and techniques. The only thing he could think was he has to live.

Baekhyun stirred in his slept, hands moving to rest against Chanyeol’s chest and fingers curling in the fabric as if on auto-pilot. Chanyeol forced his thoughts away as he looked down at his lover. He had been so happy when they were able to stop pretending to be angry at one another. The distance between them- even faked- had killed him and he couldn’t even imagine having a real fight with Baekhyun. 

Chanyeol’s eyes slipped closed as he began thinking about their future. Before this whole ordeal, he’d asked Baekhyun to move in with him and Baek had promised him an answer after they finished the mission. Chanyeol couldn’t wait to get this whole thing over with so they could all put it past them. 

 

 

A/N: wow it's been a long time.....