Part 2 to Airport Security
Your gaze was held rapt as you looked at the plane outside of the huge glass windows. Your eyes looked at the huge piece of machinery that you would be boarding shortly. Below, you could see people wearing bright vests loading the checked-in luggage into the bottom of the plane, and a large pipe probably carrying fuel was being carried away. You felt a presence sit down on the floor next to you and turned to see Felix. "Is it scary?" the words fell from your lips as you looked at the flying sardine can. All of your excitement about flying (and your previous nerves about security) wasn't enough to mute the fear of flying. You would be trapped, thousands of feet in the air, with the only thing keeping you up a combination of a vacuum and air molecules.
He gave a moment to think about it and you couldn't help but gaze at his freckles, "unexpected turbulence is the only scary thing."
"Turbulence?"
Felix nodded, "it's a very smooth ride. You hardly notice that you're moving." He continued in his deep voice that was pretty soothing, "so turbulence is sudden shakes. It's typically really short, so don't worry." He reassured you with a sunshine smile.
You felt an arm wrap around your shoulders and saw Hyunjin squat down on the other side, "lift-off and landing isn't scary either. Your ears pop though." You couldn't help the incredulous look that you shot him, that didn't sound reassuring at all. "It's not painful!" he waved his hands around to try and reassure you. "I brought gum, and that helps with it!" he pulled at his bag and looked around inside it for the aforementioned sweet. He pulled out a slightly battered looking box before pulling out a stick and handing it to you, "here. If you chew it while we take off, it helps with the pressure difference in your ears."
You nodded as you took the piece of candy and pocketed it, grateful that you'd have the small distraction. "It's honestly kind of fun." Felix told you with a smile, "the world looks so cool as it gets smaller and smaller. You get to see the city from a whole new perspective, and the tall skyscrapers, well, compared to everything else they're still tall, but they become little buildings. Like legos!"
"Are you going to sleep on the plane?" Hyunjin asked the two of you as he played with the neck pillow hanging from his bag.
Felix shrugged, "I think I'll watch movies. You?" he quirked an eyebrow to the blond who shrugged.
"Maybe, I'm not looking forward to the jet lag, but I don't think I'll be able to fall asleep." He replied with a shrug of his own.
Felix nodded, "yeah, it's like," he quickly dug out his phone, "9 am."
"Okay kids, we'll be boarding soon," the three of you looked up at the sound of the manager's voice and he was waving for everyone to come near him, so the three of you picked yourselves up from the floor and to him.
The boarding process took a while, but you soon found yourself in the window seat with Seungmin next to you and Minho in the aisle seat. Minho originally got the window seat, but he told you to have it once he realized his position, saying 'it's your first time on a plane, you should be able to see outside!' but you knew it was from his fear of heights.
You sat down in the seat, making sure to buckle yourself and pull it tight. You looked around and noticed the safety card tucked into the pocket in front of you, so you picked it up and read through it. Making sure you knew all the safety procedures and how to safely get out in the case of an emergency.
You felt something bump your shoulder and you looked up to see Seungming grinning at you, you gave him a slightly confused look as you shoulder bumped him back, a bit harder than he had bumped you, which caused him to give Minho a slight bump. Minho was quick to glare at the two of you, shoving his own shoulder into Seungmin and causing a chain reaction down the row. You couldn't help your laughter as Seungmin was the poor monkey in the middle as the three of you bumped into each other like a crazy game of dominos. "Mercy! Have mercy!" Seungmin cried out as he started to get dizzy from getting bumped around.
You wrapped your arms around him in a hug to keep him from bumping into Minho again, "sorry!" you giggled as you attempted to give him a cuddle even though both of you were seatbelted down. You felt a jolt and almost immediately pressed your face against the window, surprised to see everything moving backward. You let out an excited sound, "we're moving!" you remembered the piece of gum Hyunjin gave you earlier and fished it out of your pocket to pop into your mouth.
"I want gum," Seungmin pouted as he saw you eat the candy.
"Hyunjin," you responded and he tried to look around for said blond. The seats were tall enough that it blocked his view of most people around him, other than a few people across the aisle, and much to his dismay, none of them were Hyunjin.
You continued to watch out the window with rapt attention as the aircraft slowly moved away from the gate. There was the sound of the engines firing up and the large machine started to move forward, away from the building and towards the runway. You could feel your heart jumping with excitement and fear. You were moments away from flying away from the country you've been in your entire life.
You looked over to Seungmin who had quieted and let out a surprised sound. "Are you filming me?" you couldn't help but laugh at Seungmin as you noticed he pointed his phone at you, "why?"
"It's your first flight!" he told you excitedly, his eyes switching between looking at you and making sure you were in frame.
You felt heat rise up to your face, "you make me sound like a baby."
Minho seemed to know what was going through your mind as he couldn't help the small laugh that erupted, "baby's first flight."
"Oh shut up!" you wanted to slap Minho on the shoulder, but with Seungmin in the middle seat, you'd have to reach over him. "Seungmin, can you punch Minho for me?"
"Hey!" Minho's grin morphed into shock as Seungmin gave him a not-so-gentle punch on the shoulder. He immediately retaliated and the two of them got into a little battle of trying to...punch each other? Tickle each other? Though Seungmin wasn't faring well as one of his hands was preoccupied with the camera. You laughed as you watched the two of them fight, but it didn't last for long as the two of them got tired and stopped grappling with each other.
You felt the plane come to a halt and you turned your attention out the window. You couldn't see much other than trees lining the property line of the airport, the asphalt below, and the wing, but you didn't see any other planes. You turned to look at Seungmin, "what's happening?"
"Don't worry," Seungmin smiled, his attention still half focused on the camera that he had oriented back to you, "we're probably waiting for another plane to take off." You nodded in understanding and covered your face in embarrassment. You really were naive about this whole situation. "Aww, why are you shy?"
"I'm embarrassed." You honestly replied as you peeked past your fingers to look at Seungmin and Minho, seeing as the latter was watching the two of you curiously.
"Why?"
You let out a nervous laugh, "it feels silly that an adult is getting all excited and curious about a plane ride like this."
"Don't worry about it," Minho gave you a reassuring smile, "it's cute." That caused you to flush even more.
"It's your first time!" Seungmin nodded in agreeance, "there's nothing wrong with being excited and curious!"
"Besides," Minho drawled and leaned onto Seungmin, "being responsible is boring." He poked at Seungmin's cheek, "you'll become boring like him."
"Hey!" you started to laugh, but the sudden roaring of engines and you getting pushed into the back of your chair cut off your joy as you grabbed onto Seungmin's hand in fear. You watched out the window as the world outside turned into a blur. The plane shook around and the cracks in the runway caused the plane to bump around quickly as it took less and less time to pass a square of concrete. You could hear the creaks of the bins above and felt yourself get even more nervous. That didn't sound reassuring. You chewed at your gum nervously as the plane tilted up, but your eyes were still glued on the world outside. The jostling of the plane and the hum of the wheels on asphalt faded into silence as the only sound became the whine of the engines as the ground grew further and further away as you rose into the blue sky. Quickly, the airport became small and you watched as the city beyond came into view. Cars on the highways turned into specks, and the blocks and blocks of buildings turned into a puzzle of little squares.
The sky was clear as you rose up, and you saw the ocean come into view. You watched the texture of the water, it wasn't smooth, but you couldn't tell it was waves that were causing the mottled appearance. You still felt like you were being pushed into your seat, but the plane had definitely calmed down. Now that the only sound was the engine and the movement was smooth (like Felix had said), it was less anxiety inducing. Yes, it was a little scary to look down at how far above you were, but the seatbelt across your lap and Seungmin's hand helped you feel safe.
It wasn't long until the city had disappeared from your view and the plane was traveling over dark blue ocean and clear blue sky. Tiny specks in the water looked to be boats, but it was impossible to tell. There was a soft ring, and you saw the seatbelt light turn off. "So?" Seungmin was watching you with a light in his eyes as he asked what were your thoughts about takeoff.
You smiled at him, "not as scary as I thought it would be. It's pretty cool actually!"
Seungmin nodded excitedly, "I love plane rides, it's really exciting to fly, and most of the time everything's calm since the process works so well. Plus, airports are just the coolest buildings ever." You smiled and nodded in agreeance. You weren't sure if you'd feel the same way if you were flying alone, but being with Stray Kids always put you at ease, and having them around definitely helped reassure you.