Home: a flight from New York City

farewell, New York City

"Good evening, this is a pre-boarding announcement to all passengers for flight 56B9 to Seoul. We are now inviting those passengers with children under 18, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Kindly go to gate 4 and please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you"

the woman's voice echoed inside the airport where a lot of passengers wait for their boarding call to be announced and one by one, the passengers gathered their luggage, some started walking towards gate 4: children, adults and older people

the airport is a busy place, some people couldn't deny that fact but it was a bit irritating to the eyes, noticing people walk so slow and distracted, inconsiderate for those who are briskly walking behind and need to go to their respective gates

and one of them is Kim Mingyu

a thirty year old medical doctor working in Asan Medical Center in Seoul, specifically in the pediatrics department, and who clearly was in a grim mood upon looking at what's in front of him. it was a slight mess. looking at the people, they were almost like a flock of pigeons and doves gathered in St. Mark's square in Venice, Italy. his eyes had been observing his surroundings for the past few minutes while waiting for gate 4 to be a bit cleared for him to pass and get inside the plane, ready to find his assigned seat and take a nap during the flight. thankfully, he booked a flight for a business class for him to have peace, and not have the bad luck to deal with confined spaces. although he was okay regarding the number of people, on his good days

and this day isn't one of it

he was spending his two-month vacation leave and he planned to fly to New York and enjoy the rest of those two months given to him as a well-deserved rest for working his ass off. well, the good part is that he did, but unfortunately, three days later, he had to go back to his hometown for an unannounced wedding of his bestfriend Lee Seokmin to his long-time girlfriend, which Mingyu didn't know personally, because he's always at work-- with a lot of children. he couldn't say no to Seokmin since they've known each other since pre-school and their parents were neighbors

of course he needs to go

finally, the aisle on gate 4 only had a few people walking after the official and final boarding had been announced so he stood and grabbed his duffel bag and started walking

getting to his seat was easy actually since it only a few seats away from the front row, near the door of the plane so its easier for him to get in, and get out as well without bothering to wait for people to clear out

and since it is almost a fourteen-hour flight, he happily sighed and sat comfortably after settling his things in the cabinet above his seat, and his personal things like gadgets and wallet are inside a small bag that he also brought and put on the plane's floor

the usual flight and safety briefings were discussed by the monitors on the plane and demonstrated by flight attendants and by now, Kim Mingyu has probably memorized the steps, being the traveler that he is when he gets the time to do so. aside from being done with securing his seatbelt and making sure everything is fine, he just stared outside the window, luckily that he had the chance to have the seat next to a view of the dark sky so that he can use the scenery to relax as well when morning comes. he needed the getaway, so he was so bummed when it was interrupted

being a pediatrician is a great job, he loved taking care of patients especially children, having to be the youngest child in their family, the lack of taking care of a younger sibling made him felt deprived of giving love to someone related to him by blood and a baby brother or baby sister to protect. so instead, he pursued to be a medical doctor. he worked hard for it, maybe sacrificed and let go of some things that he also came to love along the way. but it is what it is, he had to consider his priorities. he needed to choose. and it got him to where he wanted to be