Loved Since Forever

Taecyeon - Present Day

"Please lift your tray tables, clear the aisles, and power down your electronic devices as we begin our descent into New York. As always, we appreciate you flying with us."

The flight attendant said over the speaker in the airplane in both Korean and English. Luckily Taecyeon knew both. His family moved to a small town outside Massachusetts when he was about 10. So his formative years were spent in Bedford, learning and using English. This actually means that he knows three languages, if you count his conversational Japanese.

The team took a private plane from Miami up to New York a couple hours ago. Taecyeon looks out the window and sees nothing but the vast ocean. He tried to take in the last few moments of quiet as the plane started to slow. 

Over on his left, Eun-gab, his manager, was fast asleep with his sleep mask on. He knows all the logistics of this trip, so he will be in a tizzy soon. Taecyeon has decided to let Eun-gab sleep for a little while longer. The team doesn't get much time to sleep now that they have been moving to different filming locations. They are only making 6 stops whilst visiting the United States; Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York City, and then back off to Korea. It's been quite a while since they've been back, but it is one of the sacrifices that is agreed to when signing on for this movie. 

Taecyeon was at least lucky to see his aunt and uncle in Canada four months ago when they went to a junket in Toronto. They have been the only family he has seen in a while since his sister and her family moved to Germany. Taecyeon's life has been a whirlwind like this since the 2PM debut. They don't really tour that much as a group anymore, and have been exploring other ventures. It could be because they are all older now and people like the younger flower boy bands whereas 2PM is considered a "monster group".

So here they are, the crew and talent for the new drama Vincenzo, about to touch down in the final city. If everything goes smoothly, they will be out of here for 5ish days, and then go back to Korea where Taecyeon can have a 3 month hiatus. He was looking over the itinerary for the week that Hyun-joo has handed out. Taecyeon looked over at his still sleeping manager. Hyun-joo is the production coordinator, standing at 160cm, Taecyeon completely looms over her. Being 186cm is considered tall in Korea. 

The good news is that they have nothing for the rest of today, which means he can go straight to the hotel, order room service, and sleep. Or better yet, get some snacks from the bodega and roam the streets. He has been in the states long enough now that he is no longer jetlagged. New York is reliable for hiding his idol status. Locals are too busy worrying about their own fickle problems, rather than which K-pop star is trying to circumnavigate the streets.

The plane started to rumble as they descended into JFK. This was always the scariest part of flying for Taecyeon, besides for the whole thing in general. It is difficult for him to get any rest on planes so he decided to review the script as a distraction for the lack of control he will have over the next 15 to 30 minutes.

"Welcome to New York City. It is 72 degrees out and sunny. Once again, we thank you for flying with us," the pilot said this time in English.

It is rare that they get to shoot outside of Korea for most dramas, so Taecyeon fully plans on taking advantage of this serendipitous situation. He puts his script and iPad back in his leather backpack and gets ready to get off the plane. The good news about flying anywhere that's not Korea is that he can wear whatever clothes suit him. No sponsored clothing. His jeans and his green shirt is what he decided to wear, no one else's. It is refreshing since there are no paparazzi waiting for him at the airport.

He can tell that the rest of the cast is feeling the same sense of relief that he is. The atmosphere is more relaxed. They are just as notable as Taecyeon is, in terms of fame. Joong-ki is going to be the most popular one here since Korean dramas, KPop and Korean culture have become more mainstream in the states thanks to the success of BTS. This is going to be an exciting adventure.