The Idol & the Chaebol

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The cold morning air blew across the tarmac of Gimpo airport, greeting the men and women working with a cold, chilly reception to start the day.

Despite the early hour, the ground crew worked feverishly to prepare passenger aircraft for flight, both commercial and private.

Commercial passenger jet airliners hogged most of the glory, being the poster children of travel, but amongst them sat the unsung heroes that made life in the modern world possible, cargo freight aircraft.

Without them, the world would practically ceased to function.

Small, regional aircraft transporting people from one part of the country to the other or to nearby nations too sat dwarfed by their more famous cousins.

But yet there were more aircraft hidden away from most prying eyes, gems that rarely caught the attention of even flight enthusiasts.

Enter the world of private chartered flights.

Associated with the rich and famous, private chartered flights were actually used by companies needing to bring both large and small numbers of staff to a location, a fact not many people knew about.

While of course it would cost them, private chartered flights had niche advantages that a company might need, like keeping the movement of filming staff for a singer's new MV a secret.

That was who Maddox Choi's clients were this day and he shifted nervously as he stood on the tarmac, a cold shiver running through him.

It wasn't the morning chill that had gotten to him, for he was used to it. It was the artist who would be boarding his flight.

Red Velvet's Wendy.

His ultimate bias from his favourite group.

Maddox was concerned that he would fumble today and appear unprofessional in front of her and he hoped that things would go smoothly. Already the artiste's staff were walking over towards him and his co-pilot.

"Relax Maddox," said his fellow pilot, Taesong beside him.

Maddox turned to look at his friend as he merely smirked, knowing his little secret.

They had been friends since university and had ended up together in the same airline company.

Maddox had filled in for the co-pilot slot as he was headed to Jeju anyway and by coincidence, he would be flying his favourite artiste from his favourite idol group to the exact same location.

His eyes scanned for Wendy, knowing full well that as a private chartered flight, he had to greet each of the passengers and he was determined not to make a fool out of himself.

There were 80 passengers destined to board his De Havilland Canada Dash 8 turboprop aircraft today, all of them film or makeup crew members who would make the shoot Wendy was in a reality.

The first of them arrived at the foot of the boarding ladder and both Maddox and Taesong greeted each warmly with a bow and handshake.

Then as Maddox glanced down the line of passengers, his breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of the VIP of the flight.

The Red Velvet member that caught his eye among the just as pretty women in thr group.

Wendy Son Seungwan.

Her beauty was ethereal, as was every Red Velvet member, but something about her and her jovial nature drew him to her and to see her in person almost sucked the air out of his lungs.

She was an angel, no doubt about it. As perfect as she appeared on television, it was almost as if she had stepped out of one.

Soon she approached as the last passenger and gave a warm smile and bow as she shook their hands.

"Good morning Ms Wendy. I am Taesong and this is my co-pilot for today, Maddox. We are honoured to have you aboard today," said Taesong as he introduced Maddox.

Before Maddox could say a word, Taesong suddenly smirked.

"He's a huge fan of you and Red Velvet by the way," said Taesong.

"Really? I'm honoured that you are flying me to Jeju," said Wendy with a big smile.

Maddox's eyes widened at his friend's sabotage and he quickly moved to diffuse the situation.

" Yes I am. Please don't mind my pilot. He's kind of a rebel," said Maddox as he side-glared at Taesong.

Suddenly, Taesong fished out a Reve Festival Finale album.

"If you don't mind Ms Wendy. Could you help Maddox sign this album. He's too straight-laced on the job to ask," said Taesong in a 2nd act of sabotage.

"Taesong! What are you doing?", hissed Maddox in frustration.

He was going to get the both fired. Chartered flight pilots were even more bound than commercial pilots in the level of professionalism that was expected of them.

If Wendy knew about this, she didn't show it and laughed instead as she took out a marker and signed on the album.

Maddox was completely red-faced as Wendy even took the album and handed it to him with a smile and bow.

"Thank you Ms Wendy," said Maddox with a face as red as a tomato as she left to board the plane.

Thr very second she reached the apex of the boarding ladder and disappeared within, Maddox rounded on Taesong angrily.

"Are you trying to get us fired?!" hissed Maddox in anger.

If Taesong was the slightest bit afraid, he didn't show it and merely smiled.

"Relax! She was very happy to know and you got a signed album from her," said Taesong dismissively as he started to ascend the boarding ladder.

Maddox fumed as he followed behind, heading towards the cockpit to take up his assigned position and begin his pre-flight checks.

He forced himself to turn his thoughts away, back to his surreal face-to-face encounter with Wendy.

He had met Wendy herself and lived to tell the tale.

As he continued preparing the plane for takeoff, he remembered the signed album he had received and as much as he was still angry that Taesong had pulled such a stunt, he silently thanked him for helping him get her signature.

A/N: First chapter up! Hopefully I can make this story better than I think it will be.