Passion and Power

Chapter 16

Minji POV

When Minji's car pulled up the crew had already begun pulling the stairs away from the plane. When they noticed Minji they quickly began to roll it back to the plane. She heard one of them radioing to alert the rest of the crew to her presence. Crewing the KCorp plane had trained them to be ready for anything - the Kims were not a predictable lot.

Minji had planned to fly out the night before and spend the day in meetings with her KCorp subsidiary in Busan. That plan went off the rails when she received a call from the mental institution, saying that there had been another escape attempt by Taehyung, which was quickly followed by a frantic call from her mother. It seemed the situation was back in hand, but Minji canceled her flight so that she could smooth things over for Taehyung with calls, and to appease her mother. The next day she was tempted to fly commercial to avoid traveling with the team in the company jet, but she knew she couldn't dodge Hanni forever, and the thought of being crammed into a 6-hour flight across the country was too much. Once Haerin had changed plans so that she could go, that settled it. Haerin would have thought she'd lost her mind to travel commercial to Busan when her own jet was going there on more or less the same timetable.

Minji climbed the stairs of the plane resolutely in her high heels and made her way to the front of the plane, followed closely by Haerin. She always sat close to the cockpit in her plane. Being a licensed pilot, Minji felt better about being close to the controls in case something went wrong, and she also liked to check in on the pilot at some point during the flight. She knew it made them nervous but she liked to keep them on their toes.

Unlike any other time she'd boarded the KCorp jet, this time Minji's heart was in her throat as she took her seat. She'd tried not to look around much and hadn't seen Hanni on her way to her seat, yet knowing she was aboard was causing her heart to race and her breathing to come more quickly. She was thoroughly annoyed with her strong reaction to the thought of Hanni being on the plane. Even Haerin seemed to notice and looked at her curiously, but didn't say anything.

Minji felt better after getting settled into the large, familiar chair near the front of the jet. One of the crew brought her usual take-off drink without her asking. It wasn't long before they were in the air.

Haerin looked over at Minji with a smile. "This jet is one of my favorite perks of the job."

"You mean second to having the most wonderful boss in the world, of course." Minji said with a smirk.

"Of course, Boss." Haerin winked at her.

Minji was feeling more relaxed and relieved to find that Hanni must have been seated far enough away that she couldn't see her. Or worse, smell her.

Once they sat down Haerin fired off a text and turned to Minji with an excited smile. "I asked Danielle to come up and say 'hi', and to bring Hanni after we take off. Can you believe I've never met her sister?"

All Minji's calm immediately washed away. She felt her heart jump at the thought of seeing Hanni. She tried to downplay her heart's reaction.

"Oh, that's...nice. I'm sure you'll like her." Minji said then added. "Everyone does. You might say she's...irresistible."

"I hope it's not awkward for you." Haerin said.

"I'm a grown woman, Haerin." Minji said with annoyance. "I'm sure I'll manage."

After takeoff and the seatbelt light went off the Pham sisters materialized before them. Haerin stood to give Danielle a hug and then squeezed Hanni's hand in greeting.

"So, this is the amazing Hanni Pham I've heard so much about?" She said with a warm smile.

"Sorry! My sister also happens to be my biggest fan. I'm very lucky that way. Apologies if she's been regaling you with tales of my greatness." Hanni laughed.