There were chairs lined up, foldable ones so you know they were uncomfortable. There were 12 chairs total with a walkway in the middle, splitting them. The chairs were all facing a huge, and I mean a ginormous, american flag. In the middle of the flag, at the end of the walkway, there was a podium.
People started entering the hanger, which the meeting was being held in, and getting in groups and talking. A lot of the people in this room had friends, even family they went through the academy with, when they got assigned an airframe, they got sent to their squadron. Lots of goodbyes were said that day. I was currently talking to my best friend that I made in the academy. His name was Yeosang or call sign Aphrodite. He got picked on a lot because he was too "pretty" to be in the Navy. Yeosang was extremely smart and he graduated into Top gun. Those fuckers all stayed at their ranks.
I would hang out with him at lunch and we became friends, close friends, rather quickly. He got sent to Italy and I moved here, Florida. As of now we were catching up and telling each other about our experiences. That's when a few more people walked in. "Fuck. Just tell me when they are gone." Yeosang said closing his eyes and shaking his head as if to get rid of a scary dream. "I guess it doesn't help that they are walking over to us."
The Choi's. Choi San and Choi Jongho were the best backseaters in the Navy....unfortunately. San was pretty attractive and it didn't help that he was extremely smart, kind, and generous. The whole fucking package. The shocking part is that he has NEVER dated a soul in the military. Jongho was very well built and extremely intelligent as well. We don't like him. Why? He fucked over his chance with Yeosang. The details aren't mine to share but let's just say it was fucking messy at sorting day. And that was 2 years ago. We also don't like San purely because he is Jongho's brother.
San walked over with an inviting smile on his face and Jongho was by his side. I was sitting in a chair sideways, resting my arm on the back of the chair while Yeosang was standing off to the side of me. Jongho approached Yeosang, gnawing at his lip meaning he was uncomfortable. "Yeosang can I talk to you..please." Yeosang looked at me and sighed. I gestured to go talk to him and he rolled his eyes before walking off with Jongho. Great, now I'm alone with San. Just my luck.
"So...How is Florida?" San asked, attempting to make side talk. San had dark brown hair, beautifully tanned skin with freckles decorating his neck. He had brown eyes, a sharp jaw, perfect teeth, and he was that attractive type of muscular. "Why don't you walk outside and check for yourself?" Has San done anything wrong to me? No, he hasn't. But for the sake of Yeosang sanity, I refuse to associate with the brother of the enemy. "Ok did I do something to you or did graduating to Top Gun give you an even worse attitude?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head before looking at him. "YOU, didn't do anything. It's your idiot of a brother. I'm just simply not fraternizing with the enemy."
I sat properly in the seat facing that abnormally large flag. San sat in the seat in front of me, legs on both sides and resting both arms on the back, facing me. He had this god awful smile on his face and to retaliate, I crossed my arms and looked away. "So you are 'hating' on me because of my brother? Wooyoung, we were good friends at the academy, are you really going to let something my brother did get in the way of our friendship?" He tilted his head to the side as if what he said wasn't logical. 'Friends'. Me and San were friends. Nothing more and nothing less.
"Promise not to hit on me again?" I asked. "No promises, but I'll do my best." San held his hand out for me to shake. I accepted it. "Speaking of, when I asked you out to dinner, why did you say no?" I sighed before responding, "We are in the military, San. It was never going to work." We continued to talk and did the same as everyone else, we caught up. Yeosang and Jongho were still taking which seemed more like arguing. San was still single, what a surprise. Yet so am I so I can't be talking. "You know how we were all called in for some mission right?" I nodded my head allowing him to continue. "If we are the best of the best, who the fuck is supposed to be teaching us?"
As if on que, everyone sits in the seats and a man walks in. Making his way to the podium we see who it is, Lieutenant Lee Minho, call sign, Hawk. This guy is hardcore. Highly decorated and never takes excuses or the answer no. I swear if you breathe incorrectly, he'll get on your ass so fucking quick. He is a great guy when it comes to flight maneuvers and operations. That's where he got the call sign, Hawk. He sees every little thing you do in the air. If you are off balance by a millimeter, start writing your will.
"Hello, My name is Lee Minho. I will be your instructor for this mission. At the end of your training, I will be selecting 6 of you in the air, and 3 on standby. I've selected the F18's and F35's. We have spotted enemy aircraft south of Florida. Too close for liking. We have tracked them back to a carrier in the middle of the Atlantic. It has been recognized as a threat of private operations, meaning no country is involved. We are to eliminate the threat safely and bring everyone home. We have 2 weeks to train so I suggest you go home, exercise, eat good nutritious meals cause this is going to be one hell of a mission."
Me and Yeosang looked at each other, mostly likely thinking the same thing. Yeosang and I were both pilots, so if we were flying the F18's, we start praying we get a good backseater. I put both my hands on San's shoulders and lean in. "You better be my fucking pilot." San beat me to the first word. "Respectfully, Choi San, you better not be my wizzo." He turned his head and looked at me, confused. I looked at him with the sincerest look. "Means there is more to loose. Your life is in my hands."
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HI! If you are new to the story, please tell me what you think!
I am going to be incorporating a lot of military terminology, specific to aviation, so if you get confused lmk and i'll answer any questions!
Also, The way I am formatting their careers is specifically to the Navy. I'm aware branches do things differently but as Top Gun is a Navy organization, and I'm from a Navy family making me privy to more information, it will be of that primarily!
Thank you for giving my story a chance!!! 😋🙌
