Chapter Text
“Everyone line up...one by one now ok?” Taeyong sighed exasperatedly, trying his best to count the luggages and heads as they filed much too fast into the airplane.
“3..4..5..6..7- Wait a second.” Taeyong interjected, reaching an arm out to stop Lucas from entering the plane. “Yukhei..put that big banana plush back, I told you not to bring it- Ten, it’s just a toy!”
He pulled the Thai toward him desperately, still trying to keep up with the other members who paid no attention to his struggles.
A stumbling bear with a huge smile caught his eyes, and he halted it. “Winwin.. that’s too big for a plane trip.”
Winwin peeked out from behind his body-sized bear plush. “ Whyy ?” He whined. “Because it’s too big! Because I-“
“Is there a problem with it?” Yuta raised an eyebrow at Taeyong from behind Winwin, and Taeyong found himself sighing as he allowed the duo to make their way onto the aircraft, unwilling to put up a fight against the Chinese baby and his protector.
“Did you pack everything? All of your toothbrushes and clothes and some snacks?” Taeyong asked the youngest members anxiously, peering over their shoulders.
“Yes, yes, yes.” Jisung groaned, lugging the suitcases with Chenle and Jaemin following not too far behind. Renjun and Haechan ignored Taeyong as they continued to look at something on their phone, despite Taeyong’s nagging.
“Stop worrying, Taeyong,” Mark grinned. “It’s a healing trip.”
Taeyong thought it was everything but that as he continued to speed around worriedly, making sure everyone had everything.
“Kun, take care of the Chinese babies for me,” Taeyong pleaded, “I can’t do all of this myself!”
“What’s that?” Kun didn’t take his headphones out, “I can’t hear you over SM’s favoritism.”
“You’re gonna be the next leader and you know it- Kun, please-“ Taeyong couldn’t finish his sentence as he continued down the aisles to help the struggling Renjun place his luggage over the seats.
Jisung made a big show of reaching over Renjun to casually place his suitcase in the overhead compartment, as if it was no big deal, which it probably wasn’t.
“If we crash, it’s the tall people that are going to get hit first,” Renjun announced, pushing past a snickering Jisung and Jeno.
“15..16..17..” Taeyong stopped. “Who’s missing? Who missed the plane? Everyone get in your units!”
“Calm down, dipshit.” Johnny laughed. “You’re forgetting to count yourself.”
Taeyong almost pulled out his hair as he managed to get all of the members seated and buckled in before taking a seat himself. He slumped down, already exhausted. Doyoung and Taeil eyed him, a silent look passing between them. They smiled and turned to him, voices sugary sweet as they said, “Taeyong, you look like you need a vacation!”
“Shut up,” the leader groaned, “let me sleep until we get there. That’s probably all I get during this entire trip.”
Doyoung laughed and turned to the seat behind him to talk to Jungwoo. “Hey. Hey.” He pestered the young man until he looked up. “Hi.”
Jungwoo smiled and turned his attention back to his book. Disappointed, Doyoung sank back into his seat, deciding to flick tissue balls towards the Dreamies.
The next thing he knew, he was being hit square in the face with one of them. Doyoung sputtered at Renjun, “That one was for Jeno! That barely scratched your ear!”
Renjun ignored him and turned back to Chenle, speaking in Chinese.
“Figures. I’ll learn a different language too, and then I’ll say something you won’t understand!” Doyoung called out to him, voice turning slightly affectionate at Taeyong’s look, “A-and that way we can be more diverse!”
Taeyong sighed loudly. “Everyone sit down and shut up! Let me relax at least for the plane ride, please !”
Everyone finally quieted as the plane took off, and Taeyong sighed contentedly, already beginning to drift off to sleep. Finally some peace and quiet. Maybe it would be an ok vacation after all.
But they’d all find out that it was about to be everything but ok.
Taeyong woke up to a loud crack, and his first thought was Not the kids. Not again.
“What did you break?” Taeyong yelled, taking his earphones out with a huff. Taeil looked at him with wide eyes, hands gripping the arm rests.
It was only then that Taeyong realized the sky was pitch black, being lit up in intervals. Those cracks were lighting bolts, and they sounded dangerously close.
He looked around to see all of the members, either gripping the chair or each other. Despite his pounding heartbeat, he turned to them all and spoke with a clear voice. “Everyone stay calm, ok? We have a good pilot, and the storm isn’t too close. Just stay seated, alright?”
Everyone nodded, and Taeyong sighed in relief that they were obeying him for once. He looked around anxiously, watching the bolts get brighter and bigger. Eventually, he decided to get up and go to the front where the pilots sat.
“Um..hello?” Taeyong peered in, trying not to distract the duo too much. They looked pressured as they navigated in the storm, their eyebrows furrowed and their bodies stiff. “Is everything under control?”
“No worries!” One pilot managed to smile. “It shouldn’t be too bad. We’ll get you idols there safely.”
Taeyong nodded and thanked them, hesitantly turning back around to climb back to his seat.
Another bolt of lightning struck, but this time something was wrong. Taeyong didn’t know what happened at the moment, but suddenly he was tumbling to the floor, and everything was bright.
The two pilots were cursing and frantically pulling on controls and buttons; the rain struck against the windows with force; the loud cracks and bangs filled the night; but Taeyong could only hear one sound as he scrambled up.
He needed to get to them, he needed to stop the sound of their fear, or maybe their pain, he needed to stop the sobs of his members.
Taeyong managed to grasp onto Jaehyun, who was pale as he clung onto the torn chair. Rain pelted their face, but Taeyong didn’t care as he shouted uselessly at anyone who could listen.
He found his hands reaching for a parachute and throwing it to member after member. He heard the pilots screaming into radios, and he almost thought he heard Lee Sooman’s panicked voice break through.
But Taeyong didn’t care, because he was busy strapping parachutes on everyone, and someone was shoving one onto him, and he was counting, and he was grabbing, and he was shouting.
“10-11-12-13..14-5-13..” Taeyong was crying now because he was repeating numbers, and he was losing track, and he was losing members. Who was missing?
He didn’t have time to check, because people were already beginning to jump. Taeyong only knew that someone took his hand, and then they were plunging into the night sky with fire roaring behind them.
His body slipped into a cold blanket, surrounding him in a drowning embrace. Other shadows shot into the water like a bullet, and Taeyong could only hope everyone had made it.
He grabbed someone’s shirt and started pulling as an all too big shadow began to grow on the surface. It was too late though- metal was already crashing through the waves, sinking all around them.
Something burned against Taeyong’s arm, and he let out a scream that only resulted in a water-filled breath. It continued to rain fire and metal until Taeyong could see nothing and nobody.
Everything was fading black, and Taeyong could only wonder as he drifted away:
Who’s missing?