Chapter Text
It was 9 in the morning and all Mingyu wanted to was to go back to sleep. If it wasn’t for Jeonghan literally pulling him out of bed, he wouldn’t have made it out of the dorm and into the vans waiting for them in the parking lot. Their flight to New York was in a few hours and the managers were already rushing to get everyone into the vanss and off to the airport. In only a few days, they’d be kicking off the American leg of their world tour. The months of preparations leading up to this took a toll on his body but as tired as he was, he had to admit he was pretty excited.
He stuffed himself into the row right behind the passenger seat. Beside him, Wonwoo was busy guzzling down his second cup of coffee for the morning which Mingyu hastily snatches from him. Mostly because he knows Wonwoo won’t be able to get any rest on their 14 hour flight but also because he knows he needs the caffeine to survive the crowds waiting for them at the airport. He looked back at Vernon who was already fast asleep, some foreign rock song blaring through his head phones. The manager closed the door and climbed into the driver’s seat, signaling that all the members were now in their respective vans and ready to leave. Their luggage was already sent ahead with staff and was waiting for them at the airport.
The hour ride to the airport gave them enough time to go over the general itinerary and voice out last-minute details they wanted to include before they land in New York and dive straight into rehearsals. Seungcheol was in the passenger seat, typing notes into his phone while simultaneously going over details with their manager. Overall it was a pretty standard trip to the airport. Mingyu got used to it over the years. It was just another ordinary day.
Or so he thought.
It happened quickly. One minute Mingyu was drifting off to sleep, listening to a mix of Seungcheol discussing schedules with the manager and Vernon’s weird rock music, and then next the ground beneath them shook violently. Wonwoo was knocked out of his seat and if Vernon and Mingyu didn’t have their seatbelts strapped in, all of them would've been toppling over each other. Around them, buildings began to shake. Mingyu helped Wonwoo strap himself back into his seat while their manager was screaming through the radio, instructing the two other cars to floor it and follow him. Everything was a blur as their manager zipped through the streets, the two other cars carrying the other members following in pursuit.
At that point, all he could do was freeze. Everywhere around him, buildings were crashing down, cars crashing into each other, people running around aimlessly. He turned to face Wonwoo who was now in a fetal position with his hands behind his neck. Vernon was screaming and Seungcheol was screaming back telling him to keep quiet.
The earth never stopped shaking as his manager expertly zipped through the chaos. Mingyu thought at this rate, they were all surely goners but somehow, they managed to reach the airport. All this time, the managers were screaming instructions to each other through the walkie talkies.
They managed to make it to a field surrounded by jet hangars. Mingyu deduced that they must have been at the farther end of the airport, where all the private planes were parked. As soon as he tried to attempt to make sense of his surroundings, the door of the van swung open. Manager Lee, who was driving the Vocal Team van yelled at them to get out.
Without hesitating, all of them leapt out of the van, not even bothering to close the door behind them. They ran without knowing where to run to. He found the vocal team members running ahead of him, equally scared and confused as they ran towards a hangar the managers were directing them to. Wonwoo and Vernon managed to catch up with his stride. He looked back to see if Seungcheol managed to get out but he wasn’t behind them and he didn’t remember him running ahead of him. At this point the ground stopped shaking but there was no telling how long the calm would last. Mingyu stopped in place and screamed for Seungcheol but didn’t get an answer back. He ran back before Vernon can stop him. He sprinted towards the van while Jeonghan who heard the commotion ran back to drag a stunned Vernon to the hangar. As he got closer to the vans he ran into Jun and Soonyoung who had a slightly limping Minghao holding on to them for support.
Jun: Mingyu what are you doing! go to the hangar now!!
Mingyu: I couldn’t find Seungcheol Hyung so i ran back!
At this point, Jeonghan managed to catch up.
Jeonghan: Mingyu what do you think you’re doing! Go back now!! Why I— Myeongho! what happened to you??? Why are you limping???
Minghao: Hyung I’m okay but right now we have to get to the hangar! Please theres no time to waste!!
Jeonghan: Alright. Jun, Soonyoung, bring him to the hangar. The others are waiting. Mingyu if you ever run away like that i swear I— what in the world…
What used to be the Performance Team van was now a crumpled mess. It was a miracle they made it this far. Mingyu turned around to see what Jeonghan was so shell-shocked over and felt his knees weaken at the sight. While Jun and Mingyu brought Minghao to the hangar, Jeonghan and Mingyu ran towards the heap. There they saw where Seungcheol ran too. He was helping the managers lift something. What they saw next was something they never hoped to see in a million years. Dino, who was sitting in the back row, now lay on the floor of the car, unconscious and trapped under a dislodged seat. It took the managers, Seungcheol, and Mingyu to free Dino, who was losing blood rapidly from a large gash on his leg. In one sweep, Mingyu picked Dino up and carried him bridal style. All of them ran towards the hangar and met the horrified faces of the other members.
Woozi: What in the world?!?! what happened???
Minghao: While we were driving, a large piece of debris fell from the building and landed on the back part of the van. Good thing manager Hyung managed to take control of the car again but the car was badly damaged.
Soonyoung: We were pretty sure we wouldn’t even make it out of there. It’s a miracle we managed to get here at all.
All of them huddled around the entrance of the hangar unsure of what was happening. They stood in total silence for what seemed like forever until they were startled by the loud roar of a jet.
Manager Jeon: No we can’t leave yet!!! They’re almost here!!
Manager Lee: We don’t have much time! Have you seen what was happening out there! Who’s to say it won’t happen again. If it does, we’re all goners!
As Manager Jean kept on pleading, a plane started pulled out of the hangar next to them and drove out to the runway.
Just then, a large black van sped towards them and skidded as it came to a sudden hault.
Manager Jeon: Oh thank God!!! Okay everyone get ready we have to leave as soon as the plane door opens.
The doors of the black van slammed opened and out came the Nu’est members and their manager.
Mingyu: Hyung!!! What??? how??? Did you have a flight too??
Baekho: Nope, not at all!! We were on our way to Incheon to film when suddenly the ground started shaking. Luckily we were in an open field so we weren't in danger of falling debris. Our manager managed to get a hang of yours before the lines cut off completely and we were told to get here.
Minki: What happened?? Why is Myeongho limping?? What happened to Dino?? What—
Manager Lee: there’s no time to explain, everyone on the plane now!!
The doors swung open and a small ladder descended. Mingyu picked Dino up and ran into the plane. All the other Seventeen and Nu’est members hurriedly filed in. The managers took one last head count before closing the doors. Mingyu set Dino down on a row of chairs at the back of the plane and the managers did their best to staunch his wounds.
Mingyu slumped in his seat. Caffeine from the coffee he swiped from Wonwoo this morning mixed with adrenaline was making his heart beat twice the usual rate. He looked around at everyone sporting equal looks of fear and confusion but no one daring to speak. He looked at Dino, who thankfully stopped bleeding and was starting to gain color back on his face again. He looked down at himself, his shoes and shirt stained with blood from Dino’s wound. Jonghyun noticed this and lent his jacket to help hide the stains.
Just then, the ground began to violently shake once again and the plane struggled to keep stable. The plane roared forwards, and ascended. Mingyu looked out the window and saw the ground below them crumble. If they were mere seconds late, it would've swallowed them whole. He froze once again, and all he could do was stare as the world around them broke down. Seungcheol saw this and ordered everyone to close the windows. For what seemed like hours, they all sat in silence with only the occasional sniffle breaking the silence.
They all looked disheveled but really Mingyu was glad they were all still alive and together. He slumped back against the hard, metal siding of the plane, too exhausted to think about anything else. All-in-all he was glad they were all still together and just as glad that he snatched Wonwoo’s coffee when he did.