Climbing Up to You - Minsung

Chapter 1

"There we have it, Ladies and Gents, the Bouldering World Championship has come to a close, and with it, there's no surprise that Han Jisung has re-claimed his gold medal for the 3rd year in a row for Great Britain! An outstanding performance for the twenty-year-old..." The voice drowned out of Jisung's phone as he replayed the World Championships that had taken place just a few months prior.

Jisung locked his phone as he closed down the video, he was still partially in shock that he had managed to keep his title, it wasn't easy and there was a lot of pressure on him. He hadn't even gotten all flashes up the boulder wall which made it less satisfying to watch. That last challenge was one of the worst routes he's had to beat and he knew that it wasn't going to get any easier.

"Jisung, you ready to go?" Chris his coach came up to him carrying far too many bags and pulling along one too many suitcases. It's not like they were going for months. Just a week to go to the International Championships in Austria. But knowing his coach, the older boy was sure to pack way too many different outfits just to impress the other coaches.

"Yup, all ready" Jisung sighed as he pocketed his phone and picked up his own carry-on bag and rolled his suitcase over to the gates.
He was dreading the flight, luckily it was only two hours, but Jisung and heights did not go well, ironic considering he's climbed so many different rocks outside that span up way further than he can remember. The only difference was in a plane there was turbulence, the annoying air pressure that makes his ears feel all fuzzy throughout the entirety of the flight, and worst of all having no control. No control over the descent or the rise up into the clouds. No feeling of security of the ropes and harness, only a lousy seatbelt which you don't even have to wear half the time.
In short, the young boy had a fear of flying.

Climbing on board was always an experience, despite knowing he had to turn left towards business class, there was always the unknowing urge to take the right and sit in economy, which would probably worsen his fear of flights, but the boy didn't think he deserved flying business. His coach would always tell him how he deserved it and that the extra space means he won't have to worry about sleeping or interrupting people. But Jisung wouldn't be able to sleep anyways, how could he when he was relying on some stranger to get him from point A to point B without ever meeting them, and hoping this metal tube would stay intact.

"It's only a couple of hours Jisung, in no time we'll be back on the ground, once we are in the air I'll grab you some water yeah?" Chris made sure the climber was comfortable in his seat before taking the seat behind him. Jisung didn't know if it was a bonus or not that he got a window seat. He only really enjoyed window seats when it was nighttime, so he could pretend he was looking at stars instead of the lights of a city they were flying over. In daytime, it made it far too obvious they were up in the air.

Fishing into his bag after triple-checking his seatbelt was secured tightly, Jisung pulled out a small piece of rope which was about a half a metre long and splayed at both ends. The boy wrapped it around his fingers and gripped it tightly as the plane got ready to ascend.  The feeling of the rope was one of the things that Jisung used to keep himself feeling somewhat okay during a flight. Imagining he was just hanging from a high rock, holding onto the rope looped into his harness instead of hanging in thin air by a piece of metal.

The climber squeezed the rope and shut his eyes tightly as the ascend took place. He quickly felt his ears pop due to the sudden change in air pressure and the turbulence was luckily better than normal. He imagined he was looking out on the top of a rock he had just climbed, looking out to the wilderness below and trying to remember the feeling of the wind blowing through his hair as he dangled his legs from the edge.
Jisung only stopped imagining when he was lightly shaken by Chris. Jisung peaked out and saw his coach holding out a water bottle, a look of concern etched on his face as he noticed the younger's state. He was slightly hunched over, fingers clasped together wrapped around the rope, legs pressed into each other.