Midtown

Chapter 1

I feel a rattle, and start to slowly open my eyes. I'm awake now, I guess. I push the jacket off my shoulders, and it slides down to my knees. Dahyun is sitting next to me, scrolling her phone.
"How long until we get there?" I ask. She looks over at me, noticing I'm awake.
"About half an hour. Good timing." She says, and closes her phone. I stretch my arms, and look around the cabin. Everyone else is around; the other members and some staff, in the first-class cabin. The plane shakes again, there must be turbulence. It's been a peaceful flight from Seoul, although it's extremely long. The Captain starts talking over the speakers, saying,
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we've begun our decent into New York's JFK airport, we'll be landing in around half an hour. On behalf of the flight crew and Korea airlines we'd like to thank you for flying with us on this trans-pacific flight. Please remain in your seats with your seatbelt fastend until we come to a stop at our gate." I wish it was a little longer, I only got a few hours of sleep on the plane. And the day before wasn't good either, given the circumstances. Most of us had just come back from visiting family. But that's all much more stress than I feel like dealing with right now. What I am looking forward to, is the new JYP International Headquarters! They were talking a ton about it back when they were getting it built, and now that it's finished we'll be staying there. At least to start, since if it's nice here I might considering looking for a place to live. Maybe we could all share it, and take turns living in it. After all, it would be helpful if we're going to be doing more brand work overseas. Plus a new city is always exciting. I've been doing so much more work on my English to be able to have a conversation normally, we've tried to speak all English in the dorms. I feel like I'm even thinking in English.

Jeongyeon waive to me, pointing out the window from across the row. I look past Dahyun, and we just start to go under the clouds as all the land lays out beneath us. It looks like outer towns for now, all just a flat carpet of roads and buildings. The sun is really bright, reflecting off everything and making it hard to see from the dark inside of the plane. I lean back, deciding to just rest for the last bit instead of trying to strain myself looking down. It's a little bumpy as we descend but not too bad. The TV is still running, so I turn it on and watch the current channel, the news. The reporter's talking about the politics in Korea, ironic.
"Today marks four years since the hijacking and destruction of the South Korean presidential ship, and the attempted kidnapping of its diplomatic emissaries. That was suspected to be caused by North Korean Intelligence agents, attempting to disrupt negotiations of alliances. Since then, terror attacks across South Korea have been on the rise. While many expect it's a continued act by North Korean agents, Kim-Jung Un continues to state that it is the actions of the South Korean people. Meanwhile, China continues to pressure South Korea to accept the Reunification deal, which would place north and South Korea on equal standings and grant China major influence over the entire Peninsula. Our analysts say it's possible that China has been supporting North Korea's acts of violence in order to force the signing of this treaty. China insists that once the treaty is signed, they will assist in protecting the people from these events, however-"
I shut off the TV. It's all news I know, and I don't feel like hearing it again. The others are all packing up their bags, but I didn't really get anything out. I check my bag, and everything is closed up and inside. I just sit back, closing my eyes to help pass the time. It's not really sleep, but it's enough to just let things go by peacefully.

With a bump, we hit the ground and the plane shakes as it slows down. Everyone sighs with relief and relaxation as the captain tells us about the weather and time outside. Looking out, I see the coastline, looking out on a totally different ocean on a whole different continent. It'll be new, but I'm looking forward to the whole new place. They've said while we're here they want us to not only finish our current album, but once that's done they're planning on having us do a few shows here, then go on to our own projects. I'm not quite certain what I'll do yet. Jihyo said She's looking into being a singer who'll go to fancy dinner parties and sing there. Momo said She's found some dance studios she can work with. Chaeyoung is hoping to sell some art and perhaps do a solo. I wonder what Mina has planned. Everybody else is still working on their plan. I could just do more modeling work, that's fairly nice. And it gets me good connections. Who knows.

The plane pulls to the gate and immediately everyone gets up. The door isn't open yet but I guess everybody's in a rush. I stretch my arms and stand up, as Dahyun and I step into the aisle. Nayeon is next to me, and I tap her.
"Hmmm?"
"How was your flight?" I ask
"Peaceful. I watched a lot of my newest show." I nod. She's been watching a lot of dramas recently. She'll probably have another one done by the end of the week the way she way she burns through them. Good thing there's years of them to watch. I turn to grab my bag from above my seat, but it's stuck in the overhead locker. Pulling on it, it doesn't budge. Then, the man from the seat in front of me leans over.
"May I?" I nod, and step aside. He grabs it firmly, sliding it to the side and turning it before pulling it easily out of the bin and setting it down.
"Thank you!" I say; a little embarrassed but grateful.
"Not a problem." He smiles.

I walk down the aisle of the plane and down the plane bridge, looking out the windows to see the huge airport around us. The others are behind me and in front, plus various staff who got off just after us. Everyone is tired still, but hopefully we can rest.