Wooyoung feels at ease, when he's cutting through the clouds like it's nothing, and he loves it, because it's freeing and peaceful. It's calm, even with adrenaline pumping through his veins like there's no tomorrow. He thinks that maybe, this was home; somewhere he could turn to when uneasy, somewhere, he can hide, and in a sense it's right — it feels right. Like he's one with the operated plane, like he belongs far up above where birds fly, where the air is thin and it's so, so dangerously close to where the atmosphere breaks and becomes vacuum. It's thrilling, really, because the stars are closer to him than ever, and he wishes to reach his arm out and touch them, wishes to open the air locked cockpit and graze his fingers through the pure nothing. Apparently it has the Colonel behind him worried, when the pilot raises his arm to touch the glass of the cockpit with his hand, one of the heavy gloves discarded to feel how cold it actually is. If San were to look closely, he'd be able to see tiny icy specs forming at the base of the glass and he shivers, suddenly feeling colder than ever.

They're flying over the sea, fairly close to the tall coast of the kingdom, and San loves it. It's almost silent when he blocks out the occasional signal going off from the transmitter, when other pilots are offering their locations and the engine behind him; Wooyoung hadn't spoken ever since that adrenaline rush of a turn they'd done above the base and although there's nothing to worry about, San's anxious. The silence is killing him, driving him insane even, and the stunning nature underneath them does little to calm him down. "Colonel Choi, is everything okay back there?" He hears a voice, familiar, and he thinks that the pilot can read minds with how fast he's there to ask and speak.

"Just a little worried; you've been awfully quiet," San proposes and Wooyoung laughs, pointing out that he, in fact, had spoken a lot during their time up in the air, just not to him, and it still does little to rest San's mind. Why wouldn't the pilot talk to him? They're alone with nobody to tease them, and they have the perfect opportunity to talk things out; yet it's still silent, when Wooyoung releases the button on his headphones. It has San nodding to himself then, sighing a little and leaning to the glass, watching their surroundings tick by as if he were in a train. It's not much different, he thinks, but then, when Wooyoung tips the right wing down towards the sea and the plane starts dropping, it reminds the Colonel of the fact that they are way too high in the air to be thinking of a train he hadn't taken in years. His heart thumps drastically, as he watches the plane reach the sea, because what the fuck is Wooyoung doing , and he starts chanting little 'stop's like a pleading mantra, having Wooyoung chuckle again, until they're just above the surface by a few meters. It's stunning then, when the tall coast is just on their left with waves crashing high and powerful into it. The Colonel smiles then, again, and hums. "It seems to be..." San trails off, when his eyes catch a glimpse of Wooyoung's sparkly eyes, head turned to stare out to his right where the sea spreads out, and the Colonel can't help himself but smile as well, because the pilot is just precious .

"We can turn around and go back home again," Wooyoung offers then and San nods, because as much as he loves the vibe and the view, there's still a duty awaiting him and a prince whose side he has to take. And so they leave the coast and head back, with the both of them staying rather quiet. Ocassionally, San hears Wooyoung talk, and he thinks just how careful the pilot actually is. The Captain speaks with a strong voice, but still remains gentle when repeating his coordinates to the tower woman who seems rather lost in all the numbers, when he listens. "I'll drop you off and I'll head to my mission next, sir Choi, so please do as my crew tells you; they will take good care of you," Wooyoung then offers again, when they near the base and San's heart sinks a little. He wishes the flight would've taken them longer.

It's when they land, San feels his stomach turn, but not in a bad way. He feels the butterflies fly wild in his stomach and he puts on a scowl, when Wooyoung turns off the engine. He watches the blond take off his earphones and the oxygen mask on his face, proceeding to follow suit, before he sees a hand reaching out to unlock the cockpit. San stops him then, having the pilot turn around with a confused stare, and the Colonel sighs, shakes his head and lets go of him, just silently watching as the tempered glass opens to let in fresh air. It's silent between them again, when the Captain steps out of the aircraft and stands on the panel above the air intake to help the Colonel out too, arm extended and ready to catch the arm because unlike the royal, Wooyoung is immune to the sudden fatigue. And soon enough, he really is catching the wobbly brunette, hands desperately grabbing onto the long sleeves of Wooyoung's flight suit, and the Colonel curses under his breath, feeling his knees give out. "You're good, I've got you," Wooyoung then hums with a gentle grin, before helping the man down the ladder and into the arms of his crew, that immediately tend to him as if he were one of them, and it just further proves to the prince, that the base treats them just like their friends; their allies, and the royal just smiles, when the highest ranked General walks back over to join him on his walk around.

As soon as the plane had landed, it's also gone, and Wooyoung is again off for his overseas patrol, one assigned to him specifically, and he finds it hard piloting when alone in such a large aircraft. For one, there's pain shooting up his spine from where his wound was situated and he's pretty sure he'd felt it rip slightly when he was leaning to close the tempered glass, and for second, when piloting his Viper, he feels at ease because he's alone and the space is small, anyways. Now, when the cockpit smells so much like the young Colonel, he just can't keep his mind from wandering back to when the man had grabbed his wrist and looked so damn lost. He feels like he's missing out on something, as he flies over the yellow sea in peace, tipping the left wing just so he has a nice view on the flotilla of five aircraft carriers sailing just underneath him.

The Captain feels nauseous, when he pulls the plane back into the original, horizontal position, and he uses one hand to fumble around with the station, in order to connect with the receiving tower of one of the carriers. "Gangneung base Commander Jeong Wooyoung, I ask for permission to land," Wooyoung speaks when he feels his head turn from nausea and he waits until there's a connecting signal telling him he'd been heard. It's two minutes later, when a young voice answers and he assumes it's a woman in her twenties replying to him.

"Captain Jeong, please land on Hyuga; your landing will be assisted and further investigated. The carrier is the third one from your left, there will be a blue light you can follow, over," She then answers and Wooyoung thanks her, before following her instructions. The landing for him is a blur, even when there are men working on securing the plane on the runway, just seeing that the Captain is unresponsive to any further commands. The young Korean just manages to open his cockpit, before the nausea gets the best of him and he faints, just about to be caught by a random soldier standing by. Wooyoung is out like the light, unaware of the soldiers working on the reopened wound on his stomach, and somehow, he feels at peace then.

Wooyoung doesn't wake up for a long time, but maybe it's for the better, the soldiers think, when moving the man to an on-land base on the west coast of Japan.