Beginning

"Tang, where are you?" a woman's voice asked, echoing around their small house with the sound of her heels against the carpeted floor.

"I need to talk to you."

Her steps came to a halt at Tang's bedroom door. She heard a click and then his head poked out between the gaps in the doorway, the light shining through from the living room illuminating his face.

The glow casts an orange glow on his brown eyes. The 12-year-old boy looked up at his mother, his eyes questioning. "Hm?" he simply hummed in response. "Didn't I call you?" she asks again, her brows slightly furrowed. Tang's brows raise before returning to their normal position.

He gives his mother a look, his expression indicating that he purposefully refused to respond to her calls, causing her mother to sigh.

"Your Aunty Cass was here earlier and wanted to see you, and yet here you are refusing to leave your bedroom," Tang's mother said again, her tone more exasperated than usual. Tang closes his eyes for a second before opening them again and giving his mother a bored look.

"Socializing is not something I d- ouch ouch ouch!" Tang was cut when her mother opened the door and pinched his cheeks.

"Not something you do, when you see someone even if you don't know them, you act too friendly, don't tell me you're trying to copy the main character of the book you're reading. Again!" Her mother lectured, poking at his cheekbones. He didn't say anything as his mother continued.

"Stop imitating fictional characters-"

"But, Mom! They're cool," Tang protested, his lips pursed. He was only 12 years old, but he acted like he was 20 or at least how a 20 years old should act base on his judgment and the novel he had read. His mother let out another frustrated huff and crossed her arms across her chest. Tang apologized for interrupting her lecture with a sad smile.

"Sorry"

His mother took a deep breath and pinched his nose once more before giving him one final warning look. "You'd better behave yourself if you want to read the rest of the novel."

"Okay"

She smiled fondly at him before ruffling his hair in an affectionate gesture and exiting the room, closing the door behind her.

"I will undoubtedly be the main character!"

ーーーー

Tang blinked his eyes open. The living room was deafeningly quiet. Well almost quiet. His phone's screen was illuminated by numerous notifications. It was already past midnight. After seeing what the notifications were, he quickly turns off his phone.

Tang's brow furrowed in annoyance as his phone began to ring again just as he was about to get out of the sofa.

He knew who had called. But he doesn't have anything to say or respond to. Tang pondered this before finally giving up and answering the phone. "Hello?"

"Tang, my boy! Did you see the text I sent ya'?" Selt exclaimed with full energy, making Tang roll his eyes; he doesn't understand why he's bothered by this person even after work hours.

"No, I just woke up," he replied casually as he made his way downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup of water.

"Oh, then be grateful, I'm telling you. Later you're going to fly this VIP dude to Australia, he can even give bonus if things go well," he hears Selt excitedly speaking into the phone.

Tang rolls his eyes once more; he has no idea how Selt became a private pilot while being so hyped up by everything.

"What kind of bonus?" Tang inquired as he drew a drink from the faucet and sat in the chair across from the kitchen table. He leaned forward, his elbows on the table, and cradled his chin, waiting for Selt to respond.

"Ka ching," Seth responded, rolling his eyes again as he leaned forward on his palms with an amused smile.

"Seth, you're terrible at English," he replied. He could imagine Selt shaking his head in amusement as he heard Selt laugh on the other line.

"You can read my text for the location; I'll see you later," Seth said as he hung up the phone. Tang took a sip of water after briefly staring at his phone screen. He returned the glass to the table and stood up, walking towards the bedroom.

He opened the door as quietly as possible, but as soon as he stepped inside, his lips formed a smile as he saw his pregnant wife sleeping soundly on their bed.

Tang smiled wider and quietly made his way towards the bed, climbing onto it, wrapping his arms around his wife's waist to cuddle her in his arms, pressing a kiss on top of her head as he did so.

She stirs slightly, pulls away a fraction, and pecks his cheek in return. Tang chuckles at how adorable his wife is, despite the fact that they've been married for over a year.

They don't spend a lot of time together. Tang's schedule is jam-packed as a private helicopter pilot. Because of this, his job does require a lot of traveling; all he does is fly, land, and pick up passengers. While his wife stays at home due to their first child's pregnancy.

"I need to leave later," Tang said softly as he ran his hand over her belly, gently rubbing it. His wife nods in agreement and nuzzles against his chest, snoring softly.

"I love you so much," he says softly, kissing the side of her cheeks. "Be careful, okay? Call me right away if anything comes up," Tang adds.

"I love you too... Our Daughter can't wait to see her daddy," Tang's wife replied, making Tang smile and laugh.

"See you soon, Darling," he says softly before kissing his wife again. He then gets out of their bed and walks out of the room, gently closing the door behind him, but he comes to a halt in front of his daughter's crib, which they had just purchased the day before.

"Daddy is looking forward to seeing you as well."

ーーーー

Tang arrived at the location Seth had directed him to, an abandoned airport, as he noticed Seth leaning on his car, phone in ear, talking to someone.

When he saw Tang approaching, he quickly put his phone away before greeting him with a bright grin and motioning for him to come closer. Seth drew him into a tight hug once he was close enough, startling him slightly.

"Tang, my boy, the client has already boarded the helicopter; let's go," Seth said, raising Tang's eyebrows. Tang had known Seth for several years and could immediately tell that he was acting strangely.

But he decided not to pursue any further questions about his behavior and instead focused on his job. "By the way, is it really okay for us to depart from this airport?" Tang asked, still perplexed by Seth's actions.

"Of course, we're here through my personal connection, and it's exactly what the client requested," Seth responds with ease and a smug grin. Tang couldn't help but chuckle as they entered the building and made their way to the back, where the massive airport can be seen at the back of the buildings.

It took them less than ten minutes to arrive at their designated flight gate, and once Seth showed the plane's security guard a pass, he stepped aside, allowing them to walk in, but Seth simply turned around and smiled at Tang.

"Go ahead, no need for you to change. Client's request," he replied, and Tang nodded in agreement. He enters the gate, noticing a helicopter in the distance surrounded by at least 7 men in suits, all armed with guns.

Tang can see right away that something is seriously wrong just by looking at those guys, but hey, he gets paid well and this isn't the first shady passenger he's had. He walks into the helicopter, showing his ID to the guard, who nods and lets him into the helicopter pilot's seat. Tang looks at his watch after settling in.

They should arrive at their destination in about 5 hours. Tang leans back in his chair, staring at a mirror that shows the reflection of the man sitting on the back, clearly nervous.

"Sir, should we leave now or wait-"

"Shut up and just fly this damn thing!" the man yelled as he sat straighten, making Tang shut up almost instantly as the men surrounding the helicopter walked away, signaling Tang to start the helicopter's engine.

They gradually lift themselves above the ground until they reach level, and then they move to a higher altitude before leaving the airport and taking off into the sky.

Tang decided to concentrate on driving the helicopter, but he couldn't help but notice the man behind him fidgeting. They've only been on the air for about 20 minutes.

As he was about to open his mouth to reassure the man, a loud alarm rang throughout the cabin, causing him to flinch.

The man frantically looks around. He lets out a panicked yell, asking Tang what's wrong, while Tang tries to take control of the aircraft, but a sudden explosion shakes the entire aircraft, causing his entire body to jerk backward with a loud yelp from Tang. For a split second, his vision went black as the helicopter continued to fall from the sky.

Tang seemed to experience everything in slow motion as if it was stuck like that. Tang desperately tries to keep it upright and stabilize the aircraft as best he can given the situation.

But it was futile; something near the helicopter's blades exploded, and without it, the helicopter couldn't fly; he can see the ground approaching; a deafening ringing suddenly assaulted his ears; and everything around him came to a halt just before the helicopter collided with the ground.

As everything went dark, a sweet voice murmured "Poor soul who has fallen prey to other mortal malice, I will give you yet another chance."