[for chiharu] Limitless; 无限 [2/2]
⌲
Thunder and lightning surrounded him, disorienting him. There were no fluffy, white, cotton clouds. Lu Han cowered as he felt himself being propelled through the storm, covering his head with his hands, but then he felt himself encapsulated by a craft, and when he reached out he felt slim handlebars and heard the electronic beeping, the humming of an engine. His flying machine! The rain lashed down on him, relentless as ever, but with great effort, Lu Han steered the craft up, up, up, out to the top of the storm cloud, and everything was calm once more-
“Hey.”
Lu Han groaned, dazed and groggy. He rolled over, trying to shield himself from the sunlight that streamed in through his windows.
“Lu Han,” Minseok whispered, shaking him. “Wake up.”
“I’ll make the dumplings later…”
“I’ll help you. I’ll help you build your machine.”
Lu Han opened his eyes. He must have heard wrongly. He rolled over, looking at Minseok.
“I’m sorry I…I’m not the nicest person all the time but…I hope you’ll forgive me for being so cold to you this way.”
“You..what?”
“You’re right about my brother. I think it’s time he learnt a thing or two about inventors.”
Lu Han stared at Minseok, speechless. This was actually happening. After a while Minseok shifted, uncomfortable at his gaze. “Uh…so let’s go?”
“Yes…Yes, of course!” Lu Han started to get up. “…After five minutes,” he said, pulling the covers back up over his head.
Minseok shook his head, but then Lu Han looked back at him.
“Wait. Where are we going?”
⌲
“It isn’t much,” Minseok said, leading him down the pier. “But it’ll be big enough for a machine of that size.” He gestured to Lu Han’s blueprints. They came to a stop in front of a large metal door in front of what looked like a red warehouse. It was early in the morning, so no one else seemed to be around.
“How did you get this again?” Lu Han asked. The area of the City they were in looked relatively abandoned, the paint of the buildings peeling and rust on the metal. The red warehouse they were in front of, however, looked to be in better shape than the rest.
“My family’s owned a few of these for generations,” Minseok said, getting out a ring of keys from his pocket. They looked old and unused, some rusted to the point that Lu Han wasn’t sure if they were a key in the first place. “Comes with being a part of a line of inventors.” He found the right key, unlocking the metal door. Minseok slid his fingers under the frame and pushed up, revealing the interior of the hangar.
“So you inherited it?” Lu Han asked as the shutters rolled up.
“No,” Minseok said, matter-of-factly. He smiled at a confused Lu Han, before saying, “I bought it.”
The space inside was unlike anything Lu Han had seen. This was definitely big enough to hold his machine, heck, it was probably large enough to hold several, if not hundreds of them.
“Wow..” Lu Han breathed. “This is…a lot of space.”
Minseok laughed, and Lu Han felt that oddly feeling of weightlessness again. “Helps, you know. With the limits and all.”
“Limits?”
“The bigger the space, the more limitless your ideas are. And if you ask me, a flying machine is as limitless as you can get.”
“Well,” Lu Han said, looking around. He didn’t notice as Minseok reached over, flicking a switch on the wall. “We’re going to need materials too-“
The fluorescent lights lit up the hangar, one by one, and Lu Han realised the space wasn’t completely empty. The sides of the hangar were lined with objects and piles and shelves of materials, from lightbulbs to chemistry sets to wheels of every shape and size imaginable. He gawked.
“I think we have enough,” Minseok said, grinning.
⌲
The days that followed past by in a blur. Minseok and Lu Han spent their time going back and forth from the shop to the hangar, sometimes splitting up to buy supplies in the City. Minseok, quite simply, was a complete genius when it came to engineering and mechanics. From time to time he would explain certain details to Lu Han, but the names of the different parts would all sound similar to him, who, despite having designed the flying machine, discovered that he knew close to nothing about the nitty gritty details, especially since they had to start from scratch. Instead, Lu Han focused on the way Minseok would become excited at the way he figured out how to fit two gears together, or how to make sure the engine didn’t overheat, and the way he wouldn’t stop smiling for what seemed like hours after that. He never thought he would see Minseok smile like that.
As they worked, they talked. Lu Han learnt that Minseok and Junmyeon were half-siblings, but their father had doted on Junmyeon, the younger one, because he showed more promise. As a child, Minseok hadn’t been interested in gears and cogs and the blueprints in his father’s workshop. Instead, he had been taken with his mother’s paintings, each stroke of her brush on canvas, each shadow and dimension she created that sometimes Minseok would reach out and try to take a fruit from the painting, only for his fingers to meet rough canvas.
“She passed away when I turned fourteen,” Minseok said, voice growing soft.
“I’m sorry,” Lu Han said.
Minseok shook his head. “It’s alright. Things only got worse when I had to start work and my father made plans to build the City.” He looked at the tools in his hands. Lu Han watched as he weighed them in his palms.
“What happened?” Lu Han asked, gently.
“He wanted me to design the buildings. Wanted me to be an architect, basically,” Minseok shook his head. “But I didn’t want to be a part of it…I knew it wasn’t that he was trying to reconcile with me. He only wanted me to help him achieve his dream…it wasn’t about family anymore.”
“So you left.”
Minseok nodded. “I knew they would kick me out sooner or later, so I went on my own accord. Junmyeon didn’t care, of course, didn’t even bother writing or anything…” Minseok frowned.
“It’s alright to admit you still care,” Lu Han said. Minseok looked at him.
“He’s your brother. He’s still family. It’s only natural for you to care.”
A sad smile came to Minseok’s face. “I do care,” he said, picking up a piece from the table next to him. “I just wish he did once in a while.” Lu Han watched as Minseok pulled his goggles back over his face and slid under the body of the craft. He heard the soft creak of gears turning, and then the closing of a metal contraption before Minseok slid back out, patting the base of the flying machine.
The both of them didn’t speak for a while, admiring their work. It was hard to believe they’d actually done it under two months. The flying machine looked perfect, everything that Lu Han imagined, right in front of him. Tomorrow, they would test it, and then they would show it to all those gathered at the convention. A flying machine- his flying machine! Lu Han could hardly believe it.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he said finally, breaking the silence. Minseok looked up at him, curious.
“Come on,” he insisted, taking Minseok’s hand and leading him out of the hangar. “I know just the place.”
⌲
They were back on the rooftop of the Dome, but now they sat near the edge, letting their feet dangle. Lu Han had long since lost track of time, but the moon hung high in the sky, full and bright.
“I wish I could see the stars,” he said, staring at what seemed like a blank sky, save for the moon.
“Could you see them in the Compounds?” Minseok asked.
Lu Han nodded. “Clear as day. It was always quiet at night, and if you looked up at the stars, you understood why.”
“So why was it quiet?”
“Because the sky always looked so close,” Lu Han said, reaching up towards it. “And there were always so many stars…so many constellations. And they all shone, twinkled, so silently that it was as if…as if you’d scare them away if you spoke too loud.”
“Mmhm,” Minseok said, absentmindedly. When Lu Han looked back at him he saw Minseok staring at him, and the two of them seemed to blush simultaneously.
“Thank you,” Lu Han said after a while, breaking the silence.
“What for?”
“For…” Lu Han trailed off, and then a new thought came to mind. “Why didn’t you say anything? When I showed you the blueprints?”
Minseok gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?”
“I mean…why didn’t you..laugh, or something? Didn’t it sound crazy to you? A machine that could fly?”
Minseok chuckled. “Lu Han, I come from a family of inventors.”
“I know but…but flying? Didn’t that sound a bit crazy?”
“You seemed like I can trust you,” Minseok said, “Besides, we’re all kind of crazy. It just matters what you do with it.”
For a moment, Lu Han looked at him, and he felt the crazy urge to kiss him. It wasn’t a completely unfounded idea, he figured. They were, after all, seated on the rooftop of the building where people were made or broken, in a City that felt more like a new world, with its’ electronic lights and living and fusion of old meeting new. Lu Han was just a boy from the Compounds, and Minseok was the outcast of a line of geniuses. Everything was crazy. So maybe, in that respect, kissing Minseok wasn’t so crazy after all.
“What are you thinking about?”
“Just..an idea,” Lu Han said, smiling to himself. “Nothing much.”
⌲
The sky was just turning a purple hue when Lu Han awoke, the streetlights still humming, but he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. At first, he wondered if it was just the nerves kicking in. It was the day of the convention, after all, the day their flying machine was due to be revealed to the world. He tried to go back to sleep, but no matter how much he tossed and turned, he was unable to rest. He gave up at the first sign of light and got dressed, going downstairs.
He ate breakfast, but the feeling didn’t go away. Lu Han bit his lip. Something told him to check on the flying machine, but only Minseok had the keys. He waited until it was light, but Minseok didn’t come down the stairs, so Lu Han went up to his room.
The inventor was still buried under the covers, snoring. Lu Han grinned and mercilessly lay down over him, waking Minseok up. The latter groaned and tried to shove him off, but Lu Han only laughed and batted his hands away, only getting off once Minseok rolled over.
“You know, people also say ‘good morning’.”
“I’m not people,” Lu Han grinned. “But come on, you need to wake up.”
Minseok grunted, rubbing his eyes. “What time is it?”
“Probably almost 8am.”
He groaned. “It’s too early.”
Lu Han grabbed the covers, pulling them back. “We need to get to the hangar.”
“Hmm?” Minseok said, running a hand through his hair. Lu Han discovered, with much dismay, that he slept without a shirt on. He kept his eyes on Minseok’s face.
“Something’s wrong..I think. I just need to be sure.”
Minseok frowned. “What do you mean?”
“I have this..weird feeling about the machine. We need to check on it.”
“You woke me up on a hunch?”
Lu Han shot him his most apologetic smile. It seemed to work, because Minseok sighed and finally got out of bed.
They arrived at the hangar around an hour later, the metal door having been left ajar. Lu Han’s stomach twisted as Minseok pushed the shutter up, and the sunlight streamed into the hangar. His heart sank when he saw the sheet covering their flying machine had been ripped off, a large hole boring through the front of the machine, right at the engine.
“God..” Minseok mumbled, walking towards it. Lu Han felt as if his whole being was numb. He looked at the lock to the door. It hung undone and untampered.
“Minseok..” he murmured. The engineer was still observing the damage, mumbling to himself. “Hey. Minseok.”
“Yeah?” Minseok said, voice noticeably soft. Lu Han couldn’t tell how he felt.
“You’re the only one with the key to this place, right?”
Minseok turned around. “Why?”
Wordlessly, Lu Han pointed towards the lock on the door. Minseok seemed to piece together the clues almost immediately, and he scowled. He grabbed a wrench from the table and hurled it to the far side of the hangar, where it bounced off the floor, the loud clatter of metal echoing around the hangar and making Lu Han wince.
“It’s him, isn’t it?”
“Should have known,” Minseok said, seething. Lu Han bit his lip. He looked at the flying machine, with the hole in the front. He should have been angry, he knew, and he was, but he wasn’t furious. He walked up to the damage, resting his hands on the nose of the machine.
Softly, he asked, “What time is it?”
“Probably almost 9...or 10am..” Minseok’s shoulders were already slumped in defeat.
Lu Han went over to the tools, retrieving what he needed. If he remembered correctly, they would still be able to make the convention in time, sabotage or not. Minseok looked over at him as he went to the machine.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing it,” he said, putting the goggles on.
“Lu Han, there’s no way we can do this in time. The entire core is damaged.”
“So we make a new one.”
“What? Lu Han, we took almost two months to make this thing.”
Lu Han stopped, pushing the goggles back up. “So we take six hours.”
“But there’s no way we can--”
“Hey,” Lu Han interrupted. “I thought you said you trust me.”
“I do, but--”
“But?”
“But this is crazy!” Minseok exclaimed. Lu Han gave him a pointed look.
“...Right, right, okay,” He relented, grabbing his own tools before settling down beside Lu Han. “Let’s be crazy, then.”
⌲
“Mr Kim! Mr Kim!” The photographer waved frantically at Junmyeon.
Junmyeon smiled and paused for a picture before continuing his conversation. “It was quite a simple idea, actually..”
“But using steam!” One of the older gentlemen exclaimed. “How ingenious.”
“No, no, please-- Oh.” He caught one of the passing organizing committee members by the shoulder.
“Yes, Mr Kim?”
“Let me see the roster,” he said, holding out his hand. The committee member handed it over to him.
He found Lu Han’s name and underlined it, drawing an arrow all the way to the end of the schedule, after his speech. The committee member’s eyes widened.
“Mr Kim, but--”
“He’s a friend,” Junmyeon said, “With a very interesting invention. I would like him to give the final presentation this year.”
The committee member bit her lip, but nodded.
⌲
The heat of the hangar was making it difficult to work. Lu Han got another smear of grease on his cheek, and he and Minseok grunted before successfully yanking off a rather stiff gear. The new engine was half-done, resting on the work table, but they had to work quickly. It was already past noon.
“We’ll make it,” he said, reassuring both Minseok and himself. “We’ll make it.”
⌲
The presentations began. Junmyeon sat near the front of the hall and fished out his gold pocket watch. It was already 3 o’ clock and there was no sign of Lu Han or his invention. He had two hours left.
⌲
“Are you okay?” Lu Han asked, voice laced with worry as he watched Minseok bandage his fingers.
“I’m fine,” Minseok assured, wincing for the nth time. Lu Han pulled his goggles back on and finished wielding. It was a little messy, but with it, the job was finished.
“We’re done!” He exclaimed. Minseok heaved a sigh of relief. “What time is it?”
“It’s…” Minseok bit his lip as he checked his watch. “Almost 4 o’ clock.”
Lu Han’s heart sank at that. There wasn’t enough time for them to get the convention, especially if they had to lug a large flying machine with them. They hadn’t even tested it yet--
He sat up. Minseok looked up at him as he grabbed his bag, and blueprints, throwing them into the pilot’s seat.
“What are you doing?” He asked, voice wary.
“I’m getting to that convention.”
“What-- No!”
“What do you mean ‘no’?” Lu Han said, already getting in. “Someone has to test it.”
“Yes, but..but this is…”
Lu Han got into the seat, strapping his seatbelt on. He pulled the goggles over his eyes and gave Minseok another look.
Minseok gripped the edge of the seat before sighing in frustration. “You know, I really regret telling you that whole thing about inventors being crazy,” he said, grabbing his own pair of goggles.
Lu Han grinned. “I know you do,” he said, but then Minseok grabbed the edge of the passenger’s seat and climbed in. Lu Han blinked at him. “What are you doing?”
“You’re not taking all the credit,” Minseok said, pulling his own goggles on. “I’m coming with you.”
“You know, I never thought this would actually happen,” he said, hitting the ‘On’ switch. Instantly, the machine rumbled to life, the propellers turning faster and faster and faster, the control panel lighting up and beeping. Lu Han gripped the steering controls, his heart pounding.
“Neither did I,” Minseok said, raising his voice over the din. “But I guess this is what happens with no limits.”
Lu Han took a deep breath. “Alright then,” he said, “here we go.”
⌲
The oldest professor finished his presentation, and there was polite clapping all around. Junmyeon hid a yawn behind his sleeve, checking his watch once more. 4:45PM on the dot. What a pity, he thought to himself. He was actually quite curious about this great flying machine. No matter. The more press the better.
He got up as his name was announced, smiling his trained smile at the reporters and photographers amidst the crowd, who broke out into thunderous applause. There were murmurs of wonder as his invention was brought up onstage. He got up, standing beside it under the spotlight.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he began.
⌲
Minseok shrieked again as the machine lurched once more. Lu Han didn’t know whether to laugh at the noise or cry in fear. They were up in the air, up above the City, but he had to focus. One false move and the two of them would come crashing down, victims of gravity once more. Lu Han tried his best not to look down.
“Could you be more careful!”
“Sorry! The controls are a little..uh..confusing!”
“Confusing?! You designed them!”
“Yeah, I know!” Lu Han laughed nervously.
“There’s the Dome!” Minseok yelled, pointing towards the East. Lu Han looked towards the horizon and saw it, glittering in the light of the sunset. It really was quite beautiful, up here in the clouds. As he turned, he reached his hand out, but instead of the cloud coming apart in cotton shreds he felt water droplets on his glove.
“Hm.”
“WATCH IT!” Minseok shrieked, and Lu Han hurriedly grabbed the controls again, narrowly missing a building. Below them, people stopped and gawked at them, at the rumbling machine that looked like a bird but wasn’t, that glided through the air so effortlessly it was as if it was sailing in the sky.
“Almost there!” He called behind him.
⌲
Junmyeon was halfway through his speech when he heard a distant buzzing noise. Initially, he thought it was merely a fly at his ear, but then he realized that the ground seemed to be shaking, the cups of water placed on the VIPs’ table vibrating against the surface. The audience murmured amongst each other, most of them looking at the skies, and then a great shadow passed over the glass dome, and there were gasps of horror and amazement. Junmyeon’s eyes widened.
The machine. The flying machine. They had done it.
⌲
“You missed the Dome!”
“I know!” Lu Han snapped, grunting before turning the machine back around. He guided it towards the open square in front of the Dome, but they were coming in a little too fast and he winced. “Brace yourself!” He called to Minseok.
He pulled the lever for the landing gear at just the right moment, and the plane hit the ground. It bounced initially, but the wheels helped slow it down, just as Minseok had predicted when he designed it. Lu Han gripped the controls tightly, squeezing his eyes shut until he felt the plane come to a complete stop. It shuddered and he reached over, switching off the machine, his adrenaline racing.
They’d done it. They’d built the flying machine. Their very own working flying machine.
Lu Han got out of the pilot’s seat, his legs wobbly when they met solid ground. Minseok followed suit, and the two of them looked at each other, their arms stretched out a little on either side of them, like toddlers learning how to walk, before they both grinned widely at each other. Minseok pulled him into a hug and Lu Han laughed, embracing him back.
“A machine that flies..” He heard an unfamiliar voice say, and when the two of them looked up, they saw a crowd had gathered around them, and more and more people came from the Dome and from the direction of the City to get a closer look. Minseok nudged him forward.
Lu Han cleared his throat, taking a deep breath before speaking. “I hope I’m not late,” he said, removing his goggles. “My name is Lu Han and..” he paused, looking back at Minseok. “And this is Kim Minseok. This is our invention.”
Murmurs rippled through the crowd. “What do you call it?” Someone from the back yelled.
“It’s a...a…” Lu Han looked at the flying machine.
“An aeroplane,” Minseok cut in. Lu Han looked at him and mouthed ‘aeroplane?’, but Minseok shrugged.
“Yes..yes, an aeroplane,” he confirmed. “Named after...the slope of the wings and the aerodynamic structure.”
Junmyeon pushed through the crowd, coming to a stop in front of Lu Han. His eyes widened when he saw Minseok beside him before tilting his head up, giving Lu Han a once-over.
Lu Han held his ground. “I told you I could do it.”
The corners of Junmyeon’s lips curled up. It wasn’t a smile, but there was a semblance of an acceptance of defeat there, so it would have to do. “So you did. And what an amazing machine it is.”
“Apologies about upstaging your engine,” Minseok said, stepping forward. “Although..it seems you do owe us..” Without warning he reached forward and retrieved a ring of keys from Junmyeon’s pocket. They were identical to the ring that Minseok had. Junmyeon’s expression hardened slightly.
“Congratulations, then,” Junmyeon said. “You deserve it.” He nodded his head just slightly, almost like a curt bow, before turning around and leaving, slipping into the crowd and disappearing. The reporters and photographers hurriedly jumped on the opportunity and some tried to speak to Junmyeon, while others went for Lu Han and Minseok, asking them questions and snapping photographs.
“He didn’t apologize,” Lu Han murmured to Minseok.
“No, but it’s the best I’ll ever get out of him,” Minseok said, exhaling. Lu Han smiled and carefully reached over, holding Minseok’s hand and squeezing it encouragingly. Minseok didn’t say anything, but he squeezed back, holding Lu Han’s hand tighter.
They were just finishing up the interviews when Lu Han heard a familiar chirp. Yin landed on his shoulder and he grinned, petting her. “Hello, you,” he said. “You’ve gotten heavy.” She made a noise of protest and flapped her wings and Lu Han laughed, ducking. He undid the envelop tied around her foot. ‘To: Xiao Lu’, his grandfather had scrawled in his perfect calligraphy. He smiled.
“I’m sorry, one more picture, please!” One of the photographers said, and immediately a few others crowded around, vying for the best shot. Lu Han wiped the grime off of his cheek, smoothing out Yin’s feathers. “All of you! Alright, alright, look here! One, two, three!”
⌲
Xiao Lu,
I’m glad you’ve kept your promise of writing. Don’t worry, the weather here is fine. I’m sorry I kept Yin a bit (is that what you’ve called her now? I like it), I missed her. Hopefully by the time she gets to you she isn’t too fat, she’s eating a lot now that she’s home. Tsk.
It’s good that you’ve already found friends and a home in the City. As for your invention, don’t be afraid, Xiao Lu. Mistakes lead the path to success. Trust your friends. Good people are hard to come by these few days. Your dreams have always been bigger than the Compound. That is why I sent you to the City. Trust yourself, too, Lu Han. You are smarter than you know. You’ll know what to do.
Love,
Grandpa
(P.S. Be wary of city folk. They tend to steal things when you’re not looking.)
part 1 / part 2