Dedicated to  @nyangardenie <33 Happy Birthday!!

❀

"PARK GUNWOOK."

"oh dear..."

oh dear indeed.

❀

FUNNY ENOUGH, PARK GUNWOOK WAS IN the same train that Hanbin was in. And more funny enough, he was the person that sat right opposite of him, but Hanbin was too focused on his own thoughts to even notice.

Even more funny enough, Gunwook didn't notice either. Because Gunwook himself was also drowned in his own thoughts.

No, that is not the truth. The young man was sleeping through the whole train ride. He was rather lucky that he had to get out at the last stop. 

But Gunwook did notice Hanbin when both of them were walking side by side, after stepping out of the train, coincidentally going the same direction.

But he did not talk to him. He instead silently acknowledged him and kept on moving forward.

An unsettling feeling in his stomach started to linger however. Then it clicked to him, Do I know this person? Gunwook could've sworn that he could at least slightly recognize the young man's features. But he couldn't just ask him if he knows him, because that would be straight up awkward, and the least thing he wants right now is for something awkward to happen.

And so it was a deafening silence that lingered between them while the city was alive; cars honking, people yelling, and more normal aspects that all cities experience. But even with all of the background noise, it was getting more and more awkward and uncomfortable, as it seemed that they were not parting ways anytime soon.

Finally, after mustering up a bit of courage, Gunwook spoke up. "Are you going to Bloom Island perhaps?"

Hanbin blinked up at him, looking up after staring at his feet for the past five or ten minutes; he didn't know at this point.

"Sorry, that's kind of a weird question, isn't it? Sorry, I've just noticed that we've been walking side by side for the past ten minutes or so, and I was just curious if we were heading to the same place." Gunwook quickly waved his hands, with a mix of concern and apology written on his face.

"No, no, don't worry about it. I was just kind of taken back because we were silent for so long." Hanbin gave out a short laugh with a small smile. "But yes, my destination is in fact Bloom Island."

"Oh wow, what a coincidence!" Gunwook returned the smile. "So, if I remember correctly, we have to meet at that dock correct?"

Gunwook pointed to a dock that was a bit less than a block ahead.

Hanbin nodded as he looked in the direction in which Gunwook was pointing at. "Oh there seems to be other people that were invited too."

Soon enough, Hanbin and Gunwook reached where the seven people were gathered.

But as Gunwook looks at each of their faces, he feels a sense of recognition, the same sense that he had felt when he first saw Hanbin.

Who were these people?

❀

The nine men squeezed in a medium sized boat, and one of them, with a pale and elegant look that Gunwook noticed, took the wheel and set them off.

The silence was unbearable.

Until, one brunette broke it.

"So...I wasn't the only one who got that weird letter right?"

The person next to him shook his head. "Yeah you weren't."

Another moment of silence.

"Uh..so um my name is Gyuvin, Kim Gyuvin, by the way." The brunette who started the conversation began to scratch the back of his neck.

The person driving the boat spoke up. "I'm Shen Quanrui, but you can call me Ricky."

"Kim Taerae." A dark-haired spoke up, lifting his glasses slightly up with his pointer finger.

"Kim Jiwoong."

"Zhang Hao."

"Sung Hanbin." Gunwook nodded at that, satisfied that he finally knew the name of the man that walked with him.

"Park Gunwook."

"Seok Matthew."

"I'm Han Yujin."

Gunwook could've sworn that he had heard these names somewhere before, and he could tell from everyone else's look of their eyes, except Ricky, because he had his back towards him, a sense of confusion and a bit of recognition.

They all knew each other. But they didn't know or remember how or when.