~𝟰𝟰~

The next morning, the house was buzzing with excitement. Chan was constantly asking everyone if they had their passports and plane tickets. Han and Felix were like energizer bunnies, practically bouncing off the walls. Jeongin and Seungmin were bickering every five minutes, thankfully not actually mad at each other. I was just standing there, in the middle of the ruckus, trying to picture where I would be if I hadn't met the boys.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Changbin asked, walking up to me.

"Yeah. I think I have everything."

"Okay, I'll help you with your bag."

He took my bag from off the floor next to me, walking to the door. I followed, wanting to help but almost walked into Felix who was running up the stairs.

"I'm so sorry," he said, stopping to help stabilize me again.

"It's okay. You seem very excited."

"Yeah. I can't wait. I've never been anywhere besides Australia or here, so it's something completely new to me."

"So we're both new to this," I said, giving him a smile. He nodded, smiling, and went inside again.

I turned around to see Changbin closing the car boot, leaning up against it. I went to stand next to him, leaning on the car.

"Do you think Lee Know will ever forgive me?" I asked him before being able to stop myself.

"Forgive you for what?"

"For... For not trusting his judgement."

"Is that really what happened? Because the way I see it, you were trying to protect him. I think he was just overly sensitive because Geneviève came back into his life. You didn't do anything wrong."

"But if I had just not said anything and trusted her, then this wouldn't have happened."

"Let me ask you this. Why did you not trust her? What told you that you couldn't trust her?"

"I guess... I just got a bad feeling. My gut told me something bad was going to happen."

"Then you had a reason not to trust her. We get trained at the academy to trust our instincts. You were just doing what you were trained to do. When he sees that, I think he's going to be the one asking for forgiveness."

I nodded, but the frown stayed plastered on my face. He must have noticed, because he came to stand in front of me, taking my hands in his.

"I know I haven't spent as much time with you lately, but I see how much this bugs you. And I want to assure you that you don't have to feel guilty. You were just doing what any one of us would have done. And I know it doesn't help much, but if you want me to talk to him, or just want to talk to me, you know where to find me."

He gave my hands a squeeze, and my mind jumped back to the first time I met him. When I thought about it, I couldn't think of a reason for me to have been scared of him at the beginning. In reality he was so soft and caring. I smiled at him before I heard the front door open.

"Let's get going," I heard Chan say from the door.

We all got into the car, me taking a seat between Hyunjin and Changbin. I leaned my head on Changbin's shoulder.

"Thank you," I whispered, to which he rested his head on top of mine.

"You're welcome," he whispered back, making me smile.

...

On the plane, the commander had bought nine seats, all in rows of three on the one side of the plane. Han, Felix and Seungmin quickly filed into the back row, Chan and Lee Know taking the middle row and Jeongin and Hyunjin the front row. Changbin was walking behind me, talking to me. I stopped in my tracks when I realised I was standing at the open seat next to Lee Know.

He looked up at me from where he was sitting, and I hesitated. Our gazes stayed connected until I got restless, moving my gaze to the right. That's when I saw the open seat next to Hyunjin. I looked at Lee Know once more before moving to the seat in front of him, sitting down next to Hyunjin. I sighed and dropped my head into my hands.

"Are you okay?" Hyunjin asked, patting my back.

"I will be. Hopefully."

Behind me I heard whispers. I couldn't make out much. Until Chan spoke.

"You're losing her. So if I were you, I'd get my act together."

I wanted to tell him that he was wrong for blaming Lee Know, but just as I started turning around in my seat, the flight attendants told us to buckle up for the flight.

...

The entire flight I didn't say a single word, keeping my eyes closed to avoid conversation. I slipped in and out of sleep a few times, but just woke up every time to another horrific thought. At some point I actually woke up from squirming, the seat belt of the plane digging into my hips. I took a breath and looked over at Hyunjin, who had a scared look on his face. He seemed to calm down slightly when he saw I was awake.

"Thank goodness you're okay. I couldn't get you to wake up. You're not hurt, are you? You were squirming around quite a lot."

"No, I'm okay. Sorry I scared you."

"It's fine. I was just worried. You want something to eat? I bought some snacks earlier."

I wanted to decline, but my stomach seemed to have decided for me, rumbling loudly. Hyunjin giggled.

"You really must be hungry."

He showed me his stash of snacks and I chose a packet of gummy worms. As I took it from him, my eye caught Jeongin. He looked tiny, head resting on the chair as he slept peacefully. Not for much longer, the captain's voice blaring out through the intercom, startling him.

"We will now begin our decent. I hope you all enjoyed the flight."

I looked out the window next to Jeongin, the view immediately making me ecstatic. The sun shone on the glittering blue water, the island itself looking lush and green. As we got closer and closer to the island, I got more and more excited about all the things we could do. Then I heard Lee Know whisper something from behind me, and my excitement dissipated to only half the amount it was.

...

I was stunned as we walked off the plane; the hot, humid air crashing into me like the cold air would if you open the fridge door. I quickly tied my hair up into a bun, my neck already clammy with sweat.

"Gosh, this heat is something I'm going to have to get used to," I heard Seungmin say, making me smile.

"This is nothing compared to Australia," Felix and Chan said in unison, laughing afterwards.

Luckily, when we got inside the airport it was a bit cooler, the air from the AC brushing over my skin. We all got our luggage before going to rent some type of vehicle. As we stood and waited for Chan to arrange our mode of travel, I fidgeted with the handle of my bag, pulling at the loose thread attached to it as I stared into space. Something in front of me moved, making my eyes focus again.

I saw Lee Know standing in front of me, also staring off into the distance. My eyes stayed glued to his features for some reason. I took in every tiny detail. The elegant curl of his eyelashes. The little mole on his nose. The sunlight reflecting off his hair. The way he seemed to glow in the afternoon light. The beautiful colour of his eyes when he looked at me. My breath hitched when we made eye contact, my heart clenching.

I tried pulling my gaze away from his, but something on his face changed, keeping my eyes glued to his. I wanted so badly to reach out to him, feel his warm skin underneath mine. Feel his arms wrap protectively around me. Be enveloped by his familiar scent that I never had the words to describe. But all too soon, our gazes were broken apart by Chan speaking.

"Let's get going."

We all walked outside, the warmth calming the goose bumps that rose on my skin without my knowing. I saw a large SUV waiting for us not too far away. We all piled our bags in the tiny trunk of the car and moved to get in. Surprisingly, there was enough space for us all. There were three seats in front, three in the middle and three in the back. We all got in and were off to our next destination.

...

The place we were staying at consisted of a bunch of houses on the edge of the beach, surrounded by trees. Every house was a considerable distance from the next, only being connected by footpaths leading through the dense forests around the houses. The house we were staying in had two stories and a big porch on the front with a pool, even though the glittering blue ocean was just a few steps away. It was beautifully crafted, seeming to have been made entirely of wood. The afternoon sun shone through the big windows that stretched from floor to ceiling.

"Okay, the commander gave each of us a room number. Lee Know, Changbin, Felix, Ava and I will be sleeping upstairs. The other four will be sleeping down the hall. The four downstairs will share. Upstairs there are two rooms that can be shared and one that is a single room. I think we can all go get settled so long, and then get ourselves some lunch once we're settled."

Chan continued to read out the room numbers, me getting the single room, which I was grateful for, and the rest having to share. We all moved to our rooms, and I noticed the four that slept upstairs with me were divided into the same roommates as at the dorms. I went into my room, gently placing my bag on the pristine sheets of the bed. I stared out the huge window, the ocean almost calling out to me. I quickly unpacked most of my things before going downstairs again.

I opened the sliding door leading out onto the porch, stepping off it onto the warm, soft sand. I buried my toes underneath it, smiling to myself. Then I looked up again at the blue horizon in front of me. I took slow steps towards the edge of the water, the cool waves splashing over my bare feet. I had discarded my sandals on the porch before stepping onto the sand. I bent down, dragging my hand around in the cool wetness that came up to my ankles. I pulled my arm up sharply, the water splashing out in front of me as my hands went up into the air. I felt a splash of water against the backs of my legs, making me turn around. It was Seungmin.

"What are you doing out here all alone?"

"Just enjoying the scenery."

He looked out at the horizon, me doing the same. As soon as I turned my head fully to the view in front of me, I felt him splash me again, making me side-eye him. He just smiled innocently. I turned back to the view, only to whip around and splash him too, catching him by surprise. The one leg of his shorts was dotted with little droplets of water.

"Oh you're going to regret that," he said, splashing me again.

We kept splashing each other, me squealing every time he managed to hit me. Some of the other boys joined in later as well, all splashing me, Seungmin and each other. Soon we were all wet. I was standing there, hands on my knees, laughing until my stomach hurt and tears of joy joined the water droplets on my cheeks.

When I calmed down a bit, I walked a bit away from the water, sitting down on the soft sand and staring out at the horizon. The boys slowly came over and sat next to me, Seungmin on my left and Han on my right. The sun had started inching its way towards the endless glittering blue that seemed to stretch for miles in front of us. We all sat in silence, the only sound being that of the gentle waves and seabirds.

"What are you all doing out here?" I heard Chan ask, making me turn around. The wind whisked gently through his ginger hair.

"I came outside to look at the ocean, then the rest joined me, and we played in the water. Now we're just enjoying the view," I answered.

"Sounds fun. Would one or two of you mind leaving the beautiful view to help me with some late lunch?"

Han and I agreed, getting up and dusting ourselves off before following Chan back inside again. Han and I went to stand behind the kitchen island, watching as Chan looked through the content of the fridge, searching for any idea of what to make. I watched with my arms leaning on the countertop when it dawned on me that I hadn't seen Lee Know since we went up to our rooms.

"Chan?"

He hummed in response.

"Where's Lee Know?" I asked softly. He turned around to face me.

"I don't really know, but I suspect he might be in his room."

I didn't want to say it aloud, but it worried me. He wasn't the type to isolate himself, that much I knew. I frowned, looking at my hands on the counter. I heard Chan come to stand in front of me. I looked up, wiping as much of the frown off my face as possible.

"Don't worry. He's just working through some things. It'll be fine. He just needs some time."

I nodded, but I wasn't so sure it would work. At least not without help.

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A/N

have any of you been feeling not so great lately? especially with the holiday season rolling around? because i have. and it sucks :( but thankfully i can come here and enjoy this book with all of you for just a little bit of added happiness :)

on a happier note, i died my hair for the first time in my life and i absolutely love it!! i'm just lowkey scared of going back to school but i'm sure everything will be fine ;) but enough of me. i hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and i'll see you guys in the next one :P