❝ XINXIN ❞ ▍kaori - nim and gina - nim are out for the day ? you know what that means . . .

❝ JANGKYEOM ❞ ▍throw a party ? you read my mind

❝ JAEHWAN ❞ ▍i hope you mean a cleaning party . every single other staff is here , don't be crazy !

❝ HYUNA ❞ ▍but eomma , we wanna party !

❝ JAEHWAN ❞ ▍if you want a party , you have to ask the ceo's or at least someone with a higher business title . besides , i heard the ceos are planning something great for us anyway

❝ YUKI ❞ ▍i did too !! that's why they're gone today .

❝ EUGENE ❞ ▍planning . . . a party ?

❝ YUKI ❞ ▍even better . but i'll wait for them to announce it , because it's just too good !

on saturday morning , earlier than they
ever wake up , the ceos of cloudberry
requested all trainees to meet in the
auditorium . debuted idols were not
included due to their tight schedules .

❝ KAORI ❞ ( CEO ) ▍hi trainees ! you all look cute today . thanks for waking up early , we have a surprise for you ~

❝ GINA ❞ ( CEO ) ▍it's cloudberry beach day ! everyone go grab what you need and put your bikinis on because we're taking a charter bus to sokcho beach !

❝ NOBUYUKI ❞ ▍ooh sokcho ! i heard that beach is really pretty

❝ AHNBIN ❞ ▍i'm gonna take so many pictures ~

the 28 trainees plus 2 ceos took
their seats on the bus together ,
helping each other put their bags
in the overhead storage areas .

yoogun sat next to woongi , one
of the quieter trainees of cloud -
berry . smiling , yoogun asked ,

❝ YOOGUN ❞ ▍woong ! can i sit here ?

❝ WOONGI ❞ ▍uh sure !

❝ YOOGUN ❞ ▍ah i'm so excited to go the beach . it'll be so warm and refreshing , right ?

❝ WOONGI ❞ ▍r - right !

❝ YOOGUN ❞ ▍welp , it might be a while til we get there . i guess i'll listen to some music . wanna share my airpods with me ?

❝ WOONGI ❞ ▍okay . do you like twice ?

❝ YOOGUN ❞ ▍sure , i like them ! what's a good song by twice ?

❝ WOONGI ❞ ▍i'll just play it and let you see for yourself . . .

so the two listened to woongi 's
once playlist , starting with twice 's
best song , fancy , and then signal !

yoogun started to dig twice , all
thanks to his new buddy woongi

meanwhile , hyuna and hana sat
in the middle of the bus . yerin ,
in front of them , whispered

❝ YERIN ❞ ▍hana ! hana ! look behind you

so she did , but very quickly . of
course , her heart began pounding
out of her chest upon seeing her
crush ,  choi chanil . she froze .

❝ HYUNA ❞ ▍i'll get his attention if you want

❝ HANA ❞ ▍nO ! i would die if you did that omg

❝ HYUNA ❞ ▍you said you'd love if i did that ? okay ! hey , chanil !!

chanil fixed his gaze onto hyuna
with a confused look , almost as
if he was already annoyed at her

❝ CHANIL ❞ ▍hm ? what's up ?

❝ HYUNA ❞ ▍i think hana said she wanted your number . isn't that right , hana ?

the girl next to her had shrunk down
into a ball and covered herself with a beach
towel , desperately wishing she was invisible .
under that towel , she was a blushing mess .

❝ YERIN ❞ ▍uhhh i think hana is out of order .

❝ CHANIL ❞ ▍well , tell hana my number is xxx-xxx-xxxx when you fix her .

hyuna gave him a thumbs up , and turned
back to yerin with the biggest smile ever .
hana felt relieved that he didn't reject her

❝ YERIN ❞ ▍did you get that ?

❝ HANA ❞ ▍. . . yes

the ride seemed fairly short with so
many people around to talk to and
lots of music to listen to . some of
them even got the service to watch
tiktoks together . classic !

they arrived to sokcho in no time .

❝ AHNBIN ❞ ▍last one off is a rotten egg !

❝ EUGENE ❞ ▍ugh , wait ! someone help me with my damn bags , i don't wanna drop it in the sand .

❝ JAEHWAN ❞ ▍i got it , gene . go ahead of me

eugene gulped and scratched his head .
why was he feeling like this ? didn't he
only think this affectionately of himself ?
and since when did jaehwan get those
biceps . . . ?

he shook it off and got off the bus
before some younger trainee called
his boomer self a rotten egg .

the beach was absolutely lovely . the
sand was soft , the breeze was cool ,
the ocean was sparkly , and most of
all , the weather was the perfect type
of warm . they were all excited to
spend the day here at sokcho .

❝ SANGJIN ❞ ▍aw , how sweet . you brought a chair for me !

ryuu raises his brow and shook his
hand , holding his hand over the chair
beside his to reserve it .

❝ RYUU ❞ ▍it's for inhee , prick .

❝ SANGJIN ❞ ▍she didn't even come , el stupido , lemme sit . my feet are burning on this sand !

sighing , ryuu looked away with his chin
on his hands like a baby whilst sangjin
hopped into the perfectly set up chair .

❝ DAICHI ❞ ▍heh , too bad go - go isn't here . i would've liked to see how that turned out . . .

❝ SANGJIN ❞ ▍how what turned out ?

❝ DAICHI ❞ ▍i'm in aeri ' s dance class and she told me she had a crush on one of the new trainees . she thinks they'll be in yabai .

❝ EUGENE ❞ ▍aw poor girl thinks she has a chance with me . . .

❝ DAICHI ❞ ▍pshht not you !! someone else

❝ MINJAE ❞ ▍hm , i'd like to know who it is . i mean , i probably will have to attend the wedding so might as well start trying to be the best man .

❝ AHNBIN ❞ ▍interesting logic , jae . interesting .

❝ DAICHI ❞ ▍well , my only hint is that he's new . it's not me , though .

❝ CHANGYUN ❞ ▍is it me ?

❝ DAICHI ❞ ▍the world may never know . . . i'll let aeri announce it herself if she wants . anyway , who wants to go in the water !

❝ CHANIL ❞ ▍i'm in .

❝ HYUNMIN ❞ ▍hey , i thought you were gonna play me in beach volleyball . . .

❝ CHANIL ❞ ▍the girls are all half - naked in the water , how could i not ?

❝ CHANGYUN ❞ ▍suddenly , i'm deaf . i'll play volleyball with you , hyunmin .

hyunmin and changyun went to play
beach volleyball , 1v1 , when kimmie
asked to join . her reasoning is that
she liked haikyuu and wanted to
try playing for the first time ever .

the boys shrugged and let her join ,
as well as yuki , who got bored of
the water and wanted to try too

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍who wants to make a sandcastle with me ?

the opposite side of the beach was a
bit calmer , with all the girls just doing
their thing and being unproblematic

❝ JIA ❞ ▍i guess i will . what should i do ?

❝ ARA ❞ ▍i wanna help too !

❝ XINXIN ❞ ▍no thanks , i'm gonna sit here and listen to shinee ~

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍hm , i'll work on the building itself , and you two can make a moat or collect seashells to decorate .

❝ ARA ❞ ▍ooh , i'll get the seashells . be right back , bubbas !

❝ JIA ❞ ▍okay , i got moat duty .

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍hehe , duty . . .

❝ JIA ❞ ▍bruh . i was gonna say it but i thought you might think i'm weird

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍if you're weird , then i'm literally insane . trust me !

❝ JIA ❞ ▍heh , alrighty then , riyoo . by the way , what should we name the sandcastle .

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍lemme think . . . jiyoo land ? the jiyoo palace or empire ?

❝ JIA ❞ ▍jiyoo . . ?

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍jia plus riyoo ! our ship name .

❝ JIA ❞ ▍ah , the two weirdos . got it , hehe ! let's go with the jiyoo empire .

❝ RIYOO ❞ ▍ooh , fancy . i like it !

❝ ARA ❞ ▍i'm back with the shells . i found a really pretty pinkish one too !

the sandcastle didn't take too long to
make with the three of them putting in
effort . in the end it was really cute !

away from the rest of the big group ,
a tiny quartet of girls , moon , mei ,
delmar , and chanmee went for a
stroll down the beach and chatted .

❝ CHANMEE ❞ ▍i'm so proud of go - go . now i really want to debut !

❝ MOON ❞ ▍i know right ? they seem like they're having so much fun . also , they have sooo many fans already .

❝ DELMAR ❞ ▍who needs fans when you got besties ?!

❝ MEI ❞ ▍heh , i wonder when i'll get to debut .

❝ MOON ❞ ▍yeah , del and mee - mee are set to debut in rbl any day now , but us . . .

❝ DELMAR ❞ ▍well , you didn't hear it from me , but i heard the ceos are planning for two new girl groups and we'll need to open auditions soon because we need 16 girls ! women rule !

❝ CHANMEE ❞ ▍no new boy groups , just girls ? the ceos minds !

❝ MEI ❞ ▍i have a feeling they'll be good ! i hope moon and i can debut together !

❝ MOON ❞ ▍the thought of debuting just makes me so happy ugh !