Gathering on a Saturday morning in front of the company building is never a happy occasion for the young men and today is no different, except that their luggage and backpacks are dropped at their feet. Yeosang and Seonghwa seem to be the most eager ones at the thought of going on the trip, seeing how they seem to have packed heavy, the only two who brought lugagge with them. These two are the most fashionable too, and Hongjoong tries to hide his surprise as it's the first time he sees his assistant walking up the pavement with a dark blue jacket on his shoulders, thrown over a printed sleeveless shirt tucked into a pair of faded jeans. Yeosang, pink-haired, dons on a choker, the point of his look, while he wears a short-sleeved shirt and pants that hugs his thighs a bit too tightly.

"They look like they're going to the runway and not to the beach," Mingi comments as he scratches his head. "It doesn't help that the two of them are known as statues in the company."

"Statues?" Hongjoong says, a little bit amused by the fact. "Why?"

"Because they look like one?" Yunho offers, and Mingi nods.

The rest are a bit dressed down, wearing flip-flops and having their sunglasses hooked to the collars of their polo shirts. Yunho and Hongjoong opt for shorts, while Jongho and Mingi chose longer pants. Winter is approaching, so the atmosphere is starting to get cold and people passing by are wondering what business do they have wearing attires like they are ready for the beach in front of the company. They ignore the weird stares they get as Yeosang and Seonghwa join them. Yeosang brushes out strands of hair that cover his eyes while Seonghwa takes off the jacket that he has been shouldering and lays it on top of his luggage.

"You know we're only staying there for one night?" Hongjoong asks. "Park Seonghwa, what on earth did you bring?"

"It's none of your business, Mr. Kim."

The rest snicker when they see his expression of disbelief when his assistant answers back to him, but Hongjoong reminds himself that they are going on a trip together and there would be no use fighting back against him. He only glares at his assistant, who seems to already snap out of it, realizing that he had said something that he shouldn't, and shy away from his boss. Seonghwa dares not think about the consequences of his sharp reply, and he feels relief as Yunho starts getting their attention by clapping his hands enthusiastically. He will think about it later, maybe when he sits by the beach and think about how his life is basically a spiraling staircase that is going deeper down into the abyss.

"Since everyone is here it's best that we start our journey now since it's going to take around two hours to reach there. Choi Jongho will be our driver for today."

Yunho throws over the keys to the minivan parked by the road to his own assistant, and the latter grabs it swiftly before dashing off to get comfortable in the driver's seat. The youngest adjusts the seat, checks the mirrors and makes sure that he knows where everything is. The rest help with loading the luggage and backpacks in the carboot, then they file into the vehicle one by one, with Hongjoong and Seonghwa quietly fighting on who gets the seat near the window behind the driver. Yeosang sidesteps them and plops there instead, leaving the two grown men grumbling and taking whatever seats that are left. Yunho gets on the passenger seat in front, and he passes a paper with an address to Jongho. He punches in the address into the navigator, with it telling them it will take around 2 hours.

Before Jongho is about to release the handbrake, Yunho turns to the others behind and utters, "Is it fine if during this trip we drop all the honorifics and talk casually with each other? We can address each other by our first names, since we are all around the same age anyway."

Hongjoong seems like he is about to protest, but sinks back in his seat with a forced agreement when the rest gives their approval in unison. Yunho smiles as he hears this before turning back to the front and eyeing the navigator. "Alright then, let's get going."

A Saturday morning allows the minivan to glide on the road without encountering any traffic jams, and the vehicle emerges onto the highway in under 10 minutes. The journey is quiet without anyone offering to start a conversation and the passengers are lost in their own world. Yunho feels the awkward silence a bit too overbearing that his hands fly to the radio, tuning it until he finds something interesting. He doesn't ask for permission from the rest, and Yeosang unwinds the wires of his earphones and stuffs them in. Mingi, sitting beside a sleeping Hongjoong, is typing away furiously on his handphone, forehead creasing and mouth twisting. A message comes in and he immediately replies it, without giving his fingers a break.

"The office, or home?" Yunho asks as he looks at him through the rear-view mirror. "I've never seen you this angry."

"My fiancee," he replies, his face turning red, not from the anger but embarrassment. "We were having some petty fight about our wedding arrangements but it escalated into something bigger when she started involving my family. The future of my engagement doesn't seem to be very bright."

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that," the director replies, genuinely sorry for asking something so personal.

"You know what, I'm going to forget about this thing just for this weekend. I need some time off from this responsibility." He switches off his phone before dumping it into his backpack. He stretches out his hands and legs, shifting his position so that he will feel more comfortable. "I think all of us kind of got off on a bad start, didn't we? Since the four of us-" he refers to Jongho, Yunho, Seonghwa and himself, "-are the ones who are free to converse right now, why don't we tell a little bit about ourselves? We might as well do that since we're probably not going to get involved with each other anymore after this, are we? Just for the sake of it."

Yunho shrugs. "All of you probably know this, but-" he gives off a smile, "Full name Jeong Yunho, 27 years old, still living with my family and single."

Jongho drives the vehicle into an exit before uttering, "Choi Jongho, 23, living with my family too and also, unfortunately, single."

Mingi goes next, "Song Mingi, 26, living alone. Currently engaged, but I have no idea where it's going."

Seonghwa takes a deep breath before saying slowly, too self-conscious, "Park... Seonghwa, 24 years old. I still live with my family." He continues the next sentence with a small smile playing on his lips, "I'm... currently seeing someone."

"Ah, so you have a girlfriend?" Mingi asks, smiling genuinely. "You seem quiet that I don't think you had it in you to ask someone out. How long have you been seeing her?"

Seonghwa bites his lip, ashamed at their sudden interest in his love life. "It took an embarrassing confession but it's nearing 2 years now. We started seeing each other after we graduated university."

"Maybe I need to learn from you, since I'm still single and I just graduated. I don't know what went wrong but there was no one I was interested in when I was in university," Jongho sighs.

"Or maybe no one was actually interested in you, Jongho," Yunho says cheekily.

"Mr. Jeong," Jongho fake gasps, which elicits small laughters from the rest who heard him. "That hurts."

The silence along the 2-hour journey continues as they return to their own worlds. Yunho taps his fingers on the dashboard to the rhythm of the familiar song from the radio, Mingi joins Hongjoong by drifting off to dreamland while Seonghwa stealthily takes out some snacks for him to munch on by himself. He gets startled when a hand suddenly appears from the front, silently gesturing for him to give the owner some. He looks up to see Yeosang has already taken out his earphones, and he shoves the plastic packet to him. The latter gratefully accepts, smiling before turning back to the front.

What on earth am I thinking, agreeing to go on a trip with a weird bunch?

The minivan turns into a dirt road, rocking slightly from the gravel and dirt it treads on, before it comes to a stop. Jongho taps a finger on the navigator before angling his body to the right, facing Yunho. "Sir-" he quickly corrects himself when Yunho raises an eyebrow, "Uh, Yunho. We can't use the navigator anymore because it says that this is as far as it can bring us. We probably need to look for the signboard to the villa ourselves."

"What kind of villa did you book?" Hongjoong suddenly asks, woken up from his sleep. He stretches his body before rubbing his eyes and looking at their surrounding. There are a few cars passing by, and the sun is already out, so he takes comfort in that. He turns to look at Yunho accusingly, "You did not book some kind of haunted villa, did you?"

"If it's haunted I will be the first one to go off," Mingi interjects. "I'm not spending my weekend with ghosts."

Yunho rolls his eyes. "Of course not, look. Why on earth would I want to ruin the trip that I want to go so desperately by booking a shady villa? Don't worry, I'll contact the owners and ask for directions from them. Look-" he shows the screen of his phone to them, which bears the pictures of the villa on a booking site, "-it's beautiful, isn't it? Even the reviews say it's an excellent guesthouse. They did mention about the villa not appearing on the navigator, so there's nothing to worry about."

"That sounds like something to worry about," Yeosang says next. "If I die I'm taking all of you with me."

"This is the start of every horror movie, isn't it?" Jongho tries to joke.

Yunho ignores him as he puts the phone to his ear, putting through a call to the owners. He says there's nothing to worry about, yet he's the one who is biting his nails as he hears the ringing, willing for any of them to pick up the phone. There is a distant click which signals that the call is accepted, and he immediately says into the receiver, "Is this the Bougain Villa guesthouse? Yes, yes we're on our way but it seems that we are a little bit lost. Can you give me the directions there?" His eyes dart around the car as he listens to the reply, and he nods his head mechanically, as if the person on the other end of the line can see him. He puts down the phone on his lap as the call ends. "We're only 15 more minutes away from the place. Let's go." He instructs Jongho to continue moving, and he becomes the navigator next.

After a few uncertain twists and turns, they are finally on the asphalt road that is leading downwards, the path lined by lampposts and palm trees. The surrounding is serene and cool; they are starting to relax when they sense that this is the trip they all signed up for. There is a sign at every 100 metres that confirms that they are on the right track, so they finally settle down and start to gather their things, ready to hop off the moment their eyes set upon the villa they're going to stay at for tonight. From the distance, they can already see two figures waving enthusiastically at them, with one of them smiling so widely as the minivan comes to a stop in front of the villa.

To say that the villa is beautiful is an understatement, for the white-coloured three-storey building stands alone, proud and tall in the middle of the land surrounded by trees and hills. They can hear the ocean waves crashing behind the villa, and as they alight the vehicle, their feet are already itching to run to the beach, leaving everything behind.

The one who cannot stop smiling extends his hand first to all of them while introducing himself as the owner, named Jung Wooyoung. The silver-haired man, who later introduced himself as Choi San, does not smile, but it seems that the expression is only delivered through his eyes. He grips Seonghwa's hand the longest, causing the latter to slightly squirm from the prolonged contact. He studies the latter with his sharp eyes, as if trying to take in every inch of his face. When Seonghwa is about to ask whether there is something on his face, San immediately releases his hand with an inaudible grunt.

"He doesn't talk and smile much," Wooyoung suddenly explains when he sees that all of them are amused at the sight in front of them. "Because he says that he doesn't like his dimples showing. I honestly think it's pretty though," he says mischievously, glancing at San. "I hope you will be comfortable to stay with us, since I was informed that all of us are in our 20s, right?"

"You own this villa?" Hongjoong asks, flinching when a mosquito starts to attack him. "These young people and already filthy rich, just like this Jeong Yunho."

Wooyoung's mouth twitches slightly as he flatly asks, "Why, is it wrong to own a villa in your 20s?"

He claps his hand to kill the mosquito before flicking it away. "No, I'm just jealous that you seem to be living your life freely."

"Living... our lives freely, huh?" San utters next. "We just happen to be lucky, that's all."

"Are the two of you... um," Mingi butts in when he sees that the situation is somewhat tense. He knows that Kim Hongjoong tends to say whatever is on his mind straight away, making people uncomfortable being around him sometimes. "Together?" He mentally slaps himself when that is the first thing he thought he could ask.

There is a glint in Wooyoung's eyes, and he's already returning back to his smiley appearance. He doesn't answer, but merely changes the topic, bringing an end to the matter as quickly as it came up. He gestures towards the villa behind him before sweeping his hands towards their bags. Understanding his silent gesturing, they each pick up their own bags, lugging them together as they step into the villa.

San scampers to the huge double doors, before pushing it open and standing beside it like a bellboy at the entrance of a hotel. They look at each other, a bit weirded out by his behaviour. They swear they can feel their hairs standing on end when they pass by him, with him maintaining his bowing stance and training his eyes on the ground. He seems like a mute, but they know it's not the case because they have heard his voice just moments ago. Throwing their apprehension away, they step inside, taking off their shoes and putting their feet on the smooth marble floors. They feel as if their stress has melted away the moment they put their feet on the interior ground, and just like little kids, they race trying to pick out the best rooms for themselves.

Luckily for them, the villa has enough rooms to accommodate having only one person for each room, so they don't have to worry about having to brace through the night with a roommate. There is a bit of scuffle between Yeosang and Mingi because the two of them had wanted a room that faces the beach, but Mingi quickly relents when he grudgingly says that he could probably see a ghost standing at the edge of the beach anyway. The pink-haired boy merely shrugs, saying that he's not scared. They each crash into their individual rooms, already planning in their heads what they are going to do for the rest of the trip. The beach is a must, and they are delighted when Wooyoung informed them that the beach is a private one, because the villa is the only accommodation in the vicinity.

Seonghwa navigates the entire house, taking in as much details of the interior as he can. He always had a soft spot for interior designing, and he appreciates that the villa is spacious and clean. The villa does not have much furniture, only the necessary ones, and they are arranged as to make sure that they have plenty of room to walk around without bumping into one every second or so. He notices that as similar as the exterior, the walls inside are all painted in white. There are no ornaments lying around or picture frames hung on the wall, so it kind of gives the sense that the villa is a newly-bought building. The second and third floor are where all the rooms are located; the only exciting thing about the villa is probably the fact that it's located near the beach.

He goes out through the sliding door that leads to the beach behind the house, taking in the salty air. He realizes he's alone at the beach, and he figures that the rest are probably still in their rooms. He takes a peek to the house behind, before he turns back to the sea. He shivers from the cold, but the heat inside his chest makes him feel warm, and he shouts to let it out.

He cups his hands around his mouth before shouting, "I hate you Kim Hongjoong! I hate you with all my life!"

Nobody in the house heard him, except for the two who are still on the ground floor in the kitchen: Wooyoung and San. Wooyoung chuckles, amused, before looking over to San. "It's barely a day and one already confessed that he hates his colleague. What an odd bunch... but they're interesting."

San stays mum, his hands busy peeling oranges. As he peels the last one, he throws the oranges into a plastic bowl before lifting it up. "Oranges?" he asks, blinking rapidly.

Wooyoung goes to him, plucks one segment of the peeled orange before stuffing it into his mouth. "It's sweet." He rests his palms on the counter as he throws his vision to Seonghwa through the kitchen window, seeing that the latter is now strolling along the beach, despite the scorching hot morning sun. He looks over his shoulder when he hears shuffling footsteps behind him before uttering, "Say, how long has it been?"

"5 years."

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[A/N: I'm really sorry for two things: 1. how long it takes for me to update a chapter because I need to lay out the story line carefully; I've been so busy and stressed lately TT and 2. you may find this story very slow-paced because that's what I'm going for so I hope that you are not disappointed. Anyway, to whoever reading this story, I love all of you and hope that you have a nice day uwu <3 Thank you so much for giving this story a chance.]