Hello, since I didn't make it past the first round of the storyline event, I'd like to put up my entry here :3 Any feedback would be very much appreciated!

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The blinding lights and the deafening sound assault his senses yet again.

He stares at the mundane ceiling that he has become accustomed to before his hand flies to silence his alarm clock. He blinks as the random numbers appear in his vision as if embedded to the ceiling. But when his eyelids fly up once more, they disappear. Sighing as he takes one last look at the clock, he gets up from the bed, listening to the waves crashing against the shore that has become his morning music.

How many days have it been, ever since I last saw her?

Her? I don't even know who she is. No face, no name, no address; only her scent. As he looks at the item on the table, he reminds himself. And the necklace.

Possessed by the memories of the necklace alone, he steps out with the item in his hand like it's a compass, bringing him to the place he visits every day. While waiting to cross the road, what he expects to happen when the lights turn red does, as the familiar lorry truck stops before the line.

Like a broken record; playing the same thing over and over again.

A person who looks to be about his age opens the passenger door, jumping out of the vehicle as he leaves the driver shouting his name, asking him to turn around this instant. The door is left open as he runs away from the lorry loaded with boxes, racing as if he's not looking to turn back. His agility brings him further, the increasing distance between him and the vehicle translated into his dimpled smile; deeper and larger.

Choi San is his name, thanks to the driver shouting at the top of his lungs while showing an angry fist. Choi San; whoever you are, I hope that running away from that life makes you happy.

It's his morning view. Transfixed by the motion of the trains passing by, the crowd around him is a blur as he grips the item, treating the necklace as if it is a magnet that would bring him to her. The loud blaring of the trains approaching does not deter him from standing still like a statue, letting people pass by him as he waits and waits. No sign of her today, so he stops looking.

One day I will find her again, whoever she is. She means a lot to me, yet I don't even know what the meaning is.

How easy it is for him to spend the ticking hours at the train station, waiting for her who never came. His whole day gets lost at the train station like it's his second home, coming early to blend in with the crowd going to work then leaving at the same time they come back. It's his routine, yet he doesn't understand why he's doing it.

Park Seonghwa is my name, but what else can I remember?

He gets carried away by the crowd exiting the station, but as he waits at the crossing for the light to turn green, he sees him again.

Another scene replaying.

This person; he's always running like he's chasing something, gripping the phone as if his life depended on it.

Maybe it does, Seonghwa thinks to himself.

The same thing happens again, like it always does every day; the person running bumps into him, causing his phone to drop to the ground. Seonghwa could have avoided it, but he remains in the same spot, frozen.

Both tumble to the ground, with the said person apologizing profusely to him as if it has become his automatic reaction, a routine. Seonghwa does not say anything but glances at the phone that has dropped to the floor, its screen cracked. He reads the opened conversation briefly; he now knows the name of the person and the reason for his franticness. The message was from a contact he saved as Choi Jongho: Jeong Yunho, you need to come here right now. It's Hongjoong, something had happened to him.

Yunho scrambles to get up as another word of apology escapes his lips, the phone finding its way into his iron grip and his feet thump on the ground to bring himself away. No looking back, only one destination clear in his mind.

Seonghwa lets him go with his eyes, trailing him until he gets swallowed by the evening crowd of people rushing to go back home. He gives a silent prayer in hopes that this person called Hongjoong is alright, so that Yunho wouldn't be running all the time and bumping into him. Dusting himself and fixing his clothes, he goes on with the journey back home, expecting to bump into another person before he reaches his house by the beach.

There he is; his eyes directed to the path he is on while the stars shine the brightest tonight. He is only looking down, the shining dots against the dark night bringing no joy to him.

Look up at the sky and appreciate them, Seonghwa wants to shout at him. The stars are so beautiful tonight, but why are you only looking down at the ground? But his lips remain locked as the young man passes by him, hair curtaining his melancholic expression.

The said young man ignores him, lost in his sea of thoughts as he repeats the same words; the dream I wanted to achieve might not be the one that I could after all. The adults were wrong. The stars aren't shining as bright as I hoped they would be.

Seonghwa's eyes fall to the employee identification card hanging from the latter's hand, giving him a glimpse of his name: Kang Yeosang.

What a beautiful name for such a sad face.

May you learn how to look up, to appreciate the beauty the stars can offer instead of looking down. Be proud, hold your head up high.

His journey back home is accompanied by silence, but at the shore he finds the same familiar silhouettes standing by the edge of the sea.

One figure has his feet soaked by the rushing water as he shouts with the right amount of rage, cursing at his fate as Song Mingi, at the fact that the state of his wealth could determine the course of his life.

Then the other figure would shout towards the sea with the same amount of rage, claiming that he, Jung Wooyoung, would only focus on one thing now.

Song Mingi and Jung Wooyoung, the two names of the people who never fail to visit the beach every day, only to shout at the open sea, hoping it would bring some solace to them. They would stand there all night, and Seonghwa would occasionally listen to their complaints that are brought away by the sea breeze. As the clock strikes midnight, they would be gone.

He places the necklace on his bedside table and tucks himself under his blanket, looking up at the ceiling as the same numbers appear again. He never knows what they mean, but he knows they are important.

Today, he sleeps again without being able to find the answer.

---

It's a date. The numbers that I keep seeing when I open and close my eyes. And it's today.

Just like any other day.

The 7 people he had come across daily are gathered by the seashore, looking out into the sea. The time of the day gets lost together with the waves rolling slowly, whispering to them their stories; the memories they could not initially recall.

Isn't it funny, how destiny brought us to meet each other again even though we have now become lost souls?

The necklace belonged to a stranger; a stranger who stood by as I sang, the only one who clapped for me when I was ashamed of my singing voice. I did not know who she was, yet I was grateful for her presence. The last time I saw her was at the train station; the only memories I had of her was her scent and the necklace she had dropped. It was the day that I had finally decided what my lifelong dream was.

That was why it became my routine; a routine of a desperate soul longing for closure.

It's today; the 1-year anniversary of the day our dreams died, right here.

What was it that brought us to sea; what was it that held us down?

8 of them are stuck at that moment when their desire was overflowing, when they made the promise to themselves to achieve their dreams no matter what. No matter what goes on in their lives, no matter what people say about them.

The memories come rushing by to them as their figures get enveloped by the rising tides, forcing them into a suffocating hug. The piece of news gets swallowed by the angry water, grounding them to why their days are repeating without any deviation.

8 young men lost in the sea during a raging storm found, the headlines read. Dated July 2, 2018.

The numbers they have been seeing every day as they open and close their eyes now make sense; it was the day that they were determined to achieve what they had been longing for, a shared resolution that was made as they gathered at the beach. Strangers then, but their shared dream strengthened their bond.

It was too bad that the sea and the weather decided to work in league to break it that day.

Just like the day they made their decision to pursue their dreams, they met once again by the seashore.

The only difference now is their hearts are still; their bodies cold and the shared dream they once had buried together with them.

It was the day that they finally met each other.

But it was also the day that they stopped dreaming.