"Wake up, Wonwoo!"

Wonwoo let out a groan as he struggled to pry his eyes open. "Breakfast is ready," Mingyu gently shook his shoulder. Wonwoo clutched closer to his pillow, mumbling, "I'll get up in a few minutes." He didn't think Mingyu would comply, but he did, "Okay." He listened as Mingyu's slippers flipped between the floor and his feet, quickly getting softer as he walked further away. Mingyu slowly opened the door to leave, gently closing it shut and leaving quietly as he let Wonwoo snooze. 

The drowze brought his eyelids down again. The gleaming sunlight and the cool morning gave a comforting atmosphere, the blanket embracing him seemed to pull the warmth to himself.

Then he slipped into slumber.

The feeling of longing was almost bursting inside him. He could feel his legs strive harder, the impact on his footsteps were pounding harder.

That hopeful feeling was torn down. He felt himself being tackled down by the side, the air in his lungs were knocked out as his body harshly hit the ground.

He was pinned down by the attacker. His squirming was futile as he felt his torso being crushed under the weight. Nails dug into the skin of his neck and the air in his lungs became scarce.

Pain was searing as the weight pressed harder against his gut. 

His strength was unfortunately diminishing, his body was growing limper-

"Wonwoo!" Mingyu's voice rang loud and clear.

Wonwoo found himself dumbfoundedly staring at Mingyu, his head lifted as he was startled awake. Seeing the concerned expression on the boy's face in front of him, Wonwoo realized that he must've been reacting to his dream. "Were you dreaming of something just now?" Mingyu put aside the plate of breakfast he had on the side table, seating himself at the other end of Wonwoo's bed. Wonwoo nodded, "Yeah, I was."

"You want to talk about it or..?"

"No, it's okay."

"Alright," Mingyu stood up and nodded towards the plate he put aside, "I forgot to wake you up, sorry about that. I saved some breakfast for you, everybody's already cleaned up the kitchen." Wonwoo looked at what was served on the plate, spotting bacon and scrambled eggs sandwiched together by brown bread. Mingyu skidded to a stop before he could step out of the shack, "Oh, don't forget to bring out your dirty clothes. It's laundry day today."

"Okay," he acknowledged before reaching out for the plate. Mingyu nodded and walked out, presumably joining the rest as they prepare to wash their clothes. Wonwoo munched on his sandwich, grateful as he realized that Mingyu brought it over while it was freshly toasted. Wonwoo's mind wandered, replaying his dream over and over. He blinked and reached down under his bed, remembering that he had another dream prior to that. He took the notebook and his pencil out, flipping to the few pages he left on. Wonwoo started jotting notes down.

Continuation of dream?
I was running away from someone.
Felt myself avoid someone.
I was about to reach some kind of goal.

He skipped a line to indicate the separate dream while he took multiple bites out of his sandwich in his left hand.

Was attacked. Tackled down to the ground.
Couldn't escape, felt myself getting weaker.

Wonwoo stuffed the remainer of the sandwich into his mouth, closing the notebook shut and tossing it into the crate next to him. 

He quickly changed into his outdoor clothing, clutching onto his pyjamas as he marched outside. Everybody else was at the riverside surrounded by heaps of laundry piled into plastic baskets.

The sun was once again inviting as it had been. A slight breeze blew around and carried the river's damp scent over.

"Good morning!" Wonwoo greeted everyone and squat down near Mingyu. A chorus of greetings were chortled in unison. Mingyu was already getting to work, rubbing a shirt against the wooden washboard in a small tub filled with water and detergent. There were at least six other tubs with the same thing, some were partnered up to make work efficient. 

"Here," Mingyu picked off a shirt from the pile behind him, tossing it over to Wonwoo. He snatched it from the air, nearly dropping the pyjamas that were also in his hands. Mingyu hauled over another washboard to Wonwoo's side of the tub and continued to wash the shirt in his hands.

Wonwoo put aside his own clothes in the laundry and followed suit, soaking the shirt with the soapy water and rubbing it against the ridges. "Hey, take a seat first," Mingyu dragged a free step stool and placed it behind Wonwoo. He gratefully took the seat, continuing to do his chores.

"It's a bit tiring," Mingyu started off, "but at least we're still spending time together while being productive." Wonwoo realized his arms would be a aching by the time they were going to finish washing the clothes. The rest definitely built some muscle from months of chores. Wonwoo? Well, he was skinnier in comparison.

In no time, he found himself getting accustomed to the chore, growing more engrossed with the task at hand.

The day was pleasant as usual. The river nearby was calm and the boys were lighthearted as ever. "Hey, who took my chair?" Chan stood in the middle of the crowd, wandering around as he searched for thd chair he had. In the corner of his eye, Wonwoo saw Mingyu glance at him and became even more focused on washing the clothes. "That's okay, we have this one left," Soonyoung nodded his head towards another stool. It looked less sturdy than the others, a little bit chipped here and there. "But that's the wobbly one," Chan was dismayed over the inconvenience, but he took the chair without further complaint. 

Wonwoo and Mingyu looked at each other, both giving a sheepish look. Mingyu put a finger to his lips, pursing his lips as he held back a smile. Wonwoo scrunched his nose and looked down on the clothes he was washing, both pretending they hadn't heard Chan.

Wonwoo let his mind wander, listening on people's conversations. His thoughts drifted along with water that flowed, with the breeze that rustled the leaves. Then he remembered something from the night before.

Listening closely, he didn't hear any birds chirping at all. Looking deep under the surface of the river, he didn't see any aquatic creatures swimming through the waters.

"You've been washing the same shirt for three minutes now," Mingyu pulled him down from the clouds, "You don't need to wash it for that long." Wonwoo blinked and looked down on the shirt he held, "O-oh, yeah." He put aside the washed shirt in a designated basket, being passed a pair of shorts by Mingyu. Wonwoo washed the pants against the washboard before he could start, "Mingyu?" The boy in front of him tilted his head up in acknowledgment, indicating that he was listening while he did his task. "Are there not any animals in this area?" Wonwoo finally asked, curious as he confirmed no sign of other life. Mingyu gave a knowing smile realizing that the newcomer had noticed so soon, "Other than bugs, no."

Wonwoo was satisfied with the confirmation, though the strange information did make him even more curious. Was this area too dangerous for animals? It wasn't the best scenario he'd like to think through, considering that it meant them being potentially endangered as well. Either way, there should be a reason why animals are not present in their most fitting environment.

He found himself looking across the river, his sights trailing to the bridge. Somehow, crossing the bridge seemed like the only way to find answers. 

Someday, he will.

Author's Note
I sincerely apologize for the delay. It's the time of the school year where final projects are being assigned and due.
No, I'm not going on a hiatus because of this, but a delay of updates may occur. I hope you can bear with me in this period of time. ; ;