Wonwoo jolted awake, heaving himself up.

Again. It was the same dream over and over. It would start with him running in some kind of outdoor setting feeling panicked, then he would feel a fleet of hope penting inside of him. He would then become tacked down to the ground, overwhelmed with pain until he woke up. Wonwoo never got to dream past that. It was the same sequence on repeat.

But because of that, he noticed a few things he missed.

The dim light of sunrise seeped through the glass panes of the door. Wonwoo reached under his bed for the crate, picking up the notebook and the pencil. Flipping it open, he reviewed the notes he jotted down. 

No animals in the vicinity but bugs, confirmed by Mingyu. Animals might not like this place because of a dangerous factor. Environmental factors may have specifically harmed animals and strangely not the rest of the ecosystem. It's possible we're in an artificial environment. 

The same dream, I realize it seemed to take place in an outdoor setting. Leaves were everywhere in the ground and I stepped on roots while running, also felt them when I got tackled. Likely it was in a forest.

Nails digging into the skin were long, attacker felt skinny but still aggressive despite weight. A girl? I don't know. 

Person who helped me up after I tripped wasn't present for the rest of the dream. No comment so far.

Wonwoo stared out the window panes and put away his notebook, wrapping his blanket around him and putting on his slippers. He stepped out the shack and took the cool early morning air in. Nobody was up yet but one, sitting at the edge of water with his back turned was Jihoon. Wonwoo tread his way towards the side of the river, removing his slippers and dipping his feet into the water beside Jihoon. "Good morning," Wonwoo drowzily greeted, voice gruff from just having woken up. Jihoon greeted him back, admiring the water as it flowed past his feet. 

The two shared a silence in content, enjoying the clear and quiet morning. They had the time and space to deal with their own thoughts with no interruption. Wonwoo looked beyond the river and into the forest. The leaves were still, somehow making the forest slightly ominous. But perhaps it was only because of his dream. It was trees beyond the trees, but Wonwoo wanted to hope to find something more.

"So," Jihoon spoke, "why are you up so early?" Wonwoo casually answered, "A dream woke me up, that's all." He then looked at Jihoon, "How about you? I heard from someone you don't wake up on your own." Jihoon let up a sleepy smile when he heard the thought, "That's true." He rested his palms behind him and leaned back, "I haven't been sleeping well, but it'll pass."

Wonwoo could only nod, distracting himself by moving his feet around due to the lack of his response.

He could imagine how restless one could be being stuck in the same place with the same people.

Before the silence could prolong, Wonwoo popped up another question, "Do you think we can stay in this place like how we are now?" Jihoon sighed out, "I don't know, but I don't want us to stay here either." He stretched his legs out and splashed water around with his feet, "I have a feeling something's bound to happen anyway. We can't just be receiving another guy every month for the rest of our lives."

Wonwoo realized he wasn't the only one who was worried. Maybe Seungcheol was also trying to find answers, though perhaps he didn't want everyone stressed over the matter. Though it was unspoken, their future in this village was lurking in the back of the everyone's minds. But with them being trapped, they have no choice but to live in the present. 

"Do you have any ideas about this place?" He was curious as to what Jihoon had thought up in the months living in the village, "When did you arrive?" Jihoon didn't take long to answer, "A year ago. I came here second after Seungcheol."

The sky had gradually brightened, pushing out the greens and golds from the sky and illuminating the day with a washed out blue. Jihoon continued while he looked up to the sky, "This place is obviously not what it appears to be, but there's nothing we can do about it right now when we can't even find a way to get away from this village." The boy separated his feet from the water, flicking droplets off before he stood and wore his slippers.

"You want to start making breakfast for everyone with me?" Jihoon suggested. "Alright, why not?" Wonwoo agreed.

The two ended up cooking sausages and pancakes. Chan had woken up early and helped set the tables up with the plates and utensils.

Wonwoo had realized that Jihoon had slightly dodged his question a while back, giving none of his ideas to what this place was. It didn't matter too much anyway. What Wonwoo saw of this place was likely what Jihoon also formed his ideas from, so it was likely that their ideas didn't differ from the other.

Jeonghan and Jisoo walked into the kitchen, greeting the three boys a good morning the moment they spotted them. "Wow, Jihoon actually cooked something for us!" Jeonghan clapped, raising his voice just loud enough to be heard outside. "Wow, Jihoon actually got up before us!" Jisoo joined in with the applause, causing the targeted boy to shoot his stare across the room to them. "It's not that big of a deal," Jihoon defended, but Chan knew otherwise. "Huh? What do you mean?" The younger of the boys popped in, "Most of the time you ignore there's a chore needed to be done and wait for somebody else to do it." Jihoon's lips curled into a sly smile, "I don't know what you're talking about." Chan could only shake his head and took a seat in defeat.

Everybody else eventually made their way to the kitchen and squished into the dining area. Mingyu had somehow gravitated towards Wonwoo and sat near him again, casually taking more sausages than the fair share. Everybody seemed to notice as they watched him pick up the sausages and eyed his plate. Minghao tilted his head over to Mingyu who sat at his left as he deadpanned, "If it weren't for the tree consistently giving us food I'm sure we would have died of starvation by now." To that, Mingyu stopped chewing his food and blinked at Minghao. He could only muster up a crumpled smile, resuming to happily chew his food while looking at Minghao straight in the eye in an act of playful spite. He received a quick smack behind the shoulder from Minghao for the gesture.

Wonwoo and Junhui shook their heads watching their shenanigans, continuing to chew the rice and sausages in their mouth. Seungcheol took the initiative of sitting at their table again to Wonwoo's right, "Who cooked breakfast anyway? I assigned Seungkwan and Hansol to do it last night but I already smelled food before they got up." Seungcheol expectantly looked at his tablemates for an answer, Wonwoo nodded his head towards Jihoon who sat at the neighbouring table, "Jihoon woke up early, so he decided to cook for us. I just helped out." Seungcheol raised his eyebrows in disbelief and impression, looking over to his friend and visibly chewing his food faster to let himself speak. "The sun rose from the west today," Seungcheol jokingly declared.

Everybody finished breakfast and started clearing up, stacking up all their plates on the table for the assigned dishwasher to do. Apparently, that was Chan. "This isn't fair," he lifted a stack of plates onto a cheap trolley, "I set up the table already and I still have to do the dishes?" Slowly, Soonyoung added his plate onto the stack, "You're the best, Chan!" The younger one thought otherwise, "You guys are the worst." Hansol passed by the trolley, placing another stack of plates onto the surface, "I'll help you out." Chan looked at Soonyoung as he was leaving the shack, "Only Hansol loves me!"

Jeonghan ruffled Chan's hair and teased, "You're our baby, you have to grow up well." Chan only grumbled at that, strolling the trolley outside with Hansol closely following by.

Everybody began gathering by the river again, collecting all their dirty clothes into sorted piles. It was the end of another week, meaning that it was laundry day again. Chan pushed the trolley next to the river, grabbing a tub that someone had already set out and filled it with river water. "Do you want more help, Chan?" Mingyu grabbed the dish soap bottle from the trolley, drizzling it into the tub as Chan set it down. "If it's you, no." Mingyu faked his hurt feelings, putting a hand over his chest. Soonyoung popped in, wrapping his arm around Wonwoo and vouched for Chan, "Mingyu lost a few plates when he washed them in the river. He thought it was a good idea washing it there instead of in the tub."

Mingyu was guilty as charged, grinning sheepishly as he got his own tub and swooped it into the river. "Didn't you lose a tub while fetching water too?" Chan teasingly recalled. Mingyu gaped and put the tub aside, "Since when?!" Chan pointed at him with the sponge in his hand, "Just a few months ago!" The accused sat still on the stepping stool as he struggled to remember, "I really don't remember, though?" Chan looked up from the dish he was washing and insisted, "It was you!" Even Soonyoung failed to remember. Wonwoo became curious over the matter, then Soonyoung hitched a laugh and revealed, "That was Seokmin!"

Hansol and Mingyu pointed at the accuser and began laughing. Soonyoung still held on to Wonwoo as he crouched over laughing, dragging him down with his weight. Wonwoo grinned as he watched Chan with a bewildered expression as he tried defending himself from Hansol and Mingyu, both who had grabbed hold of his shoulders and aggressively rock him around in his spot. Seokmin jogged over as heard his name among the ruckus, "I heard my name, what?" Wonwoo took a stool and sat by the tub Mingyu had filled up, grabbing a nearby detergent bottle and eyeballing the amount to dump. After whisking the soap around with his hand, he got to work.

"And that's the last of ours." Wonwoo hung their final shirt from their pile over the drying rack. Mingyu stretched and looked up to the sky, "It's so nice out!" Wonwoo retorted as he turned around, "Like it always is." The boy in front of him blinked and admitted, "True."

The sky was spotless, coloured with a gradient blue. The river's surface glimmered lightly. There was no breeze blowing, but the day was warm enough for their liking.

Mingyu began talking about his plans for the day. Wonwoo only half-listened, admiring the scene around them. He found himself landing his sights back on the sturdy wooden bridge that spanned several meters across the river, almost taunting him to cross it. Everything seemed to deafen around him as he stared longingly over the bridge.

He could try. Maybe this time, the bridge wouldn't be torn down like the others have said. The only bad thing that could come from it was that he may get minor injuries from the bridge being torn down. Possibly a splinter or a sprained ankle. It was nothing that could kill him unless he fell into the river and magically forgot how to swim.

In fact, he didn't know if he could actually swim. He hadn't tested it out yet.

But at least the guys are nearby so they could save his if needed.

'Screw it.'

"Wonwoo?" Mingyu got startled as Wonwoo sprinted away from him, and as he looked ahead, he realized where he was headed to. "Wonwoo, don't!" He yelled after him as he tried to catch up. It was futile, he got a headstart. Wonwoo's heart began beating harder as he landed his first step onto the bridge. He could hear the rest of the boys yelling after him as they realized the situation. He forced his hesitance in the back of his mind, taking one stride after the other. He heard his feet drum against the wood, allowing a foreign yet satisfying feeling rush through him. Unbelievably, he was almost there. He feared that the river would finally react, but the adrenaline pushed him further. Further and further, until.. 

He made it to the other side. 

Wonwoo turned around and placed his hands on his knees, panting from the lack of breath. He stood straight up and looked across the bridge. Though they were some distance away, he was still close enough to see their faces. All of them had been gathered at the other end of the bridge, gobsmacked over what he accomplished. Wonwoo let out a short laugh as he saw each one of their priceless faces. 

The sun indeed rose from the west that day.