He might be reluctant to admit it but living in the lodge with the others was somehow comforting. Inseong can somewhat understand what Chani meant when he asked about them during their first meeting. The lodge being up here in the mountains meant escape for some of them. It meant a safe haven where they can be themselves, a temporary retreat from the reality of their lives - a little piece of utopia in the middle of their chaotic realities.

Inseong was surprised that after a week and a half, he and the others have fallen into some sort of routine. 

Mornings are the "adults" time. Inseong would usually jog around the house with Jaeyoon or Youngbin or if the weather's too cold, they would be spending an hour in the gym. At around 8-9 in the morning, Rowoon would usually be bustling away in the kitchen with Zuho. Those two are inseparable and their passion for cooking is amazing. 

The young ones of course, wake up the latest. You'll know when they're awake coz the noise is unbelievable - but that's probably just coz of Dawon.

Also, his tutorial with Chani in the afternoon's are going pretty well. Chani is actually pretty smart and he's the type to learn easily and Inseong is actually enjoying teaching him. Chani is always curious, asking him a lot of things even if at times it's just random. 

The idyllic life at the lodge was suddenly shaken one afternoon, when Chani didn't come to the library. Inseong was waiting for him for almost 30 minutes and, suddenly worried, he asked Hwiyoung about Chani. Hwiyoung shook his head and was about to answer when the door to the lodge opened and in barged a group of people. The one at the head of the group was wearing a white coat, a doctor, Inseong guessed.

The group barely gave them a glance and strode purposefully towards Chani's rooms. Inseong watched as they disappeared on top of the stairs then looked around helplessly. His eyes fell on Youngbin and Jaeyoon whispering quietly to each other. As if sensing him, the other two glanced his way then looked at each other. Inseong saw Jaeyoon nod before the other man left the room. 

Youngbin then walked towards him and stirred him back towards the library. There were a thousand questions flitting through Inseong's mind but everything was in a flurry that he had a hard time grasping onto one. 

Back in the library, Youngbin gestured for him to sit down but he shook his head. Whatever Youngbin has come to say to him, he felt that he would receive it better when standing. 

"You must have a lot of questions, Inseong-ssi," Youngbin started, pacing in front of him. 

"Yeah, yeah,i do.. for starters, what is really happening here?" he blurted out. 

Youngbin stopped pacing and looked out the window, a wistful expression on his face. "That... i can't really answer that. Even i don't know why i got invited here. All i know- rather- all i guess is that Chani needs something from each of us... that's why we're here," he replied. 

Inseong nodded. Asking questiong related to that would be pointless unless he asked Chani so he tried to go another way. 

"Those are doctors, right? Is Chani sick? if so, what kind of sickness?" Inseong asked.

Youngbin took a deep breath before facing him. "Yes. Chani is sick. As to what his sickness is, again, i can't answer that. There are a lot of things we don't know about - even Hwiyoung, who has known him for so long don't know the real score, just thatt-

A piercing scream broke through their conversation, although from inside the library, the sound was a bit muffled. 

"W-Was tha-.... What? Chani?" Inseong exclaimed. He was about to make a move towards the door when Youngbin grabbed his arm. 

"What are you doing? That's Chani, right? We have to go see him!" Inseong said, eyes imploring Youngbin to let him go. 

The other man just shook his head and tightened his grip. "It's normal. That's normal. Whenever the doctors come, that usually happens," he explained softly. 

"B-but... why?" Inseong asked. 

Youngbin was saved the trouble of explaining by the opening of the library door. Jaeyoon stood in the doorway, looking at them. Youngbin released his hold on Inseong and after muttering an apology, strode out of the room. 

Inseong saw the two of them exchange a meaningful glance as Youngbin exited. As soon as the other man left the room, Jaeyoon turned to him with a bright smile on his face. 

"Do you want to go for a walk?" he asked. 

Inseong shrugged. "Yeah, sure. whatever," he replied.

They were a few meters from the lodge when Jaeyoon finally spoke up. "I'm so sorry about Youngbin. He gets a little bit protective of Chani at times and well, he thinks of Chani as his little brother," 

"It's okay. I mean, I do understand him. Chani... he grows on you," Inseong replied with a soft smile. "So, Jaeyoon, can you tell me more about what happened inside? i mean, why did Chani shout like that...like he was in so much pain or something" he continued, grabbing the opportunity. 

"I'm sure Youngbin told you that Chani is sick?" he asked, to which Inseong nodded. 

"Well, to be very honest, and i do hope you believe me coz it's the truth, we don't have any idea on Chani's sickness!! We've all tried to wriggle out information out of him, even Hwiyoung but then, nothing really works.... he ignores the question or diverts our attention... it's frustrating really," Jaeyoon answered. 

"Really? Not one of you has any idea?" Inseong asked, a bit disbelieving. 

"Jinjja! we don't know anything," Jaeyoon replied. "And we were hoping that you would be the exception or something. You're smart, maybe you could decipher something.. like see his symptoms?" the other man continued in a hopeful tone. 

"Yah, i'm not... i don't know... i don't really know much about medical condition," Inseong replied. 

"But you can do it right? We only need to know what it is in order to be able to help Chani! He's been helping us a lot and this whole place. This whole place is one of my favorite places in the entire world!" Jaeyoon answered, gesturing a little bit wildly at the lodge. 

Inseong sighed. "okay, okay.. i'll try to look for something.. but i don't guarantee anything okay? i'll just see what i can do."

Jaeyoon smiled widely and casually placed his arm around Inseong's shoulders, "Yah! That's the spirit! i'll tell everyone that you agreed to do it!" he exclaimed. 

Inseong pushed him away playfully "Yah! So you were actually planning to make me agree on this scheme! Yah Lee Jaeyoon!" 

Jaeyoon just smiled and linked his arms with Inseong's. "Oh please, you are so dying of curiousity. everyone can see it. I just... pushed you a little," he replied. 

"I'll get you for this, you know," Inseong replied softly, looking at Jaeyoon's profile with a smile on his face.