Minho’s still bestowing kisses on Kibum when the others arrive. He’s switched sides from the night before, head buried in Kibum’s neck, pressing kisses next to his adam’s apple. Kibum’s disappointed that their time is coming to an end, but he’s glad that the others are coming in so they can prepare for whatever lies ahead. Although he hears Jinki calling out for them from the door, he’s too breathless to answer, opting to wave at them instead. He hears Taemin groan and laughs. It makes Minho pause and look up. There’s a hazy look to his face, a smile creeping over as he sees the others make their way inside. He kisses Kibum twice more before getting out of the hammock. He reaches Jonghyun first, giving him the same two kiss treatment. Next is Jinki, followed by Taemin, who are each given a kiss on each cheek. The four of them look at each other, obviously equally confused, as Minho makes his way to one of the wells.

“How are you this morning, sprout?” Jinki ventures, walking up behind him.

“I know she sent you guys, give me a minute and I’ll answer as much of your questions as I can.”

He washes his face in the water, then goes and grabs an armful of oranges off the tree behind it. When he walks towards the stone tablet in the middle of the garden, the others follow. There’s only four stumps around it, so Jonghyun ends up sitting on Minho’s lap. Kibum feels a pang of jealousy as he watches Minho start kissing at his shoulder, but one look from Minho dissipates the feeling. They start peeling oranges as Minho starts to explain the situation.

“So, it’s obviously no secret we’re all influenced by the moon. I know you guys have like weird power surges and other things go on. But mine is a little different. Once a year, at one particular moon cycle, I go into what the lady and I call blooming period. It’s usually 4 days or so, but it can be longer or shorter depending on what time of year it falls in.”

“What do you guys mean ‘blooming period’? Aren’t you always in bloom?” Taemin asks, mouth full of fruit.

Minho laughs and buries his head into Jonghyun’s neck for a moment.

“Yes, but no. I can make anything bloom at any point in the year but I in particular only bloom once a year. Normally, the plants and I are in somewhat of a neutral energy cycle. The energy I take from them goes back into them. But during blooming, my energy greatly exceeds that of the plants. Everything becomes volatile and over-bloomed, in really weird ways.”

“So what does that mean for us?” Jinki asks.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had anyone around during one and I’ve never had one so near the solstice so I don’t know how hard it’s going to be.”

“Well, can you walk us through it? How it is for you? Maybe that’ll give us an idea.” Kibum suggests.

“Today is the first day. First days are normally fine, besides the feeling of knowing I’m going into it. Then there’s burning. And the burning goes on for a few days. Then there’s a sort of lull, that I can never really remember well. And then there’s rebuilding.”

“What do you mean burning?” Jonghyun asks, shifting around to face Minho. Minho’s face contorts with pain at the thought.

“I can’t really describe it, I’m sorry.”

“What about rebuilding?” Jinki tries.

“Something always happens and I have to fix the garden, but again, I don’t really know what it is.”

A silence falls between them all as they try to make sense of Minho’s words.  Minho’s face is buried in Jonghyun’s neck again; Jonghyun’s doing his best to stay quiet but a tiny whimper escapes him every now and again. Kibum feels jealous rising again until he sees Minho’s hand reaching for him. He takes it and he begins feeling the warmth and bliss from earlier; it’s an odd sensation, almost as if he’s enjoying the kisses Jonghyun’s now getting.He looks across the table and sees Jinki and Taemin watching the whole thing with equal amounts of confusion, intrigue, and disgust. Suddenly, Minho stops: he lets go of Kibum’s hand and moves Jonghyun enough that he can stand. He looks up towards the sky for a long time, at something the others can’t see, then goes and makes his way to the hammock. Even though it’s high noon, he gets in and is asleep before the others can ask what he’s doing. There’s a flash of light and the lady stands before them on the table.

“I see you’ve all made it. This sleep is the beginning of the blooming. He’ll sleep til tomorrow, so you’ll have a little bit of reprieve before things get...serious. Each of you will feel a call, and it’s imperative that you follow that call whether or not you understand what it means.”

“Is that all you can give us? If this is so important and dangerous, can’t you give us anything that will help?” Jonghyun asks. The others are vaguely shocked at his boldness; he was often the most timid around the lady. She seems to smile, then look to each person for a few moments, silently relaying information to each.

“There. You have your hint. Are you pleased?” she asks when she’s done. The four nod. She’s gone again before they can think of any other questions to ask. They sit in silence for a while, the only sounds coming from Minho moving in the hammock.

“So what did she tell you guys?” Taemin asks.

“I don’t know that we’re supposed to share,” Jinki says quietly.

“She said I’m...involved the second day -- so tomorrow -- and the fifth day.” Jonghyun offers.

“Me too,” Kibum says.

“I’m the fourth day,” Taemin says

“I’m the third day, which makes sense.” Jinki says.

Silence falls again. Kibum’s not sure what to think of the fact that he and Jonghyun are paired together, but he’s grateful that he won’t have to be alone in his tasks.

“We should prepare,” Jinki instructs, standing. “Jonghyun, Kibum, gather all the foodstuff that looks in any way ready. Put half of it on the table and bring half of it outside. When you’re done, Jonghyun, I want you to put out a call to all the wildlife that usually comes by and tell them not to dare; they’ll probably know already but just in case.. Taemin, give us some cloud cover. Not enough that the plants suffer, but enough that no ships think to come near. I’m going to put a ring around the island so anything that tries to ignore all the warnings get stuck.”

The other three nod and get busy with their assigned task. Kibum starts collecting fruit while Jonghyun turns into a puppy to dig up vegetables. Every once in a while, one of them go to check on Minho. The light in the garden starts to fade ever so slightly as Taemin pulls his clouds together. When he’s done, he comes in to the garden to help Jonghyun carry half the bounty outside.The three from the beach come back in after a while and the four of them sit down to eat again. The sun’s already setting so they start talking about sleeping arrangements: Kibum will join Minho again in the hammock, Jinki will sleep in the well, and Taemin will sleep in the same tree as Jonghyun’s nest. As they all make their way to their spots, they worry about the next day and the meaning of their tasks.