A young pup dug vigorously at a patch of dirt, his nose coated in the brown soil. Tail wagging excitedly; he didn’t stop until he heard a call from his owner. The puppy hesitated, not wanting to stop his project. But his undying dedication to his master told him otherwise, and he bounded off into the distance. Under the ground, directly beneath where the puppy was digging was a small room. And in that room, well…

“Can we not do dance practise today?” Minho complained, stretching out his legs on the couch. “It’s not even a proper sport.”

“I’m tired and I miss my iPod.” Jonghyun leaned against Minho’s back, letting out a loud yawn.

“Oh shut up and stop your whining already.” Kibum crossed his arms firmly over his chest, watching the two boys sprawled over the couch in exhaustion. They’d only been in the vocal training room for 2 hours. He really didn’t see the need to be whining so early in the day.

“They do have a point though.” Jinki looked over to Luna, who was busy spinning with Taemin on their office chairs. The girl stopped to listen. “We’ve been practicing non-stop for three weeks. It would be nice to take a break.”

“This is the normal schedule for any idol.” Luna replied, crossing her legs. “If you want to win the Ongaku Awards, you’re going to have to work even harder than this. I’m just letting you take it easy since you’re new.”

“You call this taking it easy? The only rest we get is when we’re sleeping! And even then we’re awake before the sun.” Minho joined in.

“Well I’m sorry but it’s not like I have a choice. This is all up to the company.”

“Luna.” Jinki spoke softly, putting on his best grin. “Just think about it, okay? I’d really appreciate it.”

The blonde stared at him for a long minute, opening to reply when the door to the training room opened. Thinking it was the vocal trainer returning from lunch, everybody hurried to sit up straight. Instead, three familiar faces revealed themselves; the hosts from their first night at the ‘Party Time!’.

“Hello young ones!” Hongki greeted as he casually let himself in, the other two following close behind.

“Jieun, my love.” Luna stood up, running over to the girl the boys had previously known as ‘IU’. It wasn’t long until they found out the two girls were best friends, and Luna made sure to brag about it at any given chance.

“Luna, my heart.” Jieun took Luna’s hand in hers, and they shared a moment of melodramatic eye contact until Kevin clapped his hands, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Okay, so the three of us decided to pop by to see how you’re going. Luna’s been praising your hard work endlessly nowadays. It’s become a bit annoying, to be honest.” He grinned, his insult disregarded as he presents five silver tickets in the palm of his hand. “As a reward for your efforts and upcoming debut these… Are yours.”

“What are they?” Jinki asked.

“Why, they are your very own tickets to the amazing Moonlight Island!”

Naverland wasn’t only famous for its endless supply of attractive bands and tree houses. There were, in fact, numerous small islands connected to it. Moonlight Island was just one of many. The other islands ranged from beautiful to plain strange. A topsy-turvy world, planet of the apes; whatever you can think of. Luna’s favourite would have to be Moonlight Island, since she’d had quite a personal connection to it. Hence, she dragged the five boys to the island the very next day.

First of all, they needed to get there. It seemed that the boys were not yet accustomed to Ongakuland’s abstract ways, for when they gazed upon their mode of transport their faces were etched with disbelief. This, also, never failed to amuse Luna to no end.

“We’re riding on these?!” Kibum cried at the sight of the three large hot air balloons. After his last embarrassing experience with heights in this weird world, he had no plans on going in the air for a long time.

“I actually think it’s relatively normal, compared to everything else you’ve seen so far.” Luna nodded to herself while trying to hold back laughter. If they were spooked by something like a hot air balloon, boy were they going to have fun later in the year. The blonde headed towards the middle balloon and climbed into the basket, facing the group with a wide grin. “Anyone care to join me? It’s two per balloon.”

Jinki willingly raised his hand, flashing a grin bright enough to challenge the girl’s own. “I will!” Quickly he hurried over, claiming a place next to Luna in the basket.

“It looks so cool…” Taemin stared at the balloons with dreamy eyes, his adventurous side threatening to show. “Let’s go together, Kibu-“

His proposal was interrupted as Kibum was begrudgingly pulled by an excitable Jonghyun, who was yapping about the younger being too uptight about a little balloon. Sighing, the boy looked over at Minho; his obvious last choice of a partner for the ride. But he was already standing in the third basket by himself, waiting impatiently. Brushing off his annoyance, Taemin bounded into the basket. This was going to be so much fun!

“Hello hello! My name is Hyosung and I shall be your pilot today!” A cheerful girl stood before Luna and Jinki, her long purple hair draping over her shoulders. “Remember to remain within the basket at all times, and all kisses should be kept to an appropriate level. Single life is lonely!”

Luna, quite used to Hyosung’s jokes, merely chuckled, while the boy next to her failed to hide his light blush. “We’re… Uh… Not like that…” He managed a mumble. It was blatantly ignored by the two girls.

“Okay! Prepare for take-off in 10… 9… 8…” The three hot air balloons began to shake as each pilot counted down, the members waiting nervously. “3… 2… 1… Blast off!”

The balloons slowly lifted into the sky, abandoning the beloved ground below them. Up, up, they went until they were just underneath the clouds. Poor Kibum was nearly screaming at the long drop, while Taemin was gasping with joy. It was a breathtaking sight; Naverland completely visible from the sky, and if one were to look far enough they would see the Voyager in the horizon. A flock of peculiar-looking ducks flew by. Peculiar, because they had four wings and shiny, rainbow feathers that gleamed under the sun’s rays.

“Wait… Where’s the gas burner? How are we flying?” Jinki suddenly asked Hyosung, whose back was currently facing him.

“Oh? Gas burner? Who uses those old things anymore?” The girl with purple hair nearly laughed, stepping to the side to show a wooden steering wheel. It was similar to that of a pirate ships. “We steer these beauties like a plane these days. You must be really new, huh?”

“But… How…?” He sent Luna a confused look, not understanding how his science classes were suddenly becoming useless.

She gave him a playful wink in response. “Magic.”

Her attention was back out to the scenery surrounding them, looking out one of the sides with content. Silently, Jinki took the spot next to her and rested his hand next to hers. The calm breeze brushed their hair and tickled their faces. In the distance they could spot the other balloons, flying in the same direction.

After a long moment of peaceful silence, Jinki spoke softly as if in amazement. “This world is quite amazing, huh…”

“Yes, quite.”

The pair shared a grin, not noticing the metallic blue butterfly fluttering nearby and settling between their inch-apart hands.

Nearly half an hour passed before the balloons landed on Moonlight Island. It was surrounded in violet water which glistened in the moon’s white light. From here the moon was large and so close it felt as if you could almost touch it. The island was like a pretty garden with its decorations of white roses and stone seats, everything covered in some sort of vine or flower. There were people sitting here and there, chatting casually or taking photos of the glorious moon. Jinki felt a pang of nostalgia upon seeing the familiar island, not sure whether it was a good or bad or why he would feel such a thing. He quickly pushed the feeling aside, focusing instead on the view.

Once the pilots and passengers stepped out of their respective baskets, the balloons evaporated into thin air. Untroubled by this, Luna and Hyosung led the others to the middle of the small island. Taemin scuttled up to Jinki, whispering something into his ear and causing the both of them to erupt with laughter. At this, Minho sent them a threatening glare. Taemin simply grinned innocently, inwardly hoping he wouldn’t be murdered in his sleep. Kibum chatted away casually with his pilot, Sunhwa, about this and that as if he hadn’t met her less than an hour ago. Jonghyun followed close behind, taking his time to admire the atmosphere.

Soon they approached girl, her expression brightening at the guests. “Good evening! I am the Man on the Moon, your entertainment for the night. Feel free to take photos, but signatures will be an extra fifty--ow! Sunhwa!”

“Stop being abnormal, Zinger. You’ll make the guests uncomfortable.” Sunhwa joked, chuckling after giving the ‘Man on the Moon’ a friendly smack on the head.

Without SHINee realising, a crowd had grown around them. They were waiting for something, one girl even confessing her undying love for ‘Hyosung-unnie’. Luna naturally took a seat to the side, gesturing to the boys to sit with her. A circle had now gathered; all eyes on the three pilots and Zinger who were forming a line. They waved politely waved to everyone before music began to play, their bodies moving to the sweet tempo.

“Is breaking into song like, a tradition here or something?” Kibum watched the girls with judging eyes, half serious with his question. He was quickly hushed by Luna, who was intent on singing along to the song without any disturbances. Jinki and Jonghyun bobbed to the beat as the pretty girls performed, their smiles and aegyo cheering up the audience.

You’re my starlight, the starlight of my heart
You’re my moonlight, my precious moonlight
I only want to see you
You’re the person that shines for me

“Ah… Moonlight Island. The island of my first kiss.” Luna sighed, staring off at the moon’s large face. She was sitting with the boys and pilots, the performance finished only a few minutes ago.

“And your first boyfriend.” Hyosung smiled, her legs lying over the blonde’s.

“Weren’t they both different people?” Zinger piped, joining in.

“Yes. Although I was always fond of him. What happened to him?”

Luna was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable at the discussion, glad that the boys seemed to be tuned out. “Which him do you mean, Hyo?”

“Oh, you know. Him.”

“Him?”

“Him.”

“… Him?”

“Mmm, him.”

The girls pulled weird faces before laughing, the subject dropping much to Luna’s relief. They talked for a while longer, Luna sending the boys a pitiful look at their bored postures. Even Taemin had fallen fast asleep, curled in a ball as Kibum petted his head. She thought she could see affection in the diva’s eyes, which made her smile softly. Kibum had settled easily into a motherly role with the kid these past weeks.

“You know, if you boys are bored you’re allowed to go explore, sleep, whatever.” Luna spoke, softly enough to not awaken the sleeping boy. “This is your relaxation day, make use of it.”

With that, the members slowly got up and left to walk around the island. However, Kibum stayed and lay down next to Taemin. His eyes slowly closed as the moonlight served as his oddly warm blanket, his hand still lingering in the smaller boy’s hair. 

Hi, hello. Yes, I know this is completely, utterly, shamefully overdue. And because of you lovely subscribers who decided to stay, whether you simply forgot about the story or not, you deserve to know why I was away for so long.

At the beginning of the year I told I needed surgery. I have scoliosis, which is basically the curve of the spine. I had two curves, both reaching up to 50 degrees. Ouch. So basically, I had the surgery done, it was successful, and I've even started attending full days at school. I am sincerely sorry for this late update, and for disappointing you all. I hope you understand me. I was going through a lot of emotional exhaustion, and physical, because of the surgery, amongst other personal things I'd rather not bring up on the internet.

Thank you for being such lovely subscribers. I hope this chapter is good enough, and I'll be updating regularly soon. 

extra note- omf I actually had this up ages ago but didn't realise it was hidden. sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry sorry! ;;

<3