I stared up at the wiry metal structure and shook my head in disbelief at the bustling crowds of tourists surrounding it. ‘It’s 1pm. What now?’

‘Honestly, I thought finding this loner would be much simpler. I didn’t realise the museum was this popular…there has to be a thousand people in this area alone.’

‘I told you this was a stupid idea.’

‘It is stupid, but we can’t give up yet. Maybe something drastic will occur at exactly 1:12pm. Let’s just wait for a few minutes’, Kris replied, his eyes continuously flicking from face to face, searching for answers.

An almost inaudible sigh seeped through my lips and I strolled closer to the structure, examining its sparkling splendour at closer proximity. My fingers brushed lightly against its surface and I jumped, startled at how cool it felt against my overheated skin. Weary and discouraged, I took a step forward to rest my head against one of the smooth protruding poles, my eyes closing.

For a moment I stood there, frozen and relaxed. I blocked out the mixture of strange, foreign voices and pointless conversations and was left listening to the soothing sounds of even breathing. After a few seconds of consideration, I realised that there were two sets of breathing combined; mine and a stranger dangling above me. Cautiously, I moved back with slow, deliberate steps and craned my neck to gaze up at the figure. I caught the glimpse of a cheeky smile before the man vanished into thin air like a puff of smoke.

A firm hand grasped my shoulder. ‘Are you okay, Junmyeon? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.’

‘I could have sworn someone was just…’

Kris bent forward and cocked an eyebrow, waiting for me to continue. Words were stuck in my throat as I stared, completely dumbfounded, up at the figure as he materialised once more. He was gliding, moving across a thin beam atop the structure with complete ease and a cocky smirk plastered across his face. Though he was quite far above me, I could surely deduct that he was handsome, with dark caramel hair fluttering across light cinnamon skin. From that distance, his legs seemed to stretch out for miles, making it evident that his height stood somewhere in between my tininess and Kris’ abnormal elevation. Catching my eye, he waved enthusiastically and pounced off the beam, before disappearing once more.

I blinked once and suddenly, he was sitting at the base of the structure with a sketchpad and pencil in hand. When I gawked at him, mouth agape in shock and eyebrows risen so far they almost met my hairline, he simply tilted his head in a peculiarly innocent fashion. We stared intently at one another for a moment, before he dropped his head and his hand began to move fluently in a pattern of flicks, loops and dots. The page opened on his lap was immediately filled with pencil markings, which as I leaned in closer with pure fascination, slowly merged together to form an unfamiliar face. Signed at the bottom in boyish script, was; ‘In 48 hours, the pearl of the Red Sea will pull into the port.’

‘Well I’ll be damned’, Kris whispered incredulously, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he spun to face me, ‘Junmyeon, we found him! We found the lonely figure! This is it…the next clue!’

The younger man cleared his throat and stood, towering just a little above me. ‘I’ll have you know, that the person who sent that text message is an and I’m not all that lonely. My name is Jongin and I have plenty of friends!’

‘I’m Junmyeon and this is Kris’, I responded softly, gesturing to myself and then pointing at his sketch, ‘and, not to pry or anything, but is that guy one your friends?’

‘Nope, but he’s meant to be the next to accompany us on this expedition.’

Kris scratched his chin, undoubtedly confused by the millions of questions running through his mind. ‘Us? Expedition? What exactly have we signed ourselves up for?’

‘I got a text a few days ago from a blocked number and I’m not exactly naive or anything, but I’m always up for an adventure. It seems as though we’re being sent on some wild goose chase, but I can’t be sure until we’ve found the next guy. He might have received a text with more answers.’

Jongin held out his phone and tapped the screen, where a bright display of small text flashed in front of my eyes.

[Blocked Number] 11:25pm

Feeling lonely? New friends will be waiting at your favourite spot at 1:12pm in a week’s time.

[Blocked Number] 1:12pm

In 48 hours, the pearl of the Red Sea will pull into the port.

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‘I was hoping my new friends’, Jongin started, first ruffling my hair and then poking Kris’ broad chest, ‘could figure out what the second text means. I understood pretty quickly that this was the place I was meant to meet you, but I’m not one for deconstructing riddles.’

‘If you look at the text metaphorically, it’s obvious that the sender is referring to this boy being the pearl. When I think about the Red Sea in a literal manner, my thoughts float to Duba in Saudi Arabia. It is referred to as the pearl of the Red Sea’, I explained as I absentmindedly neatened my hair.

Kris punched me playfully in the shoulder, making me stumble into Jongin’s arms. ‘I knew I brought you along for a reason!’

My simply ambiguous statement found me standing in the airport only a few hours later waiting for my plane to Saudi Arabia. Kris snored noisily, resting against the window, undisturbed by the countless planes landing and taking off. Jongin knelt beside him, smooth hands pressed against the glass as he surveyed his surroundings excitedly like a small child. I didn’t know much about him, but his natural innocence made me smile softly.

I dropped my backpack on the floor and sat beside him. ‘Jongin, how did you…move around like you did earlier?’

‘I teleported’, he responded casually, shuffling to face me.

‘You say that like it’s a normal thing.’

‘Don’t look so surprised. You’re not normal either.’

My eyes widened incredulously. ‘How did you…’

‘When we were walking to the airport there was a puddle and Kris was about to obliviously walk straight through it, but with a single, subtle flick of your wrist, the water somehow managed to seep away.’

I grinned and wrapped an arm around the junior’s neck, pulling him in and causing him to chuckle sweetly. ‘Don’t tell Kris I did that for him, or he’ll make fun of me for the rest of our lives.’