Sunwoo had always loved to read books—comedy, drama, fiction, romance, tragedy, you name it. It was something he had grown fond of, and in some way it relaxed him. Though he liked reading, school wasn't really is forte, making almost every day a living hell, especially the last weeks of school.

The end of the semester was approaching, and so were the final projects and culminating due, along with the tiring exam week, making it almost impossible for him to sit and relax. He spent most of his free time cooped in his room, typing away on his computer with a pile of books right next to him. They weren't his usual books, only helpful, obligatory references and resources, something he disliked.

He hadn't been out in weeks, with the exception of school and the ocassional library trips, and he hadn't seen his friends since a few weeks ago. School wasn't an option to meet up with them, considering how he usually spent his free time finishing up the books he needed for his projects. It had been a while since he's spoken or even texted them. But that would change, hopefully, as soon as school is over and he has no more worries.

—

It's lunch hour, the only time Sunwoo is truly free from his studies. The only time he is able to read something he likes and relax for an entire hour. His friends know how important it is to him, reading that is, so they don't mind when he sends them a silent wave as he walks past them on his way to the library.

There's this book he likes to read, found in the school's library. He hasn't been able to take it home due to the fact that it is for in school use only, or else he might've finished it by now. He's tried looking for it at the public library, but it's not available they say, same with e-bay, amazon, and other sites as well. Everything turns out to be the same this is not a valid entry, or this item is not available for purchase. Sunwoo has given up on the possibility of owning it, besides, he can read it right here in the library.

He picks the book out of the fifth aisle, second column, and takes it over to one of the side tables near the window. He settles down, admires the cover. It's just a book, but there's something about it that is so much more intriguing. The cover is old and dusty, grey and torn up to the point that it's title is scraped off a bit. It says The Legend of the Garden, and looks something like this, only in gold letters:

The Legend of the                     Garden

Sunwoo has tried figuring out the words between, but nothing seemed to fit. Perhaps his theory of it being The Legend of the Forbidden Garden is the reason of his failure in finding the book. The complete title is a mystery, a mystery that captivates him more than any other. Everything about the book is so, so, perfect.

When he reads through those brown, wasted pages, Sunwoo feels himself being drawn out of reality, to a far away place. Unlike imagining the setting with words and sentences, he feels that he is somehow actually there, can almost smell the faint smell of roses and see the beautiful image of a... of a what? That's where his daydream always ends.

"Hey, Sunwoo!" Someone yelled, loud and clear in his ear. Sunwoo jumped in his seat, letting the book he was holding fall to the floor by accident. Gongchan chuckled, walking over to the vacant seat in front of him and taking a seat. The younger had always been a little on the annoying side of things, taking the title of the youngest very seriously.

"Still reading that thing?" He asked, eyeing the book he was reaching down to grab. Sunwoo rolled his eyes, placing the book on the table and crossing his arms. "Isn't that like a children's book or something?" He asked, raising his brows.

"No," the blonde replied, avoiding his friend's gaze. Sunwoo knew how Gongchan could get in these situations, knew how the younger liked to about liking books and 'nerdy' stuff as he liked to call it. But the youngest was almost right at something. It wasn't exactly an advanced book of some sort, but neither was it a children's book, it was more of a light fantasy novel? Sunwoo actually wasn't sure.

"Little brat being rude again?" Jinyoung appeared, ruffling the youngest's hair and receiving a smak in the stomach. "Stop bothering him, Chan. He's older than you, you know." The elder said, smoothly.

"Shut up."The black haired male replied. The only one able to tolerate the youngest's antics was Jinyoung, the second oldest of the group, mostly because Gongchan seemed to have a special liking towards him. It was only with the redhead that Gongchan would play and joke around with, treat him to lunch and actually help him out. They treated each other like brothers.

"I'm older than you, too." The redhead replied, taking a chair from the table next to them and placing it at their table to sit down. He sighed, eyeing both males with a smile. "So, where were we?"

"He's reading it again." Gongchan started, picking up the book and showing it to the elder with a bored look. Jinyoung took a look at it, flipped through the pages and placed it back on the table. He nodded, giving Sunwoo a playful smile.

"Behold! The legend!" Jinyoung teases, raising his hands and shaking them in the air. Gongchan laughed, imitating him with a smile.

"Come on, guys." Sunwoo groaned, tired of all the teasing he got from both of his friends. "I don't say anything about you guys." He pouted, looking up at Jinyoung in hopes of getting him to stop his teasing. He didn't even bother trying with Gongchan, who by the way was busy making faces at him.

"That's because there's nothing to say," Jinyoung replied, shaking his head a bit and enjoying the tired glare Sunwoo was giving him. He meant no harm by his teasing, unlike Gongchan who was busy eyeing the book with distaste.

"Now, back to the serious stuff." The redhead started, ignoring the younger's many actions at his right side. "Since we haven't seen you in like, weeks, we haven't been able to discuss our plans with you yet." He said, folding his hands on the table. For once, Gongchan stopped his his teasing to pay attention to him, while Sunwoo nodded his head.

"We've been wanting to go on a trip. Chan, Shinwoo, me, and possibly you. You know, go somewhere nice where we can hang out and stuff without worries or regulations. Since school is being quite the brain crusher, we thought it would be nice to plan a summer vacation once we're done with it."

"Where... exactly?" Sunwoo asked, unsure of the whole idea of going on a trip, alone with his friends for a few days. He wasn't one to enjoy going places or even leaving the house for that matter, so a vacation this lengthy with no 'regulations' would be quite the terror.

"Japan."

—

Once his friends had left, Sunwoo was able to breathe normally again. The idea of going to a foreign country for a two week vacation didn't sound appealing to him. It was too much for him, too much responsibility. Sure, a three day trip to the beach was fine, or a hike on a mountain for the weekend sounded good too, but definitely not camping on a mountain on another island. Sunwoo shivered. He didn't want to think about it.

With a sigh, he picked up the book Gongchan had so kindly left on the table and began to flip through it, trying to return to his page. He flipped through it once, twice, thrice, but the place he had left off was nowhere to be found. He was positive it was around here somewhere. Unfortunately, the bell rang before he had the chance to actually find his place. Sighing, Sunwoo walked over to the shelf and placed the book back before walking back to class.

—

"Come on, Sunwoo." Gonchan whined as he tugged at his sleeve in order to get him to move from the bookshelf he had been looking through for the past hour. "It's not there. Why don't you just get that already?" The younger said, pulling his arm.

"But that can't be," he started, skimming through the books in attempt of finding the one he had been reading for the past weeks. "It can't just disappear like that." He pouted, heaving a sigh as Gongchan began to take him away. "I didn't even finish reading it."

Ever since the day his friends had gone to talk to him at the library, Sunwoo had found it impossible to find the book again. Every single time he looked for it, the book was magically gone. There was only a week left of classes, and he had wanted to finish the book before summer vacation. Unfortunately, his wish was left incomplete.

"I'm sure you can read it next year." Gongchan said in attempts of comforting him, seeing how down Sunwoo had been after yet another day of failure. Yes, the younger was a bit of a brat sometimes, but he still loved and cherished him like any other friend. Seeing him sad made his mood go down as well, so he tried his best to cheer him up.

Soon school ended, and Sunwoo was never able to see the book again.

—

The airport was crowded, filled with noise along with thousands of flashing lights all around them. Sunwoo was nervous—a bit terrified about having to walk throughout the large place without the actual protection of someone older than him, someone much older then him for that matter. The only times he felt safe was with the company of his parents, not Shinwoo, the 19 year-old guy who is also his friend. Even though he trusted him a bit more than the others, his age and their relationship didn't help when it came to serious matters like these.

Trailing behind the group of three, Sunwoo held his luggage tightly in his sweaty, clamped hand, keeping his gaze down in fear of completely panicking just by the sight of other people looking at him. He bites the nails of his free hand, and picks at the skin around it, somehow finding a bit calming in the circumstance.

He covers his hand with his sweater, buries his neck and part of his head inside his hoodie, not wanting to completely cover his side view in case of someone approaching him. It's been a while since he's been at an airport—a very busy one at that—and he's not too sure about his choice of coming along. Sure, the trip would be fun and all, considering that it's just him and his friends, but his own anxiety is clawing at him with every step he takes.

"Sunwoo," Jinyoung says, stopping in his tracks. Sunwoo looks up, eyes wide and a bit glossy, still biting at his fingers like his sanity depended on it. "You okay there?"

He lets out a breathy 'yeah,' along with a small nod. The redhead just nods, turns around and begins to walk again. Sunwoo, closes his eyes, tries to be true to his word of not panicking and putting his friends in a rather embarrassing situation like the time he broke down crying in a way too busy shopping mall when he was fourteen. It's been a while since that has happened, and even though he probably should be over it, he knows he can't because that's just how he is.

The group of friends stop to drop their luggage, Jinyoung going first just because other people don't want to. As the suitcases are being weighed, Sunwoo take a seat to regain his own breath and calm himself down. His heart is beating, pounding against his fear his starting to get the best of him. Then a warm hand rests against his shoulder—presses down the soft fabric of his hoodie, and just stays there trying to assure him that everything would be okay.

When it's his turn, Sunwoo is pretty much calm and back to normal again. All that's left is the flight and the train ride, but that can't be too bad, right?

—

He feels dizzy. So, so, dizzy compared to how he was a few minutes ago. Their flight landed almost an hour ago, and they're already on the train towards their destination. Despite being okay for the plane ride, Sunwoo can't help but to clutch onto his stomach and digs his nails into his skin.

"Sit down," his friends say as they get onto the train. They push him to sit down, calm down his intense breathing. He was okay up until a few minutes ago, but suddenly the different air and strange surroundings have taken a toll on him. Just as the dizziness begins to wear off, he suddenly feels tired, too tired to keep his eyes open, and he falls asleep against Shinwoo's broad shoulder.

Sunwoo wakes up, covered in a light cap of sweat, breathing heavily. He rubs at his eyes, tugs at his hair, and groans into his hands. What happened? He thinks, setting his hands to his sides, gripping the sheets. He blinks, feels the soft fabric against his fingers and sits straight up. He looks around, eyes darting towards the three walls he can see and the ceiling above, trying to find where he's at. This is definitely not home.

He hears a bunch of laughter coming from outside, a faint ring in his ears. He walks towards the door, feet trembling as he takes each step. His heart is pounding against his chest, and his breath hitches. If this isn't his home, then where is he?

"Oh, you're awake." Gongchan's voice snaps him out of his panicked state. He turns over to his right only to see his friends sitting in the living room—or what he assumes to be the living room—with a bunch of snacks on the mid-table. He has to blink a bit before realizing that he's not home but on a vacation with his friends. "You okay, now?"

"Yeah," he breathes out as he nods. "I'm fine, thanks."

"Come join us, then!" Jinyoung cheers, patting the spot next to him. Sunwoo wants to laugh, but the previous events make it sound more like a wheeze.

Then he's on the couch, feet perched up on the cushion as he hugs his knees. Even though he's settled down from his earlier panic, something still bothering him—distracting him from reality and shutting him out.

"Here," Jinyoung says, handing him an open canned drink. He takes it into his hands, looks down at it and takes a sip. It takes a moment for him to realize what he just drank, and when he does, he almost spits out but swallows and coughs instead. Gongchan snickers at the side, holds onto his own can of not a bad drink, along with his phone cradled behind it as if covered by the drink.

"What is this?" He spits out, face red and still coughing his guts out.

"Uhh..." Jinyoung starts, taking the can from his hands and reading the label. "Pepsi salty watermelon?" Then he just stares, turns his gaze towards the youngest who is still laughing at the side with his phone replaying the video he just took. "You said it was a regular soda, you doof!"

Both males start laughing, fighting, yelling at each other in a playful manner. Jinyoung forcing Gongchan to drink the strange liquid, while the younger squirms and turns his head trying to avoide the punishment.

"Here, take this." Shinwoo hands him a bottle, which he eyes very suspiciously. "It's just water, I promise." He nods, unscrewing the cap and taking a sip. It is just water, so he continues to drink.

"What happened?" He asks, setting the bottle on the table.

"You kind of passed out against me," the eldest explains, ignoring the sounds of Gongchan coughing and Jinyoung laughing at the side. "Since you didn't wake up, we just carried you around when we got off the train. Jinyoung and Chan took care of you while I went to rent a car so we could drive up here, to make sure that nothing happened to you, obviously."

"Thanks." Sunwoo said, eyeing the clock on the wall. It marked 8:47, which meant that he had been asleep for the past 6 hours.

"You should get some rest." Shinwoo said, beginning to pick up the trash, earning a glare from Sunwoo. "I mean, we're going hiking tomorrow, so you probably need to rest while you can."

Sunwoo nods, begins to get up and help Shinwoo clean up.

"Woo, you're staying with Shinwoo by the way." Jinyoung pipes up from his spot next to Gongchan. "Shinwoo snores too loudly, and Chan can't sleep when there's too much noise. You seem to be the only one that can sleep through that kind of environment around here." The redhead snickers, earning a 'nice one' from Gongchan, who fist bumps with him.

When they're lying in bed, after cleaning up and getting ready to sleep, Sunwoo turns towards Shinwoo and taps him on the shoulder. The moonlight enters through the window, outlining the eldest's features.

"Hmm?" Shinwoo hums, stirring a bit in his side of the bed.

"Hyung, can I ask you something?" Sunwoo whispers, resting on his side. The eldest grunts. Sunwoo thinks about the dream he had earlier when he passed out. Was that part of the book? Was he dreaming about the book—about the legend?

"Do you believe in legends?"

"I don't know, actually. Why don't we talk about this tomorrow, okay?" Shinwoo whispers, voice low and tired.

"Okay. Night then." And then he falls asleep.

—