Dear eonnie,

Today… I really have mixed feelings about today.

It started of pretty worrying, because the first thing we did after reporting in school was to have a briefing. Teacher Myuk told us that this was the last training for the holidays, and after school starts, we can only have official training on Monday. And so, he said, this would be a very tough training to the extent that it’s “unimaginable”. Can you imagine how we felt during our 7 rounds? We took each step with dread and for the first time ever, we wished that the run was never ending.

Then, right after we finished, we were all blindfolded. We formed a straight line, shoulder-on-shoulder, with Jae Suk right in front (led by Teacher Myuk), and Jong Kook was at the back. We were sent up onto a bus. This was exactly how our training camp started, and I think everyone was so worried too. The bus ride had been awfully quiet as well.

And finally, we were led down. It felt like a long ride (but later it was revealed that it was just 45 minutes). 

And we were told to take off our blindfolds.

We were brought to a chalet! It was awfully sweet of the teachers! They booked a room for us. Teacher Im told us that it was a reward for training so hard throughout the holidays, and they apologised to us for making us worried.

Teacher Im: We really, really hoped that you enjoyed yourself this past month, even though it had been so tough on you. And we hope that through all these hardships you have gone through together, you will form close bonds with each other. It will be these close friends that will bring you through high school.

Indeed, throughout this holiday, I have made closer friends than I had for the past 16 years of my life. I am really glad that this happened.

It had been awesome! They prepared all sorts of board games, balloons, balls and even food. We had barbeque and pizza. It was an endless supply of food from lunch till dinner. The teachers busied themselves with barbequing the food. Sometimes, Jong Kook or Gary will take over. The three chatterbox kept themselves (and us) entertained by playing games. Kwang Soo will switch between joining Jong Kook and Gary, or the other three. I mainly watched them, as usual. Sometimes, when the teachers chased the two boys away from the barbeque pit and all 7 of us were together, we would sing or just play together. I really, really, felt like we were a family. And I wanted to spend all my celebrations with them. Of course, I would like to spend festive seasons with appa and eomma as well. But you know, the thing is, after you left, we never really celebrate anymore. And I am really glad to have these people around. What teacher Im said was true- it is them that will get me through high school.

However, at evening though, something happened.

Jae Suk received a call, and then he immediately panicked. I have never seen him in a panicky mode, not even during the team missions