In the midst of caffeine-induced papers that are due the next day, complete with dilating pupils, watery eyes, shaking fingers, and an unnatural heartrate, Seungwan greets her friends with a trembling, “Good morning.”

 

“Seungwan, you sound terrible,” her redhead friend, Sooyoung, twists her lips to form a frown, evidently unimpressed with her current state.

 

(She couldn’t blame her; she is dressed sadly with a battered oversized pink shirt and neon pajama pants that look like they have seen much better days, and her terribly messy hair is tied into a terribly messier bun. If it was any other day, Seungwan would be unimpressed by herself as well.)

 

“When was the last time you even slept?” Joohyun appears behind her, giving her a quick peck on the cheek before spoiling her shoulders with a much-needed massage. (Definitely overworked. Joohyun keeps mumbling about how unbelievably stiff she is.)

 

“Can’t remember,” she grouches, finishing a sentence with a heavy click of the period button on the laptop as if she can finish her school year along with it. She wishes.

 

“She slept for about 30 minutes two days ago, then a 10-minute power nap yesterday,” her roommate, Seulgi, answers. She is holding books and handouts as she walks towards them, no doubt reference material for her own assignment. She shoves Seungwan to the side, making room for herself on the couch.

 

“Where’s the food?” Yerim combs through their apartment refrigerator without any shame. It’s a tad bit accepted, seeing as the girl frequently donated food for them. Her and Sooyoung both. “How are you guys surviving?”

 

Seulgi laughs audibly before pausing, furrowing her brows in an attempt to look serious. Well, as serious as someone like Seulgi possibly can. “We’re not.”

 

Sooyoung picks up a shirt on the couch and looks at it with disgust. “Obviously.” She tosses it to one side, not even bothering to ask whose it was.

 

Being the most responsible one, Joohyun claps her hands with a sigh. For some reason, the friend group always find themselves listening to the raven-haired girl whenever she does that. “Come on, guys. We’re supposed to be planning our thesis right now.”

 

“Right,” Seungwan closes her laptop after paraphrasing another lengthy paragraph about the Aztecs. She debates throwing it out of the window, with her body following a good second after.

 

Seulgi gives her a sympathetic pat on the knee.

 

Yerim twirls a lock of her blonde hair around her finger, already looking bored. Either that, or tired. Seungwan couldn’t blame her—it’s 2 am, and no doubt she had also pulled an all nighter judging from the bags under her eyes and the constantly tapping fingers that had always been her way of keeping herself awake. “So…”

 

(She briefly remembers the time when the three of them decided to dye their hair just for fun. They all started as brunettes, and it was a success after a very messy session with hair dye and quite an amount of alcohol—to which Seulgi gaped at when she got home the next morning. Sooyoung with red, Yerim going blonde, and Seungwan herself deciding with a lighter shade of brown with a blonde ombre. Good times.)

 

Seungwan rubs her face tiredly.  “I don’t think this is a good time to think about what our thesis topic would be. We’re all tired, and I have to go home at 7.”

 

“What’s the rush?” Sooyoung raises a brow at her curiously.

 

She her lips before answering, feeling the hollowness in her chest as the memory plays back in her head.

 

~o~

 

“Yeah?” she answered her phone as soon as class ended. Her mother had left her 12 missed calls, and you’d be stupid enough not to get anxiety from reading that off your screen.

 

“Seungwan,” her mother was sobbing, and it was such a shock to hear it from her. Her mother was always the strong one, and in her life, Seungwan had only seen her cry twice. Now was the third time—after several years—and it only meant the worst.

 

“What happened?” She felt her heart dropping, felt herself stop in the middle of the corridor, felt the students try to shove her away as a crowd surged towards her. “Mom?”

 

“Your grandfather…”

 

She ran to the infirmary, feeling lightheaded. “Joohyun,” she gasped as she fell into the girl’s arms. She knew she was there—or maybe she didn’t really know; just hoped that she was there while everything inside her broke to pieces. “I’m—”

 

“Seungwan, it’s okay. I’m here.” Joohyun helped her to a bed, and Seungwan cried as she clutched to the familiar purple sweater like a lifeline she desperately needed. The former’s strawberry scent and soft heartbeat were always a go-to place whenever Seungwan was feeling too much or too little.

 

Seungwan had always been close with her grandfather—his stories about myths, legends, old whispers, and even of his own adventures on the job became her childhood. It was the reason why she wanted to be an archaeologist in the first place—she idolized her grandfather so much that she wanted to be like him.

 

Joohyun held Seungwan as hurt, unable to produce any sound other than raspy whimpers. She felt the shivering of her body as she tried to suppress her sobs, until slowly, she became too tired to open her eyes. “I’m sorry, Seungwan. He meant a lot to you,” the other girl cooed, her hair as if she was a wounded bird.

 

In a way, she was. And time had cut off one of her wings.

 

~o~

 

“My grandfather… passed away.” Saying the words, it still feels unreal. It was just a week ago when she last went home to celebrate her cousin’s birthday. He was so active then…

 

The apartment is silent. Joohyun holds her hand, and soon the other three surround her, wrapping her in a tight group hug that makes her heart swell, threatens her tears to fall again.

 

“We’re sorry,” Seulgi sniffs, obviously trying to keep her voice steady.

 

“Do you want us to come with you?” Sooyoung wipes her tears away.

 

Yerim couldn’t even talk, just hugging tightly. Seungwan can feel the girl snivel.

 

Seungwan wants to cry alongside them, but there’s nothing left to shed. “That’d be nice.”

 

 

~o~

 

Seungwan is glad it’s a long weekend. University can be a pain in the most of the time, and she definitely needed a break. Never mind the boxes she’s now tasked to clean and bring down from the attic, dragging her friends along with her.

 

Yerim whines, “Why are we doing this again?”

 

“I told you, Mom wants us to clean the attic so we can, I quote her, “stretch our legs”.” Seungwan huffs as she raises a heavy load before passing it to a smirking Sooyoung.

 

“There’s not much to stretch for you guys,” she snickers, narrowly missing a kick from Joohyun, who is beside her wiping an antique looking vase.

 

“Don’t tease them for being bite-sized, Syoung!” Seulgi laughs alongside the redhead, this time earning a threatening glare from Yerim. No doubt the blonde is already thinking of pranks to pull against the teasing couple.

 

Seungwan chuckles, feeling really grateful that her friends are with her. Through each other’s ups and downs, they’ve always been together.

 

She loves them a lot.

 

While she was about to stop the stupid grin that was forming on her lips, she notices a thick journal from one of the shelves. She recognizes it as the one her grandfather used to keep. It has been a while since she last saw that leather-bound notebook, and she couldn’t help but get curious about it.

 

While the other four are busy, Seungwan crouches down to pick up the journal. It’s as worn-out as she remembers, and the memory of her childhood makes her smile again.

 

She misses him.

 

She vaguely remembers what was on the journal—notes, coordinates, drawings, stories. A photo or two, she thinks, recalling that those were what her grandfather used as bookmarks.

 

When she unties the fragile-looking bind and opens the journal, she gasps out loud— first at the beautiful handwriting, followed by the detailed and colored landscapes. There are sketches of relics, masks, and even ruins. Cutouts of newspaper articles are taped beside paragraphs alongside portraits of so many people hailing from different ethnicities. They were done so beautifully that Seungwan feels like she’s committing a crime just by looking at them.

 

It’s like a story book, this journal. Her family’s version of Disney, except the journal told the real stories. The ones that didn’t end up with happy endings and more of life lessons.

 

She flips through the pages, feeling nostalgic until she stops at one curiously written tale. It’s about the Fountain of Youth and its histories. Ponce de Leon’s name is scribbled out angrily beside a drawing of what looked like a cave and a waterfall. Seungwan reads through it until a brown paper falls off from between the pages.

 

Weird enough, it’s a map. A really, really old one; and, despite the age, the ink still looks fine and readable.

 

Seungwan was about to scrutinize the map when Yerim calls her down for lunch. “Seungwan! Food’s getting cold!”

 

She sticks the paper back between the pages, closes the journal, and ties it up firmly. She decides to bring the journal back to the apartment so she and her friends can talk about it. Maybe they’d find a good topic to write about from her grandfather’s notes.

 

~o~

 

“Seungwan! This is amazing!” Sooyoung exclaims, slamming her hands on the table. “The information here is easier to understand than the monotonous textbook we have. And you say it’s your grandfather’s?”

 

Seungwan nods, cross-referencing from several other books around them.

 

They had returned to the apartment, and the moment she had mentioned the journal, the other four just went ballistic and demanded they look into it immediately.

 

(Guess everyone’s sleeping at their place tonight.)

 

Seulgi pauses while scanning one of the drawings, suddenly jumping towards them with an expression of glee on her face. “Guys!”

 

Yerim throws a pillow at her and laughs before putting a finger to her lips as she half-whisper half-shout, “Shhh! You have neighbors!”

 

She is promptly ignored despite voicing out everyone’s thoughts.

 

“How about we make this our thesis topic?”

 

There is silence. Seungwan doesn’t know if it is a eureka moment or a big what the feathers idea, but she is pretty sure that the other three are wondering the same.

 

“What the f—”

 

“Language, Sooyoung,” Joohyun glances at her, and the redhead never got to complete what she was supposed to say.

 

“We could!” Seungwan turns to Yerim, mirroring the very wide eyes the blonde is giving her. While she gives the surprised reaction, the blonde looks at her with marvel. She is the last person Seungwan expects to react like that.

 

(She was expecting a thwack in the head to the brunette for suggesting something like that. Seungwan feels slightly betrayed.)

 

 Seulgi and Yerim celebrate together, grabbing each other’s hands and going around in circles.

 

“What’s this?” Joohyun holds up the map Seungwan had seen before.

 

“A map,” Seungwan walks towards her, and soon the others follow her.

 

In a second, they’re all in a circle, discussing about the map. (Among other things.)

 

“It’s so well preserved.”

 

“Are you sure this is your grandfather’s? Your handwriting and drawing skills are equivalent to his drunken attempt with a toe.”

 

“Rude.”

 

“But I’m right.”

 

“This is so detailed!”

 

“Seul, don’t shout.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“You’re such a bottom.”

 

“A what?”

 

“Yerim no.”

 

“Why? What does it mean?”

 

“Nothing you should concern yourself with.”

 

“Clueless bear.”

 

“Wait—”

 

“The map, guys.”

 

“Isn’t this actually… near us?”

 

“What?”

 

“Yeah, I mean, it’s like a 2, maybe 3-hour drive from here?”

 

“Actually?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

Seungwan can’t believe that it only took them 10 minutes of useless banter before something relevant happened. The group usually goes into useless discussions until they forget the main topic. Maybe her grandpa is guiding them down the right path. And if the x on the map is just a few hours away from here…

 

“Wanna go?” Seungwan asks, feeling a bit giddy.

 

Sooyoung sighs, “So… Fountain of Youth for our thesis paper?”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Joohyun smiles.

 

Yerim fishes out her planner and giggles to herself. “We have tonight, tomorrow and Sunday to camp. We should pack our stuff as soon as we wake up so we’re good to go. We should be reaching the place… probably around 5 pm?”

 

Seulgi blinks, “Why are we getting there late?”

 

“Because,” Yerim flashes her phone screen, “right now it’s 4 am and I’m pretty sure we’ll be up around noon.”

 

“Ah.”

 

“Should we plan as much as we can right now before we forget?” Joohyun suggests, already typing in her phone. “Food, blankets, flashlight…”

 

“How are we even getting there?” Sooyoung yawns, stretching her long limbs. She lays her head on Seulgi’s thighs, and the brunette immediately plays with the taller girl’s hair.

 

Seungwan thinks of an idea. “Hey…”

 

Joohyun’s eyes widen at the tone, and she shakes her head with a firm, “No,” as if she can read through Seungwan’s mind. “We are not stealing a car.”

 

“We are borrowing a car,” Seungwan reasons.

 

“Just without the owner knowing,” Yerim cackles, catching up to the plan.

 

“Whose car are we stealing?” Seulgi her head to the side.

 

“Borrowing. I know a senior who’d be very understanding.” Sooyoung smiles mischievously, and Seungwan sees Joohyun sigh, knowing full well that she’s lost the argument.

 

They sleep well that night.

 

~o~

 

“I thought she’d be understanding?!” Joohyun shrieks as she grabs the car’s roof handle.

 

“I thought so, too!” Sooyoung frantically type replies in her phone. Seungwan can see the other person flooding her with messages, and most of them with exclamation points and big letters.

 

Seulgi warns, “Bump ahead!”

 

“Can’t you warn us faster?” Yerim rubs the sore spot on her head that just hit the mirror.

 

Seungwan almost screams, “Sooyoung! She’s calling!”

 

Sooyoung nearly drops her phone in panic. She presses the green button and greets sweetly, “Hi Taeyeon. Wait, you’re on speaker now.”

 

“Just what the hell are you guys thinking?” Their senior aggressively asks, and Seungwan can see a mental picture of her crossing her arms while shooting death glares at them.

 

“It’s for a thesis, I swear! I’m innocent!” Yerim defends herself.

 

Seungwan hears a defeated groan from the older girl. “Just please come back safely. And make sure there are no problems with the jeep.”

 

She wants to jump with joy. Sooyoung is trying to stop herself from celebrating with high pitched dolphin screams. (Seungwan can tell, the tallest is letting out a lot of air from and she worries that Sooyoung will release too much of her body’s oxygen.) Taeyeon being accepting is the last thing she thought would happen; she had imagined that the older girl already tracking them using whatever technology she’s always been so adept with.

 

“Sure, no problem!” Sooyoung gains control of herself. “We’ll be back by Monday morning. Thanks, Taeyeon!”

 

“You kids really like giving me heart attacks,” Taeyeon sighs again. “I’ve an exam now. Take care! Tell me more about the adventure when you get back, yeah? Bye!”

 

“Bye!” Everyone bids farewell. Sooyoung begins smacking Yerim’s arm in happiness, earning a lot of cries from the blonde.

 

“I relate to the heart attacks,” Joohyun grimaces, tightly grabbing onto the roof handle with both her hands.

 

Seungwan understands—Seulgi isn’t the best driver in the group and right now they’re driving a stolen an approved vehicle. They’ve been travelling through rough terrain for half an hour already, and the stars are already twinkling above them.

 

So much for reaching there by 5 pm. It’s 9 now.

 

“Insect repellant, please,” Sooyoung taps Joohyun’s shoulder.

 

“It’s by the red bag,” the black-haired girl answers with a tilt of her head, still not letting go of the handle.

 

“Okay, everyone, we’re here. I think.” Seulgi stops, the vehicle’s front lights beaming at a massive clearing. “Is this it?” She looks at the map again, then back to the open space in front of them.

 

Seungwan moves to take a peek of the map, “Let me see. Yeah, this is it. Huh, weird.”

 

“No time to lose!” Yerim shouts out of nowhere (poor Joohyun jumps in her seat) and grabs their stuff. “Set up the tent with me, Syoung! Hurry!”

 

The redhead exhales dejectedly but follows the blonde anyway.

 

Joohyun decides to cook dinner for them, rolling their portable grill to one side while Sooyoung and Yerim set up the tent whilst fighting each other.

 

“No, you idiot, it’s the other way around!”

 

“Doesn’t matter!”

 

“Wait! We’re supposed to put this on first! Yerim!”

 

“Stoooop!”

 

Seulgi laughs at them. “They’re so noisy.”

 

“You laugh now, but if we attract unwanted attention because of their shouting…” Seungwan teases, and she could see the brunette’s pupils shake.

 

“Don’t scare Seulgi,” Joohyun calls out, and Seungwan howls with laughter.

 

“Wan!” Seulgi playfully hits her arm. “Come on, let’s help them before they strangle each other.”

 

~o~

 

“But Hyun, we’re supposed to explore tonight!” Seungwan pouts at the slightly taller girl.

 

She only shakes her head. “No can do, Seungwan. We got here later than what we had planned. It’s too late to start going into caves.”

 

“Come onnnnn, let’s sleep already,” Yerim whines, rolling around inside the tent.

 

“Stop moving around so much,” Seulgi nearly topples forward when the blonde’s elbow hits her back.

 

Sooyoung complains, “I’m not your body pillow!”

 

“Shush and go to sleep. I never heard you complain when Seulgi does it,” the blonde simply laughs, not letting go of the redhead.

 

“She’s my girlfriend!”

 

“Well, I’m your girl,” she pauses, “friend. for you.”

 

Seungwan looks back at Joohyun. “Please? Just 10 minutes, tops.”

 

Joohyun rolls her eyes and pulls her by the wrist. Seungwan finds herself in her sleeping bag 10 seconds later. “Huh?”

 

“No means no, Seungwan.”

 

“Besides, we all know you’re never satisfied with exploring for 10 minutes,” Seulgi shrugs, trying her brown hair into a neat bun. So much for support.

 

Joohyun stares pointedly at Seungwan.

 

She puffs her cheeks. “Fine. Tomorrow morning, then. Everyone, get your alarms up for 5 am!”

 

Sooyoung looks scandalized, “That’s too early.”

 

Seulgi raises her phone, “Done!”

 

“Wan, turn off the light. Everyone, go to sleep, we have a full schedule ahead of us,” Joohyun fixes her bed, throwing suspicious glances at Seungwan, who reaches to turn the knob by the side of the lantern.

 

“Good night!”

 

~o~

 

“Let’s play checkers!”

 

Seungwan blinks open an eye. Is there someone outside?

 

“Find that nibbler!”

 

She sits up, startled at the distinct male voice. Her heart begins to race, and she immediately reaches for her phone. It’s 12:35. She doesn’t want to wake the others up despite the slight tremble she’s starting to feel.

 

“Abe was just shot!”

 

“No!”

 

She feels uneasy, but she grabs a flashlight and her coat. She looks back at the others; Sooyoung is sprawled on top of Yerim, who, for some reason, is clutching Seulgi’s bun tightly in her hand. Seulgi is hugging her blanket to her chest, mumbling in her sleep about Constantinople. The only decent sleeper in the bunch is Joohyun, who is on her side, sleeping quietly. Seungwan apologizes to her mentally as she gets out of the tent.

 

“Leonardo has done a splendid job.”

 

Leonardo? DiCaprio? Are they shooting a movie near them?

 

Seungwan points the flashlight to where she’s been hearing the voices. It’s too dark, but she can see a rough shape of a cave from afar.

 

How come they didn’t notice that one before?

 

She begins to walk towards the cave, clutching her phone tightly in her other hand. “I’ll be back in 10 minutes,” she says to no one in particular, hoping it was enough to wake up Joohyun.

 

It doesn’t.

 

“Makarov! Run!”

 

Another shout makes her jump. The voices she’s been hearing—they sound too far away, but close enough to hear. It’s weird, since Joohyun is the lightest sleeper in the group; Seungwan is the type of sleeper that needs rough circumstances so she can wake up, so she doesn’t understand why she’s the one walking to a suspicious place in the middle of the night with, bravely, only her phone and a flashlight in her hands. (Seulgi once had to douse her with water because she thought Seungwan was in a coma since she wasn’t responding.)

 

Will her insurance cover this?

 

She’s shivering by the time she reaches the cave entrance. She takes a deep breath, coughing a “yolo” before going inside.

 

---

a bam baraboom bam baraboom HEY 

so here it is lol

tried a new writing style??? tell me if i did present tense sh** right??? huhuhuhu

(omg wait i think i effed up the timeline of the trip.... oh man yolo)