“I can’t believe that I ended up being partnered with you.”

Hyewon glanced at Eunbi for a second before replying, “Then why didn’t you ask for a different person?”

Eunbi scoffed, “Are you kidding me? Everyone paired up with their favorite members, I had no choice but to pick you.”

Hyewon wasn’t offended in the slightest and just chuckled at the shorter woman, “Well, I didn’t see you asking other people, you kind of just came to me without sparing the others a look.”

“Pssh, you wish,” the leader flipped her hair but she tilted her head away from Hyewon as they walked.

The duo strolled pass the Ocean Pool building and almost crashed into Chaewon who had exited the building appearing to be preoccupied and brooding. The 2000z liner asked them if they had seen Hitomi anywhere, to which they replied that they have not but they did see a figure running towards the dormitory building. Chaewon ran off before Eunbi could even inquire about why she was looking for Hitomi.

“My guess is that they’re playing hide and seek or tag,” Hyewon said.

Eunbi sighed, “Really, that’s the best you can come up with?” The visual just shrugged in response.

They continued walking. According to Hyewon, there was a place in the training camp that wasn’t talked about by their instructor. It’s marked on the main map but it’s disguised as something else. Hyewon happened to overhear (she confessed later that she had eavesdropped) a conversation Instructor M and another staff member talking about this “secretive” place that they were going to right now.

Hyewon stopped them at one of those activity boards with various posters promoting classes, schedules for classes, random letters from strangers, papers with rules and regulations, and notes asking other people to do their work for a reward. The most prominent thing on this board was the worm map with pen marks and circles written in red permanent marker.

The visual skimmed the map with her finger before stopping on a circle near the top left corner of the map, just a few paces behind the Ocean Pool building.

She tapped the little square on the map, “This is where we’re headed.”

“We started in the dormitory building, which is on the opposite corner of the map, and now we’re going to…” Eunbi paused to squint at the board, “the garden shed.”

“Look at the red markings and writings,” Hyewon kept her eyes on the map. “This one reads ‘Not a shed’ and another one says ‘Secret Place’ which means only one thing.”

“And what’s that? You don’t mean to tell me that you believe this old and decrepit activity board?”

“Well, it adds up to what Instructor M and the staff member said.”

“Okay, whatever lead away.”

The duo continued their trek towards the back of the Ocean Pool building. Hyewon led Eunbi without even looking back to see if the older was following her. When they turned the corner, they found a fence with a perimeter about the size of a fairly large one-room studio apartment.

The fence had vines and ivies covering its wooden walls, some of the plants had a few bulbs of flowers that haven’t had the chance to bloom yet. Just beyond the fence, they could spot the tip of what appeared to be a glass roof.

Eunbi stood still, gaping at the structure before her and unbelieving that there was something here that wasn’t a garden shed. Meanwhile, Hyewon ran around the fence excitedly looking for an entrance or an opening, and she even tried to climb the vines once.

“Eunbi unnie, help me find a way in,” Hyewon pulled Eunbi towards the barrier that was keeping them from seeing the treasure inside.

The dancer began to help since she too had succumbed to the feeling of exploring the unknown and walked along the length of the fence. After a while, Hyewon found the entrance and beckoned Eunbi over.

The foodie held the ivies over her head and opened the wooden gate, “Ladies first.”

“You’re a woman too,” Eunbi laughed and pointed out the obvious.

“In that case, I’ll go first,” Hyewon teased and proceeded let down the vines.

“No-! I’m going in since you offered,” Eunbi pouted and went inside.

Hyewon laughed and smiled at the older’s back and followed her inside. “She’s so cute sometimes,” she whispered.

Eunbi and Hyewon had never seen anything so ornamental and delightfully well-kept.

On this side of the fence, the vines had a variety of flowers ranging from scarlet honeysuckles to trumpet vines and red climbing roses. A small wisteria tree and a pond were tucked near one of the corners, and near it was an arch with garden clematis growing within its crevices with a few lavender bunches sprouting around it. One of the flowerbeds had pastel pink hyacinths, milkweeds, and geranium, but the noticeable thing it contained was the humble and little cherry tree that grew in the center. On another bed of flowers were marigolds, orange carnations, and chrysanthemums. There were turquoise ixias, harvest bells, veronicas, and scabiosa on one area and green hydrangeas, cymbidium orchids, and daylilies in another. On the last flower bed were white hibiscus flowers, heliotropes, daffodils, and camellias.

All the flower groups were situated in a semicircle-like formation and were sorted by color. If one were to look at the garden from above they would see hues of red starting from the bottom right corner of the fence and then it would melt into yellow tones that would then mix with a minty green color. From there the color would blend into shades of blue and into the purples and violets. The violets turn into pinks and oranges and peaches before