“Ma’am?”

“Yes, Doctor, what’s the diagnosis?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

“What is it, Doctor? Just spit it out!”

“I’m afraid our suspicions were well-founded, ma’am.”

“Yo-you mean it’s...?”

“Yes ma’am, it is cancer; cancer of the liver, to be exact. Your liquor intake has harmed your liver considerably.”

“Well, you don’t expect me to survive on water, do you?”

“...”

“How much time do I have?”

“I should say anything between six months and a year. Of course with adequate care and regular medication we could extend that period.”

“Hush, man, I’m dying in six months, I get it. Don’t feed me your false hopes.”

“No, ma’am, you do have a good chance.”

“Oh, shut up! I don’t deserve to die and I am going to. But you know what, I won’t die alone. I won’t. If I die, so will others.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

_______________________________________________________________________________

          Oh Nayeon gazed at the setting sun with an indulgent eye. She ran her fingers through her long, straight hair and felt the wind caress her with a maternal touch. She lightly drummed her fingers on the steering wheel whilst inwardly humming a song. Her phone buzzed angrily against the folds of her crisp cotton trousers. She ignored it tranquilly. In the background she saw an entourage of black automobiles approach her in the distance. She noticed one stop a little away from her car, with a respectable old man clad as only a butler of the highest ground is, come forward. No doubt, in a few seconds the entire service of maids, helpers and chauffeurs would be out to her back home, relieved of her safety.

Life was good.

She was rich. She was young. She was beautiful. She had everything to live for.

“Ma’am, would you like to come home now? There are guests coming over soon.” The butler respectfully held open the door whilst extending his other hand to help the young woman out.

        Nayeon nodded; one more of those abysmally boring dinner parties that she couldn’t help but enjoy. She would have fun.

“Ma’am, your phone seems to be ringing,” The gentle voice of her butler cut through her vague thoughts. She became aware of the persistent buzzing that she had earlier chosen to ignore. She extracted her phone and stared at the screen. This was a call she would like to take.

“Hello? Yes, Fany, what’s going on?” Nayeon listened intently and nodded after a while. She smiled, “Fany, of course I’ll be there! The 12^th, you say? You ask me to join in on an overnight luxury cruise and expect me to decline? Oh darling, I’ll be there on the dot, lock, stock, barrel and all. Love you, Fany. Take care, darling.”

      That irritating, nasal tone that Nayeon had just spoken to, that was Tiffany Hwang, one more of the socialites you ought to be in touch with if you had any social standing to boast of. Nayeon sighed a little after her conversation; she couldn’t stand that nasal tone that seemed to echo through the crevices of her ears. But, this was society. Society demanded that those of equal social standing stick together. And etiquette demanded that those who stick together be gushing and overtly friendly with the other. It was a strange life, one that Nayeon enjoyed to the maximum.

________________________________________________________________________________

“Let’s take it from the top, once more boys!” Kris yelled through his drooping fatigue and sweaty stance. Immediately murmurs of dissent and protests met his ears.

“Aww, come on man, we just did it perfectly well!”

“Yeah, Kris, no one fumbled, okay maybe I fumbled a bit, but we’re human man!”

“And we’re so tired, Kris. Come on, tell me honestly, aren’t you tired?”

“Let’s rest for a while, yeah? Maybe like a few minutes, you know just a few hours or maybe a day?”

Kris couldn’t help but laugh, “Alright, I surrender!” He raised his long, muscular arms in mock defeat, “You win, let’s take a little time off. Well, we have been practicing hard.”

          The irresistibly smouldering hot boys each sunk to the floor groaning in relief. Their chests heaved and lines of perspiration ran down their fatigued bodies. Almost instantaneously the door to the barren room opened with a swish. The boys looked up through their droopy eyes to spot their jubilant manager waving what seemed to be a fussy, made up marriage invitation.

“Look sharp, boys!” Their manager yelled, earning scowls from each one of them. He continued nonetheless, “See this thing in my hand?”

“Well you’re waving it right in our faces, aren’t you?” Chen muttered angrily.

“Oh shut up, be happy! This here is an invitation from Tiffany Hwang!” The dressy card was waved more vigorously. “It’s an invitation for all of you to attend some sort of a party she’s having on her yacht. It’s kind of this rich, filled with socialites, sophisticated kind of thing! Isn’t that awesome?”

“Woah, you seem pretty excited,” Kris commented, even whilst inwardly controlling his own rising happiness, “You’re sure about this?”

“Here, take it and see for yourself.” He extended his arm with the card in tow, which was deftly flicked by Lay who read it with interested eyes, “Ooh, it’s an overnight trip and it’s something of a luxury liner. It sounds pretty amazing.”

“Isn’t it? Isn’t it? Oh God, how exciting! Think about it, celebrities, stars, millionaires! Oh wow! I’m guessing your counterparts must have got the letter too! Oh how brilliant! Let me just go and call Suho up. This is so amazing!” And he rolled out of the room, giggling in mad hysterics.

“Wow, he really needs to calm down, doesn’t he?” Luhan said, pushing the silky strands of his gorgeous hair off his face.

“Why did she invite us, though?” Tao mused, “We aren’t really known to her.”

“Must be some eccentric millionaire thing,” Xiumin shrugged, “Or maybe it’s because we’re famous, baby!”

       Laughter abounded; the little practice room seemed to radiate with joy as the six boys each in turn perused the card and laughed over the eccentricities of the socialites. Of course, the party was something they would attend. It wasn’t every day that one was invited aboard a luxury yacht to mingle with those residing at the top of the societal ladder. Yes, it would be fun.

________________________________________________________________________________

“You understand clearly what is to be done, I presume?”

“Yes ma’am, perfectly. My troops are well trained.”

“Everything should be done in the crispest possible manner. I want each and every single one of them to be wiped off. Even if one remains, the deal is off. You get that?”

“Of course ma’am, but we won’t fail you. My men and I have years of experience.”

“They’ll be fairly about fifty people on board, maybe even more.”

“We understand that, ma’am.”

“Good, then you understand the difficulties.”

“Perfectly, ma’am,”

“I expect you to begin your work on the night of the 13^th, do you hear me?”

“Of course ma’am, rest assured, your work is in good hands.”

“And remember, breathe a word of this outside and your head shall roll in mud.”

“Of course, ma’am,”

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

What happens when a cruise that was never meant to be is occupied by the rich and the famous and batters down to mere wrecks? What happens when insanity takes over a person to such an extent that they wish nothing more than to kill? What happens when you're stranded, knowing if you walk outside you'll be killed but if you stay inside you'll starve?

Find out in the following chapters. Look ahead, look sharp and try not to die.