Hana woke up, not very well-rested, but awake regardless, she hated this feeling. Her brain was tired, but her body was active because she needed to get out of bed. There was nothing worse than being brain-dead and having to work. 

She sighed to herself and she got dressed for her shift, she looked around and saw that Junho was waiting for her outside and she headed over to him. The other girls had already left the cabin and she realized that she was the last one to leave.

“Couldn’t sleep, princess?” Junho said teasingly before they headed over to the main cabin where Jin Young had breakfast waiting for all of them.

“Something like that.” Hana answered honestly, “My mind just like to wander and think about all the problems in the world right before I close my eyes.”

Junho frowned, “Well, that’s not good. But I have some more bad news.” He told her.

Hana stopped and looked at him, “What’s wrong?” She asked. “Did something happen?” 

Junho scratched the back of his head, “Sorta. I got pulled off our shift yesterday to partner with Taec, so now you’re partnering with Chansung. I didn’t know that we were gonna switch partners so quickly, and I’m sorry.” He said, sincerely apologetic.

Hana gave him a small smile and shook her head, “It’s fine, I’m sure that Uncle Jin Young just doesn’t want me to get too comfortable with you guys, so he’s gonna change my partner a lot.” She told him. “I know my uncle."

Junho sighed, “Yeah, you have a good point. He’s always looking out for you. Always. He’s threatened all the boys not to try anything with you because he will hang them upside in a tree until they hated you.” He said to her, “But okay thanks, have fun with Chansung.” 

Chansung was walking her way, looking down at the ground the whole time. He was scared to see her because he wasn’t sure if he wanted to talk to her. She would have a lot of questions for why he was in the ocean at the time that he was. Especially her, given her circumstances. 

“Good morning.” He greeted her casually as they fell into step with each other. 

“Good morning,” Hana replied back. “So you’re my partner for the day?” 

“Yup. How unlucky for you, huh?” He said teasingly, trying to avoid that topic in any way possible. “Slept well?” He asked as they reached the lifeguard house on their side of the beach.

Hana shook her head, “Not really. I had some trouble sleeping. I can’t really sleep unless my mind is calm, but I was having a hard time with that.” She answered. “You?"

“It was not bad, please don’t tell anyone about it, like I said. It’s important to me that you don’t tell anyone.” He said to her being outright with his feelings. He noticed that her persona had changed when he brought up the topic and he had no chance of getting away with not talking about it.

“Is there a particular reason why you were out there though? Everyone gets on my case about my ‘feat’ yesterday and you were just out there like nothing.” Hana asked him as they took their seats, and watched the beach-goers run about.

“Yes, there’s a reason. No, I do not wish to tell you, it doesn’t involve you.” Chansung said firmly, dismissing that part of the topic quickly.

“Okay, then. Do you mind sharing with me why Junho is a bit hung up on making sure people don’t disappear? It’s something I’ve overheard, but it seems no one else has seemed to notice?” Hana countered, taking another chance at something else that was on her mind last night.

Chansung sighed, he wasn’t exactly ready to be discussing these topics with the new girl, especially since she would probably forget about the whole thing the next day. “There have been some people who vanish but no one remembers that they vanish. We do not know why and we can’t exactly tell anyone about it because no one else remembers it.” He said clearly. He did not want to repeat himself again after sharing this secret with her. He wasn’t even supposed to tell anyone about what they had found to begin with. But this was the bargain for keeping his other secret.

“And have there been any recently?” She asked him. She turned to face him and he refused to look at her, just looking straight ahead at the ocean.

“Not for the past two days.” Chansung answered, with a finality in his tone that ended their conversation without any other remarks.

The day continued on in silence as no one called out for their help. No one had said anything about needing assistance, so Hana sat in chair, waiting for another chance to ask a question. The look on Chansung’s face deterred her though, he didn’t seem too excited to be watching this section of the beach today. 

Hana had noticed that it was the same section that he had been swimming in last night. There was an uneasy feeling at the back of her mind but she said nothing as they continued on. The sun fell slowly as the hours ticked by, she left to get lunch and brought some back for Chansung. He had sat there like a statue, watching the waves tumble into the sand.

“The shift’s over.” She had said, interrupting the silence as the last beach-goer left the water.

“No it’s not,” Chansung said sadly, moving towards the man that had come out of the water by himself. Hana followed him as she realized that man had brought his wife along to the beach but she wasn’t with him.

“Sir.” Chansng said in a clear and direct voice. It caught the man’s attention and he stopped and turned to Chansung.

“Yes? How may I help you?” The man answered clearly. 

“Where is your wife sir?” Chansung asked him. “The woman you came to the beach with.” Hana had finally caught up to him and heard the last of the question.

“I’m not sure who you’re referring to. I came to the beach by myself.” The man shook his head.

Hana’s jaw dropped as she stared at the man. He had forgotten about his wife? She was with him today though. They were just together in the water, having fun and splashing each other.

“I’m sorry I must have the wrong person. Thank you for your time.” Chansung said sweetly before turning to Hana with anger raging in his eyes. “Do you see this?” He asked her.

“People are going missing and no one is doing anything to stop it.” She said sadly. Just at that moment, Chansung’s stomach growled and Hana ran away far from him.

She looked up at the sunset and saw that it was another day. A day where she had found out about the disappearances. Something that would continue to wrack her brain at night.

There had to be a way to prove that they were connected, but she had no idea how.

“Well, there you have it. He forgot that he came to the beach with his wife. Which is why I didn’t want to share with you what happened. What if you turn out to be like them?” Chansung asked.

“I won’t. Now I need to know why that man couldn’t remember his wife.” Hana told Chansung with affirmation. She was going to get to the bottom of the mystery if it was the last thing she did.

“Good for you. Time for dinner like you said. And I’m sure all of this is worth your silence about my swimming adventures?” He asked her properly.

She gave him a smile, “My lips are sealed."

— 

"So you've upped the ante by having your pawns lose something even more than just their pride?" He asked her, walking into the room.

"I just felt like these next two needed more motivation." She answered him, "What's it to you?"

He held his hands up defensively, "I have no problems with your methods, after all, people willing to sell their souls for unrequited love deserve to lose their power. Especially this new one." He replied, "Sacrificing one for the good of many." 

"Isn't that 'for the greater good'?" She countered. "Lose one girl in order to protect her city."

His lips pursed together into a thin line as he stared harshly at her, "You have a point but what I mean is that she could have avoided the whole thing simply by not accepting your deal." He said, he turned around on his heel and headed back towards the door. "Oh, by the way, sweetie. Be careful, playing with girls' hearts is like playing with fire. Don't get burned." He said, leaving the room entirely.

Author's Note;;
I'm in Korea in case you guys haven't heard. :o 
School hasn't started yet, I'm here for exchange but I have orientations tomorrow~
So please enjoy :) <3 And look forward to more updates :) I wanna get to Dongwoon by March :O lol. XD
Good luck to me :3

P.S. dropped another hint as to who the girl that's playing with the pawns and the guy are.. ish :o lol. lmk your guesses ;)