CHAPTER ONE:

          You continued packing your things (and your boyfriend’s as well) until you felt something touch your shoulder... You turned your head and was startled to see Suho’s face inches from yours.

“Sorry,” he said, and backed away a bit. “Um, I just want to thank you for helping us out here. And for trusting us enough, me and the boys I mean, to travel with you for three whole days.”

“Junmyeon, you don’t have to thank me. You’re my best friends after all. And besides, I brought this up so all of you can finally go on a vacation. You deserve to have 3 days of fun, at least.” You replied, and gave him a pat on the shoulder. “But please, next time, don’t sneak up on me like that, okay?” He just laughed and nodded his head. Thanked you one last time, bowed his head, and went back to his corner and continued fixing his things.

          You felt so happy because after months of waiting to be with your best friends again, you were able to plan out a trip that you were sure everyone would enjoy. You and your boyfriend have always wanted to hike in the mountains but you were too scared to go there alone. So you took this opportunity to ask the group if they wanted to go with you, and they quickly agreed, saying that it will increase their stamina and it will help them maintain the “toned-ness” of their bodies while they were away from promoting their new album.

          Everyone didn’t fail to show their enthusiasm and excitement about the trip, especially last night. Kyungsoo was busy preparing your meals for the next three days. He made sure that the ingredients he’s using won’t spoil that easily. Suho was at the corner of the room, a notepad and pen in hand, and you were pretty sure he was writing down the schedule of your trip and the rules the boys had to follow so they’d avoid causing any trouble. Kris was busy looking for his sketch book and colored pencils. He started shouting at everyoneand looked very frustrated because he couldn’t find the materials he was looking for. He wanted everyone to help him look for it, saying that he really needed to bring those materials just in case something beautiful needed to be drawn during your trip. You could hear Chanyeol, Lay and Baekhyun practicing bonfire songs in the other room and the sound of the chains of Tao’s numchuks as he practiced using them. “Just in case a bear will attack us...” he said. It was so noisy and everything was such a mess that Xiumin began to follow everyone and started cleaning. The whole house was in such a chaotic state and you couldn’t help but laugh at it. The group stopped everything they were doing and gave you a strange look. You waved your hand at them and told them to continue working.   You couldn’t wait to go and climb that mountain with them.

          After everyone finished packing, you started loading the things inside the bus and drove your way to the foot of the mountain. You left at exactly 5’oclock in the afternoon. But as you were packing your things, you felt like something was kind of off. That something bad was going to happen. You started spacing out and all of a sudden, you had this vision of everyone dying. The worst scenarios that could happen to all of you played inside your head and you couldn’t stop it from playing. You saw them rolling down the rocky side of the mountain, all their bones broken and shattered into pieces. You saw the fire from your bonfire reach to your tents, killing everyone while they were asleep. You saw them falling off the cliff and their bodies getting caught up in the trees.  You saw them being eaten alive by wild bears. Their shouts were so loud and it was all so realistic that you wanted to cover your ears because the sound pierced through your ears. You wanted the visions to stop.  And then, you saw yourself. And you were just there, watching. You wanted to help, but you really couldn’t do anything. It was just a vision after all.  You could feel your eyes burning from the tears you wanted so badly to stop from falling. You didn’t want to spoil this trip for them just because you had this stupid panic attack. You felt dizzy and you felt like you were about to pass out. You put your hand on the bus to support your weight...

“Minji, babe, you okay?” your boyfriend said, thanking God he noticed something was wrong. But you decided not to tell him, you don’t want to freak them out right?
“Um, er no, it’s okay, I’m fine. Just felt a bit woozy, that’s all.” And you laughed nervously. You saw him look at you for a while, corncern written all over his face, until he nodded and continued loading the bags inside the bus. “What the hell was that all about?”  you wondered.

          When everyone was all set and ready, you went inside the bus and sat down on the driver’s seat and started driving to your destination. While you were driving though, you couldn’t stop playing back the scenes that flashed in your head a while ago. You shook your head and stepped on the gas, trying your best to forget everything, assuming that you were probably just having cold feet.

          It was a five hour drive from the house to the mountain, so to pass time, just like any typical group of friends going on a trip, you and the group began to sing. Chanyeol brought out his guitar and started playing the acoustic version of their songs.  You couldn’t join in that much because you had to keep your eye on the road, but hearing them sing was enough to wash out the anxietyand bad vibes out of your system. “You are going to enjoy this trip!” you told yourself.

          A few hours later, the sun has come down and the moon was already shining brightly in the sky and everyone was starting to feel sleepy and tired. You decided to pull over and sleep at the side of the road. You were only an hour away anyway. You told them to rest already and that you will just travel early tomorrow morning. You made sure that they were all asleep before you could shut your eyes. And sure enough, after five minutes, you could hear most of them snoring, your boyfriend included. “They look so cute and innocent,” you thought. “I wish they were always this quiet though.”  You giggled at that remark. You walked quietly towards the back of the bus, where your boyfriend was sleeping, and settled down on a seat beside him. You lifted your feet up and pulled your blanket over your body. You looked out the window and admired the beauty of the moon and the stars. But all of a sudden... You felt the cold wind touch your skin, sending shivers to your spine. You looked around and checked if their were any windows open. Thankfully, one of them was slightly open. You couldn’t remember anyone opening it though, and you couldn’t think of a reason why anyone would open it since you were using an air-conditioned bus, but you just shrugged it off. “Agh, stop being paranoid, Minji. Stop making a big deal out of things...” You shook your head again (probably for the nth time today) and placed your hand on your forehead, massaged your temples and finally closed your eyes.

          And in no time at all, you were sound asleep.