Kim Hanbin felt suffocated. In the midst of being a contestant in a rap battle and being obligated by his company to be a part of a rather cruel survival show, he had to constantly be writing lyrics, creating mind-blowing choreography, composing new tracks, and above all else, watching over his eight members. He was working a surreal number of hours, and lacked an insane amount of sleep. Slowly, sources of inspiration and motivation were vanishing one by one making it far more difficult to come up with lyrics and accomplish his responsibilities. How was he supposed to inspire, when he wasn’t inspired himself?

Kim Hanbin was exhausted.

All Kim Hanbin needed was some fresh air.

And some silence.

All he needed was an escape.

Before he ends up just giving up.

And that was precisely the reason behind Hanbin now sitting under the gleaming moonlight on a park bench at the end of a concrete pathway in the middle of numerous patches of grass. On the opposite side of the path, a lush vegetation of trees was aligned, right in front of a wooden fence separating the sea from land. Over to the right, in the mornings, you’ll find a children's playground, with a sandpit, swings and roundabouts all being used to their full extent by a myriad of squealing and laughing kids but now half past midnight, it was completely empty.

And silent.

Exactly what Kim Hanbin desperately needed.

He breathed in deeply, absorbing the freshness of the oxygenated air, simultaneously giving him both peace and exhilaration. He tugged on the end of his gray beanie, pulling it down to cover up halfway of the auburn hair sweeping across his forehead and stared up at the full, opalescent moon shining brightly above him and on Seoul. The moon was a wraith-silver disc hanging in the lonely sky. Lasers of moonlight, as bright as diamond-flames, turned the sea behind the trees a-glow like melted platinum. His lips curved up as he remained beguiled by its beauty. Hanbin then thought of how similar he was to the moon, in a way. In the midst of an endless stretch of stars, he was at the center—heavily relied on by everyone around him. Without the moon, darkness would invade the night. Without him, he knew his team would have lower chances of achieving success.

His soft smile fainted to a frown, as he thought of how sometimes, even in the midst of so many stars, he was still another thing the moon was.

Alone.

He shook his head and clenched his eyes shut in an attempt to rid himself of all unnecessary thoughts and of the pressure he was always inevitably engulfed by, and placed a hand to his chest, feeling his heart’s quickening pulse beneath his palm to calm himself down—a habit he’s grown to develop in the past years. After his heartbeat gradually lowered back down to a steady pace, he slid out the pen and paper tucked away in his pocket. He laid out the sheet of paper on his lap and clicked the end of the pen, the ballpoint appearing once he did.

All he needed was an escape, he scribbled down on the first line.

He fluttered his eyes closed again to force more lines out of his weary mind. The silence enveloped him even more, and was cut off once he felt a warm breath touch his cheek.

“What are you doing?” A voice popped out.

Hanbin’s eyes shot open, and he slightly shook in his seat, completely startled. The paper on his lap flew over to the grass under the bench. Flustered, he lowered down to pick it up, grasping it tight in his fingers before he slowly rose, meeting the eyes of a girl who happened to be seated next to him at a rather uncomfortably close distance. Hanbin backed away, moving closer to the edge of the bench. For a moment, he just stared down at her.

 “Yah,” The girl called out, her stoic gaze fixed on him, eyes in pools of rich brown. “Can you talk? Or are you mute?” Her tone was alert, and straightforward. “Well if you are, I apologize—“She immediately added, reaching a hand out towards the paper on Hanbin’s lap. “What’s that—“

“Don’t—“ Hanbin snapped once he realized what she was trying to do, quickly placing his hand at his back, still gripping onto the paper, leaving little creases at the edge. “Don’t.” He calmly repeated.

“So, the man speaks.” The girl let out a small chuckle, crossing her arms along her chest as she leaned back comfortably on the bench. “And the man is obviously stressed, chill out.”

Hanbin furrowed his eyebrows at her, no longer flustered; rather now he was drowning in annoyance and frustration at how his recently found haven was that easily taken away from him. For a moment, he silently watched her, her eyes were looking straight ahead but finally built up the courage to ask, “What are you doing here?” He spoke at a firm volume. “And who are you?”

“I believe I should be the one asking you that.” She said, her head shooting over to face him. “This is my bench.”

“Your bench?” Hanbin muttered a small, sarcastic laugh.

“Yeah. My bench.” She answered, no humor in her tone. “You find that funny?”

“No, no.” He swallowed his laugh, pursing his lips together. “I would just like to inquire how exactly this bench was made officially what you call ‘yours’.” Hanbin raised two fingers, forming air quotes.

“It just is.” She responded bluntly, cocking her head to the side. “Problem?”

He decided to let it slide, his elbows on his thighs for support as he leaned forward, cautiously