Gaheun's POV:

                "Are you sure you don't wanna wait and have breakfast first before you go out?!" Hyukshin yells as I run passed the kitchen to the front door. On the way, I see a wide variety of vibrant colours, and a whole bunch of cooking utensils on the kitchen countertop. Do I really wanna eat whatever he makes me?... No. Not really. Please be disastrous. So I don't have to eat it.

"No!!" I shout back, so he can hear me over the sound if the kitchen fan.

"Okay fine. But don't stay out too long! In case I finish before you get back!!" he shouts again. I can hear Hyungjoo's laughter over the fan.

I step outside onto the porch.

"Ah!!... The air is so refreshing." I say as I swing my arms around, stretching. Kim Bum chuckles,

"I can imagine how you feel. It's so nice here but you haven't even gotten to see the scenery."   I just smile, glad to be outside.

"Ready to go on a little adventure?" He asks, trying to get me excited. I laugh at his exaggerated enthusiasm.

"Haha, yeah. Let's go!"

                He leads us to a trail, and we follow the path until he makes us turn in between two random bushes. I stop.

"You coming?" he asks from the other side of the bush.

"..."

"Gaheun?" he asks again, sounding worried.

"... There's no poison ivy... Right?" I regret wearing shorts right now.

"...There shouldn't be..." That's not what I was hoping to hear.

"... Do I have to?"

He sighs,  "Do you want me to push away the bush for you?"

"No..."   Yes.

                Kim Bum reappears into my sight. He goes right in-between the two thick bushes and begins to walk backwards making a space big enough for me to walk through. I quickly walk right through the new opening,

"Thank you," I smile at him. He exhales loudly and smiles,

"You know, if I killed that plant... It's all your fault." He says, pretending it was of major importance.

"Okay, I'll take responsibility..." I reply, pretending it was a big sacrifice. "Besides, if it dies, it dies because of a good cause"

He laughs, "Uh huh. Such an important cause..." he answers sarcastically.

"Hey! My well-being is important!!"

"Yeah, it is." he replies more seriously. Well that killed the mood.

                We walk for a few minutes in silence, only hearing the chirping if birds and the crunching of leaves and squirming of soil beneath our shoes. I sigh loudly again, just to take in the fresh air.

"So... Where are we exactly? This isn't along the trail, is it a secret hiding place?" I joke.

"Yep." he answers smiling, popping the 'p' at the end.

"Really?! A secret hiding place?"

"Yep." he answers, with the same pop at the end.

"Are we almost there yet?"

"Nope." and again, he pops the 'p'

"Y'know, the whole 'popping' sound was okay the first couple times... But it's kind of annoying now :/" I say.

"Oh really? ... *pop*" What have I done? It's gonna be like the 'nope' scenario with Seunghyun all over again.

I sigh in irritation, and walk a little faster.

"Gaheun *Pop* , where are you *pop* going?!?... *pop*"I have unleashed a monster. I always do this to myself >.<

I walk away, focusing on the chirping birds, the squirming and crunching of the ground and the running water, hey... Running... Water?...

"Oh, we're close." Kim Bum says after he hears the sound of the water. I smile, but not because of the water, because he finally said a sentence without using that annoy-

"*Pop*"

Dammit. Spoke to soon >.<

Kim Bum laughs at me, my smile went away instantly when the monstrous noise came back.

"Hahahahaha- okay, no more. I promise." he says, still laughing. I look at him with raised brows.

He nods and pretends to zip up his mouth and throw away the key.

I follow the sound of the water as I walk.

"*Pop*"  What. The. Hell. I turn to look at Kim Bum, an unamused look on my face.
His eyes widen, making an innocent face.

"Oops. I swear, that one had a life of its own." he defends himself as he puts two hands up.

I just laugh it off and tell him to get moving. He takes the lead and guides us closer and closer to the sound of the rushing water.

                We squish through another pair of bushes and stand in front of a bubbly, babbling brook. I step right in front of it; you can even see little fishes in the water... It was cool.

"So... Here's the thing." Kim Bum begins saying, "I've actually been worried about you." huh?...

I turn and look to him, he was sitting on a large, mossy rock, and gestured me to go join him.

"Why?" I ask as I sit down.

"Do you feel okay?"

"Yeah. Don't I seem okay?"

"That's the thing, aren't you worried? Aren't you angry? Or upset?" I knew instantly what he was talking about. I really don't wanna think about this right now.

"Gaheun, have you ever tried confronting the problem?..." Me? What can I do? I look at him, confused.

"And I don't mean Donghae and Seunghyun's situation... I mean, have you tried confronting the reality of it? The consequence?" Yes. But it doesn't help anyone if I do. I don't say anything, but I feel a ball forming in my throat.

"I don't want to be a bummer..." He continues.  Too late.

"But... It's not healthy for you to ignore the reality. Sure we've all become friends... But have you thought of who we actually are? Or at least what we'relabeled as?" Yes. Him, Seunghyun, Hyungjoo and even Hyukshin are labeled as 'them'. But after a while, I guess I forgot.

I look down to the moss beneath my shoes, avoiding eye contact.

"You... Know that he was there last night right?" He asks hesitantly.

"..."

"But you didn't say anything... Or even let them know that you were awake..." Did Seunghyun tell him?...

"Yeah. So?" I reply, sounding much more rude than I meant to. I don't look at him, it'll make me feel bad. I know it will.

"Why...?"

"Because that's how I deal with it. Okay? That's how I handle my problems. I pretend they don't happen." I answer, my anger elevating, speaking really quickly. I'm sorry, Kim Bum. I don't mean to lash out.

"It's not good-"

"For me. I know that. But having to think about it for every second of the day isn't good either. Don't you see? No matter how or when I deal with it, it'll never be 'good' " I sound less angry now, thank god.

"But you've at least thought about it. That's good." Just hearing that word makes me feel angry.

                No. It's not 'good', it's not 'okay' because it's just not. Nothing about anything that's happening is 'good'. And it never will be.

Kim Bum sighs beside me.

"I ruined the adventure, didn't I?"   Yes, you did.

"You're not gonna talk for the rest of the time that we're here are you?"   I don't know if I am.

                For some reason, all the emotions that I had bottled up since the time I was pulled into the van resurface. I want to stop it, but just can't. It’s an extremely late reaction, but I think it came back 10 times stronger than it originally was supposed to be.  My body shook uncontrollably, my breathing became broken, silent cries could be heard even though my mouth was closed; my hands grabbed the top of my knees keeping me up. Not much longer afterwards, a rush of tears flow from my eyes, and drop onto the mossy soil. I can't even see the tears as they drop to the floor because my vision is blurred with the overwhelming amount of tears.

                Without a word, Kim Bum wrapped his arm around me, and pressed my head against his shoulder. It doesn't stop my crying, but it does make me feel a little better; I know he understands, plus in a secret place like this, nobody would ever see me. Nobody will hear me either, thanks to the babbling brook that was only five meters away from us.