Persona

Sharing Makes It Better

May 30, 2045

Sung-Ji was proud of his findings last night. He'd found the supplies for a sling, and a splint, however, when he'd gotten back, Aejeo had been asleep. Aejeo and Seogi had been moved to the fire, but by that time, Aeseok and Namja were back as well, so Sung-Ji figured Aeseok had moved them.

It'd been four days since the crash, and Sung-Ji hadn't really thought much of it. All he could hope was that they weren't here for months, or years, for that matter. Sung-Ji was pretty desensitized to the fact that maybe he'd die here like Mijin and Minyoung had. Completely different from their parents, him and Minyoung were actually the least close members. They'd done everything at the same time, they'd been born only a few months apart, they were born in the same hospital, they even went through depressive episodes at the same time, yet.. They'd just never connected.

Maybe that'd been Sung-Ji's fault, because he could recall a few times when Minyoung had tried to be friends with him, and Sung-Ji had been awkward about it, but they were both at fault. Now that Minyoung was gone, however, Sung-Ji felt like something was missing, like there was a gap in his heart, one that only Minyoung could fill. His members- no, his lifelong friends- held special places in his heart, and he wouldn't change the way things went down for anything.

This was how he wanted it to be, on an island, in the middle of some random ocean, with the closest people to him. Seogi was a little beat up, and Aeseok was a little rough around the edges, but Sung-Ji loved them none-the-less. Namja was perfect for the role of leader, and Aejeo was a good maknae, and a really good friend.

No, Sung-Ji decided. I wouldn't give these people up for anything.

~

Around noon, it began to rain, and the five of them had to be moved. It was pouring, and the moist air was irritating Seogi's bandages. Aeseok thought it was best she changed them anyway.

"Seogi-Hyung," she called, helping the eldest to sit up. Seogi was smiling. "It's time to change your bandages, okay?"

"Okay, okay, okay, okay," Seogi repeated, raising his arms to grab at Aeseok's tattered shirt, and once he found purchase, he wasn't letting go.

Aeseok carefully undid the bandages, and Seogi only finched when Aeseok removed the padding over the actual injury. It looked.. Disgusting, for lack of a better word. Aeseok didn't know if it was supposed to look like that. It looked scabbed over, and red, and Aeseok thought about pouring water over it, but the only water they had was ocean water, and that would probably make it worse.

That would definitely make it worse.

"Sung-Ji," Aeseok didn't know if the younger was asleep, but she needed his help. "Sung-"

The second-youngest sat up, his hair messy from sleep, and his eyes still closed. "Noona?"

"Do we have any containers?" Aeseok questioned.

"Huh?"

"That can hold water," she told him, feeling a little stupid. "I need to clean out this cut on Seogi-Hyung's head, but I can't leave his wound exposed while I go and get water."

"I don't know," Sung-Ji said as he opened his eyes, rubbing them with his closed fist, and patting his hair down. "I can go look, though?"

"Thanks," Aeseok refocused her attention back on her Hyung, and began speaking to him when Sung-Ji was out of earshot. "Hyung? Seogi-Hyung?"

"Hyung," Seogi slurred, Aeseok could tell he was getting tired. "Hyung, Hyung, Hyung, Hyung." He repeated it a few more times, but quieter.

"What do you remember about the crash, Hyung?" Aeseok figured she should've just led with that, but she didn't want Seogi to get upset.

"It was loud," Seogi informed, quite seriously, in fact. "Mijin was next to me, I buckled her up, and got down, I think. That.. That's about i- it." Seogi was shaking with the revelation.

"Hyung, it's okay," Aeseok tried to sooth, she'd never been good at this type of stuff. She was never the 'sharing-makes-it-better' kind. No, since her mother died, Aeseok kept a lot to herself. She hoped she sounded soothing to her Hyung. "Someone'll come find us, and we'll be home in no-time. Idol planes don't just go missing, you know."

"Idol planes, idol planes, idol, idol," Seogi began to softly sing the words to their parent's song "IDOL". Aeseok joined, along with Aejeo. Aeseok didn't know the youngest was awake until then.

~

Namja awoke late again, tuning into the sounds of laughter and soft rain patter. For a moment, he believed he was back in the dorms, or with his father, and he let go of his cares and responsibilities for just a few moments. If that was all he could attain, then he would take it. He'd take it with open arms. He sighed happily when he heard Seogi giggling, and he could just imagine Aeseok's smile. Perhaps Aejeo had told a stupid joke, and everyone had found it funny.

Namja lolled his head to the side, smiling with his members. He opened his eyes, too. This may have been their four and a halfth day stranded on an island, but Namja was content with the members' laughter. He was glad that their spirits were high, even if his weren't.

"Namja-Hyung," Sung-Ji. "We know you're awake."

"Hm," Namja rolled onto his side with a groan. Sung-Ji was smiling down at him, and Seogi was bouncing in his seat. "Seogi-Hyung?"

"Seogi, Seogi, Seogi," the eldest repeated, laughing himself into a heap on the ground, and Namja figured it was okay.

The leader sat up, joining them near the fire. He liked his members like this, and no matter how many times he repeated it, it was always true. Every time.

"Anybody got ghost stories?"