Dim, with only moonlight illuminating his room, it is another weird sleep for Mashiho as he explores his dreamland. There he is again, dreaming about his journey in South Korea, particularly in Seoul. Wait, has he been there? Nope! Not yet. He had never been there but why was he having such dreams? And not only dreams of enjoying his trip there but why with a tall man (whom he thinks is a Korean guy) he hasn't seen or met like ever. He can only see his silhouette, the shadow of his great physique and model-like fashion. He is like a vague sculpture that engraves an enormous part in his existence. “Who are you, young man?”

He can feel his heart's erratic beating, thumping hard as he feels the guy’s hand slowly encircling his with a slight squeeze of affection. "It's warm," he thought, smiling shyly. He has never experienced such things, not even having someone so dear to him to be this close and intimate. He has never had a boyfriend ever since, thus these feelings are so new to him. But, unexpectedly for him, it is so satisfying.

Mashiho examines himself, he's wearing a traditional hanbok, his "date" too, and they are heading to the preserved 600-year-old urban environment located on the top of a hill between Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeok Palace and Jongmyo Royal Shrine, Bukchon Hanok Traditional Village while holding hands. Walking hand-in-hand like ancient lovers in the Joseon Dynasty, they explore the solemnity of the place, experiencing all possible activities that Joseon people had done in those times. He’s enjoying the tour, he feels like a tourist who visits the village for some fun but finds himself being immersed in the Korean culture that is way different from how he was nurtured by the Japanese culture and traditions. “So this is who Koreans are,” He thought.

Occasionally, the guy lightly caresses the back of his hand, giving his goosebumps and shivers. There is this unusual excitement, slightly romantic, he must admit. This mysterious guy has been giving him these feelings. For a short period of time, he is developing this feeling of longingness and affection, it feels so right yet so wrong.

"I haven't seen his face but why do I feel like I've known him for so long?" he asked himself. "Gosh, I'm going crazy."

The scene shifted to some kind of a museum? or an exhibit shop? "Gahoe Folk Drawing Shop", he read before entering the door. There are lots of paintings, preservation of Korean folk arts. Looking at the unfamiliar paintings, he is getting confused on how he feels like he has internalized the meaning of each one? Ignoring the confusion, they walked towards another set of paintings and stopped in front of a portrait that shocked the hell out of him.

"Why am I here?" his doll eyes widen as he stares and examines the portrait in front of him. " And who am I with?" he asked as he turned his gaze to the man he was with. He finally is getting to see the guy’S face but right before that miraculous moment, his alarm blew loud. “Darn it! I should have seen his face.” he whimpers as he tosses himself back and forth in bed.

Though disappointed and can't go back to sleep to peek at that man’s face, he got off his bed and prepared himself for their trip to Osaka today. His friends must be waiting for him.

TEXT MESSAGES (GDM: 格好いい (Kakkoii))

Nori: シホ、どこにいるの？ (Shiho, where are you?)

Sahi: 彼は遅く起きたに違いない。 私たちは彼がどれだけ睡眠が好きなのか知っています、ノリ。(He must have woken up late. We know how much he loves to sleep, Nori.)

Ruto: しほ、お兄ちゃん、ゆっくりしてね。(Shiho, brother, take your time. )

Shiho: ごめんなさい。 寝坊しました。(Sorry、 sorry. I overslept)

Sahi: また「夢の男」ですよね？(It's your "dream guy" again、 right?)

Shiho: ええ (Yeah)

Ruto: あら、まだ彼の夢を見ているの？(Oh, oh. you're still having dreams about him? )

Shiho: 後で詳しくお話します。 降ります。(I'll tell you more later. I'm getting off.)

Melbourne Coffee, Craft & Cider, Osaka

After a long car ride from Mie to Osaka, Mashiho walks inside the infamous cafe, Melbourne Coffee, Craft & Cider. He turns his head around to spot his friend and finds them on the far east alley near the window, chatting happily with their fave beverages. He went to the counter to order his favorite latte macchiato and blueberry muffin. Carrying the tray of his order, he walks towards his friends’ table. Exchanging greetings, Mashiho gladly sits and chats with them.

(Convo in Japanese…)

“Yes but last night was way different from other nights. I saw a portrait of mine and a guy beside me,” he shared. “You know what’s frustrating? I should have seen his face, right there. But, argh! My alarm just blew off!!!!”

Asahi, Yoshi and Haruto just can’t help but to burst out laughing as Mashiho’s animated narration on how he got so disappointed with the almost meeting of their friend and his mysterious dream guy. Mashiho sulks and they find it even cuter.

“How long have you been dreaming about him again?” Nori asked, still wiping off his tears from laughing hard.

“Since my 21st birthday? Yeah. That night after we celebrated my birthday,” Mashi answers and sips his latte.

“Are you really sure you haven’t gone to Seoul or anywhere in Korea before? Because as you have mentioned, you can see scenes where you are having your time there with someone. Were you in an accident before to have amnesia or whatever?” Asahi, being an overly critical thinker, earns him stares from them with suspicious eyes. “Or… it is some kind of reincarnation, like those moments really happened in your past life? What do you think?” Sahi continues.

“Sahi-niichan, your logic is just so superb,” Ruto gave Sahi a thumbs up, a sign of agreement to the elder’s statement. “But that’s somewhat overrated? Are we in a fantasy or science fiction?”

“As much as I can remember, I really haven’t gone there ever. You know, super long drives and airplanes make me nauseous,” Mashi enunciates. “And I do not have amnesia and I don’t even believe in reincarnation and past lives.”

However, curiosity has been hitting on him ever since he started having those flashes. He already started researching places in Seoul that were in his dreams. He also tried to look for that tall Korean guy with broad shoulders, soft hands with long yet cute fingers and dresses like a runway model but after months he still cannot find him. Maybe that guy does not exist at all and is just a figment of his imaginative and loveless soul.

“Maybe you are just imagining things. You know, you should find someone to love. Like a real person, not a guy from your dreams. Get a lovelife, I mean,” Nori advised with a sly smile. “You know I know some guys who you can have a date with. What do you think?”

“And who are they, niichan?” Ruto asked innocently, ready to concede with the elder’s plan.

“Well, there’s Mahiro, Keita and Kotaro. Just choose and I’ll set you up, Shiho.”

Mashiho laughs at Yoshinori’s suggestions. He has no time to date. Nope, he can’t date as long as he cannot find that guy he has been yearning to meet.

“Perhaps, you like Korean guys. I also know some,” Nori continues, still teasing Mashi.

“I’ll pass for now,” still laughing at Nori. “I’ll find him, no matter what,” at the back of his mind, he promised.

After their bond and talks, they bid farewell to each other. It is kind of dark and Mashiho has to go back to Mie. He waits at the stop for a bus ride, his comfort travel. Three-hour bus ride at night gives him the rest that he always yearns for, giving him a clearer mind. Soon he has to go back to internship and his vacation will be over so he wants to make the best of every rest he gets.

The bus came just then so went up and chose a seat near the windows. He took his airpods and played his comfort playlist. Soon after, he drifted to sleep.

With his paint materials and canvas, Kim Junkyu gets on the bus heading to Mie Prefecture. He has been staying in Japan for quite some time since he started exploring the country months ago. He came to Japan for work, to paint great sceneries in the country, exhibit them in his parents’ Art Gallery and to enjoy his vacation by hopping from one prefecture to another.

Months ago, the young Kim finished his Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts and his father asked him to work for his portfolio before enrolling for a Master's Degree. He was also asked to choose a country where he wants to gather his subjects and he gladly selected Japan, the country that he misses a lot. That way, he can also enjoy working, not bad for a graduation gift, indeed.

Japan has been his family’s vacation spot. They have spent season vacays there, exploring almost anything anywhere, mostly in Tokyo. But when he started studying at the university, he could not join his family’s visit to Japan. But now, he will make sure to enjoy his stay there as much as he wants.

However it’s not his main reason for choosing Japan. Yes, he wants to unwind and to work but he is also planning to find someone, some guy who has been boggling his mind lately. There is this small guy he always finds himself drawing in his sketchbook, faceless. It is unconventional on how he usually works as an artist because he used to draw faces of people he meets. But what makes it different is that this guy hasn't seen him nor knew. He just draws him vividly without the face features. He does not really have any idea what has gotten him but he can put that guy’s physique into art form. face. He can remember how expensive the guy looks every moment he sees him in his sudden reverie excluding any emotion nor expression. Strangely, he feels something in him whenever he sees that guy, unexplainable and vague. And it is the mystery that he wants to find out when he decides to travel around the cities in Japan, hoping that one day he will find that guy.

He can’t really remember when it started no matter how much he traces back his memories. Was it when he visited his grandparents’ old house on their death anniversary or when he found an old picture of them in the attic of their house? He can’t really remember. No matter how hard he recalls, he cannot really see his face, thus awakening his curiosity in finding a guy similar to whom he usually sees in spur. But what’s for sure is that he has been doing those sketches for quite long now. He almost completed a whole sketchbook for the faceless guy, well, just a few pages left.

For the last two weeks, he has been enjoying trips around Nara. He visited the famous Nara Park, Tōdai-ji Temple and Isuien Garden. But where did he enjoy the most? The Nara National Museum. Being an appreciator and worker of art, museums and galleries are his haven. It has a rich exhibit of art works dated in the eighth century. There are periodic temporary displays of exhibits selected from the museum's large reserves, its permanent collection includes a number of galleries dedicated to archaeological finds, as well as fine displays of sculpture, paintings, and calligraphy. He was feeding his curiosity and appreciation to these artworks in front of him when he suddenly saw another spur of a scene. This time, he can feel himself immersed in the moment. Both of them are there. He is holding the small guy’s hand fondly while looking at something, some kind of a portrait. He tries hard to focus on the portrait and see who they are looking at when that guy turns his head on him and he turns his head to him, as well, at least to catch a glimpse of his face. “This is it,” his mind exclaims thinking that he will be able to see the guy's face finally. But the scene stopped playing, like a pirated compact disk that halts everything from showing.

“What the…” he almost shouted, that brought him back from sudden reverie. “I should loosen up a bit.”

Loosening up for him means he has to vent out his emotions through art. He recalls any quiet place where he can sit, relax and paint. He remembers how his family loves visiting Manyo Botanical Garden, Thus, following where his feet bring him.

Just a few lines, strokes and shades and he’s done. Looking at his sketch, he’s not satisfied. Not because he drew not so well but because it is incomplete. His subject still has no face and it frustrates him even more, aching his head and heart for exhausting him with all of his travels for months but still cannot find any clear trace of who this guy he is starting to admire.

IG Day: Still searching…

Replies to Junkyu

Jihoon: 아직 못 찾았다고요? (Haven’t found him yet?)

Junkyu: 아니에요. (not yet)

Jaehyuk: 몇 달이나 지났는데, 그를 찾느라 피곤하지 않아? (It’s been months, aren’t you tired searching for him?)

Junkyu: 저는 . 하지만 난 여전히 그러고 싶어. (I am but I still want to.)

Doyoung: 그는 사랑에 빠졌다. (Smitten in love)

He smiles at the thought of him being smitten by that mysterious guy. Too early for that. How can he fall for someone he never sees? He even does not know if that guy really exists nor where he can find him. Spending months trying to find him feels so exhausting and frustrating every day. Why does he have to do that, though? That's the question he has wanted to answer since then. Is this only his curiosity working or there's something else?

Nothing yet is for sure but in his last month of stay in Japan, he will still search for answers, even if chances are too little, he will still cling onto the slightest.

Boarded in a bus to Mie, he can feel the exhaustion from his escapade in Osaka and Nara that day and his last stop is Mie before he heads back to Tokyo next month. He plans to spend at least two weeks in Mie, hoping that his search for his mysterious subject will be successful.

He was peacefully sitting in his chosen bus spot when a guy approached him asking if he could exchange his seat with him and his pregnant wife. He bod politely and shifted to the seat they were referring to. There he finds a sleeping guy with airpods on his ears, eyes closed and breathing deeply. He unconsciously got lost staring at that guy with a cute round face, milky white skin, long eyelashes and pointed nose. He pulled back from his reveries when the bus brakes, letting his hand grab the top part of the seat where the cute guy's head is resting. Nervous, thinking that he might wake the guy up, he slowly makes his way to sit beside him. Good thing the guy did not wake up, instead, he rested his head on Junkyu's shoulders.

Cold shivers and slight sparks from his shoulder make his heart thump fast like a horse running in a race track back and forth.

"Be still, my heart. This is wrong," his mind reminds him that he's still in search of his subject but there he is appreciating a masterpiece of art in human form. He must stay loyal to his subject and surrender only when he finds him.

But his conviction crumbles down when he suddenly feels arms fondly snaking on his waist, hugging him. He can't stay still, it's uncomfortable being hugged by a stranger but why can't he move and remove the arms snuggling him? It's wrong but he's loving the warmth and he can't just ignore it. Thus, he lets himself succumb in the darkness as he slowly closes his eyes to sleep with a stranger beside him.