Gary looked at the girl in front of him. She looked so overwhelmed with guilt- her petite frame hunched over as her tears flowed freely. She doesn’t even dare to make eye contact.

“I don’t think it’s your fault, Jihyo,” Gary said. “Maybe they’ve already sent the letter before they sent you away, but something went wrong in the delivery?”

“It can’t be. Otherwise at least one person would have received it. But they all didn’t have time to prepare. Didn’t you read? Kim, Kang, Yoo, Ji they all… they all couldn’t make it,” she sobbed.

“Jihyo, it doesn’t matter. It’s all in the past now,” he said, steadying her with his arms.

“You said before this was my destiny- our destiny. So maybe it is all fated,” he continued. He held up her face so he was looking into her eyes. “And even if our parents received the notice earlier, do you think it would have made a difference? Your parents knew about it, but they couldn’t avert the disaster either,” he said.

“But maybe they could… maybe your parents could have went into hiding, or maybe…” she said weakly, but Gary cut her off.

“Maybe,” he reminded her. “See, you can’t be sure either. What matters now is that we are all in this together now. We’ll find the others and then face our fates together, okay?”

“Do you really think so?” she asked. She stopped crying already. Gary nodded and ruffled her hair. She smiled a little, her eyes shining with tears.

“Let’s go and rest for the day. It’s a long day tomorrow.”

What Jihyo said hung in Gary’s mind. If his father received the notice earlier, maybe he wouldn’t have to suffer all his years. Maybe his mother won’t die. Maybe he could grow up like a normal child…  He shook his head. There’s no time to think about maybes that never happened. He has to focus on finding Kwang Soo’s parents, persuading him, find the other members, fight Mukk… his mind kept running until it finally exhausted himself with all the thinking and drifted off to sleep.

The next morning, they started their journey early in the morning. They asked around about the shrine Kwang Soo’s aunt talked about. It was in the hilly forest outside this village. It would take about 2 days to walk there by foot. There would be some inns in the middle for the travellers to rest, so they need not worry about having to sleep in the open. Nonetheless, since it is not the peak period now, some inns would be closed. The duo thanked the locals for the information and set off for the shrine.

They trekked in silence, not wanting to waste energy on talking. And also because there wasn’t really much to talk about. At the end of the first day, they checked into an inn. By then, it was already close to midnight. It was much smaller than the inn in the village, but at least they had a proper place to rest.

“Do you know about the shrine nearby?” Gary asked the shopkeeper as they were paying for their room.

“Of course! We build this inn to cater to those who plan to go there and pray.”

“Many people go there?” Jihyo asked.

“Of course! It’s crazy when it’s the peak season, but now there’s less.” the shopkeeper said. “Most of the prayers actually come true. Many believe that the arduous journey to the shrine will impress the forest gods, such that they will help to bless them.”

Gary and Jihyo nodded.

“Many come to pray for health,” he said. “Oh, and many couples come to pray for children too. I heard it is really effective,” he added, smiling mischievously at the duo.

“No, we are not…” Gary said. Jihyo looked lost for a moment, before she realised what the shop keeper was hinting at. She blushed immediately.

“So, would you like two rooms? Or… one?” the shop keeper teased again.

“Two!” they both answered at the same time. The shop keeper chuckled.

“We’re not a couple,” Gary quickly clarified. He glanced over at Jihyo, who was glancing at him at the same time. They both blushed and quickly looked away.

Early next morning, they left for the shrine. According to the shop keeper, it was at most eight hours away.

They passed by several other inns, but as the locals expected, quite a few are closed. The road became steeper and rockier as they walked. It approached midday and they stearted sweating profusely. They reached a food stall, where they decided to take a break. There was a group of people there as well. They chatted and realised that they were headed for the shrine too.

“It’s about two hours from here,” one of the man in the group told Gary.

Gary nodded. That’s not too far off. The group with them explained that as they approach the shrine the steep and rocky roads made it difficult to build inns or even set up food stalls, so this was the last chance they have to get some food. 

Gary nodded at the suggestion. Two hours back and forth meant four. They’d better g