Tiffany bites her lip and leans forward as Sooyoung continues her story. Tiffany, Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Seohyun have all gathered at Sooyoung’s house for a bon fire celebrating the upcoming end of their senior year. Hyoyeon, Yuri, Sooyoung, and Seohyun have been friends since first grade; Tiffany however has only known the four girls since the beginning of freshman year when she moved to South Korea from America.

                At the moment Sooyoung (with occasional add-ins from the others) is telling Tiffany a legend that is often told amongst elementary school kids, and well known to just about everyone in their town. Tiffany is one of the few that have never heard it. The legend of The Lover.

                Sooyoung lets an eerie tone creep into her voice as she speaks, “Legend has it that somewhere in the woods behind Lover’s Park there’s a dilapidated mansion where it hides in waiting for the next victim to wander by. The Lover mostly claims small children and middle school kids who get lost or run away from home. The Lover takes the shape of their friends or adult figures to lure them in. Once The Lover gains their trust… BAM it kills them.” Sooyoung and the others laugh when they see Tiffany jump.

                Tiffany smiles nervously, “Very funny, guys. So, uh, why’s it called The Lover? I figured there would be some romance in there or something.”

                Sooyoung shrugs, “I think it’s just called that because it’s the park’s name.”

                Seohyun nods, “I think that’s it.”

                “It’s still not a very scary story.” Tiffany adds.

                Yuri laughs, “Really now? Imagine being out in those woods after dark. You’d piss yourself!”

                “I would not!” Tiffany yells resolutely.

                Sooyoung jumps in on the teasing, “Psh, you totally would! You’re a complete scaredy cat! Remember that time we had a scary movie night? You wouldn’t let go of Yuri!”

                Tiffany doesn’t want to admit that it was more because of her crush on Yuri than out of fear. “Fine. One time!”

                Hyoyeon grins evilly, “You wouldn’t last 10 minutes in those woods by yourself.”

                “I bet I could!” Tiffany boasts.

                Sooyoung crosses her arms, “Fine then. Why don’t we go there now? You can walk in the woods for ten minutes and then come back to us. If you can’t go at least ten minutes you have to admit that you’re a little fraidy-cat.”

                Tiffany accepts the challenge right away, “Fine! Let’s do it!”

                “I don’t think that’s such a great idea… What if she gets lost?” Seohyun says quietly.

                “Her phone has navigation built in, she’ll be fine.” Yuri explains.

                Without saying anything more they all pile into Yuri’s car.

                Tiffany felt calm the whole way here, but it’s now that she’s standing in front of the eerie looking forest that things really begin to sink in. Flashlight in hand, she begins to walk into the pathless woods. “What did I get myself into…”, She mumbles to herself.

                As she walks farther into the forest Tiffany realizes she was wrong about there not being a path. She’s wandered onto a strip of ground that’s a bit clearer than the rest. Not that it’s very easy to traverse; branches and other forest debris are littered all over it. It’s very clear that the path hasn’t been in use for months or even years, but it’s still smoother to walk on than the rest of the forest floor.

                The sudden sound of a bird or bat rustling the branches overhead causes Tiffany to let out a scared yelp. Immediately she feels like an idiot.

                “I’m not really afraid of that stupid story, am I? It was probably just made up by parents to keep their kids from wandering off.”, Tiffany thinks to herself. All of her logic is telling her there’s nothing to be afraid of. “It wasn’t even all that scary.”

                Tiffany glances at the time on her phone; she’s only been in the forest for three minutes, but it feels like so much longer. The farther she walks the more she thinks of the rational things she has to be afraid of. “I think we have wolves in this area… I know for sure there are coyotes. They’re kind of small though… But don’t they travel in packs? God, I wish I had paid more attention in science… Wait, don’t we have mountain lions out here, too?”

                As her thoughts race so does her heart; making her jump at every slight sound. However, all of the small sounds she’s been hearing are faint and can be chalked up to bats, birds, or other small wildlife. It’s at the five minute mark, when Tiffany is about to turn back, that she hears the crystal clear sound of a good sized stick snapping in half. She pauses dead in her tracks, wondering if she had just heard the echo of herself cracking a stick underfoot. She hears the unmistakable sound again, this time closer and followed by the sound of rustling underbrush. It’s enough to make her sprint full speed ahead; going farther into the forest.

                As Tiffany runs she hears the footsteps mimic her sprint; she’s too afraid of what’s behind her to look. Aside from that running while looking forward is hard enough. The beam of her flashlight is bouncing up and down in front of her only illuminating silhouettes of the branches and rocks that are scattered on the trail. In the beginning she jumps over them readily, but after over a minute of sprinting her leg muscles are burning. More than once she stumbles but doesn’t fall. It’s a large fallen tree that does Tiffany in; too big for her sore legs to jump over.

“!” ,Tiffany screams when she feels something stab into her thigh as she hits the ground. Her flashlight was lost in the fall, so seeing what’s happening with her leg is out of the question. The pain is almost unbearable; whatever is stuck in her thigh is in there deep. Tears roll down her cheeks; she’s scared and in pain. Aside from her sobbing there’s silence. Tiffany doesn’t know if the quiet is comforting or terrifying.

Through her tears Tiffany can see a light in the distance aimed directly at her and its getting closer. It has to be one of her friends, so she stays still and tries to stop her tears. Whoever it is is indistinguishable as they stop a few yards away and pick up the flashlight Tiffany dropped during her fall.

The figure kneels down in front of Tiffany, hands her the switched off flashlight, then stands and backs away. Tiffany’s starting to feel fear sink in again. Whoever handed her the flashlight isn’t one of her friends, they would have said something by now. With shaky hands, Tiffany lifts the flashlight up and switches it on.

Tiffany has to blink a few times to let what she’s seeing sink it. Not one of her friends, but definitely not some serial killer in a trench coat either. Standing a couple yards away is a small and pretty woman who Tiffany guesses is about the same age as herself. “Who the hell are you? Were you following me?” She asks in a shaky voice. The shakiness now caused more by pain than fear.

                The woman smiles and the sight causes most, if not all, of Tiffany’s fear to vanish. She’s absolutely stunning. “I’m Taeyeon, and I wasn’t following you. I just heard you drop the F bomb and thought you might need help. Are you okay?”

                “Ugh, no. Something is stuck in my leg… I’m not sure if I can stand.” ,Tiffany says.

                Tiffany doesn’t even flinch when the woman walks closer to her and kneels down less than a foot away to be on the same level. Momentarily she forgets about the pain she’s in. This Taeyeon lady isn’t just stunning; she’s the woman of Tiffany’s dreams.

                Taeyeon looks directly at her, and Tiffany finds herself lost in the woman’s dark brown eyes. “Is it okay if I help you up? Maybe get you out of here?”

                Tiffany struggles to pull herself back to reality, and when she does the pain hits her harder than ever. Before she can speak, she takes in a deep breath and exhales hard to stop herself from screaming. “That would be fan-ing-tastic”, Tiffany tries to stand back up only to fall down again causing more pain to spread through her thigh.

                Taeyeon smiles in sad amusement; seeing that smile up close is even more breathtaking than it was from far away. “God… She really is the girl of my dreams…”, Tiffany thinks in awe.

                 “Here, let me help.” Taeyeon points her flashlight towards Tiffany’s injure thigh and examines it. A limb from the fallen tree had stabbed into her thigh and blood is staining her jeans. The sight makes Tiffany turn her head nauseously.

                Taeyeon doesn’t seem effected by the gore. “Stay still, alright?”, With that, Taeyeon takes a pocket knife from her jeans and begins to saw the limb that’s stabbed into Tiffany’s leg off of the heavy branch it’s attached to. In about a minute she’s cut through it. “Okay, now I’m going to carry you out.” She puts her knife away and faces her back towards Tiffany. “Climb on.”

                “Uhm… are you sure you can lift me?” Tiffany asks cautiously. She knows Taeyeon won’t be able to. All logic says she shouldn’t. Even with only her flashlight, Tiffany can see how small the woman is.

                “Positive. Now come on.” Taeyeon instructs in a stern but kind tone.

                Tiffany does as she is told and struggles onto Taeyeon’s back with her arms wrapped around the girl’s neck. Taeyeon puts her hands behind Tiffany’s knees to help keep her up. To Tiffany’s surprise Taeyeon stands up smoothly.

                “Which way do you need me to go?”, Taeyeon asks. Tiffany only points, and Taeyeon nods. She begins to walk, and to Tiffany’s surprise the weight of herself on Taeyeon’s back doesn’t seem to be causing her to struggle at all.

                After minutes of walking in silence Tiffany asks, “So, why were you out in the woods?”

                “There are a few paths through here that aren’t too well known. Sometimes I walk them when I need some fresh air. What about you?”

                Tiffany sighs, “I’m here on a dare.”

                “A dare? Aren’t you a little too old for that?”, Taeyeon asks in a playful tone.

                “I guess… but most of my friends aren’t exactly what you would call mature.”

                Taeyeon hums, “I can understand that. So, I never caught your name, what is it?”

                “Tiffany.”

                “Oh, that’s really pretty. Also foreign. Where are you from?”

                “California, in the US. I moved here a few years ago.”

                “Ooohhhh. I see.”

                The small talk continues until the two reach the edge of the forest where Sooyoung, Hyoyeon, Yuri, and Seohyun are waiting.

                Her friends rush to Tiffany and the strange girl that is carrying her.

                "We were about to come in and get you! Are you okay? Who’s this and why is she carrying you?",  Yuri barrages her with questions.

                Taeyeon speaks before Tiffany has a chance to, "I'm Taeyeon and your friend here has a stick stabbed into her leg. Can someone else take her?" Yuri quickly responds to the request by taking the wounded girl onto her own back.

                "May I look at your leg?" Seohyun asks with concern. Tiffany nods. Seohyun inspects the wound thoroughly before saying, "The stick is still in there and she's still bleeding some. We should take her to a hospital as soon as possible." The youngest concludes.

                "Shouldn't we take the stick out of her leg first?" Sooyoung asks.

                Taeyeon is the one that responds, "No. Keep it in there and let the doctor take it out. If you do it now she’ll bleed even more"

                The friends look at her oddly, "Where the hell did you even come from?" Hyoyeon asks rudely.

                Taeyeon laughs off her rudeness, "I was just jogging and I heard her yell."

                "Don't be a to her, Hyo. Without her I would still be hurt and lost in the woods."

                "Psh, whatever. We would have came for you soon. She didn't do anything too special" Yuri says in an aggravated tone. Tiffany is beyond confused. Why are her friends acting so harsh towards Taeyeon when this girl has done nothing but help?

                Taeyeon laughs light heartedly, "Whatever." She then looks at Tiffany with a genuine smile, "I'll see you around, okay?" She says before walking back into the woods.

                The girls pile back into the car to take Tiffany to the closest emergency room. On the way there all they talk about is Taeyeon. Most of the things they say are about the creepy vibe the strange girl gave them. Tiffany doesn't understand any of it. Taeyeon had seemed fine to her. Funny, nice, and gorgeous. Really, Tiffany hopes that she’ll see her again.