“Mmm!” Eun-Ae exclaimed happily as she sunk her teeth into the grilled fish, tearing the succulent flesh away and chewing on it blissfully. She and the boys had racked up on the scaled swimmers during their afternoon fishing session on the river, leaving plenty to go around for a nice dinner. After removing the scales and bones, they had put together a roaring fire and roasted the meat on skewers. It was the perfect way to satisfy the hunger the had acquired in catching the meat, and Eun-Ae gave little thought to manners as she chomped away at the meat, juice dribbling down her chin. When she was finished, she wiped with her sleeve and exhaled loudly in satisfaction, tossing the skewer to the side to lean back on her hands and glance up at the sky.

It was gradually fading into blackness as the sun sank behind the thick canopy of the trees, and the girl could see stars glimmering overhead, sparkling brightly against the dark landscape. The air had cooled at the loss of the sunlight, and the cacophony of the birds was replaced by the shrill singing of crickets and the croaking of frogs. It was a nice accompaniment to the crackling of the fire, and its warmth staved off the breeze that whistled through the cool forest. Eun-Ae glanced down to see the boy had finished off the rest of the fish.

“Oh, man, I’m stuffed,” Onew whined as he lay out on the grassy clearing, spread-eagled. “I don't think I could eat another bite.”

“Guess you’re gonna miss out on the s'mores, then,” Minho chuckled as he stretched out to reach his backpack and drag it towards himself. He ped the largest pocket to procure a bag of marshmallows, a box of Graham crackers, and several bars of chocolate; at this, Onew lifted his head, eyebrows raised.

“Did you say s'mores?” he blinked as he hurriedly righted himself, his fullness apparently vanished as he eyed the sweets with his mouth watering. “I’ll take some!”

“You really are a bottomless pit,” Jonghyun mused as Minho tossed him the package of marshmallows to rip open while the latter teased open the box of crackers. Eun-Ae scooted closer to the fire, watering already at the idea of the sweet treats. It had been a long while since she had been able to enjoy any, and she hoped that they lived up to her memory. She brightened as the package of fluffy white marshmallows were passed around, and she planted one of the large sugary constructions on the end of a stick and promptly proceeded to hold it out over the fire.

“Man. This brings you back to the days, doesn’t it?” Taemin sighed as he settled against one of the four logs situated around the firepit.

“Mmhmm!” Eun-Ae nodded happily. Of all the adventures they had experienced thus far, Eun-Ae was quite sure that this was her favorite. She felt at peace here, sitting with her friends beside a fire cooking food and goofing off- just as they had done when they were little, and Eun-Ae had been healthy. She even remember instances when her father had been around, teaching them the intricacies of fishing and camping. A large smile must have wound up on her face as she reminisced, for when her attention returned all the boys were smiling at her warmly.

“I’m glad you’re having fun, Eun-Ae,” Key chuckled as he reached out and ruffled her hair affectionately. She beamed, enjoying the way his hand tousled her hair, and felt a little sad when he pulled back. She then realized that her marshmallow was on fire, and hurriedly pulled it back to blow on it and smother the flames. She smiled in satisfaction at the charred confection and gestured for the accompanying crackers and chocolate. She assembled the little sandwich and promptly bit into it, and she could not help but melt at how good it tasted. This is the life, she concluded as she munched on the delectable treat.

“I have an idea! Why don't we tell scary stories?” Minho suggested suddenly in the middle of pulling out his marshmallow. He frowned on disappointment when it fell off the skewer and landed in the grass below with a plop, then shrugged and shoved a replacement on the stick and poked it into the fire. “It's perfect for a dark, spooky night out in the woods,” he cackled mischievously and wiggled his fingers.

“Yeah! I bet you we can scare Taemin enough to get him to wet his pants,” Onew snickered darkly, and the boy in question whined loudly.

“Why are you picking on me?” he pouted, and the chocolate smeared around his mouth made him seem even more like a small child. “I’m not gonna be scared, anyway!” he huffed and crossed his arms. “You'll see! I can take any scary story you throw at me!”

“Challenge accepted,” Jonghyun smirked and bit down on a s'more, chewing on it as he cocked his head to the side thoughtfully as he thought of a tale to tell over the fire. “Ooh, I know. This one is a classic. So, this girl and her boyfriend are riding down the interstate and they hear an announcement over the radio that a prisoner, a hook-handed man, has broken out and is on the loose. The boyfriend parks in a parking lot of a gas station, and goes inside to get gas while the girl waits inside the car,” he told them, and it seemed like an innocent enough beginning of the story. They all leaned forward, eager to see how it would darken. “So, the girl is waiting in the car and begins to hear a scratching noise, but the windows are all fogged up and she can't see. So she sits and waits. Again, she hears the scratching noise, and can't see anything. She begins to get more scared as the noise goes on and her boyfriend has not come back. Finally, she can't take it anymore and rubs on the window to clear away the mist.”

“And?” Taemin squeaked, curled up in a ball with saucer-wide eyes and his fingers in his mouth.

“She didn't see anything,” Jonghyun continued, and a collective gasp rippled through the group. “She sees the boyfriend and an attendant standing at the door of the gas station, and so she gets out of the car to ask them what was the matter. They point at the car door, and hanging from the handle is a hook hand.” At this sudden revelation, Taemin screeched and pulled his hood over his head, and the rest of them exploded into laughter.

“That one wasn’t even scary!” Minho laughed.

“Yeah-huh! His hand came off!” Taemin wailed as he collapsed on his side and wriggled around in the grass.

“Ooh. I got one, I got one!” Onew cried and waved his hands around for attention. “So this girl comes home late to her dorm from studying in the library to pick up a few things and get right back to it, yeah? So she comes into the room and it's dark, and her roommate is asleep. She doesn’t want to wake her so she doesn’t turn on the light, gets what she needs and leaves. She goes back to the library and falls asleep there. The next morning she returns to the dorm and it's a crime scene! Her roommate has been murdered! Written on the wall in blood was the sentence ‘Aren't you glad that you didn’t turn on the lights?’” In response to the chilling tale, Taemin wailed and clung to Jonghyun, blabbering nonsense about how they were going to be murdered in the woods, while the other pushed against his face trying to pry him off.

“We're gonna diiiiiiie!” Taemin howled.

“What happened to being able to take any scary story thrown at you, Taemin?” Key laughed.

“I take it back! I’m a weenie!” he shouted before taking off and diving into his tent with a long wail of distress. After the rest of the group had finished laughing at the comedic display, they decided that it was a good sign to turn in for the night, and finished off the rest of the s'mores before putting out the fire and climbing into their respective tents. Eun-Ae lingered outside, lying on her back gazing up at the stars. Her nose occasionally twitched at the discomfort of the tubes in her nose, but otherwise it was quite pleasant. She turned her head as Key laid down beside her, pressing his body close while he settled an arm behind his head. She blushed brightly and turned her face back to the sky so he could not see.

“I forgot how nice it is to be out here,” he sighed quietly as he stared up at the inky black expanse peppered with white stars. She glanced over at him out of the corners of her eyes, and was struck by how handsome he looked. He seemed to glow in the soft moonlight, his hair shining and his eyes reflecting the beautiful sky above. Without thinking, she rolled onto her side and pushed close to him, resting her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. She could feel his heart rate quicken.

“It is nice,” she murmured, blushing at her own bold move as she stared up at the stars with him. He didn’t comment on it, just slid his other arm around her waist to hold her against him. “You can see the stars so well out here… Even though the city isn't that polluted, out here, there's no light but the sky… It's beautiful.”

“Yeah. It is,” he agreed, and when she looked back at him, he was looking at her, not the sky. As if drawn by magnets, their faces migrated toward one another, and their lips met. Eun-Ae closed her eyes, enjoying that wonderful feeling of his mouth on hers that she simply could not get enough of. Bathed in starlight and being held by the man she loved, Eun-Ae had never felt more beautiful.

Long after the others had fallen asleep, they simply lay there in the grass, gazing up at the stars and appreciating the short, short time they had together.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the pair of urban legends in this story; those rights belong to the original creators. They were merely adapted for storytelling purposes.