*Nicole’s POV*

Another hour ticked by, and I was beginning to lose it. Annie offered me one of her veggie dogs, saying I needed to eat something, but I couldn’t. I didn’t even want to breathe without knowing Minho was safe.

I rested my head against Carolyn’s shoulder. I was so thankful for her. I was thankful to everyone. They were treating me so nicely, when I obviously didn’t deserve it. Rebecca was sitting on my other side now, holding my hand and gently mumbling comforting words to me. I was too dazed to respond and could barely make out her words anyway; but somehow they helped.

“Hello?”

We all jumped in surprise; and fear.

“Hello?” the voice sounded again.

Annie got up and ran to the walky-talky sitting on the picnic table.

“Yes?!” she shouted into the device. “What is it?! Did you find him?! Are you safe?!”

“Hold on a minute will ya!” we heard the manager’s voice shout through the speaker. “We have Minho. He’s a little scratched up and worn out, but he’s okay. He got lost and ended up miles away; but we’ve got him now.”

I was feeling so many emotions; relief, sadness, anger, joy. I collapsed in Carolyn’s arms, tears streaming down my face. She wrapped me in a comforting hug and my long wavy hair.

“Any word on Taemin and Onew?” I heard her ask.

I had totally forgotten that the other boys were out there. Jonghyun was with the manager, but we hadn’t heard a thing from Onew or Taemin yet.

“No,” replied the manager. “Something must’ve happened to their walky-talky because we lost contact with them about an hour ago.”

*Carolyn’s POV*

I heard a small gasp come from Rebecca. I knew she was scared for Onew, but it couldn’t be anywhere NEAR as scared as I was for Taemin. We were in a relationship. I loved Taemin. If anything happened to him…

I tried to stay strong. I felt tears coming to my eyes.

“Let us know if you hear anything from them,” Rebecca said into the walky-talky.

By this time we were all standing in a circle around the communication device, which Annie held in her hands.

“Will do,” the manager said. “We’re heading back now though. If the other two aren’t back by the time we get there, then we’ll go back out again to find them.”

“They better be there,” we all heard Jonghyun mumble in the background.

“Can I talk to Minho?” Nicole begged into the device.

Some shuffling sounds came from the other end. They stopped and a voice came over the line. “Nicole?”

“Oh Minho, my baby! I was so worried! Don’t you ever scare me like that again!” she shouted.

“I’ll see you in a little bit, baby,” he laughed. “Bye guys.”

We set the walky-talky back down on the picnic table and went back to the fire to wait. We waited for what seemed like an eternity. Instead of sitting and crying like last time, Nicole paced back and forth, unable to hold still. I sat next to Rebecca who was staring blankly at the fire.

“Staring at it for too long will hurt your eyes,” I warned.

“Huh?!” she shot up. Apparently I’d snapped her out of a daydream. “Oh, sorry I was just-,”

“I understand,” I stopped her. I didn’t want her to have to go on. I could see the tears she was trying to hold back. “It’s hard not knowing.”

Suddenly a noise came from somewhere in the woods behind us. All of us jumped up in fear and huddled close to the fire.

*Rebecca’s POV*

“I-is it a bear?” Nicole whimpered, her knees shaking like crazy.

“I don’t know,” Carolyn replied nervously.

We huddled even tighter as the noise grew closer. Suddenly we heard voices.

“Ow, hyung; watch it! You just hit me with a branch!”

“Taemin?” Carolyn perked up.

“Sorry, it’s dark! And ahhhhhh!”

We heard stumble and a thud.

“Hyung, you are so clumsy! Come on get up. Hey! I see a light!”

“Are we dead?”

“No, it’s like a fire- hyung do you really think we’re dead?” the voice asked in a ‘No-Duh’ way. “Hey! Looks it’s the girls!”

We all turned to see Taemin standing at the edge of the clearing of the campsite.

“Taemin!!!!” Carolyn shouted, running toward her boyfriend. She embraced him so tightly that he nearly fell over.

Oh I missed you! I was so worried…”

Their voices faded from my ears as a beautiful sight unfolded behind them. It was Onew; stumbling out of the darkness and nearly falling flat on his face.

“Ow,” he mumbled before standing up straight.

“Onew Oppa!!!” I cried as I ran toward him, tears streaming down my face.

He looked up in surprise, but embraced me as I leapt into his arms. I wrapped my legs tight around him while throwing my arms around his neck. He held me tightly so I wouldn’t fall. I grabbed onto the collar of his shirt, squeezing it hard to hold back my emotion.

“Shhhh, I’m right here,” he whispered, the side of his face resting against mine.

“Oppa, I thought something happened to you,” I squeaked through my tears, trying to calm down.

“Haha, no I’m right here. See? I’m here in your arms,” he comforted me with a smile.

This only made me squeeze him tighter. I didn’t want to let go, but I knew I had to.

I was about to tell him he could set me down when I stopped. My eyes closed and a smile grew across my face as he planted soft butterfly kissed on my neck. I wasn’t sure if it was for comfort or for love, but I enjoyed each little touch of his lips on my skin.

*Onew’s POV*

Someday these kisses will be for your lips yebo…