"I mean…" I swallow. "Well, I did visit once."

               Mrs. Kim opens , but is interrupted by a panicked voice of a staff member.

               “Have any of you seen Chaekyung? She’s missing!”

               I instantly got up. "What?" I dash to the staff at the door. "What do you mean?"

               "She was brushing her teeth with others but after that she just disappeared."

               "Oh my." Mr. and Mrs. Kim come as well. "Any idea where she's going?"

               "This never happened before so I'm not sure." the staff sighs.

               Half of the volunteers begin a search party outside while the rest remain inside. "Miss Dana, you should go with Kim Jongin. I'll go with my wife to the west." Mr. Kim arranges the directions. Honestly I couldn't care less about Jongin, I can go alone. Finding Chaekyung is my priority right now.

               I try to remember what clothes she was wearing during dinner but due to my anxiety nothing comes up inside my head.

               "Last time I saw her, she was wearing an orange sweater." Jongin catches up to my speedwalking, and I turn to him. That makes me remember.

               "She's bringing Ella too."

               "Who?" Jongin sounds confused.

               "Her doll. The one with brown stringy hair."

               "Oh." he realizes. "God, you're walking so fast."

               "A child is missing." I screech. "It's so dark already…"

               The orphanage is surrounded by trees, and it seems like our voices calling for Chaekyung are muffled by them. The street lights are dim, and nothing passes by the single road leading to the house. My head spins once in a while, trying to spot the littlest movement. "God, Chaekyung, where are you…"

               "Is that - ?" Jongin sees something among the trees, and we direct our phones' flashlights there.

               "Chaekyung?" I squint my eyes, and march forward. Jongin pulls my sleeve, stopping me in my tracks.

               "It's too dark, she won't be there." Jongin says.

               “I just want to make sure.” I take cautious steps to the woods, and direct my phone to every side I can. I feel chills down my spine as I get deeper to the darker side, and decide to back down. “I guess not…”

               I take a step back, and my body bumps into Jongin’s behind me. I catch my breath, and Jongin is holding onto my arm. “Watch out.”

               “Sorry.” I take a distance. Suddenly my phone rings, and I gasped for the second time. It’s the orphanage. “Hello?”

               “Miss Dana, where are you? We found Chaekyung in the attic. You can go back now.”

               I exhale deeply. “I see. Thank you.” I let down my phone, and there’s only light from Jongin’s phone that’s directed towards me. “They found Chaekyung.”

               Jongin also lets out a relieved breath. “Let’s go back.”

               We turn around to get out from the woods, both phones lighting the road ahead. Jongin was next to me, but he took a step to the front upon seeing something.

               “Be careful, the branches are low this way.” Jongin says.

               I was so focused on the lit path in front of me that I didn’t see a thick branch right on my side, but before I could hit it Jongin pulled me away. I hear Jongin grunting in pain next to me, his phone dropped to the ground. I think I heard him bumping into the tree log just before this.

               I directed my light to him, and saw his right arm wounded with a bloody scrape. I close my mouth with a hand. “Oh God -”

               I hear him sigh as he picks up his phone, and starts walking again. “Let’s go.”

               “You’re hurt!” I catch up to him, looking at the wound.

               “I know.” he responds, indifferent. “Let’s just get back first.”

               Mr. and Mrs. Kim are waiting in front of the door, and Jongin presses his arm to the side of his body. “Oh, you two! You’ve worked hard. Chaekyung’s already in her room.”

               We visit the kids' room to confirm, and I let out a deep sigh to see Chaekyung there. She looks as innocent as ever, not aware she just sent the adults into a frenzy.

               “Glad to see her safe.” Jongin nods a bit, then speedily walks away. I actually need to run to get to his speed, and grab his arm.

               “Wait!” I turn to the staff. “Excuse me, is there any first aid kit?”

               “I’m good.” Jongin grunts, trying to shake me off. I tighten my grip and drag him to follow one staff member who said the kit is in the kitchen.

               Jongin is now sitting with his elbow supported by the dining table and the scrape facing me while I’m trying to find relevant stuff in the kit. The kitchen is empty, and only a few lights are . 

               “Bear with me.” I start to clean his arm with antiseptic. Jongin stays still, and shows no reaction. “Does it hurt?”

               “No.” he answers.

               “Or are you just pretending to be tough?”

               He blinks at me. “Your lips are quite loose this evening. What happened?”

               I shrug. “Beats me.”

               Jongin sighs, and I continue tending to him. The scrape honestly looks painful. “We really should not meet each other, either of us always get hurt.”

               My words bring deafening silence to the kitchen. I didn’t expect this strong of a response. I look up, and Jongin is staring at me.

               "Joo Dana, it's just a scrape." Jongin says, his eyes squinting.

               "But - you know, that time I got cut. Then that one time when you coughed like you'd lose a lung."

               "Those were just - oh God, don't tell me you believe in superstitions. If that's so, you should run away from me this instant, not treat me like this."

               My head feels heavy all of a sudden. I try to focus on slathering his arm with ointment. "Why do we keep encountering each other anyway?"

               "Where are we going with this talk?”

               "Maybe I need to redeem myself first before that."

               "What do you mean?"

               Suddenly my eyes feel hot, and I quickly blink a few times. What is this, why am I in tears? I put my head down to avoid Jongin’s sight and press my lips together.

               After his honest words at the ski resort, once in a while guilt comes to me, reminding me that I have yet to say sorry. But every time, I don’t know how to do it. It keeps happening without closure, even at times after the presentation, when I was so sure that I wouldn’t have to meet him again.

               “Why?” Jongin asks.

               “I don’t know.” I struggle to speak. “I feel so evil.”

               “What?” Jongin sounds completely perplexed. “Hey, what’s with you, really?”

               I put the ointment on the table and place both hands on my forehead. “I - I don’t know why I’ve been so hostile towards you, even until now. I don’t know what makes me so angry. I clearly know you’re not at fault but why - “

               “Are we still talking about that topic?”

               “I haven’t properly apologized to you.” I finally said it. “I’m really sorry for making you feel that way. You didn’t do anything wrong, and I shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

               I look up, trying to meet his eyes. Jongin already has his on me, and I grow nervous.

               He nods once. I blink, then he looks at the table. “I get it.”

               “I really mean what I said, even though it's long overdue.”

               He nods again. “It’s okay.”

               A part of me immediately feels much lighter. “Thank you.”

               “We really have weird… ties with each other.” Jongin comments as he puts down his arm to the table.

               “Seems like it. What even are we?”

               Jongin looks away, thinking.

               “Family friend?” I hesitantly suggest. That still seems a bit too close, relative-like.

               “College mate?” Jongin adds, but still doesn’t feel right.

               “Acquaintance?”

               “Friend?”

               We look at each other, both being indecisive. Can we be friends, considering our strange past?

               “Let’s just go with friends at the moment.” Jongin says, but then quickly adds. “I don’t mean friends - friends - but yeah… You get it.”

               “Yep. I get it.” I nod, and Jongin copies in agreement.

               Whatever we are now, I think neither of us actually plan to be friendlier with each other.