Donghae took deep breath as he followed Eunhyuk who lowered himself deeper into the water so that his whole head was completely submerged. Once underwater Eunhyuk grabbed Donghae’s hand and let him towards the rocky wall of the ledge. Donghae finally gasped for breath once they reached the sidewall. There they heard two voices followed by others.

            “I thought you said they would be here?” Sungmin’s voice asked worriedly.

            “Well, there’s Donghae’s towel. But I don’t see them – look!” Kyuhyun shouted. He must have pointed to something since Sungmin gasped.

            “That’s Eunhyuk’s shirt! You don’t think he… He couldn’t. No way.”

            Eunhyuk and Donghae grinned evilly as they listened in on the other’s conversation. All of a sudden the two dry boy’s feet began to move down the side of the hill. The side Donghae had climbed down to get to the rocky shore. Eunhyuk raised a finger to his soft lips and silently glided by the wall, listening to where the two boys might be above him. When he was sure as to where to attack, he lunged out of the water like a dolphin and grabbed the two boys’ ankles.

            “Ah!” the two victims screamed as they both splashed into the lake. When they emerged from the water they flopped around like birds. Donghae burst out laughing, alerting the two squawking pigeons of his existence. Kyuhyun whirled his head around to glare at Donghae, who immediately bit down on his lip.

            “Was that you?” Kyuhyun yelled. Donghae shook his head and shrugged. All of a sudden Eunhyuk appeared behind him and rested his chin on his lover’s shoulder. Kyuhyun growled in annoyance just as a few more victims found their way to the edge.

            “Are we all taking a bath together?” Heechul giggled, Hankyung’s arms clinging around the pretty boy’s waist. Kangin walked in front of Heechul and looked down.

            “Ah, I don’t think so.”

            “You don’t get a chance to think.” Heechul snapped as he raised his foot to Sparta kick Kangin off the high ledge.

            Kangin cursed as he belly flopped into the lake. Heechul, barely able to contain his laughter took off his shirt and aided Hankyung with his before they willingly leapt off the ledge. Before Kangin was able to breath again, the two devils sent a new wave over his head, preventing the air from reaching his lungs. Kangin coughed and sputtered by the time oxygen was granted.

            “You guys are,” he coughed and rubbed his eyes. “Horrible.”

            “All the time.” Heechul cackled and sent water flying everywhere. During their playtime, the rest of the gang decided to join in on the fun. By the end of the evening, all the guys were in the small river. It was a complete riot.

            “You guys don’t think anything bad will happen to us do you?” asked Ryeowook out of the blue, causing a halt in their fun time. After a couple minutes of silence, Kibum decided to speak up. “Of course not! We have a great leader and a dangerous weapon.”

            Eunhuyuk raised an eyebrow and Leeteuk patted his shoulder.

            “We’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” Leeteuk smiled encouragingly. The rest of the group felt at ease hearing their good friend reassure them with hope and confidence. As the coolness of the night passed on, the boys retreated from the chilly water and into their warm sleeping bags. It didn’t take long until the whole group was asleep. 

                                                            *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            The next morning the boys went down to the same river spot and washed their faces. Once clean they had breakfast. After gathering wood for lunch, and popping open the cans they were to eat did they notice not all of them were present.

            “Hey, has anyone seen muscles?” asked Kyuhyun out of the blue. The small group of wood collectors shook their heads.

            “Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him all day. He wasn’t in the tent in the morning. But he’s is usually up before me anyways, I didn’t pay mind to it.” Donghae frowned and looked around the forest. Once they were done collecting the wood needed for the day, they marched back to the camp.

            While Sungmin and Kyuhyun added their wood to the fire, Donghae decided to ask around. After five minutes, he realized Eunhyuk and Leeteuk were nowhere in sight.

Day 9            

            “What do you mean, ‘they aren’t here’?” Heechul scoffed. The rest of the group stared at each other in confusion.

            “Where are they?” Yesung asked innocently. Kangin smacked him on the back of the head before answering his question. “We don’t know, obviously.”

            Donghae pursed his lips as he thought. Why did they leave? Maybe to get help? But these clouds… He looked up and cringed at the darkening sky. He was no expert, but he was dead sure it was going to storm tonight. Ah, he sighed. This was supposed to be fun.

            “Grrr. They’ll be fine. He knows to come back before the storm hits.” Donghae mumbled more to himself than to anyone in particular.

            “Storm? What storm?” Ryoewook threw his head back to inspect the sky. Sure enough, it would rain.

            The group had eaten lunch and worked on securing their tents to the ground just in case. Donghae didn’t have to do much to his tent. Eunhyuk had been the one to set it up. It didn’t even seem possible to dig the spikes deeper into the ground than what they already were. After supper, the group grew quite agitated. The two punks hadn’t returned and evening was nearing.

            “Let’s go find them.” Kibum voiced after a couple of minutes of tranquility. The rest of the group nodded and off they went.

            “I can’t see them anywhere.” Hankyung cried out loud for the group of rescuers to hear. Donghae bit his lip. Another no show. Where could they be? Just as they were about to choose a new direction, they heard a rustle in the bushes to their right, not that far from them. Kangin put a finger to his lips and gestured for everyone to be cautious.

            “Eunhyuk? Leeteuk? Is that you?” Heechul decided to announce to the whole forest by yelling. After being shushed, they waited for a response. All of a sudden a low growl came from the same direction.

            “Leeteuk?” Sungmin cocked his head to the side, curious. Another growl sounded and the sound of rustling bushes filled their hearts with fear.

            “Minnie, I don’t think that’s Leeteuk.” Kyuhyun grabbed Sungmin’s hand and started to drag him away in the opposite direction. Another growl sent all of them hot on their heels.

            “It’s a bear!” Kangin shouted, while they ran for their lives.

            After at least a half a mile, the group dropped to the ground in fatigue. The sound of pounding hearts and forced breathing was the only thing to be heard. Donghae shook his head in shock. A bear?

            “That was a bear! It was huge! Bigger than me!” Kangin wheezed between gasps.

            “Did you see it?” Kyuhyun asked. Kangin shuffled his feet around and rubbed his neck.

            “Well, I heard it.” he barely murmured. Without delay, Heechul snorted. “I heard it too, and I think it was a unicorn.”

            Donghae leaned against a tree when all of a sudden there was a loud roar followed by a human scream.

            “Leeteuk!” Sungmin yelled. “That was Leeteuk’s scream! The bear! The bear got him!” the poor boy cried. Sungmin was right, it as Leeteuk’s voice. Donghae stared at the ground; he didn’t know what to do. He had never been in this situation.

            Before he had a chance to say something another voice echoed through the mountains. Donghae’s body went frigid. He knew that voice.

            “That was…” Yesung dropped his words. Donghae shook his head in hopes it would somehow clear his mind. Unexpectedly, he found himself running; the others cried after him. Each long stride led him closer to the familiar voice. That was Eunhyuk’s voice. That was his voice!

            “Donghae! Wait for us!” Ryeowook called. Donghae kept running, until he reached the steep side of a mountain. There was no possible way to climb such a steep wall. But this was it. This was where their screaming was. At least, he thought so.         When the rest of the group finally caught up, the sky was starting to tear.        

            “You know, they could be anywhere.” Kyuhyun hissed through his teeth, then pointed to the mountains surrounding them. “Echo.” he nodded, out of breath.

             “Yeah.” Donghae sighed.

            “Well, I think that they’re just fi – ah!” Heechul screamed and pointed to the ground a couple of metres away from them. The group followed his finger then covered their mouths when they saw the horrible scene. On the ground, was a ripped up backpack; dark red liquid was everywhere. A piece of hair or fur, poked out of the mess. Donghae covered his mouth. No.

            “Donghae.” Hankyung let his voice drop. Donghae looked away from the horrid scene. No, no, no. He felt a raindrop hit his forehead. Rain. Donghae heard his friends talking but couldn’t hear anything. He’s gone?

            A cold hand fell on his shoulder. Donghae shook his head and covered his ears. He’s not dead. He promised. He promised.

            “… Hae. Donghae. Donghae?” a familiar voice cut through his thoughts. Donghae looked up and saw Hankyung looking down on him.

            “He’s alive.” was all Donghae could manage. Before he could fall back into his dark state of mind, he slapped himself awake. Stop it! You’re being selfish. You have people to take care of.

            Donghae looked up and smiled. “We better get back to camp. It’s going to storm now.” he announced courageously.

                                                            *     *     *     *     *     *     *

            “Oh my god! This weather is from hell!” Kangin shrieked as he tried to keep his tent from flying into the Land of Oz. The group was completely soaked by the time they got back to the camp. During the harsh escapade back, Donghae had decided to be strong and lead them with courage.

            “Ah! Help me!” Donghae squealed as Sungmin’s clothes flew from the clothesline and into his face, blinding him. A couple seconds later he ripped the wet clothing from his face and threw it to the side, only to trip on a raised root.

            “Oomph.” Donghae winced. This is going to be hard.

                                                            *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Day 8

            Donghae moaned and shuffled in his little sleeping bag. Hmm, not comfortable. He switched sides again. And again. Grrr, he opened his eyes to see Kyuhyun not far from his face. Argh. Donghae shuffled to the other side only to meet Kangin’s feet.

            Donghae’s eyes flew open. Regretfully sniffing the air, he jumped from his sleeping bag and darted for the tent door. Once outside, he took a deep breath. The sun blinded him. Sun. The sun is out! Donghae raised his hand to shield his eyes as he scanned their campsite. Everything was everywhere; and everywhere was anywhere.

            With a sigh, Donghae walked up to the once burning fire they had made. At least, he thought that it used to be the fireplace. Needless to say the fire wasn’t there anymore.

            Once everyone was awake, they sat around in a circle. Donghae started giving them orders like nothing even happened. After a moment of motionless silence, Sungmin raised his hand.

            “Uh, yeah, Minnie. You can speak?” Donghae raised an eyebrow at his funny little blonde friend.

            “What about…”

            “Their fine.” Donghae answered before the blonde could finish.

            “But you saw the…”

            “It doesn’t matter. We have eight more days here until the fisherman comes by on his boat. No more questions. They’ll find their way back.” Donghae nodded, not accepting any more undesirable questions.

            “So, fishing?” Heechul decided to break the stillness.

            “Oh my god, it’s so ugly!” Heechul hissed and threw the small fish on land. Before the fish could get away like all the others, Ryeowook hit it with a tree branch. Right after, Kibum lunged for the fish and swept it up in his hands.

            “We…we got one!” he chimed. The little group cheered. Sooner than what they wanted, their cheering died.

            “How do we cook it?” Kyuhyun asked out loud. The boys looked at each other with clueless expressions. Heechul wiped his now-washed hands on Sungmin’s shirt.

            “Well, .”

            Donghae stared at the empty fireplace and frowned. All the wood was wet and wouldn’t burn. It had been Eunhyuk who started the fire and knew what to do in circumstances like this. Thankfully the fishing group entered the camp and gave him an excuse to think about something else.

            “What did you guys get?” he asked. With a shrug the group showed him six little fish.

            “Oh, I see.” Donghae scratched his head.

            “How do we cook them?” asked Heechul, again. When nobody answered, they could only sigh.

            “I might be able to help with that.” Kangin walked up behind them holding a small knife. “Eunhyuk showed me some cool stuff before he…”

            “Great! Let’s get some food.” Sungmin chimed.

            Ten minutes later the camp was filled with shrieks of terror. Sungmin covered his mouth to keep from vomiting… again. Kyuhyun and Hankyung stared in horror while the rest closed their eyes. Heechul let out another shriek of horror.

            “I bet my life, Eunhyuk didn’t show you to do it that way!” he roared.

            “I’m sorry. It’s a lot harder than it looks – oh.” Kangin chopped off another piece of mutilated fish, sending it flying into the air and landing in front of Sungmin. Without delay, the poor boy bent over and hurled.

            After the fish were “finished”, the group started for the fire only to realize the lack of dry wood. All of a sudden Ryeowook spoke up. “Eunhyuk showed us that you can create a fire even with wet wood.” he said while Yesung nodded.

            “Slice nice strips off a large log and make a lot of kindling.” Yesung commentated while doing exactly what he said. “They need to be really small. The goal is to get a large, hot pile of coals. Oh, but we need a lighter.”

            “How about this?” Ryeowook held out a piece of flint. “Eunhyuk gave me this.”

            “Here.” Hankyung took the flint and grabbed for a knife in his pocket. After a few minutes of unsuccessful tries, there was finally an ember burning red. The group cheered. An hour later, they were cooking the little bits of fish that were left over a hot fire.

            “This isn’t so bad.” Kangin swallowed as the boys nodded. Feeling confident he stood up and put his fists on his waist. “This’ll be easy.”