“I'm getting sick of these stupid berries and mushrooms. I would do anything for a burger right now.”, I whined and buried my face into his back.

He chuckled. “It would be easier if you could stop thinking about fast food all the time.”

“I wish I could have your will power.”

“I just don't complain as much as you do.”

I pouted. “Why are you so happy today?”

“Why? Am I not allowed to be happy?”

“Well, considering your constant mood changes, I shouldn't be surprised.”

“You make me look like a girl suffering from PMS....or a pregnant woman.”

I smacked his head. “Not funny, idiot.”

“Hey, could you refrain from hitting me while I'm carrying you, please?”

“Only if you refrain from making smart- comments.”

“You know, normally people would be really grateful towards the person who carries them all the time through the forest.”

“I already said 'thanks', okay? What else do you want me to do? your shoes? Because if you -” I couldn't finished my sentence because Dongwoon suddenly stopped and that caused my nose to bumped against his back. “Ouch, that hurt. What's the matter, idiot?”

“Hey, am I hallucinating right now?”, he asked.

Huh? What was going on with him?

“Okay, did you eat wrong mushrooms?”, I asked.

“Look and tell me that I'm not dreaming.”

Curious, I glanced over his shoulder. And what I saw left me breathless. “Oh my gosh.”

“So I'm not hallucinating?”

“Well, either we're both hallucinating or there is really a friggin' cabin.”

I wasn't kidding. Right in front of us was a small cabin. Hope flared up. Maybe that could be our rescue. What if someone was living in this cabin and what if this someone had a phone, so we could call for help?

“Why are you standing round? Come on, move your to the cabin, idiot.”, I said impatiently.

“Stop bossing me around. I was just startled for a moment.”, he retorted.

Then he sighed and approached the cabin. But he moved very slowly.

I rolled my eyes. “It would be nice to arrive at the cabin before getting wrinkles.”

“Either get down and move on your own or just shut up.” When I didn't answer, he added: “You don't know who's living in this cabin. What if it's some kind of criminal? Normal people aren't likely to live in such a remote place.”

“Paranoid much?”

“Better safe than sorry. And now be quiet.”

When he was standing in front of the door, he knocked gently. No answer. He knocked again, this time a little bit louder. Still no answer.

“Seems like nobody's here.”, I said.

He didn't answer. He just grabbed the doorknob and tried to open the door. I was kinda surprised to find out that the cabin wasn't locked.

“Hello? Somebody here?”, Dongwoon shouted.

No answer.

“It's kinda scary.”, I said quietly.

“You wanna wait outside while I check out the cabin?”, he suggested.

“No, it's okay. I rather stay with you.”

“Okay, hold on tight.”

I obeyed and locked my arms around his neck. He took a deep breath and entered the cabin. The first thing that hit me was the scent. The cabin had this typical woody scent. It was difficult to see anything because it was too dark. Fortunately Dongwoon found a candle and lit it. When the light brightened the cabin, we were finally able to take a closer look. The cabin may have seem old from the outside, but the interior looked okay. On the right side of the cabin was a couch and a table. On the left side was an old kitchen and a cupboard. Opposite from the door was a fireplace and next to it was a bed. This cabin was definitely not abandoned. There were still ashes from a newly lit fire in the fireplace, the sheets on the bed weren't covered with dust, just like the other furniture, and there was even food in the cupboard which was still edible.

Dongwoon must have come to the same conclusion because he said: “Hm. I wonder where the owner of this cabin is.”

“What if the owner is really some kind of criminal?.”

“Let's rest and wait for the owner.”

“Are you sure? Maybe we could wait outside.”

“But we don't know if the owner will ever return. So let's take advantage of this cabin and rest for a while.”

I was really tired, so I gave in. Dongwoon put me down on the couch and sat down next to me.

“Ah, I can't remember the last time I have been sitting on such a comfortable couch. My hurts from sitting around the hard ground all this time.” He turned to me. “By the way, do your feet still hurt? Let me see the scratches.”

He gently grabbed my feet and laid them on his thigh. Then he took off my shoes and took a look at my feet while gently tracing the scratches with his finger.

“They don't look as bad as before. You should be able to walk in the next days.”

“Thank you for carrying me.”

“No need to thank me.”

“Ah, that reminds me of your injuries. We should take a look at them, too. I'm afraid that carrying me didn't do them any good.”

“Nah, I'm okay.”

“Don't you start. Just let me take a look and then I'll stop bothering you.”

He sighed. “Okay, okay.”

Then he turned around and took off his shirt. I was distracted by his bare skin for a moment before I could focus on his injuries.

“I knew it. Some scratches are still bloody. Considering the fact that you were carrying me, it's no surprise though.”, I said and stood up.

“Where are you going?”

“I'm looking for a medical kit. Maybe there's one somewhere.”

“But your feet...”

“I'm gonna tiptoe, so it won't hurt.”, I said and walked towards the cupboard.

Dongwoon just sighed.

Unfortunately there wasn't a medical kit in the cupboard. Just canned food. While looking around, something under the bed caught my eye. I tiptoed towards the bed and looked under it. Bingo! I pulled out the red box and opened it. Ah, seems like this was our lucky day. From gauze bandages to disinfectant, everything was in the medical kit. Totally happy, I tiptoed towards Dongwoon.

“Found something?”, he asked.

“Yes. I'm gonna tend your wounds now. Prepare yourself for the disinfectant, it's gonna hurt a bit.”

“Yeah, whatever. Just hurry, I'm freezing.”

Ah, right. I forgot that Dongwoon took off his shirt.

I sat down next to him and pulled out the disinfectant. When I sprayed it on him, he winced.

“Sorry.”, I said.

“Just get it over with.”

I rolled my eyes and kept spraying. When I was done, I put a bandage on the big scratches and a band-aid on the smaller one. I did the same with the scratches on his arms.

“Are the scratches on your legs as bad as those on your back?”, I asked hesitantly.

He smirked. “You want me to take off my pants, so you can check?”

“Uh, no, thanks. I think you can do this on your own.”

He just chuckled when I handed him the medical kit. I poked my tongue out at him and tiptoed towards the fireplace. I threw wood into it and used Dongwoon's lighter to light up a fire. Then I tiptoed back to Dongwoon. I noticed that he rolled up his trouser to tend the scratches on his leg instead of taking off his pants. I was relieved, to be honest. Dongwoon without a shirt was already hard too handle, Dongwoon without his shirt and his pants would be impossible too handle. I quickly shook my head to get rid of the image. Unfortunately that didn't erased the blush on my cheeks.

“You okay? Your face looks kinda flushed.”, Dongwoon asked when he looked up.

“I was too close to the fire, I guess.”

“I see.” His face indicated that he clearly didn't believe me.

Trying to change the topic, I said: “So, how long, do you think, shall we wait for the owner of this cabin? To be honest, I'm starving and the canned food is very alluring.”

He chuckled. “I think the owner will forgive us for eating his food if we explain to him our situation.”

“You think?”

“Okay, I don't know how the owner will react but I'm starving, too.”

I stood up. “You take a rest and I'll cook.”

“Your feet -”

“Stop talking about my feet, for heaven's sake. You have way more injuries than me. Just let me cook, so I can make it up to you for carrying me all the time.”

He sighed. “If it makes you happy.”

“It does.”, I said and smiled.

Then I tiptoed towards the cupboards, pulled out the cans filled with soup, poured the content into the camping pot and lit the fire of the stove. I opened the cupboard again and pulled out camping dishes and cutlery. When the soup was cooked, I poured it into the bowls and carried them to the couch.

“Here is your plain soup a la Thu Ha.”, I said and handed him his bowl.

“Hmm, I always wanted to eat plain soup in an exquisite cabin in the middle of nowhere.”

“Well, then I'm glad that I could fulfill this wish for you.”

After eating, we were both arguing about who would get the bed.

“You're a guy, so shouldn't you try to be a gentleman and let me sleep in the bed?”, I asked.

“I never said that I want to be a gentleman. But shouldn't you be more considerate and let me sleep on the bed, given the fact that I'm badly injured?”

“Oooh, pulling the 'I'm injured' card, that is so unfair!”

“Life is unfair, get used to it. Well, it would be nice if you could move away, I'm really tired.”

I put my hands on my hips, not budging an inch. “And where am I supposed to sleep?”

“Take the couch or the floor. Your choice.”

“Wow, how generous.”

“You're welcome.” He gently pushed me aside and sat down on the bed. “If you don't mind, I'm gonna sleep now.”

“May you be haunted by nightmares, jerk.”, I snapped and walked towards the couch.

When I sat down, he threw a blanket at me and chuckled. “Good night to you, too.”

Then he lied down and turned his back to me. After glaring at his back for a while, I wrapped the blanket around me and lied down, too.

Stupid, narcissistic jerk.

 

The next morning I woke up, feeling kinda hot. The fire in the fire place should have been out by now, so why wasn't I freezing? The blanket was too thin to warm me. And there was something heavy on my hips. Alarmed, I quickly opened my eyes and came face to face with Dongwoon. What the heck? Startled, I sat up. He stirred but didn't woke up. When I looked around, I realized that I was on the bed. With Dongwoon. Okay, how did I end up in this situation? Feeling the panic raising, I quickly pushed Dongwoon's arm from my hips. Just when I wanted to step out of the bed, I heard him yawn. Ah, crap.

“What are you doing here?”, he asked slowly.

“Uhm...giving you my blanket because I'm kind?”

“Then why are you on the bed?”

“If only I knew the answer.”

“What?”

I sighed and stood up. “Look, I really have no idea how I ended up in the bed. Did you carry me to the bed?”

“No.”

“Then unless I'm a sleepwalker, I can't find an explanation for this.”

“Well, I can think of an explanation for this.”

“Yeah, I can imagine but I can assure you that that's not the case.” I tiptoed towards the the couch and looked for my shoes. “Let's just forget that this ever happened. I'm gonna go to the stream now.”

“Alone? You can't even walk properly.”

“You're not gonna carry me again. Your injuries need to heal properly.”

“I'll carry you and you can cook for me again. Deal?”

“The owner's not gonna like it if we eat all his food.”

“I don't think that the owner will return any time soon.”

I sighed. “Okay, okay. We have a deal.”

He smiled and walked towards me. Then he carried me towards the stream. We took turns to wash ourselves and then we returned to the cabin.

“How long are we going to stay here?”, I asked during 'breakfast'.

“I hoped that we could use the owner's phone to call for help but it doesn't look like he'll return and I see no phone in this cabin. We could stay here and wait for help but considering the fact that nobody knows where we are, we would wait until we get old. I suggest that we stay for a couple days to rest and then continue our 'journey' along the stream'.”

“Hm, sounds reasonable. But I'm going to miss this comfy cabin. It's way better than sleeping on the cold ground next to trees.”

“Don't tell me you wanna stay here forever? A cabin in a remote place, that doesn't sound very appealing to me.”

Hmm, alone in a cabin with Dongwoon in a remote place. To be honest, this did sound appealing to me. I quickly shook my head and chastised myself for this thought.

“It's just the thought of sleeping outside again that doesn't sound appealing to me.”

“Hey, don't worry. We'll get out of this forest.”

“If only I could be as optimistic as you.”

“I'll be optimistic for the both of us.” He stood up. “You stay here. I'm gonna collect more wood because I'm pretty sure that there will be a storm tonight.”

My eyes widened. “A storm? Oh my gosh, imagine us sleeping outside while the storm arrives.” I shuddered at the thought.

He just smiled at me and went out. And he was right. Only several hours later it began to storm. Heavy rain followed by thunder and lightening. I lied on the couch, the blanket wrapped tightly around me. Once in a while, I would wince when it thundered. Needless to say, I wasn't able to sleep. Trying to distract myself, I stared at the window and focused on the rain drops which where trailing down the glass. When lightening brightened the cabin for a moment, I swore I saw a shadow at the window. I let out a yelp and jumped up. Then I rushed to the bed and sat down.

Dongwoon stirred. “What happened?”

“There was a shadow at the window.”, I said quietly.

He glanced at the window. Needless to say, there was no shadow.

“Maybe it was the shadow of a tree.”, he suggested.

“Yeah, maybe.”

“You okay?”, he asked worriedly. He obviously heard the panic in my voice.

“May I stay here with you for tonight?”

He arched an eye brow. “You wanna sleep on the bed?”

I nodded.

“Hmm, okay. I'm gonna sleep on the couch.”, he said and sat up.

I put my hand on his arm to stop him. “Can you stay, please? I'm afraid of being alone.”

“Are you serious? Because I'm not gonna put up with your attitude tomorrow when you changed your mind.”

“No, I promise I won't get pissed.”

He just looked at me for a moment. Then he lied down and turned his back to me.

“Whatever. Do what you want, I'm gonna sleep now.”, he mumbled.

I wrapped my blanket around me and lied down next to him, trying to put a safe distance between us. But when the lightening brightened the cabin again, I scooted closer to him until I could feel his back against mine. My heart was still beating like crazy.

He sat up and sighed. “Okay, that's not going to work.”

“What?”, I asked confusedly.

“You're gonna keep me up the whole night this way.”

“Sorry but I just can't fall asleep.”

He sighed again and leaned against the headboard. “Come here.”

“Huh?”

He patted the place next to him. Still confused, I scooted next to him, also leaning against the headboard. Then he put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him.

“You need to relax or you won't be able to fall asleep.”, he said.

I gave him n incredulous look. “How can I relax when I'm still scared to death?”

“There's no reason for you to be scared.”, he said and started gently my arm.

“For your information, there's probably someone lurking around this cabin.”

“Definitely not, especially when there's a storm outside.”

“But the shadow -”

“...was probably from a tree next to the cabin.”

“I don't think that it was the shadow of a tree.”

He sighed. “Thu Ha, just relax, okay? I'm here, I'm gonna protect you from whatever you think is lurking around.” When he noticed me tensing, he asked: “What's the matter?”

“You just called me 'Thu Ha'.”

“And your point is?”

“You never called me by my name before.”

He frowned. “I didn't?”

“Nope.”

“Oh. Does that bother you?”

I shook my head and chuckled. “'Thu Ha' sounds way better than 'crazy '.”

He winced and scratched his head. “Sorry about that. I had no right to insult you like this.”

“It's okay. I did throw a drink at you after all.”

“Yeah, I remember.”, he said bitterly.

“You should have seen your face. It was so epic!”, I said and giggled.

He sighed. “I bet that my members won't let me forget this incident.”

I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Do you think that they will find us?”

“Definitely. Either they're going to find us or we will find a way out of this stupid forest.”

“Dongwoon-ssi?”

“I think that you can drop the honorifics, considering the fact that we've been stuck together for weeks in this place.”

“Uh....so you want me to call you 'Oppa'?”

“Yeah.”

“Uhm, okay. Oppa, what happened between you and 'her'?”

He tensed, which meant that he knew who I was talking about. “Why do you want to know?”

“I want to understand. I told you why I broke up with Taec. It's just that....I want to know what happened between you that you despise Love so much.”

He sighed. “There isn't a long story. I loved her and she left me for another one. End of the story.”

“Was she just playing with you?”

“I'll never know if she really loved me or not. Maybe she just got bored of me.”

“Nonsense.”

“You don't even know me. What if I'm not the one you think I am? What if I'm just a boring guy?”

I snorted. “In the weeks we've been in this forest you were anything but boring. She didn't deserve you, Oppa. Don't give up on Love. One day, there will be a woman who knows what you're worth. There's more to you than your pretty face. Look, you have been carrying me through the forest even though I know that you hate me. You stuck with me even though I was just a burden to you. So stop hiding your kindness and loyalty with the shallow attitude. If this woman couldn't value your good points, than she really didn't deserve you at all.”

He sighed. “I really loved her, Thu Ha. When she left me, it broke me. I don't think that I can go through such a pain again. I just can't.”

I looked up. “If someone's hurting you again, then just sent her to me. I'm gonna kick her .”

When he didn't say anything, I realized that our faces were only inches apart. To make things worse, I felt drawn to him. It's not like it was the first time I noticed the attraction I felt to him. It's just that this time, it was stronger because I was so close to him. I couldn't stop myself from coming closer to him. His eyes never left mine.

“I'm not a good guy, Thu Ha. You'll only get hurt.”, he whispered, so that I could feel his breath on my lips.

“I'll take the risk.”

And then I kissed him. I could feel his reluctance but then he relaxed and leaned into me. His hand left my arms and cupped my cheek, pulling me closer to him. First the kiss was soft, his tender lips tasting and teasing mine with infinite care. But then it grew more passionate and I lost all sense of reason. When he broke the kiss, he left me breathless. While slowly pushing me down, he left soft kisses on my cheek, my jaw, my neck and my shoulder. Wherever his lips touched my skin, I could feel a warm prickle. He gave me another soft kiss on my lips and wrapped me into his arms. I rested my face on his chest, so that I could hear his heartbeat. His heart was beating like crazy. Just like mine.

“I don't hate you, Thu Ha.”, he said quietly.

I smiled. “I noticed.”

“You don't have to be scared, you're safe with me.”, he said and put his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

And he was right. Now that I was in his arms, I didn't feel scared at all. I laid a soft kiss on his shoulder blade and relaxed into his arms. While listening to his regular heartbeat, I fell asleep.