So one of my chapters got deleted due to a glitch when I was editing.  I don't even...I'm just re-uploading it now and then I have to fix the order of the chapters. smh.

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“I should have just stayed at home and studied.”
“Sohyun, why are you still studying?  School is over, remember?”
“Just in case.”

Ilhoon rubbed his fingers over the moss and fungi growing on the hardened roots that were once brittle on the trees.  He gazed upon the mass of green, intrigued for he had never seen such natural growth of nature in abundance.  No one has.  The forest was thick with tall lush grass and leafy green trees.  It was too dark to tell but they were able to feel the dampness in the ground; actual life growing.  Something that was lost to mankind when the world first ended but they made artificial nature that was not quite the same.

“The air is so much cleaner here.”
“Yeah..but…”

Sohyun trailed off, not letting her bad premonition ruin Ilhoon’s moment.  After all, he edged her on to complete the mission she started and she brought him to the Forbidden Zone.  He had always been curious as to what was on the other side, now he had a chance to venture it.  They were lost for words when they first realized that the forest they were in looked like an actual forest they had read about in their text books.  Sohyun should have been more surprised of the two, seeing that she had visited the same exact location just a few days prior and there was nothing but bare trees and dying leaves, but she had nothing on Ilhoon running around touching everything and speaking enthusiastically about how cool actual grass was.

Sohyun tapped the male on the shoulder after a while and signaled for them to move on.  She wanted to go to the specific area where she found the ring.  She walked a few paces ahead of Ilhoon, slowly tracing the path her brother had carefully drove through, but she seemed to know where to pin point the destination either way.  That made her a bit nervous.

“Sohyun…” Ilhoon called out to her, following behind through the forest, eyeing everything he can with his interest still heightened and he watched the back of Sohyun every few moments.  “Sungjae, from the other day, the one from our grade…is he the one you like?”

Sohyun scoffed, slowing her walking pace down.  “How did you come to that conclusion?  Am I that obvious?”

“A little, yeah.”  Ilhoon admitted.  “I had heard about a second year girl being obsessed with the flower boy prince Sungjae.  The way you ran after him the other day, I just couldn’t help but think…and then it dawned on me.  You do seem the crazy type.”

“What?!”  Sohyun completely stopped and faced him.  Ilhoon almost ran into her but he forced his walking to a sudden halt that caused a bit of a stumble.  “Did you just call me crazy?”  Her expression was truly scary.

Ilhoon tripped over his words, “Yah…did I call you a head case? N-no.  I was just putting two and two together—you seem to be the type that’s very passionate about something she obsesses- - I mean cares for.”  Sohyun stared at him.  “I…wish you two the best of luck.”  He thought what would be the best response to cater to a fangirl.

“Me too!”  Sohyun finally smiled, and what had felt like a rock finally lifted from Ilhoon’s heart.  He had never been so scared…

“How do you know Sungjae oppa?”  Sohyun asked as they continued their pursuit, Ilhoon making sure to be careful with his words now.

“He bugged me a lot.”  He answered casually.

“Bugged? How?”
“Just…asked me how I was doing, how was I getting food, where was I going when I wasn’t at school… he became a caring person.”

Sohyun thought to choose her words carefully this time.  “Was this around the time your parents passed?”

“Yeah.”

It became quiet as Sohyun didn’t continue the subject.  She could sense Ilhoon trailing behind with a dampened emotion, and then,

“Why did you stop talking?” He asked.
“Oh? That is…I didn’t know what to say.” She admitted truthfully.  “I didn’t know you well back then when I heard of the news of your parents, so I didn’t say anything.”  She sighed and forced out a laugh sheepishly.  “I’d feel bad if I tried to say those words I wanted to then, now.”

Ilhoon blinked and stopped walking.  Sohyun heard his footsteps come to a halt behind her so she turned around, facing toward him once more, this time the situation more serious than the previous.

“Say them.”
“What?”
“Those words.” Ilhoon stated.  “Pretend that this is our first meet, and you happened to see me at the shortest wall at school, about to jump over it so I can ditch class.  Pretend this is just a few a days after that earthquake…that took my home, and say those words you wanted to say to me.”
Sohyun adjusted her posture, trying to stand more comfortably but still felt awkward.  The mood was a bit too tense for her.

“Why do you want me to say them now?”

Ihoon gazed at her, his expression apprehensive but needy.  He was desperate for her response, and Sohyun obliged. 

She remembered seeing him sitting on the staircase at school.  His head was weighing heavy over his shoulders, practically between his knees.  He didn’t move for a long time, and most people didn’t bother to respond to him.  They walked passed him, their eyes lingering with remorse, but no one spoke.  They didn’t know what to say to a person who became an orphan overnight.  Sohyun fidgeted nervously behind the corner she watched him from.  She had gone over a bunch of different scenarios in her head; what to say, how to say it, how he would react, what to say instead.  Nothing seemed to be the right thing.  She bit down on her bottom lip hard and walked over to the stair case.  The bell rang and she walked right past him, knocking her fist against her head soon after.

“Ilhoon, are you ok?  Do you have a place to stay?  Just hear me out.  I don’t want to be a bother.  We’re not in the same class, but I still consider us classmates.  Everyone knows you as the strongest fighter in our grade.  I find that really cool, but I don’t like violence too much.  If you continue to fight, I think I would feel really uneasy deep down.  I know it’s weird to feel that way, but that’s just the type of person I am.  Even the people I don’t like, I still wish good fortune on them.  Ah…I’m going off topic.  To be honest, this is really hard to talk about comfortably.  You probably want to punch me right now.  I really don’t mean to be annoying.  To help you…I really wish I knew a way how…please take care…those are the words I wanted to say.”  Sohyun finished and fanned herself.  “Each sentence, even though it didn’t seem like it, was thought out carefully.  I had a thousand other sentences to say depending on your responses.  There really wasn’t any way to get through it comfortably, in the end I chickened out, and I buried those words with me…ah; it’s hot all of a sudden.”

It became quiet again.  Sohyun watched Ilhoon’s facial expressions closely.  She couldn’t really see it clearly in the dark, but she knew he was processing all what she had said.  And then he spoke.

“I shouldn’t have asked.”
Sohyun’s eyes bulged and she felt horrible.  “Why?  Were they too brash?  Was I too rude?  Aw why did you ask me to say those things?”
“It’s not like that.”  He corrected with a smile.  Sohyun could see he was trying to hide his look of satisfaction.  “It’s really not like that.  I just feel bad,” He continued, “I wish you would have said those things to me then.  I would have greatly appreciated it.”

“Really?”  Sohyun kept trying to read his face, but he was hiding it behind his hands.  “Your reaction is really weird.  I think you probably would have hit me back then.”
“Not at all.  In fact, we would have been great friends.”

Sohyun sneered, astonished at the way Ilhoon thought.  If it were that simple she’d have confessed to Sungjae many times.  “Great friends?  So now that you’ve heard me out, do you consider me a great friend?”
“Yep.”
“This guy…yah, were you really that simple to get along with?  I was scared to death thinking I’d get punched in the head by you if I said something wrong.”

Ilhoon chucked and shook his.  He walked over to Sohyun and locked his left arm with her right.

“Let’s go.”
“What are you doing?”
“Holding on to my new best friend.”
“Ch.  What friends do you know walk arm in arm?”
“Want me to hold your hand instead?”
“You crazy?”

Ilhoon aimed for her hand but sure enough she snatched it away and began walking rapidly, forgetting Ilhoon's arm was still locked with hers.

“Are you not going to let go?”
“Why are you so embarrassed?” Ilhoon teased.  Sohyun rolled her eyes and mocked him.
“Why are you being so persistent?  Do you like me?”
This time Ilhoon was the one to mock.  “As if you’re my type.”
“Yah!”  She pushed him aside breaking their contact and Ilhoon went for her hand again.  She swiftly snatched it away, her reflexes too quick for her to process.  It threw her off balance and she stumbled sideways.  What had been just a few small trips turned to be an unfortunate fall into a huge opening in the ground.  “Ahhh!”