Eunbi could still feel the frenetic beats of her heart, a side effect of the situation Yixing just saved her from. And it was safe to say she didn’t like Luhan’s way of suddenly causing trouble in front of so many people. Not when it became a problem for her.

“Okay, everyone split into groups of two and then come to me.” it was the same teacher ordering about and Eunbi was left rooted to the spot when she watched Ahbin clung even harder onto Yixing. It didn’t get better when she heard the other girl asking him whether they could go together. In the midst of the situation Eunbi cursed herself for being as such. It wasn’t nice to Ahbin if she went about and felt jealous all the time, something that surely would damage their friendship. A feat Eunbi didn’t want to risk, not when almost all the other girls at their school already disliked her. And to endanger their relation over a boy, nonetheless someone she barely knew, was far from worth it. “Seems like I’ve been ditched.” Kai’s voice overshadowed her thoughts and Eunbi looked at him before changing her focus back to Ahbin and Yixing, who’d now begun to make their way over to the teacher. “Yeah, seems like it.” she tried her very best to not sound jealous or bothered, something she thought worked as Kai paid no attention to it and instead asked, “would you mind if we went together?” Eunbi shook her head, she didn’t mind. Not that she had any other option to choose from anyhow. And with that they too, headed over and received a piece of paper and a pen. Objects they would later use to mark their answers.

She felt slightly awkward though, since she didn’t know what to say. Luckily did Kai not have any problems with that as he spoke about various things that interested him. It eased her mind a bit to think that the scavenger hunt wouldn’t just be one long and awkward silence between the two. “So I heard from Yixing that you’re from Daegu.” instinctively did Eunbi react and she glanced up in all haste from whatever she was looking at to stare at the older male, “how could he have known that?” as far as she knew she hadn’t told Yixing anything about her past and where she’d been living before moving to Seoul. She hadn’t told him anything at all actually.

“Seeing how you’re surprised I’m guessing Ahbin must’ve told him.” Kai shrugged his shoulders for that he knew it wasn’t exactly unusual that Ahbin came running with all kinds of information, something he weren’t late to point out, “she does that all the time though.” Eunbi had come to a halt and was now staring straight ahead. She wasn’t following with the conversation anymore as her mind was too occupied with the thought of Ahbin telling Yixing everything about her. And it didn’t take long before Kai turned to face the younger girl, a bit taken aback and concerned by the fact that Eunbi didn’t seem to know of Ahbin’s tendencies of running , “are you alright?” the girl nodded almost immediately. In fact, it wasn’t so much that Ahbin had spoken to Yixing that’d made her uneasy, but more that the other girl hadn’t mentioned anything about it to her. It would’ve been nice if Eunbi at least knew what Ahbin told other people and to whom she were revealing things, especially when it revolved around her. “Hmm, looks like you’ve got a thing or two to learn when it comes to Ahbin.” whether it was supposed to be a joke or not she couldn’t know. But he was right. There were obviously more sides to Ahbin that she were yet to discover. “Apparently.”

With the end of that conversation they headed deeper into the nearby forest, one that surrounded the whole camping space. And it didn’t take many minutes before Eunbi spotted something up ahead, “overthere, isn’t that a question?” she gestured towards a tree a few tens of meter away, hoping that it would be the first out of the twenty five question the two of them needed to answer. As they got closer they realized it wasn’t the question, but rather some sort of prank a student had decided to pull.

“The maturity level of a few students are ridiculous.” Kai remarked in a sarcastic manner whilst tearing the piece of paper from its place, “but then again, stuff like this happen all the time.” she didn’t say anything and instead remained quiet as Kai continued, “I’m pretty sure both Luhan and Sehun are quite high up on the list of pranksters, though Sehun haven’t really done anything for awhile. It was only during the first weeks of his freshman year so I guess he just wanted everyone to know that he was not someone to mess with.” she wasn’t exactly surprised. Not after having lived together with them for the past months and thereby come to know them pretty well. She’d always seen Luhan as the bigger problem though, mostly because he was the one who bothered her every other day. Sehun never did that and Eunbi was rather thankful for it as one of them were more than enough trouble.

The topic about Luhan and Sehun’s pranks were long lived throughout their journey for questions and by the time Kai stopped talking they’d found more than half of them. “This was easier than I thought.” Eunbi agreed. It’d been rather easy to find the questions, something the girl was relieved by as it meant they would be able to head back soon. But it was not all good. The sun was slowly descending on the horizon and thus causing it to get darker and darker by the minute. “Maybe we should head back soon?” she asked despite knowing they weren’t finished. But to be lost and possibly spend the night there, in the unknown forest was completely out of the question. “Yeah, maybe we should.” Kai gave the paper in his hand a quick look before staring up on the sky, “it looks like it’s about to rain.” the girl reacted immediately upon hearing that, “let’s go back. I don’t want to get drenched again.” without even waiting she began to make her way back towards the camping site. To wait for an answer or reaction from Kai didn’t cross her mind, not until she’d walked quite a distance and turned to ask him about the way back. That’s when Eunbi noticed he wasn’t there.

Standing there, all alone in a place she’d never before visited had her heart racing and mind working. She needed to find Kai fast, before it started raining. Or worse, before it got dark and she wouldn’t be able to find her way back. “KAI?” his name bounced off the trees and caused an echo that he hopefully heard. But the seconds turned into minutes and Eunbi couldn’t see the older male anywhere, a feat that had her panicking. “KAI?” she called his name yet again, this time out of fear and desperation. And yet again there was no answer or movement. To say she was scared would be an understatement as she wandered about in search for Kai and a way back to the tents and safety.

Unfortunately did the task of doing so only end up with Eunbi losing the last ounce of direction, something that worsened the situation tenfold. “This can’t be real.” she cried whilst frantically looking for an escape from there, one that didn’t seem to exist. “I should’ve stayed home instead.” if only she’d been more persistent, if only she hadn’t given in for Ahbin’s request. The new experience changed a lot though, because never again would Eunbi allow herself to follow along on trips like these. It wouldn’t matter what her mother said or did, not after the horror of getting lost. And the more she thought about the situation, the more she believed she wouldn’t escape from there alive. People had died like that before. After days without food or water. What if she would be included in that group, too?

To make matters worse, she felt cold droplets of water smash against her skin and realized Kai had been right. It was about to rain. “Why now?” she glared up at the sky, displeased, before moving about to look for shelter. A temporary place where she could hide away from the rain. The trees aided a little, but far from enough. And the new turn of events had her completely forgetting about Kai, more so as the rain began to fall more heavily. It got Eunbi to actually start searching for a more suitable place to hide at, something that, after a short moment, led her to a wooden house with windows that’d been nailed shut. So also the door. None of that mattered though, because she headed up on the porch and took cover from the downpour. The space wasn’t big, but enough for her to be able to sit down comfortably and without risk of getting wet.

Hoping that her cell phone would be of help she picked it up from her pocket. The device however, was out of battery and would shut down almost immediately every time she tried to start it. In other means, it was a dead end. “Great. This day just keeps getting better and better.” to add on with the torture the house creaked and made other various noises as the rain slammed against the roof. The sounds added on with the horror of being lost, especially since it was close to pitch black around her. “I hate th -” Eunbi was cut short by the sound of footsteps creeping closer, and without thinking she stood up and yelled Kai’s name. No one answered though. A feat that had her heart racing and mind questioning whether ghosts existed. And the sudden sight of a silhouette between the trees didn’t exactly help as it caused her to let out a scream. She was, truth to be told, terrified.

“Always so noisy.” the voice sparked a rather unfamiliar reaction, more so because it would’ve normally made her uneasy and bothered. But not this time. Not when she was afraid of being alone. “What are you even doing here?” the male asked as he came into view, to which Eunbi replied, “I got separated from Kai and couldn’t find my way back.” Sehun only nodded as he made his way up on the porch, thus hiding away from the never ceasing that were pouring down. His shirt was drenched and thereby glued to his skin. Something that didn’t go unnoticed by Eunbi, who found herself staring, “isn’t it uncomfortable?” Sehun frowned and looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “what do you think?” she didn’t answer the question because she understood how uneasy it was to go around with wet clothes. Words wouldn’t help the situation either, so the two of them stood there, both quiet and looking out on surroundings as the rain continued to fall.

“ it’s getting cold.” his sudden outburst had her pulse racing and she’d barely managed to react before she saw how he tried to remove the planks over the door. Eunbi couldn’t believe her eyes as she watched him work, and decided to speak up, “I don’t think you’re allowed to do that.” Sehun scoffed, “I doubt anyone would care. Plus. I don’t want to freeze to death waiting out here all night.” he continued the troublesome task of getting the door open all the whilst the girl observed, something that took time and an immense effort from Sehun’s side.

A pretty distinct odour met them after that they’d pushed open the door and stepped inside the small cottage. Eunbi couldn’t help but to wriggle her nose as the smell was one she didn’t particularly like. But there wasn’t much choice now though, not if she wanted to keep herself somewhat warm during the night. Slightly reluctant the said girl took yet another step, careful not to make any drastic movements as she did. “What if it collapses?” being buried alive wasn’t anything she wanted to experience. The fact that Sehun simply shrugged his shoulders in reply weren’t exactly helping the situation either. “I’m being serious. I don’t want to die.” the indifference he displayed baffled her. It was surprising and even a bit bothersome to think of someone so young acting like it wouldn’t matter whether he died or not. “Feel free to sleep outside then.” Eunbi sighed at his answer because none of the options were to her liking. The house felt like a deathtrap and outside was just -no.

She decided after a while to sleep inside. It was safer that way even though she thought it could fall down any second. Eunbi began to doubt her decision though, once she saw what Sehun were up to and what he’d done meanwhile she’d been deep in thought. “Yah, where’s your shirt?” she found herself staring at his bare upper body, not pleased that the older male had taken it off. “Over there.” nonchalant and completely unfazed did he point towards a chair standing in the corner of the room, “I’m trying to get it dry.” still. The exposed skin were making Eunbi uneasy, and because of that she grabbed onto a blanket hanging over an armchair, one she then tossed at him, “here.” the male had no time to react before the piece of fabric collided with his back. Her action however, wasn’t well received by Sehun for he spun around and glared at the girl, “can’t you do something productive instead? Like finding some matches.” still rooted to the spot Eunbi frowned at him, “you can’t be serious?” she understood he’d referred to the fireplace when asking for matches. But in difference to him she knew it wouldn’t work, as the long absence of being in use most likely meant the chimney was clogged by various objects. “It’s not going to work.” her protest was met with deaf ears and a Sehun who simply told her to go look.

A matchbox was found in one of the drawers moments later and after Eunbi had searched through half the house. Whether to hand them over was another ordeal and something she contemplated for a minute or two. “Did you find any?” Sehun appeared in front of her, his torso still bare, and she was not given enough time to hide the box with matches before he saw it, “give them those.” she shook her head, “I already told you it won’t work.” getting him to understand seemed impossible, more so since he completely ignored her warning and snatched the matches from her hand, “And I don’t care.”

He cared a lot more when the smoke began to well inside the room. Just like she’d expected and also warned him about. To make matters worse Eunbi watched as he threw the blanket that’d been lying on the floor over the fire and thereby ceased the black clouds from escaping. Luckily it didn’t caught fire. “What did I tell you?” he couldn’t always do as he wanted, something this situation was a perfect example of. “Maybe you should listen next time.” she’d barely managed to finish the sentence before Sehun spun around to stare at the girl, his icy glare sending shivers down her spine, “I don’t need help. Nonetheless from you.” with that he walked off, thus leaving Eunbi to fix the fireplace, which she pretty soon came to the conclusion she could do nothing about. The damage was already done.

The two of them didn’t speak, nor face each other for quite a while after that. And when Eunbi decided to go look for him she found him asleep, sitting with his back against the wall and a blanket wrapped around him. Where he’d gotten it she had no idea, and after much searching and looking through things she realized there were no other blanket available than the one Sehun was using. She should’ve expected it though, since he wasn’t exactly known for his generosity. “Selfish brat.” the words were followed by Eunbi grabbing onto the blanket, one she the snatched from him. The action however, didn’t go unnoticed by Sehun, who awoke and immediately complained, “give it back. Now.” Eunbi, instead of listening, headed off to the other side of the room where she settled down and wrapped the blanket around herself, “you’ll have to do without since you threw the other one into the fireplace.” it was his own stupid mistake. “Night.” she said it with such malice that she nearly laughed. That he would freeze didn’t cross her mind, not even when her eyelids were closed and she were set to fall asleep. Sehun wasn’t close to as happy, something he also took advantage off as he creeped closer to where the girl sat.

To say Eunbi was surprised by his sudden appearance would be an understatement for her scream was probably heard throughout the whole forest. “W -what are you doing?” she questioned for he was close, far too close for her liking and because of that she pushed him away, “this is mine.” Sehun gave the girl a blank stare, his mood dropping by the second, “and I couldn’t care less.” seeing him like that was nothing new. But every time he acted as such she wanted to slap him over the head and make him realize the world didn’t revolve around him, that his father and everyone else weren’t there to serve him. “And I’m still not giving you this.” Eunbi shot back, she was getting annoyed and angry at the older male and the way he was behaving. “You’re really irritating, you know that.” irritating or not, she would protect the blanket with her life if so needed.

~~~

I’m really sorry for not updating sooner.

But I was completely drained of energy and emotions after I came home from Norway and the concert.

Then I got really sick and had to be admitted to the hospital for a week and a half.

I’m all good now though, and will try to update as much as I can.

Thank you again, for waiting so long OTL