It was a bad idea.

Luhan knew it right from the start. He had this feeling in his guts that going camping would be a very bad idea. He had voiced out his concerns to Kris but Kris waved them off, saying that Luhan was just being paranoid. Maybe he was being paranoid but whenever he had this sick feeling in his stomach, he just knew that something bad would happen very soon. He did not know how right he was at the moment.

A hand squeezed his hand and he looked up, finding himself lost in his girlfriend’s doe eyes. Out of all the beautiful features of Yoona’s face, he loved her eyes the most. Her eyes were so beautiful and it reminded him of his own eyes. Her eyes were a dark brown, like most Asians. Other than her eyes, Luhan loved her lips, too. Her lovely luscious lips were so addicting and he would kiss it again and again.

“Everything’s going to be all right, Luhan-ah,” Yoona tried to assure him but it was a futile attempt. The sick feeling in his stomach did not go away. His heart was still beating wildly.

It was their summer break before they would go off to college. They had at last finished high school a few days ago and they had decided to go on a holiday. At first, Xiumin had suggested going to Jeju Island but all of them refused as it would be full of people. Then, Sooyoung had suggested going to Japan but they declined it as they had gone there on a school trip a lot of time.

Yoona had suggested that they should just travel around Korea first before going to another country and it was a pretty good plan until Kris suddenly said that he was going camping with a bunch of other people from their school. Ever since Kris had announced that, Luhan had this feeling that something bad would happen and he was quite relieved that it was only Kris who was going.

It seemed like he had underestimated their bond of friendship. Since he was the last one to join the group of friends, he did not know how loyal everyone was to one another. Since Kris was going, Sooyoung decided to go too, knowing that the guy was an anti-social. Xiumin just followed whatever Sooyoung did for some unknown reason so he decided to go too and Yoona did not want to be left out so she decided to go too. That was why Luhan was forced to go. Everything he did was for Yoona, anyway.

“I hope so,” he replied to his girlfriend quietly, after a moment of silence.

He stared at the scenery outside the window. The sun was beginning to set soon as the day soon became darker. They had passed by lots of trees for the past few hours. “Are you sure that this is the right place?” Luhan asked doubtfully as soon as the car came to a halt. Everybody stared at Xiumin, their driver for that day.

Xiumin just shrugged nonchalantly. “I don’t know, honestly. The map leads us here but there isn’t anybody else out here,” he responded as Kris reached out for the map.

Luhan watched as Kris examined the map closely and tried to figure out where they were. Sooyoung who was riding shotgun looked at the backseats where Luhan, Yoona and Kris were sitting. She unbuckled her seatbelt, turned around and leaned forward, trying to study the map too.

“Hey, do you know that there’s a villa in the middle of the forest?” the girl asked as she pointed at a big building on the map.

Interested, everyone in the car immediately leaned in closer to Kris and tried to see where the villa was. Kris let out a sigh and leaned farther away from them. “Give me my personal space, you people,” he snapped and everybody immediately leaned back against their seats.

“To sate your curiosity, yes, there is a villa somewhere nearby here,” Kris said after a moment of silence. “But this is not the correct place.” At the statement, Luhan, along with everybody else, looked at Xiumin accusingly.

Xiumin threw his hands up in the air in defeat. “Hey, I at reading maps, okay?” he tried to defend himself. “But I am the only one who has a driver’s license and you guys insisted that I drive instead of getting a taxi so I’m not at fault here!”

“Fine, whatever,” Yoona huffed. “Since it’s almost nightfall, right now, how about we set up our tent here and find where the camping site is tomorrow morning?”

“Great idea,” Sooyoung said, nodding sarcastically, before she scrunched up her nose and made a face. “It’s going to rain soon, Yoona-ah. Look at the sky.”

Luhan looked at the sky and sure enough, it looked like it was going to rain. He just knew that something bad would happen and it already did. He did not know that it was only the beginning, though.

“Let’s just sleep in the car. We have no choice, anyway,” Kris said at last.

Protests filled the whole car and Kris rolled his eyes in annoyance. Soon, everyone except for Luhan decided to argue. About what, Luhan was not sure. He knew that it had something to do with where they were going to sleep that night and he was too lazy to join in so he tuned them out. He plugged in his earphones and closed his eyes as a song began to play on his iPod.

He was not sure how long he sat there just listening to music as the others were arguing. He did not exactly care about where he was going to sleep as long as nobody disturbed him when he was sleeping. It seemed like the argument was two versus two as Yoona suddenly poked his side causing him to jerk slightly.

He opened his eyes and pulled out his earphones almost grumpily. “What is it?” he asked, trying not to show his annoyance while raising his eyebrow.

“We want you to decide where we’re sleeping tonight. Do you want to sleep in this car or–” Xiumin started to say but Luhan quickly interrupted him.

“I go with whatever Yoona chooses,” he said nonchalantly before plugging in his earphones and closed his eyes again to enjoy the music that was blaring in his ears. Yoona and Sooyoung grinned and high-fived each other in delight.

“To the villa it is,” Sooyoung sang happily. Thunders rumbled and the first few drops of the rain fell, showing signs of a storm.

Hearing what Sooyoung said, Luhan’s eyes snapped open. “Wait, what? We’re going to the villa? You mean that same villa that was located in the middle of the forest?” he asked, his voice an octave  higher than normal as he pulled out the earphones again. For some reason, the sick feeling in his stomach began to dig deeper.

His girlfriend just nodded cheerfully. “Yes, that villa,” she affirmed carelessly.

“You’re crazy. Who in the right mind would let us sleep in their villa just for one night?” Kris chided. His tone told them that he thought the idea was ridiculous and the only reason he did not protest much was to humor them.

“A good Samaritan, of course,” Sooyoung shot back wittily. “Oh, come on, if they don’t let us sleep in the villa, we’ll just sleep in the car.”

Xiumin started the engine and began to drive towards where the villa was located at after snatching the map from Kris’s hands. “This is a stupid idea,” he grumbled to himself quietly. Everyone heard it but they pretended that they did not because Xiumin was a nice guy and the only thing he would do was to grumble quietly when he thought that nobody could hear him.

I second that, Kris’s silent words hung in the atmosphere of the car.

After that, nobody spoke again and Luhan plugged in his earphones once again and closed his eyes. He wished that the sick feeling in his stomach would go away. He wished that his heart would stop pounding against his chest so loudly that he could have sworn that the whole world could hear it. He was actually surprised that nobody in the car mentioned anything about his pounding heart.

Luhan opened his eyes once again and it was at the exact moment the car came to a stop. Everybody went out of the car simultaneously. He observed the villa for a moment. The villa was big – obviously. It was also beautiful. He wondered why the villa was located in the middle of the forest. Such beauty shouldn’t have been hidden by nature.

The five of them who were immediately drenched from head to toe went to the front gate of the villa and they pressed the doorbell. A minute passed and nothing happened. Nobody opened the gate for them. Another minute passed and still nothing happened. The gate remained close and the five best friends were feeling restless. Next to him, Yoona shivered and Luhan immediately held her in a hug while rubbing her arms to produce heat.

“I told you nobody in their right mind would–” Kris started to say but right at that moment, the gate opened.

Luhan’s jaw dropped wide open before he quickly closed it. He did not expect the owner of the villa to let them in. For a moment, nobody said anything as they were too awestruck. Suddenly, a woman who seemed to be in her early twenties approached them with a beautiful smile while carrying an umbrella. Next to her was a young man who seemed to be the same age as her. They were holding hands and Luhan knew immediately that they had some sort of a romantic relationship.

“Come on in,” the woman invited. “Bring your car inside, too. It’s raining cats and dogs. A scrumptious meal for dinner before going to bed will warm you up.”

Dazed, everyone did as was told.

Names were exchanged and Luhan found out that the woman and the man were Chinese, just like him. Her name was Qian but she told them she went by Victoria. The man next to her was her boyfriend and his name was Zhou Mi.

Victoria lived in the villa with a number of maids and butlers. Zhou Mi came frequently to visit her or to spend the night with her – what they would do during those nights Zhou Mi spent the night with her, Luhan did not want to know. Apparently, the villa belonged to the young woman’s great-grandparents. She told them that she did not know why it was located in the middle of the forest and nobody said anything about the topic after that.

Food was served and everyone dug in. Victoria and Zhou Mi excused themselves but not before telling them that they would like to talk to them after they were done eating.

The five best friends did not know that one night would change everything.

As the maid was leading them to the room where Victoria and Zhou Mi wanted to meet them, Luhan observed his surroundings. The inside of the villa was much more beautiful compared to the outside of it. Everything looked so expensive that he was afraid of touching anything for fear he might break them.

Soon, they arrived in the room and Luhan entered right after Yoona. The room merely contained a big table with six chairs around it. Victoria was sitting at the head of the table while Zhou Mi was standing and leaning against the wall of the room lazily.

Luhan’s heart plumme