The next day Mr. Lee once again found himself standing in the center of all his students. “So how did everyone enjoy the trip?”

The students mumbled either their approval or disapproval of the trip – except for two couples that stood silently beside one another.

“Wait, where’s Jessica and Luhan?” Mr. Lee asked while looking around.

“What do you mean where are they?” Kai asked and also looked around.

“They really aren’t here?” Jen asked worriedly.

“Sica!” Sunny called while looking towards the forest, “Sica, where are you?! Stop playing jokes… this isn’t funny!”

“Okay, everyone calm down. Kai, Jen, Sunny, and Kyungsoo stay with me and everyone else, get on the bus,” Mr. Lee instructed. He then ushered the rest of the students on the bus and talked to the bus driver for a moment before it pulled off then he walked back to the two couples.

“I’ve arranged for the bus to come back for us in a matter of three hours. Now, you four are friends with Luhan and Jessica so you probably best know where they would head and what clues to look for, right?” Mr. Lee asked.

“Yes,” they all agreed in unison.

“I have enough walkie-talkies for the four of you. I’ll stay at the main campground while you four split up and head in different directions to look for them. If they don’t turn up before dark, we’ll call the state trooper to look for them instead,” Mr. Lee explained, “does that make sense to everyone?”

“Yes,” they hastily repeated in unison except for Kai.

“Can we just go now? My best friend is out there!” Kai exclaimed impatiently, “Standing here is wasting time.”

Mr. Lee squinted his eyes at Kai before addressing the group again. “Yes, you may all go. Remember, keep in touch with the walkie-talkies.”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m leaving,” Kai scoffed and he was the first to walk into the forest.

Kyungsoo, Jen, and Sunny followed Kai’s lead and split up, heading in different directions to search for the missing couple.

---

Sunny’s P.O.V:

“I bet Jessica went this way,” Sunny said to herself, “this way heads back towards civilization.”

Sunny walked for twenty minutes before finding a shred of Jessica’s jacket. “Oh my god… this is a piece of her favorite jacket. She must be in some sort of trouble! She would never let anything happen to this jacket!”

Sunny clicked on the walkie-talkie. “Hello, this is Sunny. Someone… anyone come in!”

“Did you find Jessica?” Kai asked over the walkie-talkie.

“No but I found a piece of her jacket… I think she may be hurt. I believe she headed the way I’m going now,” Sunny responded and proceeded walking west.

“Let us know when you get to her,” Kai said and then his line went silent.

“What makes you think she’s hurt?” Kyungsoo asked.

“It’s her favorite jacket… there’s no way she would let anything happen to it otherwise,” Sunny said worriedly.

“I… I’m sure she’s fine. Just keep looking,” Kyungsoo said briefly and then his line also went silent.

Sunny sighed heavily then put the walkie-talkie back in her pocket and continued on her way. “Hang on Sica… I’m coming.”

---

Jen’s P.O.V:

Jen overheard the entire walkie-talkie conversation but decided not to join in – she felt it would be awkward… she obviously knew that neither Sunny nor Jessica were her “biggest fans”. Even though they didn’t like her, Jen never wished any harm upon either of them. She was never one to hold grudges against people no matter how badly they treated her.

“Luhan! Luhan, are you out here?!” Jen called. She had now been walking for an hour and she was getting extremely tired. So far no one had been found and occasionally the others appeared as if they were giving up hope – well, except for Kai especially. He of all people was determined to find his best friend Luhan no matter what.

“Luhan, please! Where are you?” Jen called again and leaned against a tree to catch her breath.

Then she suddenly heard a shuffling sound…

“Hello, who’s there?” Jen asked cautiously and followed the sound. She then came across a mass of clothes but when she got closer, she noticed that it was a person.

“Oh my god!” Jen exclaimed and rushed over to the person’s side and rolled them over – it was Luhan.

“Luhan!” Jen gasped, “gwaenchanha?”

Luhan coughed and shivered violently. “N-Ne… gwaenchanha.”

Jen pulled him into her arms and hugged him tightly. “You had us all worried! You could’ve died out here. What were you thinking?”

“You try being stuck with Jessica for a whole day,” Luhan chuckled bitterly then coughed again.

“You’re sick,” Jen stated and put her own scarf around his neck, “I’m going to get you out of here okay? Everyone is out looking for you and Jessica.”

“Jessica is missing too?” Luhan asked in shock.

“Yeah, we thought you two would have been together actually,” Jen said with her head slightly cocked to the left, “what happened between you two?”

‘She must’ve been out looking for me…’ Luhan thought guiltily. “I have to go find her… It’s my fault she’s out here in the first place,” he said and struggled to stand up.

“Kai would never forgive me if I let you stay out here any longer. Besides, Sunny is the one who is closest to finding Jessica anyway,” Jen explained and draped Luhan’s arm across her shoulders to help him stand.

Luhan’s eyes grew cold at the mention of Kai and he looked away. “Fine… let’s go.”

Jen heard the bitterness in Luhan’s voice. “Are you okay?”

“Since when did you care whether Kai forgave you or not?” Luhan asked harshly.

“What… what are you talking about?” Jen asked, completely puzzled by how Luhan was talking to her.

“Nothing… forget it,” Luhan sighed and fell quiet.

“Okay then…” Jen gulped and took out the walkie-talkie, “I’m just going to let everyone know that I found you.”

Luhan ignored her and Jen took a deep breath before walking with him. “Come in, everyone come in,” she said into the walkie-talkie.

“What is it?” Kai asked – he was usually the first one to respond.

“I found Luhan. I’m heading back to the main camping grounds with him as we speak,” Jen responded.

“Mwo?!” Sunny exclaimed.

“You actually found him?” Kyungsoo asked in shock.

“Is he okay? He’s not hurt is he?” Kai asked, his worry was evident in his voice.

“He’s… sick but he’ll be okay,” Jen answered.

Jen heard Kai sigh over the walkie-talkie. “Okay, hurry and I’ll meet up with you two back there,” Kai said and then his line went silent.

“Glad to have you back hyung. Meanwhile, I’ll continue to look for Jessica,” Kyungsoo said.

“I’m so happy you’re okay oppa! I’m going to keep looking for Sica too. Sunny out,” Sunny said then both their lines went silent.

“They all sound so relieved,” Jen said and put the walkie-talkie put in her pocket but Luhan ignored her once again.

“Okay… what’s wrong with you? You’ve never ignored me before…” Jen sighed.

“I’m not ignoring you,” Luhan stated quietly.

“I’m talking to you but you never respond to me. What did I ever do to you?” Jen asked.

“I just have nothing to say to you,” Luhan said monotonously.

“Luhan… why are you being like this?” Jen asked softly.

Luhan could tell by her voice that she was truly hurt. “I… I’m sorry. It’s not you. I’m just… It doesn’t matter. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“Your just what?” Jen inquired.

“Nothing… I don’t want to talk about it,” Luhan said and fell quiet again.

“You can tell me,” Jen said honestly.

“You wouldn’t understand… Look, can we please just drop it?” Luhan asked, his voice had a tone of pleading in it.

“Sure… I won’t ask you anymore,” Jen surrendered and continued walking with him in silence.

After thirty minutes of walking, Luhan finally decided to break the silence.

“Jen…” he began.

Jen looked over at him and saw how pale and sickly he appeared and she felt her heart slightly drop at the sight. “Hmm?”

“Do you know what it feels like to… to be completely alone?” Luhan asked suddenly.

Jen was taken back by his question. “I… Is that how you feel?”

“Just… answer it please,” Luhan implored.

“When I used to live in California, I was bullied a lot… I never had a break from it. No one understood how hard it was for me… not even my parents. I guess that’s when you feel completely alone; when you have no one who understands or supports you,” Jen answered and smiled sadly, “does that answer your question?”

“Jen I…” Luhan began.

“No, it’s okay. I can talk about it now,” Jen interrupted.

“Do you… do you still feel alone?” he asked quietly, keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

Jen sighed. “Sometimes but… you were the first person to be kind to me here so I didn’t feel so alone anymore.”

“I’m sorry for snapping at you earlier… you didn’t deserve that,” Luhan apologized sincerely.

Jen flicked his nose and smiled. “I already forgave you, pabo.”

Luhan chuckled but then his face started to contort into a look of anguish and he stumbled.

“Yah! Gwaenchanha?” Jen asked frenziedly.

Luhan shivered and slumped down to his knees. “Argh!”

“Luhan!” Jen gasped and kneeled down beside him, “come on, we’re almost there. I can see the bus through the trees.” She tried to help him back up to his feet back he wouldn’t budge.

“I c-can’t anymore Jen…” Luhan groaned, “it hurts…”

“Yes, yes you can! Get up,” Jen begged and tugged on his arm but he still didn’t budge, “you have to get up!”

“But I-,” Luhan began pathetically.

“No more excuses,” Jen interjected, “we’re so close… Together I know we can do this.”

Luhan nodded and shakily rose to his feet again with Jen’s help. “Okay… kaja.” Then with that statement, the two of them began walking again.

“I think I’ve figured out a way you can repay the rest of your debt,” Luhan said then coughed a bit.

“Isn’t saving your life enough?” Jen asked with a smile.

“Nope,” Luhan chuckled drily, “if I make it out of this… I want you to go somewhere with me.”

“You mean when you make it out of this,” Jen corrected, “and where?”

“You’ll see soon enough,” Luhan replied, “just promise me you’ll be there.”

Jen smiled. “I trust you so… I’ll be there.”

“You promise?” Luhan asked.

Jen nodded her head ‘yes’. “I promise.”

I felt bad for being absent so long so I updated everything I wrote ;-;

We've been getting a ton of snow here so school gets canceled often :o

Thanks for all your patience! <3333

^3^ Enjoy~