The first thing the teacher did when she had entered her room was to rest her battered body on the massive bed. It had not been easy to get to the resort after all. She had been met with an unhelpful custom’s officer, a lecherous taxi driver and a confused bellboy. The girl reflected back on all of her encounters and shuddered, she should have been glad that she had gotten safely to the advertised resort. It was rather peaceful and quiet at this time of the year since it was neither a holiday season for the host country nor most other neighbouring countries. There were little local visitors and even sparser foreign ones, partially also because of the location of this particular resort. She was treated to a view of the endless green just by twisting her head towards the window. The resort was famed for hosting travellers who has particular interests in trekking. However, at this time of the year, the sweltering heat had made the conditions undesirable for that particular activity which was probably why they required advertising, Hyomin thought. While resting, her mind fluttered back randomly to where she met a fellow a rare Korean tourist at the customs and a smile was brought onto her face. The man was helpful even if he might seem a little intimidating at first. I should have at least asked for his name to express my gratitude. The smile made way for a disappointed pout.

Thoughts about the foreigner brought her mind back to the happenings in her country. The teacher wondered how the students were coping, it has been one month into her break and she was really missing those students. Her mind inevitably wandered off to her friends, despite her unwillingness to meet them, she was in fact still very concerned about them. She felt her lids becoming heavier and her mind becoming foggier. She was tired and before she knew it she drifted off to sleep.

“I don’t believe this!” The CEO said, exasperated as he fumbled for the keys to his room.

Luhan kicked the doors open malevolently, and dumped his belongings aside carelessly, he desperately need to take a breather. The annoyed man threw open the windows so forcefully that they almost came off their hinges. Never in his life had he been treated so shabbily. Never mind about the mishap at the customs, the CEO later met with a trail of incidents, he was just down on his luck. A most cunning taxi driver had just scammed him by taking the longest possible route ever and inflated the fare. It did not end there however, the bell boy at the resort had been so careless with handling his luggage that the CEO decided that it would be better if he did it himself.

“Damn this!” Luhan shouted out of the window to let things of his chest, literally, not caring if he might be of a disturbance to other occupants. That felt better. A light breeze blew into his face timely, as if to chill his temper. It was rare to have wind considering the fact that they were surrounded by forests, in fact the resort was part of the green.

Luhan remembered that his cousin did mention a trekking session somewhere in his plans. He dug his luggage for an article, there, he found it. The plans drawn up by his cousin, it looks pretty neat and concise indeed. A lopsided grin found its way into the CEO face. If only Sehun could work half as hard in the company as he did for planning this trip then perhaps he could have been a great aid to me. Putting those thoughts aside, the CEO laid the planner on a nearby table and continued rummaging his luggage for the things essential to the trek.

Hyomin woke up with a scare. The girl thought she had heard something odd, something that sounded like a wolf howling, but she was pretty certain that wolves do not howl at a time like this, especially not in this forest. Whatever it was it sure sounded odd to her. Just then, there came three clean knocks on her door and she jerked to attention.

The girl made her way hesitantly to the door and was greeted by the same bellboy with a pleasant smile on his face. Hyomin returned him with an awkward smile, dreading what was to come; a conversation in English perhaps. To her surprise there were none, instead the bellboy proved himself adept at using body languages that could be easily understood. He conveyed to her that there is a bath that she could use in the rainforest and that the weather is suitable for exploring the area right at this moment. Hyomin let out a relieved sigh, glad she was able to understand clearly, the smile on the girl grew wider as she nodded her thanks and conveyed to the boy that she would consider his suggestions.

**

The Chemistry teacher sighed as she flipped through the report book of a particular student. Truth be told, this particular student was not doing badly, her grades were actually pretty average and yet she has been constantly ranked last in class and that irked Jiyeon. Jiyeon was not a teacher who picked on weaker students but she sure was one to pick on lazy students and always getting last in class is unfortunately deemed to be one.

The teacher gave a surprised yelp when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her neck from behind. It was only Kai. The teacher blew a gust of air up, messing up her fringe.

That action caught Kai by surprise, he remembered seeing this action in someone, someone whom he was close to… Hyomin. It took a few slaps to his arms for his to catch his attention.

“Y-Y-Yea?” The Physics teacher asked, slightly guilty.

“I was about to ask you why you had come to disturb me?” His girlfriend replied teasingly.

“O-Oh… well… it’s lunch time now, I came over to remind you,” Kai replied with a smile.

Jiyeon chuckled, “what a thoughtful boyfriend. Let me gather up my things first.” The Chemistry teacher gave a light peck on her boyfriend’s arm before proceeding to packing up.

Shortly after, the two were sitting in the café they often patronise together, as a trio. Kai observed the expression on his girlfriend’s face and was curious when he saw the creases between her brows grow deeper and deeper with each passing moment.

“Is the student’s results that bad?” Kai could no longer reign in his curiosity and scooted in closer to Jiyeon to take a peek at the green book.

Kai’s brows were raised immediately. “It’s not too bad,” the male commented, confused by the reaction from his girlfriend.

Jiyeon sighed before laying down the report book and took a sip from her coffee cup. The girl then pointed out the part on the report slips that had offended her. “Tell me if it isn’t bad to be ranked last for every single test.”

Kai helped himself and flipped through those pages, nodding his head while doing so. “Her results are still pretty okay.”

Jiyeon sighed exasperatedly. Why can’t Kai see the point she was making. “Can’t you see what is wrong? It is not about her results, it is about her attitude. She definitely possess a bright mind, well she certainly has to in order to end up in that class but she is not putting it to good use. She is just not working as hard as the others, this just spells laziness.”

Kai grimaced at her harshness. “Well… it might not be so…”

“What? You have a different opinion? Let’s hear them.” Jiyeon’s voice was slightly peevish.

Never would Kai have thought that this would turn into their first couple disagreement.

**

The CEO hadn't thought that trekking would be so tough, especially since he thought he was both mentally as well as physically prepared. The man had always thought his body to be in tip-top condition despite not having work-out for a period of time. After all, he had been an avid school team player for soccer throughout his school days.

 The trek was nothing like what was depicted in movies or dramas, it wasn't spirits-lifting, it was arduous. The birds twittering in the trees were annoying instead of pleasant. The weather had been great just a few moments before but now the heat was stifling and it was getting to him, he could feel tiny streams of sweat trickling from beneath his undershirt and clinging to his sticky skin.

The CEO was beginning to have bitter thoughts as he continued his trek upwards. Why go trekking when he could actually be chilling in his air-conditioned office, listening to Bach or Mozart? Trekking is definitely not a rich man's affair. Just as the CEO thought things could not get worse…

“Ahhh!”

What happened next was a blur for the CEO as he tumbled and his world spun. The grumpy trekker had actually mistook a dense covering for solid ground and fell through it, into the pit. 

“Damn,” The CEO rubbed his buttocks as he got up, the area where he landed on. “What the hell?!” The man muttered after realising what he has gotten himself into because of his carelessness. The pit was not too deep but it was neither shallow enough for the fallen man to climb out without any assistance. Luhan first tested out his limbs to check if there were any injuries and luckily and there had not been any, other than on his buttocks. Still, he thought that he would be luckier if he could have avoided this fall. He later let out a string of expletives when he slipped several times while trying to scale the sides of the pit.

“Why would there be a random hole in this wretched forest?!” Luhan exclaimed out loud and ruffled his hair out of frustration.

The trapped man knew it was fruitless to try escaping, he dumped his backpack by his side and sat down roughly, forgetting his sore bum. He winced as the dull pain throbbed in that area afterwards. He suppressed the urge to let out another urge of curses as a childish pout found its way into his face. Could this fall be a sign? A sign that his life was about to fall into a pit, after all, he had gotten too lucky in his life, if you excluded his parents’ demise. The CEO soon found himself reflecting about his life, blessed with a wealthy background, intelligent mind as well as good looks, he had little to worry about life. Yet, he might have had too little worries in life and it became boring, that was probably why he had saddled himself with so much work. The CEO then stumbled upon a very profound question. What is life?

The Biology teacher marvelled at every single thing in the forest. Despite her haphazard knowledge about this country as well as the forest, she found herself totally immersed in her environment. Click, click. The teacher could not stop capturing images on her DSLR. All the rare sights offered by this forest was simply too precious to forego. Animals and plants alike allured her. She felt surprisingly at ease in this place that was until she tripped over a twig and her DSLR camera almost flew out of her hands. She heaved a sigh of relief when she caught it and promised herself to exercise more care.

The sound of leaves crunching caught his attention. Could it be…? The CEO got up to his feet immediately and craned his neck, concentrating on the noises. His face lit up when he confirmed that the sound produced was made from an approaching figure. A glimmer of hope.

“Hey, help!” The CEO shouted, a tad too high-pitched.

Hyomin jumped. She thought she heard an odd bird call. It was pretty near her and it either sounded like a ferocious one or a desperate one. Either way, the biologist did not want to get into the way of any birds, some birds were known to be very aggressive and she steered away from where the call of the bird was coming from.

Luhan listened closely, his brows became knitted closer together when the scuffling noises grew more distant. What is happening?

“Heyyyy!” The CEO shouted with all his might. “Help me!”

Hyomin stopped in her steps. She heard something different now, it sounded like a cry for help. The teacher’s eyes widened upon that realisation. Someone’s trapped or is injured or probably in mortal danger. Hyomin gasped at the last possibility and blamed herself for her cowardice at the start.

“Is someone injured?!” The girl called back, in Korean. She mentally scolded herself, certain that the other party could not understand her in this foreign land. The teacher rummaged her brain for her limited knowledge of English words but before she could use them, the person who had called for help replied.

Luhan let out a huff of relief with a tinge of elation mixed with it, not realising that his potential rescuer had called out to him in fluent Korean. “I am here!” The man replied back in Korean, waving his arms above his head, as if the other party could see him.

Hyomin heard him, loud and clear this time, the teacher was surprised that it was a fellow Korean. This man’s voice was strangely familiar. The biologists went towards where the call came from.

“Hey! Be careful! There is a pit around where you are! Don’t fall in!” Luhan warned. Then we really have to spend the night in the woods. Just then the CEO realised that the two of them were conversing in Korean which was rare considering that they were in a foreign country, a most inaccessible place at that too.

“Okay! I will!” I am pretty darn sure I heard this voice somewhere before. The teacher then advanced more carefully, testing the ground first.

Closer, closer.

“Woah…” Hyomin was surprised to find a depression that deep, and even more surprised that a man actually fell into it. The girl had badly wanted to laugh out loud but remembered it was not a right time to do so. She then poked her head and peered into the hole but all she could see was the top view of the man’s head, a headful of curls. Right at that moment however, the man’s head snapped up, a relieved smile that was on his face immediately melted into a look of astonishment. The same expression had also crept into Hyomin’s own face.

“Y-Y-You…” Both stuttered in synchrony, stuck at the same word.

“Customs!” They both blurted out again.

The smile reappeared on the man’s face as well as Hyomin’s and the both had temporarily forgotten the predicament they were in. 

**

Author's Note: 

Hello peeps!!! Gosh... my chapters are seriously getting longer and longer and I am seriously trying to cut down on them but to no avail... :(

Okay if you guys were wondering why there aren't any breaks between Hyomin and Luhan's scenes then I can tell you it is because their scenes took place simultaneously in the same location and are very connected.

Oh well... Kai and Jiyeon just had their first disagreement so that means someone else will have to come into play ><

And yayyyy for the Luhan and Hyomin moments. I am so sorry I was trying to lengthen it but the chapter would have been tooooo long so I shall just save those scenes for later. 

S/N If you guys have been following the news about the latest aviation incident, you guys would have known what happened to flight QZ8501. I send my most sincere prayers to the victims, their families as well as close ones... May you all wish the best for them in your own ways as well.