Chen glanced back a couple of times, a confused expression adopting his face with every look back before he finally spoke up.  

“What are you doing?” Chen finally spoke to Minseok who had been following him and Min Jee back to his car without even saying a word.  

Min Jee suppressed the urge to slap herself in the face when Minseok smiled. Ever since Minseok came into her life, he was like the only brother that she knew. However because of that, Minseok in turn felt as though he had an obligation to act as a big brother that went along of the lines of being overly protective and embarrassing.  

“I'm coming with you.” Minseok answered nonchalantly.  

Chen raised his eyebrow at his statement but shrugged, unlocking the car. 

Min Jee on the other hand, asked a question that made her friend pause before getting into the car.  

“What about work?” 

Minseok frowned, “I can call in sick...”

The girl rolled her eyes, “Your boss already saw you at work, and it’s not as if you can suddenly come down with the flu.”

It wasn't as if she was trying to avoid any near future situations that would make her want to hide because Minseok knew her all too well and Chen did not. Surely, she wasn’t doing this because of that.  

“Right,” Minseok commented, nodding to what Min Jee said but gave her a look when Chen wasn't paying attention to convey that he knew exactly what she was doing. Nonetheless he eventually sighed, signalling that he would give up. Min Jee internally cheered.  

“Come on Chen, let's get going.” Min Jee said opening the car door, but the two were stopped.  

“Wait, I need to talk to Chen for a second, alone.” Minseok added as an afterthought when Min Jee made no move to get in the car. She huffed, sliding her into seat, and closing the door roughly to give the boys a small sense of privacy. She only heard their muffled voices, and it was a sad thing that she couldn't even read lips as she glared at Minseok from the window of the car.  

A few minutes after they parted ways, and when Chen backed out of the parking lot and out onto the street, Min Jee saw Minseok wave them goodbye from the rear-view mirror.  

“What was that about?” She asked, it was hard not to be curious, and slightly anxious, because well this was Minseok she was talking about.  

Chen stared straight ahead as he answered, "It's a secret between us men.”

Min Jee narrowed her eyes, it wasn't what she was expecting and that made her an unhappy camper.  

“You're not going to even tell me at all are you?”

“Nope,” Chen said with a small grin, “Now where are we going again?” 

* 

* 

* 

“This is in the middle of nowhere,” Chen pointed out once they reached their so-called destination.  

They were about two hours out of town, and wherever they looked, it was just nature. They were apparently led to a gravelly road that eventually ended, as the directions that Chen punched into his phone continued on past the road.  

“I can clearly see that thank you very much,” Min Jee deadpanned, leaning against the car as she surveyed their surroundings. It couldn't have been for nothing, she knew, otherwise the slip of paper wouldn’t have been placed in the box.

With a sigh, she brought out the box from her bag and turned it over with her hands, trying to make out any signs that might point her in the right direction. Of course, it wouldn’t give her any indications of just what they were supposed to look for.

“Do you see that?” Chen asked out of the blue and when Min Jee glanced over she saw him point towards the direction of a hill and a couple of trees.

“Why, what is it?”

“Come on,” Chen said instead of answering right away, and walking over to whatever he spotted in the distance. Min Jee had no choice but to follow reluctantly.

As they went over past the hill, Min Jee realized just what Chen was referring to. There were slabs of stones, already half buried by the moving landscape. The stones were weathered down, some even broken apart, symbols that were clearly etched in but covered by plants and weeds. Trees lay around, almost in a circle around the stones, and as Min Jee walked around she felt as though time slowed down, hearing nothing except the whisper of wind and the cry of “Oh !”

She blinked out of her stupor to see Chen sprawled over one of the rocks, on his knees and rubbing his palms which were slightly scrapped.

She tried to suppress the natural reaction to laugh at his clumsiness as she asked, “You okay?”

Chen nodded sheepishly rubbing the back of his before he went back to studying the slab he was half sitting on, moving his fingers lightly over the cravings.

“What is this place?”

“I don't even--” Min Jee paused, noticing a structure in the middle of the circle, half covered by a bush and vines that were growing on it. “Look at that.”

Not even waiting for Chen, Min Jee came closer and saw that it was tilted at an angle, and while some parts of the stone were chipped off, it was still in pretty good condition especially the parts that were protected by the vines. It was as tall as her waist, and on top was a rectangular imprint on the stone, symbols embedded around it and when she peered closer she realized just why them seemed so familar. Still holding the box in her hand, Min Jee brought it closer and learned that she right. The symbols were exactly the same, and it clicked.

With gentle hands, she placed the box in the imprint, holding her breath in anticipating. Chen having followed closely and watched her actions with curiosity also stood silent.

Seconds passed, and that was when she saw something glowing at the corner of her eye. The duo turned their heads and saw one of the symbols on the floor of the circle light up in a translucent blue, another second, one more lighted up. The symbols only lit up for a while before it disappeared on its own and Min Jee took the box off its place even more confused than ever.

“You saw what I saw right?” Chen asked, still staring at the symbols.

Min Jee nodded, “I did.”

“Good, I'm just making sure I'm not losing my mind.”

One question that stood out the most in Min Jee's mind which was in chaos was why out of all the symbols there, only two lit up?

Asking that question to herself, her eyes widened when her brain supplied her the answer. The two that lit up were the only ones that had been unlocked on the box, and so the assumption would be when the others opened on the box, it would mean that more would light up. At that point, maybe it was safe to say that her mind was in ruins. It wasn’t something that was possible, the mysteriou