“Hey… Junhong…? Are you still awake?” a voice on the side of me asked in a quiet whisper.

                “Y-yeah,” I tried not to stutter, but a hint of fear could be recognized in my speech. I poked my head out of my safe sleeping bag and found myself face to face with Youngjae’s brown eyes.

                “Aren’t the stars pretty?” Youngjae smiled as he pointed up at the sky’s glittering diamonds. I took a quick glance at the view, and then directed my focus back on him.

                “Sure. I guess,” I answered, trying my hardest to be polite. It’s not like I didn’t appreciate the stars or anything. In fact, I thought the view from the great outdoors was gorgeous! I just had other things on my mind that night. Youngjae admired the sight for about a minute longer until he yawned and rubbed his eyes.

                “I had a lot of fun today,” his voice got quieter and quieter as he talked, “Let’s get some rest, Junhong. We have to get up early tomorrow morning.”

                I nodded in agreement and Youngjae smiled at me. He then closed his eyes, and soon he was sound asleep.

                When the sound of Youngjae’s quiet snoring was heard, my heart started beating rapidly. I was alone again. It was just me, the surrounding darkness, and who knows what else…

                No. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t spend an entire night with it! I had to get out! I had to run! I had to escape…

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                Darkness was everywhere. Tall trees surrounded me and cleverly disguised everything in sight. I couldn’t see where I was going, so I wandered around randomly, hoping to find any source of light and shrieking at everything that I saw. It felt like hours had passed, and it felt like I was running in circles, until I saw a small speck of light peaking between the gap of two tall trees. I poked my head between the gap and discovered a man-made hiking trail. In front of me was an old wooden bench that had seen better days, and right next to it was a dimly lit lamp post.

                My eyes sparkled at this illuminated haven. It was like finding a tropical oasis in the middle of the hot Sahara desert. I was safe at last! I would get to live another day! Well, I might’ve over exaggerated just a little bit, but for the first time that night, I actually felt calm. It only took a few minutes on the bench to relieve my state of panic. I felt totally at ease. I felt totally relaxed. I almost even fell asleep… Almost…

                “BOO!” a deep voice shouted from behind me. I jumped out of my seat in surprise as the loud yell startled me and a hand emerged from the wilderness behind. I had gotten too comfortable! And now the darkness was out to get me!

                “I knew it! I knew it! Please! P-please don’t hurt me!” I stammered cowardly. I didn’t know who my killer was, but I knew it was all over. My past, my future, my life… all of it was over! Why did I agree to go on this stupid camping trip?! My knees trembled in fear as streams of tears rolled down my face. My watery eyes blurred my vision. All I could see was a shadowy figure approaching me.

                “Woah! I-I’m sorry!” the voice exclaimed with a hint of concern, “It was just a joke!”

                What? A joke? I sniffled a few times and wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket. My vision was somewhat better now, and I discovered the true identity of my ‘killer.’ It was a teenage boy who seemed around my age. He stood a few feet in front of me. His dark brown eyes filled with worry and concern.

                “Are you alright?” he asked. It took me a few more seconds to recoup.

                “Y-yeah. I’m fine,” I replied between sniffles.

                Another minute passed, and the two of us were back on the dimly lit bench. My tears and sniffles had come to an end, but now the situation was just awkward. I didn’t have the slightest idea on what to say to him. My phobia had never gotten me in an embarrassing situation like that before! Did I really freak out and cry in front of a total stranger? Well, he didn’t look too unfamiliar. After a quick glance, I realized that I had seen him around before. Was he from Seoul Academy, too?

                “So, um, are you feeling better now?” the boy interrupted my train of thought.

                “Erm. Yeah,” I answered without looking up. My attention was focused onto the sleeves of my jacket that were wet from the tears. I could tell that he was uncomfortable, too, because it took him a while to respond.

                “Do you want to talk about what happened?” he suggested.

                I froze. I never really thought about how I was going to explain everything! Was I supposed to tell him the truth? Do I come up with a lie on the spot? Maybe I could try changing the subject.

                I looked up at him and found a concerned expression on his face. He was genuinely worried, and probably expecting a real answer. The guy also had some kind of aura to him. Maybe it was his personality. Maybe it was his looks. I couldn’t really describe it, but at the time, he just seemed like a really compassionate and friendly person.

                So I told him everything. I told him that I’ve been deathly afraid of the dark since I was young. I told him that I came on this camping trip with my school because a group of my friends talked me into it. I told him how I couldn’t sleep because I didn’t have my night light. I told him that I left my group to find some kind of lighting away from the dark. I told him how I ran into the forest and almost died three times. I told him how pathetic I was for seeing the lamp post and thinking I was saved from all the evils of the darkness. I told him that I was scared of him because I thought he was out to get me. I told him all of that. I told him everything, and it felt great to finally get everything off of my chest.

                “Alright. Let me get this straight. You’re afraid of the dark, so you decided to, um, leave your friends and travel into the dark?” the boy asked, still feeling confused.

                “Shut up,” I blurted out bashfully. I was obviously feeling a lot better after my confession, and I was back to my normal stubborn attitude. My cheeks flushed red with embarrassment as I stared at the cement ground. I couldn’t make eye contact with him. I didn’t even know how I could talk to him about such a personal subject in the first place!

                “Hey, hey! I’m just trying to get the story straight,” he exclaimed.

                “Well, I guess in retrospect, it wasn’t my most well thought out plan,” I spoke sarcastically.

                “No kidding.”

                The conversation got quiet after that. I still couldn’t find myself to look up at him. Instead, my eyes traveled from the ground to the dark and empty portal in front of us. It was where I had originally come out of. It was a small entrance to a never-ending forest of hellish darkness.

                The night was bad enough, but the high tree tops covered up the moon, which was the only source of light. One could barely see anything in there. But when you were finally close enough to see the object in front of you, you would wish you wouldn’t have. It could be anything. Wild man-eating animals, deformed faces of oak trees, poisonous scorpions, spiders, snakes, creepy crawlies! And. Every. Single. Sound. Leads. To. Trouble.

                CAWWW. CAWWWWWW. ! Something’s dead. It’s a body, huh?! It’s my body, huh?! KE KE KE KE KE KE. That must be the deranged cackle of the grim reaper, ready to take away my living spirit. CRICK. CREEK. That’s just a branch, but in the darkness, it’s a god damn time bomb. Because when you step on one tiny little twig, the forest’s inhabitants jolt to life! … And they’re all out to kill you.

                “What about you?” I interrupted the silence, trying to clear the terrifying image of darkness out of my mind. My focus now shifted to the boy. He was a lot less scary than the dark.

                “Hmm?” the boy turned his head to acknowledge me.

                “Why are you out here this late in the night?” I asked curiously. It was pretty late when I first left my group’s campsite, so it must’ve been at least past midnight.

                “Oh. My guys were doing some kind of initiation thing,” he started to explain, “They started doing some stupid , so I kinda just left them.”

                “Oh really,” I replied, rolling my eyes. People could be so stupid sometimes. Didn’t they know that playing in the dark could possibly kill them?

                There was another silence as the boy looked up at the night sky and enjoyed the breeze through his layered brown hair. I then realized how calm and laid back he was; he was the total opposite of me that night! I mean, there I was, freaking out over my greatest fear. I was crunched into a ball, trying to comfort myself from the darkness and my speech was a mixture of nervousness and stubbornness. The boy stretched his legs out comfortably and spoke in a cool voice. His calm attitude…maybe that’s why I found it so easy to talk to him about my fears?

                “I should probably be heading back now,” the boy started as he got up from the bench, “Hopefully the commotion has ended by…”

                “Please don’t leave me!” I found myself interrupting him. I didn’t realize it, but I clung onto his arm by impulse. After a split second, I realized my awkward situation. But rather than letting go, I managed to grip tighter. It was like a force that wouldn’t allow me to let go. I could feel my cheeks getting warm and red from embarrassment. Come on Junhong, get a grip on yourself!

                “I, uh, mean. Can you take me back to the mess hall? I’ll just hang out over there until morning,” I quickly came up with an excuse, not making eye contact. It actually was a decent idea after going over it again in my head.

                “Sure. Let’s go!” the boy exclaimed with a welcoming grin.

                He pulled me up off the bench, and once I was on my feet, we began to walk down the scuffed dirt path. We walked uncomfortably hand in hand as we made our way into the darkness. I still had a tight grip on the boy’s hand, but he didn’t really seem to mind.

                “By the way, you can call me Jongup!” the boy introduced himself.

                “I’m Junhong,” I said back to him. I definitely was not as stressed as earlier, but I was still alert in case anything were to happen. I always prepared for the worst. If a mysterious sound was heard while we were walking, I was ready to scream and run! If a rabid creature were to jump out at us, my foot was ready to kick!
And if another teenage boy were to jump out and scare me again, I was ready to beat the living hell out of him.

                The two of us walked for a good minute until Jongup’s walking came to a halt, and soon my worst case scenarios vanished as well. I looked at him, and then I looked at what he was staring at. Our path lead straight into the entrance of another part of the forest. This time looking more menacing and creepy as ever! I gulped at the sight of it and looked at Jongup’s uneasy smile.

                “Are you ready to go in? Our destination is on the other side of this forest,” he bit his bottom lip, probably unsure if I was going to survive or not. The answer was no. No, I was not ready to go in, and I would never be ready in my entire life. My knees started to weaken again and I found my body shaking nervously.

                “I-I guess,” I stammered, “You lead the way, though.”

                He nodded and the two of us entered into the darkness. I held onto his hand tightly as images of scary creatures surrounded us. I closed my eyes and walked closer to Jongup, hoping to get out at soon as possible.

                “Are you doing alright? We still have a long way ahead of us,” he mentioned. I was about to reply back to him, but a loud, obnoxious noise stopped me. CAWWW CAWWWW. I opened my eyes, and noticed a shadow flying above me. Was it just me, or was it getting closer?

                “Ahh! JONGUP IT’S GOING TO KILL ME!” I cried while gripping his arm with both of my hands. Our walking came to a stop and he patted my head to express some kind of comfort.

                “It’s alright, Junhong. It’s only a Crow. Don’t worry,” Jongup reassured me. His words weren’t convincing at the time, and I stood still as water started to form in my eyes. It was going to be a long night….

----------

                Half an hour had passed and my legs could barely hold up. My stamina was depleted from crying and screaming, and I felt like I couldn’t walk any longer. I focused my attention onto Jongup who was leading the way in front of me. I could tell he was tired too, but a determined expression remained on his face.

                “Hey… I’m sorry,” I found myself apologizing for his trouble.

                “Hmm? Sorry for what?” Jongup questioned confused.

                “For this,” I started to explain, lifting up my hand that was still holding his hand tightly, “For all of this, really. For dealing with me and my stupid fears. Like, come on, a junior in high school who is afraid of the dark? What am I, four?”

                “I don’t think it’s stupid at all,” he spoke in a serious tone.

                “R-really?”

                “Yeah, man. I mean, everyone has their own kind of fears.”

                I had to think about that for a moment. Yeah, sure, everyone has their own fears, but nobody freaks out like I do. Nobody cries and yells like I do. Nobody…

                “Heh, I think we’re lost,” Jongup said as our walking came to a halt.

                “Lost?! Don’t say that! Being in this much darkness is scary enough!”

                “Just kidding!” he exclaimed, “the place I want you to see is just up ahead.”

                I grumbled over the terrible joke, but I decided to follow. We walked a few more steps, and soon, Jongup motioned me to follow him between two large shrubs. He went first and I followed through the itchy leaves. It didn’t take us long to get to the other side, and see what Jongup wanted to show me.

                In front of me was the most gorgeous setting I had ever laid eyes on. It was like a painting in an art gallery, except this place was actually real. Centered in front of me was a crystal clear pond that was isolated from the rest of the forest. The luminescent moon and shining stars reflected into the pond’s steady water. Wild white lilies sprouted naturally around the pond, adding an elegant touch to our surroundings. Hovering around were small specks of yellow light, which I later learned were fireflies. The entire scene was just stunning! It was nothing like I had ever seen before.

                “Jongup… Where are we?” were the only words to escape my mouth.

                “Isn’t it pretty? I accidentally came across it while I was lost earlier,” he exclaimed to me. Pretty was just an understatement. The entire place was gorgeous, enchanting, magical! It was then that I realized I was in the dark… and I was ok? The only source of light came from the moon and the few fireflies, which wasn’t nearly enough to keep me sane.

                “Hey, I was thinking,” Jongup started, “You know… about your fear of the dark.”

                “It’s called Nyctophobia,” I corrected him. I usually never talked to anybody about it, but after all that he had been through, I figured the least I could do was tell him.

                “Yeah that… You know, everyone has their own fears, arachnophobia, aquaphobia, nyctophobia, whatever,” Jongup started to explain, “But there are ways to deal with them. I mean, you think the dark is scary because it makes everything difficult to see and makes harmless objects into terrifying objects. It’s like being in the dark suddenly makes your mind paranoid, and you start to come up with unrealistic scenarios in your head. It’s sorta like a kid seeing a monster under his bed, right?”

                I nodded in the affirmative. He wasn’t wrong.

                “I took you here because I wanted to show you night from a different perspective. A side of the night that you’ve never experienced before. I guess what I’m trying to say is... the dark doesn’t always have to be scary. Sure, sometimes the darkness can be eerie, creepy, disturbing, and horrifying, but it can also be beautiful. It just depends on how you look at it,” Jongup finished.

                Jongup was correct. Of course he was correct. I was living my entire life in fear of my own imagination. I was afraid of things that didn’t even exist! Today, I’m not afraid of the dark anymore… Okay, maybe the dark is a little scary, but so is everything else. I’m not as paranoid in the darkness anymore, and I can pretty much say that my nyctophobia is cured because of Jongup.

                “Thank you, Jongup. I get it now,” I turned to him with a smile.

                He smiled to me back and we spent a few more minutes admiring the beautiful view of the pond. It started getting late, and finally, I felt relaxed enough to finally go to sleep.

                “Hey, Jongup,”

                “Yes, Junhong?”

                “Earlier you told me that everyone has their own fears.”

                “That is correct.”

                “What’s your greatest fear?”

                I don’t know what prompted me to ask that question, but I did anyways. He paused before answering me back. His fists shook with nervousness as he prepared to respond.

                “I’m afraid of telling this one guy how I really feel about him.”

                Now it was Jongup’s turn to awkwardly stare at the ground and avoid eye contact.