“Dara... Sandara...”

What?

“Sandara...”

I already answered. What do you want?

“Dara, get up and c’mere...”

But why? It’s comfortable like this, a warm and bright place.

“Don’t do this... Sandara, help me... can’t move... my fingers and toes... can’t feel them...”

Huh? I didn’t catch all that. Can you repeat it?

A boy with cat-like eyes and irises as black as charcoal called her name out from distance. Sandara couldn’t make out the face, for half of his head was submerged underwater.

“Hey!” she yelled as she headed towards him fighting against the current. Getting closer she reached out trying to save him, her hand brushed against his when a wave separated them. Sandara’s head popped back up as she looked around frantically for the boy who hadn’t resurfaced yet.

“HEY YOU!” she screamed after a minute passed with no signs of him as she struggled to stay above water. “SOMEONE...” cough, “HELP!” cough. She tried yelling again but the salty water entering making it difficult.

Suddenly another huge wave came pushing her underwater, her hand reached for someone, anyone, to save her but she just kept sinking further and further and her vision slowly going dark.

...

Sandara was choking on the scream that followed her into waking, jerking awake as she fell out of bed. She made a mad dash for the bathroom and vomited into the toilet bowl, spitting bile when nothing else would come. When she felt she had put herself together, she got on her feet, flushed the toilet twice to be on the safe side before reaching the sink and washed her hands. Splashing some water on her face, she looked at her reflection in the mirror. A scrawny woman stared back with visible dark circles under her blod-shot eyes, a frown on her face was present instead of her usual smile.

For the first time in ages she had a nightmare so vivid it made her shuddered to her spine, just the night before ascending Everest. Was it a bad omen? She shook her head almost immediately to dismiss the thought. Negative thinking will only lead to negative outcome, she told to herself over and over.

She went back to retrieve her phone on the bedside table and after finding out it was only a little before five, she decided to go for a run instead of getting some more sleep. She had plenty of time to spend before someone from Hankook Ascent pick her up and admittedly a part of her was afraid the bad dream would return once she climbs back to bed. They were heading to Lukla that day, marking the beginning of her very first Everest expedition. She should not let something as insubstantial as a nightmare to toy her mind.

She quickly changed her PJs into a loose wifebeater and running shorts, collected her hotel key and some cash to her backpocket, put on her trekking shoes, and slipped out of her room.

She took off into the early pre-dawn light with Pharrell Williams’ Brand New playing in her ears. The city was quiet and vacant, albeit some activities that mostly came from the traditional market and temples she passed by, signaling the start of a new day.

She stopped in front of a 24-hours convenient store after her sixth mile to catch a breath. The sun had completely risen by then and the hustle bustle of the city started as loads of people walked by and traffic  began to form.

“Ssantoki?”

A familiar deep voice called out. She did not have to turn around to guess who her company was,  she knew only one person in this world who would actually call her by that name.

“What are you doing here?” asked her, surprised to find another team member in the western outskirt part of the city. A particular team member she had slept with, to be exact.

“What are you doing here?” the other party asked back. One of his brows lifted to his amusement.

“Having my fill for morning jog,” she wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand.

Choi Seunghyun, sporting a gray windbreaker and matching colored sweatpants, was sitting in one of the plastic chairs right outside the convenient store with a bottle of Gatorade in his hand. Apparently it wasn’t only her who had just done with some running routines.

As soon as he shifted from his seat to approach her, he noticed the slight dark circles under her eyes.

“You stray too far from where you