The next morning, my stepmother told me that I need to go back to the dress shop and tell the dressmaker to make some adjustments. She says both dresses were too tight for her and that maybe the dressmaker didn't take her proper measurements. If I had known any better, I'd say she just gained some weight because she was always lazing around the house these past few days.

The trip to the dressmaker's shop was quick. I informed the dressmaker about my stepmother's request and I think she was slightly offended hearing that she was accused of not doing her job properly since she was the best in our town. Nonetheless, she gathered the dresses from my hand and told me to go back tomorrow to pick them up.

It was still very early and I had some extra time left before I have to go back our house so I decided to take a walk into the nearby forest.

Entering the thick growth of trees, a smile began to form on my lips. I'm going to have a little adventure!

After a few minutes of walking, I found a little girl wearing a red hood picking some flowers. Curious, I decided to approach to her.

"Hello there." I greeted as I came nearer.

"Oh. Hi!" She greeted back merrily.

"What are you doing here alone in the forest?" I asked.

She smiled and answered, "I'm on my way to my grandma's house. I'm picking some flowers to give to her."

Such a nice girl, and so young to be wandering the forest alone (yeah, I know, I shouldn't be the one to talk since I'm also only eighteen). I became worried for her safety but I cannot accompany her since I have to be back in our home soon so I just told her, "Be careful on your way there. It is not very safe for a girl like you to be wandering in the forest alone."

"Oh you don't need to worry about me. I can handle myself." she announced confidently. "I even single handedly fought a wolf once who had tried to eat me."

My eyes widened at her revelation. I can't believe that a sweet, innocent looking girl like her would be capable of such a thing. I don't think I would want to be on her bad side so I didn't argue with her.

"I have to go. My grandmother would not be so happy if I arrive late. It was nice meeting you--" she said, unsure of how to address me.

"Sungjong. My name is Sungjong." I smiled at her.

"It was nice meeting you Sungjong. Oh what big, beautiful eyes you have. I'm Red by the way. Hope we meet again next time." She told me.

"Thanks, I guess." I said before she left.

I looked around the forest and realized I was lost. I tried to look at where Red went but I couldn't figure out which way she took.

Damn. I should have asked her which way would lead me out of the forest. Now I'm in the middle of the forest with practically no idea how to get out.

I decided to take one of the paths and prayed that it would get me out of here, preferably alive.

I couldn't tell what time it was already because the trees were very thick and I couldn't see the skies above. I walked around the forest and a few minutes later (I think), I saw something in the distance.  It was a house! I could ask for help from someone who lives there.

When I got nearer, I realized it was not just an ordinary house. It was a cookie house. It was literally made out of pastries. The whole house was built with hardened cookie dough. There were marshmallows and pretzels and a lot of other kinds of colorful candies on it.

I haven't had any breakfast and I was getting hungry so maybe eating a part of someone's house wouldn't be so bad, right?

I was about to pick a marshmallow when somebody grabbed my wrist.

"Ouch!"

"Shhh!" the man, who had a hood over his head, told me to keep my voice down.

"Who are you?" I asked him.

"It's not important who I am. We have to leave this place before the witch returns." he answered me.

"Witch?"

He didn't answer my question, instead he dragged me away from the house.

"W-where are you taking me?!" I screamed as he continued to bring me as far away from the house as possible.

He stopped at some point in the forest where no trace of the house can be seen anymore.

I pulled my wrist away from his hold and said, "I'm not going to let you drag me anywhere anymore unless you tell me who you are and why you are here in the forest."

He raised his hands in a surrender and told me, "Okay. Okay. I'll tell you who I am."

With a sigh he removed his hood and said, "My name is Myungsoo." As if I would be able to recognize him without his hood.

Wow. I didn't know a handsome man was behind that thick hood and was the one dragging me. He doesn't look like he's from our town though. If I had known someone as handsome as this one, I would definitely not forget about him. Although I think there was something familiar with his eyes. I think I've seen them somewhere but I couldn't remember.

"Myungsoo? Like the name of our kingdom's prince?" I asked.

"Yes." he answered smiling like he was waiting for me to get some kind of connection.

"I thought your name would be Robin or something. You know, with the hood and all. It suits better." I told him.

"Huh? I'm--" He said before I interrupted what he was about to say.

"Hmm.. Myungsoo.. You must be honored to have the same name as the prince."

Myungsoo scoffed.

"You know, I hear a lot of things about him. That he is the most handsome young man in the kingdom. That he has looks that could kill, but has a heart that is as soft as marshmallow. That his face was llike that of a perfectly carved statue. You know, those kind of things. Don't take this as a compliment okay? but I think you're the closest to the descriptions I've heard. If only I could meet him someday. . ." I said dreamily.

The guy was looking at me incredulously.

"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him.

He looked like he was about to tell me something but he settled with, "Nothing. I think it's better if you don't know."

Huh? I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, "Whatever."

"Look. Do you want to get out of here or not?" The guy named Myungsoo asked me.

"Of course I want to. Do you know how?" I asked him. If he would be able to help me, I'm not going to turn him down.

"Hansel and Gretel gave me a few tips." Myungsoo said.

"Han-who?" I asked, not able catch the names.

"Hansel and Gretel. They are twins. They know the forest very well. They were the ones who informed me about the witch." Myungsoo explained.

"So you've only met them once and you already trust them." I stated.

"Well.. yeah. They seem pretty trustworthy to me." Myungsoo told me with rather less confidence than before.

"What if they just tell that to people, so people wouldn't eat a part of the delicious looking house because they want to have it all for themselves?" I asked him.

"Uhm.. I didn't think about that.. I just assumed that what they said were true." He sighed.

"What do you suggest I should eat then? I'm really hungry right now." I told him.

He took out a small bag and took something inside. It was gingerbread shaped like a little man. He gave it to me and told me to eat it.

"I bought that earlier from the bakery in town. Eat that for now. When you we get out of this forest, I'll buy you whatever food you like. Just don't go back to that house."

I accepted the bread and ate it. I'm going to keep Myungsoo's promise in mind. He better not turn back on it because there's a lot of food I'd like to eat in town.

Myungsoo took the lead and followed the instructions given to him by the twins.

"So, Myungsoo. What made you come here to the forest?"  I asked as we walked along the forest. If we were going to be together for while, better start a conversation, right?

"I was following someone." came his short reply.

I was about to ask another random, useless  question when suddenly, we heard a ruffling in the trees.

"Did you hear that?" I asked him as the ruffles sounded nearer.

"Shhh." he told me to keep quite. Something tells me something bad is going to happen.

The ruffling was coming towards our direction, and not long after, Myungsoo and I stiffened at where we were standing. A very large, (and ugly) ogre came out and appeared in front of us.

"What do we do now?" I asked Myungsoo through gritted teeth. Any sudden movement could provoke the giant creature.

"Don't worry. I'll protect you. I'll get us out of here." He told me before he took out a sword I didn't know he had earlier, and charged towards the ogre.

"Aaaaaaaaaa----aack!" Myungsoo shouted as he ran but was quickly stopped when the ogre swung its incredibly huge hand and hit Myungsoo on the head causing him to fall to the ground and lose consciousness (so much for the little speech about protecting me).

What am I going to do now? How can I fight this giant ogre?

I looked around for something I could use against it and the only thing I found was a rock as big as my head. Better this than nothing, I guess.

I took the rock and lifted it up with great difficulty.

"Hey ogre! If you ever try to come near me, I'm going to throw this rock at your face!" I challenged him.

If the ogre heard me, it's either he didn't understand me or he wasn't scared of my threat at all. I couldn't blame him though. If I was a large ogre, I wouldn't be scared of a little rock either. He went towards me, angry with my stupid provocation.

I had no choice but to push through with my threat. I have one shot at the ogre's face. I cannot fail.

I closed my eyes and threw the rock with all the force I have in my body and wished that it hit the ogre's face.

I waited for the ogre to grab me and hit me signifying that I failed, but nothing happened. I slowly opened my eyes, afraid that the ogre might actually be just staring right in front of me, but what I saw next was the ogre lying on the ground, rolling from side to side, holding his crotch. He was suppressing a scream from the pain.

Uh-oh. I have hit something worse than the face!

I didn't want to stick around and find out what the ogre would do to me if he recovers so I quickly ran towards Myungsoo.

"Myungsoo, wake up! We have to get out of here right now!" I shook the unconscious man on the ground and thankfully it didn't take long before he gained consciousness.

"W-what? W-where am I? Myungsoo asked confusedly as I helped him up.

"I'll explain everything later. We have to leave, now." I told him with urgency.

When he still stood there wondering about how he got there and while recovering from being unconscious, the ogre started to move from its place and made to stand.

I quickly grabbed Myungsoo's hand and ran.

A few minutes later, when I was sure that the ogre wasn't behind us anymore, we stopped as we gasped for breath.

"What happened? The last thing I remember was that I was charging towards the ogre and the next moment you were waking me up to run." Myungsoo gasped in between heavy breaths.

"Let's just say the ogre knocked you down when you were trying to be heroic and I was the one who saved the both of us." I answered, my breathing was slowly going back to normal.

"Oh." was all Myungsoo said as his cheeks reddened. Probably from exhaustion, but more likely from embarrassment.

I sat down on the ground leaning my back against a sturdy tree. I needed some rest from all the running we did. Myungsoo sat beside me and did the same.

"Do you still have an idea how we could get out of this forest?" I turned to look at Myungsoo.

"Yes. But we're a bit off track. We went in the complete opposite way of our exit when we ran away from the ogre."

"You mean we have to go back and retrace our steps? Is that our only way out?" There could be other ways.

"It's the only way I know of."

I am seriously going to have an earful of Nam stepmother's nagging when I get home. That is. . . if I ever get out of here alive.

After resting for a bit, Myungsoo and I decided to start walking again. We walked towards the direction we came from before and thankfully, we didn't encounter the ogre or any other scary creature that lives in the forest.

After what felt like hours, we finally saw a clearing from a distance and soon enough, we found ourselves out of the forest and back to town.

"I'm a man of my word." Myungsoo declared suddenly. "Let me fulfill my promise and buy food for you."

I was really tempted to stay, not just because of the food but I also wanted to get to know Myungsoo more since we are still basically strangers to each other. But then I remembered stepmother Nam and how I've been away longer than I should be, so I decided to go home instead.

"It was really nice to meet you Myungsoo and thank you so much for your help, but I really need to go home now." I told him sincerely.

Myungsoo sighed dejectedly. "Maybe some other time then?"

"Yes. I would like that." I said agreeing with him.

"I wish we have met each other in a different circumstance." Myungsoo said while pouting. He really looked so cute and handsome.

"Yeah. I wish that too." I smiled at him. "'til next time then." I said as I started to run in a very un-ladylike way back to our house. I think I can already hear my stepmother calling out for me.

"Wait! I don't even know your name yet!" Myungsoo was shouting something but I wasn't able to catch it since I was already running as fast as could.

---

A/N: Has anyone spotted the fairytale character references I placed all over the chapter? Lol.