The forest seemed to have no end at all. We’d been walking for hours, or what seemed like it, yet our surroundings were still the exact same. More trees, more bushes, more vegetation of all sort. I didn’t have the best shoes for such long walks on the dirt, and my feet were starting to hurt when Baekhyun finally halted. He reached for his phone and the screen, so I subtly peeked over his shoulder to see it was past 3 PM. “Is that on the island’s time zone?” I tempted to ask and Baekhyun’s eyes glanced my way before he nodded his head.

“I think we’ve gone far enough. For now, we can find a place to rest nearby and I will send our coordinates to my mentor.” He explained and I nodded, not really looking forward to the part where we had to sleep outside like this. It was bound to happen none the less, so I followed Baekhyun as he walked around the area, trying to find a place cleared enough for us to spend the rest of the day there. “Have you ever spent a night under the stars?” Baekhyun asked me as he finally threw his bag on the ground.

I nodded my head and looked around, spotting, not too far away, the same rainbow flower I had spotted in the woods earlier. I felt a shiver running down my spine and I quickly looked back at Baekhyun. “Well, it was back in high school, and we surely were more prepared for the event… physically and mentally.”

Baekhyun hummed and shrugged, gathering a few dry branches from the ground and throwing them in the center of our little camping area, probably to prepare a fire. “Well, today our camping isn’t really a matter of preparation, it’s more about being able to use whatever nature offers us to be able to live decently until the people arrive.” He explained, continuing his work while I simply watched. I realized he might have needed some help and I went his way, but he declined with a brush of his hand. I pouted and sat down by the pile of branches, taking the rocks Baekhyun was gathering and putting them in a circle around the branches.

“Was surviving in the forest part of your training?” I asked curiously, staring up at Baekhyun as he kneeled on the other side of the pile, fumbling in his bag, and reaching for the lighter we had found in the burnt down port.

“Not really.” He answered simply and I raised an eyebrow.

“Then where?”

There was a short silence, Baekhyun taking out a book from his bag. I noticed it was the one he’d been reading on the boat and I gulped down when he started ripping some pages off to throw them in between the branches. When he looked up at my expression, he let out a soft chuckle. “We got to make sacrifices, sometimes.” He said simply, looking back down at the small campfire and meticulously lighting up the papers first, so they could burn and make the wood burn as well.

“My dad showed me,” Baekhyun mumbled after the fire had become stable. He sat down more comfortably and watched the flames. I could almost see them in the reflection of his eyes. “He’s always liked camping, so he brought me to the woods around the city when I was still living in Anis. We would spend a night under the stars and he would show me his tricks.”

My lips curved upward as he spoke. “That sounds like some good memories,” I said, bringing my legs to my chest and resting my chin on my knees. Baekhyun nodded, though I didn’t see much of a smile, nor some happiness in his eyes as he was reminded of his past. I kept my mouth shut, though, and stared back down at the fire.

I was tempted to revive the conversation, but I couldn’t find the good words or subject to make conversation. I wasn’t sure if Baekhyun wished to talk either. He had his eyes glued on the fire for a good while until he stood, my eyes following his figure. “I’ll go get more branches. We’ll definitely need more if we want it to last until the night.” He said and I simply nodded my head at him. “Why don’t you train your hearing during that time? It could be useful, you know, to... practice your reflexes.”

I couldn’t help but smile a bit as I remembered how our last practice had turned out. “Sure,” I answered simply, knowing very well Baekhyun didn’t have the same opinion as me about how it had ended on the boat.

“Just keep in mind that, no matter how concentrated you are, you still need to keep a focus on what’s close to you.” He reminded me and I hummed, my brows furrowing slightly. I wasn’t really sure how Baekhyun expected me to do all of it at the same time.

I stood up as he walked past the foliage of our cleared area. I looked around, a bit unsure about being by myself, but Baekhyun probably wouldn’t go too far. With the thought that we were completely safe in mind, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath in, attempting to locate every noise or faint sound of the nature around me. The wind hitting the leaves, the birds chirping, Baekhyun’s steps on the dirt, the burning wood cracking, I tried to locate every sound in my surroundings until I could have a clear vision of where they existed.

I smiled to myself, happy with the orchestra I created in my mind. I took a step on the right and all the sounds seemed to move around me as well, their position fixed as I moved around them. I could almost visualize my surroundings with my eyes closed, focusing on simply their sounds to locate myself. I took another step in the same direction, then another, mesmerized by my sudden discovery. Why didn’t I try this sooner?

It was as if I could see with only the sounds. All that had a sound was positioned in my mind and I could imagine it with my eyes closed, building an image of the animals around me as well as the nature due to the wind in the leave. I spun around a few times, trying to lose all sense of my surroundings, and then I stopped, having no idea where I was facing, yet my ears located every bird, every creaking branch of the fire, and every leaf populating the trees.

I blindly took a few steps forward, hand reaching up in the air. I stopped my movements, brows furrowing in concentration. I opened my palm before bringing my index and thumb together, a thin leaf in between the pads of my fingers right where I heard it be.

While I explored my surroundings using only my hearing, I still tried to keep a part of my concentration on Baekhyun’s steps, listening carefully as they became more or less distant. At one point, though, it seemed the sound of his shoes hitting the ground vanished. Feeling like there was one sound missing from the choral, I frowned and tried concentrating even more, searching for the sound of his feet on the ground, but in vain.

I turned around, my eyes still closed, confused as to why Baekhyun had stopped his movements. Maybe he had found a pile of branches and was reaching out for them, but then I would clearly hear it. This only meant he was standing completely still.

Focusing simply on locating him, I tried searching for other noises he could unconsciously make, like the beating of his heart in his ribcage or his breathing.

Right when the thought crossed my mind, I heard it. The faint sound of air exiting his lungs, followed by the rhythmic thud of his heart pumping blood through his veins. Except it wasn’t around a dozen feet away like it used to be a few seconds ago.

It was right behind me.

I turned 90 degrees and opened my eyes the quickest I could, my own lungs keeping the air in as I stared back at Baekhyun, only a few inches away. I moved back, feeling slightly uneasy by the sudden proximity, but stepped on a rock in the process, making me lose my balance. My arms flailed around, trying to find support as gravity forced me down, but Baekhyun was quick to take a hold of my arms and bring me back up on my two feet, almost just as close as we were before I attempted to increase the distance between us two.

I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not when I saw Baekhyun’s lips curve in a smile. He even chuckled, which puzzled me even more. I tilted my head on the side, not breaking the eye contact. “Well, that was some improvements, but still a fail.” He said, making me frown and tug on my arms so he would let go.

“I wouldn’t have tripped if you did