For about an hour I sit behind the same rock I had originally ran to, just taking in what all had just happened. I think over the sound, the shaking, and the man.

I stand hearing the sound of sand shuffling from behind me. I watch as the boy sits himself up. I’m sure my eyes have lit up at the new arrival. He stands from the ground, shaking a hand through his hair and rolling his shoulders.

Without thinking, I speak. “Hello” my voice sounds cheerfully. The boy turns his head over his shoulder to face me for a brief moment before looking away once again. My curiosity takes over me, and I walk towards him. He turns to face me once again, this time for a slightly longer moment. I step back, of course he has to be cute too. “Excuse me” I speak again. “Am I dead?” he responds. I pause for a moment, I wasn’t expecting a reply from him. “No” I answer him vaguely. He turns his head, but not enough to truly face me. “Then where am I?” he questions. Not knowing how to answer him, I remain quiet. How do you just tell somebody they have come to what they would deem as an alternate universe and have them not freak out?

He lowers his head at my silence. I inhale. “You’re in the Bermuda Triangle” I tell him directly. He doesn’t say anything for a moment. My eyes trace down his spine and back up. “I’m what?” he finally says something.

“Ah-” I go to answer.

“You know what, don't answer that” he interrupts me. “I’m dreaming” he finishes.

“But, you aren’t”

“Yes, I am”

I shake my head although he can’t see me.

“If I’m not dreaming explain how in the hell I’m in some world phenomenon with a pretty woman, alone?” he demands in disbelief. I don’t respond right away as I go over his question in my mind. The Triangle is a phenomenon? “I’m pretty?” I question out loud although I intended to in my head. He exhales deeply and begins to walk away from me. Shaking my head I watch him. I must say, I’m quite shocked at his liveliness and unharmed appearance considering he was just out cold from falling 50 feet to the surface.

“Don’t leave” I tell him.

“Why shouldn’t I?” he turns to me.

, he’s cuter than I thought he was. I gulp and blink at him a few times before actually answering.

“Well, for one, you’re ” I advise him. He looks down quickly before looking back up at me who forcibly holds in laughter. “And two, I can explain”.

“Well then, go on, explain” he insists. I roll my lips in, taking the opportunity to . “Well then, if you don't want clothing I’m fine with just explaining, because this is no harm to my eyes” I playfully joke. Well, I’m sort of joking. “Wait, if you have clothing I’ll take it” he responds, brushing my playful manners off as if normal. “I’m just saying you have a nice body” I joke towards him, but in reality I’m not kidding, the boy has a nice body. “You know, you might be a girl in this so called Bermuda Triangle, but you’re just like any other woman I’ve met” he tells me, as I retrieve the cloth I had slept on last night from my bag. I walk towards him, who's confident attitude slowly changes to shyness with each step I take closer to him. “Here” I hand the cloth to him. “It’s not exactly clothing but it’ll cover you” I chuckle at his embarrassment, his cheeks glowing a soft pink. I watch as he opens the large scrap material and wraps it around himself. I eye the cloth which rest gingerly over his hips. “Are you going to explain” he gets my full attention again. He rolls his eyes, and huffs in annoyance. I glare at his prominent arrogance. “I don’t have to explain anything to you, you should be grateful I’m even here at the time of your arrival” I tell him. He sighs and rolls his eyes again. I follow his actions rolling mine in return.

“You’ve landed yourself in the Bermuda Triangle, I know it’s hard to believe but you must believe it” I begin to explain watching the disbelief settle deeper into him. His facial expression completely changing along with the atmosphere. He sinks to his knees, his eyes not leaving the sandy ground. I look away from him because for some unbenounced reason, I feel pity for him, almost sad for him. I mean, my largest dream is to live on the earth’s surface, and now this man is stuck, forced to live here. If I can’t stand to live here in the Triangle, I can’t even begin to imagine how much he must be dreading this reality. I kneel down to the same level as him, sitting back on my heels I look at him. He almost looks as though he is in pain, an emotional pain. He looks hopeless, sorrowful and somewhat regretful. Looking up from the ground slightly, his dark brown eyes glow a soft gold in the bright midday sun.

“I’m sorry” I brake the silence. He looks up to me. “Really I am” I tell him honestly. “For?” he asks. “I know you don’t want to be here”

“Yeah, but this is your home, what do you care that I don’t want to be here?”

“Well, if I’m honest with you, I’m not supposed to be out here, near the portal at all”

“Okay?”

“Everyday I come out here, waiting for the portal to open because I want out” I admit to him. His eyes widen. “How come?” he questions me.

“Again, if I’m honest, I truly- don’t- know” I pause between my words confused at myself. “Well, what I know is that I want a purpose, and the life I’m living here isn’t and won’t provide that for me” I continue, sort of puzzled as to how the conversation has become deep between the two of us who don’t even know each other’s names.

“Okay” he begins. “Now I’ll be honest with you, and let me ask you this” he continues. “What purpose do you think you could have outside of here?”.

The answer to his question is something I’ve never thought of. “I-” I begin, about to practically fake an answer. “Don’t actually answer me” he stops my words. I look at him, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Like, excuse me Sir. but you asked me. “Just think about it”.

My chin sinks to my chest as I exhale. I look up to him who has stood from the ground and began walking away from me. “Wait” I call after him. He turns to me. “Where are you going” I hold back a chuckle. “To find a good place to set up, like, a camp or something” he responds and I can’t help but let out my laugh. “What, why are you laughing?”.

“There’s no need” I speak but continue to giggle.

“What do you mean?”

“You can come back to the village? It’s not like you won’t be welcome”

“Village?”

“Yes, of course, did you think I was the only person living here?”

“Well-”

“I’m not, there’s a full community of people” I continue to laugh.

He sighs and continues to walk.

“It’s this way” I tell him and point in the opposite direction from the way he’s walking.

“Thank you” he walks past me, and I still cannot help but laugh at him.

The two of us walk, in silence for about a half hour. “What’s your name?” he speaks up. Startled I respond, “Oh, mine?”

“No, the cactus” he retorts.

I roll my eyes to his smartass remark. “It’s Eryn”.

He stops his steps and turns to me who is a few steps behind him. His pause causes me to nearly bump into him since I watch my feet as I walk. I look up at him who stands a fair bit taller than me. We stand close to one another, before I take a step back from the sheer awkwardness I feel. “It’s nice to meet you, Eryn” he greets me, holding his hand out for me to take ahold of. My name has never been said so nicely, it’s never sounded so nice coming from someone. Shaking my head and self back to reality, I place my hand in his, and together we shake. “I’m Hongseok” he tells me his name. “It’s a pleasure to meet you” I bow my head formally and he turns away to continue walking.

“Tell me something” he strikes a conversation. “Yes” I prompt him to be more specific. “How did you get here? How did this community you say, get here?” he questions me, and for some reason he makes me feel nervous to respond with even such factual answers. “You see, there have been only a few arrivals to actually survive” I begin an explanation. “So how is there a full community?” he asks with such pure curiosity. “Well those few arrivals began to have children, and those children did as well, our community has grown a lot since the first arrivals”

“So, people actually want to raise their families in a place like this?”

“Well, to everybody here, there is no possible way out, so they must make a life for themselves with what they have” I tell him. He looks at me with more curiosity than anybody has ever shown towards me. “Tell me more, about these people, your community” he insists. “Okay, so about 500 years ago the first arrivals came, and from there they began to inhabit the land, and since then there has been 13 other portal openings not including yours, all of the survivors would come together, the people have made a functioning community out of themselves, we have clothing, and food, and school” I explain. “So like pioneers?” he asks, I look away from him not answering as I’m unsure what exactly he means. “Until today, the last portal opening was 184 years ago” I tell him. “That’s a long time” he states. “Yes, and it was my parents”

“Wait, what?” his confusion is somewhat funny to me. “Here in the Triangle we cannot die, nothing that enters these borders can die, unless they are killed that is” I advise him of some of the most crucial Triangle information. “So how old are you?” he asks, an eyebrow raised. “152 years old” I smile at him with my reply. Watching his eyes widen I stop my laughter from escaping. “Wow” he speaks in awe. “You look- very good for your age” he compliments me, and with that I can’t hold back my laughter anymore. “I’m kidding”. He stops in his tracks. I look back at him who stares at me unimpressed. “It’s not very nice to play people like that” he states, before walking to catch up with me. “I’m seventeen” I speak the truth. “You’re a child” he retorts. “Excuse me, I am not” I stop watching him who keeps walking. “I’m 22, I’m aloud to call you a child” he smiles back at me. “I am not a child” I state stepping back to his side. “So” he begins. “What is life like here?” he asks. “Boring” I speak without thinking. “Is it? How so?”

“Life is all about work, and making the community run smoothly, and although the people have ,made this safe and well organized place, they seem to forget how to live, everything they do is so repetitive, they only think about work, nobody knows how to let loose” he nods at my words. “I mean as a girl, all I’m taught is how to cook and clean and mother children, that's all they want us for, as for the men, they learn to hunt and be the boss of their households, that's it”

“So, life ?”

“Yes”

“No wonder you want to leave”

“Thank you, at least you understand”

“They don’t?”

“Nobody does”

“Huh” he pouts his bottom lip near mockingly. “Are you being sarcastic?” I ask him and his actions. “No, no, not at all” he smirks. “You just seem like that rebellious teenage girl who wants nothing to do with family and responsibilities, like that main girl in every bad chick flick movie” he laughs, I may only understand half of his remark but I understand enough to be offended. “You just don’t understand” I exhale deeply. “But I do” he says and I glare at him with a hint of confusion pasted over my face with it. “Daddy runs everything, you’re caught up on your life aspirations but the community thinks of your hopes and dreams as a disrespect to your family and them, right?”

I look away from him who is completely correct. “That’s right”.

“Explain to me more about this community you live in” his genuine curiosity is well respected in my books, I just hope he knows that this amount of questions is coming his way. I walk but when I look to my side he isn’t there. “Psst” I hear him from behind me. I turn in confusion. “You’re in no hurry to get home, are you?” he question me. “Not exactly” I respond. “Good” he smiles, and that dang smile is what I’m blaming for me actually joining him on the ground. “Go on, I want to know more” he speaks, again with that smile.