The forest was thick with quiet when Jisoo woke up in the morning. The first surprising thing was that Jisoo felt pretty well-rested despite subjecting herself to a stony bed for eight hours. The thin cots she’d been sleeping on back at their campsite must have gotten her more accustomed to sleeping on hard surfaces. 

The second surprising thing was that there was a piece of cloth draped over her shoulders, protecting her skin from the cold of the night and the hot rays of the morning sun. When she rolled over and inspected it, she realized that it was a shirt. The long-sleeved one that Jinyoung was wearing yesterday. But how did it end up on her?

She glanced to her left to check on her companion. The third surprising thing was that he was nowhere to be found. 

Jisoo sat up, panicked. 

“Jinyoung?” she called out, looking left, right, and even scooting to the edge of the alcove to see if he had jumped down or something. Nothing. No one. 

“,” she cursed under her breath. Jisoo tossed the shirt over her arm and then slowly stood. She pressed her back against the wall then started to look around again, trying to see beyond and around the surrounding trees for any sign of Jinyoung. 

“Jinyoung?” she called out again. 

No response.

Her heart started pounding in her chest. She cupped her hands around and shouted his name.

“Jinyoung? Jinyoung! Hello?”

Again, no response. Their small fire was now a nest of cold embers, and the forest remained thick with quiet. Jisoo looked up at the sky and noticed that how bright and hot the sunlight was. It must be even later in the morning than she thought. After last night, she had completely knocked out and, being a heavy sleeper, she didn’t notice Jinyoung leave. 

“,” she cursed again. He’s gone. She was alone.

Where is he? Where’d he go? What if he got up earlier that morning and then ditched her? No, he promised he’d keep her safe. Well, then, what if something bad happened? What if he got up to take a piss in the middle of the night and then slipped and fell into a gorge and hit his head against a sharp stone and was bleeding to death at this very moment? Or what if he got lost as he was coming back to the shelter and ended up miles away? What if he was out there right now, tired and hungry and lost and, quite possibly, shirtless?

Jisoo took the sleeves and tied the shirt around her waist. Then she crawled over to the edge of the alcove and started to lower herself back down to the ground. Once she touched back down on the forest floor, she cupped her hands over and called for him again.

“Jinyoung! Park Jinyoung!” she shouted. “PARK! JIN! YOUNG!”

It suddenly dawned on Jisoo, also, that she had no idea how to survive in the forest on her own. She didn’t know where to find food or water or how to get back to camp or signal for help or build a fire. Her entire plan for survival had been to depend on Jinyoung. Now what? 

“Okay, don’t panic, just don’t panic,” she muttered to herself breathlessly. “Don’t panic, Chichu, you won’t help yourself like that. It’s fine, just keep calm.”

If she really did plan on making it back to camp or surviving another night out here alone, a level head would serve her better than fear. First order of business was to find Jinyoung. Jisoo did her best to shove as much of her fear aside and let the more analytical part of her brain take over. She looked around and made note of her surroundings. Then, carefully, she started to head out. 

Stay calm, stay calm, she chanted in her head. Jisoo made sure to turn back every once in a while to check how far she’d wandered from the cliff. She noted her surroundings: big mossy rock, raised tree root, fallen log, family of mushrooms. She would use these physical markers to trace her way back if need be. She wandered for about twenty minutes when she suddenly got the uncanny feeling that she wasn’t alone.

She heard a twig snap and a flight of birds flew up in panic from a nearby bush. Jisoo turned around, heart shaking and breathing thin. She suddenly remembered Jinyoung mentioning that there were snakes in this forest. Her mind, in its uncontrollable fear, conjured images of black anacondas and poisonous vipers. 

More rustling. Jisoo froze. It was closer that time. She saw a chipmunk run out from beneath a bush and scurry up a tree. 

Animals running for cover—can’t be a good sign. She clenched her fists and started to walk backward slowly. Her eyes darted around, looking for a rock or a branch. Something she could use for self defense. 

The bushes rustled again, coming closer and closer. Jisoo braced herself to meet who or whatever it was that was rushing toward her. But suddenly, just as soon as it started, the rustling stopped.

Jisoo held her breath and listened for more movement. But there was nothing. 

Weird, she thought. The forest had gone silent once more. Shrugging and supposing that the danger was gone, Jisoo loosened her stance. She decided to keep going. When she turned around, there was a bearded man in her way.

“Ahh!” she screamed and stumbled over a tree root, falling to the ground. She scrambled to get back up as the man raised both hands.

“No, no, no!” he started saying, and Jisoo crawled backward on her elbows, still screaming.

“Get away from me!” she screamed. 

“Jisoo!” shouted a familiar voice. Jisoo looked over her shoulder in time to see Jinyoung emerging from behind a bush in a white tank top.

“Is this her, Jinyoung?” asked the man, whose face suddenly broke into a wide smile. “Looks like I gave her a fright. I’m very sorry, miss!”

Jisoo looked between the bearded man and Jinyoung and realize they knew each other somehow. Jinyoung crouched down and tried to help Jisoo up, but she swatted him away and stood on her own.

“Where were you?” she demanded. “How could you just disappear like that? I woke up and you were gone! Do you have any idea how freaked I was?”