One.
The Forgotten Hollow.

Bright is the color of the moon, so far up in the sky, crescent-shaped like the scythe of a death god. Combined with the starless, pitch black sky as the infinite background, they look like the grim reaper itself. Far below on earth, thick layers of mist cover the scenery in soft gray. The outline of mountains and trees and roads creating a strange, almost unreal silhouette.

Oh Sehun presses his forehead on the glass window beside him, the sharp chill acts as a calming effect to his burning forehead. He’s not having a fever, but the lack of air conditioner in this taxi is enough to make the air inside turns hot and slightly humid. The golden gleam of the front and rear light does nothing to make the road more visible. If any, they just emphasize the thickness of the mist even more and the yellow hue of the light makes the gray mist looked like they’re made of gold glitters.

“Darn this mist,” The taxi driver grumbles, his body bent forward as if it can make him see the road better. “It’s barely seven P.M. why is it so thick already. It’s not usually like this.”

“And I’ve been very sleepy too,” he continues to sigh. The old man leans back on his seat, already given up, before looking at Sehun through the rearview mirror. “What about you? You’re young. Starting your first year in university? Ijeon Universty, I bet.”

Sehun tears his gaze away from the window and finds the taxi driver has focuses his eyes again on the road. “Yeah. How’d you know?”

This elicits a chuckle from the driver. “I’ve been driving around these areas for quite some time. The new faces that come to Ijeon are either hikers, campers or university students. Other than that, nobody bothers to visit this town. Well, except if you have relatives or root is in Ijeon.”

Sehun hums, not really knowing how to reply except, “This town is that barren, huh?”

“Yep.” The other replies. “Folks around here dub Ijeon as the ‘Forgotten Hollow’. Heh, what’s the point of an overly dramatic nickname? But… I guess it can be suitable to call Ijeon ‘Forgotten Hollow’.”

“How so?”

The driver shrugs before shaking his head. “Eh, once these mists have been lifted off you can see why. Point is, it’s like this town exist outside the linear line of time. The nearest neighboring town is almost four hour drive. Trains and busses rarely come by. Other than that, it’s just mountains and dark forests. The roads and highways are well kept, yes, it’s maintained well every year but… who would waste their time going to Ijeon anyway? No offense to your university, though. It’s a good place to learn. Top five in the country! Not something to be taken lightly.”

He rambles on and on and Sehun is quite amazed at his own ability to pay attention and listen. Sehun guesses this driver has been very bored because of the long drive, especially late at night, so he supposes he can be quite of help by listening to the old man’s rambling.

“Forests, mountains and creeks. Those are the only things that exist in Ijeon. Those and a couple of dingy bar.” He grumbles. “Don’t go to the forest, though. Not if you’re alone and inexperienced. People went missing a lot.”

“Missing?” this piques Sehun’s interest.

“Loads of them.” The driver let out a heavy sigh. “The forests here are just so dense and dark and filled with all sorts of wild animals. Hell, everything in this place is dark. You know it’s like the sun rises at seven AM and sets at four PM here. Really, kid, don’t go into the forest… or the mountains.”

“What’s with the mountains?”

“The mountain trails are too jagged and steep that even professional hikers have a hard time.” He replies idly. “Sometimes a group of people enter the forest or the mountains to bury the dead, or leave offerings. Ironic isn’t it? People don’t go there to die but death seems to have a very tight grip there."

“I see…” Sehun trails off.

The conversation seems to die so the driver turns on the radio, which instantly gives them a weather report.

“…strong mist that has fallen over the northern area and big storm is going to hit Ijeon around midnight—“

This elicits a groan from the driver. “Storms!” he shakes his head. “Storms, mist, cloudy days… can never run out of those things in Ijeon.”

“I hope you won’t get trapped in one.” Sehun offers wholeheartedly. “It must’ve been driving a random person to a town that’s practically in the middle of nowhere so late at night only to be caught in storm and unable to go back.”

The driver shrugs. “Won’t be the first time.” He says with a sardonic smile. “Don’t worry too much, if the storm was bad I’ll probably crash on one of the cheap motels around.”

He takes one of his hands off the wheel and reaches for one jars of candies that’s placed neatly on the compartment underneath the dashboard. “Anyway, I guess you missed the bus, huh? People often come here by bus. Far cheaper that way. Not your fault anyway, the last bus to Ijeon is at 5.30 P.M. how crazy is that? No midnight bus! I guess they’re not taking chances of being caught up in the mist like us, huh? You’ll see plenty of mist in Ijeon—Darn it!” his ramblings is cut off when the candy accide