The lovely bird chirps, the sound of stream, the smell of forest, and the warm pillow in his arms; the perfect combination that can rejuvenate one’s body and mind. It was such a nice weather that made Renjun wanted to stay in bed a bit longer. He snuggled his pillow.   

“Who are you?” a voice asked.

Renjun’s eyes shot opened at the voice and realized that he was not in his bed. Rather, he was lying on the ground in an unknown forest. In that moment, the memory of getting lost in a forest and fishing a man out of a river hit him.

When he looked up, he saw a man staring at him, their faces so close to each other. Surprised, Renjun quickly scrambled up and realized that he had been hugging the man next to him.

He was flustered a bit but when he calmed down, he looked at the man who was lying next to him. The man was dressed in a few layers of robe (he knew because he had taken off some of the clothes to dry them up), his body was quite muscular, long black hair, and he had an intense gaze. He still looked weak, but the bleeding had stopped, and at least awake. Moreover, if Renjun hear it correctly, the man had spoken in Chinese. While it was not that unusual to encounter a fellow Chinese man in South Korea, Renjun still find it amusing every time.

“Are you also Chinese?” he asked to make sure, but the man didn’t answer him. Instead, he stared at Renjun in silent which made the idol nervous. After some moment, he finally replied and in Chinese

“What are you talking about?”

 “Sorry, I just surprised that it was such a coincidence to meet you here, out of other places.” Renjun apologised with a smile but then became concerned when he remembered the man’s condition “What happened to you? Your injuries look terrible. We have to get to the hospital right away.”

This time too, instead of answering, the man asked him with another question.

“What is your name?”

“Renjun”

The man did not react to his name. Renjun thought maybe he was the kind of person that was not into Kpop.

“Do you know how to get out of this forest?” the man asked again.

“No, I’ve never been in a forest before.” He admitted. It was a miracle how he was able to survive the night alive and even saving a man at that. “Do you know how to get out of here?” he threw back.

“I’ve never been to this part of the forest but I’ve never lost before.” He paused to look at the sun briefly. “I think we’ll make it out before noon.”

Renjun thought he sounded a little too confident for an injured person but he didn’t bother to mention it. They were strangers after all.

As the man tried to get up, Renjun went over and grabbed his arm to help naturally.

“That’s alright, I can walk on my own.” The man insisted and freed himself from Renjun. But as soon as he took his second step, he stumbled on a small rock and about to fall if not for Renjun’s quick help. Renjun couldn’t help but scoffed at the prideful man. The man’s jaw clenched at the mock that he received but he didn’t try to let go again.

“You haven’t told me your name.” Renjun tried to light up the air between them. The response was delayed, so Renjun thought he was angry at him. But the man eventually answered him, “Xuxi”

True to Xuxi’s word, they found a trail not long after. The road was bumpy and challenging, but they were able to make it out of the forest safely. Renjun hesitated when they were at the forest entrance, looking back with worry.

“Why?” Xuxi noticed that his partner was concerned over something.

“I’m worried about my friends.” Renjun confessed. “They might be still lost in the forest.”

“Friends?”

“Yes. We were together before I fainted. We were heading to the music station but then we got in an accident.”  

“It’s better if we ask for help. We won’t be able to do much by our own.” Xuxi suggested.

Renjun agreed and they continued their journey. The road after that was also not paved but it was a lot better. They passed through a valley and a vast grass field before they finally reached at a village.

Renjun was stunned when they reached at the village. Everyone was wearing the traditional clothes that he always saw in a historical drama. Moreover, the whole village imitated an ancient residence. The small huts were made of stones and bamboos with straw roofs. An empty cart was even pulled by a cow. There was no trace of modern civilisation at all. Renjun thought the filming set was very big. Xuxi must be a part of the crew as well.

Renjun let Xuxi rest for awhile as he went to ask for help. He stopped the middle age man who was pulling his cart.

“Ahjussi, please help me!” he called in Korean.

The man looked at Renjun with wide eyes before he gave him a once-over.

“Old man, what are you talking about? Do not disturb me.” He spoke in Chinese.

Renjun was a bit taken aback. He didn’t know there is a place where so many Chinese people gather together in a historical set in Korea.

“Mister, help me. My friend is injured.” Renjun switched to Chinese.

“Your friend?” The man repeated and Renjun pointed to where Xuxi was resting.

Luckily, the man generously helped them and brought them to his house. It was a small hut and similar to the exterior design, the inside also resembled a historical set. The man was kind enough to take a look at Xuxi’s injuries and his wife even served a bowl of congee for each of them. The congee tasted like plain rice cooked in plain water; very bland but Renjun didn’t want to be rude and honestly, he was starving. The last meal he had was before he left SM building. It had been more than 24 hours.

After Renjun finished his bowl, he observed the house curiously. The dented bowl and spoon that he used were made of steel, the small dining table was made of wood, the old mat that he was sitting on was made of straw, an old oil lamp was placed in the middle of the table, and the man even treated Xuxi’s injuries with nasty looking substance from a small ceramic jar.

“Do you have a phone here?” Renjun asked when they had finished bandaging Xuxi’s wounds.

The man and his wife looked at each other in confusion. Xuxi on the other hand, was resting with his eyes closed and didn’t react to the conversation.

“I need to contact my company right away. My friends might be in danger.”

“You have more friends? Where are they?” the man asked.

“In the forest, I think.”

The husband and wife looked troubled and a long silent was stretched before the wife finally answered Renjun’s earlier question.

“We do not have it here… what ever you are looking for. I’m sorry.”

Renjun recalled of not seeing any single telephone and electric pole throughout his journey. Whoever made this set was really serious about keeping it close to the original, he thought.

“Do you know where I can find it?”

They apologised, still looking uneasy.

“Then, can you help me to look for my friend? It has…”

“That’s alright, Renjun.” Xuxi suddenly cut Renjun’s words. “We’ll get help for your friends when we reach the manor.”

Renjun watched Xuxi got up and thanked the couple. He gave something to them and walked out. Renjun thanked them too before he followed Xuxi. He noticed that Xuxi’s congee was left untouched on the table, most probably already cold.

Xuxi headed to the family’s horse that was tied at the back of the house and untied it.

“They will not be able to help you. The forest is dangerous for people like them.” Xuxi said as if knew what Renjun was thinking. “Let’s quickly return to the manor so we can get some help for us and your friends.”

“Can you ride the horse? You are injured.” Renjun reminded but Xuxi only gave him a bored look.

Xuxi then hop onto the horse with ease.  “Can you ride a horse?” his tone was monotonous as ever but somehow Renjun found it a bit irritating.

“I did a few times, but I still can’t control it.” SM had made him take the horse riding lesson for a few times but he was still a beginner at it.

Xuxi held his hand out for Renjun and Renjun got on the same horse Xuxi was riding.

“Don’t worry, you only need to hold tight.”