SEMI-EDITED.

“Item number one is a dandelion.” Him Chan read off the list.

The couple was sitting on an old log, twenty yards from the picnic area where they had come from. They were hidden behind a mask of trees. The lights from the lanterns had faded away, their soft glows no longer visible and the faint smell of burning wood had been washed away with the pungent scent of wild flowers and tree bark.

It was smart for the two to have brought a flashlight before beginning their search, or else they would have been completely consumed in darkness. Despite the light though, it was still difficult watching where they were going, over the beaten rocky paths. They had stumbled a few times, causing the palms of their hands to have marks left by rocks and small cuts.

The night air brushed past their faces, but their skin was too numb to notice it anymore. No longer did they shiver under their jackets or complain about the weather. They did, however, swear whenever they walked into a low hanging branch.

The green moss, that clothed the wooden log, felt strange against their skin. It felt a bit furry in texture. Occasionally, they would jerk their hand away instinctively when they thought something crawled on them.

“Do you want to start searching for it?” Him Chan asked her, as her eyes dragged along the log’s details.

“No.” She simply replied without a second thought.

Him Chan’s eyebrows rose up, “You serious? Isn’t the prize something you’d want?”

She kicked her legs back and fourth, in turn causing Him Chan to move the leg tied to her too. “A lot of other groups got a head start before us, and these woods are kind of creepy.” The girl looked over at Him Chan, “Do you want the prize? Cause if you do, I don’t mind-”

“No, it’s cool. I wouldn’t be shocked if Daehyun tries to steal our items just to win, anyway.” Him Chan sneered at the thought of his maniacal friend sabotaging them for his own victory. He sighed and leaned further back, staring up at the sky.

Crickets chirped in the background, providing them something to fill the silence. Him Chan nervously tapped his fingers against the wood, wondering what his next move was. He opened his mouth to speak, “So, we’re just gonna sit here for the next hour or so?” Him Chan asked her dully, the idea sounding not too unpleasant, but incredibly boring.

“I don’t know.” She replied curtly, her fingers picking at the moss.

“You never know anything.” After those words left his mouth he immediately regretted them. His tone was much more cynical than he had meant it. Ugh, why was it so much simpler for insults to come out of his mouth rather than a decent conversation starter.

“Coming from you, blondie?” She scoffed. “You’re in no position to judge me about my intellect.”

“You’re right, I shouldn’t judge you.” Him Chan apologized, “I would have never thought you’d be able to use such an advanced word like ‘intellect’ before.” What are you doing? Stop it, stupid!

The girl rolled her eyes, “If ‘intellect’ is an advanced word, then I wonder what ‘pony’ is to you.”

Him Chan pursed his lips, “I never said it was advanced for myself, but rather for you. You’re only proving my point about your IQ if you can’t understand something as simple as that.” He continued to antagonize her as her own slurs of insults came out.

“If I was an animal, I would gnaw off my ankle just to get away from you.” An icy glare was sent and he retaliated with his own.

“If?” Him Chan laughed, “From the way I saw you eat at dinner, I don’t think you’re anything except one.”

The two were locked in a fierce staring contest, both too stubborn to give up. Their fiery tempers exploding inside themselves. The forest trees even seemed to shrink away from their clashing personalities. They mirrored each others expression, both adorning a scowl and bearing their teeth, ready to attack. They seemed to blend in with the forest life. Two predators ready to attack each other, to prove the theory of survival of the fittest. They were both animals right about now. If they were ever going to return to acting like civilized humans, one of them would have to throw away their pride.

“.” She spat at him, pulling at her leg, trying to escape. “This ing rope!” She swore as she leaned down and tried to unknot it.

“Idiot!” Him Chan slapped her hand away and tried to get the rope off himself. “What the hell is this made out of??” He grunted as he tried harder to pull it off. Their ankles began to burn as the course nature of the rope began to run against their sensitive skin. While the groups that were picked early on got soft fabrics or ribbons, they were unlucky enough to be stuck with rope.

“Stop it. You’re doing it wrong.” She said, flinching as he forced the rope deeper into her skin.

Him Chan shut his eyes tight and used all his strength to get the unbreakable tie around them off. Sweat began to form on his brow as the rope continued to persist. “Nnnng.” He groaned, his body starting to run out of breath. The more power he tried to enforce, the more resistance the rope gave off.

Him Chan worked five minutes straight to free them from each other’s presence, and the attempt would have continued if it hadn’t been for her laughing snapping him out of his concentration.

“You’re such an idiot.” She shook her head, a smile threatening to appear. Earlier malice had left her eyes, leaving them to return to their normal soft gaze. The sight of Him Chan struggling with a foot or two of rope had become too hysterical for herself to handle. She held onto her aching sides as she laughed harder, remembering Him Chan’s ridiculous expression like he was going to burst an artery.

The guy looked at her like she had finally gone crazy, but as her laughter continued to float into his ears, the sound became so infectious that he himself had to indulge in the feeling of joy as well. The previous hostile atmosphere disappeared and turned into jubilee. Like two idiots high off of life, they went tumbling off their seat onto a patch of grass.

Their backs may have been sore, but giggles still escaped from their mouths. It seemed like years before the two finally calmed themselves down. A few last gasps of air came out before they were silent.

Him Chan let out a content breath of air. He turned and stared at her feminine features, tracing the curve of her nose and down to her lips. Her eyes were turned to the sky, eyes sparkling with the same luminosity as the stars above them. It was such a tender scene before him. It wasn’t often that he saw her so relaxed in his presence. He thought with a heavy heart, how a few years ago it wouldn’t have been so difficult to see her at peace.

“Still as clumsy as ever.” She sighed lightly with a smile before closing her eyes, “I swear, you need almost as much attention as Zelo.”

Him Chan’s brief moment of calm was broken. He blinked. Jello? Who was Jello? Was that her codename for a crush? Was the guy as soft as jello? As cute as jello? Did he feel like jello? Where has she touched that felt like jello??

He let out a silent cry.

Why was it always her that made him worry so much?

Maybe what she meant by her words was that jello needed a lot of attention to make? The directions on the boxes were kind of complicated and making sure you refrigerated it long enough was a hassle too. That had to be it. She was definitely talking about gelatin dessert and nothing else.

But, then again, what if she wasn’t?

He shut his eyes, trying to ignore any inkling thoughts of her and a boyfriend. It was hard enough to see Yong Guk clinging to her all the time, and now there was some fruity dessert involved in the equation? He viciously shook his head of the fears.

“You okay there?” Him Chan ceased his movements and opened his eyes to the image of wonderbread propped up on her elbow staring at him. She didn’t seem shocked by his incredulous actions, but more so amused.

“Ummmm.... uhhhhhh...” He stammered at a loss of words. He worked hard to gather up his jumbled thoughts. His face was burning from embarrassment, here he was acting like a fool. Where was all his cocky confidence when he was teasing her? At a time like this, where the atmosphere was finally comfortable, he could not mutter a single word. Thnk! Think! God ing damn it, Kim Him Chan!

“I’M TRYING TO THINK!” Him Chan screamed, yelling at his annoying conscious.

“Think about what?” The bushes behind them rustled, and out popped a familiar looking blond. His locks were scattered with leaves and his cheeks smudged with dirt.

“Zelo?” His noona asked, furrowing her eyebrows at the odd and uncalled for appearance of Yong Guk’s robot.

“Don’t tell me that after a week you already forgot about your best friend.” A rough and husky voice called out, peering over the green shrubbery.
 

"Yong Guk?"

“Jello?” Him Chan repeated, staring up at the young boy who was tackling wonderbread into a tight hold.

“Noona! I found your headphones!”

Sorry it's been so long since I last updated, but it was cause at the time I had something completely planned for this chapter, but I found that I couldn't really do it, so I decided to take a break until I could, ultimately it was either never update again or change the plan lol 

Also I have two fanfics planned out for the future so that distracted me for a bit. Yea. I appreciated all your comments ^^ Try to leave longer comments if you can, I love reading ones with several sentences O3O