“I’m hungry.”

“When are you not?”

“No ducky, I mean I’m actually really hungry,” Hyewon’s stomach made a loud noise that could be compared with the sound of thunder.

Yena put down her water bottle after taking a drink and she sat down next to the other girl, “Oh you’re super seriously hungry.”

The visual made a face that said I told you so. She reached over Yena’s legs and grabbed the bottle and took a big swig to try and satiate her hunger just a tiny bit.

“Well, you aren’t the only one that’s hungry bro. I’m feeling a bit hungry right now too, and I’m sure the others want food as well. “ Yena pat her back and then her stomach, “Just hang in there, I’m positive that the other group has caught something to eat.”

They talked about random things, trying to ignore the impending hunger growing in their stomachs. This free time they had while waiting for the food made them miss their phones. Instructor M forbade them from bringing them as they would not have the luxury of using them while they are in Fiji. Yes, they could use it while in the airport or waiting for transportation but once they relinquish their electronics to their manager or any of the onsite directors or producers, they will not get it back until the week is over. “Live like one with nature” Instructor Ella had repeated to them more than six times.

Eventually, they began to play hand games like rock-paper-scissors. If one of them lost, the winner would flick the other’s forehead and the loser would also have to share a funny story that could range from embarrassing to bizarre and exaggerated. Their laughter carried across the clearing.

Minjoo glanced at the duo sitting next to the house from afar and then her gaze wandered over to Eunbi, who was watching the two closely with a frown on her face. But when Minjoo gave the older woman a second look she realized that the leader was only watching one person and that one person was a member of the visual line.

“Ah, can you feel that negative energy?”

Minjoo turned her head to the sudden presence next to her, “Yujin, don’t be so mean. Eunbi unnie isn’t mad, she’s probably just hungry.”

The puppy cocked her head, “You’re telling me that you don’t see the jealousy emanating from her?” She made a grand circular motion with her arms, “The aura surrounding is like a hundred miles wide.”

“Leave her alone, you don’t know if she’s jealous or not.”

“Uh-huh. Okay, look at Yuri unnie over there.”

Minjoo followed the younger’s pointer finger and saw the main vocal sulking near the spot that they designated for them to build the campfire later.

“Oh,” was all she said.

Yujin nodded her head, “Jealousy at its peak.”

“Okay fine, you’re right. I just didn’t want to admit you were right,” the frog turned away and walked towards her backpack.

“What! You didn’t believe me out of spite?!” Yujin recovered from the initial shock and ran to catch up with the frog. “That’s low, Minjoo-ssi, very low,” she said when she caught up.

Minjoo ignored the statement and went through her backpack. After a few moments, she took something out.

“What are you doing?”

“I think you mean,” Minjoo handed her a small sack, “what are ‘we’ doing.”

“What,” the puppy repeated.

Minjoo sighed and spoke without much thought, “Just follow me you adorable giant puppy.” The older made her way to Eunbi.

Of course, Yujin did not follow her. She was too shocked at the frog’s bold statement. Likewise, Minjoo wanted to get away from the scene and hide her face after delivering her sentence to the puppy.

She did not look at Yujin when she appeared next to her with a blank face. To say that she wasn’t disappointed would be a lie. Maybe she subconsciously said those things because she wanted a reaction from Yujin, and she did remember when the girl had almost said she had liked her when they were in the infirmary. She didn’t want to say her part first as she was raised in an environment where women were supposed to wait for the men to come to them. The only problem is, the person whom she finds attractive is the same gender as her. And she knows that Yujin was raised in a similar fashion, so there’s not much hope for her to come to her.

But she had her fingers crossed that maybe-

“I think you’re cute too, unnie,” Yujin brought her hand up to and coughed, tilting her face away.

Minjoo looked at the younger’s side profile, eyes wide and shimmering. Maybe, just maybe, her wish wasn’t that far off in the horizon. Maybe they could do it, but only when both of them were ready, ready to commit to whatever is coming their way.

The frog visual chuckled and grabbed the hand on Yujin’s face and laced their fingers. She giggled, “Let’s go hurry and ask unnie if we can go and look for some freshwater abalones in the river.”

Yujin thought that this was the first time since the day she was chosen for IZ*ONE that she smiled this wide.

Eunbi gave the affirmative to the taller girls and went back to watching the Master Memers duo. She exhaled, nothing would happen if she just stared at them like a creep. She might as well go and do something productive, and it was almost noon and one of their objectives needed them to make a fire at noon and tend to it until the end of the test. So she walked over to Yuri, who she realized looked as lonely as she did, and spoke to her.

“Hey, Yuri.”

Yuri lifted her head from the ground and trained her eyes on Eunbi, “What’s up unnie, do you need anything?”

Eunbi noted the main vocal’s distracted face, a lot similar to the one she had on her own when she was looking at the dumb and dumber duo. “It’s almost noon so let’s get the fire started.”

The hamster visibly brightened and bounced up and down on her feet, “Oh! Yeah, yeah, let’s get to it!” Yuri fumbled around in her pockets and took out flint and steel and looked at the leader expectantly.

“Don’t get too excited, we still need to get some tinder first. And we need to get some wood to keep it alive.”

“Oh.” Yuri pocketed the tool and scratched the back of her neck, “Oopsie, I forgot about that, sorry….”

Eunbi smiled at her and pat her head, “C’mon let’s go get the materials.”

They went around and collected dried moss and grass and dead twigs on the floor and bundled them up on the shallow pit that they had dug out beforehand to mark out where the fire would be once they construct it. After delivering the tinder, they circled the edge of the clearing once more to collect some dead wood and branches that have fallen from the trees. Once they got what they thought was enough fuel for a few hours, they set it down near the pit.

Yuri pulled out the flint and steel once more and waited for Eunbi to finish dropping off her cargo. When Eunbi squatted next to her, Yuri struck the flint and watched the grass catch fire from the sparks that touched it.

“Kumbaya~” Yuri sang quietly as she put deadwood into the pit and observed as the flame grew steadily into a reasonable size.

Eunbi listened to her humming and thanked the goddess of