Hyukjae looks beyond the horizon using his binoculars; still no sign of life. He sighs heavily in distress. The rescue team is supposed to arrive at the checkpoint 5 hours ago yet not even a shadow of them could be seen. Worries creep through his heart, blood runs cold by minutes. Is everything alright?

He put the black binocular down from his temple. Eyes sore from the sleepless nights watching the small camp. The hunters are close but here they are, still stuck in between the thick forest sheltering from harms. Sound of boots coming closer from his back does not startled him. Not even the big hand cupping his right shoulder tightly can make him jump off the ground. He knows exactly who it is.

“We can’t stay much longer, Hyukjae.” Siwon’s deep voice rings in his ear, he can’t possibly ignore the panic barely contained in the younger’s tone. “Donghae is almost losing it. He needs a doctor immediately.” The mention of that name almost breaks down all of his composure. But he can’t afford to lose focus now. That is now how he is trained in the army. He needs to stay level-headed, despite the fact his most important comrades are about to lose his mind to a certain hallucinations tearing his mind apart. Like on que, silent whimper reaches his eardrums. All of Hyukjae’s last string of strength fading away.

He turns to look at his friend. Siwon looks like a mess. The trace of dirty mud still lingers around his neck. The rifle over his arm looks heavy in Hyukjae’s eyes but he holds it like it’s nothing. He is the team best striker. Hyukjae is lucky enough to have a trustworthy person in his group to keep them safe. “We can’t leave without Kyuhyun and the rest. They’ll get lost in this forest.”

“But if we don’t leave now, we won’t make it back to to the camp tonight. Look above you.” Both of them lifting their heads. “The sun is almost setting. It's dangerous to stay here during the dark. Donghae won’t survive tonight without a doctor. The poison is getting worse.”

Biting his lips in frustration, Hyukjae is lost. There’s no easy way out of this situation already. He needs to make a choice; either to wait for the remaining team to make it without any of them even know if they are still alive or not while another comrade is dying, or make a leave to the camp carrying their sick comrades and leave behind the rest. None of the options are in his favor but looking at how bad Donghae looks like writhing in pain while Heechul tries to calm him down doesn’t give much help.

It's a mess as Hyukjae walks towards the writhing young man, the uniform suddenly looks bigger on his slight bulky frame. His whole body is drenched with sweat and only heavy pants leave his thin lips. As Hyukjae kneels down before him, he casts a look