II

They weren’t here either, Bae Joohyun thought. 

Having outrun the bear, Joohyun stood just by the welcoming sign of the town, reading it. Curiously, it said there were many habitants and families, but when she turned around to look at the town, there was no one to represent even a digit of that seemingly outlandish number.

Could there really be hundreds of families in this town? 

Suddenly, the town seemed to hold just their memories, but not their beings. The inquisitive bunny moved along further in, looking at the stores that were supposed to be open. Through the tinted glass, she could only see the furniture but not the store clerks that she remembers seeing. She pressed against the window harder, thinking she was missing something. Instead, this quaint bakery was alone with bread freshly made and cake nicely presented on the display; decorative roses both edible and plastic, spread through the display to mimic the beautiful spring vibe. 

“Friend! Please!” 

Joohyun perked up at the familiar sound, looking to see the bear fast approaching in the distance, significantly slower than before but determined to make it there. “Oh, no!” Joohyun said in panic, looking around to see where to jump and run but suddenly was frozen at the pitiful thud and the small yelp. 

The bear had hilariously tripped and fallen on her own footing! 

Face planting onto the ground and absolutely giving up, just whining at the crashing of her glorious momentum, but too tired to get it back.

And somehow, that display of peace, that (arguably adorable) little whine softened the worried bunny enough for her to hop over to the scary bear that suddenly didn’t look so scary.

“Are you okay?” The bunny asked, sitting next to the static bear whose ears fell and slumped over. “Bear, are you okay?”

“Kang Seulgi,” said the tired bear, but the words were muffled beyond recognition.

“H-huh?” 

Looking up, Seulgi noticed just how close the bunny was. Smartly, she decided to give her a warm smile and a laugh despite the embarrassment. “Kang Seulgi, that’s my name.”

A foreign name to her ears, so Joohyun sounded it out on her own voice. “Kang… Seulgi?”

“Yes,” Seulgi nodded, slowly sitting up, knees folded beneath her as her hands cleaned the dust off her body. “Now we can be friends, right? You know my name.”

Joohyun with her big, confused eyes, tilted her head. “You’re not going to hurt me?”

“I told you I won’t, didn’t I?” Seulgi laughed, scratching the back of her head. 

A bear that won’t hurt her? A resilient one at that. But this was all odd. Humans would usually be around here and bears would usually try to frighten her. So, today was odd.

“Ah, everything is backwards today,” Joohyun said softly, still a bit unsure, looking around.

“Backwards?” Seulgi tilted her head now, looking around as well. “Is it not supposed to be like this?”

Joohyun blinked a few times. “You’re not from around here?”

“No, I’m from the forest. I followed the serpentine path here,” Seulgi-bear sat on her now, getting comfortable, hands on her lap and posture hunched and relaxed. “I woke up from my hibernation two days ago, and I decided to explore.”

Joohyun, watching Seulgi get comfortable, decided to sit down as well. However, her posture was still tense and straight, her head shyly looking away from the big, kinda scary bear. But there was really nothing scary of that adorable face, just that the fangs and claws threatened to bring pain and fright. She was still unsure, ready to spring away at the drop of the hat. 

With the quietness of the bunny, Seulgi curiously looked at her. “You don’t have a name?”

Joohyun looked up, scratching her head as well. “Uh, it’s Joohyun.”

“Joohyun, I got it!” The bear clapped excitedly. “A beautiful name.”

And of course, that made Joohyun smile a little bit. “Thank you.”

Bingo! Seulgi felt a bit closer on the path of friendship. “So, Joohyun, where are we?”

“What?”

“Where are we?” The bear pointed to all the ‘cabins’ she could see from her position. Lots of things she didn’t know of, she felt curious. “Is this a different kind of forest?”

Bae Joohyun tilted her head again cutely, but soon understood what was happening. 

I’ll explain it to you, too!

You see, Seulgi has lived her life as a growing cub in the forest and only the forest. Her communication with humans has been minimal, if there ever was one.  The forest, to her, were normal. The trees becoming the sky, the rain falling through its cracks, and the rocks and caves being a natural home for her and her kind. There had only been once or twice in her trek through the forest where she’s seen a marvelous architecture created by the divine forces of the unknown heavens. Cabins! Wooden cabins. A dilapidated, lonely cabin that once had human life until it was left there for anyone that wished to explore it. Seulgi has never been able to explore them, following ‘Mama Bear’ and adhering to her strict rules. She never broke away from the path designated to her by her mother, but always felt that curiosity teetering on the edge of madness.

Now, with all the world to discover, she felt madly excited.

And thus, these houses were cabins -- or at least an abstract version of them. She had always wondered what was inside of them and this was all brand new to Seulgi. 

“No, no,” Joohyun shook her head, giggling at the obliviousness of the excited bear. “This is a town, where humans live.”

“Oh, I’ve heard of humans!” Seulgi perked up. “But… where are they?”

Joohyun pouted, looking around. “That’s what I want to know.”

“You mean, they are not here?”

Joohyun shook her head.

Humming and thinking, Seulgi got up. “I think I’m going to have a look! I’ll try to find them.”

“What?” Joohyun stood up abruptly.

“Let’s go, friend!”

And so Seulgi took off.

“W-wait for me!” Joohyun shouted before she got to sprinting to catch up to the massive strides of the bear and catching up indeed. “W-Where are we going?!”

“To discover!”