Juliet stared at the fire absentmindedly. It was a blessing they could find magnesium and that a girl was able to lit some twigs and branches. Who knew you could start a fire without any matches or lighter…

Lifting her head, Juliet realized she was the only one on her side of the shore. Everyone had already formed groups according to their affinities and she was feeling a little left out. Jay, her best friend, was probably somewhere with her boyfriend and she didn’t feel like looking for them. Out of the small group that has detached itself from all the planes passengers, she didn’t know anybody else. All the other members of the crew were still at the lake, thinking it was a better place for survival. Well, she clearly thought otherwise. The beach allowed space for a fire as well as the possibility to be noticed by a passing boat. With the forest near, they could still hunt or pick some fruits and plants up, and with the sea, they had access to fishes. The beach was definitely the place to be. And the fact that it was absolutely gorgeous had to be another advantage. Just before, maybe two hours ago, they had all witnessed the most beautiful sunset. Juliet would have appreciated it fully hadn’t she been in the middle of nowhere.

Suddenly, she noticed someone walking toward her. It was a boy, probably her age or a little bit younger, and he was smiling. “What is there to smile about?” she thought as he sat beside her. She gave him a puzzled look but he just kept smiling, watching the flames dance before his eyes.

“What do you want?” she almost snarled.

“Pardon me?” He looked at her with raised brows.

“What are you trying to achieve by coming here?” She sighed, shifting uncomfortably under his stare.

“Well, I saw you from the other side and I thought you might want company. I’m here to put a smile on your face.”

He gave her the most dazzling beam she had ever seen, but it only made her more doubtful of his intentions. He couldn’t really want to talk to her, right? Not after her mistakes…

“No, I’m alone because I want to be,” she retorted. “Thanks…” she added, unsure if she should try to be polite or not. After all, the more she looked at him, the more she felt like she was older and he was the one who should respect her. “And I don’t feel like smiling.”

“Want to talk about it?” he offered, his head cocked to the side.

“About what?”

“The thing that is clearly bothering you…”

“Don’t you know who I am?”

“No, should I?”

“I’m the pilot. Well, the co-pilot… I crashed this plane! It’s my fault if we’re stuck here”

As he stayed silent, Juliet felt like the small hope of being forgiven for her terrible actions had disappeared into the infinity. Maybe she hadn’t wish for the crash to happen, but she was still guilty. She should have noticed the fuel level was going down way faster than normal. And they were fighting against a storm too… When she came to her senses, it was too late and Yixing had done whatever he could, piloting this plane onto the only parcel of land from miles around.

“Yes, I thought as much…” she said while lightly kicking the circle of stones that delimitated the fireplace.

“What is your name?”

“I’m Juliet Park.”

She still looked angry at the stones as she was now stomping on them in rhythm, seeming fully concentrated on her silly action.

“American?”

“Half, actually. And you are?”

“Lee Kikwang. Nice to meet you Juliet Park.” He paused before looking at her again. “‘Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty till this night,’” he said in a breath. Blinking, Juliet stared at him for a few seconds in silence and then turned away.

“Shakespeare? I’ve heard it a lot before…” she muttered, not facing him and instead looking straight at the fire.

“What about that one: When life leaves you no other choice but to face something new, you have to take pictures.”

“I’ve never heard it…”

“That’s ‘cause it’s mine. I think it pretty much describes this situation, right?” Kikwang smiled and took out a disposable camera from behind his back. He swiftly pressed the shutter, capturing her surprised expression.

She opened her eyes to protest but he threw the camera to his friend. He turned back to her with a grin that was meant to say that even if she tried, she couldn’t destroy that picture.

Juliet, seeing how he was so happy despite the situation, managed a small smirk.

“Ah!” He pointed at her face. “Mission accomplished!”

“What?” she said, confused.

“You smiled! It means I can go.” He rose and was about to go when she put her hand on his arm. Looking down, Juliet was actually ashamed of her gesture and couldn’t face him.

“You can stay, if you want to. It might be good to talk with someone who is not mad at me for what I’ve done…”

“Who said I’m not mad?”

Juliet froze as she raised her eyes to meet his. Facing his blank expression, she thought that she had misunderstood something but he broke into a laugh. Perplexed, Juliet got that he was kidding.

“Yah!” She hit him on his shoulder with a smile. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing to be around him. He was a little bit unpredictable, but that made him fun. With him around, she could feel like she was slowly forgetting the precariousness of their situation. Well,it was coming back to her, now. They were on a deserted island, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with no means of contact and no way of getting back home. Why exactly did she think it was a good thing to start making friends?

Seeing her sigh, Kikwang just raised a brow. Well, given that they would survive, this was going to be a difficult trip…