It’d been raining non-stop for the last two days. The constant drear put a damper on everyone’s mood. The rain had also flooded the main road, causing them to lose close to two hours trying to get around it; not to mention this new route didn’t seem to have any rest stops or food. Complaints of hunger were beginning to filter in incessantly. It was enough to drive anyone to their breaking point. Being in a van with five other males was definitely not helping matters. Yongguk only bit his tongue and listened to the music as Youngjae bickered back and forth with Himchan. Glancing bacak in the rearview mirror he spied Daehyun watching the two argue, Junhong putting his headphones on, and Jongup was looking out the window trying to ignore the others.

                “I told you we needed to go left. It’s closer to the main highway,” Youngjae said to Himchan who was currently looking at a map, “and it would be on the GPS.”

                “And that route,” Himchan spat back, clearly becoming increasingly frustrated, “was congested. It would have taken us hours to get through that.”

                “And now we’re lost.”

                “We are not lost. We’re just on some backroad.”

                “Going up into the mountains where lord knows what will happen. Why did we let you navigate anyways? Why didn’t you just give the map to me in the first place? I can ACTUALLY read one.”

                “I’m older and Bbang likes me better. So there,” Himchan turned to Yongguk, “right?” Yongguk nodded noncommittally, unwilling to actually get in the conversation, “See? Besides: We. Are. Not. Lost.”

                At that moment a low gurgle came from the back most seat. They were currently sitting: Yongguk and Himchan up front, Youngjae and Daehyun in the middle, Junhong and Jongup in the back. Yongguk glanced back for just a moment to see Jongup with a hand on his stomach and smiling sheepishly at them. He returned his eyes to the road before the next round of bickering began.

                “AND we’re hungry. Who didn’t think to pack food?”

                “This wasn’t supposed to take this long.”

                “If we would have went the way I wanted there would have been places we could stop at!”

                “Yoo Youngjae I swear to god I’m going to come back there and…!”

                “I’m hungry,” Daehyun interjected with a whine, leaning forward, “can we stop somewhere soon? Why didn’t you pack anything?” He said to Himchan. Himchan looked to him, flabbergasted at having the younger also ‘turn’ on him.

                “Yah! Don’t you start too! I will come back there and…and…YAH!”

                Yongguk felt a headache coming on. This sort of conversation continued (“Shut up!”, “I’m Hungry!”, “We’re lost!”) for another hour until finally they were lulled into an annoyed silence. Light was beginning to fade and they hadn’t seen any other vehicles for some time.

                This was supposed to be an easy trip for them.  They’d all known each other for years, some since childhood. With them all separating for school and careers, it was becoming more difficult to plan these sorts of things. Fortunately one of Yongguk’s friends, Song Jieun, had a brilliant idea for them to meet up for camping in a spot she and the others used frequently. He’d known the girl since high school and they all became acquainted with her friends once she left for college.

                What Yongguk had wanted was for them to grow close again. While Himchan and he were able to keep in constant contact, he felt bad for the younger boys, especially Junhong. Fortunately, Junhong and Jongup’s parents adored Yongguk, and agreed easily to release them into his and Himchan’s care for the break. Youngjae and Daehyun were even easier since they shared an apartment together. Things had gone well at first: they were laughing and having a good time like when he was still in high school

                And then arguing started (and was still going on…)

                He was growing tired as they drove on.  Not only was the drive long, but the others were grating on his sanity.

Michin geoni wae geureoni

Ije geuman najom naebeoryeodwo…

                Himchan fumbled for Yongguk’s phone when the song he used as his ringtone began.  Yongguk knew that ringtone.

                “Hello? Oh! Jieun!” Himchan winked at Yongguk, making the older’s face heat up a little, “yeah, we know. Really?”

                “What’s going on?” Yongguk asked him.

                “The girls took the same route we did apparently,” Himchan shot a look at Youngjae and stuck his tongue out at him, “anyways, they’re stopping off somewhere to take a break. I think they’re going to sleep in the car tonight.”

                “Jieun,” Yongguk took the phone from Himchan, steering with one hand, “I can turn around and pick you up…”

                “Don’t be silly,” Jieun’s sweet voice said over the phone, “We’re all just tired. We’ll meet up at the campsite. We’ve got food and stuff, so we’ll be fine. Take care, okay? Bye!” And with that she ended the call.

                “Everything okay?” Junhong asked from the back, having taken his headphones off.

                “The girls are going to stop and rest. They’ve got food so…”

                “Food?!” Daehyun groaned, “When are we going to eat?!”

                “WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT FOOD?!”

                Yongguk sighed, listening to the trio get back into it again. He was getting tired, not just of their bickering, but of driving. The lonely road didn’t offer much to keep his mind interested. The trees and greenery were beautiful to be sure, but it was beginning to look the same after a while.  Sighing again, still feeling the headache coming, Yongguk the car’s headlights to illuminate the now dark road.

                The light illuminated a form on the side of the road. It looked like a girl.

                His eyes distracted, Yongguk didn’t noticed the movement in front of him until Himchan shouted something. All too suddenly something literally leapt out, flying towards the windshield. Slamming on the brakes, the van lurched to a skidding, shouts from the others resonating throughout it, and Yongguk tried to turn away from the ‘thing’ that flew in front of them.

                The van went off the side of the road and into a ditch. Yongguk felt his head slam into the steering wheel, and he was in a haze. Pain coursed through his head and he brought a hand up. It came back with blood. Grimacing, he looked to Himchan who looked no worse for wear. He was breathing heavily, clearly a little scared, but didn’t look injured. He then looked behind and was relieved to see everyone else appeared okay.

                “Are you okay?” Himchan rasped out.

                “Yeah,” Yongguk ignored the pain in his head, “help me get the others out for a minute. What was that?”

                “I don’t know,” Himchan responded quietly before exiting the van. When Yongguk tried to get out he immediately felt dizzy and paused to collect his senses. He closed his eyes, listening to himchan get everyone out. Slowly he opened his eyes again and refocused ahead. Something fluttered across the windshield. It looked like…

                “…petal?” He muttered before the driver side door suddenly opened.

                “Your head!” Junhong gasped.

                “I’m o-“ Yongguk tried to step put after unbuckling himself but another wave of dizziness hit him and he fell out instead. Junhong fortunately was able to catch him and keep him on his feet, “-or not…”

                “Hell,” Himchan was there next, helping Junhong. They maneuvered him to the side of the road and sat him down in the grass. Himchan shouted something and soon Jongup came rushing up with one of their bags, “Why didn’t you tell us you were hurt?” He chided Yongguk while fishing out a first aid kit, “how bad is it?”

                “Better than the headache you idiots were giving me with your arguing,” Yongguk cracked a smile at the guilty expressions on Youngjae, Daehyun, and Himchan’s faces, “I think I just split the skin.”

                “Let me see,” Youngjae was next, “eesh. It doesn’t look too bad though.”

                “I’m going to get the van started. Bandage him up, yeah?” Himchan left them to go to the driver side again.

                “What happened?” Jongup asked quietly while Youngjae managed to clean up the blood.

                “Something jumped out in front of us. I tried to miss it but, ow,” he winced when Youngjae began to put the bandage on, “sorry.”

                “Crap!” Himchan spat out. They all looked to the still silent van, “I’m turning the key but nothing is happening.”

                After a long moment of silence one sound broke it.

                “Damnit Dae! Control your stomach!”

~~~

                Himchan awoke with a start, sitting up in his sleeping bag. He had a dream of the…thing that flew at them earlier. He was still having difficulty explaining what it was exactly. It looked like a shadow…but it had eyes…at least, that’s what he thought. Shaking his head he rotated his neck, feeling stiff from the position he was sleeping in.

                If the van not starting wasn’t enough, their phones had no signal what so ever now. Just moments ago they’d spoken to Jieun and now they were removed from anyone. For a while they tried to see if any other vehicles would come down, but no one came. Eventually, because of the dark, they decided it would be best to sleep in tonight, and then walk back down the road to find the main highway, or at least until they had service for their phones again. Fortunately, they were going camping and the night was comfortable, so they set themselves up further into the trees, away from the road.

                He glanced around and smiled a little. Everyone still appeared to be sleeping. Daehyun had a leg thrown over Youngjae, Junhong not too far from them, and Jongup was still next to Himchan. He looked over on the opposite side and blinked a couple of times.

                Yongguk was nowhere to be seen.

                “Yongguk?” He called out quietly, getting to his feet. He received no response. Finding a flashlight, Himchan first went to the van. To his surprise, stirred up by the night breeze, were little, pale purple petals fluttering around the van. The air smelled heavily of something floral.

                “Where are you?” He asked more himself than anyone, “Yongguk!”

                Feeling himself panicking a bit now, Himchan turned and was about to rush back to the others when he saw something move in the trees. He rushed after the movement, calling out to Yongguk. While he was annoyed that Yongguk had taken off in the night on them, he was also concerned. Their friend was injured.

                That feeling was compounded when he saw the bloody bandage Youngjae had used to wrap up Yongguk head snagged on a branch.

                “Yongguk! Wait!”

                Branches were snapping and breaking as he went, and it to his surprise he swore he could see lights ahead. The deeper into the woods he went, the thicker they became. It felt as if the trees were grabbing at him, trying to stop him. At one point Himchan tripped and barely caught him on a branch before heading head first into some thorny bushes.

                Finally he broke free of the trees and entered a clearing of sorts. Ahead of him was the drop off from the ridge he must have been standing on.

                And near that edge was Yongguk.

                “Goddamnit,” Himchan swore stumbling over to him, “what are you doing out here? Didn’t you hear me?”

                “Look,” Yongguk said quietly, motioning down below.

                Beneath them were the lights of what appeared to be a small town. Before Himchan could feel relieved, something soft fell on his face. He plucked it off and furrowed his brow. A petal, like the ones on the van, had fallen. A light breeze blew by and dozens more floated down. Wisteria flowers were growing all around them in the trees. 

A/N: So how was it? Nothing too exciting yet...but we shall see...