You examine the trees, there are a kind of palm trees, coconut trees, banana trees, and other kinds of trees with wide leaves. Even if you can’t make a roof at the end of the day, these leaves can be your bed, and the coconut can be your source of food and drink.

Both of you started walking back to the trees, Chanyeol held the pocket knife he took earlier from the PD’s bag and you held your multipurpose knife. You were looking for smaller trees or fallen trees which trunk you can use to brace your shelter. After a few minutes, you still can’t find something big and strong enough, so you turn to see how Chanyeol is doing. Having the advantage of height, he’s in charge of cutting down some leaves. However, you should have known better, his wound is doing him no good. He did manage to cut down a few banana leaves, but you can see how much he’s struggling with his pain and limited movements. He is sweating heavily, his face frowned, he would rub his wound in pain every once in a while.

He’s trying to cut one of the higher leaves when you came beside him and reach the end of the leaf, pulling it down so it’s easier for him to cut. He looked at you and smiled, “thank you!”

That’s how both of you work to cut the leafs, he’ll point at the leaf he wants to cut, you would reach the end or he would if it’s too high for you, and hand it to you so you can held it down when he cut it. This way, he didn’t have to move his left hand so it’s definitely easier for him.  As you managed to gather quite a lot of banana leaves and palm leaves, both of you walk back to the trees, searching od a tree trunk. Both of you managed to cut four trunks, each with the diameter about 4/5cm, and the length of 1 to 1.5m.

Chanyeol took the trunks and find a spot on the beach to build the shelter. It was just on the edge of the forest, not too near to the sea, still within the forest’s shade so that at noon the forest would shield you from sunlight. He stabs the shortest trunk to the sand, exactly perpendicular to the ground, and put several rocks twice the size of your hand around it, making sure the trunk is standing firm. He then lean the longest trunk behind the first one making a 70° angle. Realizing that you need some kind of rope to tie everything up, he started tearing a few palm leaves and tried to tie a knot between them to make it long. However, his left hand is making it too painful for him to tie a tight knot. He tried biting the other end and even tried using his feet, but the knot is still not tight enough.

“Here, let me do that,” you said, looking at him and offering your hand.

“아니, 나는 그것을 할 수 있습니다,” he shakes his head, declining your offer, not even moving his eyes from the palm leaves in his hands.

Realizing that he won’t let you do it, you took the initiative to rip a few more leaves from the palm tree and tie it yourself. After a few pull, you manage to tie quite a tight knot, but you feel like this can be tighter, so you tried pulling it again. The leaf however was starting to get slippery, plus your arm still tired from the CPR earlier, and the leaf’s fiber is starting to hurt your palm. Chanyeol stopped himself and look at how you’re doing. He then suddenly stood up and reaches for his bag. After a few seconds of searching, he comes back with a pair of black gloves in his hands. He is definitely more prepared than you for survival as he is prepared for his shooting while you’re only prepared to enjoy a holiday.

“여기,” he said, putting the gloves right in front of your eyes, causing you to pull your head back. He doesn’t look happy that you’re the one that manages to knot the leaves. It seemed to hurt his pride as a man to let a girl do the heavy works. Not wanting to be less useful, he started walking back to the forest, picking up dried twigs and leaves for fire.

You then put on his gloves. It was too big and a bit uncomfortable, for sure, but at least it helps a lot. By the time he comes back from the forest, you’re already tying the two ends of the trunk together with the 4 leaves you tied, making a rope more than1m. Not familiar with knots, you just tie the trunks according to how your heart felt like going with the rope. Having the feeling of tight enough, you tie the final knot and let go of the second trunk that’s been between your arms and your body this whole time. To your surprise, the trunk starts sliding down just very slowly. “this won’t do!” you think to yourself as heat, hunger and thirst start to worn you out.

Seeing the sliding trunk, Chanyeol started to chuckle. He stopped though, as soon as he realized how frustrated you are. He felt bad for not being much help as he can’t use his left hand. Having learned and prepared for the jungle, Chanyeol put down what he gathered in front of your soon-to-be shelter and guide you in re-tying the knot. He would point at where the leaves should go through and how to tie the right kind of knot. At least this way, he can help you and be in some use.

You start to make another rope, this time the rope was made of more leaves, and thus longer because you need to tie the last two trunks to make a triangular based pyramid. It would look like a right triangle from the side and an isosceles triangle from the front. With his help, the support for your shelter is done far before the sun sets.

After putting all the leaves leaning to the longest trunk and a few more times of going back to the forest to cut more leaf, you took a step back to look at the final result.

The shelter is short, you can’t stand inside of it, but you can sit inside. The leaf roof seemed good enough for you to block sunlight, though you’re not sure if it is tested against the rain. The banana leaf padding is enough at least to cover the sand. Overall, you’re pretty sure you did an awesome job on your first time jungle survival experience, that is, with the help of this smiley Giant beside you. You looked at him, he was clapping really happily, seemed like he is also amazed by the result of both of your works. He looked at you and held his right palm facing you, asking for a Hi-5. Replying his jokes at you earlier that day, you purposely missed his palm. He narrowed his eyelids and frown his eyebrow, his lips clasped, clearly not expecting your action. You smiled and laugh a bit before putting your palms out again, this time really replying his Hi-5. He laughed and clapped again. He seemed so happy. He always smiles, he made everything seemed fun, even surviving in this stranded island.

You place both of your backpacks and his guitar inside your leafy shelter and took a deep breath. You got out, took a few steps and sat on the sand, facing the sea. The sun is now of bright orange, low and warm. The sea’s reflection is making the scene perfect. “if only I’m seeing this on my inn with Kate instead of here, in the middle of nowhere with someone I don’t know…” you let out a sigh as your mind travels seeing the beautiful sunset.

Suddenly a hand tapped your shoulder. You turn around to see Chanyeol handing you a bag of chips. He must’ve brought it along this whole time. You wanted to refuse, but your grumbling stomach is loud enough for him to hear. He tried holding back his laughter, which cause him to chuckle.

“Eat,” he simply said, as he shakes the chips bag in front of you.

“Thank you. You have to eat, too!” you replied to him, taking the chips and offering him back the chips.

He shakes his head, smiled at you, and turns his back before you could protest. Your eyes followed him back to the front of your little shelter. It turns out that while you’re resting for a while, he didn’t even stop working. He was trying to make fire with the dried leaves on a rock the length of your feet. You look at him carefully. He is definitely worn out, sweating so much from his head and bearing the pain, yet, still working with a smile on his lips. He would wipe his forehead with his right arm when the drops of sweat start to bother his sight. Maybe it was because he’s too tired that his fingers won’t snap properly on the lighter’s thumbwheel, making it hard for him to even turn on the lighter, moreover keep the fire on to light the leaves.

You made your way to your backpacks, took both water bottle, and bring along the bag of chips to sit on Chanyeol’s left.

“Hey, Giant! You’re too tired! Have something to drink and eat first, then continue on lighting up some fire,” you said, handing him his bottle and opening the chips. You drank from your own bottle and wash your hands with the rest of it before reaching for some chips. Chanyeol however seemed reluctant to leave what he’s doing, but his thirst won him over. He drank and washed his hands too before moving out to enjoy the chips and the sunset with you.

---

“엄마 보고 싶어,” he randomly said with a longing smile after a long silence between the two of you. You’ve known enough Korean words to understand that perfectly. “I miss my mom”

“Nado,” you answered. Your mind travels to your family too. Have they realized that the plane you were on crashed? Have they tried to contact you? Do they know you’re still alive? What about Kate’s family? They must’ve been so devastated when they learn that Kate died. Kate is such a good kid in her family. Her little sister’s heart would break in a million pieces. Without realizing, tears started streaming down your cheek again.

“야, 토끼, 울지 마(uljima)… don’t cry…” he pat your back when he realized that you’re crying. “Smile!” he continued, showing off his usual smile. You quickly wipe your tears away with the back of your hand and hang your head.

“sorry,” you managed to speak.

“날 봐! (nal bwa!)” he said, pushing your right shoulder gently, making you face him. “모든 것이 괜찮을거야,” he paused a moment, looking for the right words before he continued, “everything.. is alright..”

His stuttering English succeed to make you smile, making him smile too.

***

The sun is no more, but the color orange still lingers on the sky. Chanyeol stood up and head back to the little fireplace. You followed him and sat beside the pile of rock and dried leaves. This time, he manages to light a little fire and carefully place it beneath the twigs and trunks. Hopefully, this little fire would spread to the bigger woods, at least enough to get the both of you through the night and to chase away wild animals, if there were any of them.

The sky is getting dark by each minute. Both of you grew silent again watching the fire flicker ever so slowly, the larger twigs and trunks starting to lit up.  Busy with your own mind, you didn’t see Chanyeol standing up and went to get his guitar. The next thing you realize was the sound of guitar strings being plucked slowly, one by one, making a beuiful melody you’ve never heard before. You turn and saw him sitting across you, legs crossed, his body leaning in to his guitar, his eyes gazing to the horizon. He bites his bottom lip, his face is calm but full of concentration.  You turn your body to face him, admiring the calm and soothing melody his fingers are making. Somehow he still managed to play so well despite his injured arm.

Clearing your mind, you walk to your backpack and took out your notebook and a pencil. You walk back beside your little fireplace and start writing things down. This has been one of your hobbies since you’re small. You like to write things down, or at least scribbling something on a piece of paper so that you’ll never forget the things that you’ve experienced before.

“good thing this notebook has only been filled a few pages at the front. I’m gonna write so much about this…” you think to yourself as you cross your legs and flip to the first empty page available for you. You start writing things down, starting from Kate’s excitement seeing Park Chanyeol just early this morning. You write and write, tears streaming down your face again when you start describing about the crash and the people who didn’t make it out alive. Chanyeol stopped playing his guitar and move his seat to your left. He stuck his head out, trying to take a peek at what you’re writing, at what makes you cry again.

“울지 마 (uljima)… don’t cry, bunny-ah…” he pats your back lightly with his right hand, you nod and wipe your face with the back of your hand. You continued to write.

Giving you some personal space, he pulls back his hand and started playing his guitar again. This time, the melody is somewhat happier and more upbeat. Instead of plucking the strings, he starts strumming, playing cheerful chords, even humming a melody to the songs he played. You recognize some of the songs, but some other, you just can’t seem to recall any song with those melody he played.

“Is he composing a song right now? I really like these melodies he’s playing…” you think to yourself. You’re in the middle of writing about both of you finding the small waterfall earlier this morning when you decided to ask him something.

“Whose song are you playing? I’ve never heard of this song… Nugu.. Norae?” you put down your pencil and ask with the limited Korean words you know.

“누구 노래?” he asked, repeating your question.

You nodded and he smiled, “내 노래, my song.” He replied you with a proud expression on his face. “어떻게 생각하세요 (otteeoke saenggakhaseyo)? Good? Bad?” he asked your opinion on the song he just played.

“Your song?” you replied in a surprise. “It turns out he really is composing his own songs!”

“Good!! I really like it! Joah!” you gave him two thumb up and clap your hands a little.

“Waaa!! Thank you!” he laughed a bit and clapped along, even giving you a small bow to show his gratitude for you.

“Seriously, you’re doing well!” you smiled again at him before continuing your writings.

As you jolted down the details of what’s happening today, Chanyeol continued playing his guitar. He shifted from his own songs to English songs, to Korean songs, and sometimes even playing classical music piece. He also sang to some songs, and hummed to most of it.  It’s amazing how he managed to play it all without even looking at a music sheet. Yes, he did missed the right chord or the right strings every once in a while, but his musical instinct would just guide him back on track. What makes it better is that you recognize those songs as songs that you like too. Most of the songs he's playing were your favorite songs, so you sang along with him a lot of times. Every time you did hum or sang with him, he would smirk and play more energetically. He seemed amused at how much songs you actually know. 

By the time you’re done writing about how both of you are now sitting before a small fire you’ve made yourselves, Chanyeol were already lying on his back, his left ankle above his right knee while plucking his guitar lazily. You turn on your phone again to look at the time.

19:12pm

“Whoa, I must’ve spent more than an hour to write!” you think as you snap your notebook closed and put it aside. You looked at Chanyeol beside you. He’s playing Bruno Mars’ Talking To The Moon, and humming to it too. He looked back at you and start singing to you with an exaggerated longing expression, “talking to the moonn~” he then points his chin at the dark sky above you. You chuckle and lay your back on the sand, straightening your tired legs, and putting your left hand between your head and the cool sand.

Above you, the moon were just a tease, just a small crescent moon peeking through a small bundle of cloud. The stars however, are shining so brightly. Without much moon light and without any light pollution around you, you can see countless and countless of stars, scattered on the vast dark blue sky like someone just sprinkled them above your head. Wherever your eyes went, you can see stars blinking peacefully and beautifully. Regretting why you didn’t pay much attention about constellations when you’re having a school trip back in your high school, you can only imagine the lines yourself. Your brain is making imaginary lines when Chanyeol’s guitar suddenly stopped as he points his right hand to the sky.

“저거 요… that…” he said. He then shifted his finger a little bit to the right, then a little up, diagonal up left, diagonal down left, and straight down. “집(jib),” smiled. “home…”

You tried to look at where he’s pointing, not getting which star he is using as his dots.

“mwo?” you asked.

He then repeats the same movements to you. Seeing that you’re still confused, he puts aside his guitar and shifts his body closer to you, putting his long arms above your head, so that his finger is in line with your eyes. He then repeats the same movements. This time, you see the stars he’s using to draw his little “home”.

“aaahh!! I see…” you smiled and nodded in agreement. He shifts back to his position, and only then you realized how close your heads were when he showed you the stars. Chasing away your surprise, it’s now your turn to show him one of the drawings your brain made earlier. 

You made a bird figure from the stars above. A bit complicated, but you wanted him to see that you see too. Not wanting to repeat the same action of leaning in closer to each other, you took your notebook and flip to an empty page. You drew your own constellation and show it to him. Comparing your drawing and the stars in the sky, he smiled is amusement.

“whoaaa.. 잘 했어, 토끼야! Nice!” he clapped a bit for you.

This time, you gave your notebook and pencil for him to draw on.  You looked at him while he tried to concentrate on drawing. His eyebrows frowned a bit, he clasp his lips together with a slight curve on the right corner of his lips.  He’s not your definition of “handsome” but his face is just lovely to see, especially when he’s smiling or when he’s concentrating hard on something.

When he's done, he showed you his drawing: a smiley face. You took your notebook and matched it with the sky. You made a line in your head with this set of stars earlier, but you could only make out a circle out of it. Chanyeol, however managed to add a few more stars, making it a smiley. With him, somehow everything is done with a smile. It's spmething you learn from him. Smile no matter how hard it gets, smile and the whole thing will be easier to get through. 

---

About an hour went by like that, both of you exchanging scribbles of pictures of the stars. Sometimes, both of you would run out of ideas, and just stare at the stars. Without realizing, you reached exactly half of your notebook. Afraid that you won't have enough paper to write on for the days ahead, you shut your notebook and set it aside. Chanyeol looked at you with a questioning face, but he shrugs it off and sits back up. He started strumming on his guitar again, making new melodies.

“그 빌릴 수 있습니까?? 그... book, pencil," he made a writing gesture and points at himself. You figure he wanted to write something on your book, so you raise your back to sit and gave those to him.

"Thank you" he said. He flip the book to the last page, and suddenly start scribbling chords, notes, symbols. It turns out he didn’t just want to 'write something', he's writing down the song he played just now. He would play a few chords and hummed along a few notes before writing more chords down.

Not wanting to disturb his focus, you lean back to the sand. Even just from looking at his back, you can see how much he is passionate about his music. He would scribble out the chords that he thought can be better replaced by another chord after strumming and singing to it. He’d tap on his guitar sometimes, and other times he would play with your pencil like he’s playing an imaginary drum. Many questions popped up in your mind about him, but you don’t want to disturb him, and besides, with the language barrier between you two, it would be difficult to ask the questions in your mind.

What other instruments can he play? How long has it been since he starts doing music? Since when did he start playing guitar? Who is his inspiration? How did he enter SM ent? How did he end up in EXO? What about his family? What about the other members?

Endless questions run through your head but you can only keep quiet, watching his back straighten when he plays guitar, and bent when he writes down. You shift your eyes back to the glittery sky.

***

A thin white line flashed in the sky. You blinked. Shooting star!

“Ya!! Giant!! I saw a shooting star!!” you quickly straighten your back and shakes Chanyeol’s right arm. Once you got his attention, you point to the sky where you just saw that bright thin line. Of course, the shooting star is gone, but it was still clear in your head, the short glimpse on the beautiful sky. You suddenly remembered to make a wish. You clasp both of your palms together and shut your eyes, “I wish someone would find us here, and until then, I wish we could survive well.”

Looking at your actions, he realized that you just saw a shooting star. Chanyeol looks up to the sky, hoping that he, too, can catch a shooting star. You opened your eyes and saw him gazing to the dark blue sky, his eyes sparkle with expectation, his mouth half opened, his Adam’s apple protruding on his neck, his ears outstretches as it was. You smiled as he turns his head to you. Disappointed that he didn’t get to see the shooting star, he pouted. It was the cutest face he made so far and you can’t help but giggle. He crumples his lips at your laugh and look back up to the sky as you lie back down. After a few more seconds of sky-gazing, Chanyeol gave up and continue with his song.

Just as he started writing more, you saw it again. The streak of light faded as suddenly as it appeared.

“Another one!” you half shouted. It’s rare enough for you to see one shooting star, moreover two of them within a few minutes. Chanyeol immediately looked up to the sky but of course he missed it.

"뭐야이게?! (mwoya ige?!)" he whined. He shut your notebook with a snap and put it to his left along with his guitar. He is now determined to catch a shooting star just like you. He lay back to the sand and bent his right knee, putting his left ankle above his right knee. Slowly moving both of his arms to support his head, flinching to the pain from his left arm, he finds himself a comfortable position to stay as long as it takes to catch that beauty of the night sky.

Both of you were silent, only the sound of insects, crickets, and the sea breeze against your ears. The silence is not awkward, the silence is not threatening, the silence is just what you need right now. The wind was blowing lightly, ruffling the palm trees behind you, the wave is not big, and the night is not cold. It was a beautiful night indeed, everything seemed perfectly peaceful, the exact opposite of what happened earlier at dawn.

***

Both of you gaze at the milky way without a sound for more than 20 minutes now. Chanyeol who hasn't stay silent for more than 5 minutes since you start entering the forest seemed like challenging himself of how long he can maintain himself from making any sound. The only sound from the two of you were made from the friction of the moving sand against your shifting legs and arms.

Suddenly Chanyeol gave up his silence and started singing, “starry starry naaitt…” but gives up on the English lyric after that and hummed instead.

Josh Groban - Vincent (Starry Starry Night).

You’re familiar with the song, but didn’t remember the exact lyric too. You hum along with him, harmonizing when you know the melody, singing when you know the lyrics.

It is a beautiful song sang by one of the best male vocals out there, telling a sad story of the pure loving artist that didn’t get his recognition he deserves and got people thinking that he’s crazy instead. In the end, the artist, Vincent Van Gogh, died without any recognition. His paintings were only famous after he died. The story of his life is sad indeed, and this made you thankful for the life you had. You promised to yourself that you will appreciate everything that happened in your life, including the times like these, when it’s hard, when it seemed impossible, you still have to be thankful. Maybe the starry sky gave him the idea to start singing that song, but with that song, he yet again he seemed to teach you a life lesson.

Tired from all the things happened today, your eyes are getting heavy. Chanyeol's hum becomes a lullaby to you.

---

"토끼야 (tokki-ya)," he called softly. Not getting any response from you, he turn his head to look at you. Turns out you dozed off to your sleep already.

"Poor her, getting through all this," he thought to himself. "I'll help her no matter what. After all, I'm a man," he smiled proudly at his determination.

---

"거기!!!!!" Chanyeol's shout wakes you up. He raised his back and points at the sky with his right hand. You opened your eyes and saw him grinning so widely, his set of perfect white teeth showing off. seemed like he just saw a shooting star himself.

"Well good for you! Hahaha," you smiled and nod to him. Out of excitement, he unconsciously shifts his weight and let his injured left hand support his weight. His left arm instantly sends jolts of pain and gave in, making him fall back a bit.

"오아!" he stumbled before his right elbow manages to support his back

"ya!!" you sit straight and reach out to help support him when he fell, but you can only reach for his right shoulder. Once he finds his balance, he gives you a shy embarrassed smile.

"Pabo! Gwenchana?" you asked, your hands leaving his shoulder.

"네.." he replied to you, biting his bottom lip to stop him from laughing at himself. He tried to hide his pain, but you can see that it really bothers him.

"That wound needed to be treated properly, or else it would be really bad for his body. Too bad we don't have the equipment right now," you said to yourself while examining your now dirty scarf around his wound.

"야, 토끼, 괜찮아…" he pats your shoulder you as he saw your concerned face.

You forced a smile and sighed. Being a medschool student, and yet not being able to help him is somehow so stressful to you.

"It’s just that i know what I’m supposed to do and how I’m supposed to do it, but in a condition like this, i don't know what to do!! There are no bandage, no antiseptic, and no equipment whatsoever to help me help you!!!” you blurted out, not caring even if you know he wouldn’t understand you.

He gave you a surprised and questioning look, clearly didn’t expect you to let out your feelings like that.

“Ugh. I’m sorry,” you sigh as you hide your face with your hands and lean on your elbow.

"(Y/N)-ah, smile! 항상 웃으세요!" Chanyeol pats your back lightly. You were so worried about him, and yet he's the one worrying about you right now.

You let out another sigh and try to let go of your own disappointment. You straighten your back and force a smile at him.

"그렇져!" he hits your shoulder playfully and smirked. Seeing him like this, you can't help but smile back, this time, a sincere smile.

"졸립지 않으세요?" he asked you something, pointing at you and putting his right palm supporting the right side of his face. You guessed that he's either asking you to sleep or he's asking if you're sleepy. Either way, you ARE getting sleepy and you're going to sleep soon. So you nodded to him and stand up, making your way back to your little shelter.

As you're preparing the sleeping bag you took from one of the cast earlier, Chanyeol was looking at you, checking if you need any help. Seeing you managed to do everything on your own, he went back to his own little composing world. You decided that you'll sleep on top of the sleeping bag, because the night is not cold at all and being inside the sleeping bag is just too hot and uncomfortable.

You crawl inside your short roofed shelter and position yourself on one end of the triangle.

That’s when you felt it again.

Your head felt like it’s being pressed down by a huge amount of pressure, the insides felt like it’s stretched out of shape, and the pain on the surface were sharp and were focused on your wound. Your vision blurred. The ground below you spun, making you lose your balance. You crash your body to the sleeping bag and your hands reach out to hold your own head, your whole body bent from the unbearable pain. This time the pain lasted a bit longer that the first, but slowly it fades leaving you teary eyed because of the pain. You slowly reposition yourself, trying to find a comfortable position.

Chanyeol looked back to you from his seat, good thing he didn’t saw you crash to the ground earlier. "good night, 토끼아.." he smiled and nodded to you. 

"Goodnight, Giant," you replied him and lay on top of your sleeping bag, shifting here and there to find your most comfortable position. You ended up on your side, facing the leafy wall, knees and elbows bent. The fetal position.

As you're trying to fall asleep, you're listening to Chanyeol's song, he repeated it again and again, adding details or correcting things to make it lovelier to hear. The song is a happy upbeat song, and you feel like he already planned on which part will be singing, and which part will be filled with rap.

---

It was not too long before exhaustion put you to sleep and ends your first day of survival with the K-Pop idol Park Chanyeol from EXO.

___________________________________

please like and comment because you readers are what keeps me motivated to writee :)

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"no matter what happen, i'll smile like an idiot"

- PCY ♥