Less than two weeks earlier . . .

Fear. It was a living, breathing thing that resided inside me. Sometimes I could feel it prowling around, striving to break free. It journeyed with me now as Bora and I stalked through the national forest’s dense thicket near midnight.

But I’d become pretty good at hiding the panic. I didn’t want Bora to think she’d made a mistake when she’d convinced me to work as a wilderness guide with her during the summer.

I figured I could learn a few tricks from her about battling my inner demons. She took the meaning of adventuresome to a whole new level.

But still, coming alone to a place where wild things looked for tasty snacks was insane. It was even crazier that we hadn’t told anyone. We’d kept quiet because leaving the barracks once the lights were out was reason for dismissal.

After surviving a week of intensive training, I definitely didn’t want to get fired the night before my first assignment.

I tightened my fingers around my weapon—a Maglite. My adoptive dad is a cop who taught me, like, a hundred ways to kill a man using a flashlight. Okay, so I’m prone to exaggeration, but still, he’d shown me a few self-defense moves.

Off to the side where the trees and brush were thickest, I heard a rustling noise.

“Shh! Wait up. What was that?” I whispered harshly.

Bora scanned her flashlight between the trees and into the darkness of the canopy of leaves above. While there was a crescent moon tonight, its light couldn’t penetrate the thickness of the trees here. “What was what ?”

My flashlight beam hit her as I swung it around. She flinched and held up a hand to protect her eyes from the harsh light.

Her silky, dark golden blonde hair reflected the light and appeared magical.

She reminded me of a whimsical fairy, but I knew her delicate features hid an inner strength.

She’d been featured in the local paper because she’d saved a child from a cougar attack by putting herself between the animal and the child and yelling at it until it ran off.

“I thought I heard something,” I told her.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know.” My heart thudding, I glanced around again. I loved the outdoors. But tonight, being out here gave me the creeps. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched or having a Sabrina Teenage Witch Project moment.

“Like footsteps?” Bora asked.

“Not really. Not like a person makes. More a soft plodding, like walking in your socks—or on paws maybe.”

Bora slung her arm easily around my slender shoulders. She was a little taller than I was, and her muscles were firm from all the hiking and rock climbing she did.

We’d met last summer when I’d come camping with my parents. Bora had been one of our guides—or sherpas, as the park personnel referred to them. We’d connected and become fast friends, keeping in touch over the school year.

“We’re not being followed,” Bora assured me. “Everyone was asleep when we left our cabin.”

“What if it’s some kind of predator?” This fear I was experiencing didn’t make sense.

But I knew I’d heard something, and I knew it wasn’t friendly. I couldn’t explain how I knew.

Bora’s laughter echoed through the trees.

“I’m serious. What about that cougar you chased off last summer?” I asked.

“What about him?”

“What if he’s out for revenge?”

“Then he’ll eat me, not you. Unless he’s just hungry. Then he’ll eat whoever runs the slowest.”

Which would be me, I thought. I wasn’t exactly athletically challenged, but I wasn’t marathon runner material either.

I took a deep breath and listened intently. The woods were eerily quiet. Didn’t they go silent when danger was near? “Maybe we should head back.”

We were about a mile from the village that was at the entrance to the park. Bora and I shared a small cabin with Min Ji, another guide. Once lights were out at eleven, no one was supposed to leave the cabin.

Now Bora imitated the sound of a dog barking sounds.

“Very funny. What if we get fired?” I asked.

“We’ll only get fired if we get caught. Come on.”

“What exactly is it that you want to show me?” All she’d told me was that she wanted to share “something intense” with me. It had been enough to make me curious, but that was when we were in the safety of the village.

“Look, Ye Jin, if you’re going to be a sherpa, you have to connect with your inner adventure girl. Trust me. What I’m about to show you is well worth the risk of losing job, life, or limb.”

“Wow. Really?” Was she dodging my question? It sure seemed like it. I glanced around suspiciously. “Is the male of the species involved?”

Because honestly, that’s the only thing I considered worth the danger.

Bora sighed impatiently. “You’re hopeless. Let’s go.”

Since I didn’t want to be left alone, I fell into step beside her. As far as I was concerned, my caution was well earned. When I was five, my mom and dad were killed in these very woods.

My adoptive parents had brought me here last summer to help me get over the trauma, which was probably a few years too late to really do any good. We’d camped here for nearly a week.

I’d had an amazing time, but I wasn’t sure how effective the experience had been in helping me to get over my “issues.”

Yeah, supposedly I had emotional problems. So I was in therapy, spending a wasted hour each week with a psychiatrists named Dr. Il Jung, whose Yoda-like pronounce-ments—face your fears, you must—irritated more than helped me. Truly, I would have rather spent time with a dentist.

Maybe I was only kidding myself to think that I was brave enough to face the elements of the wild, day after day.

Although what was I really afraid of? It wasn’t even an animal that had attacked my parents. They’d been shot by two beer-guzzling hunters—in the woods illegally— who had stupidly mistaken them for wolves.

Thanks to those hunters, snarling, growling wolves regularly inhabited my dreams, resulting in many restless nights and frequent bouts of screaming in my sleep.

Hence the therapy to get at the root of my nightmares. Dr. Il Jung theorized that it was my subconscious trying to justify how two idiots could have shot my parents and then, with straight faces, tell authorities, “They were wolves. Swear to God, they were. They were gonna eat that little girl.”

That little girl, of course, had been me. Everything that had happened on that long-ago afternoon was a blur. Everything except my parents lying dead on the forest floor.

God, how could they mistake people for wolves?

Behind me, brush crackled. I paused midstep. The hairs on my nape prickled. I slid my hand beneath the curtain of my red hair and rubbed my neck. A shiver went through me and goose bumps erupted over my arms. I had a feeling that if I turned around, I’d see whatever it was. Did I want to face it?

Bora tromped back. “What’s wrong now?”

“Something’s watching,” I whispered. “I can feel it.”

Bora didn’t blow me off this time. She glanced around. “Could be an owl checking out a tasty morsel— or that late-night snack scampering away.”

“Maybe, but it feels more sinister like.”

“Growing up down the road, I’ve spent most of my life in these woods. There’s nothing sinister out here.”

“What about the cougar?”

“That was way deep in the wilderness. We’re still practically in civilization here. In a few areas you can still get cell phone reception.” She tugged my hand. “A hundred steps and we’ll be there.”

I followed, but stayed alert. There was something . I was certain of it. Not an owl or a rodent.

Not anything in the trees, not anything tiny. Something that stalked its prey.

A shudder rippled through me. Prey? Why had I thought that? But it was true. It was what I felt.

Something was watching and waiting. But watching whom exactly? And waiting for what ?

How many steps were left? Forty? It had been so stupid to come out without even telling anyone. My parents were going to kill me if they ever found out. I’d promised to be responsible.

It was my first time away from them, and my adoptive mom had lectured me ad nauseam about being careful and whats not.

Up ahead, a brightness through the foliage caught my attention. “What’s that?”

“What I wanted to show you.”

We stepped between the trees and into a clearing, illuminated by a campfire. Before I could ask another question, a dozen kids—the other sherpas—leaped out from behind trees. “Surprise!” they yelled. “Happy birthday!”

My heart nearly stopped. I pressed a hand to my chest and laughed, grateful that it didn’t sound hysterical. “My birthday isn’t today.”

“It’s tomorrow, right?” Suho asked. He combed his sandy-blond hair off his brow to reveal his dark-brown eyes. He held up a wrist that sported a watch with numerous dials. “In ten seconds, nine, eight—”

The others joined in the countdown. I could see them clearly, standing in front of the fire. A short distance away from Suho was Chanyeol, with straight black hair and eyes a dark brown that bordered on black. He never said much. I was surprised he was actually counting.

“Seven, six—”

Beside him, Min Ji looked almost like his twin. Her hair, falling past her shoulders, was black and her eyes were deep blue. She’d been asleep when we left. Or faking it, I realized.

Yeah, trying to pull one over on me. She’d succeeded. How did she get here ahead of us? I wondered.

There were other sherpas, ones I’d met but not really connected with. Still, it meant a lot to me that they’d shown up to make tonight special.

“Five, four—”

At school, I’d always felt like an outsider. The girl who’d lost her parents. The adopted one. The one who didn’t really belong. Jerry and Gina Kim had taken me in.

They weren’t wicked stepparents or anything, but they just didn’t always get me. But then, did any parents totally understand their kids?

“Three, two, one. Happy birthday!”

Suho moved around to the other side of the fire and crouched. A flame flared. Then a bottle rocket shot into the sky and exploded into a burst of red, white, blue, and green.

I was pretty sure that fireworks in a national forest were illegal. But I was too happy to care.

Besides, I was free from parental restraints this summer. I wanted to finally test misbehavior boundaries.

“I can’t believe you guys remembered!” I was so touched. Not even my few friends back home had ever thrown me a surprise party. I’d never minded because my natural parents had died on my birthday, so I always had mixed feelings about the day.

“Birthdays are important,” Bora said. “Especially this one. Sweet seventeen.”

Min Ji extended a tray that held seventeen store-bought cupcakes, a candle in each one casting its yellow glow.

“I love cupcakes,” I said, “especially the prepackaged, made-by-the-millions kind with the cream-filled center.”

“Make a wish and blow them out.”

I took a deep breath and leaned forward, and that’s when I saw him.

Wu Yi Fan.

He was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his broad chest, almost lost in the shadows as though he didn’t want to be seen. But he had such a powerful presence that I was surprised he’d escaped my notice as long as he had. His eyes glowed silver in the darkness. As always, he was watching me intently.

Yi Fan terrified me. Okay, that wasn’t exactly true. What I felt for him terrified me. It was an attraction that I couldn’t quite explain.

I’d had crushes on guys before, but what I felt with him went way beyond a crush. It was so strong that it was almost overwhelming—and a little bit embarrassing since obviously he wasn’t returning the feelings.

If anything, he tended to avoid direct contact with me. I tried to keep my feelings buried, but whenever I looked at him they would bubble to the surface and I was certain that he would see in my eyes what I fought so valiantly to control.

His nearness made my heart gallop and my mouth go dry. I wanted to comb my fingers through his hair.

He was so intense. He’d been one of our tour guides last summer, but he’d seldom spoken to me. Still, I often caught him watching me. It was as though he was waiting—

“Blow out the candles, already,” Suho said.

His words snapped me back to the moment. I made my wish without thinking and then blew out the writhing flames with one big breath.

“Here you go,” Min Ji said, handing me a cupcake. “Sorry it isn’t an official cake, but these are easier to serve in the wilderness.”

“It’s great,” I said, beaming again, grateful for the distraction. “I wasn’t expecting anything at all.”

“We love surprises,” Bora said. “But you guys could have been quieter getting here. She heard you. It almost ruined everything.”

I playfully slapped Bora’s arm. “That’s what I heard?” Relief enveloped me, but at the same time, it didn’t seem like the right explanation.

“Well, yeah, they had to be in bed when you and I left, so you wouldn’t suspect anything, but they were supposed to hurry ahead to get things set up. And be quiet while doing it.”

“But I heard something behind us, just before we got here.”

“Like what?” Yi Fan asked, stepping away from the tree.

His deep voice sent a shiver of pleasure through me. It was just a voice and yet it touched me on a level I’d never experienced with anyone else. My absurd feelings made me self-conscious.

I wasn’t the type to attract guys who were handsome as Yi Fan was. Having his attention focused on me was unnerving, and suddenly I felt silly about my concerns. “I’m sure it was nothing.”

“Then why mention it?”

“I didn’t. Bora did.”

I knew any normal girl would crave his attention. So why did he make me nervous? Why did my conversational skills drowned to zero when he was around?

“Relax, Yi Fan,” Suho said. “It probably was us. You know how it is. When you try to be quiet, you end up making more noise.”

But Yi Fan was staring at where we’d come from. If I didn’t know better, I’d have thought he was sniffing the air. His nostrils flared and his chest expanded with the deep breath he took.

“Maybe I should take a look around, just to be sure.”

I knew he was nineteen, but he seemed older, maybe because he was a senior sherpa. He was the one in charge of our little group. If someone had a problem, he or she could go to Yi Fan.

Although I’d probably let a wild bear eat me before I’d ask Yi Fan for help. Whether right or wrong, I suspected that he only respected those who solved their own problems. I had this absurd need to prove myself to him.

“Now you’re as paranoid as Ye Jin,” Bora said. “Grab a cupcake and sit down.”

But Yi Fan didn’t move. He kept his gaze on the path we’d taken to get here.

It was strange but I knew if something had been following us, whatever it had been, Yi Fan would protect us from it.

He just gave off those vibes. It was probably the reason that, as young as he was, he was given such authority and responsibility. He was so bold standing there that I didn’t want to look away.

But I also didn’t want to give the impression that I was a lovesick kid.

Logs had been placed around the fire. I sat on one and peered over at Yi Fan. He was tall and in great shape.

He wore his T-shirt like a second skin that outlined his muscles. I had this

overwhelming urge to run my hands up those granite arms and across his shoulders. Pathetic. I was pathetic. He’d never given me any reason to think that he might return my interest.

“So what did your parents give you for your birthday?” Min Ji asked, bringing my attention back to the others.

It didn’t look as though anyone had noticed where my attention had wandered. Least of all

Yi Fan. He always seemed so alert, I was surprised he wasn’t aware of my assessment of him. On the other hand, it was also a relief that he gave me so little direct attention. Nothing was quite as embarrassing as one-sided obsession.

“A summer away from them.” I grinned.

“They didn’t seem that bad when I met them last year,” Bora said.

“They’re not,” I admitted, taking the candle out of my cupcake and tossing it into the fire.

“They’re really pretty cool.”

But they’re not my real parents. I chided myself as soon as I thought those words. They were my real parents; they just weren’t my original parents, from birth.

Maybe what I’d sensed on our way here was the ghosts of my birth parents calling out to me. How silly was that explanation?

I never had, never would believe in anything paranormal or supernatural.

“So what did they get you?” Min Ji persisted.

“All the equipment I needed for a summer of trekking through the wilderness.”

“No car?” Min Ji asked.

“No car.”

“Bummer.”

“What difference does it make?” Suho asked. “Cars aren’t allowed in the park.”

Min Ji gave him a sideways glance, then shrugged. “I guess.”

There was something in her expression that I couldn’t read, but it made me wonder if she liked Suho.

“Anyone else think this group we’re taking out tomorrow is a little odd?” Chanyeol asked.

For a few minutes that afternoon, we’d all met Dr. Won, his son, and several of the professor’s grad students. We were going to them to a predetermined spot in the forest. Then we’d leave them for a couple of weeks before returning to retrieve them. They’d mentioned that they were hoping to spot some wolves.

“Odd in what way?” I asked.

“Dr. Won is an anthropologist,” Chanyeol said. “Why does he want to study wolves?”

“Wolves are certainly more interesting than people,” Bora said. “Remember those wolf cubs we found when you were home for spring break, Yi Fan?”

“Yeah.”

He was obviously a guy of few words, which only made him more intriguing—and intimidating at the same time. It was difficult to figure out what he thought about things, what he thought about me.

“They were the cutest,” Bora went on, unperturbed by Yi Fan’s lack of enthusiasm for the subject.

“Orphaned. Three of them. We sort of adopted them until they were ready to go out on their own.”

The other sherpas had all been working in the park at least a year. I should have felt like an outsider, but something about the group made me feel as though I belonged.

They weren’t like the cliques at school. I’d never been part of those. I wasn’t the wildly popular, cheerleader type. I wasn’t a total math nerd, either.

I wasn’t quite sure I could actually define myself. Maybe that was the reason I was so comfortable out here. Everyone was the same: nature lovers appreciating

the great outdoors.

Yi Fan shoved away from the tree. “We’d better head back.”

“You’re such a party pooper,” Bora said.

“You’ll thank me in the morning when you have to be ready to leave at dawn.”

Everyone groaned with the reminder that we had an early morning. The guys put out the fire and flashlights came on.

I thanked everyone. “This was a great birthday surprise.”

“Well, it’s not every day you turn seventeen,” Bora said. “We just wanted to do something special before we became preoccupied with surviving.”

I laughed at her teasing. “It won’t be that bad.”

“The Won party wants to go far into the woods, to an area we’ve never been before. The terrain will be rougher and we’ll be pushed to the limits. Should be challenging,” Min Ji said.

Should be, I thought.

“Don’t worry,” Bora said to me. “You’ll do great.”

“I plan to give it my best.”

We headed back up the trail to the rustic village where all the campers began their journey.

Chanyeol was leading the way, with all the other sherpas scattered between him and me—except one.

Yi Fan was following at the back of our group, right behind me. I had that sense of being watched again. A shudder rippled through me.

“What’s wrong?” Yi Fan asked.

How had he known anything was wrong?

I glanced over my shoulder, feeling silly for saying it aloud. “Just that strange feeling that we’re not alone.”

“Yeah, I’m sensing it, too,” he said, his voice low.

“Could it be those wolves you rescued?”

“I doubt it. The entrance to the park is too near civilization. Most of the wildlife is farther in.”

That was in sync with what Bora had said about the cougar, but still—animals weren’t always predictable.

Everyone in our group grew quiet, listening intently as we trudged along. The flashlights served as eerie beacons in the darkness. I was acutely aware of Yi Fan following closely behind me. Not that I could hear him—his footsteps were silent. But I sensed his nearness as though he were touching me—even though he wasn’t. I felt nervous and excited. I wondered if he thought of me as anything other than the newbie.

He’d never given any indication that he actually liked me in a romantic kind of way. Or that he was interested in knowing me better.

Here we had an opportunity to talk, and yet we both remained silent.

At the far end of the trail, more light began to seep through the tree cover.

The lights of the village, the first stop on anyone’s journey into the national park.

I was grateful that everyone picked up the pace. Finally, we broke through the woods into the village.

I released a nervous chuckle. “Please tell me sherpas don’t do a lot of night hiking.”

“Hardly ever,” Chanyeol said, “but I felt something out there, too.”

“If it was dangerous, it would have attacked,” Suho said. “Probably just a rabbit or something.”

“Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” Yi Fan said. “And we’re supposed to be in our beds.”

Suho and Chanyeol headed for their cabin. But Yi Fan hesitated. Finally he said, “Happy birthday, Ye Jin.”

“Oh, thanks.” His words were almost as surprising as the party.

He looked as though he wanted to say something else. Instead, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans and walked off. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of that.

Bora, Min Ji, and I went to our cabin. As we were getting ready for bed, I said, “I can’t believe you threw me a surprise party.”

“You should have seen your face,” Bora said. “You were totally shocked.”

“I can’t believe you managed to keep it a secret.”

She smiled brightly. “Believe me, it wasn’t easy.”

After we were in bed and the lights were out, Bora whispered, “Hey, Ye Jin? So what did you wish for?”

My cheeks grew warm. “If I tell, it won’t come true.”

I wasn’t really sure I wanted it to come true. I didn’t know what had possessed me to make the wish I had.

It haunted me now as I remembered the words that had run through my mind with such conviction.

I wish Yi Fan would kiss me.