She heard the sound of fabric ripping and panicked, worried that he would fall from an even greater height now that he had successfully scaled the wall of the chasm. The tension on the makeshift rope slackened and she feared for the worst, scenarios running through her mind. She wondered if they needed an ambulance or perhaps an airlift out of the area. Her fears were for naught though, as he had managed to cling onto a bit of the wall, muscles straining with effort.

He came up sweating, they both were despite the strong winds. Jong Kook looked at the woman who had just pulled him from the depths of the earth and quickly averted his eyes while clearing his throat. She was still panting from their earlier efforts and in her revealing tank, he could see her cleavage that was glistening with sweat, all the more noticable by her heaving chest. She had averted her eyes after taking a look at him, busying herself with salvaging the clothes they had used as a makeshift rope. All he had on was a thin cotton vest and boxers that had accentuated his muscular physique.

He looked up when he heard her cry of dismay. She had untied the jacket from his trackpants and they were both torn and dirtied. He took the pants and could see the holes in them from where they had rubbed against the jagged rocks. One leg had been almost completely torn off and they were better off as rags. Her jacket wasn’t any better off, it was rubbed raw and the rip they had heard was that of her jacket being torn into two. The wind had picked up even more during their examination and the pinpricks of rain they had felt earlier had grown.Giving an exasperated sigh, she looped the torn jacket around her blistered hands.

“Let’s go before this becomes a full blown storm.”

“How did you end up down there anyway?” she asked, curious about what he was doing outside in the middle of the night.

“Couldn’t sleep. I was just going to walk around and well, you know what happened next.” He shrugged, trying to loosen up his cramped muscles.

The two walked with wide strides and headed back to the campsite only to find a lone tent on the ground. Ji Hyo’s tent had been blown away whilst she was out. Without her weight on the groundsheet, the tent had been carried away by the strong winds ripping around them. As the rain started pouring heavily, Jong Kook wrapped his fingers around her wrist and pulled her towards his tent which was still standing tall despite the storm.

Inside the tent, they were squished so close to each other their noses were almost touching. The tent that was meant for a single person was cozy when he was in it alone was a tight squeeze for the both of them. The two stared at each other before they both turned away awkwardly seeing that the other occupant of the tent was barely dressed. Under the poor light of the single lamp that they had brought in with them, she could see that Jong Kook only had on a thin cotton singlet and his boxers on. She noted the scratches on his arms and legs and rummaged through the bags he had managed to snag when they ducked into his tent for shelter to avoid his eyes.

First-aid kit in hand, she gestured for him to hold out his battered arms. He looked at her and swallowed hard. All she had on was a white tank that had been almost completely soaked through in the rain. Clearing his throat, he held out her arms and averted his eyes politely.

“Thanks” he mumbled, while looking at her through the periphery of his eyes.

She winced when her hand made contact with the antiseptic. He looked at her sharply and brought the lamp closer to examine her hands. They were raw and blistered from her earlier efforts and he felt extremely guilty for the current state of her hands. She tried to pull her hands out from his grasp but in the tiny tent, there was no where for her to turn to. Their eyes met and Jong Kook dropped her hand like a hot potato before pulling the first-aid kit to himself and applying medication on her blistered palms liberally. He apologised as she hissed in pain, a wave of guilt hitting him once more. He completed the first aid swiftly and she blew on her hands to sooth the pain.

Jong Kook looked at her under the flickering light of the dying lamp realising that she was also shivering in the cold. He grabbed his only change of clothes and handed her his sweatshirt. She looked at him and her eyes were the last thing he saw before the lamp died and they were plunged into complete darkness.

Up Next :

“Holy crap” Kwang Soo breathes in astonishment. He rubbed his eyes as he looked at the scene in astonishment. He wasn’t dreaming. He wasn’t hallucinating. That had really just happened.