Electric Love {Minsung}

Chapter 50: 땡

Jisung awoke to one of the tribesmen shaking him. He rubbed his eyes and looked up. It was dawn, and Yeji was already sitting up, her hair matted to the side of her head. She pulled her hair back from her face. "I think we're here."

He lifted himself up and peered over the side of the boat. They were docked, but all he could see was more jungle. "Where's here?"

"I don't know," Yeji said. "Somewhere downriver."

"With your old friend Howon," a voice said.

Jisung spun around. Standing behind them on the shore was Howon, the man who had brought them into the jungle.

"Howon!"

"Mr. Jisung," he said, stepping forward. "Let me help you out."

"Help her first," he said, looking at Yeji.

Howon offered her his hand, but she grabbed the side of the canoe and climbed out by herself. He got out too.

When Jisung was on the bank, he said, "Congratulations, amigo."

He looked at him quizzically. "What for?"

"For still being alive," he said. "And for making some serious trouble. Mucho caos."

He's sure that that was the first time in his life that someone had congratulated him for causing trouble. "More than we planned on," he said.

Yeji looked at Howon suspiciously. "How do you know this guy?"

"He's the one who brought us into the jungle."

"How did you meet him?"

"I'll tell you later," he said. "But we can trust him. He's a friend."

She still looked unsure. "You're from Korea. How do you have a Peruvian friend?" She looked directly at Howon. "Are you an Elgen?"

"Ufff! Que locura!" Howon said. He looked her directly in the eyes. "Do not insult me. I would rather cut out my own heart and feed it to the piranhas than be called one of those demons."

"That's pretty graphic," she said.

"We have not the time to chitchat," Howon said. "We must hurry. You have angered the Elgen wasps, and they are looking for someone to sting."

"Where are we going?" He asked.

"Into the jungle," he said. He turned to the tribesmen. "Feichang, sye sye."

They slightly bowed. "Bukechi," they replied. They immediately paddled away from the shore until they were in the middle of the river and headed upstream.

"Those guys are strong," Jisung said. "They didn't even rest."

Howon turned back to him. "They have no time to rest," Howon said. "Neither do we. Come. Vámonos!"

The two electrics followed him through a path in the trees that quickly disappeared, overgrown with foliage and snarled tree roots that rose like snakes through the jungle's dark soil. Even though it was morning, beneath the canopy, it was dark enough that Jisung and Yeji could see their glows.

They had hiked more than an hour into the jungle when the foliage in front of them suddenly lightened into a small clearing, exposing an elaborate campsite built next to a stream.

"We are home," Howon said.

"It's not my home," Yeji said, looking around.

Jisung surveyed the camp with wonder. "How did you get all this stuff back here?"