Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Wow," mumbled Lisa, her big eyes zeroing on the dusty, black jeep Jungkook found in the back of the house. The monster vehicle was formerly concealed under a black cloth. "Is it still working?"
"Let's see," Jungkook muttered to himself as he got on the driver's seat, turning on the ignition.
The vehicle then roared to life; its very dangerous, very loud sound surprising the girl to a yelp. "Oh my god."
"Go get changed into something warmer," suggested Jungkook. It was already late in the afternoon, but she didn't even bother to change out of her silk pajamas. What's the point of it all, anyway? "Let's go for a drive. I'm sure our kidnapper will be ecstatic to know that we've started exploring the island, like they've suggested."
"Good idea!" She then continued on in a more hopeful tone. "Maybe, they will let us go home sooner."
A few minutes later, both of them were inside the jeep, cruising along a dirt path in the middle of a verdant forest. They had left the windows open, and so Jungkook's long, black hair were whipping through the air.
He looked like the male lead in the chick-flick movies she and Chaeyoung loved to watch.
"Hey, Jungkook," she eyed her companion with wonder. "Did you know about our ship before all of these?"
"How could I not?" He answered with a laugh, "it was all over social media. We couldn't not know about its existence even if we tried."
"Yes," she agreed, "were you aware that we were nominated for 'Best Ship' at some Nickelodeon Awards, like two months ago?"
"We were?" His doe eyes brightened with astonishment.
"Yeah, I heard about it from my aunt. She's a huge ARMY." She remembered how her aunt sent her a message about the nomination in the middle of the night. It wasn't a big deal, of course, but her lovely aunt didn't want her to hear it first from somebody else, just in case it blows up to something more.
"Well, that's..."
"Crazy, I know," continued the girl. "Who knew it would come to this?"
Who could've known that the harmless shipping among fans would come to this? Not her, that was for sure.
•••
"I've only seen places like this in movies." Lisa stared in awe at the scenery right in front of her.
Jungkook drove for about thirty minutes when they stumbled upon a rocky pathway. It led them to a waterfall amidst the lush greenery, purple and yellow wildflowers growing here and there.
The waterfall was rather small, but what amazed Lisa was the undisturbed sight it offered. Gone were the cool ocean breeze and addicting scent of the sea. Instead, the earthy smell and subtle dampness of the forest surrounded them, enveloping Lisa in its warmth.
"We should've brought the camera equipment with us," Jungkook muttered beside her. He took a seat on the large rock by the edge of the flowing pool.
"Let's just visit this place again tomorrow."
"Alright." They were quiet for a moment, just relishing at the calm atmosphere around the little natural gem.
After a while, Jungkook got up from his sitting position. "C'mon, let's head back," he said, gazing at the darkening sky above them.
Everything was all good and dandy until the boy started cursing to himself when they were back in the jeep.
"What's wrong?" Dread was settling deep in her gut.
"I'm not sure." Jungkook answered with a frown. "I think the engine's dead."
"Oh my god." This can't be happening to me.
After a few more attempts of turning the engine on, the boy let out a frustrated groan. "It's no use. We need to travel by foot back to the house."
"But, it's twilight already! We don't even have flashlights to see we're we'll go! Can't you just fix it?"
Jungkook stared at her in a way that made it seem like he was judging her intellect. "I'm no mechanic, I can't repair this jeep." He left the confines of the jeep then and beckoned her to follow his lead. "We have no choice, c'mon."
"I can't believe this! Did you break it earlier or something?"
"I didn't." Then, he added in a quieter voice, "maybe there's something wrong with the jeep since it wasn't mentioned anywhere in the guide book. Maybe the kidnapper didn't want us to use it."
"What?! Why are you telling me this vital information now?"
"I didn't know my speculations were that important, okay?" Jungkook said in his defense. "Besides, you were there when I successfully turned the engine on earlier."
The word 'terrified' couldn't even begin to describe what she was feeling. "Well, if you had any suspicions at all, then you've should've told me about them. Is that so hard to do?"
Jungkook remained calm despite her lashing out. "Why are you blaming all of these on me? You read the guide book, too, didn't you?"
"I can't believe this," she cried. Her emotions were so high, she can't even make sense of what he was saying until—
"You're overreacting, Lisa," said Jungkook with a clenched jaw.
Overreacting? She couldn't speak for a moment. Just how many times was she called 'overdramatic' in her 22 years of life, she couldn't even count. Then and now, her emotions were always used against her.
After waking up on the island, her nerves seemed to be always on edge. But, now her feelings overwhelmed her like an overflowing sink. "We just got kidnapped yesterday! Yesterday! And now we'll be stuck in the middle of a freaking forest in the middle of freaking nowhere! Sue me for being emotional!"
"Can you please stop yelling? I'm just saying that no one's at fault here."
Somehow, she knew deep inside that she was crossing the line, especially towards her senior. But, the angry words kept coming out of her mouth still. "Whatever, Jungkook, go ahead and invalidate my feelings some more!"
He seemed taken aback by her words before his eyes tightened around the edges. "It's like I'm talking to a wall here," complained Jungkook. "I'm going back to the house. Follow me if you want."
Not a second later, he started walking towards where they came from, not waiting for her reply.
And as their surroundings started to dim, tears of utter frustration began falling down her eyes.
