* * *
Ghost?
At that word, both the kid and I flinched at the same time.
I felt Woo Jaehyun’s gaze on me, but I ignored him and crouched beside the child.
I discreetly slipped him a lemon candy, and his wide, wary eyes lit up in delight.
“There’s no such thing as ghosts.”
“Really?”
Probably… hopefully. I wasn’t entirely sure myself, but I nodded.
“Really really?”
The child tilted his head, big round eyes now turned toward Woo Jaehyun, seeking double confirmation.
Persistent little guy.
I nudged Woo Jaehyun with my elbow, and only then did he lazily nod.
“Oh? You’re back!”
Just then, the woman who looked like a Maltese spotted us and practically skipped over, eyes sparkling.
“Whoa, what’s all this?”
“Thought we might run out of food.”
I’d suspected from the start that salvaging anything from the plane wreck was nearly impossible.
It was a miracle people even made it out alive—the thing was basically torn to shreds.
Well, thanks to the dungeon settings, miracles happened.
“Thank you! Honestly, there’s barely anything left from the plane… we thought we were screwed. I was hoping at least a med kit would turn up…”
Her voice trailed off, eyes flickering toward someone lying nearby, groaning.
His missing leg suggested he was injured during the crash.
A med kit wouldn’t help that.
His leg, poorly wrapped in makeshift cloth, was already soaked with blood.
From the looks of it, he wouldn’t last till tomorrow.
The woman forced a bitter smile as she gathered the fish strung together by vines.
“Anyway, we’ll grill these. You should rest—you’ve been working nonstop setting up shelter.”
I watched her walk away for a moment, then leaned toward Woo Jaehyun.
Catching my signal, he lowered his stance beside me.
“You think that ghost story’s part of the plot?”
I couldn’t shake off the unease from the glasses guy’s sudden ghost sighting.
He’d been terrified for a reason, and his description was too specific to be just a mistake.
“Hard to say. We’ll need to head deeper into the forest tomorrow.”
Woo Jaehyun’s gaze drifted toward the pitch-black forest.
I followed his line of sight but saw nothing—only the eerie rustle of bamboo in the night breeze.
While we rested, the fish were skewered and roasted to a perfect golden brown over the fire.
But Cha Rui never came out of the tent, likely already asleep, and Woo Jaehyun barely touched his food.
It wasn’t inedible, but…
After nibbling at the grilled fish just enough to call it a meal, I stood up and casually tossed an energy bar into Woo Jaehyun’s jacket pocket.
Without waiting for a reaction from his smiling face, I turned my back and slipped into the temporary tent.
It had been a bit of a struggle, but insisting on one tent per person was honestly a stroke of genius.
I only helped gather the materials — it wasn’t even like I built the tents myself.
Letting out a sigh, I sprawled out on the banana leaves, finally starting to feel like I could relax.
“God, I’m tired.”
Even the little Chirpy, who had been dead quiet in my pocket, peeked his head out.
His nose twitched as he sniffed the air, looking annoyingly smug, so I reached over and squished him with my hand.
“You’ve got no reason to be tired, Chirpy.”
All you do is sleep all day.
While I was rolling around, fooling around with him, I heard footsteps approaching from outside the tent.
It didn’t take long for the person I expected to part the tarp and come in.
Honestly, this guy just can’t leave me alone.
“Hyung, are you sleeping?”
“No, maybe it’s still too early, I can’t sleep.”
“Same here.”
I barely acknowledged Woo Jaehyun curling his large frame into the tent and kept playing with Chirpy.
But something was off.
Chirpy kept sneaking glances at Woo Jaehyun, clearly wary.
“Ah, take Chirpy with you.”
“Chirpy?”
Since I thought of it, I might as well return him — but Chirpy suddenly started freaking out.
His tail smacked against my hand in frustration before he dove into my clothes, completely disappearing.
Clearly, he really didn’t want to go back.
“Just keep him with you, hyung. He’s helpful in his own way.”
“…”
Helpful, really?
I stared down at my waist with reluctant eyes and sat up.
He’s an S-rank spirit, so can I really just casually keep him like this?
But sending him back when he’s so clearly refusing isn’t great either.
“Hyung.”
Just then, a low, gentle voice reached my ears.
The tone was so soft it made the hairs on my arms stand up.
“About before… I’m sorry.”
“Huh?”
“The cave dungeon.”
Woo Jaehyun’s eyebrows drooped as he pulled the most pitiful expression.
At first, I didn’t know what he was talking about, but when he mentioned the cave, I blinked, remembering.
Yeah… That was weird, now that I think about it.
“I guess I was a little on edge… because of some things I’ve been dealing with.”
“You figured those things out?”
“Yeah. Like you said, I’ll try to smooth things over.”
“Good. That’s all that matters.”
I nodded to show I was fine with it, but then Jaehyun suddenly reached out and lightly brushed my neck with his fingers.
Reflexively, my shoulders tensed — considering how much abuse my neck’s taken recently, it couldn’t be helped.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s bruised.”
Ah… Right, from when Cha Rui grabbed me.
Looks like it left a mark.
What’s even crazier is all that happened just this morning.
So much in one day — it’s hard to believe.
Feels like I’ve been stuck here for at least a month.
“It’s fine, it’ll fade soon enough.”
I cleared my throat awkwardly and wiped at my cheek, rough with dried seawater.
Trying to say anything remotely sentimental made me self-conscious.
“Anyway… Thanks. For helping me.”
Still, it’s been strange.
From the kidnapping to now, Woo Jaehyun always shows up right on time.
How’s that even possible unless he’s secretly got people tailing me?
“How’d you even know where to find me?”
“Mm… Telepathy?”
The playful smirk on his face instantly annoyed me.
If you don’t wanna say, just say so.
I got to my feet and shoved his broad back toward the tent opening.
His shoulders hunched in an absurdly small gesture for his size.
“Out.”
“Can’t I sleep here with you?”
Not a chance.
I practically kicked him out and collapsed onto the floor again.
It was already hot enough without wasting extra energy on him.
“Ugh… It’s so sticky.”
The humidity wasn’t dropping, even at night.
Guess it’s summer here again.
I exhaled deeply from the pit of my stomach and closed my eyes.
The next morning
“Seriously, no one saw anything?”
The noisy chatter outside made me grimace as I cracked open my eyes.
The tent was bright — guess I dozed off without meaning to.
I thought I was fine, but maybe I’d been more exhausted than I realized.
“Ugh.”
My back screamed every time I moved, thanks to the rock-hard banana leaves.
I must’ve overdone it yesterday — my whole body ached like I’d been hit by a truck.
Groaning softly, I slowly sat up.
I feel like I’m dying…
I listlessly pulled the tarp aside, the first thing I saw being Cha Rui sitting on a tree branch, checking his gear.
Beside the tent, Woo Jaehyun stood there staring blankly at a woman who looked like a Maltese dog.
“Hyung, you’re up?”
As soon as he spotted me, Woo Jaehyun’s indifferent face brightened with a soft smile.
We’re both unwashed messes, but somehow he’s still glowing.
His beige, sea-salted hair fell back naturally like he styled it on purpose.
“This is cheating…”
“Huh?”
“Nothing. What’s going on?”
Looking over, the Maltese-like woman was running around anxiously, clearly searching for someone.
“Seems like someone disappeared overnight.”
“A person?”
“A man who was injured. They woke up this morning and he was gone.”
An injured man… the only one I knew about was the guy with the missing leg from yesterday.
But there’s no way a dying man with one leg wandered off by himself.
Something smelled fishy.
Cha Rui stood up too, having finished checking his gear.
“Think it’s part of the story progression?”
“We’ll check it out.”
We were planning to scout the forest today anyway, so there wasn’t much hesitation.
The woman looked concerned at first when we offered to help, but she couldn’t bring herself to argue.
“Are you sure the three of you will be okay?”
“Yeah, more people just make it messy.”
Hearing my flat response, the Maltese woman looked apologetic.
But we’re offering to find the missing person and gather supplies — no reason to stop us.
Not like anyone else was stepping up.
In fact, the Grasshopper guy and Horn-rimmed Glasses were both actively avoiding eye contact, afraid we’d drag them along.
Not that I had any intention of bringing them. I exchanged a small wave with the kid still clutching candy, then turned away.
We walked into the forest — who knows how long — but between the bugs and the humidity, I was losing my mind.
“God, it’s hot.”
I wiped the sweat dripping down my chin, frowning, while Woo Jaehyun, looking annoyingly fresh, mimed taking off his clothes beside me.
Is he even human?
I had half a mind to poke his cheek to check.
“Should I just walk around shirtless again like yesterday?”
“Don’t. Unless you want to be mosquito food.”
What, does he still think he’s some invincible S-rank?
I grumbled under my breath as I walked, but then — something caught my eye in the distance, making me widen my eyes.
If I wasn’t seeing things, that yellow-red fruit was—
“Are those… peaches?”
The branches were heavy with ripe golden peaches — yellow peaches, unmistakably.
And I love peaches.
Their perfect, juicy glow had me hypnotized as I reached out to grab one—
A large hand suddenly shot out and grabbed my wrist.
* * *
