It was strange.
“Are we really going the right way?”
Gi Siyoung asked while leaning against Seungun’s body.
“We are. I’m sure we are….”
There was no confidence in Seungun’s voice. He couldn’t shake the feeling that they kept circling the same spot. It was a forest thick with trees. The sun was gradually fading. Even the chirping of the mountain birds that had been crying out was no longer audible. The quieter it became, the more anxious he grew. If they delayed any longer, the sun would set, and then they’d lose their sense of direction.
Seungun rolled his eyes left and right.
No matter how he looked, there were only identical paths.
“Ah!”
“What? Did you find it?”
“The walkie-talkie! I have a walkie-talkie!”
“…….”
Only then did Seungun miraculously remember the walkie-talkie tucked at his waist. He clicked the power on and tried to catch a signal. Gi Siyoung also swallowed and watched Seungun’s actions from beside him. Crackle, crzzzt— crackle, crzzzt—. However, the signal wouldn’t catch properly. Even the signals that were caught momentarily cut out immediately.
“…….”
“…….”
When even the walkie-talkie, which had been their only lifeline, became useless, Seungun’s shoulders drooped. Gi Siyoung’s body drooped along with them. Now that it had come to this, they had to consider the worst-case scenario. Seungun bit his lower lip and retraced the path they’d taken. They’d been walking downhill for what felt like 30 minutes.
It had taken about 30 minutes to climb up from below to the filming location, and from the rest stop to the filming location—not via the shortcut—took less than 10 minutes. So if the path was correct, they should have already been greeted by the rest stop by now.
“I don’t know, really. I really don’t know anymore.”
Seungun swept his hair up. Gi Siyoung’s weakened body had also become much heavier than at first. Having filmed nonstop running up and down hills, his stamina must have already hit rock bottom. Now they had to do something, anything.
“Stop looking at the walkie-talkie. You’ll wear it out.”
“…….”
“If Myeongwoo hyung made it down safely, he’ll have contacted the rescue team. Let’s wait a bit.”
The one who was actually injured, Gi Siyoung, was calm.
“Haa, I should have memorized the path better….”
Seungun muttered while wiping the sweat beading on the bridge of his nose.
“Walking any more is impossible, so let’s find somewhere to rest.”
Gi Siyoung groaned and straightened his posture. But even that crumbled smoothly. Seungun held out the one remaining 500mL water bottle from inside his bag. Gi Siyoung accepted it without hesitation and gulped it down. Seungun was just as thirsty, but he didn’t have the nerve to ask Gi Siyoung for even a sip.
As the sun gradually set, the temperature dropped. Having thrown off his stuffy clothes early after getting injured, all Gi Siyoung had on was the thin short-sleeved undershirt and dress pants he’d been wearing underneath.
“It would have been better if I’d gotten hurt instead of Gi Siyoung-ssi.”
“What kind of bullshit is that? Is that something to say in front of someone who’s already injured?”
“Because I’m much lighter than Gi Siyoung-ssi and I’m not someone who interferes with work.”
Gi Siyoung sat down with his back against a tree trunk with Seungun’s help. The rough tree bark pressed against him through the thin fabric, but there was no choice. He handed the half-remaining water bottle to Seungun. It meant to drink some water and snap out of it rather than spouting strange nonsense, but Seungun put the water bottle in his bag and suddenly started shouting.
“Help! There’s someone here! Help!”
Like a subject crying out “The king has donkey ears!” he cupped his palms on both sides of his lips to make his voice carry better and shouted. However, there was no way anyone could hear his words in the empty forest, and only Seungun’s voice echoed back.
“Don’t waste your energy pointlessly and just lie down. They’ll come when it’s time.”
“…….”
Gi Siyoung scolded him with an expression that said not to do useless things.
But Seungun was anxious.
“What if a wild animal appears? Aren’t you scared of what might live on this mountain, Gi Siyoung-ssi?”
“It’s not Mt. Baekdu, it’s the neighborhood hill behind town. What could possibly live here that you’re making such a fuss?”
“You always have to keep the worst-case scenario in mind.”
Seungun looked all around, hoping for even a hut to appear. Gi Siyoung grew irritated at his frantic movements.
“Just sit down, I said.”
“Just a moment.”
But Seungun didn’t tire. If he scattered from here saying he’d bring people too, they might truly never reunite again. For him to survive, Gi Siyoung had to survive first. That was Seungun’s mission.
“I told you not to waste your energy.”
“What comes out from just waiting quietly? We might not be rescued right away, so we have to do something to survive.”
“…….”
Seungun brought two dry tree branches from nearby. It was a method from a comic book he’d read as a child. He didn’t remember the method in detail, but he vaguely remembered the picture of how the protagonist had started a fire when left alone on a mountain.
Having brought dry branches for the piece of wood to place on the ground and the stick to spin with his hands, he found a sharp stone and began laboriously carving out the center of a flat piece of wood. Watching Seungun seriously preparing to make fire, he said,
“You seem like someone who’s watched more movies than me, an actor. Do you really think you’ll get a fire going with that?”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?”
Seungun focused on his task. He placed the dry branch upright in the groove and spun it rapidly back and forth, creating friction on the flat piece of wood. After wrapping the stick with both hands and spinning it quickly for quite a while, he was out of breath. However, no spark appeared from just that much friction. Unable to watch any longer, Gi Siyoung grabbed Seungun’s shoulder and pulled him back.
“Move aside.”
Gi Siyoung suddenly ripped the hem of his T-shirt. He tied a knot in the center of the palms that would rub the branches and began rapidly rubbing the branches placed in the groove. He was much faster than Seungun. For someone doing it for the first time, he was skilled.
“It’s not that I’m trying to survive in such a pathetic way, but watching you sit there rubbing with something that doesn’t seem to have any strength is setting my insides on fire, so I’m doing it.”
Gi Siyoung said while rubbing the branch spiritedly.
“Huh? Huh? Gi Siyoung-ssi!”
“What?”
“It’s burning! The burning color is appearing!”
“Don’t make a fuss over something like this.”
With friction incomparably faster than when Seungun did it, visible effects began to appear. Gi Siyoung, who had become serious before he knew it, licked his lips and rubbed his palms even faster. Then sparks began flying more, crackling and popping.
Unable to just watch, Seungun crawled on his knees and pulled out a handful of dry grass. He put it in the groove of the wood piece, and whenever Gi Siyoung spun the branch, he lowered his body to the ground and gently blew—whoosh, whoosh.
“Fire! It caught fire!”
Seungun was delighted like a child. Seeing that, Gi Siyoung chuckled. It was amazing. That thing gradually grew in size, calling itself fire. Seungun crawled on his knees again to pull out dry grass and put more inside. And again he blew—whoosh, whoosh—with his breath. It was a fire that would go out immediately if stepped on, but wasn’t it something?
The burning smell gradually intensified. The two brought thin, slender branches from around them and stirred them so the embers wouldn’t go out, adding firewood over time. Then a fist-sized fire rose that wouldn’t easily go out with ordinary wind. Seungun brought his bag and took out a fan from inside. When he gently blew air toward the embers, it blazed up even more vigorously.
“Come closer and warm yourself by the fire. Aren’t you cold?”
Once the fire was lit, Gi Siyoung leaned back against the tree trunk again and closed his eyes.
“You must be hungry too. You didn’t even eat earlier.”
“Don’t make me talk. And you cut down on talking too. If you talk a lot, your stomach empties faster.”
“I ate a lot earlier so I’m fine.”
“Who are you rubbing salt in the wound?”
Seungun rummaged through his bag. Then he pulled out a chocolate bar.
“Here.”
“What is it.”
“A staff member gave it to me earlier to eat when my mouth gets bored. It has nuts inside too, so you’ll feel full if you eat it.”
“…….”
Gi Siyoung stared at the chocolate bar wrapped in shiny packaging, then snatched it away. And without saying thanks, he tore the wrapper straight across and started crunching on it.
“Why, aren’t you going to hide and eat it alone?”
“Because if Gi Siyoung-ssi survives, I survive too.”
“…….”
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
When he turned his head, Gi Siyoung was watching him with flounder eyes.
“Looking at you carefully, you talk like someone who’s terrified I might die. Will the sky split open if I die?”
