The Present (Ahn Hyoseop x Kim Sejeong)

Five

Hyoseop had never run faster in his life. Racing against time, he was determined to find Sejeong before the sun set over the horizon. As angry as he was at Rowoon, he was also frustrated at how stubborn she was. He knew she was good amongst nature, but she also had to think about her safety more than anything.

"Sejeong-ah? Kim Sejeong?" he called out to the open air.

He had been doing so for a solid fifteen minutes, and the fact that there wasn't a response frustrated him even more, where could she be? The air was starting to dampen, a sign that rain was due to arrive any minute.

"Think, Hyoseop-ah," he said to himself, "if you were Sejeong and you were possibly injured, where would you go?"

He hoped she wasn't injured, but he also knew her well enough that if she was alright, she'd be making her way back by now, which means they would've walked past each other. He pulled out the map of the site that he had stuffed in his pocket and remembered that there was an emergency cabin nearby. He figured he'd head there, hoping to find her safe and sound.

Walking further up the hill, it became harder to see the campus below, if he couldn't find her in another half hour, he had no choice but to return before he would get lost.

"Sejeong-ah, are you there?"

He waited for a few seconds, silence. But then, from afar, he could hear her call out, "Hyoseop-ah!"

The voice seemed to have originated from somewhere on his left, so he followed it, making sure he was careful where he stepped, walking onto a steep slope.

He called out again, "Where are you?"

"I'm here!"

He kept following her voice, but he still couldn't see her, he wondered if she had slipped and fallen.

"Down here!"

Hyoseop turned his head down the slope and spotted her. She was sitting on the ground with holes over her kneecaps, that were scraped and covered in dirt.

"Thank God," he whispered to himself, "are you okay, how did you get down there?"

Sejeong smiled weakly, "It was an accident, I was digging for ginseng and I didn't realise the ground was moist so..."

"Are you hurt?"

"I think I sprained my ankle, but I'm okay," she breathed out in relief, "I'm just glad you're here,"

He took off his jacket and tied it around his waist before crouching down and reaching his hand out, "Can you stand? Try taking my hand,"

Sejeong pulled herself up. She limped towards him slowly and reached out to him as best as she could without putting pressure on her damaged ankle.

"Come on, Sejeong-ah," he said to her.

It took everything in her not to yell out in pain, but she stood up on her tiptoes, determined to reach him. As soon as he caught her hand, he told her to hold tight as he pulled her up. Hyoseop felt his heart banging out of his chest, one small slip could result in both of them rolling down the hill. He sat down on the ground to ensure he had leverage and used both of his hands to pull her up.

"Almost there, I've got you,"

As soon as her upper body made it above the slope, he grabbed her as hard as he could to bring her over, which did the trick. Sejeong landed right on his chest, Hyoseop making sure to hold her so that she wouldn't slip back down.

Up until then, Sejeong had been doing well on her own. She knew she made a mistake when she fell down the hill, but she had hope that someone would save her. She didn't realise just how scared she was until that very moment, being in his arms. Letting the tears stream down her face, she held onto Hyoseop for dear life.