Euphoria- Park Jong-Seong

CH: 28

The soft hum of the mini-bus engine filled the silence, broken occasionally by quiet laughter and low conversation. It was still early morning—clouds drifted lazily through the pale sky, and the city was slowly shrinking behind them.

Seven.
Only seven I-LANDERs had moved on after Part 1.

Anushka sat at the second-last seat on the left side by the window, her head slightly tilted as she looked outside. She wore a loose t-shirt tucked into comfortable trousers, a baseball hat pulled low. Her hair had grown a little—no longer barely-there short, now curling out at the sides under the hat. Next to her, Jake sat comfortably, one earbud in his left ear, the other in hers. Music buzzed softly between them, filling the shared silence with comfort.

"Did you ever think we'd make it this far?" Jake said, voice low so only she could hear.

Anushka gave him a side glance. "No. Especially not after the first round," she replied honestly. "But... maybe we were too harsh on ourselves."

Jake smiled faintly. "You were. I always knew you'd make it."

Anushka rolled her eyes. "Simp."

"You miss it," he grinned.

She didn't reply—just pulled her knees up a bit and rested her chin on them as the others started chattering louder.

Heeseung, sitting ahead of them, turned around. "We're not gonna get murdered in the woods, right?"

"Would be a pretty good plot twist," Sunghoon replied, munching on snacks. "Imagine the ratings."

"You guys watched too many thrillers," Anushka muttered, adjusting her hat.

Jay leaned back from his seat in front of them. "Let's just hope there's hot water and food."

"And a bed," Jungwon added. "A proper one. Not like those stiff mats from I-LAND."

They all laughed.

The bus came to a soft halt in front of a low, modern building surrounded by tall trees and an eerie quietness. It was clearly built for training, but there was a peacefulness to it—almost like it hadn't seen chaos yet.

As the doors opened and cool air rushed in, the seven stepped out, stretching and taking in their surroundings. Their bags were unloaded, and staff members guided them toward the dorms.

Each of them was assigned to a double room, with one person getting a single due to the odd number.

Anushka and Sunghoon ended up as roommates—unexpected but easy-going.

Later that afternoon, they stepped outside again for a walk around the grounds. The training center was surrounded by a forest trail, small patches of open space, and even a basketball court.

"Honestly, it's kinda peaceful here," Jungwon said, spinning slowly in a circle.

"Too peaceful. Like something bad's gonna happen," Jay said dramatically, causing Heeseung to fake a horror scream and chase him.

Anushka chuckled as Jake walked beside her, occasionally kicking a small rock down the path.

Staff members soon called them over and explained that they could rest until the next 16 trainees—Grounders—arrived the following day. The official training would begin after that.

Relieved, they made their way back to the dorms, planning to just unwind for the night.

The sky had darkened hours ago. Most of the lights in the training building were already off, except for a faint orange glow from the corridor lights. The others were in their rooms, either asleep or too tired to talk.

Anushka stepped out onto the balcony in her slippers, wearing a hoodie too big for her. She rubbed her palms together from the cool breeze and leaned onto the railing, staring at the forest ahead.

She wasn't expecting to find Jake already there, sitting quietly on the ledge, hoodie up, arms crossed over his knees. He glanced sideways when he noticed her.

"...You too?" he asked, voice low.

She nodded. "Couldn't sleep."

Jake scooted over slightly, wordlessly making space for her. She sat next to him without question. For a while, they didn't say anything. The silence wasn't awkward—it never was.

"You thinking about tomorrow?" she asked finally.

He shrugged. "Not really tomorrow. Just... everything."

Anushka didn't press him. She waited.

"...I've been feeling weird lately," he said after a beat. "Like, even though we made it, something's off. Like there's something I'm not dealing with properly."

Her head turned slightly. "Like what?"

Jake hesitated. "You ever feel like... you've done everything right but still messed something up on the way?"

Anushka stared straight ahead. "Yeah," she said after a pause. "A lot, actually."

He glanced at her, as if hoping she'd say more, but she didn't.

Jake leaned back, pressing his shoulders against the cool wall behind them.

"I don't regret anything," he murmured.

That caught her off guard a little. She turned her head to him. "Hm?"

"I mean... the decisions I made. Back in the earlier days. The choices. I don't regret them," he repeated, "but sometimes I wonder if we could've done things differently."

Anushka lowered her eyes, her fingers curling around the sleeve ends of her hoodie.

"...Yeah," she replied. "But we were kids. We didn't know what we were doing. We were scared."

Jake's lips quirked a bit. "You still think we were scared?"

She met his gaze this time. "Don't you?"

He looked away. "Maybe."

They both grew quiet again, the sound of distant crickets filling the space between them.

"...We're different now," Jake said.

"Yeah," Anushka agreed.

"But you still act like you know me better than anyone," he teased softly, trying to lighten the heaviness.

"Maybe I do," she shot back, smirking just a little.

Jake turned toward her. "Do you?"

She held his gaze for a second longer than she meant to. Then shrugged. "People change."

Jake's voice dropped. "You didn't. Not completely."

Anushka swallowed, her voice barely a whisper. "Neither did you."

There was a long beat where the air felt thick, like both of them were waiting for the other to say something first. But neither did.

"...I miss when things were simple," Jake said at last. "Like when we didn't overthink everything. When it was just... fun. Natural."

"Same," Anushka admitted.

He gave her a look. "Do you think we'll ever have that again?"

"I don't know," she said honestly. "Maybe not the same. But something better, maybe. Something that doesn't need fixing later."

Jake looked at her for a long time.

She didn't look back.

Then he quietly stood. "We should probably sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Yeah," she said, still sitting.

As he stepped back into the dorm, he paused in the doorway.

"...Night, Anu."

"Night, Jakey."

When the door closed, Anushka stayed there on the ledge, her breath fogging in the air.

She smiled a little—sad and small.

We were scared, yeah...But not of failing. We were scared of losing each other.