Starry Night

fifteen

Over coffee and a couple of rehydrated gourmet breakfast pouches that Seolhyun left behind, Jungkook breaks out his big topographic map of the area and a black metal compass that unfolds to reveal several dials, a clock, and a ruler. He makes several measurements and jots down numbers with a mechanical pencil, and it all looks complicated.

"How are you?" Jungkook says, nodding toward my arm, which I'm scratching.

"A little itchy," I confess. Last night's bear attack and fight sent me back into Hive Overload. "I've got some stuff to put on it, but -"

"But what?"

"It's that stuff from that Ajumma."

He makes a face. "Oh, God. The miracle weed lotion that smells like a scented candle factory got hit by a bomb?"

I point at him. "That's the stuff. And not only does it make my eyes water, I'm sort of afraid to use it here after last night. I don't want to attract bears."

"Hmm," he says. "Your worry is valid. I'll try to think of a solution. In the meantime, here's the route I have in mind."

He turns his map around to show me and opens up his journal, laying it on top. Across two of the journal's pages, he's drawn a not-to-scale map of our planned route, complete with a few tiny symbols sketched at various stopping points. I spot a notation for a waterfall near the bottom and point.

"This is us?"

"This is us," he confirms.

"And these tents are -"

"Camping spots. We have to pass over two claims of mountains to get to Apsan Park."

"Rock climbing?" I say, suddenly freaked out.

"No. Patience, grasshopper. If we go this way," he says, tracing a dotted line with his finger, "we can hike through a network of caves that passes under the mountains. The caves have four exits, and one of them is on the south side of the mountain. Once we make it through, there's an excellent valley where we can camp tonight."

"Hold on. Back up. Spelunking?"

"Walking through a cave is not spelunking. It's walking."

"In the dark."

"We'll have headlamps." He holds up his phone. "I saved a PDF of a hiking book that covers backcountry trails. It says there are several big caves along these mountains, but this one is the longest. And once we get to the other side of the mountain, we'll be able to pick up a bigger trail."

I look at where he's pointing on his homemade map. "I see three sets of tent symbols. Three nights?"

He nods. "To make it to Apsan Park without killing ourselves. And if you change your mind, this is the nearest ranger station. It's on the way, and we'll be passing by it tomorrow. Whatever happens, I won't leave you stranded. If you're thinking that I've abandoned you before -"

"I wasn't." I totally was.

He presses his lips together, then adds. "We can do this, I promise. As long as we follow rules, we shouldn't have any more bear problems. This will be safer than spending three days in civilization. You're more likely to die in a car accident than in a national park."

"There you go, bringing up the possibility of death," I say drily. "I had forgotten about it, but now it's fresh in my mind, thanks."

"You're welcome," he says, smiling. "Now, let's pack up and hit the trail. Miles to go before before we sleep."

Okay, I can do this. It's not the plan I wanted, but it is a plan. One that's been calculated and drawn on paper. I like that. It makes me feel less panicky. I just wish it were my plan and not Jungkook's.