Starry Night

twenty-seven

When I wake the next morning, I'm completely disoriented. It takes me several seconds to realize that I'm not in a tent with Jungkook; I'm sleeping in his empty bed, and the sheets smell like him, freshly laundered and sunny. So good. For a moment, anyway. Then I spot his wall of reptiles, including his lizard, who's staring at me through his habitat.

"Sorry, buddy," I tell the bearded dragon. "Your master is not here."

And he won't be for several hours. Namoon got a text from Solbin last night before I showed up. Apparently, Jungkook's phone is still dead, and she informed them that he was safe and would be riding home with her today.

I hope he's okay.

Sitting stop a pile of gruesome graphic novels, the clock on Jungkook's beside table says it's half past nine. I smell bacon and coffee, and my stomach leaps with joy. Even though I showered here last night before I dropped dead in Jungkook's bed, I didn't eat, and my body is more than aware that the last meal I had was freeze-dried stew afternoon when Jungkook and I were hiking toward Aspan Park.

Part of me wants to hibernate in Jungkook's room among the stacks of horror comics and DVDs, but I know I can't linger here forever. So after checking the state of my hives - not great, but not out of control - I dress in the clothes I stuffed in my purse last night and head down a short hall to the Jeons' main living area. Jin and RM are already dressed and sitting at the dining room table, browsing news headlines on a tablet with a cracked screen.

"Good morning," Jin says brightly. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like the dead."

"Excellent," he says, getting up to head around the kitchen counter. "How about some food?"

"Yes, please. I'm starving."

RM squints at me. "You haven't developed any new allergies to eggs or pork, have you?"

"As long as no one's cooking shrimp scampi, I'm all good."

"Ugh," Namjoon says, pretending to be exasperated. "Will I ever live that down?"

"Bad shrimp," Jin calls out cheerfully from behind the stove.

I exhale deeply and take a seat next to Namjoon. "I've missed you guys."

"We've missed you too," he assures me, bumping his shoulder against mine.

Jin brings me a plate piled with eggs, bacon, and toast, and I help myself to the pot of coffee that's sitting on the table. "Any word from Jungkook this morning?" I asked, hopeful. I charged my phone overnight, but there were no messages from him.

RM lifts his coffee cup. "Solbin said she'd text when they were leaving today. I told her to let him know you're here with us."

I'm glad, but I also feel left out and unconnected from him. It's weird to be on the other end of the no-phone-service problem. I liked it better when I was the one without reception.

I'm not sure what it is about civilization, but now that I'm here, the nagging urge to stay connected has return. If I can't have him in front of me, I need him to be text away.

Resisting the urge to double-triple-quadruple-check my phone, I instead answer Jin and Namjoon's questions about the trip. They're curious, asking questions, and I tell him a lot of things . . . but not everything. I get the feeling they know exactly what Jungkook and I have been doing in the woods; they're smiling a lot, and it's making me a little uncomfortable, so I just focus on the life-and-death parts of the trip, not the sexlaxation parts. The doorbell rings as I'm telling them about the lightning storm, and when Jin answers it, he talks to someone for a moment and then calls me quietly into the hallway.