RESTART

What Happened Between Us (The Past Chapter 1)

The Past Part 1 [This chapter contains no scene from the Present Timeline]

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The night sky was beautifully lit as the stars wrapped themselves around the moon. The wind rustled the leaves of the forest, which surrounded them for miles all around. The early birds had gone to bed, while the night owls signaled their arrival, becoming a new instrument in nature's cacophony. A warm fire flickered slightly as it consumed the crackling wood beneath it, its insatiable flame devouring everything it touched.

A few branches were angled downward towards the fire, skewered onto the end of each stick was a marshmallow. They slightly melted and collapsed as they roasted; the smell wafted through the air and stirred the attendees' hunger.

"That smells good," Solar took a whiff.

"Yeah," Moonbyul nodded, "let's finish setting up this—wait, what's that smell," she took a moment to confirm her suspicion. "It's burning. It's burning!"

They quickly rushed over to the fire and to their chagrin, they saw the smoldering marshmallows rolling about in the fire pit.

"What a waste," Solar pouted. "They've fallen off!" She stared in horror as the fallen marshmallows continued to disintegrate.

"No worries. No worries," Moonbyul reassured her, "the next ones will be better." She tapped her chest confidently.

"Really?"

"Of course! Leave it to me." She exclaimed. "I'll make some delicious S'mores for you!"

"Okay," Solar smiled and nodded, "you're the best," she gave Moonbyul a quick peck on the lips.

Moonbyul scratched her head as she smiled shyly.

"Oh crap, our tent!"

Moonbyul suddenly recalled that she was in the midst of setting up their sleeping area when she had to abandon it partway through. She turned toward the tent and sighed at its sorry state. It had partly collapsed as though it was desperately trying to garner some attention.

"It's fine. It's fine," Solar reassured. "We can fix it. We can fix it!" She said happily.

Moonbyul smiled sweetly and nodded.

"What a disaster." She mumbled to herself. "I'd even studied up on camping beforehand to show that I had some experience."

I wonder if she took notice of my lack of camping skills, Solar thought to herself. But then, it seems we're both pretty terrible at this.

They smiled at each other nervously before heading back to their tent. They checked the instructions once again before they continued setting it up. It wasn't long before they finished and laid out their sleeping bags inside. They double checked to make sure everything was good before they went back to making S'mores.

This time they sat by the fire; Moonbyul was in charge of holding their marshmallow sticks in the proper orientation. Meanwhile, Solar grabbed the acoustic guitar she'd brought along and started playing. Her elegant fingers gracefully plucked the strings as she seamlessly moved from one chord to the next. The music stole Moonbyul's heart and attention, almost causing her to drop the marshmallow sticks into the fire pit once again. Solar giggled at the frantic Moonbyul, who quickly yanked their food out of harm's way.

"You're not helping!"

"But your face—it's so funny!" She held onto her stomach as she laughed. "Oh it hurts too much!" She proclaimed without stopping.