The other group who went into the forest hasn't returned yet.
When I realised that, I tapped Jaesuk just as he was about to fall asleep.
"Hey... hey... wake up"
"Mmm... What is it..."
Jaesuk grumbled asking me. He looks so tired that I feel so sorry for him.
"The other group still hasn't returned yet"
Hearing that, Jaesuk got startled and suddenly rose to his feet. He then looked around the cafe and realised that I wasn't kidding.
"Damn it... how can I forget about them..."
He then walked to where Andy and Martin were resting and woke them up. After telling them that the other group still haven't returned, they quickly got up and got ready to go out and look for them.
The search group of course, included me.
Due to the noise we make, other people started waking up one by one and started asking around.
"What happened? It's so late at night..."
"The other group still haven't returned yet..."
"What? Now that I think about it, there's less of us now"
While we're getting ready to go out, Shresta suddenly said:
"Are you guys sure to look for them at this time? It's basically midnight and you can't see anything out there"
'That's true! You're so smart Shresta!' is what I was about to say, when I was suddenly struck with realisation.
"Wait, then how're the light in this cafe is still on?"
"..."
Everyone just staring blankly at each other at the sudden realisation. The situation is getting more and more fucked as time passes.
Phones turned off, watch not working properly, the light still on even though we're basically in the middle of nowhere with no electric supply.
I wonder what kind of disturbing things will happen next. There's no realistic explanation as to how some things are not working and how some are still working.
What's happening to us right now seems like a common novel plot where we split into two groups, where one group walks the completely safe area, while the other went to the dangerous one. And when we go out to look for them, we realised that this forest is actually dangerous as there's wild animals inside, and few will die while trying to look for the other group due to being too scared to fight back.
As I was thinking about that kind of plot, Kim Jaesuk said:
"Let's think about that latter. What's important now is to find the other group before something happen. I don't think there's enough water for them to hold until morning"
"What if they just got lost and they come back while we're inside the forest?"
I asked. Honestly, I really don't want to look for them because the other group are bunch of retards anyway, but I think that being together with Kim Jaesuk is more safer than being in this cafe without him.
"We'll just look for them for a while, then if we can't find them we're gonna come back to the cafe. Our safety is more important after all"
Kim Jaesuk said before walking out of the door.
'Yes, if our safety is more important then its better not to look for them at all!',
is what I wanna say but,
"Sure, let's go"
is what I ended up saying.
Andy and Martin nodded as well before following behind Kim Jaesuk, which leaves me with no choice but to go as well.
Just as we're a step away from the front door, Shresta suddenly called us and handed a thin rope and a small box.
"Eh... what's this for?"
I asked, which then Shresta explain:
"Use the rope to tie you guys together so that you guys don't get split apart. There's some lighter inside this box as well that you can use to light fire. There's only few so use it wisely"
"Whaa.. how you have this much lighter?"
"I got it from everyone. Most of them inside smokes after all..."
"Okay okay..."
We then proceed as advised. We tie the thin rope one by one into our waist and connect each other between a meter each, with Kim Jaesuk being in the front, me, Andy, then Martin at the back. Each of us are holding a small lighter
"Okay let's go..."
"Oi Jaesuk, don't forget to mark the trees. Make the mark a little bigger..."
"Yeah..."
"Everyone shout if there's any strange movement of if you heard any noise"
"Roger that"
And just like that, our first night adventure began just after half a day here.
---
Walking into the forest, we entered through the way the other group went earlier. One thing I noticed is that they didn't leave any mark or whatsoever that I can notice, which makes it very hard to decide which way to go.
I thought about splitting but it could be very dangerous in the dark of night as well, as such we just continued to walk blindly, while Kim Jaesuk marked the trees way more than He did in the afternoon earlier.
"Shit.. its so quiet that its creepy"
"I know right, say something funny Martin..."
"Umm... okay here I go. Yesterday, I asked Sara, the AI technology on my smartphone why am I single, do you know what it said?"
"What?"
"It opened the front camera of my smartphone..."
"..."
Hearing the not so funny jokes from behind me, I let out a sigh.
"Pfft..."
But I heard Kim Jaesuk laugh a bit from their joke.
(rustle)
"!!!"
That sudden sounds scared the crap out of us, which raises our alertness level to the very top. Kim Jaesuk then asked:
"Did you guys hear that?"
"Yeah... shit..."
"Maybe it's the wind..."
Andy and Martin answered, while I kept looking around. There's no way that it's wind because it's not windy at all. Even if it is, it's not windy enough to make that sounds.
"Let's walk very slowly..."
Kim Jaesuk said, before walking forward lightly.
(tap... tap... tap...)
The sound of our footsteps coming from the ground are the only thing we can hear as it's completely quiet at the moment.
'Shit... I should've just stayed quiet. Why did I even bother telling Jaesuk about it'
Is what I thought at the moment. I'm so frustrated that our current predicament is caused by bunch of idiot getting lost in the forest. There are five of them in the group and no one even thought to left a mark behind so they won't get lost on the way back? What stupidity.
'Ah... I'm stupid as well for telling Jaesuk earlier. Should've just let him sleep so we don't have to look for the idiots...'
The more I think about it, the more pissed I get. This always happen to me where I say something and I regret what happen next, even though the context is different in this case.
We've been walking for probably about 30 minutes and there's still no sign of anyone. Plus that it's so dark that we can't see even if there's any sign.
Andy then say:
"Hey, don't you think it's about time to head back? I don't think we can find them anyway..."
"I think so too..."
Followed by Martin. Jaesuk then asked for my opinion,
"I agree with Andy. We can't risk ourselves getting lost just to look for them blindly without any direction like this"
"Hmmm..."
Kim Jaesuk then thought about it a bit before agreeing to go back.
"Okay then let's go back... Let's switch place Martin"
They then switch place so that Kim Jaesuk will be in front leading the way back to the cafe. Even though its dark, we easily find our way back thanks to the big mark on the trees that Kim Jaesuk made and the lighter collected by Shresta.
This is the first time that I feel so thankful to a Nepalese people, please accept my gratitude Shresta brother.
Arriving at the cafe, I see that everyone's still up except for the boy who's asleep on his mother's lap. I'm surprised that the women are still awake though.
Shresta then walks toward us asking:
"How did it go?"
"Well, do you see anyone beside us coming back?"
Kim Jaesuk answered with a forced smile.
"We can't find any traces of the other group and its too dark to see anything even with the lighter, so we decided that it's too dangerous to keep looking for them. We can only hope that they'll come back in the morning..."
"Well, it can't be helped then... Let's just hope that they come back later..."
Saying that, our group disperse each to our resting place. Just as me and Kim Jaesuk were about to lay down, someone asked:
"What if... what if they don't come back?"
"..."
I don't know who asked that but,
"Then it is what it is..."
Is what Kim Jaesuk answered.