Terror in the Thicket
Lee Seong-un pursued the fleeing Lee Seo-hee at a leisurely pace. He watched from behind a tree as she quickly exhausted herself, gasping for breath. 'Good thing she couldn't go far.'
The deep forest of the deserted island hid a lake where countless beasts and insects gathered to drink. Among them lurked deadly threats. The most notorious were the wild boars and venomous snakes. Starving wild boars saw humans as prey and charged without hesitation. Some snakes were aggressively territorial; one bite meant agonizing death.
Lee Seong-un had encountered both. He'd taken down a wild boar by hiding behind trees and rocks, but the snake had been different. He didn't know how many snake species infested the island, but once, in his overconfident prime as a full-fledged wild man, he'd been bitten. Luckily, it was on his arm; he sucked out the venom in time. Still, he'd endured unprecedented fever and bone-shattering body aches for days, teetering on the brink of death.
A normal person might have developed a phobia of snakes, but Lee Seong-un was different. Tragedy could strike in the cave as easily as the forest. He obsessively observed them from afar, discovering plants they instinctively avoided. He gathered and crushed these, smearing them on rocks around the cave entrance. When food was scarce, he coated his body and bamboo spear with the paste to hunt snakes for protein.
If Lee Seo-hee had enough stamina to flee deeper into the woods, Lee Seong-un would have reluctantly given up. But this spot wasn't safe either.
'First, I need to drive her back.'
As she caught her breath, Lee Seong-un cleared his throat quietly and let out a long, beastly growl. It worked; the exhausted girl hunched her shoulders and retreated along her escape path.
Whenever Lee Seo-hee scanned her surroundings, creeping forward or pausing to rest, Lee Seong-un—trailing at a distance—growled again from hiding. It was like a hunter herding prey into a trap.
Intoxicated by the unexpected thrill, Lee Seong-un kept it up until Lee Seo-hee tripped over a root and tumbled down. He considered stopping, recalling his original goal, but the sight of her scrambling away on all fours like a dog filled him with perverse glee.
Lee Seo-hee slapped her thighs, forcing her weary legs onward. Lee Seong-un maintained his distance. More than her fleeing backside, he craved her terrified face. With twisted intent, he circled ahead at full speed and hid behind another tree.
All that remained was to "rescue" her as she crawled like a tortoise in exhaustion.
But then—
Kuuuueeek—!!! A grotesque cry echoed through the forest. Lee Seong-un's face paled as he gripped the bamboo spear slung over his shoulder and burst out.
"Stay quiet and come over here."
He beckoned her carefully, but Lee Seo-hee—pushed beyond physical and mental limits—couldn't think straight.
"S-save me...! Please save me!!!"
Swallowing a curse, Lee Seong-un yelled at her to hide behind the tree as she cowered behind him. His plan had been to show her the wild's terror, then appear as her savior to build dependence. But things had gone awry.
Heavy, enraged footsteps shook the ground, closing in. Suddenly, a wild boar burst from the underbrush—its fur stiffened with leaves and mud.
'Smaller than I thought.'
Barely knee-high on an adult, like a midsize dog on the smaller end, but its ferocity rivaled a full-grown one's.
Prioritizing escape with Lee Seo-hee over his back, Lee Seong-un leveled his spear at it.
"Hey. Hide behind that tree over there..."
"Yes!"
Snapping to her senses behind him, Lee Seo-hee ducked behind the tree with a trembling voice. Lee Seong-un counted it a blessing as the boar scraped the earth, snorting aggressively, ready to charge.
Kwaaak!!!
Wild boars were dangerously aggressive. Even juveniles barreled into anything. People thought dodging was easy, but their explosive acceleration defied imagination. In a split second, before you could react, flesh tore or bones snapped—accidents were commonplace.
'Guess tonight's dinner gets some grease.'
But after five years adrift, Lee Seong-un was no ordinary man. Full-grown boars were beyond him, but this piglet? He sidestepped the charge effortlessly, defying armchair theories. He followed up leisurely, stabbing the vulnerable neck and flanks.
The simple, bold evade-and-strike repeated. The bamboo spear pierced stiff bristles, drawing blood and agonized squeals.
Boars weren't dumb; they fled stronger foes. Sensing defeat, it tried to bolt, but Lee Seong-un anticipated it.
As it mustered a final charge-escape, he thrust with all his might. The spear sank deep into its neck. Hitting the windpipe by luck, it spewed blood instead of a scream.
Lee Seong-un leaned his weight in; the blade tore through remaining flesh, grinding into the dirt.
"It's dead."
He yanked the spear free without a hint of fatigue, kicking the head as he muttered to himself.
"Hey, you still there?"
Lee Seo-hee peeked out from the tree, stunned.
Normally, she'd have fled at the first chance. But witnessing Lee Seong-un dominate the boar, she chose to stay hidden. Or rather, survival instinct dictated it. In this death-trap island, sticking by this man meant safety—an unconscious certainty overriding her visceral disgust.
"Was the one we ate before rotten or something?"
Meanwhile, Baek Jin-ah sat in the beach shadows, tilting her head curiously as she sated her hunger with coconut flesh. The ones Lee Seong-un had fetched tasted worlds apart from hers.
"Dunno. Ah, now that I'm full, I feel alive~"
With her belly content, such questions faded.
"More than that, if you're going somewhere, at least say so. What am I supposed to do if you just vanish?"
She grumbled about their wordless disappearance, but her lips curved upward. Spared from scavenging debris under the blazing sun while watching Lee Seong-un's every move, this sweet respite—however temporary—genuinely delighted her.
'...But can we really get back?'
Relaxing into leisure, Baek Jin-ah reflected on her plight. Rescue was certain, but Lee Seong-un's five-year survival tale stuck like a thorn, looping in her mind. She recalled the countless notches on the cave wall. Unease crept in.
"No way."
Dismissing it deliberately, she thought of her yacht friends' families. Her parents and theirs would surely spearhead the search. She believed it firmly.
'And today I scored something good, so maybe he'll let me skip the handjob. Play it right, and I can dump it all on that bitch Lee Seo-hee.'
Above all, after they vanished, she'd found today's prize right beside her—and grinned slyly. It looked like sodden seaweed, but it was her favorite brand backpack. She'd packed little herself, leaving it to a friend to drive the boat, but the contents would enrich island life.
She laughed to herself—who gets luck like this?—when a suspicious noise from the dense forest made her leap up, backing away.
Tension replaced her smile. As something approached slowly from the brush, she gripped empty coconut shells in both hands, trembling.
If it was a beast, she'd hurl them to scare it off. But if it charged in rage from the hit?
Biting her lip to steady herself, Baek Jin-ah retreated another step, holding her breath. Then the unknown beast emerged—and she flung the shells with all her might.
Thwack!
She froze, speechless, unable to flee. It wasn't a starving beast, but Lee Seong-un—returned without a word, boar carcass on his shoulder. One shell had smacked his forehead.
"O-oh, you're back?"
Blood trickled down his brow, but he didn't wipe it. Emotionless eyes silently stared down Baek Jin-ah, still clutching her empty shells.