`into the woods
@ccsungjae
“This is supposed to be a great hike for Pokemon,” he huffed dramatically, holding his phone up toward the sky and squinting his eyes against the sun, “And yet I have no service.” The heat and the steep pathways of the hiking route in question had long ago left him sweaty and winded, sore legs struggling to keep up with the overgrown stems Sungjae called limbs. “All I want..” he continued, trudging along and catching his breath between each set of words, tapping uselessly at his phone’s screen, “All I want…is a high-level Sandshrew…and a Charmander…That’s all…Is that so…Much to ask?”
He groaned, stumbling lightly as the toe of his running shoes caught in a small divot in the dirt. “Why did I think this was a good idea? This was a terrible idea. Why isn’t this road air-conditioned?” He picked up his gait slightly, in a short burst, just long enough to catch up with Sungjae and tug desperately at the hem of his shirt. “Wait. Slow down. All of that water I just chugged went through me too fast. I’m gonna go pee. And maybe pass out. Maybe there will be a Charmander in a tree. Or in my dreams.”
He released Sungjae, handing him the empty water bottle in question, and made his way to the edge of the path, disappearing between rows of massive trees until he was satisfactorily concealed from the path and any other hikers that might have passed by. The trees were thick, creating a pleasantly cool layer of shade that was a welcome relief from the relentless late-autumn sun. When he finished, zipping his fly closed, his phone buzzed in his back pocket and he pulled it out, emitting a small pleased noise when he saw the nearby silhouette at the bottom right corner of his screen.
He moved a few feet deeper into the woods, glancing up from where he was staring intently at his phone toward the sudden sound that rang through the trees. It was a loud crack, like a branch falling, and it sounded a little too close to comfort, as if a tree in the vicinity was getting ready to collapse on him at any moment. He glanced at his phone again and frowned when it appeared the Ponyta he’d locked onto had vanished, only to be startled by another loud cracking, this time much closer to him than it had been before.
“Whaaat…the hell…” he uttered, stepping backward as his chin tilted upward to take in the full height of the tree that had somehow materialized just feet in front of him. “That…was always there…” but then it moved, leaves and wood and air shifting around him loudly as one of its massive branches swung at his head. He narrowly dodged it with a shout, only for another smaller branch to swipe at his ankles, knocking him off his feet and the wind out of his lungs, his phone hitting the forest floor next to him.
He scrambled to gain some kind of footing, rolling over to avoid the massive branch that came down where the length of his body had been a split second before. He managed to get to his feet, only to trip on a thick root as it burst from the ground.
“Help!” he shouted as he fell, catching himself on his hands and pushing himself up to run back toward the sunny pathway. “Sungj–” but he was knocked off his feet again, thrown against a nearby tree trunk by another impossibly large branch.
“wait, shut up, my egg is hatching!” there was nothing wrong with yook sungjae’s cellphone service, of course. even if his father had little to do with him on a regular basis, the boy still enjoyed all the benefits of being the child of a very wealthy family. they could afford the best in everything, of course, even in cellphone plans for the optimal pokemon go experience. there’s a moment where he’s excited, hoping for a pokemon that he wouldn’t be able to catch for a while at least ( a tauros or mr. mime or something, he doesn’t really want to travel abroad just for one pokemon just yet ). but his hoped are dashed when it’s just another pidgey.
he breathes out a sigh, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. “damn, that’s disappointing." it’s only then that he manages to acknowledge that ilhoon had said anything at all, humming in sympathy and that start of a frown almost immediately reversing itself into a smile. “why hope for a charmander when you can wish for a charizard? you don’t dream big enough; this is why your bladder hates you.” there’s a lightness to his voice that should make obvious enough his teasing, as if the lack of correlation between dreams and the need to pee didn’t already make it ridiculous enough to be unmistakably a joke. “now unhand me, mortal, and do your business.”
sungjae thinks he’s the greatest best friend in the world when he takes the empty waterbottle, still tapping at his phone with his free hand and hoping that a magikarp will somehow magically appear since he’s already 100 candies in to getting himself a gyarados and he can’t quit now. he doesn’t notice it at first, as engrossed in his phone as he is. the loud sounds of the woods just sounds like your typical wilderness noise, especially to a boy who’s only version of camping and outdoorsy-ness included a luxurious cabin and heated swimming pool. it’s only after he gets bored and realizes that peeing in the woods should not be such a time consuming event that he wonders if he should worry.
worry he does when he hears a shout in a familiar voice, and he’s stuffing his phone in his pocket and walking leisurely into the woods. he doesn’t think it’s serious, it’s just got to be a prank, right? “ilhoon? what, do you need help or something?” he hears another shout, cut off and the thump of something that must have felt just as unpleasant as it sounded, and it’s then that sungjae realizes that maybe he should be worried. “ilhoon? kim ilhoon, where are you?!” he picks up his pace, eyes darting around wildly for a glimpse of his friend; surely he didn’t wander too far off, right?
“are you okay??”
