— Seven friends enter the Amazon rainforest for adventure. One by one, they disappear into the trees. The forest knows their voices, their memories and their fears. By the time Jake realises what’s hunting them, he’s already alone.
The sound of insects was louder than the engine.
Jake pressed his forehead against the jeep window, staring out at the green stretching past the dirt road. Trees towered over them like walls and vines hung low enough to touch the car.
“This is insane,” he said quietly, almost to himself.
Sunoo laughed from the seat beside him. “You’ve said that like twenty times already.”
“Because it is insane,” Jake replied, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “Do you know how many undiscovered species are probably out there?”
Jay groaned dramatically from the back. “Please don’t start naming bugs again.”
Everyone laughed except Sunghoon, who sat near the back window with his headphones around his neck, watching the forest pass by silently. He didn’t say much most of the time, but nobody minded. That was just how Sunghoon was. Quiet, calm, always somewhere in his own head.
Niki leaned over the seat, grinning. “If we get attacked by giant spiders, I’m sacrificing Jake first.”
Jake scoffed. “You’d never survive without me.”
“That’s true,” Jungwon muttered. “None of us would.”
Jungwon had been checking the map every ten minutes since they landed. Even now, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he stared at the folded paper in his lap.
“You nervous?” Evan asked from the front passenger seat.
Jungwon shrugged. “Just making sure we’re not getting kidnapped.”
“We’re literally with a tour driver,” Jay said.
“That’s exactly what someone about to get kidnapped says.”
Another round of laughter filled the jeep.
Evan smiled faintly and shook his head. He was the oldest, and somehow the one everyone naturally listened to. Even when things got chaotic, Evan always seemed steady. Relaxed. Like he already had everything handled before anyone else noticed there was a problem.
The driver suddenly pointed ahead.“There,” he said in broken English.
The house appeared slowly through the trees. It sat alone on a hill overlooking the rainforest, old wooden walls wrapped with vines and a rusted metal roof that reflected the late afternoon sun. It wasn’t huge, but it looked sturdy enough.
Jay blinked. “Okay that’s definitely haunted.”
“It’s beautiful,” Sunoo said at the exact same time.
Jake was already reaching for his backpack before the car stopped. The second he stepped outside, the heat hit him hard. Thick air. Wet air. The smell of rain and earth and plants so alive it almost felt overwhelming. He loved it instantly.
“You’re smiling like a psychopath,” Jay told him.
Jake ignored him completely, already staring at birds flying overhead.
“Oh my god,” he whispered. “Did you see that?”
“No,” Niki said. “Because normal people were grabbing their luggage.”
Sunoo stepped beside Jake, following his gaze upward. A bright blue bird disappeared into the canopy.
“They’re everywhere,” Sunoo said softly, smiling.
For a moment, both of them looked like little kids.
Evan clapped his hands once. “Alright, before Jake runs into the forest and gets eaten alive, let’s get inside.”
The house creaked constantly.
That was the first thing everyone noticed. Every floorboard groaned under their feet, every window rattled slightly from the wind outside. But the inside was cozy enough. Old furniture, dim lights, two bedrooms upstairs, one downstairs, and a narrow kitchen near the back door.
Niki immediately claimed the bed closest to the window upstairs.
Jay threw his bag onto another bed. “If something watches me sleep through that window, I’m suing all of you.”
“You can’t sue ghosts,” Sunoo replied.
Jake wandered through the house slowly, fascinated by everything. Old books left on shelves. Faded maps hanging crooked on walls. Tiny animal sketches carved into the wooden staircase.
Then he noticed Sunghoon standing alone near the back door.
But his eyes stayed fixed on the forest outside.
Jake walked closer. “What?”
Sunghoon hesitated before speaking.
Sunghoon looked toward the trees again.
“Like we’re being watched.”
Jake laughed quietly. “That’s because there’s probably like a thousand animals out there.”
Sunghoon didn’t smile back.
That evening, the rain started.
Heavy drops hammered against the roof while the group sat around the kitchen table eating instant noodles and snacks they’d bought in town earlier.
Jay was halfway through telling an exaggerated story about getting chased by a goose when Sunoo nearly choked laughing.
“It was demonic!” Jay defended himself.
“It was a duck,” Jungwon said flatly.
“A demon duck.” Jay accused the duck, acting as if the creature was in the room. "Wait yo, that goes together.. demon duck, you hear it?"
The silence that followed was funnier than the joke.
Niki was crying laughing at this point.
Even Sunghoon smiled a little from the corner of the table.
Evan noticed immediately. “There he is,” he said. “Thought we lost you.”
Sunghoon’s smile faded almost as quickly as it appeared.
Later that night, the power went out for exactly seven seconds. The entire house dropped into darkness. Nobody moved and the rain got louder.
Jay blinked. “Okay. Hate that.”
Niki laughed nervously. “You’re actually scared.”
“I’m not scared,” Jay said. “I just think dying in the Amazon would be embarrassing.”
Evan stood and stretched. “Get some sleep. We’re heading into the forest tomorrow.”
Chairs scraped against the floor as everyone slowly headed upstairs.
Jake stayed behind a moment longer, scribbling notes into the small journal he carried everywhere.
Species spotted. Weather patterns. Sounds.
But just before closing the notebook, he paused. Something moved outside the kitchen window. Fast.
Jake looked up sharply. Nothing was there.
Only darkness and rain beyond the glass. After a second, he shook his head. Probably an animal.
Upstairs, doors closed one by one. The house settled into silence. Somewhere deep in the rainforest, something screamed.
