The Forest: Hide and Seek
The Forest: The Beginning
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Warning- Paranoia, Fear
The park was a soft green carpet stretched as far as she could see. The sun hid behind the heavy clouds, as usual. The cold air caressed her exposed skin cold as she walked into the park, wanting to remain in the open area, even though it was getting windy.
“Hi!” the voice did not sound to be within arm’s reach.
Looking around, she saw Namjoon entering the park with a paper bag in his hold. As soon as he reached her, his smile had grown into a grin. He smelled like pinewood with a hint of rain-drenched soil. Overall, soothing and welcoming. He exuded a physical warmth that felt to be soothing in the weather.
“I thought of a proper picnic, so picked up a few snacks and a mat. Hope you do not mind?”
There was a flicker of uncertainty in his usually self-assured and confident eyed. And (Y/N) was quick to soothe that.
“Oh no, no, that is such a considerate and sweet gesture. Let me find an appropriate place with here.”
“Oh, no need for that, I have recently discovered the pond this park holds, right in the middle of the boscage here. Even though it is much larger and denser than one, I must admit- it’s more like a mini-wood really.”
He beamed, excitement twinkling in his eyes as they went rounder. It was the softer side she was witnessing even though he had always had a kind and gentle demeanour. (Y/N) had never seen him like this, a child-like glee in his deep, dark eyes.
“Uh–won’t it be colder there?”
“Oh no, no, you can set a campfire with purchased wood from there. They have it all planned. It’s one of the latest parks in the city after all. Now, shall we?” he offered another kind smile, he came prepared, she could tell by how he had panned the friendly picnic.
The pond was indeed located in the middle of the boscage. And Namjoon was right, it would be unfitting to call the area a boscage, it was indeed, like a mini woods, filled with squirrels and perhaps rabbits. But that did not make (Y/N) any less uncomfortable.
The odd sensation of having eyes on her was out of pure paranoia, she knew it, but that hardly helped. There was a proper footpath and bicycle road to navigate around the greens in the park, but they appeared no less daunting to her. She kept close to Namjoon all the way to the pond.
The pond was surrounded by a small clearing and people already relaxing there. Feeding the ducks and fish there. Turned out, Namjoon had brought a packet of breadcrumbs as well.
The afternoon was spent in pleasant company. Namjoon had deep knowledge in various fields, especially regarding plants, marine animals and music. He composed music as a hobby, she discovered.
The sprawling park, as far as she had discovered, was filled with picturesque spots- no wonder it was one of the most popular picnic spots in the city.
“So, what more have you been studying in folkloristics?”
Namjoon had a curious mind, not surprising with his degree from such a prestigious University. A scholarship, he had won a scholarship after cracking the institution’s onerous entrance exam with impressive grades.
“Ah, well, we are currently studying the folklores about Forest elves and Lycans.”
Namjoon’s lips pulled up into an intrigued smile “That’s interesting, tell me more.”
“As far as what we have learnt, Forest elves are viewed in a positive light by most cultures, Lycans on the other hand…” she trailed off
“What about them?” Namjoon’s tone was curious
“People are cautious bout these creatures. You see, they are associated with necromancy in some folklores. Pretty disturbing stuff, really.”
“Oh…Like?” Namjoon’s curiosity refused to ebb as he refurnished the campfire- a much-needed task- seeing how quickly the temperature had begun to drop.
“Like…How they carnage, how they hunted humans and their livestock and stuff.”
The sun had begun to dip and the clouds cleared just enough for the place to be lit up by the fading, golden sunlight. The hues of orange splashed over Namjoon, his features illuminated into perfection, especially his eyes- those deep swirls of coffee that flashed copper just for a moment when the waning sunrays were at their brightest before darkness began to overshadow the place once more.
“Uh, it’s getting late, don’t you think we should be heading back home?” (Y/N) looked around, only a few people remained near the pond, most of whom had begun to pick up their mats and lunchboxes.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like this a real forest. Besides, I know this place well enough, I come here every morning and evening for a run.” Namjoon reassured in vain.
As the darkness began to shroud the place, she grew anxious. Places like these were the ones she felt the least safe in. Licking her lips, she tried to come up with some excuse to head back home before nightfall.
“Namjoon I have to go to bed early, I even have one assignment to complete. Can we please head back?”
“Oh, I see, let’s go then.” he agreed with a smile, even though he clearly had intended to stay until later.
“Oh, these are the unused pieces of wood, wait, I will deposit them back. You can pack up the rest meanwhile, okay?” he offered, to which, she nodded as she began to roll the picnic mat while Nmaoon walked away.
By the time she was done, the sun had dipped away and the remaining light was fading too soon, yet, there was no sign of Namjoon. The fact that she was left alone by the pond with the last visitor sitting a few feet away, made her squeamish.
She dialled him immediately, but to her rising anxiety, he did not pick up his phone. Clutching the mat tighter and picking up the picnic bag, she was left with no other choice but to begin walking towards the direction Namjoon had left.
Behind the veil of darkness, the boscage of trees and well-cut out shrubs gave the ambience of a forest. A dark, deep forest. The clouds hovered over and the low rumbling warned regarding the worsening of the weather. Under the moonless sky, now completely embraced by darkness, the wind picked up pace, the slow yet frequent rustling of leaves made her put efforts to calm herself down.
“Namjoon?” she called out, mentally cringing at how low her call was- more of a whisper.
Understandably, there was no response, only the calls of the squirrels already headed home. Those creatures were in the safety of their home, but she felt lost in the fore—no, it was a park.
It’s just a stupid park, and these are simply trees. Stop being a wimp!
(Y/N) attempted to chide herself. Quickening her pace, she mustered up a louder call this time.
“Namjoon!”
Rustles of leaves and…
Crunch!
The crunching of dried leaves made her heart skip a beat. She stood still, and when the leaves crunched, she, at that moment too, was unmoving. Frozen, but a little hopeful, she tried to listen closer. It could also be Namjoon. Yes, that was why the leaves were crunching!
“Nam–Namjoon!” her voice turned a little shaky. She looked around for any sign of Namjoon, but all she could see were trees and dried leaves covering the ground.
Taking a few more hesitant steps, she was met with the sight of a closed camping material shop. But there was no sign of Namjoon.
“Namjoon—”
Crunch
Crunch
Snap!
The snapping of a twig brought back terrifying memories. (Y/N) whipped around,
“Namjoon it’s not funny, come out, I have to get back home!” she gulped right after that- throat suddenly feeling parched.
There was a quick rustling of leaves behind her as if someone….or something had swiftly passed them.
Licking her lips, she tried to work on steadying her breathing which was turning faster with each passing moment. The place suddenly had seemed to have fallen into an ominous lull.
Breathe
Breathe
Everything will be okay
Everything is—
Crunch
Crunch
The leaves crunched closer this time, and she dared not to look behind, because she could feel the heaviness, and if she would turn around, she…she did not know what to expect, except for the fact that nothing good would come out of it.
“Haah!”
“AAAH!” (Y/N) almost slipped on the ground, screaming in terror.
But a chuckling Namjoon held hers steady.
“Oh my—I never expected you to be this scared.”
At this point, (Y/N) was fuming, but he still had the audacity to laugh after giving her the scare of her life.
Namjoon’s amusement did not last though, his eyes grew concerned, and she realised the reason on feeling the warm wetness over her cool cheeks.
She could not help it, she had been petrified.
“Hey–hey I’m sorry I am so sorry, I never meant to—wait!”
Without sparing him another glance, she turned around and began to make her way towards the exit of the park. She could not bear to look into his face without screaming at him.
“(Y/N)! Wait—I’m so sorry, I never thought that you—It had been Jin’s silly idea, wait for me!” he continued to splutter, clearly affected by her being so upset.
Under any normal circumstances, it would have been no more than a silly prank, and any other person would have just laughed it off. But that was the point, her fear of such places did not let her feel normal, it made her so vulnerable, and Namjoon had unknowingly just pushed her towards her fear.
------
The rest of their journey back to the apartment building was filled with tense silence, Namjoon was guilty and concerned, she could sense it, but she was way disturbed to even bother.
“I never thought that the prank would make you so upset (Y/N), I just…I wanted to come off as playful and…It backfired, as we can see.” he sighed out, “I am sorry, I am just…”
“That’s your floor.” she did not wait for him to finish, did not even look at him. The elevator dinged and the doors slid open to Namjoon’s floor.
With a sigh, he got off, while she kept her eyes on the buttons as she pressed the one to close the elevator doors.
—-----
This could not be happening. But again, Namjoon had almost turned a regular at the bistro she worked in, so it should not be surprising, this time, she knew that he was not there only for the food.
“Can we talk?” Namjoon replied when she asked what he would like to order.
“Namjoon, I am at work.”
“After work…Please.”
She narrowed her eyes challengingly at him. His tone was nowhere near pleading, more of a request that sounded like one that could not be ignored.
“Okay.” she found herself giving, despite her never planning to do so.
It was shortly after her shift was over that she found herself seated across Namjoon, a cup of double shot expresso with steams rising before her and a sheepish Namjoon.
“I'm so sorry for what happened that evening.” he sighed.
It had only been a day since that incident but it had not felt any better.
“I did not mean to scare you so much, and trust me, I had no idea that it would rattle you so much.”
It was not his fault, it would have been a lighthearted joke to any other person. But not to her. To (Y/N), it was a prank that held the potential to pull her back to the rattled sta of mind she had left behind years ago.
“Why would you pull such a prank. You don’t seem so childish.” it was not her intention to bite back like that, but she could not help the annoyance flaring within her.
“It was Jin’s idea. He told me that women like playful men?”
Namjoon rubbed that back of his neck as his cheeks dusted the faintest shade of pink, the warmth was visible.
“But it backfired, and I am deeply sorry for what had happened. I wanted us to be on better terms. But it backfired.”
His tone was sincere and regretful, and she did not have it in herself to remain cold to him. It was not like Nmajoon did that with any scheme in his mind, he only wished to come off as playful and approachable. She always could see why- ever since she had met him, she had been involuntarily distant to him, her guards had been too high, she had been a bit too wary.
“I…I just don’t like dense forests…Feels like an endless maze.”
Namjoon gave her an understanding nod, she was thankful for him not questioning her further- it was a relief- most people would become instantly curious, but Namjoon seemed to be understanding enough to sense that she was not comfortable enough to share anything more.
“Uh…I and Jin were thinking if it would be fine for you and Cindy to join us for dinner this weekend?”
“I will have to confirm with Cindy, she works as a nurse and sometimes she has double shifts so…”
“Yes, yes, we understand, you should confirm with Cindy first. Hospital shifts can be exhausting sometimes.” with this, he finished his coffee
Despite her protest, he paid for the meal, claiming that it was his way of making up. He even walked her back to her apartment, much like the gentleman that she could see he was.
And it did not feel justified to remain mad at him anymore.
****
@angryperfectionpersona @apriljoon
