"Don't worry... He is someone who is short-tempered... his response to things he doesn't like is always right there on the spot..."
Jerry said this to Aami, who was staring wide-eyed at the path through which Devi had just left.
"How are u feeling now..."
Jerry asked, looking at the wounds he had just bandaged for Aami.
"Mmm... Better... and thank u... if you hadn't come, those creatures would have... me..."
As Aami said this, her face was filled with visible terror.
"You are lucky... that's why..."
Aami smiled as Jerry spoke.
"Do you have any idea where your tent is???" he asked.
"To be honest, no.. I don't even know which path I took to escape from those creatures..."
Even though she said it with a smile, the horror of those moments was still deeply rooted in her mind.
"Then, it was near reaching the top of that mountain... a place where a lot of rocks were clustered together... there's a stream below... that's all I can remember. If u dont mind, can I ask for a help..."
As Aami looked at Jerry and spoke, he nodded with a smile as if he understood everything... as if to say, "Go ahead and tell me..."
"Can you help me get back there? I'm scared to go through the forest alone again. And then there's Alex... he's all alone. If those creatures try to attack him... it was I who forced him to come here..."
Aami first spoke with a bit of embarrassment, then with a plea, and finally with an air of urgency...
"we will... Anyway, we are about to move from here... so please..."
He gestured toward the outside, and Aami prepared to get up from the bed. However, feeling a slight difficulty, she reached her hand out toward Jerry as if asking for support.
But he, eyes wide, was looking at Aami and then toward the outside with an expression full of tension.
"Jerry, help me..." Aami said in astonishment.
"but David..." Jerry replied, not knowing what else to say...
"Did he tell you to not help me..???" Aami asked playfully. Jerry smiled sheepishly... then, after making sure David wasn't coming, he took Aami's hand and helped her up.
"Can u walk"
As he asked this, Aami nodded, walking forward without putting too much pressure on her bandaged foot. When they reached the outside, it was Adam who was now sitting on the rock where Jerry had been.
Upon seeing her, he stood up and spoke as if to ask if she was okay now. After Aami replied to him, they both went inside the tent.
Ami's eyes searched all around for David... but she couldn't see him.
"Where did he go all alone... even knowing that hyenas are in this forest and that they are predators..."
Aami whispered to herself and walked toward that rock. Sitting there, one could see the slope below. Someone was standing there with his back turned... at the same time, he was lighting a cigar and blowing out smoke.
"As if the existing fog isn't enough..." Aami said softly again. At that very moment, Devi (David) turned back and looked at her. Aami was shocked... Oh God, did he hear even what I said softly?
But what comforted her was the fact that there were no major changes in his facial expressions... As he finished his cigar while looking directly at her, Aami turned her face away and looked elsewhere. But in her mind, she felt as if she were right there in front of him. A state of being dissolved in those eyes...
She realized her mind was filling with dreams she had been seeing until a week ago, including yesterday... Could he be the person from those dreams? If so, it means he is not human...
"oh Aami, do you have any idea what all you are overthinking... what you are seeing is just a dream... a mere dream seen as a result of some questions Amelia has filled in her mind. Don't mix it up with real life..."
Even as she tried to convince herself, a strange sense of disappointment washed over her... Perhaps, deep down, she wished for all those dreams to be a reality...
Despite pushing everything aside and thinking, her intellect advised her that there was something about those eyes that drew her toward him even without her consent... What could that be? Aami controlled herself, even though she felt a strange restlessness in her mind to look at him...
"David..."
It was at that very moment that Adam called out loudly from the side where Aami was sitting...
"Finished packing... shall we go?.."
It was Adam again...
"I'm coming..."
Along with the sound of David's voice, he passed by Aami in an instant... Aami looked up, startled... How is this possible? Even if he ran, it would take at least a minute for the man standing below to reach here. Yet, he bypassed Aami within seconds...
Aami's eyes darted toward the spot where David had been standing below, and then behind David... with utter disbelief... Did it really take a minute? Or was she just feeling this way because of everything she was thinking?
Aami watched David, who was naturally standing and talking to his friends...
She watched and thought to herself...
After a patient named Amelia came to her, everything happening seemed strange... Or perhaps it was just that she was viewing everything through a lens of strangeness... Whatever the case, she shook her head vigorously and tried to pull herself together...
"Shall we go?.."
It was Jerin... Aami nodded and slowly stood up... Adam was the one walking ahead. Although she didn't know the path they were taking, seeing certain places gave her a feeling that she had been down this road before...
David was behind Aami... In the middle of their walk, she stumbled and was about to fall forward.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the waist from behind and pulled her back... Aami found herself pressed against David's chest... Because a slight fear had struck her heart, her body was trembling slightly...
"Watch where you're walking... right now you have enough patch work to do as it is... do you want more?.. First, let these heal, and then we'll see about the next ones..."
She heard his stern voice near her ear...
When Aami tilted her face just a little, her attention was once again caught by those eyes... Along with that, the dream she had seen yesterday flooded back into her mind...
Why was she comparing this individual to the unnecessary dreams she was having... While scolding herself, Aami, who was in his arms, controlled her emotions, moved away, and slowly started walking forward again....