Chapter 89: Chapter 89: The First Hunt in the Jungle (Part 1)
We took our seats on the plane. I was next to Hye-jeong.
“You.”
“What?”
“You’re blowing up these days,” Hye-jeong said as she checked her makeup.
“Sorry,” I suddenly apologized.
“Sorry? What? You think you need to apologize to me since you became popular?”
“No, I’m talking about that day. With the button that hit your forehead, that is.”
“Button?” Hye-jeong repeated, turning to fully face me. Her eyes looked alarmed and skeptical.
“Yeah, I threw it.”
“What?!” Hye-jeong shouted.
Everyone on the plane turned their heads to stare at me. At that, Hye-jeong cleared her throat and composed herself. She then continued to speak in a whisper.
“Was it really you?”
“Yeah.”
“You bitch.”
“You really should have just backed off.”
“What?”
Hye-jeong gasped at that, but then she took a deep breath to calm herself down.
“Sigh…”
It didn’t seem to work though. With a smirk, I closed my eyes. It was time for some shut-eye, but just then, Hye-jeong spoke up.
“Hey, you.”
“Yeah~”
“This isn’t 100% confirmed, but you’re going to get bitten by an alligator.”
“Really?”
“You think I’m joking?”
“Yep,” I said with a nod. Hye-jeong spoke up again.
“Mr. Lee told me. He’s never wrong, so you better be careful.”
“Oh, that guy.”
The one who said he could see the future.
“What? That guy?”
“Yeah, that guy.”
“Ugh. Whatever. I don’t want to talk to you. My head hurts. Go away.”
And with that, Hye-jeong turned her body away from me.
But I have to admit, even now, she looked adorable. Her personality might be rotten, but there’s no doubting that she’s pretty. Anyways, back to Mr. Lee. Did he really say I’m going to get bitten by an alligator? I brought up my powers in anticipation.
“Hmmm…”
The alligator should better watch it.
***
I must have dozed off at one point, because the next thing I knew, someone was nudging me awake.
“Hmm…?”
“Oh, you’re awake! We thought we’d lost you.”
“….”
Why would you say that?
“You slept the whole eighteen hours.”
“Oh. Wow. I was out for a while.”
I guess staying up all night last night worked…
“Anyways, we’re almost there. You should get ready.”
At the producer’s suggestion, I nodded and shook my head awake. I looked over at Hye-jeong. She was sleeping as well.
“How long did she sleep?”
“Eighteen hours and a half…”
“I see.”
I guess she slept for a long time too.
“I’ll wake her up.”
“Thanks.” With a small smile of gratitude, the producer returned back to his seat. I turned to Hye-jeong.
“Oy!”
She didn’t wake up, so I brushed her hair to the side. And what I saw caught me by surprise.
“Ah!”
She was sleeping with her eyes wide open! It was so creepy.
“Jesus Christ.”
I shook her awake and this time, Hye-jeong opened her eyes. I mean, they were already wide open, but now her pupils had returned to their rightful place in the center.
“Hm…what?”
“We’re almost there.”
“Ugh. Whatever. Wake me up when we’re actually there. So annoying…”
With an irritated toss of her head, she turned away and fell asleep again. She’s not the first to be like this. The ones who get irritated when you wake them…so I woke her up again.
“Hey…hey…heeey!”
That was the last straw. Hye-jeong whipped her head to look at me, now fully awake and pissed.
“We’re almost there.”
“Fine,” Hye-jeong snapped.
Soon, we arrived at the Hanili Airport Terminal.
***
“Ugh.”
My luggage was so heavy. Why did I bring so much stuff? I mean, true, it’s all stuff that I need. Traveling is exhausting.
As soon as we were out of the airport, we were greeted with blue skies and crisp, clean air.
“Wow.”
I looked up at the sky as everyone began to take it in. How could a sky be so blue?
“Everyone, gather around please,” the producer, Jun-gil Lee, said. We all stood in front of him.
“Now before we head to our destination, we will inspect your bags.”
At those words, Bung-hoon and Junho both chuckled, like they knew it was going to happen. The rest of us looked at each other, confused and taken back. Including me. I wasn’t told that they’d be inspecting our luggage.
“Please open your bags so the staff may inspect it.”
“Hmmm.”
I opened my bag. I mean, whatever. What would they take? I only had my makeup, clothes, and food. Soon, one of the staff members approached me.
“Hello.”
“Hi.”
“May I look inside your bag?”
“Go ahead,” I said with a nod. The staff member then began to go through my bag.
“No…no…no…um, no…why are there so many snacks?” she asked as she continued to take out food items. I guess she felt bad, because she suddenly stopped to look up at me when she asked that question.
“Did you not get the notice?”
“What notice?”
“Oh, I guess Mr. Park didn’t tell you about it.”
“No, he did not.”
Of course he didn’t. It wouldn’t be the first time he didn’t tell me something important.
“So are you taking everything?”
“Yes.”
“This sucks.”
“I’m sorry.”
With that, she took out all the food items, including the bags of seasoning sauce.
“But that…”
“Sorry.”
And then, she just tossed it out like it was garbage. Rude!
“Sigh…”
I brought that in case the food was bland. Then again, when has that ever stopped me before? I let it go.
“Are you getting rid of that too?”
“Yes.”
She took my bags of sugar and salt. With that, all the food stuff were gone.
“You sure are strict.”
“Yep.”
She even grabbed the bag of jawbreakers in my hand and tossed it out.
“What about my makeup…?”
“Oh, that’s okay, but you’ll probably end up not using it. Most of the participants find it annoying in the end.”
She said it so casually, but it made me think – next time, I’ll put my food items inside my makeup bag.
“Oh, you can’t take this,” the producer said, taking my shampoo.
“Okay.”
Yeah, I figured the shampoo was overkill. I let it go when Yoo-jin put it in, but I’m honestly not surprised.
With that, our luggage were checked and approved. Now, my bag felt much lighter, but I still found it annoying to carry. And so, I turned to Byung-hoon.
“Excuse me, Mr. Lee?”
“Yes, Sian?” Byung-hoon spoke with a father-like smile.
“What do you actually need when you go to the jungle…”
“You really just need sunscreen.”
“Oh, I see. Thanks.”
So I took out my sunscreen and gave the rest of my bag to the staff. In the end, I only had my backpack with a single bottle of sunscreen.
“Well then, let’s go. Our destination is about an hour’s walk from here. Just follow us and you’ll be fine. Is everyone ready?”
“Yes!” we all answered loudly.
***
We were now in the jungle.
Everyone was doing their best to trek through the jungle floor. It wasn’t easy since this was our first time, but it was the cameraman who I felt the most sorry for.
“Isn’t it heavy?” I asked the VJ.
“It’s fine. I do this all the time,” the VJ answered with a smile. Now that I look at it, his arms and shoulders were holding up the camera like it was a toy.
“Still, if it gets too heavy, just tell me. I’ll help you carry it.”
“Thanks for your concern.”
“Yeah.”
We walked a bit more. This time, I approached the interpreter.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
“Are there really alligators here?” I asked curiously. I wanted to get some alligator meat for everone.
“Hang on.”
The interpreter approached our guide and translated my question. The guide answered with big gestures, pointing off into the distance. The interpreter nodded and came back to me.
“If you head in that direction, there’s a large river. That’s where the alligators live. It’s dangerous, so don’t ever go there.”
“Really?”
I was excited. The idea of getting alligator meat was making my heart pound, but I can’t go by myself. I’d have to bring a VJ with me… I looked at the muscular VJ walking behind me. Unfortunately, before I could say anything, he suddenly looked at me and immediately backed away.
“What was that for?” I asked.
The VJ looked confused.
“Huh, I don’t know. For some reason, I suddenly just got really scared.”
“Oh.”
Sometimes, humans are more intuitive that one gives credit for. I put him down as the VJ I would bring for the alligator hunt. We went deeper into the jungle and arrived at our destination.
“Um…”
This was weird. I thought that there would at least be some sort of house, but there was nothing. It was just more jungle. Then again, Byung-hoon and Junho looked excited. They were already walking around, talking about the shelter they were going to build.
“We’ll put some branches here and here, then tie them together with rope. We’ll take the leaves to make the floor and tie them together to make a roof.”
“It’ll be better to make the frame with that tree over there,” Junho suggested.
“Yeah, okay. Now, we need to get food.”
Byung-hoon turned his head this way and that way to inspect the area. His eyes fell on a bird that closely resembled a chicken and immediately ran forward. The bird managed to escape, jumping up to a high tree branch. It then leaped to another tree branch. Then another. And another.
“Is that a monkey, or a bird?” I asked, watching the creature hop away.
“That bird is called a heegak,” the interpreter told me.
“Heegak? Can we eat it?” Byung-hoon asked, his eyes twinkling. I knew the moment he was told we could, he was ready to go after the bird.
“Yes. The locals around here love it. It can’t fly, but it can jump very high and gets around by hopping on tree branches.”
“I see,” Byung-hoon said with a nod. He immediately began to craft together a slingshot to catch the bird.
“What about our shelter?” Junho asked.
“I’ll do it after we catch the ba…bird.”
Soon, Byung-hoon had his slingshot made.
“Can you make me one, too?” Sung-hwan asked in a soft voice. His body and appearance looked so rough, but his smile makes him look rather naïve and childlike. It’s almost impressive.
“Sure!” Byung-hoon immediately began to make another one.
“Me, too.”
“I’m sorry, Sian, but not for you. You might get hurt.”
I know he was only saying that out of concern but my lips twisted into a sneer. I want to shoot the bird as well. Looking at my face, Byung-hoon gave an indulgent smile.
“Okay. Let’s go hunting together.”
“Okay!” I said with a nod. And with that, the hunting team and the house team were created.
Byung-hoon, Sung-hwan, and I made the hunting team. The rest would be in charge of building the shelter. Well, not really building. Junho and Ji-chun would gather the wood to build it, and Hye-jeong agreed to help.
“We’ll be back soon okay, Junho? So just get the building materials ready for when we’re back.”
“Yes, sir!” Junho answered firmly. These two really are a good team. They fit well together.
“Alright. Let’s go, guys.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Okay.”
We went after the bird. It was standing on a high branch in a tree off in the distance. It had quite an arrogant expression on its face. It looked like it was jeering, daring us to try and catch it.
“You’re dead meat,” I spat out.
