CHAPTER 10 - VISITORS

He remembered it like it was a nightmare. Maybe because it was. Taehyung was filling the bottles with water when a bush jerked. When he glanced up, he heard chatter. English, it sounded like. Perhaps survivors from the plane? But when he saw the head of a person, he realized it was a male with hair way too long to have been a recent survivor, and that was without mentioning the grime stained on his face with a beard as unkept as could be.

Luckily, he was back with Y/n now. He didn't have to worry about the people for at least a few minutes. Or at least, he didn't have to worry about them attacking the pair. Taehyung was almost certain he wasn't spotted. If he was, he would've been followed. That was what he told himself to bring a small sense of comfort. It barely worked, but it worked enough that it allowed him to speak.

"People...?" Y/n said slowly, her tongue twirling and tying over each letter. It was a hypnotizing sound that allured him in deeper, his body wishing to shift closer to hers. "There's other people on this island?"

It was an oddity to see her eyes expand in such a manner. Her face dropped until he swore he saw bits of vulnerability resting on her expression. He couldn't identify where it came from. His words sparked conversation both mentally and physically, and Tae guessed both of them were stirring the same thoughts in their minds: what did this mean?

People storming the island meant they weren't alone, but was that a good thing? Tae wanted to believe the people would help. Y/n would argue with that, so he decided to treat the people like a threat until they proved otherwise. The last thing he needed was an argument with Y/n. After all, she'd be right. Tae would be dumb to trust people he didn't know, especially when they were stranded on an island.

"I only saw one, but I'm assuming there's others. I saw a guy, and he was peeking over a bush and like... I don't know, standing there cryptically. He didn't see me as far as I know," he said, resisting the urge to break out into a sequence of shivers that would rattle his bones. Y/n sensed his distress and cleared her throat to distract him, him snapping back to his senses and forcing his memories out of his mind.

"There's some good news. What else is there?"

"I don't know, all I know is that it freaked me out that other people are here, and t-there could be more people or animals or things. We just don't know because we didn't explore the other end of the island."

"Do you really want to?" she asked.

He couldn't answer. On one hand, exploring was a great idea. That way they got a feel for the land and understood what they were up against. It was important, but Taehyung didn't care. That was the other hand. Risking being in danger just to find out what else was in this hellhole didn't appeal to him. He already killed animals and fed himself berries every day for lord knows how long. Unless there was a rescue waiting on the other side of the island, exploring wasn't worth the risk in his humble opinion. But maybe the business major would think otherwise.

"Do you?" he asked, trying to hide his quivering mind behind a strong tone.

"I'm not sure. Maybe we should just stick to our side of the beach and not worry about the people. If they haven't hurt us so far and they didn't see you, then I'm sure it's fine. Makes me wonder how people are living here though. If we get desperate enough, then sure, we can seek them out. Otherwise..." She took two stones and plopped them in his hands. "We should work on starting a fire. First thing's first: I'm hungry."

"Hunger overtakes groundbreaking information?"

"Literally any day of the week," she replied in full seriousness. He wasn't sure if that was a trait of hers, or a trait her period brought out. Either one sufficed.

He chuckled but found himself agreeing, him striking the stones together near the wood they already lined up. "Do you know anything about this?" he asked.

"No, but I do know you need kindling. Maybe try leaves? You're not going to be able to just set the wood on fire... I think. I'm not exactly good at this. I miss looking at graphs."

Taehyung wasn't good at it either, so he stacked a bunch of (hopefully) flammable leaves near the wood and kept banging rocks together. After two minutes of no voices and him making loud noises with his hands, he decided to clear the air. "How are you doing? Both mentally and uh, with the whole period thing."

"I'm not sure how to answer that, to be honest. I've always hated periods, but at least I know you won't judge me for having mine now."

"I never would. It's a natural thing, why would anyone judge that?"

"Oh, you'd be surprised." She kicked at the dirt while Taehyung worked, but still no progress was made. "Don't be a woman. It sucks."

"It does?"

Although he knew that already based on his past girlfriends and female friends, he wanted to keep her talking. It was for both of their benefit. Her so she could rant and let out the pent up frustration she surely had. If he had rage boiling inside him, it was safe to say she was the same way. It gave her an excuse to vent her emotions in a safe way. He'd listen to each and every word, and like with the period, he'd do it without judgement. After everything, she deserved that much if not more. He regretted that he couldn't gift her more.

For him, it gave him a few benefits. He got to see more of her world view. What made her head spin, and why she got passionate about matters such as these. The more he knew her, the more he could predict her. Although he genuinely wanted to get to know her due to his newfound fondness of her, he also knew he'd sleep better at night if he had a solid construct of how she'd react to different situations.

The other benefit was that it gave him an escape from the thought of people closing in on them. His eyes darted around to scan the vicinity, but he located nothing each time. He forced himself to focus back on Y/n, and he was pleased to see her shaking her fists around to show off the fury inside her. Well, he wasn't pleased by her being upset, but he was pleased she was about to let out her wrath and give him the privilege of witnessing it.

"Oh yeah," she said, swatting the air with her hand. "For starters, the pressures of society suck ass. Secondly, we always have to shave even on bad days, otherwise we get judged. Thirdly, periods. Fourthly, dripping out of your hoo-ha and wondering what the fuck it is: period blood, discharge, juicy juice, or some new color you've never seen before. Oh and have I mentioned giving birth? Yeah - giving birth sucks. Fuck vaginas."

"Wow," Taehyung replied, blinking. "You literally just went on a whole rant about pussies."

Although he thought he made a funny comment, she only huffed it off and continued. "Don't get me started on the mood swings. They suck. I'm a lot more argumentative when I'm on my period, so don't be surprised if I run after those people just so I can argue with them."

"You're... interesting, Y/n."

"Thanks."

Y/n ran a hand through her locks, allowing them to brush by in the wind. Her eyes sparkled in the way he grew to adore. When he said her eyes were starry, he meant it. They were glistening, and he managed to find comfort in the way her irises glimmered and glowed. It provided him with a warmth in the depths of his stomach. For a moment, only a moment, he forgot the situation they were in. The island, Everlast. The survival. The dirt and grime covering their bodies. All of those thoughts flew free from his mind the second he laid his gaze on Y/n L/n.

Taehyung went back to focusing on the stones, clicking them together despite no progress being made. He wanted to speak, but he wasn't sure if there was anything left to say. Maybe he could ask for help; however, she was as clueless as him. For now, silence was the best option-

"But it's hard for men too."

He kept himself still, his hands holding the two objects in mid-air. That sentence pranced through his brain until it clicked in place. That was what had him dropping his mouth to speak. "Huh?"

"Men," she said, her stare on the muck beneath her. "Men have it pretty rough too. More than society gives you credit for, both other men and women. You have to hide your emotions a lot, otherwise you get called weak. Or lord, even worse. People assume you're gay because you have empathy. I'm sorry for that."

"And I'm sorry for the tens of thousands of problems you have as a woman." He gave her a smile, and it was genuine. He hoped it came across that way, but in his exhausted state, his emotions were all over the place. "We're not even comparable."

"It's not a competition. Your problems, whether they're quote-on-quote 'bigger' or 'smaller' than mine, are still problems. It should be addressed. And for whatever it's worth, you can always share your thoughts with me." He snickered and agreed, the two locking eyes for a moment before Y/n yawned. "I don't think the rock trick is working. Get the knife." He did, flicking it around as if doing tricks with it. "I'll get flint, probably by the beach or the river you found. Sorry, I don't want to run into those guys, but we need flint to make a fire." 

Despite the thought of seeing them again frightened him, he agreed, so she swiveled on her feet and crept off to the beach. He watched her go, watching her form get smaller as she went farther. And as he kept his eyes on her, he grinned.

~~~

Y/n searched the beach for flint, and she only knew what it looked like thanks to her avid adoration of Minecraft as a kid. Regardless of that knowledge, she didn't find anything by the shore. It was probably by the river, meaning they needed to go all the way back to that hell and freak Tae out.

Taehyung was innocently banging rocks together still, attempting to create a fire in a manner that obviously wouldn't work. Props to him for trying, though. She couldn't fault him for his dedication. And it brought her a smile, too. He noticed it and matched it.

Taehyung had a boxy smile that crinkled the corners of his eyes. It was intoxicating. That wasn't just because he was a gorgeous human being, but it was also because of the way his smile shaped his face. The more he showed his grin, the more she found herself hooked on him. His lips spread up and displayed his smooth jawline, the specs of dirt tattooed on his flesh, the defined cheekbones he had, and to top it all off, he had trimmed eyebrows that arched as he moved his expression around.

However, her distraction sizzled away when she snapped herself back to reality. They needed to find flint for their fire, that way they could eat and get their nutrition. The only way they were going to survive Everlast was by keeping their strength up and staying alert. It didn't appeal to her to waltz toward the river and march toward danger, but she had no other choice.

With that in mind, her eyes motioned to Tae, who took the hint. He dropped the rocks he was holding, and she admitted how amusing it was to watch the boy hop up and waddle over. When she called him an alien, she meant it. His personality was out there, like he was from a distant planet. And in a sense, that was true. At least to her.

"I couldn't find anything. We should head back to the river, as scary as that sounds. Have the knife?" she asked. He flashed it, the metal cloaked with the reflection of the light in the sky. "Good. Let's go, this should only take a minute."

Spoiler alert: it didn't. It took her and Tae a long time to find the river. Not because Tae forgot where it was or anything, rather because he was terrified and wanted to peek over their shoulders every step of the way. Y/n couldn't blame him for his thinking, and she even appreciated it, but it did slow them down. At least she felt safe though, right?

 Wrong. She pretended she was okay, but that was for Taehyung's sake. He was terrified enough as it was. If she showed her fear, it'd make them lose their focus on their ultimate goal of survival. She was taking this from a business perspective. In business, especially in negotiations, the goal was to hide how much the criticisms and comments hurt. Over time, for Y/n anyway, they stopped hurting. She hoped that by taking that business mindset and applying it to survival, over time, her fear would dissipate.

She dragged herself out of the dangerous corners of her mind as they approached their destination. They reached the river only to find it abandoned by all species. Of course, they did a search before they felt safe, but they still found themselves alone. Her and Tae were quite literally the only two present, her snorting and nudging him before kneeling in front of the water. 

She drank from it, humming at the contact of cold, fresh water soothing her chapped lips. She rubbed her lips with the substance, nearly bathing in it. Hygiene was important. Maybe they could take baths in the river, assuming those people didn't come back to stalk them while they did that. 

Bathing was imperative for them for more than just the basic hygienic reasons. They were in a plane crash. Part of that still didn't click inside her brain, even after all the time they had spent on the island. They were the sole survivors of a massive catastrophe that'd play on the news for months. Her point was that they had bruises and cuts, potential sprains and more. Y/n's head was concussed, as was Taehyung's. 

That was why they needed to cleanse their bodies. Not only for hygiene, but also to clean the wounds. The last thing Y/n wanted was to die because they got too gross and got infected. Was that possible? She didn't know, and she sure as hell didn't want to find out.

"We should bathe in here," she said. "It'll be a good outlet for my blood."

"Ew, we're drinking this water."

"It's a river, I'm sure it'll naturally flow away. And what's wrong? Scared of a little blood?"

He waved his hand but didn't reply, her chuckling before shifting her attention back to the water sloshing by her feet. It tapped on the tips of her shoes, her brushing her fingers across the coolness. It reminded her of home, in a way. She lived near a lot of bodies of water. They used to be comforting. Now she wasn't so sure.

The rest of the forest was peaceful. Calming. Zen. It was the perfect location for them, but it sucked that the existence of other people meant they'd always have anxiety when it came to visiting the river. If only it wasn't necessary for their survival. The best they could do was fill up their old water bottles using the river, hunt animals near here, and bathe occasionally. Otherwise, she made a mental note to stay away no matter how relaxing the scenery was. The river was cyan, which directly contrasted the rotten waters of the ocean that was littered with the blood of the dead souls on the plane.

"I used to ice skate when I was a little kid," she said, keeping her gaze on the water. "A really little kid. Probably no older than 8. My best friend and I used to go to one of the local rinks while our parents watched. I fell more than I skated, so it's safe to say my balance kinda sucks."

"Kinda?"

"Shush, I'm being cute."

"You are?"

She splashed water at him, Taehyung laughing because of it. He came over and splashed her back, and soon enough, they had a water fight that ended with Taehyung tackling her into the river. She gasped as her body got coated in the familiar liquid. In any other circumstance, she would be pissed. But because she had jumped into beach water before, she was okay with it. Maybe even amused. Plus, it really did relax her cramps a bit. She had a gnawing sensation in the back of her gut. A bad cramp was sure to come, but for now, she was enjoying being able to fool around with Tae in the river.

"You suck," she said, grabbing his arm and pulling him in. His hands landed on her waist, them gasping from Taehyung nearly tripping over the rocks hidden underneath them. The man was in front of her, closer than they both had intended. Her jagged breaths hit his face, Taehyung stroking her hair behind her ears. "Tae..."

"What?"

"Shouldn't we be focusing on finding flint instead of... this?"

"And what is this, Y/n?" he asked, his irises remaining on her. He did the triangle method Y/n had only heard about in the romance novels. His stare started on her right eye, then it flickered to her parted lips, then it landed on her left eye to form the triangle shape.

His gaze had her body forming goosebumps, every cell within her shrieking at her to do something. To figure out her feelings before it was too late and they went back to their normal lives. Was it weird that Y/n didn't want that anymore? She felt safe with Tae. Compared to the rest of the world, Taehyung was alright. He was good, even. And that was just the thing Y/n didn't know she needed until now.

"I don't know, but I like it. That's exactly why it should stop," she said, but she knew how weak her tone sounded. It danced out of her mouth and into the air in a series of cracks, twists, and turns. She swore she noticed Taehyung's ears perk up at the sound.

"Then tell me to stop." His voice dropped to a whisper, them relishing their moments of peace. The only noises were the birds chirping in the distance, the water running right underneath them, and the wind blowing through their hair. Taehyung peered at her, and from the way he was staring at her, she could tell he was admiring the way her locks flew. He took some and played with them, Y/n observing him the whole time. "Well? Are you going to say it?"

There was no tease in his tone. Only honesty. Y/n came a bit closer, placing both of her hands on his shoulders. He leaned into it, and they swayed, his grip falling from her head to her hips again. She found herself pressed on Taehyung's chest, their eyes locked as a melody played in their minds. They wordlessly danced in the water, Y/n's ankles and knees soaked from the sensation. And no matter what, she didn't want to pull away. But she tried anyway.

"Shouldn't we be finding fl-"

"Stop talking," Taehyung said, Y/n agreeing when he came a hair closer, squeezing her hips. She allowed it, much to her own surprise, and Taehyung rubbed his forehead over hers. He closed his eyes and leaned it, Y/n holding her breath at the newfound development. What the fuck was he doing? They were trapped on an island and here he was about to fucking kiss her. The thought brought wrath and butterflies at the same time. It was to the point where they cancelled each other out, so Y/n had to go with the flow.

And she did. Within seconds, Taehyung's lips rocked over hers, pressing their bodies together. They were sucked into a needy kiss, Y/n clawing at his shirt while they went. It felt as though it had been years since they received physical attention, and Y/n's body was screeching for more. She needed to get closer, and as much as she hated relying on another person for comfort, she knew she could only get this from Taehyung. And that she only wanted it from Tae, too.

He parted with her only to switch sides, their lips returning to one another's and forming a pattern. Y/n let out a quiet moan into the kiss due to the force of it, their eyes shut to instead enjoy the pleasure. Both of them had chapped mouths and saliva everywhere, but to them, it was a perfect kiss. The scenario was terrible - Y/n was on her period on an island of all places, and Taehyung was a stranger mere days ago - but she was in heaven with him.

They pulled away so they could pant, unknowing of how out of breath they would be. They stared and hyperventilated, both of their eyes expanding as they comprehended what just happened. "Tae," she whispered, and in that moment, he began to lean in again. But he never got that far.

Y/n backed up, her hands on his shoulders. That caused him to stiffen. The sight of his frozen body made her wish to apologize, but he spoke before she got the chance. "Did... did I overstep?" he asked, pretending he didn't stutter.

"No, I liked it," she replied, smiling to show she was being genuine. "But we need to find flint and eat, okay? We can, um... do that later. Does that sound okay?"

His boxy grin came out, and she took that as a yes. They searched the river until they found a piece of flint, and Y/n attempted not to fluster as they held hands and strolled back to the beach together. Not a word was exchanged as they went, but Y/n still heard everything Taehyung wanted to say anyway.

They reached the beach in only a couple minutes, Y/n kneeling in front of the wood and striking the flint with the knife. It took several tries and many fails that almost resulted in her chopping a finger off, but she did get a flame going. It was tiny, and it took literally five minutes until the fire was burning at an okay level, but it was progress. Now they needed to cook their food.

"There," she said, placing the flint and knife down by their water bottles. "We can make fires now. Don't lose that flint, I don't feel like going back to that river."

Taehyung sat next to her and took her hand, his eyes asking permission that she granted. His lips touched hers again, and she chuckled into yet another kiss. This kiss was much shorter. More of a peck than anything, but it made both of them amused. 

"Do you wanna maybe talk about this?" Tae said, and the husk of his voice brought a swoon out of her.

"About us kissing and very obviously flirting with each other?" she asked, raising both her brows.

"Yeah, that."

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I'm just thinking about this, and I don't know how to feel. We have two separate lives and things we're doing, but drop our jobs, finance issues, friends, family, whatever. Drop all that. We did drop that when we got here. We didn't worry about who are families are, or where we came from. We only worried about each other. And I think that when we get back, reality will hit again, and suddenly this might not work." She nodded, peering at the dirt beneath her. "But that doesn't mean I don't want to try."

Her eyes snapped back up. "What?"

"Sometimes we're polar opposites sometimes, Y/n. And other times we're more in-sync than I am with my best friend. I want to find out where this will go, but only if you'll let me." Their gazes locked on each other, Y/n refusing to be trapped under his charming spell. It didn't work. She found herself hypnotized by the way he carried himself. The way he spoke. With this in mind, she chortled, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Okay."

And then, they went on to cook their first true meal. It gave them the strength they needed to get through the next few days. Y/n was in extreme pain due to cramps for the rest of the night, and she worried about the next time they would have to replenish their food. She figured it would be a long time before rescue, so they had to plan ahead. However, little to both Y/n and Taehyung's knowledge, food, rescue, and periods were the least of their problems at that time.

Instead, it was that those people Taehyung found before were following them, waiting for the right moment to strike...