(Lisa pov)
Lisa studied everything as they passed the final sign, welcoming them to the campground. Her mom pulled up to the main gate and put her car in park.
They exited and walked the short few steps to the main office and knocked.
"Hello, welcome to Riverside Camground. Checking in?"
"Yes we are." Ami said with a smile and slight bow. Lisa bowed too. The man who welcomed smiled back.
"What's the name?"
"Manoban." Her mom answered.
He looked on his computer before handing them a pass. "Put this on your dash and you're all set. Enjoy your stay."
"I'm the camp owner by the way. Find me here or walking around if you ever have any questions." He assured them.
"Thank you." Her mom answered before strolling back to their car. Lisa waited a second, studying him before she too said thanks and left.
Lisa couldn't help but get a bad feeling from him. He seemed really nice but it almost felt fake to her.
She first thought she was overthinking it, but she was really good at reading people and just couldn't shake the feeling.
What if it was him.
"He seems nice." Her mom said as Lisa hopped in and they continued to their site. She just hummed in response.
After setting up their site, Lisa and Ami went to the water. Wading in to their calves while the breeze messed up their hair.
They didn't plan on swimming just yet, but wanted to see what the water felt like. Both of them laughing at how funny they were looking with their wild locks.
Ami and her both couldn't help but look around every now and then. There still wasn't a sign of Chaeyoung.
At least they didn't think so. It was hard to say if Chaeyoung was truly there amongst the other campers.
She easily could have just said an address she knew in hopes of Ami not asking further questions.
But why would she have this campground's address memorized? Any campground memorized for that matter?
As they walked up to the shop to order popsicles, Lisa noticed a worker cutting branches off to the side of them.
The camp logo was bright compared to the actual color of the hoodie and cap.
Lisa studied it some and was going to check the person out before suddenly turning back to her mom who wanted to know what flavor she wanted.
Both of them walked arm in arm up the small hill back to their site after buying their popsicles.
They past the camp worker and laughed at the sound a bird made in the one of the trees above them.
Lisa loved hanging out with her mom like this. So much that she forgot to look back at who they walked past. It didn't matter, she was just teasing her curiosity.
Even though this whole trip was made about visiting Chaeyoung, she really enjoyed her mom's company. It felt like they needed this getaway too. For them.
After another walk around the camp, they decided on starting dinner. The sun was just starting to set and they both were surprisingly pretty tired from setting up their camp earlier.
Lisa would look around every ten minutes or so, seeing if she could see her. But Chae was never there.
Her mom would do the same, less frequently, but both of them always looked to who was walking bye when they would hear footsteps.
"I don't think she's here." Lisa pouted.
"I think she is, somewhere." Ami stated while stirring the pot over their portable stove.
"Really?"
"Yeah. A girl like her probably hides away, especially in a place like this, that can get rather busy."
"I guess you're right." Lisa said, a little more hopeful than before.
"The universe will work itself out for us." Her mom pinched her cheek and Lisa let out a giggle.
"The universe or fate?" Lisa questioned.
"Maybe both?"
They shared more conversation before pouring bowls and eating their noodles. Lisa had to blow on them a lot before she could actually eat them.
The sun had set now. But the moon was bright enough, along with the occasional camp lamp, letting her still be able to see.
Lisa sat down her now empty bowl and looked up to the sound of approaching footsteps. She was slow to look, knowing it would probably be another common camper.
But the bright camp logo caught her eye, letting her know it wasn't just a random person. And boy was she right.
Even though they wore a hoodie, and jeans, Lisa could see the girl's pale face and cheeks underneath her cap.
"Chaeyoung?" Lisa was surprised. She actually didn't expect to see her anymore.
But it was true. She lived there. And wore a camp logo to prove it.
~
(Chae pov)
Chaeyoung would have stayed in her trailer, except her boss had stopped by to tell her she had even more work to do.
He gladly told her to go empty all the campsites personal trash bins, even though they didn't seem full the last time she checked.
Before he left, he also made sure to call her stupid and, get this, 'a waist of drugs'. She actually kind of chuckled at him when he said it.
Until he yelled at her, putting her in her place.
It wasn't that she didn't want to empty trash bins, which she actually didn't mind. But who she saw earlier that made her not want to leave the comfort of her tattered home.
Embarrassed at what she'd think.
Chaeyoung thought she was imagining things when she could have sworn she heard Lisa's voice. She had shook her head and continued clipping branches until she heard her again.
Then she heard Ami. And thats when it hit her. Lisa and Ami were behind her, buying something from the small store they had near the river.
Out of all the campgrounds in South Korea... they ended up in hers.
She had watched them when they walked by. Thinking about how happy they looked.
But panic had set in and Chaeyoung was soon having small attacks everywhere she went.
Any call on her pager would send her into one, making her heart race. Luckily, she was able to avoid them up until this point.
They were, purposely, the last campsite Chaeyoung had to empty. And of course, they were sitting at the table, right next to their bin.
"Chaeyoung?" Lisa asked surprised.
She kept quiet and walked up slowly. Why did she have to recognize her?
"Is that really you?" Lisa said while straightening to see her better.
Chaeyoung pushed her cap up a bit and nodded.
"Wow you work here? I didn't expect to see you." She sounded happy as she got up and walked over to her. "Mom, look." Lisa stated, smiling towards her.
"Oh my, hello Chaeyoung. It's good to see you again sweetie." She said after looking up from her meal. "Lisa says you two have become closer since you've met."
Ami was smiling brightly. It made Chaeyoung a little happy.
"Yeah." She answered before bowing then shuffling past Lisa to the garbage. Lifting it up and tying the bag before taking a new one out of her hoodie and placing it in.
"Are you hungry Chae?" Lisa asked her as she turned to walk away. "We have extra noodles. Here, sit and have some."
"Yes, please join us Chaeyoung." Ami added. She patted the spot next to her.
Chaeyoung just shook her head. She bowed to both of them before walking away.
Chaeyoung made sure to give Ami a deeper bow since she hadn't seen her for awhile, and was too shy and stupid to ask her how she's been.
Even though she really wanted to.
When she got to her cart and put the last bag in, Chaeyoung noticed her boss standing outside of his office, looking down towards her.
Had he watched their conversation? She quickly got in and drove away towards the main garbage bin.
Why did Lisa's site have to be in 'his' eye sight? She sighed.
After throwing the bags away, she quietly parked the cart and walked back to her trailer.
Chaeyoung contemplated walking by them, to give them a wave and maybe say goodnight. She decided she would after several minutes of thought.
She would have felt nervous, like earlier, except she was already feeling better just from the brief time of seeing them.
As she rounded the last corner approaching their site, Chaeyoung felt a tight hold on her wrist as she was whipped around.
"Where are you off to Chaeyoung?"
She stared wide eyed at her boss. So, he did see everything.
"Your trailer is that way you know." He gestured further down the road, the opposite direction.
"Don't tell me your going to have a chat with that friendly family again. Don't think I didn't see you."
"You said to-"
"I told you to say something, not have a full on conversation!"
"We didn't..."
"Oh no? Then why were they all smiles huh? It's not like drug addicts make people happy?"
Chaeyoung looked down.
"What did you say to them? Are you actually funny? Is this reserved persona fake?" He spat.
"No." She whispered. He tightened his grip on her wrist and yanked her closer.
"Don't talk to them again. I don't care if I told you to say at least something to people. I take it back. Be a fucking mute. Don't say one word. To them or anyone else. Understood?"
Chaeyoung's wrist hurt, making her try to pull away. But he took that as a sign to hold her even tighter.
"You hear me?" He said through gritted teeth.
"Y-Yes."
"Good." He then threw her arm down. Making her practically slap her own leg. He walked off past her, towards who knows where.
Chaeyoung held her wrist with her other hand, closing her eyes. She let out a breath as she tilted her head up. Opening her eyes only to see the stars.
After some time, she looked down. There was a sudden drop in her stomach as she stared.
Lisa was standing at the corner of her site, eyes wide as she looked upon her.
Oh my god. Did... did she see that? Did she hear that?
"Chae... are you-"
Chaeyoung didn't give her the chance to finish. She took off and ran the opposite direction to her trailer.
Once she reached it, she immediately opened her door and slammed it shut.
Chaeyoung was starting to have a panic attack.
She quickly reached into her bag, spilling out pills and taking some in fear of feeling any worse.
All because of what Lisa just witnessed.