Scavenger Hunt

Chapter I

My fingers were securely intertwined with hers.

The night breeze, so venomously arctic cold that a lingering sting remained on your skin, had tousled her obsidian-coloured tresses into the way of my face.

The light of the moon overhead made her pale skin shine luminescently. 

As we basked in the silence and warmth of our mingled bodies in our tight embrace, time seemed to stop elapsing towards our ends and the reality that had once bound us to its will appeared to be unable to exercise any power over us.

We were on top of the world.

We were invincible.

As long as we were together.

"Collin ..." she murmured in a tone just above a whisper, so delicate that it melted me to the core, "I have to leave now. Papa is expecting me back before ten." the serene expression on my face dropped into one of evident displeasure.

"Just fifteen more minutes." my tone was almost pleading because these moments with her is what I lived for.

"It takes us fifteen minutes to get home ... it's already twenty to ten." she futilely tried to argue with me and the lack of urgency in her voice made it obvious that leaving was the last thing on her mind.

"Okay ... five more minutes." I pulled her closer towards my body but her petite body began to squirm against my hold.

"Collin."

I sighed in defeat, hearing the finality in the mere way she stated my name, "Fine."

In a matter of minutes we had abandoned our comfortable hideaway under that old elm tree in the park and were on the road heading home.

Our typical car rides consisted of endless chatter and witty banter; about politics, fashion, music, video games but today it was just silence. The humming of the motor of my dark blue pick-up mixed in with the forceful blow of the air-conditioner was the only thing that made the silence less perturbing.

"Hana," the question that was lingering in my brain was finally able to dislodge itself from my larynx, "why don't you want to elope?"

She turned towards me, two almond-shaped, brown orbs pierced straight through me, "We're too young."

"I'm twenty-one! You're nineteen turning twenty! How are we too young?!" I cleared my throat, realizing the sharp rise in my volume caused her narrow-eyed expression to harden. She was a true lioness at heart; one second she could be tough as nails and in another second she could be as gentle as a flower which was her namesake.

"You're not employed. Live with your parents. I'm going to be accepted into Yale university ... we're not ready." her words made sense yet my brain refused to understand this. It refused to wrap its tiny self around the circumstances but implored for me to live in the moment.

And at this moment all I wanted was her.

As we rolled down our street which was barely visible in the flickering street lights with the insides of all the houses engulfed in darkness, I pressed my lips into a thin line. I couldn't lose her.

"Collin ... you passed my house." she stated stoically but I could sense the undertone of panic. From the corner of my eyes, I monitored her expression and actions. She simply turned back to look at her house then reassumed her original position, facing the windscreen wordlessly.

Her mind was an enigma and I sometimes I failed to comprehend her myself but to me her actions screamed: Drive! Drive! And don't ever turn back!.

And that's what I did.

Ten minutes had already elapsed and when we had arrived at the boarder of the forest thick with groves of pine trees, that's when I felt something ghostly glide over my cheek. Her hands were always so tender and emitted such comforting warmth that I was forced to direct my eyes towards hers.

"Turn back Collin." her eyes connected with mine and some divine power that was drawn from her smoldering umber gaze took over me and I drew the vehicle to a stop.

My hands tightened around the steering wheel and I rest my forehead against it in frustration. My chest was ferociously burning and my head pulsated painfully; all this was too much. As pathetic and whiny as it sounded, I needed her to live. Her hand had descended to rest upon my back and, gently, she stroked it trying to calm me.

The dysphoria finally got to me, "Why? You're not leaving for Yale until next year. Why do your parents want to move to Connecticut in two days?" suddenly, out of my emotions emerged directionless fury and I sat up to glare straight into her brown orbs, "They just want to keep me away from you! They never liked me! They don't understand how much we need each other! Oregon and Connecticut are so far away! Why?!"

She watched wordlessly as I radiated anger and ranted. Her eyes softened in sympathy at my distress and hoping to draw me out of my internal unrest, she finally leaned in to lay her lips upon mine. Instantaneously, my emotions dissolved into oblivion as I drew her closer in an attempt to deepen the kiss but she pulled away to utter tenderly, "Bring me home."

Without another word, I nodded and complied to her commands. Unbeknownst to us hell was waiting for her at home because as I pulled up at her drive way, her parents stood on the front porch.

My eyes flickered towards my wrist watch; it was twenty five minutes to eleven which was much later than her pre-appointed curfew.

Upon seeing her parents, her expression hardened into one of an experienced soldier being placed on the front line again but I refused to let her walk into the fire on her own.

I received no refusal or rejection of my silent decision to leave the vehicle and escort her to her house but, like I stated prior, together we were invincible.

Without hesitation, her parents scolded her in Korean; her father appeared frantic and distraught while her mother's expression read relief. At this point, I had entwined our fingers together as we both received an onslaught of Korean and English reprimands. She was almost twenty yet they treated her like nothing more than a reckless and wild thirteen year old.

In a matter of fifteen minutes, the ranting and raving had concluded and her parents both stood there with looks of distaste upon their faces which finally gave her the opportunity to murmur, "Mian haeyo (I'm sorry)." and, just like that, her parents were done with her but her father was not through with me.

"Young man ... I will surely enjoy not living near you anymore." I glared at him and rage coursed through my body like freshly struck lightening. I felt Hana squeeze my hand tighter, signaling for me to calm down and keep my actions in check. I could do that but I couldn’t control myself from stealing a kiss from her in the presence of her parents; that will give them something to really hate me for.

Hana looked up at me wide-eyed but I could clearly see how impressed she was and, as if on cue, her brother emerged from the doorway and ordered, “Hana! Get inside.”

Hyo had a resounding resentment for me; I could not breathe in his presence without a threatening gaze being shot my way. His name in itself means ‘familial duty’ and true to this he never fails to remind me that he could pierce my neck easily with an arrow, because of his renowned skills in archery, for the sake of his family and, most importantly, his little sister.

Unwillingly, under the intensity of Hyo’s glare, she released my hand and made her way into her house. Subsequently, her brother and her mother retreated back inside after her. But Hana’s father, he just stood there, glaring me down until he repeated, “I will surely enjoy not living near you anymore.”

And with that, I was left alone in the bone-chilling cold with an undying sensation of hopelessness in my heart.