Outside, the sun was high in the sky, and the island was close. The officers started to leave the ship with their bags.
Everyone went down the stairs to leave the ship.
Mei Van also went down.
The girl was standing above them, watching without any expression. She wore a white shirt, a skirt, and high heels.
Everyone was waiting for her to come down.
Sora said, "What are you looking at? Why don't you come down?"
Rosa answered, "It's clear she will slow down our mission."
Lima looked at them and said, "Don't say that. She is still a trainee. She's not used to this yet."
Jin shouted, "Come down! We are late!"
The girl said, "How can I come down? It's too high!"
Mei Van said, with no patience, "You have two choices. Come down, or I will throw you."
She looked at him and imitated his movements mockingly with her mouth, then slowly started going down. She took one step down, then went back up again. Everyone was waiting, tired of her.
When she got near the bottom, she couldn't jump down.
Mei Van asked, "What's wrong again?"
She answered, "I can't jump. It's too high."
The others started laughing.
Jay said quietly, "It's only one meter."
She still said, "No, I can't."
Mei Van moved quickly, reached out to hold her, and pulled her. She fell on him by accident.
Everyone looked at them with red faces, trying not to laugh.
Sora quickly came and pulled the girl away.
Mei Van stood up fast and looked at everyone.
He shouted, "Hurry up! Go ahead and build your tents! Tomorrow we will walk fast. Go now!"
The girl looked around and said coquettishly, "Don't tell me we are sleeping in tents?"
He looked at her with no expression.
"No, we will sleep in a hotel. Where do you think we will sleep? This is a wild island."
She rolled her eyes and said, "I don't mind… if you build my tent."
He looked at her. "What's your name?"
She looked at her fake nail and said, "Yuna."
He said in a serious voice, "Miss Yuna, now that you're here, you must live like the team. No one serves anyone. Everyone does their own work. Also, don't slow us down again. Do what you're told."
Then he walked away without waiting for her reply.
She raised her finger behind his back and said quietly, "Who gave you the right to talk to me like that, idiot?"
The team entered the island and found a good place to set up camp. Each person started building their plastic tents and blowing up their air beds, which were easy to carry.
Yuna also came into the camp. Her high heels made it hard to walk. She saw that they were already building their tents and making fire for food.
She thought to herself, When did they do all this?
She walked straight to Mei Van, who was breaking wood.
She asked without introduction, "Where is my tent?"
He looked at her and said, "You don't have one. We only have what we carry. You will share with one of the girls."
She got closer and said, "You know they don't like me. And I have never shared my room with anyone before."
He pretended to be surprised that they don't like her, "Who told you that?"
She said in a soft voice, "I saw it in their eyes. Especially the girl with short hair who pulled me off you when I fell."
He turned his face, then looked at her again. "You're imagining things."
At night, the team sat around the fire and started eating dinner – just rice.
Yuna approached Mei Van and said, "I don't like rice."
He looked straight ahead and said, "We only brought rice. So get used to it."
She wanted to answer, but suddenly Sora asked, "Where did you graduate from? And when?"
She looked at her with confused eyes.
Yuna answered nervously, "I gra… graduated from…"
Everyone was looking at her with curious eyes waiting for the answer.
Mei Van interrupted her, "Everyone go to sleep. Tomorrow we walk 10 kilometers when the sun rises." He looked at Sora as he said it.
Everyone went to their tents, except Sora, Mei Van, and Yuna.
Sora asked, "Where will this trainee sleep?" She looked at Yuna with a mocking smile.
Mei Van didn't meet her eyes. "In my tent."
Sora and Yuna looked at him, shocked.
Both said, "In your tent?"
Mei Van didn't answer. He held Yuna's wrist and took her to the tent, while Sora watched.
Inside the tent
Yuna asked angrily, "Why did you suddenly decide I will stay with you?" She looked at her body and put her hands on herself.
He looked at her and said coldly, "Get those thoughts out of your head. It's just that if they ask you questions like that again, and I'm not with you, how will you answer?"
She thought, then said with confidence, "I'll figure it out."
He looked at her and said, "If they find out who you really are, I won't protect you. They'll leave you here alone—with no food, no tent, and animals around."
At that moment, they heard a wolf howling.
She looked around, then came closer to him with a fake smile. "I think you're right. I'll stay here."
She lay down on the air bed, then sat up. "Where will you sleep if I take the bed?"
He looked at her. "Just sleep."
Then he sat on the ground, on the plastic of the tent, and slept sitting.
She looked at him for a few minutes,
then started looking at the ceiling of the tent and her eyes filled with tears as her memory went back to seven days ago when she was sitting with her family. An old woman said,
"How is your work going?"
Yuna looked at her and said, "Very well."
A man, nodding his head and drinking his soup without looking at her, said, "What good will writing do her? She doesn't want to run the company with her brother."
A middle-aged young man, looking at her with an expressionless face, said, "Let her do what she wants, like writing or the company, right sister?"
She said, "It's not the same. My work is successful and loved."
He said angrily, "What do you mean by that?"
She said, "Nothing, it's just that we know I don't do any legal violations or abuse of power while some do, and I will expose them."
He looked at her angrily then the woman interrupted them, saying,
"Taste salad, it's delicious."
Back to the present, she said, "What happened after that? What?"
Then slowly closed her eyes and went to sleep.