The bus drops me off near the visitor's entrance to the park. Everything looks just like I remember, but it also feels… off.
Maybe it's because I'm alone this time. No classmates, no teachers, no noise, just me.
I walk through the entrance gate, past families taking pictures and kids dragging their feet behind parents.
The place is big, stretching wide with trails, rocky paths, forests, and the looming mountain further back.
I make my way toward the main information center. The girl behind the counter looks up briefly as I step in, polite.
"Hi, welcome."
"Hi," I say, pulling up the group photo on my phone. "I uhm... looking for this guy, he was guiding us around yesterday during our school trip." I hold the screen out to her, pointing to the man with the black and green hair, beards covering his face, with thick eye brows, standing off to the side with his easy smile.
She squints, then frowns slightly. "He was with your school?"
"Yes. He said he was our tour guide, showed us around, told stories about the mountain, the history... everything."
She shakes her head. "We don't offer guided tours. People usually just explore on their own. Unless a school brings their own chaperones or volunteers, but no one works here who looks like that. I don't know him."
I blink, my stomach tightening. "But he had a badge. He said he worked here."
She offers a weak shrug. "Maybe he was with your group? A teacher, maybe?"
"No," I say flatly. "He wasn't part of the school staff."
She gives me a polite smile, clearly ready to move on. "Sorry I can't help more."
I step back out into the sun, the photo still glowing on my screen. His smile suddenly looks… strange.
I get the money from my pocket and give it to her, I don't even wait for a receipt and walk inside.
I keep walking. Past the rock gardens, past the benches, deeper into the trees. The closer I get to the mountain, the quieter it becomes. The wind seems to hush, the trees almost lean in.
Eventually, I reach the path that winds up toward the peak. I stand at the base of it, staring up at the worn trail, the same place we stood when he pointed to the summit and talked about making wishes.
I let out a shaky breath.
"Maybe I imagined it," I mutter. "Maybe something's just… wrong with me. Because how comes there's not a man like that here?!"
,,,,
I'm about to leave.
I keep telling myself that. My legs ache from standing here too long, my heart tired from chasing after something that probably never existed.
The mountain looks so ordinary now. Just a mound of rocks and trees touching the sky, no magic, no mystery... nothing.
Maybe I should just go home and accept that I'm losing my mind. I pull out my phone again, scroll to the photo we took during the school trip.
The one where he's standing right behind me, our supposed tour guide. A man no one else remembers. A man who apparently never existed.
I sigh, dragging my feet a little as I move to sit on a fallen log near the edge of the woods.
Leaves rustle nearby. My head snaps in the direction of the sound. Probably just a squirrel or something.
Still, I stand up slowly, brushing my palms on my jeans, trying to calm the racing pulse under my skin.
But then, I notice something.
Eyes.
They're there, glowing faintly in the shadows. Not yellow like a cat's, not green like some night reflection. No, these glow with a steady, unnatural gold. Locked on me.
I freeze.
The eyes don't blink. They don't move. Neither do I.
Everything in me screams to run, but my knees feel like stone.
A figure steps out from the trees. Slowly. Calmly. The glowing eyes fade as he moves into the light.
My breath catches.
He walks with quiet confidence, his steps steady on the uneven ground. I stand frozen, not sure whether to run or just keep staring.
He looks like he's in his mid-twenties maybe, with smooth, golden-brown skin and a sharp, striking face.
His jaw is clean, strong, his cheekbones high. His lips are full but set in a firm line, unreadable.
His hair is thick and dark, black at the roots but streaked with deep green that glints faintly in the light.
It's messy. And his eyes… now just a dark hazel. He's wearing a plain black t-shirt that hugs his body, outlining his chest and arms, broad, firm, not bulky but clearly strong.
His jeans are simple too, black and a little worn, but his entire presence feels anything but normal.
My eyes refuse to look away.
For a moment I forget about what brought me here_ the confusion, stress... Everything, fades.
My thoughts scatter.
Maybe the mountain did hear me, I think.
Is this... the hot boyfriend I wished for?
He steps closer. I unconsciously take a step back.