Beautiful but disgusting

A bright white light flashed and disappeared in the same instant, revealing a beautiful girl with black hair, a neat white shirt, and a short black skirt. It was Hinako, the girl who had hidden from Kogan, and she was with her elegant companion, wearing a red shirt and a black formal vest.

"What is this place?"

They began looking around in an attempt to understand the nature of their surroundings.

They were standing on a vast grassy field, about 200 square meters in size, surrounded by trees of various sizes on all sides.

The atmosphere was calm, neither cold nor hot.

In the sky, there was no trace of the sun or clouds, just a clear blue sky glowing with a soft, harmless light that illuminated the vast area.

"We're the only ones who appeared here; we need to check if the others are nearby," the elegant young man took the lead.

Hinako agreed to the plan, and they chose a direction they felt was the most suitable and started moving toward it.

They ventured through the dense trees, the air filled with a refreshing fragrant scent.

All the trees were bearing fruit—oranges, apples, peaches, strawberries—and there were grapevines entwined with other trees.

"There are so many trees I've never seen before," the elegant young man looked around in amazement.

There were many trees bearing strange fruits, fruits the size of watermelons, dark black, clinging tightly to their branches without showing any signs of falling.

Others appeared long like peppers, white in color, and clustered together like bananas.

…

"Have we gotten lost?" Hinako's concern began to grow.

They had been walking for a long time, yet the trees showed no signs of thinning out. In fact, it could be said that they were increasing in number and becoming even stranger, and the scent had also grown stronger.

"We entered here without knowing the size of this forest. We can't say we've gotten lost. It's just that this forest is massive," the elegant young man remained calm despite feeling anxious.

He knew that in this situation, anxiety and tension would not help. Added to that, he was the only man in this place, and he could only rely on himself.

If the whole group were here, then maybe he could release his anxiety and tension, and the others would share it.

'I can't let her think too much,' he glanced briefly at Hinako.

After more time passed, the light gradually began to fade, and darkness started to take over.

"We've been walking since the morning, we should rest here, and besides, we haven't eaten anything," the elegant young man chose a spot that seemed a bit more spacious for them to rest.

As usual, the strange trees surrounded them, and the fragrant, refreshing scent in the air became so dense that it began to annoy them.

"Where will we get water from? My body is drying up," Hinako spoke in a tired voice.

"We'll eat these fruits first; we'll extract some fluids from them," the elegant young man started picking some fruits.

"Don't pick fruits you don't know," Hinako reminded him.

"Of course."

The elegant young man picked some apples, peaches, and oranges, gave them to Hinako, and went back to pick more cherries and pomegranates.

Hinako began peeling an orange, and its delicious citrus scent filled the air. She couldn't resist the aroma and hurriedly peeled it, taking a piece and placing it in her mouth with great joy.

"Pffff .. it's so bitter!" she spat it out immediately after chewing.

"What's wrong?" The elegant young man brought more fruits.

"Don't bring any more oranges, they're way too bitter."

The elegant young man opened another orange to taste it.

"Pffff .. this is really bad."

"Didn't you believe me when I said that?" Hinako wiped a shiny red apple.

"It's not that, I just wanted to make sure all the oranges are bad."

He slammed a large pomegranate onto the ground to crack it open and taste it.

"Pfff, this apple is bad too," Hinako spat out the apple as well.

"Ugh, and the pomegranate too, it tastes like paper," the elegant young man coughed harshly.

They tasted the juice, the peels, and even the leaves, but everything had a really bad taste, unlike the fragrance in the air.

If they had known this was the case since their arrival, they might have looked for something else or thought of a solution.

But now, they were caught off guard, hungry and exhausted.

"What should we do now? There's no food or water, we'll die from hunger."

"What if there are predators, or poisonous insects?"

"Our end is near."

Hinako sat on the ground, on the verge of collapsing.

After all, the thought of death wasn't too far off.

The elegant young man approached her, lowered his body, and knelt on the ground, gently placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Hinako, look at me. We didn't come here to die. What if we can't find food right now? All we need to do is keep searching. Don't worry, as long as I'm here, you'll be fine."

Hinako looked at him with teary, shining eyes, feeling grateful for not being alone in this place.

"Thank you."

'It seems like we really might die. If we catch some birds, maybe the situation will improve a little, but the problem is water,' the elegant young man placed his hands on his hips, thinking about the situation.

"Julian, I'll be gone for a little while. Can you wait for me here?"

Hinako said with difficulty, she had been needing to relieve herself for a while, but she didn't feel comfortable with a man around. However, now she had no choice.

Unlike Julian, the elegant young man, who relieved himself wherever he pleased.

"Of course, take your time," Julian smiled.

Hinako chose a path that seemed safe and walked through it.

'Being alone with a beautiful girl in this place is interesting.'

'If only I could solve the food problem and make sure not to run into the others, maybe I would have done it.'

'Why should I worry about the others? Maybe they've already done it.'

His suppressed thoughts began to unravel as he looked at Hinako.

He really wanted to sneak a peek, but that could ruin their current relationship.

Especially considering their situation, which showed no signs of progressing.

Hinako entered the midst of the trees, taking a few steps before glancing behind her and making a turn.

'He doesn't seem like a bad person.'

'I'm a bit lucky to be with him. What would I have done if I were with that stranger?'

'Come to think of it, did he really see my reflection?'

She had moved away from their camp. She paused for a moment to look around but felt nothing unusual. Certainly, she wouldn't fully trust someone she had just met not long ago.

There wasn't much she could do. She sighed and quickly lowered her underwear to relieve herself before returning.

Rustling … Rustling … Rustling

"I knew this would happen," her heart sank, and her face paled.

It didn't take more than a few seconds before something began to approach her.

In this dark time and place, with a girl who was almost naked and weak, all possibilities seemed bad.

She quickly finished what she was doing and stood up straight. She was thinking whether to scream or run, but what if her movement attracted the attention of this thing?

Should she scream and bet on Julian coming to her aid, but what if he ran away as soon as he saw the situation? No one would blame him, certainly.

But what if the rustling sound from earlier was actually Julian himself? Surely, that can't be ruled out, after all, he is a man. 

All these thoughts and possibilities collided in her mind quickly and chaotically, and she couldn't make any logical decision.

But even if your mind fails to make a logical decision in a terrifying situation, your body will surely take action.