Village

He could feel that Vivian was trying hard to make it sound like she wasn't hurt or affected by it.

He put down the note and took the car key on the nightstand.

He got dressed, walked out of the house and went straight to his car.

He got in the drive seat and started the car engine as he picked up his phone and dialed Vivian's number.

It rang twice before Vivian answered the call.

"Hey!"

Vivian tried to sound cheerful as she spoke.

Ivan could tell that Vivian was pretending to be in a good mood.

"Where are you? I couldn't find you anywhere in the house."

"My mom's house. I left you a note on the nightstand explaining where I was going."

"Why did it sound like you were driving if you're at your mom's house?"

Ivan was trying his best to speak in his usual voice.

"Ah! You mean right now! I'm on my way to go get some groceries for my mom."

"I see. When are you coming back?"

"I won't go back tonight. I'll be spending the night at my mom's. You should go home too. Your family must be worried about you after you haven't gone home for three days."

"I live alone."

"Ah…. I see. You must've missed your bed after leaving it for so long, right?"

"Not really. I like your bed better."

"Right! You must've wanted to go back home to put on some underwear right. Since you don't have any at my place, you must've been uncomfortable without underwear under your pants. Am I right?"

"I can just have someone to deliver them here."

Vivian was trying hard to figure out what she should say next.

"There's no need for you to send my things to my place."

Ivan's voice brings her mind back from her thoughts.

"They're for you. I bought them for you. All of them were men's things. If I don't send them to your place, what am I going to do with them? I can't wear them, can I? I'm not a man. They are nothing compared to the ring that you've got me."

Vivian thinks that Ivan was trying to decline to take the clothes that Vivian bought for him.

Hearing the sound of the car on the phone, Vivian thought Ivan was on his way back to his place.

"You must be on your way to your place now. See you later."

"I'm on my way to you."

'Is he going to my mom's place? Good thing I'm not there. I can't face him right now after what happened.'

"See you soon then."

Vivian hung up the call.

Since Ivan has skills in hacking, it doesn't take long for him to find Vivian's location.m after typing his phone screen a few times.

"A hundred and sixty-three miles away? The hell is she thinking going this far at night!"

Ivan wasted no time, he started driving to where Vivian was going.

He then picked up his phone and dialed someone. Within one ring, the other person answered the phone.

"Clear the road at once."

Without giving the other person a chance to even say 'hello', Ivan hung up the phone. After he sent the location where he was going, he tossed his phone on the seat as focused on the road.

The person who was on the phone with Ivan was stunned by the unusual behavior of Ivan.

Just as Ivan commented, he made sure that the road Ivan was going to use was clear in a short time.

With mixed emotions, Ivan drove as fast as the car was able to go.

Since the road was clear for him and there's no cars on the road, it didn't take long for Ivan to reach his destination.

When it should've been a three hours and forty-five minutes drive, it took Ivan only one hour and fifty-two minutes to reach his destination since he's driving at full speed.

Ivan couldn't go any further. He could see there's a car parked at the side of the road of the mountain. He parked next to the parked car and got out of the car.

He looks around and there's only bamboo and trees surrounding him.

There's no sight of Vivian.

There's only a small road going up the hill. If you want to go up, you can only walk.

Using his phone's flashlight as he walked up the hill.

"The hell is she doing on the mountain at this late hour? Is she out of her mind? Is she worried about herself?"

Ivan muttered in a low voice between his teeth.

'It's already 10:45 PM. What was going inside her head that made her come all the way here?'

Just thinking about Vivian being alone in the big mountain made Ivan's chest grow even more tighter.

Anxieties were running wild inside him.

Wasting no time, Ivan ran up the mountain as fast as he could.

The only thing Ivan could do right now is follow the road and see where it could take him.

If he can't find anything at the end of the road, he'll have to go through every corner of the mountain.

_______________

By the time Vivian reached her destination, it was almost 9 PM.

Since she has been here before, it doesn't take long for her to go up the mountain.

She was the first person who found the villages. It was a few years ago.

At that time, Vivian was just going to go on a hike. Without realizing it, she had gone a little further than she thought and that's when she found out that there were people living there.

It was a small village called Shane located outside of the city. Not many people know about the place.

The villagers are farmers. Everyone there is kind and friendly.

They treat others like their own families.

That's why it doesn't take long for Vivian to get to know everyone in the village.

Houses are made entirely of bamboo and thatch. They're not big houses, but they're cozy.

Every house member was full of love.

Since Vivian has always been there, they built her small house.

Since they don't speak the same language, Vivian always came to learn their language in her free time.

Since Vivian was a smart person, it didn't take long for her to speak fluently in their language.

Even when she's not there, they always took their free time to go clean her house.

Vivian has always been thankful to them.

They use nearby streams or rivers to bathe, do washing, and collect drinking water.

They eat rice, vegetables, and sometimes meat.

They don't use phones or electricity. Few of them did use cameras, only on a special occasion. They use candles to light up the house.

Their traditional clothes are two woven pieces of clothes sewing together to each other, and also at the sides, forming a sort of tunic. Openings are left unsewn for the head and arms.

Young people wear only a long garment of this type, married women wear a shorter tunic and a wrap skirt.

Since Vivian had already slept with someone, she chose a shorter tunic and wrap skirt to wear after she took a quick shower.

When the nearby villagers saw the light lit up in the empty house, they were full of joy.

"Mommy, Miss Vivi is here. Let's go greet her."

"What? Really?"

"There's a candle lit up inside her place."

"Oh my god, that's great. Honey, I'll go greet Miss Vivi, can you bring her something to eat?"

"Of course. I'll prepare something as fast as I can. You guys go ahead."

"Then we leave now. Love you hubby."

The mid-age man smiles as he watches his wife and kids hurriedly walk to Vivian place.

"Miss Vivi, are you here?" The little kid knocked on the door as she called her.

When Vivian heard a small voice calling her, she opened the door with a smile full of joy in her face.

"Hello darling. Come on in."

Vivian greeted everyone with a smile on her face as she let them inside.

"It's good to see you again, Miss Vivi." The mid-age woman greeted her as she walked inside.

"I'm sorry for showing up late at night. I must've woken you guys up." Vivian said apologetically.

Vivian feels bad for showing up late at night. The people here always sleep early and wake up early.

She didn't know that she'd end up here either.

After telling her mom that she's not anywhere near, Vivian started driving and ended up here.

"Alas, don't worry about it. We haven't slept yet."

That's a lie. They were about to go to bed, her little son always looked out the window at Vivian's place before he went to sleep.

The little boy was hoping that the light would be on in Vivian's place, that's why he always looked at Vivian's place before he went to sleep.

He was full of joy when he saw the light lit up. He couldn't believe his eyes.

His loud voice woke the nearby house's owners up.

Their eyes lit up as they got out of the bed and left their house to go to Vivian's house.

The little boy held Vivian's hand as he walked inside.

In a blink of an eye, Vivian house was full of people. Happy chatters and laughs could be heard from afar.

Foods, water, blankets, and new clothes were brought to her.

The foods were grown by themselves and they woven the clothes and blankets themselves as well.

Vivian was so thankful to them that it made her feel bad about receiving so much from them.

The sadness, worries, fear inside Vivian was washed away in a blink of an eye.