Only You

Chapter 19

The next day...

Minhyuk and Taehyung were already roaming around impatiently at the checkpoint by the time we caught up. 

"This is checkpoint number one, and you are the first group here." the person standing beside the sign said enthusiastically.

"Um yeah. What do we have to do?" Minhyuk asked as we all stood there waiting.

"You'll have to help each other up the giant's ladder." he said, drawing our attention to a series of wooden boards, the gap between each one increasing the higher the boards were.

There were a total of six planks, meaning that I had a total of six chances to break my neck and maybe someone else's too. 

"Let's do this." Taehyung said, stepping into a harness and tightening it. 

Jungkook and Minhyuk both strapped them on with ease, and I was left by the side to struggle with mine. 

"Uhm, does this go here? No...it goes here, right?" I muttered to myself as I tied something to another thing. This left me with a hopelessly tangled mess, and my random efforts in loosening it only made it worse. 

A warm pair of hands came from the side, brushing against mine as they made quick work of fixing the harness properly. 

My breath caught in my chest from surprise as Taehyung straightened up, his face only a few inches from mine. 

"G-Gomawo." I stuttered, my cheeks glowing red. 

"No problem." he said, grinning. Then he walked away from me, leaving me frozen there for a few seconds afterward. 

"Yah, Jieun! Do you plan on spending the entire day here?" Jungkook yelled impatiently from the second rung of the ladder, hanging onto the next rung with one hand. 

What was he, half monkey? How did he get there so fast? Then I saw Minhyuk straddling the third rung, and I felt my self esteem sink a bit lower. T^T 

Waddling over as best I could with the harness on and placing my hands on the first rung that was already chest-height, I wondered briefly if I could grow wings and just fly to the top.

Sadly, the reality was Jungkook being fifty feet above where I was, taunting me by sitting on the plank and swinging his legs out of boredom. 

"Here, swing one leg over it, and hold onto my hand." Taehyung said gently, and I did as he instructed.

"Alright. What now-WHOA!" I yelped as his arms wrapped around my waist and hoisted me onto the board.

"Hold onto me and try standing up." He said, taking my hand. "Then grab the one on top of you for balance." 

Gripping his hand tightly, I stood up on shaky legs and took a desperate grab at the next rung. I didn't die, so that's something.

With his hand in mine the entire time, Taehyung swung himself up easily and stood beside me. 

"Yah! You two! Slow down a bit, won't you?" he yelled to Jungkook and Minhyuk who were on the fifth rung. 

"Arasseo." Minhyuk said, sitting down and leaning back lazily with his legs crossed. Jungkook however, stood with one hand resting on the next plank and gazed down at me coldly. 

Did I do something wrong? I wondered as I heaved myself up onto the next level with much help from Taehyung.

After a long while of struggling, we finally reached the fifth rung. 

I sat on it, breathing hard and sweating profusely, and Taehyung stood, panting and looking utterly exhausted. 

"That took about, oh, three decades." Jungkook said while checking his watch.