Queen of Roses

12) I'll Catch You

Yoongi was not having a good time. He hated everything about this trip, including the people he was forced to spend it with. The only thing that was keeping him somewhat sane was all the gold he would be awarded at the end of it all.

He leaned his back against the nearest pine tree, stretching his legs out in front of him, crossing his arms, and closing his eyes. Perhaps if the abhorrent birds stopped their cheerful chirping and the annoying sun would not shine so brightly, he could sneak in a couple more moments of sleep.

Tuning out the obnoxious sound of Seokjin and Taehyung's laughter in front of him, he tried to picture all the things he would do with his piles of gold. Maybe he could start a business, or buy a brothel, or—

"Hyung!" Taehyung's voice suddenly exclaimed, interrupting Yoongi's rare moment of peace, "that is not how you are supposed to chop wood!"

Yoongi opened his eyes with the sole purpose of glaring at Taehyung, but he could not help but be vaguely amused upon seeing the comic scene in front of him.

The two idiots were chopping wood to start a morning fire while the ladies roamed the forest, looking for acceptable logs. Taehyung's technique – though sloppy and in Yoongi's opinion, subpar – seemed to be working well enough, as evidenced by the neat pile of wood chunks beside him. Seokjin, on the other hand, had placed a log on the ground and was repeatedly slashing it with an ax – causing small, irregular pieces to fall off chaotically.

Yoongi ducked just as a sliver of wood flew towards his head.

"Yah!" Yoongi screamed, "learn how to chop wood properly or don't fucking do it all."

Taehyung wiped the gleam of sweat that had formed on his forehead before turning towards him, "as if you could do better."

Yoongi barely blinked at his challenging tone, unfortunately used to his bullshit at this point in his life, "nice try, but I am not helping you."

Just as he finished this sentence, Jisoo, Lisa, and Chaeyoung entered the clearing, each of them holding a heavy chunk of wood in their arms. Yoongi cleared his throat and casually got up, walking towards Seokjin and Taehyung as the ladies approached from the other side. Not wanting to appear useless, he snatched Seokjin's ax and shoved him aside.

He raised the weapon high in the air before slicing down, neatly cracking the cylinder of wood in half, as the two other men watched him in amusement.

"I thought you were not going to help us?" Seokjin raised a brow at him, which Yoongi completely ignored.

Taehyung released a deep scoff, "he's not doing it for us. He's trying to impress the ladies."

"I just have nothing better to do right now," Yoongi defended himself smoothly, mentally cursing Taehyung for always calling him on his bluffs.

With the corner of his eye, he saw Taehyung and Seokjin exchange a knowing glance, which Yoongi (again completely) ignored just as the three ladies reached them.

"Don't hurt yourself, Princess," Taehyung teased.

Yoongi paused momentarily, glancing up in time to see Taehyung taking the heavy wood off the Princess's hands, their arms gently grazing each other's. He scoffed under his breath at Taehyung's uncharacteristically gallant action but continued to watch them with interest.

"The only thing I want to hurt right now is you," she countered quickly, narrowing her eyes at him as he smirked at her. Yoongi suppressed a laugh – perhaps this trip would not be as boring as he thought.