[Neo Zone] Population: 23 Kids

The Hike

Twenty-three children and four adults were split between three cars, all headed to the same destination. That meant seven kids weren't legally in a seat and were split between the trunk and the laps of those in the Suh van.

A bus would be needed to get everyone legally to one place in a single vehicle, and Taeyong said he knew a guy that could get them one, but they passed on that offer.

Music was of course being played throughout the entire two hour drive, the children singing along obnoxiously. Even in the other cars where Mr. Lee and Mrs. Na weren't used to being around this many kids.

"Are we there yet?" Chenle asked for the seventh time in five minutes. Johnny clamped a hand over his mouth since the younger was on his lap, silencing for the rest of the trip.

"We'll be there in two minutes, hun. So let's go over the game plan." 

Mr. Suh turned down the music so his wife could be heard and also because he hated when she took her hands off the wheel while driving.

"Mrs. Na and I are taking a group up the mountain and Mr. Lee and Mr. Suh are taking another group on an easier trail that goes through the woods and doesn't have any climbing. You're allowed to choose which one to go on, but if you know you aren't going to make it up the mountain, please don't. If you fall and get hurt I'm leaving you and coming back when I'm on the way down."

"She's joking." Mr. Suh tried to reassure the kids.

"No I'm not. I want to get to the top."

"Well, if you're going with me we have a choice between a fairy trail and a non-fairy trail." Mr. Suh was pretty excited that he had actually found a fairy trail, so if the kids didn't want to go on that he'd come back another day and take Mrs. Suh on a date.

Mrs. Suh pulled into the parking lot at the base of the mountain, Mr. Lee and Mrs. Na pulling in on either side of her. The kids then got out of the car like it was a magic trick to see how many could fit inside, stretching out their limbs or waking up.

"Lunch?" Mark asked instantly, having been in the car without snacks.

"Sure. Whoever put peanut butter, turkey and cheese on a sandwich has to eat that, though. No trading off and making someone else suffer with that."

Hendery just shrugged, standing off to the side and waiting for his turn to grab his sandwich from the cooler. Because names weren't put with the sandwich orders they were labeled by what was in them, causing a little confusion for those who forgot what they had asked for.

It took them awhile to eat their lunch (especially since Doyoung almost killed Haechan for putting chili powder in his sandwich) and get ready for the hikes, splitting up into the two groups. But once they were situated, they were ready to go.

Kun, WinWin, Jungwoo, Hendery, Jaemin, Chenle and Jisung were going with Mr. Lee and Mr. Suh on the walk through the woods, having opted to not do the fairy trail. Hendery had wanted to go on the mountain, but with his lack of depth perception they thought it would be better if he didn't.

Mrs. Suh and Mrs. Na had the other sixteen kids, first-aid kit handy just in case. They were hoping no one was going to get hurt, but they knew the chances of that happening were very high.

As soon as the second group got onto the trail through the woods, Mr. Suh handed Jaemin his phone, knowing the kid was going to want to take pictures. He took pictures of everything he decided was even remotely aesthetic, almost filling the camera roll with snapshots of the others and nature.

Hendery was talking the entire time to anyone who would listen, holding onto Kun's hand. At one point Jisung ended up on Mr. Suh's back, and Chenle tried convincing WinWin to carry him too. WinWin wasn't about to have any of that, but he did allow Jungwoo to hold his hand when he noticed he was tripping over almost every single tree root, twig and rock.

The mountain group was no less interesting. Johnny, Taeyong, Yuta, Doyoung and Ten were given permission to race each other up the mountain, so they were ahead by only a few minutes. Mrs. Suh had wanted to go with them to show them she could win, but Mrs. Na convinced her not to. Doyoung ended up running out of breath much faster than he had thought, so the other part of the group caught up with him.

Taeil was trying to enjoy nature and the sounds of the birds, something he rarely heard since he had rarely left the city, but Haechan, YangYang, Renjun and Jeno were debating whether a hot dog was a sandwich. Mark also kept making Lucas laugh over something, the two of them unable to stop laughing.

Xiaojun tried talking to Shotaro to the best of his ability, but without Yuta around that was difficult. So he went back to being quiet and listened to Sungchan talk to Taeil.

The view from the top was gorgeous, being able to look over the trees changing colors for fall and seeing the boats on a nearby lake. They weren't expecting to see Ten playing with a Siamese cat he had apparently found on the trail who he had named Louis and decided he wasn't leaving the mountain without him. 

"Can we keep him? Please? I think Leon needs a friend." Ten pleaded.

"One more cat can't hurt, right?" Johnny tilted his head with a smile, hoping they still had a chance at keeping Louis even though they hadn't used one of the favorite children to ask.

"I have no idea where he came from. We were just running up the mountain and Ten suddenly had a cat." Yuta shared, Taeyong nodding next to him. Jaehyun wasn't even paying attention to the cat, having been looking at the view the entire time and ignoring them.

"Please, Mrs. Suh?" YangYang now added in, already in love with the cat even though Louis didn't seem to share the same admiration.

"I'm not even telling you guys no. If you can bring him down the mountain safely, he can stay in the basement."

Mrs. Na looked whipped her head to face Mrs. Suh, astonished she was actually going along with bringing home the random mountain cat that apparently appeared in Ten's arms.

"Is this how you got in charge of twenty-three kids?"

"Oh I don't know how they happened, but this is how we got Leon. Does anyone need a snack or water?"

They headed back down the mountain after a few minutes, this time with a cat. So when they met back up with the other group for ice cream, there was a lot of commotion over the new addition to the family. Except Louis didn't really care for any of them other than Ten and Hendery.

Needless to say, they thought it was a perfect way to spend their day, especially if they got a cat and ice cream out of it.