September 14th, 2025
7:31 PM
"Knock knock."
"It's open." You announced from your bed as you thumbed through the book in your hands. You heard your door slowly creaking open and smiled when you had seen Jaemin's head pop inside.
"Bringing over some clothes," He tells you. "They're just old ones I don't wear anymore..."
"And you're giving them to me?" He nodded. "Don't you think the other guys would want your clothes?"
"Which one of those beefcakes can fit these?" He showcased a pair of jeans draped over his arm. "I'm a pretty skinny dude, Y/N..."
"Who told you I was skinny in the legs?"
"Stand up."
You looked up at Jaemin just to see the dead serious look in his eyes. "Come on, stand up."
Sighing, you placed your book on your pillow, hoisting yourself from the bed. His eyes drifted down to your legs, and he hummed. "My jeans have breathing room..."
"Listen," You chuckled. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm sure the other guys would appreciate your clothes more than I would..."
"They all have their own clothes, and you've been wearing the same thing since you got here. It's time for a change, damnit..."
"Hey!" You scoffed. "As if I had the money and time to shop while fleeing walkers!"
"Fine. I guess that's fair." He chuckled. "Will you at least try them on? And if you don't like them, you can give them back..."
"God, you're persistent..." You groaned, taking the box he was holding and placing it on the bed.
You opened the box to take a look inside, nothing really standing out to you until you pulled out a tie-dye designer shirt, and you quirked an eyebrow.
"What the hell..."
"What?" Jaemin peered over your shoulder to see what you were staring at. "Oh. Yeah, I don't really like that shirt anymore..."
"So, you thought giving it to me was a wise idea?"
"Well, I didn't wanna have a walker wearing Jimmy Choo...And the last time I gave the boys anything of mine that was designer brand, my Michael Kors backpack got mauled."
"Who did you give it to?"
"Mark."
"That explains a lot..."
Jaemin laughed, watching you run your fingers over the patterns on the shirt.
"I guess I'll only wear it when we're not really doing anything..."
"Which is today?"
"I suppose so, smartass." You sighed.
Since the shirt you were currently wearing seemed to cling to your frame, it was no hassle throwing the shirt over your head and smoothing out the wrinkles.
"It looks nice on you!"
You give Jaemin the side-eye, like you were secretly trying to tell him that you didn't believe his compliment. "Move."
Using your forearm to nudge him out of the way, you got a good look at yourself in the chipped bathroom mirror.
"Told you." He chuckled. "You should wear it to the pool tonight. We're gonna go over our plans for the week..."
"Plans?"
"Yeah, like who's doing what throughout the week, if the watch days are getting switched, progress, all that. It's actually kinda fun; we have a Game Night after every meeting..."
"I see..." You thought. "Alright, I'll wear it. Do you have a sweater in there?"
"I think so. Go look." While you went back to digging through the box, Jaemin sat on the edge of your bed and watched you, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. When he sees you pull out a black cardigan and your eyes light up, he chuckled.
"Have you never seen a cardigan before?"
"Shut up." You slip your arms through the sleeves of the cardigan, walking back to the bathroom mirror. "This'll have to do..."
"Alright then." Jaemin stood up. "To the pool, we go."
~~~~
"So, you can give Y/N your Jimmy Choo shirt, but not us...And you've known us longer like-"
"Quit your bitching, Haechan..." Jaemin laughed while you fiddled with the buttons on your cardigan. "Besides, she looks better in it anyway."
"Cap."
"Cap...?!" You quirked an eyebrow at the tan-skinned boy behind you. "I look better than you with that dirty-ass jacket you got on..."
"It's called distress and acid-wash..."
"Nah, a walker definitely tore through your shit..."
The boys around you laughed and you smirked, flashing Haechan a cheeky playful grin and he does the same, knowing that you were only joking.
"Alright, alright. Let's get started..." Taeyong announced. "First off, the community a couple of miles out agreed to trade firewood with us in exchange for food tomorrow morning. We need some guys to bring them the food..."
"I'll do it." Kun raised his hand. "You want me to take one of the trucks?"
"Yeah, it'll be easier that way. Johnny and Lucas, do you mind going with him to make sure things run smoothly?"
"Got you..." A pair of tall black-haired boys nod their heads.
"Who's on the watch list for Friday and Saturday?" A long-haired boy with green streaks asked in a soft tone.
"You got Saturday, Yuta." Taeil turned to him. "I made the list this morning. Ten, Jaemin, Y/N, Hendery and Jisung have Friday while you, Jungwoo, Lucas, Xiaojun, and Renjun have Saturday this week..."
"Fuck me," A pink-haired boy groaned. "There goes my eight to ten hours..."
"Suck it up, Renjun; we've all been through it at one point." Jeno shouted to the boy.
"Speaking of which, Y/N," Taeyong called your name, making you turn around and face him. "How was your first week here? The boys didn't give you a hard time, did they?"
"N-Nah, not really." You shake your head. "My week was...pretty chill...I think..."
"You don't sound so sure about that." Jaemin nudged you.
"Well, that's because I spent the majority of the week with you, sooo..."
"Oh really?" Taeyong raised an eyebrow. "Jaemin, I only said to show her around the rest of the camp..."
"I did...and then some." He snickered. "I'm the main reason she and Chenle stopped beefing..."
"We were never beefing to begin with, dimwit..." Chenle rolled his eyes.
"...Not really true, but go off..." You murmured.
"Okay, well I'm glad you settled in so fast-"
"No thanks to me!" Jaemin chimed in, which makes you push him into nearly falling into the pool. "We get it already!"
Taeyong chuckled at the two of you. "Since you seem to be fitting in so much, I think you can be assigned to a role here..."
"A...role?" You blinked.
"Yeah. For example, Taeil is in charge of setting up the watch list for the week, Ten, Kun, and Sungchan are our doctors, and Johnny, Lucas, and Jaehyun handle our defenses..."
"Hey, I'm part of that too!" Mark whined, quickly wincing at the shot of pain going up his injured arm.
"Well, that doesn't really check out when you're getting injured every other fucking day now, does it?" Johnny tilted his head.
"It's not my fault I'm clumsy!"
"Clumsy my ass..." Jaehyun stifled his laugh, earning one from Lucas next to him.
"So, Y/N," Taeyong captured your attention once more. "Is there anything you think you're good at?"
"O-Oh, uh..." You started thinking. "I guess I can shoot pretty well..."
"We all can, though," You heard Chenle comment. "Except for Mark, obviously..."
"Holy shit, can you let me breathe for one second?"
"Never..." He whispered in Mark's direction.
"I say we test her." Johnny shrugged. "Hey, Hendery. You still got that crossbow?"
"Of course!" A bleach blonde boy smiled, handing Johnny the aforementioned weapon. "Don't leave my room without it."
"Perfect. Heads up, Y/N!" Johnny tossed the crossbow in your direction, and you caught it with the help of the moonlight gleaming down on the pool.
Hendery then rushed to your side and gave you a small rundown on how to use the crossbow before handing you an arrow, helping you place it in its appropriate spot. Soon, you see Johnny pick up an empty can from off the ground and then look at you.
"See if you can hit this in mid-air, okay?"
"Got it." You nodded, holding the crossbow out in front of you and waiting for him to toss the can. Once the object was up in the air, you took the shot.
Seeing that it was nearly pitch-black outside, you couldn't tell whether or not you hit the can, but it wasn't until the can landed in the pool that you realized that your arrow had completely pierced through its center.
"Wow...Nice shot, Y/N..." Johnny complimented you.
"So, she's part of the defense team now...got you." Jaehyun concluded. "Mark, you've been replaced."
"What the fuck!"
You laughed, giving Hendery back his crossbow. That was when Taeyong chuckled, his eyes never leaving you. "Okay, I'm with that..."
"Sweet..." Jaemin smirked. "Look at you, little Katniss..."
"Katniss?" You tilted your head. "Like from the Hunger Games? Pick a better reference, dude..."
"Shut up and take the compliment, dumbass!" He laughed, flinging some water in your direction, which in turn, made you laugh.
Then you settled down, slowly nodding your head.
"Katniss...alright..."
~~~~