"Hana-ya" Mingyu started while Dokyeom peeled oranges for me as I drew something on my iPad designing for an upcoming project.
I hummed in response and Dokyeom fed me a slice of orange. The two of us were seated on the floor while Mingyu was pacing around aimlessly.
"Don't mind me much" Mingyu spoke in a warning tone making me look up at him from my iPad with a suspicious look.
Mingyu, Dokyeom and I were hanging out together at the dorm, waiting for the other members to have dinner together.
"Dokyeom-ah, what do you think about going camping?" Mingyu asked and I raised my eyebrows, the orange slice held between my teeth.
"Us? Together? With the entire group?" Dokyeom asked and passed a few slices to Mingyu, who was shaking his head.
"No, not everyone, you, I and Minghao." Mingyu clarified, and I bit into the orange slice, preparing to join the conversation.
"Yah, Kim Mingyu." I started with a frustrated tone. "You and your single ass. I need to find you a girlfriend." I spoke tilting my head in annoyance and continued drawing on my iPad.
"Please don't. I can do it myself" he answered back and Dokyeom snickered beside me.
"Then why aren't you? Don't stay single; you're annoying," I retorted without looking up at him.
"I have Dokyeom, and other members, I'll get a girlfriend when I have time. I'm a busy man." he argued back and I looked up at him and kept my pencil down to answer him. Dokyeom meanwhile was enjoying the bickering by using oranges as his popcorn.
"Exactly, you're busy. So is Dokyeom! I already don't get him half the time because you're pulling him into football or racing or dinners that don't include me!" I whined pouting.
"Wah, you're going to be a petty girlfriend now?" Mingyu asked, looking shocked and I scoffed. The usual Mingyu was a sweet human, yet every time Dokyeom was a common topic between us we'd turn into unserious rivals.
"Please, stop." Dokyeom replied calmly and fed both me and Mingyu orange, shutting us up.
"Anyways, I'm not the one planning this camping thing, Eunwoo is. He wanted to get along since it had been a while." Mingyu cleared the misunderstanding, making me and Dokyeom widen our eyes in curiosity.
"Eunwoo is? Wah, it's been so long since I've met everyone" Dokyeom expressed and Mingyu nodded in agreement.
"You, I, Minghao, Eunwoo, Jungkookie, Jaehyunie, Yugyeom, BamBam and BangChan. The last two are yet to confirm if they're joining, but yeah." Mingyu explained and Dokyeom nodded.
"You guys aren't close with the girls? I know you're friends with Cho MiYeon and Jihyo." I said pointing towards Dokyeom who was friends with these idols as well.
"Jungkookie and BamBam are close with Lisa. Mingyu and I have been friends with Lee Saerom and Gyuri since we've been in the same company. Others aren't our closest friends but they've joined a few times." Dokyeom explained
"Yah, Hana, it's your lucky day, they're asking you to join." Mingyu laughed as he read the texts from the group chat.
"Me? I don't think I know half of the people there, and vice versa." I spoke confused
"You can get to know them, that's the point" Dokyeom added nonchalantly and I agreed, shrugging my shoulders.
"Should I join, is that seriously okay?" I asked when Dokyeom nodded happily and Mingyu mouthed a big dramatic no which earned him a pillow smack on his back.
As the day of the trip arrived, Dokyeom, Minghao and I drove to the site. It was a location unknown to the public. Famous amongst the celebrity community because of the privacy and security it provided to whoever stayed there without any breach of privacy.
Almost all of the cars reached the location at the same time and we all got to greet each other. Dokyeom Mingyu and Minghao hygge their friends so did I as I met them, some for the first time.
"Hana-ssi!" Eunwoo called out and walked towards me and gave me a quick hug.
"Hey, very nice to meet you. It's been so long since I've met you. Thank you for letting me join you guys." I answered with a smile and Eunwoo smiled back.
"It's nice to have you here, it's about time you got to know us well too." He said and gestured towards where everyone was standing.
"Wah! Hana, you're here" Jungkook noticed and walked towards me.
"Hello, it's been so long!" I expressed, and side hugged him as well, greeting him.
I had previously worked with Jungkook, Eunwoo and BangChan so I knew them personally before this trip.
As the others introduced themselves to me, I started getting an idea of their deep friendship. Soon, I was introduced to their girlfriends as well. They were all like a big happy family and now I was the newest member in it.
As we set up the tents, Dokyeom, I, Mingyu and Jungkook and YunHee worked together on the dinner. YunHee was Eunwoo's girlfriend and she was as sweet and lovely as him.
As the night progressed, we brought out some drinks and indulged in snacks. The atmosphere became livelier, with playful banter and shared jokes echoing through the campsite. The friendship between the 97 liners was infectious, creating an environment of genuine enjoyment. Dokyeom, Jungkook, BangChan and Eunji, another one of the girlfriends, took out their guitars and played songs while everyone sang along. The night unfolded with a blend of music, laughter, and heartfelt conversations. The group, including the girlfriends, bonded over shared experiences and personal stories. The idol image that often required a polished exterior melted away, revealing the real personalities behind the fame. All good ones.
As the night deepened, some of us decided to take a short night hike, guided by the moonlight. The crunching of leaves beneath our feet and the rustling of trees added a touch of adventure to the experience making our extremely drunk selves chuckle and giggle out of nowhere.
The rustling noise was alerting with every step we took, the moon cast a soft glow, guiding our tipsy group on a spontaneous night hike.
"Hya Eunji-ya, Hannie, are you sure we won't get lost?" Dokyeom asked, chuckling, his arm casually draped around my shoulders as we all walked through the woods.
Eunji and I had bonded a lot within the less time we had spent. She was as crazy and mad as I was. Going on the hike was her idea making me question if she was crazier. I could already see a new best friend that was getting added to the list before leaving the camps.
"Oh, absolutely sure. I have a fantastic sense of direction," I replied with a mischievous grin, earning a few sceptical looks from the group.
"Fantastic sense of direction? We might end up in a cave," Mingaho spoke in all seriousness, causing the group to burst into laughter in the middle of nowhere.
"As long as we don't run into any wild animals, I'm game." Jungkook added, he was always up for an adventure.
Eunji put her arms over Jungkook and Eunwoo's shoulders, locking their necks and chimed in with a drunk wide smile, "Well, if we do, we'll just serenade them with our amazing voices, right?"
Yunhee, Jaehyun, BangChan, Minghao, Bambam, and Yugyeom, following the trail, shared lighthearted banter and occasional bursts of giggles. The crisp night air was filled with the sound of leaves crunching beneath our feet.
"Eunji-ssi, can you pronounce 'cinnamon' without slurring it up?" Mingyu teased and she pouted, then turning her lips into a line.
"Yes, watch me" Eunji rolled her eyes, ready to accept his challenge.
"Caymmanom" she slurred up some gibberish making us break into quiet fits of laughter.
"Okay Beyoncé" Bang Chan replied since her gibberish sounded close to 'say my name'.
"Shh!" she shushed him down, making everyone laugh again.
Laughing about absolutely senseless things, we made our way through the trails and reached an open ground with a huge tree in the middle, which looked like another camping site but it was empty.
"Wah, this is creepy." Eunwoo commented as all of us proceeded with careful steps onto the open land.
"Shut up, it's beautiful" YunHee crossing her boyfriend, looking all around with awe.
"It really is" Someone commented from behind me but I was too awestruck to find out who it was. The scenery that played in front of us was truly beautifying.
The singular huge tree that stood in between was eye-catching, as we all neared it, we noticed tiny lights flickering around us.
"Hannie, fireflies" Dokyeom whispered beside me as his hand held mine, he was as awestruck as I was. As the enchanting sight of fireflies lit up the open ground. The tiny lights weaved through the air, creating a surreal atmosphere that captivated all of us.
Eunwoo, who initially found it creepy, now wore a smile of wonder. "This is amazing. I never expected fireflies in such a place." Yugyeom added and we nodded in agreement.
BamBam, amazed, added, "Nature has its way of surprising us, doesn't it?"
As we stood there, surrounded by the soft glow of fireflies, someone suggested, "Let's sit down and enjoy this moment."
We found a comfortable spot beneath the giant tree, where the branches formed a natural canopy above us. The air was filled with the gentle hum of fireflies and the distant sounds of the night. As we sat on the cold grassland, Dokyeom made a small ring out of a strand of grass and handed it to me, in return I made him one too.
We spent hours under that lone tree, unaware of when it was time for sunrise. As the day came, we watched the sunrise together, few slept under the tree, while few watched the sunrise with a soft smile on their lips.
Dokyeom, who was sleeping on my lap, opened his eyes as the sun rose while I watched the sun's beauty as I patted his head softly.
"G'morning" I whispered looking down at him and Dokyeom smiled back at me and held my hand that was patting his head in his hand and we both watched the sky change colours in front of us.
After watching the sunset, we all returned back to our tents. We cooked up some quick breakfast to sober up. Breakfast being piping hot ramen. We soon made our way back to our daily lives, with a lot of fun memories but with a feeling of sadness. Too much fun hurts when it comes to an end, it leaves a sense of saying goodbye somehow. Dokyeom, Mingyu, Minghao and I talked about the trip all the way back to the city, letting the feeling of the fun wear off to come down.
Thank you for reading
This chapter was per a request of a fellow reader, I hope you enjoyed it
Since I don't know a lot about the other 97z behaviour, I was a little unsure about how to distribute the dialogues and behavioural lines.
Please comment your thoughts :D