IU's POV
"Yeoreobun! Today you will get into the groups your teacher assigned you yesterday and hike to the top." the instructor said, pointing at the top of the mountain. "There will be checkpoints along the way, and at each checkpoint, there will be a challenge that you will have to pass as a group."
Everyone started muttering at this and casting sinister looks at the trail while I felt the beginnings of nausea starting to creep in at the mere thought of exercise.
She cleared her throat and continued, "Whichever group reaches the meeting spot first will receive a wonderful reward."
With this, everyone dispersed to find their groups.
Taehyung spotted me and waved at me. With dread weighing down every step I took, I walked over and stood there with my hands on the straps of my backpack.
"Annyeong." he greeted.
"Annyeong."
"Jungkook should be here soon, and there's Minhyuk." he said, unperturbed by my lack of enthusiasm.
We waited a bit for Jungkook, and he came fairly quickly, walking toward us while yawning and running his fingers through his uncombed hair. The sight of him sent shivers through me, but that was most likely caused by the cold weather.
We set out with Minhyuk in the the lead, and me lagging farther and farther behind as I struggled to catch up with their rapid pace.
Looking over his shoulder and seeing me dying, Taehyung immediately called to the others, "I'll help Jieun. You guys go ahead, and we'll catch up at the first checkpoint."
Jungkook, upon hearing this turned around and quietly said to Taehyung, "It's fine. I'll help her." Seeing the reluctance on Taehyung's face, he added, "Plus, I'm better than you at sports, so it would be easier for both of us."
Although still hesitant at the prospect of Jungkook helping me, Taehyung turned around and went ahead with Minhyuk.
Guess I need to work on my pleading face.
I glared at Jungkook and ignored the hand he held out because I was still slightly annoyed at the remark he had made the day before. Before I had the chance to take even two steps, my foot caught on a rock and.....I didn't trip.
That was only because Jungkook had caught my wrist, preventing me from toppling over. -.-
"What's this?" he said after I was steady, frowning as he lifted my sleeve to reveal the bracelet that Taehyung had given me.
"Nothing." I muttered, pulling my sleeve back down and brushing his hand off.
His frown deepened, and he was about to say something when I cut him off and said, "Come on. We won't ever catch up to Taehyung and Minhyuk if we just stand here." With that, I walked quickly away from him and down the path.
Jungkook's POV
As I started walking after her, the words I had said yesterday came back and I mentally cringed. Why couldn't I have answered the question normally? When Jieun had looked at me, the first thing that I thought of was what I had spouted, much to my regret now.
And what was wrong with Taehyung yesterday? He had seemed so strange from after the game when we were talking, and refused to tell me what made him act that way.
I felt extremely unsettled, and I was determined to find out all the reasons why, and maybe actually ask Jieun out properly while I'm at it.
IU's POV
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.
"It would've been...easier.....if you had....just waited and helped." Taehyung said between breaths.
Minhyuk swung himself up abruptly and jumped to reach the next rung.
"Y-Yah! Don't do that!" I yelled, nearly pitching forward as the ladder swayed from the weight of Minhyuk moving.
"Gotcha." Taehyung grunted as he grabbed my shoulder to steady me.
From this new shock and being nearly two stories up in the air, I was shaking so hard that I couldn't reply.
Jungkook's eyes flashed icily and he turned his back on us, then followed Minhyuk.
We made it to the top, where I briefly considered kicking Jungkook off, but then we were lowered onto the ground with the harnesses.
After we retrieved our stuff, Taehyung led the way to the second challenge, and then the third. Our team was still in the lead by a ton.
I was able to complete up to the tenth challenge with Taehyung's aid, and was able to drain all of my energy with Jungkook's sarcastic comments and the strenuous activities.
Darkness had almost settled by the time we headed out to the eleventh, where everything went wrong.
"Taehyung-ah, you sure it's this way?" Minhyuk asked as we trudged through the undergrowth.
He didn't reply, and we kept walking as the sun set completely. After ten minutes of stumbling through the darkness, Taehyung finally accepted the fact that we were hopelessly lost. We emerged in a small clearing in the woods and trailed to a stop.
"What do we do?" Jungkook asked flatly.
Taehyung sighed. "I only have one flashlight, and we don't have our phones because we weren't allowed to bring them." He then dug around in his bag to find the flashlight.
"Since this is my fault, I'll go and try to find some help. You guys stay here." he said as he switched the flashlight on.
"I'll go with you." Jungkook and Minhyuk both said immediately.
"Minhyuk, you stay with Jieun." Taehyung said, starting to walk away from us.
"You know what? I think I'll stay with Jieun." Jungkook said, sitting down and leaning against a tree.
"That's....fine I guess." Taehyung said reluctantly, looking back at us.
"Let's go." Minhyuk said. "The later it gets, the worse off we will be."
They went back into the woods in the direction we came from, and were soon swallowed up by the trees.
We sat on opposite sides of the small clearing, facing each other. The wind soon picked up, and the temperature rapidly dropped. I shivered, rubbing my arms furiously with the little energy I had left in order to warm up a bit.
Time passed slowly, and I was now shivering so hard that I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering even if I wanted to.
Seeing me curled up in a ball from the cold, Jungkook sighed and took off his jacket.
"Take this." He tossed his jacket over to me.
I uncurled with an effort and stared at him in disbelief. "Michyeosseo? It's below freezing out here! You might get frostbite!"
He rolled his eyes. "I'm more likely to get frostbite from watching you be cold. Wear it already."
He is soo not getting sick because of me. I thought. I stood up, every inch of me aching in protest, and walked over to him with lead-like limbs.
"Put it on." I murmured, holding out the jacket, unable to talk any louder.
He huffed and stood up, taking the jacket and draping it around me.
I immediately took it off.
"Arasseo. Come here." he sighed, giving into my stubbornness.
He took the jacket and put it on, then pulled me toward him and swiftly zipped it up so that I was trapped to him by the jacket.
"Yah!" I said, pushing both my hands against his chest, startled by suddenly how close I was to him.
"Be quiet." he muttered, and sat down so quickly that I squeaked and stumbled against him. "See? Problem solved. We're both warm." He then closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree trunk.
I shifted uncomfortably, not knowing what to do with my freezing cold hands. I sat up as far as I could away from him with the sweater binding us together, being unable to reach the zipper.
"Aish. The wind is literally blowing down my shirt!" he growled, opening his eyes. "Stop moving around already."
Jungkook wrapped one hand around my waist to pull me closer, and the other pressed my head against his neck.
"A-Ande." I said, trying to move away, but his arms only tightened around me, cutting off any movement.
I sighed, playing for exasperation, but in reality, my heart was beating so erratically that I couldn't control my breathing. Giving in, I wrapped my arms around his waist and leaned my cheek against his collarbone, thinking about how warm I was.
A/N: Super long chapter. Wonder what'll happen to them...You'll have to wait for the next chapter to see 😆 Don't forget to vote and comment! Love you all! Saranghaeyo!!!!! ^•^