···

“Alright, when we’re up the mountains, make sure you don’t slip and fall. As we go up higher, we’ll probably start to see ice and snow! It was slightly snowing last night, so the snow might still be up there,” the naturalist employee explained, “Again, don’t slip and fall, or else we’ll really have a big problem. When we’re going downhill is also a time where we have to be careful.

The class, mainly two girl group cabins and two boy group cabins combined, followed up the mountainous hill. There was a high incline, no steps were flat as the trails led up and toward the peak of the mountain.

“Up there, we’ll see a big giant wall of stone. When we reach there, you can write whatever you want in chalk! Leave your mark, or sign a signature or anything that you’d wish.”

Immediately, Seulgi directed her look at the naturalist while he was speaking. Then, she looked high up into the mountains to see if she could spot the wall of stone that he was talking about, but unfortunately, it was blocked by the trail leading up and the different kinds of trees wrapping the trail surroundings.

The informative guide continued, “And on our way, I’ll be pointing out some new things such as the different kinds of plants we encounter. Hopefully none of you come in contact, or ‘accidentally’ touch any poison ivy or poison oak. Be sure to ask questions on the way –– I think you are graded by your teachers for the questions you ask, and I’ll be recording them, too.”

The class showed disappointed looks, but the naturalist turned around before he could see their faces.

The crowd have been walking together, some clumps in silence, and the boys.. Somewhat fooling around, pushing each other. Seulgi noticed that Sehun, that guy in her PE class was in the trail group and with his friends, too. She wondered if he noticed her like she did. He probably did.

“Wendy, come here, we’re a little behind; let’s go catch up!” Seulgi exclaimed. She stepped back down a bit to take Wendy’s arm to pull it.

“Where’s Irene? I thought you were hiking with her.”

“Nah, she’s probably in the front anyway. I lost her, haha, I couldn’t catch up,” But Seulgi had realized she neglected her attention toward her girlfriend. She knew Irene was in the front, and she told her to go first, without her. Irene looked reluctant to let her go, but she knew what Seulgi was going to do after seeing her run back the trail, going backwards.

“So you came back here for me? You didn’t have to do that,” Wendy said. She took big breaths while taking huge steps up the rocks.

“Careful, though I did say catch up, we don’t want you slipping now, right?” Seulgi smiled.

Wendy kept climbing up with her legs, but she looked away, with an unsatisfied expression. Seulgi didn’t notice, as she was still looking forward. The trail was dusty, and often, the students in the front kicked sand from their hiking. It caused all the particles to move into the air, causing it to be dusty for the ones in the back.

Sometimes, the sandy ground caused slips here and there. The ground didn’t feel solid at all. Seulgi and Wendy already thought this was going to be a hard mountain to climb. Especially because they will have to travel back downhill. The slips were already obvious and inevitable, especially if there were to be ice and snow up ahead.

The group came to a complete stop. The guide was pointing at his side, revealing what was called a poison sumac.

An idea came to Seulgi. She raised her hand, “How do poison ivy, oak, and sumac cause the itching or redness and the swelling?”

“Good question! Someone actually asked that!” The naturalist exclaimed. The class remained quiet, but Wendy just gave Seulgi a peaceful glance.

The explanation was given straightaway, “It is actually a reaction, or how our body reacts to the contact of the plants. The symptoms are caused from the contact of the poison plants due to the oil, urushiol. It’s actually really harmless, but the way our body reacts to it is by attacking the dermal layer where the urushiol has been in contact with on our skin. The attack area is what causes the itchiness, redness, and swelling. About 85% of the population develops an allergic reaction."

Seulgi made an ‘o’ shape in and nodded in understanding. The naturalist was, indeed, a naturalist.

« So informative » Seulgi thought.

“Ah!” One of the students exclaimed, “I think I already see the white spots on the ground! We’re nearing the snow!”

Everybody started to look around, and the further they walked, the snowier the surroundings were.

“Ah my god! My legs are killing me! How the hell can you guys all stand this?” Jinri complained.

“I… Know…” Luna moaned, “You… Know me… I couldn’t even walk with… Crutches and ice.. In my hands.. How do you think.. I’m supposed to..” She swallowed her saliva, “Finish hiking this… Mountain?” She groaned with her head high toward the sky and her arms out.

Krystal had no problem –– somehow she was like the sportiest and also one of the most athletic along with Amber.

Amber responded, “Guys, chill. We’re also gonna have to go downhill anyway. It’s gonna be faster, but harder to keep your balance, so…”

“If you scream and groan, it’ll be harder, and you’re only wasting your breath,” Krystal also had an input this time.

Seulgi chuckled, “Krystal’s right guys, and downhill will be a lot better, hopefully.”

Wendy, now feeling a lot better, laughed along too, “Guys, no use in complaining. This is required after all.” She started feeling better once Seulgi wrapped her hand into Wendy’s, making her forget about the confliction that she first felt in the morning. The thought of it will probably come back later.

“Hopefully, my , Seulgi. Hopefully doesn’t work for me,” Jinri rolled her eyes. They still continued on the path. The atmosphere became a lot cooler, dropping at least 15 degrees when they started, and the sky started to become cloudy.

“Is it just me, or is it getting cloudier and cloudier?” Amber asked, while she turned her head toward the sky.

Wendy also looked up to the sky, then Seulgi, and then everyone else.

“Yeah, I think you’re right,” Wendy said. The class continued.

After maybe 20 minutes to 40 minutes of hiking up the challenging terrain, they’ve finally reached the top.

“Finally! I’ll leave my signature here like an autograph!” Jinri her lips and smiled widely as she went on first, skipping like a little, happy girl.

Amber smiled along too and jogged right after her, “All right.. Finally.”

Luna and Krystal went after them together. Wendy and Seulgi just stayed together side by side. They reunited with Irene, and Taeyeon was just walking all around the stone walls, slowly, just to look at the writings that were written by the previous class.

“So.. He told us to write our signatures, or whatever we want to write, right…?” Irene shyly asked.

“Yep. And I already have one in mind,” Seulgi smiled, “I know how I’m going to write mine out, at least.”

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter