Chapter 13.

And if we could float away, fly up to the surface we'll just start again and lift off with no trouble

Jaehyun pulled back and the kiss ended with them both inhaling deeply. Taeyong’s breathing was still a little quick but his eyes made Jaehyun sure that the other was with him now.

Taeyong’s hand on Jaehyun’s wrist forced Jaehyun to let his hand stay on Taeyong’s neck and jaw and Jaehyun took himself in brushing his thumb over the other’s cheek. Taeyong leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.

  “I really hate you.” Jaehyun said as he felt his heart beat faster at the sight of Taeyong looking like he enjoyed Jaehyun’s touch.

Taeyong looked into his eyes, for a moment they were full of honesty and vulnerability. “I don’t hate you Jaehyun.” He said and Jaehyun pulled his hand back. Taeyong’s hand let it slip out of its grasp. Jaehyun tried to scoot closer towards the small hole that let in the light and to have them both sitting beneath fallen rocks that created odd spaces for them to sit in, Taeyong found his way into Jaehyun’s embrace without much words. Jaehyun leaned his head back and felt Taeyong rest against his chest.

  “I can see something,” he said hopefully, wanting to be in the light and Jaehyun wondered if Taeyong was afraid of the dark.

Jaehyun didn’t think this was a wise time to bring up the subject, or ask why he was panicking. But Jaehyun couldn’t help but clench his jaw when Taeyong re-adjusted his position against the other and Jaehyun felt Taeyong pull his hands around his waist so that Jaehyun could feel more comfortable. It didn’t really work, Jaehyun was trying to control his thoughts as much as he could.

  “You said you wanted to be friends, right?” Jaehyun spoke up, breaking the silence. Taeyong didn’t answer immediately, making Jaehyun fear the answer he would get. Didn’t Taeyong want to be friends or was Jaehyun totally wrong about everything?

  “Yes.” Taeyong said softly and looked down. Jaehyun frowned and then decided to let the reaction to the question slide.

  “Then let’s start.” He said and Taeyong turned his head, he didn’t look up at him, but it was a sign of surprise. “Slowly.” Jaehyun then added after his mind reminded him of all the that had happened.

  “Do you want me to explain?” Taeyong asked and Jaehyun took some time to think about his answer.

Jaehyun looked out through the hole seeing only colors. “Not right now.”

  “What if we die?” Taeyong asked in a small voice and the corner of Jaehyun’s mouth went up.

  “I’ll die a then.”

  “What?” Taeyong turned his head again and Jaehyun just shrugged against him, trying not to laugh at his own joke even if it was an embarrassing confession. His shrug moved Taeyong’s body up and down.

Taeyong was silent for a moment.

  “Me too.” Taeyong then admitted and Jaehyun chuckled, Taeyong chuckled too and that then blossomed into laughs and Jaehyun couldn’t help but feel happy; for a moment feeling genuinely happy with Taeyong.

They heard steps and the two shuffled around to both be able to peak through the hole, sitting on their knees and calling out for help. “We’re here!” Jaehyun called and he saw Hansol run over to them.

  “We found our way down, Yuta got the paper with the riddle too.” He said and then glanced up. “But seriously this doesn’t look easy.”

  “Just get us out.” Taeyong demanded desperately and Jaehyun tried to give Taeyong a comforting smile.

Yuta’s smiling face appeared. “Are you okay, Taeyong?”

Taeyong nodded. “I really am, just get us out, please.” He repeated and Hansol pushed Yuta away.

  “Alright guys stand back I’ll find a way.”

Hansol was a daring type, he loved adventure. So as Jaehyun and Taeyong sat in the darkness, Taeyong demanding to sit very close, they saw a branch suddenly being forced through the hole and Hansol started moving it around. The rocks released warning sounds, awakening from their slumber and Jaehyun guessed they had been like this for a long time.

Suddenly a large rock started moving and Jaehyun was grabbed by Taeyong and pulled back and Jaehyun decided to help the other get away when a small group of stones started rolling and dust was lit up by the light from outside. Jaehyun and Taeyong covered their mouths with their shirts and then saw Hansol peek inside. Jaehyun gripped tightly around Taeyong’s waist and supported him towards their exit and as soon as they were out Jaehyun embraced Hansol.

  “My savior!” He cheered and he saw Yuta brush Taeyong’s hair away from his face and check his face for any bruises.

  “You always say you’re fine when you aren’t, I had to check myself.” He explained and Taeyong smiled a little and nodded. Jaehyun wondered if the two were very close.

  “We heard a bird cry out when we were walking down the hill. Doesn’t this make sense?”

  “A bird cry out?” Jaehyun wondered and took the paper and read the riddle again. “My god… What cries without shedding a tear? Of course it’s a bird.”

  “It says for us to bring something with us too.” Yuta said and Taeyong looked around.

  “We should be able to find a feather.”

  “Let’s just get the last envelope on our way back and then look for one while walking.” Hansol said and Taeyong tested his ankle and walked a short distance, limping.

Hansol gave him a look and Taeyong waved his hand dismissively. “I’m alright, it doesn’t hurt as much as it did. It’ll be alright.”

  “Can you turn your foot?” Hansol asked and Taeyong managed to do it without crying out in pain.

  “It’s not broken.” He said and Jaehyun sighed in relief. Then the boys headed on their way.

They found their third envelope by going South west, which meant closer to the camp and closer to their beloved beds. Jaehyun this time joined the conversation and Taeyong did too. Jaehyun kind of hated that Soohyun had succeeded with getting the teams closer. Jaehyun wondered if Johnny and Doyoung ever would agree on something and then thought that would be wrong, but he hoped maybe Kun seemed to be a good guy? He also wondered if Mark had survived and he really couldn’t be more ready to go home and tell the guys of the fact that Taeyong had run to his rescue but ending up needing to be rescued, that was a funny story indeed. We fell in a river and we fell in a hole, Jaehyun thought, what more did the two of them have to fall into?

Taeyong took the envelope once again and Jaehyun liked how the other automatically took the role of reading the riddles.

“Four men were fishing in a boat on the lake. The boat turned over and all four men sank to the bottom of the lake.

And yet, not one single man got wet.

How can this be?”

It took the guys a good 15 minutes before Taeyong sprang up with the answer. “SINGLE! OH MY GOD!” He cried and the other three boys looked at him hopefully. “Not a ‘single’ man got wet, you know like being single. You can be single… this means… they all were married or had a girlfriend?”

  “Damn.” Jaehyun said. “I know English and you guessed it.”

Taeyong pouted. “I know English too.” He said and Yuta messed up Taeyong’s hair while laughing.

  “Stop! You’re too cute!”

The boys got up on their feet and then Taeyong titled his head to the side with a confused expression.

  “How can we bring anything home with this one?” Taeyong asked and Yuta chuckled.

  “Let’s just bring Hansol, because we know he’ll be forever single.” He almost couldn’t say it because he was already laughing and Jaehyun snorted before laughing at Hansol’s offended expression. Taeyong laughed too, eyes shining and looking so precious to Jaehyun. Jaehyun decided in that moment, that he’ll be friends with Taeyong. Obviously fate wanted them together. The world just wanted them to make up, throwing them in a river and catching them in a cave without an exit. Jaehyun was beginning to think he had no choice but to try.

Soohyun and Jongsuk had lemonade for them and Jaehyun didn’t think he had ever enjoyed the taste of lemonade as much as he did right then. They had found a feather on their way back and as they handed the envelopes with their answers and things, Jaehyun then decided to talk about the joke Yuta made and Hansol blushed furiously.

  “I hate my team.” He said.

  “Jaehyun and I fell in a hole.” Taeyong said with a grin and Soohyun sprang up.

  “Not again,” he complained and took Jaehyun’s face in his hands, then he checked Taeyong too. “You were limping, did you get seriously hurt?”

  “WHAT?” Jongsuk sprang up and demanded Taeyong to walk. Jaehyun tried to help the other out, but Jongsuk literally fell to his knees when he noticed the other still limping slightly.

  “We need to get it checked.”

  “I can do that.” Soohyun calmed the other. “Follow me into the hut.” He said and the whole group decided to follow. They weren’t the first to be home, Mark’s team were already home and Mark and Jaemin were drinking water in the kitchen when they noticed Jaehyun helping Taeyong with his bag and Hansol and Yuta talking about how scared they were when they fell. Jaehyun turned around and saw Mark stare at him with an incredulous look. “What. Are. You. Doing?” He mouthed and Jaehyun sighed.

  “I’m gonna get some water.” He said as an excuse and noticed Taeyong’s hand raising a bit to tell him not to leave. Jaehyun patted the other’s shoulder and went into the kitchen.

Mark leaned in almost immediately. “I thought he was on our number one hate list?”

Jaehyun raised a finger. “No, Doyoung and Jinyoung definitely top it.” He added and Mark looked like he agreed.

  “Jinyoung was terrible to be with, I wanted to tear him apart.” Mark said. “Or well, we had it good until someone brought you up. I don’t know how, but when Jinyoung opened his mouth Jaemin had to hold me back from planting my foot in his large mouth.” Jaemin nodded and pointed to himself.

  “Give me credit, it was so hard.” He whined and Jaehyun laughed.

  “Thank you, to you both.” He said and patted their shoulders.

  “Did something happen between you two?” Mark asked and Jaehyun turned around to see Taeyong look at Soohyun who was checking his ankle. Jaehyun didn’t want to explain the thing too many times, but he still nodded and then turned to face Mark.

  “I’ll tell you later.” He said and then he went back to Taeyong, wanting to hear if the other was okay.

  “He must’ve just twisted it.” Soohyun said and stood, Taeyong glanced at Jaehyun who gave him a reassuring smile, this made Taeyong smile too. Soohyun noticed the interaction. “He just needs to relax, it’ll get better very soon.” He said and the two nodded.

Yuta came over to help Taeyong get to their hut East and Jaehyun and Hansol said their goodbyes and went out with them. “If we hadn’t fallen into the cave…” Taeyong said. “We had probably come home first.”

Jaehyun chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, probably.” He said, but couldn’t help but think that if they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have become friends. It seemed like Taeyong didn’t wish to win, he was happy with the outcome.

Jaehyun looked up at the blue sky. He was still trying to figure out if he was fully happy with the outcome too.

A/N:

Eeeey, I think it's in the next chapter that the whole thing will be much clearer, like we will really hear what happened at the party. ^^
I think I'll update this Friday, thank you for commenting guys, sorry for leaving you with such a cliffhanger! <3

Love,
Emma. <3