The weekend passed by quickly but Jaein was relieved that she had 2 extra days to rest due to the national holiday. She spent most of the weekend finishing a report on some biochemistry topics and revising some keynotes. She planned to sleep in till noon because she didn’t really sleep the previous night, but a rushed set of knocks on the door woke her up. She took her phone from under her pillow and checked the time.

4:46am… Who? Why? Jaein slowly crawled out of her bed and walked towards the entrance door.

When she opened the door, 2 guys slipped in quickly before closing the door behind them.

“You should really stop going to the convenience store in the middle of the night,” Jaein said as she realized whom the 2 boys were.

“We’re not here because of that silly,” Jongdae replied with a grin on his face.

“We’re here to pick you up for the slow city trip. It’s a 6 hour ride so we better go early,” Baekhyun continued.

“What trip? No one told me anything,” Jaein said, confused.

“If you read our group chat, you would know,” Jongdae laughed as he pushed Jaein towards her closet.

“Chanyeol wasn’t joking when he said you’ve got a pretty nice place,” Baekhyun muttered as he looked around the room.

“I’m really tired guys. I just want to stay here and rest,” Jaein said as she turned her body towards them.

“It’ll be refreshing for us. We’ll play games and eat a lot of meat! Come on Jaein-ah,” Baekhyun pleaded.

“We’re at the age to have fun and live to the fullest. It’s a short escape from university life; a small break from your syringes and tissue samples,” Jongdae added.

Jaein thought about it for a minute. It wouldn’t be too bad to take a break and spend some time with the boys. Maybe this can clear her mind a bit.

“Fine, but I’m sleeping the whole ride. I didn’t sleep at all this weekend,” she said with a suppressed smile, in which the boys responded with a light fist bump.  

Jaein took her black duffel bag and started filling it with 3 pairs of undergarments, an oversized shirt to sleep in, a long sleeve shirt, a pair of sweatpants, a pair of leggings, a hoodie, and a thin sweater. It’s going to be really cold so it’s best to bring a lot of warm clothing.

“Took you guys long enough,” Junmyeon said as Jaein and the 2 boys entered the car.

“Why does she get to sit in front? It’s suffocating back here,” Chanyeol whined as he scooted towards the door.

“We’re like twice her size. No one wants a dead squished body when we reach the villa,” Minseok replied.

“Let’s stop at McDonalds first. I want breakfast,” Jongdae said.

“We bought a ton of snacks already. Isn’t that enough?” Junmyeon questioned.

“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day hyung! And I’m pretty sure Jaein’s super hungry too,” Jongin answered.

Junmyeon gave in to their request and drove to the nearest McDonalds, which in this case is an hour away.

After everyone got their food, Junmyeon finally started driving towards Slow City. 3 hours into the ride, everyone except Junmyeon and Jaein were knocked out.

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Junmyeon asked her.

“I’ve been having really bad insomnia this past week. It’s really hard for me to fall asleep,” Jaein replied.

“That sounds bad. Do you want to take a sleeping pill or something?” he suggested.

“I’m actually feeling a bit carsick. Do you happen to have some carsickness pills? I forgot to bring mine,” she said.

Junmyeon grabbed the medicine bag under his seat and gave it to Jaein.

“I think there’s some there,” he pointed towards the bag.

“Aren’t you sleepy?” she asked as the opened the red bag.

“I slept really early yesterday. And I drank a couple of glasses of coffee,” he replied.

“By the way, aren’t we supposed to have a guardian with us?” Jaein took a sip from her bottled water and swallowed the pills down.

“One of the music professor’s our guardian but he can’t come with so he’ll just call us from time to time to check up,” Junmyeon answered.

Sleepiness suddenly took over Jaein’s body as she positioned herself to a comfortable sleeping position.

“Sleep well,” Junmyeon muttered before Jaein fell into a deep slumber.

♦♦♦

“Hyung, aren’t we supposed to be there yet? It’s been 6 hours,” Baekhyun asked, his already sore due to the lack of standing.

“There’s traffic Baek. I can’t do anything. Just go back to sleep,” Junmyeon replied as he sighed.

“How is that girl still asleep? It’s 11 in the afternoon already,” Chanyeol wondered.

“She took some carsickness pills so she’ll be out for a while,” Junmyeon said.

Everyone sighed. Their butts were sore from sitting and bladders ready to burst from all the water they drank. Traffic was extremely bad so they had no choice but to be patient for another couple of hours or so.

♦♦♦

“There’s only 3 rooms so one has to have an extra person in it,” Junmyeon said as they all entered the villa.

“I want to be with Jaein!” Chanyeol exclaimed to the sleepy Jaein as he took her arms in his.

 “Me too!” Baekhyun followed.

“Let the poor girl pick who she wants to room with,” Yixing said as he pulled Jaein out of their grasps.

“I honestly don’t care. It’s just for one night anyways,” she replied.

It took them 15 minutes to finally figure out the sleeping arrangements. Jaein ended up rooming with Sehun, Junmyeon, and Kyungsoo through the use of a random list generator.

Each room consisted of 2 king-sized mattresses, 2 comforters, and 6 pillows. There was a kitchen, living room, and 4 bathrooms in the villa.

“Since were BBQ-ing tonight, someone’s got to buy the meat. And it ain’t gonna be me,” Jongdae said as he took a seat on the couch.

“I can ask a personal family friend of mine to deliver some meat. He’s a butcher at the local market,” Junmyeon replied.

“Oh, that sounds great. In the mean time, we should go the beach. The weather right now is pretty good,” Jongin said; already ready to go with his swimming shorts on.

“Yes please. We all look kind of white washed right now. A good tan should be nice,” Sehun replied as he got ready too.

“I’ll just stay here. I’m still pretty exhausted from the ride,” Jaein said, taking a seat beside Jongdae.

“You are not missing out on the fun! We came here to have a good time, not sleep all day long. You can do that back in the dorms,” Chanyeol exclaimed.

“Sleeping for me is equivalent to having a good time. And I wanted to stay back but y’all be dragging me to have fun” Jaein replied with a hint of sass.

“Don’t be such a bummer, dear Jaein. Let us not waste our youth in slumber,” Baekhyun said as he pulled her up.

“I’m not swimming though… I catch colds easily,” she gave in.

“That’s fine. As long as you don’t stay here alone,” Yixing said.

“This the life. Why can’t we do this everyday?” Jongin asked as laid down on the warm sand.

“Because life isn’t life without the hardships Jongin” Jongdae answered, fixing his sunglasses.

“And Jongdae isn’t Jongdae without his cliché statements,” Kyungsoo added as he sat down.

“Yah, I still don’t understand why you didn’t change into something more… light. Isn’t your coat a bit heavy?” Sehun asked Jaein as she sat beside Kyungsoo.

“I’m too lazy to change. Besides, it’s a bit chilly out here,” Jaein replied.

This was actually quite relaxing for Jaein. She told herself to forget about the piled-up work she has yet to do for one night and enjoy the trip. She was also thankful that the guys were willing to take her along with them.

“YAH! JAEIN-AH! COME HERE FOR A SECOND. THERE’S SOMETHING WE HAVE TO SHOW YOU,” Baekhyun yelled from near the ocean.

Jaein cocked her head to the side; pretending that she didn’t hear that.

“I KNOW YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID! DON’T BE SO MEAN JAEIN!” Baekhyun added.

“You should probably go to him. He’ll play a prank on you if you don’t” Sehun said as he helped her up.

Jaein rolled her eyes in annoyance. She was having a great time relaxing and Byun Baekhyun had to ruin it all.

Baekhyun smirked when he saw Jaein walking towards him.

“You know she’s going to butcher your if you really do this, right?” Minseok asked, unsure if he should let Baekhyun run his little scheme.

“Well, what’s fun without a little pain hyung?” Chanyeol cheekily replied.

“What is it?” Jaein asked as she got nearer to them.

“Crouch down and take a look at this,” Baek said as he ushered her to crouch.

Being the gullible person that she is, Jaein didn’t really think much about this. She thought he was genuinely showing her something interesting since she’s never really been to beaches before.

“Where?” she asked again.

Just as she was about to look up, she pushed into the water as a wave came over her. It happened so fast that she didn’t know how to react. tasted a bit salty and she swore that there is a living aquatic animal in her shoe. Her contacts were definitely not on her pupil anymore.

 The guys that were watching from behind couldn’t hide their laughter, but were still quite concern since Jaein didn’t move one bit.

“HAHAHAHHAHA. You’re so gullible Jaein-ah,” Chanyeol laughed as he tried helping her up.

Jaein was about to yell something, but she got interrupted by a fit of sneezes. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo jogged over to where they were.

“Didn’t you guys hear her say that she catches colds easily?” Junmyeon asked with a hint of anger as he gave Jain a towel.

“I’ll help her inside. You guys should continue being stupid,” Kyungsoo added as he led Jaein back to the villa.

“Told you it was a bad idea. That’s why you should always listen to your hyung,” Minseok said, jumping into the water.

“I would like to apologize for their stupidity. They never really use their brains,” Kyungsoo apologetically explained as he helped Jaein take her coat off.

“I guess I shouldn’t be too gullible next time, especially around those two knuckleheads,” Jaein said, followed a big sneeze.

“You should take a warm shower and get dressed into some warm clothes. A bowl of hot soup and cold medicine will be waiting for you after you’re done,” Kyungsoo replied as he took some ingredients out of the cupboard.

Jaein took a quick hot shower before wearing a pair of leggings and a warm sweater. She felt a fever coming her way and sighed. She didn’t really like getting sick because that meant going to the hospital. Ironic isn’t it? She wants to be a doctor but hates going to hospitals. Just as she opened the door, 2 figures knelt in front of her.

“Please forgive us for being mean and idiots,” Baekhyun started.

“Please let us live,” Chanyeol continued.

Jaein let out a small chuckle before stepping over them.

“Does that mean we’re forgiven?” Baekhyun chirped.

Jaein shrugged before taking a seat on the sofa next to Yixing.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like a plane just landed on my head,” she answered.

“Kyungsoo said he’s going to make you soup after grilling the meat outside. But there’s instant miso soup in the cabinet if you’re really craving for something warm,” Yixing explained.

Jaein nodded and rested her head on Yixing’s shoulder. She closed her eyes for a minute before falling asleep.

“Hey, food’s here.” Yixing whispered as he shook her a little.

Jaein’s eyes slowly opened and revealed the huge amount of food in front of her.

“I made doenjang jjigae for you. And please eat a lot, okay? I don’t’ think you even ate breakfast this morning,” Kyungsoo said, his big eyes focusing on her and only her as ushered her to sit on the floor next to him.

 She did just so and starred at the food.

“What’s wrong?” Kyungsoo whispered, concern evident on his face.

“I feel like puking,” Jaein mumbled, soft enough for only Kyungsoo to hear.

“Finish the jjigae and some of the meat, then I’ll give you some cold medicine to make you feel better,” Kyungsoo sternly said,

Jaein made a sour face before digging in. 

This is such a late update... but i hope you guys enjoy! school's been hectic and will get even more crazy but i'll try to update quicker :)