Jump
Winter SunsetChapter 5: 2746 words
It was Friday when they actually found something Wonwoo was good at. Wonwoo had worked with literally every boy in the cabin on different special skills. All he had left was the more technical ones, such as archery, shooting and nunchucks. According to Mingyu, special skills were much more likely to be something Wonwoo could excel in. Mingyu never ceased to assure him that his technical mind was worth just as much as any fighting skill and if he never found a skill, he at least had his mind.
It was obvious from Mingyu's little pep-talks that Mingyu didn't even really think Wonwoo would find anything. Wonwoo was too clumsy to be good at hand-to-hand combat or anything involving agility. He lacked a particularly necessary athleticism for any of the agility based skills. Aside from climbing, but that wasn't really to be considered a skill, unless accompanied by something. That was another reason that shooting or archery could be promising for Wonwoo.
They decided to start with shooting. One of the best shooters, specifically snipers, in camp, and the best in cabin17, was none other than a young boy named Hansol. He was the second youngest in their cabin, being only 15. Still, he was an attractive male and had a personality to match, possessing a certain air of warmness surrounding him. At the same time, the kid made Wonwoo feel extremely awkward and self-conscious. Hansol was just so relaxed and cool that Wonwoo felt completely inferior. Especially when they started shooting...
Hansol could hit pretty much any target, from any distance. Any easy going aura that the kid had vanished whenever he held his weapon. He was like freaking James Bond or something. Wonwoo on the other hand, would have probably shot himself if he hadn't had the safety of the gun on. If he had good aim at all, he would have probably shot Mingyu, who was down watching them and laughing at every mistake Wonwoo made.
Wonwoo and Hansol were perched at the top of the training area, which was a cliff of sorts, with various targets placed throughout the valley lying below and the neighboring mountain walls in front of them. Mingyu was down a couple of levels, resting on the stairs that led up to the "eagle's nest" they were shooting from.
Hansol tried to instruct Wonwoo the best he could for the remaining hour they had. By the end, Wonwoo could at least handle the gun correctly, but he still felt awkward with it. In one way, he feared the gun. It just felt wrong and unnatural in his hands.
Wonwoo walked down the stairs, defeated. It wasn't that he expected to be a pro at the skill, but he wanted to find something he could do. He wanted to get rid of the dead weight; he wanted to help his team and be of use to them in future battles. He didn't want to fail this badly. Mingyu tried to comfort him, but Wonwoo just brushed him off. He, of all people, did not understand. Mingyu may have not been their cabin's "master" at any of the skills, but he was good at every single one, very good. Mingyu was the jack of all trades. Wonwoo was a nerdy climbing damsel.
If Hansol sensed Wonwoo's total displeasure at the results of the day, he didn't make it very obvious. Rather he chased Wonwoo down the stairs and patted him on the back, telling him that he did better than a lot of people Hansol had worked with. Wonwoo laughed at the kids attempt at a pep talk.
"You're um going to try archery with Jisoo next right?" For the first time since they met, Hansol looked uncomfortable. Wonwoo wondered if Jisoo could have possibly upset the boy in any way. Wonwoo didn't think that upsetting Jisoo or being upset by Jisoo was very possible so nodded curiously at his question, "Do you think I could tag along?" Wonwoo nodded again before looking to Mingyu, who's wide smile immediately peeked Wonwoo's curiosity. Mingyu's smiles typically meant trouble.
The three boys walked together down to the archery training area. It was similar to the sniper area, but there were any incredibly high peaks and it was more of a circular canyon, with mountain walls circling around the area. Along each mountain wall, there was different shooting places carved out, and there was many moving target options as well. Near the center of the arena like canyon, there was a collection of different bows and Jisoo was waiting by them. He smiled and waved to them, but seemed to physically jump whenever he saw their tag-a-long companion.
Wonwoo marveled at the act, never seeing Jisoo act nervous. As they approached the older, gentle man, he began giving instruction, like Wonwoo would expect him to, but Wonwoo couldn't understand a word he said. He was speaking in some sort of mysterious language that sounded like a combination of stuttered Korean and fast English. Hansol just laughed, and yelled something in English over Jisoo's mutterings, Wonwoo wasn't sure what he said, but he was pretty sure he picked up on Hansol telling his Hyung to shut up.
Jisoo seemed to loosen up a bit at this, before apologizing (in some what normal Korean finally) to Wonwoo and Mingyu and pulling Hansol to the side. As they began having a comically heated conversation in English, Wonwoo turned to Mingyu confused and whispered, "Do they have some sort of beef with one another? They bicker like siblings."
Mingyu giggled, "Jisoo has quite the "beef" with Hansol. You see, Hansol stole something from him, he stole his heart."
Wonwoo's eyes widened, "Oh" He blushed as he remembered the conversation he and Jisoo had on the porch not too long ago. Jisoo said he had a thing for one of the younger boys, but wouldn't say who. Wonwoo smiled at Jisoo's sudden awkwardness and nervousness that the younger boy brought on. "They both speak English?" Wonwoo asked Mingyu
"They're both from here, from America. Jisoo, or Joshua is his American name, still lived there up until a few months ago when he moved to Korea to go to college. He's actually renting out a r
Comments