Cube’s Trainee Family Trip

Changsub was awoken by what sounded like the squeal of brakes to a rather large vehicle and his body almost jerking from his sleeping spot, causing him to instinctively reach up and grab the nearest solid object to prevent himself from falling over. Comfortable and warm the object was, he cozied up against it, trying to go back to sleep, but as he lay there he could vaguely hear the muffled sounds of people, prompting him to faintly recall Hyunsik coming into his room, chastising him on not waking up on time, and then being dragged out of bed still dressed in his pajamas.

“Aiiisshh,” Changsub grumbled groggily, trying to open his eyes but failing due to the light rays of the rising sun peeking through the windows of what he determined was a bus, and shining directly onto his face. Squinting his eyes open, he looked down to see that fortunately his friend had managed to at least remember to dress him up in comfortable attire before taking him out. He would have to repay Hyunsik back, of course. Snuggling closer to the warmth radiating beside him, he mentally prayed that Hyunsik had brought the packed bag lying at the end of his bed that he had pre-packed the night before which contain a blanket, an extra set clothes, some snacks and hygiene supplies for the trip, otherwise this trip would be a prolong miserable one.

Deep in his thoughts with worry and becoming more conscious of his surroundings, he became aware that the warmth that he was laying against could only be another person. His head immediately snapped up then, eyes wide open, realizing he did not know who he was sitting beside. If it was a complete stranger and worse, a girl, that he had been clinging on to while he slept he would have to spend the rest of the day apologizing for his thoughtless actions of mindlessly causing the recipient an uncomfortable ride during their long journey here. Letting go of what appeared to be an arm and sitting up straight, he awkwardly laughed and glanced over to view the person beside him. To his relief it was Sungjae, who was watching him with a faint smile and a look in his eyes that reflected something else altogether. Changsub cracked a huge smile, trying to laugh it off.

“I’m sorry, Sungjae-ah….I didn’t mean to use you as a bed...hahaha,”

“It’s no problem, Hyung,” Sungjae said, “I don’t mind.”

Behind Sungjae’s head, Changsub caught a peculiar person watching them talk as if they were entertaining to him. Sungjae caught his eyes and looked over in the direction of his view. Spotting the individual in question, Sungjae’s smile noticeably disappeared and he immediately stood up, grabbing his bag stashed below his seat. Most of the trainees were already outside the bus or lining up to exit.

“Hello..., do I know you?” Changsub asked while getting up beside Sungjae, inspecting the new individual who appeared to think they were amusing. Upon closer observation he noticed a distinct array of moles aligning one side of his face in comparison to a star constellation.

“Oh, hello! I don’t believe that we do. Hi, my name is Ilhoon. Jung Ilhoon,” the boy said with a smirk.

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Changsub,”Changsub greeted back politely, still hesitant about this new character and the suspicious way he had been eyeing him and Sungjae. What cause this sudden interest, is what Changsub wanted to know. Surveying him closer, Changsub recognized his seatmate beside him.

“Hyunsik, thanks man! I’m sorry for giving you a hard time this morning. I will make it up to you. Promise! You know I’m good for it.” Hyunsik nodded his head at his words in acknowledgment.

“By the way, I was wondering, did you manage to bring my bag too?”Changsub asked with a hopeful tone. “Please, say you did. I’ll be eternally grateful to you for life,” Changsub pleaded, but Hyunsik had looked up at him immediately, eyes wide open and mouth agaped, at the mention of Changsub’s bag.

“You didn’t? Did you?”Changsub tone dropped down a notch, losing his last bit of hope upon seeing his friends surprised face.

“I’m sorry, Changsub hyung. I was in a rush to get you to the bus that I forgot to even think about anything else that you might need,” Hyunsik explained. “If you want or need anything you can always borrow from me.”

“It’s alright. I’ve already bothered you enough this morning. I can’t believe I didn’t hear the alarm. It’s my fault anyways. I’ll think of something.” Changsub said with regret in his voice.

“Hyung, you can borrow from me. Whatever you need. I brought more than enough for myself so I can share,” Sungjae said.

“Oh, really? Are you sure? Thanks, Sungjae-ah. If you don’t mind, that would be a great help. I’m sorry for being such a bother.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s the least I can do for all the help you’ve given me in my training,” Sungjae said, smiling but this time with warmth reaching his eyes. Changsub smiled back in return but noticed the same trainee from before, Ilhoon, watching them closely again. Something about the look he gave them really bothered him. He would have to get to the bottom of this sudden interest.

A few hours later, after instructions were relayed by the guides of the camp, the trainees all separated into groups for lunch break. Sungjae was glad that the guides would provide the tents and sleeping gear for the night stay. He’d forgotten to read the fine printed details about the trip, too excited about spending two days with Changsub and the others, and therefore hadn’t known it would be a hike and camp trip. He’d only brought plenty of clothes and hygiene products believing that they would stay in a hotel.

He was more than fortunate that Cube had planned everything out, otherwise, Changsub and himself would probably have been sleeping out in the open for the night, considering Changsub had no supplies except for what he had on his back and Sungjae had promised to share everything he had with him. It was the middle of fall and the location of the trip made it completely obvious by all the brilliant shades of red, orange, yellow and brown popping out from the trees enclosing the camping ground. It was a magnificent sight to behold that he regretted not bringing a camera with him.

Standing clustered in a group, Hyunsik and Changsub were conversing together in lower voices and Eunkwang and a trainee that Sungjae wasn’t acquainted with yet were in the midst of talking about the hike that they would partake in after they ate lunch and set up for the night.

They were currently standing on a higher elevation; Naejangsan National Park, to be exact. Winds whipped the tree limbs above ferociously, knocking leaves from them to fall in formation in accordance to the direction the wind took them. One bright orange leave fell and landed on to Sungjae’s extended hand. He held onto it marveling at the bright color distinctions on this one leaf alone and glance at the ground to see an impressive display of different colored leaves scatter throughout the ground, some freshly fallen from the trees and others showing signs of been dismantled by the feet of visitors during the day.

Lined up with the rest of the trainees, Sungjae grabbed a plate of food and went to sit with Changsub and the others. The stranger who had spied on him earlier, Ilhoon, tagged along with them, sitting beside Hyunsik and introducing himself to Eunkwang.

“Hello, my name is Ilhoon. Nice to meet you. Hope you don’t mind me sitting with you guys. I don’t really know that many people here since I’m relatively new. Hope you guys take care of me,” he said in a polite manner and then landed his gaze on Sungjae, giving him a small smirk.

Sungjae felt flustered and annoyed that this new stranger wouldn’t leave him alone. Changsub who had been sitting beside him glanced at him and Sungjae tried his best to act casual. He didn’t know why he should feel guilty about showing any type of affection toward his hyung but this new stranger perpetuated his guilt further which he fully did not understand.

“Hi, Ilhoon. It’s nice to meet you. Don’t worry. We will take great care of you. Right, guys?” Eunkwang responded back. Everybody nodded in unison, Sungjae hesitantly going along with everyone else.

“By the way, I’m Eunkwang. And it looks like you already met Hyunsik, Changsub and Sungjae. This here beside me is Minhyuk. We just met on the bus but we have become fast friends during that short period of time. Right, Minhyuk?” Eunkwang announced, directing his gaze on to the stranger that Sungjae saw him talking to earlier. The person sitting beside Eunkwang nodded his head.

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you guys. I hope we can become friends as fast as Eunkwang and I have become. I look forward to getting to know you guys,” Minhyuk said with a large smile.

“Nice to meet you,” everyone said in unison.

Once introduction’s were done, everyone proceeded to eat. A few minutes later, the guides announced that they would start to set up their tents for the night. It would take no longer than thirty minutes at most. While setting up the tents, Sungjae took note that each tent had a capacity to fit two people only. They set up there tents around a makeshift fire that they would set at night for warmth. It would most likely get colder during the night and they would need to set a fire to ensure a modicum of warmth.

“Thirty minutes are up!” the guide screamed so that their voice could be overheard over all the trainees voices talking. When everyone was silenced, the guide announced that the hike would shortly start, to take care of any business beforehand and to be ready in ten minutes lined up near a large tree that looked like it had stood there for over a century or more.

The hiking trip had lasted several hours with a few stragglers at the end taking their time to reach the summit before they could head back down together. Changsub was exhausted walking the long trek and could hardly catch his breath. The shoes he was wearing had not been meant to be used for such conditions but he had no choice since he had no supplies with him for this trip. He didn’t want to bother Sungjae either and he highly doubted that he had other shoes to lend him for this trip so he continued walking on slowly as possible to avoid the pain that was beginning to stir at the bottom of his feet.

Walking in front of him, he spied his friend, Eunkwang talking to his new friend, Minhyuk, whom he had met on the bus. Changsub still hadn’t had a chance talk to him yet to get to know what type of person he was but if Eunkwang had opened up to him already, he couldn’t be such a bad guy.

“Changsub, you doing alright?” Sungjae asked out of nowhere. Changsub hadn’t noticed that Sungjae had reached his side and was walking beside him now, watching him closely. He tried to hide the pain that he was in but it looked like he was failing because he could see the concern written all over Sungjae’s face.

“It’s nothing really. It’s just the shoes I’m wearing don’t appear to be made for such long hikes, I guess…,” Changsub finally admitted.

“Ah, I see,” Sungjae said, “well, I don’t have extra shoes to lend you….” He knew it.

“It’s alright. It’s not your problem. I’ll figure something out.”

“But I do have some ointment for aches and pains in my bag. I’ll give you some once we arrive back at our camp,” Sungjae said with a smile.

“Thanks, Sungjae-ah. You’re a lifesaver,” Changsub responded back. It looked like Sungjae was very happy to be helping him out so he was glad that he wasn’t bothering him which put him at ease.

Behind him, he could hear Hyunsik quietly talking to someone, so he turned his head to see and spotted the boy who had been watching him earlier on the bus, Ilhoon. The boy seemed to be immersed in what Hyunsik was talking about but then looked over and smiled at him. Changsub couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being spied on by this boy. Something must have happened when he had been sleeping on the bus.

“Sungjae-ah, I don’t mean to bother you, but do you know the reason why that boy seems to have an interest in us?” Changsub asked unexpectedly. Seeing Sungjae’s face beginning to color a light shade of red across his cheeks, confirmed to Changsub that something indeed had happened.

“...I don’t know…” Sungjae hesitantly responded back, “maybe he wants to be friends….but has a weird way of showing it.”

Changsub nodded his head, not so much at Sungjae’s response but at his bodily reaction to the question. He knew that he would have to seek answers elsewhere.

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Hello, sorry for the late update. Truth be told I already had it written up a few days ago but I like to re-read to make sure there are no mistakes in the writing...lol. The location of this chapter is actually a real place. I googled for places that you can hike and camp in and found this park. It looks really pretty, especially during the fall period which is their popular time for tourist to visit. :) I'm working on a chapter about Minhyuk for the next one. It should be up in a matter of days, hopefully by tomorrow if I can finish it...