Woods (I)

  Another week had gone by peacefully, with the relatives still residing in the house until school resumed. The weather was slowly getting warmer, but it was still too freezing to go out anywhere in this weather. Jieun liked how things were rolling so far. She liked staying home nice and warm, slowly being able to socialize with the twins and get to know them better. She found out that they were actually very interesting people, and that they weren't actually what they visually looked like they were.

 Se-chan looked like the popular fob boy who would win the hearts of all the American girls back in the US, but according to Se-Jong he was an awkward turtle who couldn't even socialize with white girls and only stuck to the Korean ones. and vice versa, apparently Se-Jong was a book nerd who didn't spend any time outside except for when he was at school. either way, they were still interesting and that was all that mattered.

 It was much better than having to work part-time and quaralling with the boss for uneven paycheck.

 Jieun and the twins gathered around the living room, watching Comedy big league and laughing amongst themselves. The whole week seemed to do enough to make them into a triplet, even their breathing patterns sounded the same in the silence. They ate hot cheetos from a bowl and was about to break out laughing, until Mr.Kim retreated to the living room with the rest of the elderlies and switched the television off.

 The three sat demurely at the edge of their seat and waited for the adults to say something. They exchanged glances as they had their eyes on the adults. It was because they never used the living room, but used the recreational lodges on the second floor since that was what the elderlies always seemed to be interested in. The twins' father took a seat beside Se-Jong and waited for Mr.Kim to make an announcement with his genial smile.

 "Let's go hiking."

Jieun burst out choking on her cheetos. The twins sighed as if it wasn't their first time and sighed once more. Jieun looked out the window and saw the ice glazed ground that even the birds slipped on as they landed. "Mr.Kim, i think hiking isn't very appropriate in this weather-"

"Yeah uncle," Se-Jong said unwillingly. "hiking isn't really a thing for our age group." the three switched the television on and continued to burst out laughing at the comedy playing on the screen. Mrs.Kim looked as if she had given up hope, but she knew that Mr.Kim would never. he pulled the television cord and dropped it on the floor swiftly.

"You know what," Mr.Kim smiled. "If you go, i'll let you attend school in Korea until your winter break in the US finishes." the twins' eyes widened into the size of walnuts. before their father could even rebut, the twins were already upstairs, busy getting dressed. Jieun glanced at the clock and unseemingly, the time had to be 9AM Sharp, so early in the morning at that too. But it wasn't as if Jieun could refuse, nor had a say.

 It was going to be a very tiring day ahead of her.

.  .  .

  "Here we are," the van slid open to reveal a large plaque that read Baekundae mountain climbing course. Jieun stepped behind and her awe-stricken face never left her. before her eyes were what seemed to be mountain over mountain, topped off with crystalline snow that looked as if it had been coated with white sugar. The sky was clear and the air was much more colder, she was already shuddering inside. 

"Why is it so cold.."

Se-jong stepped infront of her and crossed his arms. "when hot air rises, it expands due to the lower pressure, and it's temperature decreases. It will continue rising and lowering it's temperature until it is in equilibrium with the air around it. The temperature of air is lower at higher altitudes due to the lower air pressure." he cleared his breath and returned back to his spot beside Se-chan. 

"Told ya," Se-Jong was a proved book nerd.

As obvious, it was the same as last time. the adults were busy going off on their own, and the kids were left to fend for themselves once more. Of course they were assigned to an instructor, but more than an instructor he seemed like a hiker himself. He looked very clumsy, constantly fixing his loose spectacles that rested low on his nose as he searched all over his body for constant tools he claimed to have brought.

 "Shall we start?" the instructor laughed joyfully and pushed his spectacles up once more.

The other groups had already gone up thirty minutes ago, and they had wasted so much time. "It's already 12," Chanyeol said sarcastically. "And we arrived here at 9." Chanyeol complained as he zipped up his hood and got his hiking gear in motion. The instructor laughed hazily and the official climbing tour began, on the icy soil of the woods. Even with gear, only the instructor was the one mastering the slippery roads while the rest were slipping and toppling on each other.

 "Come on everybody," the instructor said vociferously. "Its' really not that hard!" he pushed his spectacles up his eyes and helped Jin-yi up with special care, Jin-yi was always everyone's favourite. 

 Hiking wasn't as easy as Jieun thought it to be, it required alot of cardiovascular strength especially for Jieun who had never done any sort of climbing in her life before. Jieun climbed up with even breaths, only focusing on Se-chan's backside as he climbed up holding onto Se-Jong, who held onto the instructor. Jieun placed her right foot on a large rock but due to its icy glaze, she missed her footing and slipped.

"Whoa," she closed her eyes and expected pain.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw Chanyeol. "Careful," he grinned as he supported her back up from his arms. Jieun nodded quietly, letting everyone pass ahead of her. She followed behind Chanyeol, holding onto his arm because he had allowed her to. It seemed as that the whole family had done this before, seeing that they were much better at it than she was. Suzy and Jin-yi did not slip a single time and the boys managed to climb through the icy soil just fine.

"You've done this before?" Jieun asked with uneven breaths. 

Chanyeol nodded and helped Jieun climb up the large boulder. "We do this every other year," he said once he caught his breath. "If we don't go, we have to spend the day at home picking sprout heads with the housekeeper. I guess this is better than that, right?" he chuckled, holding onto Jieun's hand tightly without even realizing. 

"Yeah.. real fun.." she murmured under her breath.

She glanced at her watch and it was already 3, and they weren't even halfway up the mountain.

 "Are you sure we're going the right way?" Suzy asked as if she was tired of life. anyone could tell that the instructor had lost his way, but it was a fact that everyone wanted to deny and the only way was to question the truth. "No, no i got this," the instructor said assuringly and continued to take the group all over the place, looking back and fro at his large map. the sun was setting and the sky was getting dark and they weren't even halfway.

 "Great," Jin-yi mocked. "Our instructor has us lost and it's freezing."

"No!" the instructor gasped. "There's always a cabin every five kilometer and since we walked another four just then, there should be a cabin appearing soon!" The instructor said with such joy and continued to climb up the mountain which only seemed to be getting steeper. "Seems like the only thing this guy knows how to do is climb," Chanyeol rolled his eyes and Jieun snickered along.

 Myungsoo looked back at the two, at her laugh, then back on the road.

  The long hike was over and they arrived at a small cabin. The instructor was busy reporting things to the main desk, and the group was told to settle in since it was too late to try and climb down again, they would have to wait until early morning tomorrow when there was light. There were only two bunk beds in the cabin with a small closet full of navy sleeping bagss that could explode any minute.

 The bathrooms had all the required toiletry and all the essential things, so they were prepped for the night. The problem was that it was early night, and wifi was out. everyone sat around in a circle and stared at each other awkwardly. The instructor, with a mirky grin, he laughed pleasantly and slipped out an empty alcohol bottle and placed it in the middle of the circle.

"What is this?" everyone asked awkwardly.

"Well my tourists," the instructor clapped his hand together. "It's not the first time my tourists have stayed a night at the cabins, and-" "I can see that." Chanyeol commented, Jieun and him were busy laughing amongst themselves. "At times like this, when wifi is unfortunately scarce," the instructor distanced himself from Yoon-hyung who was already half pissed off from wifi deprieval.

"It's good to go old-school and play a nice game of truth or dare!"

Everyone groaned in annoyance.

"Come on everybody," the instructor got up. "first thing we need to do, seating arrangements."

Everyone glared at the instructor who was absouletely clueless.

"Come on, arrange your seats. boy and girl."

A/N

I am very sorry for late update once more. I promised i would update on Friday, and i originally updated on thursday but i felt as i was rushing through the plot so i deleted that and decided to add these chapters first ^^ luckily not alot of people read it so that's a relief. I hope you liked this chapter, i was thinking of the Kdrama Playful Kiss so much during this chapter i have no idea why HAHA

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