Seulgi found herself seated in the front seat of her shared kayak with Irene during the expedition the following afternoon, the said girl’s confidence were not as high without the prospect of a contest of sorts. It suited Seulgi just fine, she didn’t mind it at all. It was just a standard rule that the more experience person should take the back seat because they were the ones who would be in-charge of changing the kayak’s direction as they paddled.

They paddled in a diamond shaped formation, with the expedition leader at the very front, a sweeper at the back and a left and right flank manning the sides to make sure that nobody was left behind. Krystal and Amber were unanimously voted as leaders while Seungwan volunteered to be the sweeper with Yoona. Another team from Mont Blanc took the left flank and K2’s resident Satan twins took the right. Instructors accompanied them on motor boats and dinghies.

The journey to their campsite sounded much simpler compared to the one they took for the land expedition a few days ago. Their destination for the water expedition was an island just opposite camp, the one Seulgi mentioned to Yerim during the first few days of camp before Jessica had told her not to spoil the upcoming schedules for her friends. The distance did not seem that great, but the currents were against them and that was where their struggle began.

They departed after lunch while the tides were still high. The trip would only take upto two hours at most so there was no hurry, they would make it to the site before the sun set. Most of the K2 members were still tired from their impromptu race the day before and were at the back of the formation near Seungwan and Yoona. They were amazed that Joy and Yerim were unaffected by yesterday’s race - they were doing a good job as the right flank in keeping up with the expedition’s formation.

Seulgi paddled at what she assumed was a comfortable pace. It was when she felt they were slowing down did she stop and turn back as much as she could to check up on her partner.

“Hey, Irene. You doing okay back there?”

Irene seemed to have snapped out of her daydreams when Seulgi called her. “Huh? Yes? I’m okay, don’t worry.”

“You sure? Do you want to call Taeyeon over and ride on the boat to the island instead?”

“No, no. I’m alright. I was..uhm..just admiring the view.”

“Oh..uhm..okay.” Seulgi turned around and continued kayaking.

Unknowingly to her, Irene was admiring her form as Seulgi continued to paddle. Irene smiled to herself, happy that Seulgi didn’t catch on. She picked up her paddle and matched Seulgi’s pace and off they went.

The currents were not the only thing that they had going against them. Taeyeon had fun steering her boat towards their formation to create waves that rocked their kayaks, making their lives difficult. She did that a few times until one high pitched voice pierced through the sound of the roaring motor.

“Yah! Kim Taeyeon, quit it!” It was Jessica who was on a solo kayak, having trouble keeping it from overturning since she was closest to the boat’s course. “If this kayak overturns, you are dead.”

“Sorry, Sica! Didn’t see you there.” Taeyeon smiled sheepishly and went off to the other side of the formation, leaving them alone to paddle peacefully. The others silently thanked Jessica and went about paddling towards the island, they were almost there, the beach was in sight and it motivated them to keep going.

“Almost there, guys! A little more!” Amber yelled from the front of the formation and the rest cheered.

***

The beach side camp was a mild chaos when they arrived, as it usually was if Seulgi recalled correctly. They paddled as close to the beach as they could before getting off their kayaks and carried them onto the beach where Taeyeon and Seohyun were already waiting for them, ready to arrange the kayaks neatly further inland.

Seulgi and Irene dropped off their kayak and went back out to the beach to help others who had just arrived while the rest formed a human chain to unload their belongings that were ferried to the island. It took some time for things to calm down and for each watch to pick a spot where their tents would be pitched. Once they got that out of the way and had washed up, it was time to help prepare dinner.

Wheein and Hyejin brought out two of their tent sheets and spread it on the ground as a makeshift picnic blanket and was sprawled on it in record time. The others soon joined them as there was more than enough space for everybody. Even Yoona came and sat with them as she took a break after helping Taeyeon and the other instructors organise their camp site and pitch tents.

“I’m so tired, Yoona..”

“You guys will feel better after dinner, no worries.” Yoona patted Hyejin’s head. “Tonight’s activity is a fun one!”

Several heads turned towards Yoona at the mention of ‘fun’ because their CA had a very different definition of the word and it usually meant that something devious was coming their way.

“Stop scaring them, Yoong.” Taeyeon came and swatted Yoona’s head playfully. “Go help Seungwan and Irene serve dinner, you guys.” Their instructor motioned at their two friends who were manning the stove not too far away and they scurried to help, not wanting to delay their meal.

Taeyeon announced after dinner that they were going on a short trek in the jungle behind the campsite and everybody immediately armed themselves with their torchlights. Seulgi didn’t bother because she knew Taeyeon would tell them to put it away. They weren’t allowed to bring them on the trek.

“Nooooo!!!” Yerim complained. “How are we going to see in the dark?”

“You’ll be able to see just fine, Yerim. Don’t worry.” Taeyeon patted her head and told them to form a single file and off they went.

The trek turned out to be more of a nature walk, the trail was mostly flat and the path was clear. They walked pass some bushes before entering the jungle, but even then the trail was still easy to trek in the dark. Irene was behind Seulgi that and had one hand gripping tightly onto Seulgi’s shirt. Whenever Seulgi seemed to be walking a little faster, Irene would tug her shirt a little and the said girl would slow down.

“Taeyeon, did the sky got brighter?” Byul asked when she realised their surroundings were no longer pitch black. “I can actually see clearly!”

“Night vision!” their instructor explained with a cheeky smile, her mischievous dimple showing. “Your eyes will automatically adjust to the darkness and it’ll be as clear as day. Am I right, guys? Who here can see clearly? She asked and everybody raised their hands. “Right on! Now let’s get back. Time to rest up for tomorrow!”

“What’s happening tomorrow?”

“Oh, you’ll see.”

***

The K2 found themselves suspended in midair once again the next day as they repelled roughly three or four storeys down a cliff near the campsite. Seulgi had always loved the activity since her first time at camp because it gave her a good view of the horizon and the clear, blue sea that they had traversed the day before.

They took turns hiking up a short trail that led to the top of the cliff where Taeyeon would be waiting for them while Yoona stayed at the bottom of the cliff to make sure the climbing ropes remained untangled. It was easy to know whenever somebody was making their way down the ropes, they would either be shrieking in terror about going over the edge of the cliff or admiring the view.

She happily hiked up the short trail andi was not surprised to see that Yerim and Irene when she reached the top. They had hiked up quite some time ago but nobody had seen them descend yet. The two of them were huddled far away from the cliff’s edge clinging to some tree branches, insisting that the other should go first.

“Yah, Kim Yerim. You hiked up here first so you should go first!”

“Yah, Bae Juhyun. I’m letting you go first so be grateful and go!”

Seulgi shook her head and wondered when did Irene ever mentioned her full name before this. She shrugged and turned to give Byul, who was already starting her descend, a quick thumbs up and the latter disappeared over the cliff’s edge.

“Hey, Yerm. How’s it hanging? Pun intended.” Seulgi chuckled.

“Shut up, Seulgi!” Yerim did not find Seulgi’s joke amusing three storeys up a cliff.

“Irene, you okay?”

Irene hesitantly gave Seulgi a thumbs up and went back to clinging onto the branches. Seulgi went and took a seat beside her and Irene immediately let go of the branch and clung onto Seulgi instead. Taeyeon raised a brow, amused by how fast Seulgi’s face coloured and Yerim rolled her eyes at the two of them. Standing up swiftly, she announced that she was going to take her turn to repel.

“Well, that’s one way to get you to go.”

“Ain’t nobody got time to be third wheeling, Taeyeon..” she grumbled while Taeyeon prepped her for the descend and their instructor threw her head back laughing.

“You sound like Krystal when she’s around Sica and I.” Taeyeon patted Yerim’s head and did some final checks. “Alright, kid. You’re good to go. Au revoir!”

Yerim saluted Taeyeon and disappeared over the edge.

Meanwhile, Seulgi was trying her best to talk Irene into taking her turn and repel down the cliff. She tried almost every reason she could think of - that the view on the way down was going to be great, that Irene basically had done it before a few days back at the gym hall and that Yoona was at the bottom waiting for her so there was nothing to worry about.

Irene looked at her and back to Taeyeon, her silent plea to be excused from the activity went unnoticed by both of them. They were all that were left, everybody else had taken their turn and the next watch was already on their way for their turn. Seulgi suddenly remembered something and called Taeyeon.

“We can go down two at a time, right? Sooyoung let us do it a couple of years back.”

“You can. We usually only do that whenever there are too many participants. Let me set everything up.”

Seulgi thanked their instructor and turned her attention back to Irene who was looking at her incredulously. “What?”

“I’m not going down that cliff.”

“Which is why I’ll repel down with you. It’ll be fine.”

“Alright, kids. It’s done. Who’s up first?” Taeyeon called out from near the cliff’s edge while holding up the climbing rope.

Seulgi looked back at Irene and nudged her head towards Taeyeon’s direction. Irene sighed in resignation. Hesitantly getting up, she dusted her pants and slowly made her way to Taeyeon. Their instructor nodded at Seulgi and mouthed her thanks to the experienced participant. Once they were both ready, Taeyeon counted down from three and they slowly moved backwards towards the cliff’s edge, Seulgi reassuring Irene that it would be fine the entire way.

Things were relatively easier after they had gone over the edge. Putting their body in an L position, they kicked the cliff walls and released the rope bit by bit, allowing them to descend at a comfortable pace. Seulgi would occasionally nudge her head towards the view, telling Irene where everything was, they could still see everything from where they were since they had only started.

“You can see the gym hall right over there!”

“Oh. It’s so small from here.” Irene squinted at the distance and gasped, realising that they had paddled a very long distance to get to the beach side camp. “And we’re going to have to go all the way back tomorrow. Joy..”

“Going back would be easier since we’re going to be going with the current and not against it like yesterday.”

“True..”

They continued chatting while working the ropes on their way down and Irene squeaked in surprised when her came into contact with the ground below. Talking to Seulgi had somehow distracted her from the activity and she had subconsciously repelled her way down the cliff without realising it. Yoona helped her up and freed her from the repelling gear and harness, while Seulgi managed on her own.

Taeyeon hiked down not long after Yoona signalled her that they were done and congratulated the lot. Seulgi got a pat on the back for her help in getting her two friends to take their turn. She beamed at their instructor and skipped all the way back to camp.

***

TBC