Ms Lee stood in front and held the megaphone against her lips, “alright! According to the map, our cabin is approximately a kilometer from here. We’d have to climb up northwest. We might cross paths with the other teams so grab as many flags as you can! LET’S GO!!!”

The cold was building up and the students were starting to groan in exhaustion as we continued to climb up the mountain.

I spotted a red flag stuck on a tree and pulled it off. Catching my breath, I placed my hands on my bent knees.

“Tired, hungry, headache!” we heard a high pitched husky voice announce in English.

EunMi stood up from her squatting position and whipped her head around for the source of the voice.

“Hyung you’re so noisy.” We heard a groan from another person we know.

Yunho clasped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “guys, over here!”

We saw Changmin and Junsu appear amongst the few students.

They walked towards us, obviously tired too.

“One kilometer, they said, tsch” Changmin commented as he set his bag on the ground.

I leaned on the tree and sat on the ground, “I don’t want to move anymore” I whined.

Changmin turned to me and gave a smirk, “Typical.”

“Say something?” I glared at him.

He swings his bag over his back, “You’ve been eating a lot lately… it’s showing.”

“Yah!”

I stepped forward to hit him and he immediately dodged my fist. I hurried towards him, trying to hit him again but he kept on running away.

“Can’t even run fast now.” He taunted.

At my attempt to get closer to him, my ankle twisted causing my to meet with the ground.

“JinAh, are you okay?” EunMi immediately approached me and helped me up.

I felt a shock as I placed pressure on my foot, “I’m alright,” I winced.

Changmin came running back to where I was.

“Don’t lie” he said.

“I’m okay.” I told him as I forced myself to walk normally.

EunMi, Junsu and Yunho started walking ahead of us.

Changmin placed his bag in front of him and squatted with his back facing me, “get on.”

My eyes widened at his gesture, there was no I way I was gonna ride his back. We’re both tired and it’s embarrassing.

“Come on…” he grumbled.

I lightly pushed his shoulders as I stepped away from him.

“Come on.” He spoke again.

“I don’t want t-“

“You either accept my offer or I’ll carry you bridal style. You hurt your foot and the medics are a few meters away.”

I let out a breath and positioned myself behind him, wrapping my arms around his neck. His hair tickled my face and his scent filled my nostrils. I moved my head to lie on his shoulder.

He grabbed the back of my knees as he easily stood up, carrying me.

“You’re as heavy as I thought you would be” he groaned.

“I didn’t force you to carry me” My voice came out a little too cold.

Changmin carried me with ease and I just held on to him quietly. Holding him like this felt less embarrassing than I thought it would be.

“You’ll get heavier if you fall asleep…” he mumbled.

I rubbed my nose against his shoulder, “so what? You offered to carry me…”

“And I can drop you anytime.”

I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck, “just try and you’re going down with me”

A chuckle escaped his lips as he continued to walk.