"Good morning kid," Gunwook's voice echoed through Yujin's room, waking him up. "Your alarm has been going off for the last ten minutes." Yujin rolled over to see him peeking his head in cautiously.
"Sorry," He yawned, turning the alarm off quickly. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eye gently.
"Everything okay?" Gunwook shuffled into the room more, looking at Yujin with a serious expression. "Even Taerae was awake before you."
"Long day yesterday. It must have worn me out." Yujin shrugged, stretching his arms above his head. "I'm alright though." He grinned sleepily at Gunwook who seemed satisfied with his answer.
"I made breakfast again if you're hungry." Gunwook said before being pushed out of the way by Taerae.
"Please eat. We have a long day and I don't want to deal with a near death experience again." Taerae had his hands on his hips, standing in the doorway.
"Sir yes sir," Yujin mumbled, getting off the bed, shuffling over to nudge them out of his room.
"Was that attitude?" Taerae gasped, getting pushed out of the room. "I'm supposed to be taking care of you both. Give me respect, not attitude."
"Yep," Yujin nodded, now pushing Gunwook out of the room.
"Who made that rule?" Gunwook questioned as the door was shut on both of them. He made sure he locked it so he could change clothes in peace.
The military training course was ridiculous. In front of them were wooden walls, hurdles, tires placed in weird patterns and one huge wall to climb up. From then on there were places to step across with nowhere but the hard ground to land on. Ropes and adult-style monkey bars after that, too.
"Oh this is impossible." Seunghwan mumbled from the back of the group.
"No thank you," Woonggi announced, turning to leave the area. Park Hanbin stopped him, smiling.
"I say we make Woonggi go first." He announced. Today, he was in charge of directing the mock military training. He had a devious grin as he directed Woonggi to where ZhangHao was handing out harnesses to everybody. Woonggi complained and whined but reluctantly put himself in the safety harness. Sung Hanbin stood at the top of the last rock climbing wall. At that point he would be ready to hook the safety rope onto the harnesses so they would have some comfort as they stepped across the wobbly section. It was just thin saucers with ropes that ran through them that connected to wood on the ground.
"Oh fantastic." Woonggi mumbled as he made his way to the start.
"I thought we were doing it in teams." Yujin said to Park Hanbin who was standing next to him.
"We are but I kind of want to see what happens." He mumbled back, a grin on his face.
"That's mean," Yujin frowned, watching as Woonggi mentally prepared himself to go alone.
"Is it?" Hanbin asked, looking at the younger male. He decided to shut it down, walking over to Woonggi.
"Good call," Seowon said from beside him, a pitying look on his face. "That was almost bullying."
"I'm sure he didn't mean it like that." Gyuvin said, arms crossed as he watched Hanbin bring Woonggi back to the group. Yujin remembered that they were roommates so of course he would defend him- not that he was in the wrong.
Everybody was grouped into teams of three to four depending on the number of roommates they had. The rules were pretty simple: work on a way to figure out how to safely finish the course by working together. Some called it team bonding while others called it torture. You could really tell who the introverts were.
"Woonggi, Seowon, and Junhyeon. You're up first." Park Hanbin announced, pointing to the starting area. To Yujin it just looked like a bunch of logs and walls of wood next to each other until the huge rock climbing wall. It was double his height and it was steep. Sung Hanbin stood on the ledge at the top of the wall. Watching his team members proudly. Ever since that kickball match he had always had the motivation to win against the other team. Yujin recalled the moment that day when Hao said something about a bet. It was still weird to him.
"How do we determine the winner?" Zihao asked, raising his voice for the first time ever.
"We're timing you." Zhanghao shouted while holding up a stopwatch. So you had to be quick and efficient. Fantastic. "Time starts now."
The three scrambled to jump over logs and lift themselves on top of walls that were not much taller than them. Yujin watched, arms crossed as second hand embarrassment settled in. Junhyeon would get ahead of his roommates and realize this before turning around and helping them. While, yes, they were shouting and yelling, the sentences were unclear and sounded like a bunch of nonsense.
Once they finally swung themselves over the metal bar; similar to a gymnast's, Woonggi had to let himself breathe. He folded over with his hands on his knees and heaved a few times. Seowon encouraged him, pointing towards the large rock climbing wall. Junhyeon's usual ball of energy self was already halfway through the climb.
"Please don't leave us." Woonggi begged, looking up at him.
"I have a plan!" He shouted, climbing faster.
"Does this plan include us?" Seowon asked, squinting his eyes as he yelled after Junhyeon. The latter pulled himself up to the platform, holding onto Hanbin's legs. The team leader looked at him in shock, almost losing his balance.
"Yes it includes you guys. Start climbing so I can help pull you up." He waved his hand, beckoning them. Seowon patted Woonggi's shoulder before launching himself onto the wall. He didn't seem very athletic, but he definitely had this in the bag.
"This is hard to watch." Keita mumbled, his arms crossed like Yujin's. "Woonggi I don't know you but I'm rooting for you."
Just like Junhyeon had promised, he pulled Seowon up with him. Now all they had to worry about was Woonggi who was now eager to get away from the camp itself. He cautiously tried to climb the wall, the plastic rocks sweaty from the other two prior.
After a painful fifty seconds, both Junhyeon and Seowon helped Woonggi reach the mid-way point. Sung Hanbin cheered for them as he clipped and tied bungee cords to their harnesses.
"Who wants to go with me to get the water?" ZhangHao asked, handing the stopwatch off to Park Hanbin. Almost immediately, Yujin raised his hand. As fun as this was, he had the internal urge to leave for a little. Maybe he was feeling a little anxious about his turn. Hao pointed at him. They both walked off without much said.
The walk to and from the main camp in the entrance was longer than Yujin remembered. Apparently, each morning Zhanghao fills up a cooler with water and drags it to wherever they are for the day.
When Yujin got back he was met by Gunwook hugging him like a worried mom.
"You're back!"
"You knew I left." Yujin responded, standing awkwardly until the older let him go.
"Yeah but what if something happened?" Taerae chimed in, hands on his hips.
"You too?" Yujin groaned.
"I'm just saying." Taerae ruffled his hair and turned towards the commotion by the mock training course. Zihao and Wumuti had just gotten on the ground as Yujin remembered their third roommate had finally gotten a way home. The poor kid had been sick since the camp started.
"Are we next?" Yujin asked and Gunwook nodded, rolling his head back to stretch his neck.
"Unfortunately." Taerae laughed sourly, running his fingers through his hair. The trio secured their harnesses and silently walked to the beginning of the course. It wasn't too bad- besides everything that happened after the rock wall.
Zhanghao started a countdown to start the timer; Keita hyping them up and the crowd following. Once the clock started Gunwook launched himself over the logs without looking back. Taerae and Yujin hesitated before following.
Gunwook had tunnel vision and it was to get to the first checkpoint and help his roommates. He stepped on each tire one by one and never lost his balance. This was the easiest part- it was also not his first camp. Not that he would ever admit that. He flung himself over onto the wall and climbed up like he had drunk the entire stock of coffee in the cabin- he probably did.
Taerae and Yujin shared a glance as they had barely gotten themselves over the first obstacle. Yujin lost his balance but regained it even quicker, arms flailing at his sides.
"You're ridiculous!" Taerae shouted, catching his breath as he finally reached the rock wall. It wasn't like they hadn't been doing insane physical activities all summer so why were they having trouble with the first part of this course.
"Hurry up, I want to win!" Gunwook yelled back at Taerae, putting the bungee cord on himself. Yujin steadily climbed up the wall, careful not to slip. If he did, it wouldn't be a huge drop, though. Gunwook reached down and pulled Taerae onto the platform, followed by Yujin.
After clipping the bungee cords to their harnesses, Gunwook led the way across what Hanbin called a bridge. There were gaps in between the steps and it was only connected on each end to another platform. Yujin gripped the sides of the bridge, the stringy texture burning the palms of his hands.
"I can't do this," He called out quietly after his roommates, voice quivering. Gunwook stopped in his tracks and cautiously turned around. Taerae craned his neck instead of turning his whole body.
"You can," Gunwook encouraged, nodding. Taerae chewed on his bottom lip before reluctantly turning around 180 degrees.
"Hold my hand." Taerae said, extending his arm out.
"I'm not a little kid," Yujin protested, an automatic teenager angst response.
"Take it." He repeated, clenching his jaw. Yujin sighed and took his hand. Taerae began walking backwards on the bridge, one step at a time. Yujin shakily followed, sweat dripping down the side of his face.
Gunwook spotted Taerae carefully, side-stepping across the path. It wobbled slightly and Yujin shut his eyes and froze. This would be the moment where he realized he had a fear of heights.
"If you fall you'll be secured by the bungee rope." Gunwook reassured, stepping back a few more steps, leading Taerae with him.
"Can't we just run across?" Taerae questioned, looking at the small distance they had left.
"That's reckless." Gunwook shook his head but Yujin intervened.
"I just need to get off this bridge before I have a panic attack." He finally opened his eyes, met with the unsure stares of his roommates.
"Okay then let's go." Taerae nodded curtly, grabbing a hold of the bungee cord that was hooked onto the overhead zip line. If they were to run across they would need to make sure that their 'safety net' didn't get snagged.
Gunwook didn't refuse; instead he also grabbed his rope and started to sprint to the next checkpoint. Taerae followed, his foot almost slipping through the gap in between the bridge and the platform. Yujin hesitated and followed, wanting to be faster than both his roommates but also didn't want to bump into them.
Once across, he clutched onto the nearest person- Taerae.
"This is going to sound really childish but I want down. I want to be back on the ground, this is way too high up." Yujin admitted, gaze glossed over as he peeked at his roommates.
"You don't think you'll be able to make it to the end?" Hanbin shouted from where they just came from, already making his way across the bridge effortlessly.
"No," Gunwook answered for him.
"That's alright." Hanbin nodded. "Let's get you three down." He waved a hand at Park Hanbin, signaling for him to top the timer. He did, sparing a few glances at the group on the ground.
In all honesty, Yujin felt completely embarrassed. On top of that his stomach churned at the simple thought of how high up he was. The second checkpoint was much higher than he once anticipated. The bridge tilted upwards instead of straight forward, adhering to the illusion.
Yujin refused to let go of Taerae's hand even though he was back on the ground already. He still felt ill and dizzy, his head spinning. Gunwook had brought his countless water bottles- one to hold up to his forehead, another to press against the back of his neck, and a third to drink. Keita sat next to him on the ground as more teams hesitantly joined in on the course's fun. Yujin watched as Ollie almost fell a few times, quite nervous but not worried. The kid was always getting hurt in one way or another,
"Are you sure we can't bring him back to camp?" Gunwook asked, looking at Hao. The team leader sighed after being asked that question countless times.
"I'm sure. He's fine." Hao looked down at Yujin whose head was resting on Keita's shoulder. While yes, he had to lean down a little to reach his shoulder, he didn't really care.
"He looks like he's about to pass out." Keita looked up, squinting due to the sun.
"Then he can just take a small nap here." Hao pointed to the grass he was already sitting on.
"Oh yeah, and let him get a heat stroke! Perfect idea." Gunwook mumbled the last part, moving his standing position to cast a shadow over Yujin.
"Are you being mean to my team?" Hanbin shouted from the top of the course. Tossing a crumpled piece of paper from his clipboard down at Zhanghao. It barely missed him, instead landing a hit on Taerae's forehead.
"No. Your team is being overdramatic." Hao said, arms crossed as he looked between Hanbin and the small group on the floor.
"Yujin is about to die!" Taerae shouted in a whine-y tone. Yes they definitely over-did the whole situation.
"No he's not?" Keita lifted up Yujin's bangs to look at his face. He scrunched his nose and tilted his head. "Maybe."
"How is he?" Ollie asked, quickly taking off his harness. He just got back from his turn in the military course. Ricky followed with Kamden and Anthonny behind him.
"He's dying." Gunwook responded quickly, looking at Hao.
"Stop saying that!" Hao threw his hands up in defeat. "Take him to the infirmary." He sighed.
"Great!" Taerae grinned, carefully helping Yujin off the ground. He clutched onto the older, eyes glassy.
"Only his roommates need to go." Hao's comment made Yujin look up a little. He had the edge of his clipboard pointed at Ollie, his movements at a pause. Ollie looked at him disappointedly.
"That's my friend though," he countered, looking at Yujin. "He came to see me when I was in the infirmary." Half a lie. He wasn't really welcomed the whole time.
"Yeah, without permission." Zhanghao nodded, crossing his arms.
"And now I'm going without permission." Ollie nodded once, stepping around Keita's figure on the ground. Hao sighed and dropped the clipboard on the ground.
"What's the point of being the team leader if the kids don't listen?" He complained to nobody in particular.
"Feel better, kid." Ricky nodded, patting Yujin's shoulder gently.