Twenty (1/1)

ChapterTwenty Luhan opened his eyes to find himself automatically closing them again from the spray of sunlight hitting his face. He could hear the birds chirping and the clear sound of the stream rushing along.He found the ground and pushed himself up using one hand, opening an eye to examine why he couldn’t move the other one.“Hey, let go.” He said quietly, trying to tug his finger out of her grip. Hyo Ri remained asleep and held on tightly to his finger without budging. Luhan let out a sigh and settled down into a sitting position next to her.He breathed in, filling his lungs with the wet, moist, grassy smell of the forest and soaked in the warmth of the sunlight.It was peaceful.The way the trees swayed in the wind calmed him and slowed down the world; even if it was just by a bit. This cruel, cruel world.His thoughts were brought to a halt when he felt Hyo Ri’s head gently land on his shoulder. Luhan looked down at her, at the finger she was holding so tightly. He can feel her hand slightly tremble as she slept; a look of discomfort on her face.He lightly scoffed, prodding her forehead with a finger. What's she thinking to be making that sort of face?“I’m sorry, appa…” he heard her whisper ever so quietly."Sorry, huh?" he said after her. A light scoff escaped his lips. "Sorry..."Why did everything have to become so complicated? It would’ve been fine if things were just like this. He closed his eyes as a breeze gently swept past. He would’ve been happy with just this.“Humans are really selfish, aren’t they?”Luhan let out a light chuckle at the quote which floated into his mind. Yeah. They are.He slowly unwrapped each of her fingers carefully off of his and carried her up and out of the hole. It wasn’t big and deep as he thought it’ll be so he easily climbed out of it. Grabbing her arm, he hauled Hyo Ri over his back and began walking down the trail that led back to camp.  “What the hell happened here..?” Luhan murmured, looking around at the gang who all decided to pass out around the now-dead campfire.Xiumin was the first to open his eyes. As soon as he saw Luhan and Hyo Ri, his eyes automatically widened and he scrambled up, tackling Luhan down. Foreseeing this move, Luhan placed Hyo Ri down before Xiumin flattened her as well and braced himself from the impact of the tackle done by the walking and talking steamed bun.“Luuuuuuuuhaaaaaaaannn!”“Let go of me, you Baozi!”One by one, the gang each woke up from the commotion and one by one, they flung themselves at Luhan, stacking themselves on top of one another.“We were soooooooo worried about you!” Tao cried.“You at least could’ve gone to look for us, you know.” Luhan said, making a face.“We were about to!” Chen exclaimed.“It’s all his fault!” Kai accused, pointing at Suho. “He found these berries last night that we all ended up eating and it knocked us out cold for the rest of the night!”“Suho again with the berries..?” Hyo Ri murmured, as she sat up, rubbing her eye.“Hyo Ri!” Cho Hee ran to her and locked her in a suffocating hug. “It’s such a shame you didn’t get eaten by the wolves!”Hyo Ri frowned. “Your actions don’t match your words.”“You didn’t do anything to precious Luhan now did you?” Cho Hee asked, eyeing Hyo Ri suspiciously. Chen, Chanyeol and Baekhyun – the noisiest possible combination – joined in the interrogation.“What did you do?” Chanyeol questioned, narrowing his eyes.Baekhyun did the same. “Yeah, what did you do, Hyo Ri? Something you… can’t share?”“Are you seriously asking me what I could’ve done to him when we were trying to run away from being dog food all night?”“Yes, but the night was indeed long~” sang Chen.Hyo Ri sighed. “It’s too early to be dealing with you idiots…”Finding it weird that nagging worrywart Sehun isn’t being all over her like how he usually would be, she turned her attention away from the noisy bunch and looked up to find Sehun staring at her silently. As soon as their eyes met, he walked over to her.“Are you okay?”“Busted my foot.” Hyo Ri replied.“Does it hurt?” he asked, helping her up.“Not really.”The little tense conversation really made Hyo Ri a bit shocked. Out of the whole gang, she was always closest to Sehun back when they in middle school, to the point she felt as though she could’ve just told him anything. They’ve never had a conversation this awkward before. Hyo Ri couldn’t figure out why but she knew one thing.This wasn’t middle school anymore.“How did you two find the forest at night-time?” asked Min Ho as he walked over, beaming at them. Both Luhan and Hyo Ri pulled a face.“I don’t think I really got into the moment since well, you know, we almost got eaten alive by a pack of wolves,” replied Hyo Ri, sarcasm lacing in her voice. “Yeah, but it was fun.”“Look on the bright side,” said Min Ho, as idiotically happy as ever. “At least you got to lose some weight!” Hyo Ri shot him a glare. If it wasn’t for her foot, she’d tackle the teacher to the ground already and throw him in the river.The rest of the class began coming out of their tents to see what all the commotion was and eventually, the whole crew were assembled in a whole big group.“Okay peeps!” exclaimed Min Ho, looking around at all the half-asleep teenagers who were barely even standing. “Today’s activity is hiking and a bunch of other mini-games! To prevent anything like yesterday from happening, let’s all go early!” He returned the looks and eyebrow-arching with a smile. “Yep! I mean now!”Too exhausted to defy the happy teacher’s demands anymore, the class made their way back into the tents to get ready.Min Ho turned over to Hyo Ri. “You stay back here since your foot’s not so well.”“I’ll stay with her.” Sehun offered.Hyo Ri was debating whether to reject him or not when Min Ho spoke up instead. “It’s okay, Sehun. Hyo Ri can manage by herself.” He wrapped an arm around Sehun’s shoulder, grinning. “You need to enjoy the forest while you can!” he said as he pulled Sehun away.Hyo Ri waved sympathetically at Sehun as he was dragged away by the teacher. She hopped to a tent with Cho Hee’s red Chuck Taylors at the front and went in.“Min Ho seonsaengnim is trying to kill all of us…” Cho Hee groaned, picking out a pair of tracksuit pants from her luggage.“Have fun,” Hyo Ri said, settling down in Cho Hee’s sleeping bag. “I’m so screwed from last night…”“What did I do to deserve this?” grumbled Cho Hee, quickly changing into her hiking gear. She thought to herself for a bit then a smile grew on her face. “Hey Hyo Ri, what did you do last –“ Cho Hee stopped, turning around to see Hyo Ri already fast asleep.“God, this girl…” she muttered, grabbing her hiking shoes and leaving the tent. “I need to go to the toilet…”As soon as Cho Hee zipped up the tent, Hyo Ri opened her eyes again. “She’ll never stop being nosy…”What was she going to do about Sehun?This is an awkward, never-before situation that she and Sehun have ever gotten into with each other and Hyo Ri didn’t even know exactly why and how it started. She just didn’t like it. Sehun meant everything to her back in middle school –Her thoughts halted.Why was it always ‘back in middle school’? Wasn’t he still important to her now?“Of course he is,” Hyo Ri thought out loud. “But –“ She stopped.But what?The image of his face flashed through her mind.“Luhan?” she murmured, confused at the way her own mind worked. “Because of Luhan?” She shook her head. “Can’t be… Nah, no way.”She’d rather Sehun – sweet, caring, cute Sehun – over that skinny, arrogant little bastard.Sehun was always there for her and she really liked him. She knew she liked him so on that day, she told him that she’d meet up with him at school because she needed to tell him no matter what. But… that was also the day that happened.That was the day her dad died.That was the day she met Luhan for the first time.The day right after that incident, she moved schools and never saw Sehun or the others again. She never got to tell him.Well then, what about now?Hyo Ri scoffed, closing her eyes.“I wonder…”  “Far out…” Luhan muttered, looking around at the trees surrounding him. “We’re lost!”“It’s because someone decided to go follow the goddamn deer.” Grumbled Sehun, walking behind him.“Don’t worry,” Luhan assured, placing a hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “I’ve been stuck here long enough to know my way around now.”Sehun stopped. “Hyung.”Luhan cleared a couple branches out of his way. “Hm?”“What’s your relationship with Hyo Ri?”Luhan laughed. “I didn’t do anything to her last night, brat! She’s like a man.”“No, I’m asking you seriously.” Sehun said, fixing his gaze on Luhan. “What is your relationship with Hyo Ri?”Luhan turned around and faced him. “Do you want to know that bad?” The amusement seeped out of his face and was replaced by a stern expression.“Her dad tried to kill mine.” Sehun stared at him. Luhan lightly chuckled. “The very next day was when I enrolled into your school, remember?”“Why..? Why did you tell us?” Sehun finally said, after a moment of silence.Luhan walked up a bit more and pulled a leaf off a branch. “There wasn’t really any point in sharing my hate with you guys. It would’ve just gotten me angrier about the whole thing.” He looked over at Sehun. “Angrier at Lee Hyo Ri and her dad.”“Her dad’s dead.”Luhan shrugged. “Better off.”“Do you hate her?”Luhan looked back at him. “Yeah, I guess.”  Sehun almost let out a sigh of relief when Luhan chuckled again. “But at the same time, I wouldn’t know how to define our relationship.” He let the leaf fall to the ground. “What if I like her?”“You’d have no chance,” Sehun said with a strong front. “I’ve known her for longer.” Luhan smirked-smiled.“But I met her first.”  “Where is everyone?” Cho Hee said to herself, slapping away annoying branches in front of her face.She went to the toilet with a bad case of diarrhoea for ten minutes – which was actually a pretty good time considering all the crap she ate last night – and when she came back, the whole class left her!  “Where the hell am –?”“What’s your relationship with Hyo Ri?”Cho Hee stopped. She poked her head around a couple more trees and spotted Sehun and Luhan just ahead. Just when she decided to jump in on the two hot boys, the heavy air surrounding their conversation stopped her in her tracks.She heard Luhan laugh. “I didn’t do anything to her last night, brat! She’s like a man.”Cho Hee smiled to herself. If Hyo Ri knew he said that, they’ll be having World War Three!“No, I’m asking you seriously,” she heard Sehun say rather seriously. “What is your relationship with Hyo Ri?”She shook her head and sighed quietly. He’s totally obsessed.“Do you want to know that bad?” Luhan said. “Her dad tried to kill mine.”Cho Hee stared at him like how Sehun stared at him. Since when? She thought, furrowing her brow. Hyo Ri never mentioned this… Luhan lightly chuckled. “The very next day was when I enrolled into your school, remember?”After a while, Sehun spoke up. “Why..? Why did you tell us?” “There wasn’t really any point in sharing my hate with you guys. It would’ve just gotten me angrier about the whole thing.” He looked over at Sehun. “Angrier at Lee Hyo Ri and her dad.”“Her dad’s dead.” “Better off.” “Do you hate her?” “Yeah, I guess.” Luhan replied. Then she heard him chuckle again. “But at the same time, I wouldn’t know how to define our relationship.” Sehun didn’t look that great.“What if I like her?” Luhan said, making Cho Hee widen her eyes.“You’d have no chance,” Sehun said, probably deciding to go in strong. “I’ve known her for longer.”“But I met her first.”That line took her by surprise. What did he mean?By what Cho Hee knew with her best friend status, Hyo Ri and Sehun’s gang have been friends since middle school, that is, until Hyo Ri left and came to her school. How could Luhan have known Hyo Ri before Sehun? It made no sense.She slowly walked away from the two, trying to make as little noise as possible to go unnoticed with the new information she just gained from the little conversation Sehun and Luhan had with each other.Cho Hee doesn’t even know that much about Hyo Ri’s history before she met Sehun and friends. The most she knows is three years ago. Yep, apparently that’s when all the shit happened.Cho Hee rubbed her head, sighing. “Why are their lives so stuffed up? It gives me a goddamn headache…” Her thoughts shifted back to the two’s last words. “So Luhan does like Hyo Ri. In some weird way. And Hyo Ri…” She ducked under a branch. “What about Hyo Ri?”Cho Hee sighed. “Really… I must not have a life to be talking to myself about someone else’s love life… Aish, this is so sad…”  Hyo Ri woke up with startle. “Damn, what time is it..?” she murmured, scratching her ear. After retying her hair, she crawled out of the tent to see the whole class assembled around the rekindled campfire, chatting amongst themselves excitedly.She hopped over to Cho Hee who was sitting there, deep in thought – something which was very rare for her to be doing – and sat down next to her.“Yo.”Cho Hee turned her head over, a blank expression on her face. “Oh, hi there.”Hyo Ri arched an eyebrow. “What’s up with you?”“Nothing much…” Cho Hee replied, still looking strangely spaced out. “Just… heard a couple of weird things.”“Hyo Ri.”Hyo Ri looked up to see Sehun standing in front of her. “Yeah, what up?”“I need to talk to you.” He said.“Okay…” Hyo Ri replied, finding everything a little weird.She followed Sehun to somewhere further away from the campfire until their classmates’ voices were just strings of noise drifting over to them.“So…” Hyo Ri started, feeling a little tense. “What is it?”Before she could say anything else, he closed in on her and pressed his lips gently onto hers. After a couple of seconds, he broke away from her, their faces millimetres apart.“I like you.”“I like you too.” She replied without any hesitation. He stared at her for a while then sighed and sat down on the wooden bench behind them.“You’re always so blunt, Hyo Ri.” He laughed. Relief washed over her. It was the same Sehun. She settled down next to him and looked up at the sky.“Is that a bad thing?”“Not particularly.” Sehun looked over at her. “We haven’t talked like this in a while, have we?”“Yeah…” Hyo Ri murmured.A crisp breeze swept passed, playing with Hyo Ri’s hair.“You’re a really important person to me…” she said. “Without you and the others, I wouldn’t be here, like this. I really, really do like you.”“What’s with that face, huh?”He gave her head a light knock. “Our likes are very different, Hyo Ri.”Without saying anything else, the two continued to sit in silence and look up at the sky.Maybe. Hyo Ri thought letting out a light sigh.But at one point in time, they were the same, Sehun.They really were.  Yes. I know.This chapter was one of the longest I have ever written.Wait. Scratch that.It IS the longest I've ever written for any of my stories on AFF.Yes, yes I know it was a long read...I'm sure some of you even skipped some parts haha.Don't worry, I went a bit ditzy from re-reading it too >.>