𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ 𝐧𝐜𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 - 𝐡𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐮

⇛ 𝐂𝐇. 𝟏𝟓

𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 𝟔

jihyun awoke, sweat trickling down her face. she was overheating and felt incredibly sticky. it was uncomfortable and an awful feeling that made her want to jump into a pool of water. she sat up, removing the jacket that someone had considerately placed on her. she glanced around, seeing that jaemin and jeno were asleep, but she couldn't find jisung.

"jihyun? why are you awake?" she heard his voice from near the opening of the cave. she averted her eyes to the direction, where he was sitting on a large rock.

"i'm boiling." she told him, rubbing at the back of her neck.

"but it's freezing in here." he replied, confused and then he quickly got up and crouched beside her. he placed his hand on her forehead, his eyes widening when he felt how hot it was. "you have a fever."

"must be from staying in soaking clothes without a fire." she muttered, referring to when her, renjun and mark had to cuddle for warmth. she hoped they didn't have a fever too.

jisung pulled a bottle of water out from one of the bags and opened the lid, placing it to her lips.

"drink." he said and without hesitation, she did. she hadn't drunk water in a while so it was satisfying and refreshing.

she handed him the bottle back and wiped her mouth, her head falling back onto the wall. he poured some of the water onto a cloth and placed it on her head.

"do you want something to eat, ji?" he asked.

"not yet. and you're calling me ji..." she mumbled. "why?"

"because we're jiji, remember?"

"oh. oh." she nodded, understanding what he was doing. he was trying to continue playing with the idea of them becoming close friends. "i'm still the first ji though, aren't i?"

"sure, whatever you want." he replied, moving to rest his back on the wall next to her. "go back to sleep. jeno will take care of you tomorrow. your fever shouldn't last long."

"why is jeno going to take care of me?" she asked, tugging at the collar of her shirt to stop it from sticking to her skin.

"why? do you want me to instead?" he asked, leaning towards her.

"no." she elbowed him back. "i'm assuming you're implying you and jaemin are going somewhere. where?"

"to find chenle and your other friends." he said, watching as her eyes lit up. he could tell she cared about them. more than she should have. it was a weakness.

"not too far from here, there's a lake and another cave. that's where we were staying." she told him. "if my leg miraculously gets better by tomorrow i'll help you..."

"unfortunately, jeno said your leg will take a few days to recover so don't get your hopes up." he said and when noticing the dull frown on her lips, he dumped the jacket, that she tossed to the floor, on top of her head to divert her attention. "now seriously, sleep."

"night." she mumbled, pulling the jacket to her chest.

"sleep well."

♆

𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝟖

the three boys woke up relatively early, preparing for jisung and jaemin to leave. jihyun's health had gotten worse yesterday so they delayed looking for them then but now she seemed to be getting better and jeno was sure he could look after her. they weren't certain when they'd be back so they packed some food and water too. once they were ready, they left, leaving jeno with jihyun who was still sleeping.