The Retreat | Enha multi ship

[Chapter 6]

"You've gotta be kidding me, are we five?" Jungwon huffs.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, it's just a bit of fun." Hyeongjun giggles, reading over the slip excitedly. It seemed this task had helped him get over being separated from his friends . "After a long day of flying the creatures come to rest, you may find your key hidden in a...Birds nest! That's gotta be it!"

"A birds nest?" Sunoo mumbles, taking a glance at the hundreds of trees surrounding them. It would be simply impossible to find the right birds nest among them all, and even if they did, the trees were so tall they wouldn't be able to reach.

It seemed that Jungwon had the same thought. "I see like three different birds nests already and I'm not even trying."

"How'd you know it's not one of them? It could be that easy." Hyeongjun says.

"Maybe cause that ones like a hundred feet in the air." Jungwon replies with an annoyed tone.

No one really knew what would happen on this camping retreat, but if they had to guess, they would never have assumed they'd be doing some sort of scavenger hunt for keys with a group they didn't even get to choose. In most cases, it was a recipe for disaster. 

"Okay lets stop and think about this logically." Heeseung imposes. He knew that if he didn't take charge of the situation now, then Jungwon would grow even more agitated, probably say something to offend Hyeongjun, leading him to storm off. Sunoo would feel really awkward, and probably run off to find Jake. Meaning he'd be left alone to find their key. Despite his capabilities, he hadn't slept the best last night, so he just wanted to find the key quickly with no extra stress. "The tree's are really big, and we're just high schoolers, so realistically, it's gotta be somewhere we can reach. How about we just have a wander, and see what we can find? Agreed?"

Considering it was the only plan that made sense, the other boys had no other option than to agree. With everyone now on the same page, they headed off to find their key.

____

Out of all the people Jake could have been stuck with, he just had to be put with three of the most popular boys at school. Of course Sunghoon was one of his best friends, so that wasn't the issue. It was that he looked like an absolute dork trying to work out their clue, while following around these three handsome footballers, who didn't even care about finding the key.

Luckily for him, he didn't need their help. He'd watched way too many shows about death games, to be able to work out a simple clue. If he was chucked into 'Alice in Borderland' now he'd be fine, well, unless it was a physical challenge, and then his lack of muscle would get him killed.

"The woods may be beautiful but don't focus on the flowers with pretty petals, if you want to find your key you must look in the..."

Jake racked through every word he could think of that rhymed with petals, but there was only one thing that could make sense. Although it seemed a little extreme that they would hide a key there.

"Sunghoon." Jake tapped the blondes shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"I think they've hidden the key in stinging nettles."

"Huh? No way." Sunghoon uttered in disbelief, as he swung around. "That can't be right." 

The other roommate heard Sunghoon's confusion, and turned around to join the conversation. "What's wrong?" Jay questioned.

"I think they've put the key in stinging nettles." Jake repeats himself.

Jay furrows his brows in a mix of annoyance and confusion. "What the hell? Isn't that kinda fucked up?"

"Have you found the key yet John?" The final roommate comes bounding over.

Nishimura Riki was the overly energetic loud mouth of Upper Side Academy's football team. And clearly, he was the second coming of Wonyoung, considering he had no idea who he was talking to.

"My names Jake, and yes, I think I know." Jake responds, pretty unbothered by Riki's mistake. He was used to it by now. 

"Then lead us to it oh knowledgeable one!" Riki proclaims, switching into some type of sub par medieval accent. "Us proud knights shall follow by your side! Ready to protect you at any sign of danger!" He then drew out an imaginary sword, and began fighting with thin air.

Even though Riki was popular, he was very much a weirdo, and that was made very clear right now. Jake didn't really mind it though, since it was better than having some mean person make fun of him for simply existing.

Finding stinging nettles was actually pretty easy. There was patch of those spiky green plants, right beside the path that leads to their cabins. Plus there was even a sign indicating to be careful of them. Unfortunately, the key wasn't any where to be seen, so it was matter of drawing straws to pick the unlucky person who would dig through the nettles.

"Rock, paper, scissors?" Jay suggests.

The boys agree, then proceed to play. Jay and Sunghoon manage to win the first round after playing rock to both Riki and Jake's scissors. During the second round, Jake plays scissors again, while Riki plays paper, meaning it was the footballer who has to deal with the nettles.

The boy was fearless, not hesitating to stick his hand straight in the stinging nettles. However, he wasn't immune to the pain, just as quick to pull his hand back out, with a lot of regret. Jake felt quite bad for him, and decided to help, by prodding the plants with a stick while he looked.

Sunghoon was standing to the side, grateful that it wasn't him having to do the unpleasant task. He could see the other groups searching for their keys, and no one seemed to have it as rough as them. He searched eagerly for Sunoo's team, to see what the boy was up to, but it was his laughter that ultimately led to Sunghoon finding him, and he wasn't happy with what he saw.

Sunoo was sitting on Heeseung's shoulders, giggling as he reached for something in a tree. Anyone could see it was completely innocent, but still, Sunghoon felt irked by it. No matter how much he valued Heeseung as a friend, and trusted Sunoo, after the events of valentines, he always felt a little annoyed by them spending time together.

He suddenly felt a nudge to his side, and heard Jay's familiar laughter. "Jealous much."

"I know I shouldn't be annoyed by it-"

"But you are." Jay finishes his sentence. It sounded almost like he was speaking from experience. "It's okay to be jealous, just don't go all crazy about it."

"Harder said then done." Sunghoon sighs.

The ravenette smiles compassionately, and throws his arm over his friends shoulder. "Look who's talking to Wonnie right now." Beside Sunoo and Heeseung, Jungwon seemed to be having a conversation with Junhyuck. "That mint haired prick's got a thing for my boy, and as much as I'd like to tell him to back off, I can't. Nor can I get mad at Jungwon for speaking to him. It only makes me look like an insecure idiot."

"Does it ever get easier?" 

"Not for me, but I'm a special case" Jay chuckles, patting his friends shoulder lightly.  "For you, probably."