ambrosia [NCT DREAM]

17. We Party Before the Quest

Jaemin went back to sleep right after that, shutting the blinds in his large, empty cabin and praying he wouldn't get another other-worldly dream. He wanted to forget for a few hours that he'd been summoned in the middle of the night for something that the gods themselves couldn't even seem to do.

Luckily, he slept through the morning and into the afternoon. Meanwhile, Donghyuck had tried prying the prophecy apart word-by-word and wrote up a plan, while Renjun simply went out and practiced stabbing targets in the field all day long.

At some point, loud, rhythmic knocking on his door woke Jaemin up. He groaned, literally rolling out of his bed to open the door to find Johnny there, hands in his pockets casually.

"Hey, little dude! So, I heard it 'round the grapevine that, uh, you got your first quest, bro." Johnny said, looking at Jaemin curiously. Jaemin nodded, cocking an eyebrow up as to why Johnny wanted to know.

But the older boy simply continued, pointing to his cabin a little farther down the hill. "We're having a party later, if you wanna come. Consider this a going-away type of deal." He winked, before making a drinking motion with this hands and walking away, leaving Jaemin with an open-invite.

Jaemin groaned, closing the door gently slumping down his doorframe. Another thing to be dragged to? A party? Jaemin didn't really do parties. It always ended with him retreating outside or into someone's bathroom to sit on the floor and cry.

He thought about it a little bit; He hadn't been in control of a single thing since he'd gotten to camp. Everything has been a blur, being yanked and pulled all around camp and being thrown into things he had no idea existed. Maybe it was his penchant for trouble, but Jaemin's whole week at camp since he woke up had been confusing at best and downright miserable at worst.

And apparently he was supposed to fulfill some prophecy for his deadbeat dad, Zeus.

"Maybe a little bit of fun wouldn't hurt anybody." Jaemin muttered, getting up to brush his teeth. He checked the grand silver clock above his doorframe and grimaced at the time.

He really had slept all morning.
It was already 4 pm.

• • ⚡️ • •

Jaemin knocked on the Dionysus cabin's door that evening and Johnny peeked out, grinning. He held open his arms invitingly and gestured inside, yelling over the trap music: "Little dude! Hey!"

Jaemin walked in, giving Johnny a fistbump and following him around the cabin, which was much bigger than he'd thought from outside. The younger boy was surprised, eyes darting around curiously at campers dancing and whooping together as the music blared and another song started.

The sun had just set outside and the party was just starting. Donghyuck had found him on the way here, saying that he was coming to the party later and that the Dionysus cabin uses any opportunity to throw a rager. So, here Jaemin is with Johnny, walking around crowds of demigods at the point of no return.

Jisung was here too, awkwardly trapped between two older kids with cups in their hands, swaying to the beat. Mortified, Jisung's scent of chamomile and lavender became stronger as he nervously tried to wiggle away from them.

Jisung waved meekly at Jaemin from across the room, before accidentally bumping into a shorter girl who snarled at him and muttered under her breath. Jisung backed down, being swept back into the crowd before he could get Jaemin's attention. Poor kid, Jaemin thought. Too tall for his own good.

As Jaemin was about to break away to find someone else he might know, there was a shrill yell and before he knew it, a blurry figure darted in front of Jaemin, headed to the kitchen.