𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

forty seven ♬

The five of us arrived at the outdoor obstacle course centre just as the group who had gone there before us was leaving. Chan was practically being carried by Soonyoung, a traumatised look on his face as the pair passed by.

"Never....again..." the poor boy whimpered, clutching onto Soonyoung for dear life. The two of them brightened upon noticing us standing there.

"Is he...okay?" Joshua inquired, giving a concerned glance over to Chan's trembling frame. "Should we call someone? A doctor?"

"It's okay - he'll live," Wonwoo had strolled up the group, slinging a bag onto his shoulder as he pat Chan's head. "Just a little spooked, right?"

"Hello? I nearly fell 20ft from the sky because you let go of the rope that was attached to me! I'd call that a little more than spooked!" He hissed at the older boy, disentangling himself from Soonyoung's grasp whilst stomping towards the exit. "You'll be lucky if I don't push you overboard!"

In response, the two simply laughed and shook their heads. After knowing him for years, they've become accustomed to his tantrums and can recognise when he's acting out for attention - which they won't give to him, or else Chan wins.

"I bet you that he'll have forgotten about the entire incident the minute we leave this place."

"Wait - what did he mean when he said that you dropped the rope? Aren't there supposed to be professional instructors?" Seokmin seemed anxious. Everybody knew that he was afraid of heights, and the tense mood wasn't helping to calm his nerves.

"Don't worry, there are - but there's a climbing wall section near there where you have to belay someone else," Wonwoo explained, recalling how the rope slipped out from his hands for a moment whilst Chan was climbing. "It wasn't even that bad, he just descended a bit quicker than before."

"Great.......more partner exercises....." I mumbled, shooting a withering look to where JJ stood then plastering on my biggest smile for Josh. "Guess the dynamic duo is back in action, huh?"

"Actually - I wanted to partner up with you, Chae-ri," JJ came unnaturally close to me, her tone so obviously fake. "It's been so long since we did something, just the two of us!"

"And that's our cue to leave," Soonyoung excused himself, dragging the Wonwoo away with him as the pair ran to catch up with Jun and Minghao, who had just emerged from the changing rooms. The four of them disappeared through the door, abandoning us to fend off this awkward atmosphere ourselves.

"Yeah......it's a no from me," I shook my head, giving her a deadpan stare. I had no idea what kind of game she was playing at, but I wasn't going to be a part of it.

"You're really going to reject your friend like that? In front of everybody?" She raised her voice loud enough to attract the attention of other visitors in the building. Some even stopped to watch the commotion unfold. "Didn't think you'd be so cruel."

Like the fantastic actress she is, JJ plastered on her best sulky pout in order to guilt trip me into accepting her proposal. What didn't help either was the fact that the people surrounding us had began whispering to one another, making me feel self conscious and watched.

"Chae-ri, just partner with her before she makes a bigger scene," Seungkwan shrugged, doing what he could to subdue the already growing crowd. "It's not the end of the world."

"Fine - if it'll get you off of my case, then I'll happily oblige to being paired up with you," I let out an exasperated sigh, forcing a smile upon my face. "But, I'm belaying first."

Just then, the activity leader we'd been told to meet at the front reception greeted us and led us through to where the obstacle course would take place.