HIKE

12 | bird watching

It was early, too early. Jaemin stepped out of the tent into the sunlight that shone through the clouds, trying not to get his long legs tangled. He stretched and gave a huge yawn, inhaling the fresh morning air.

He'd had the shittiest night's sleep.

Over the years they'd known each other, Jaemin and Jeno had spent many nights at each other's houses on chaotic childhood sleepovers. But the last one had been over two years ago, and Jaemin had forgotten how loud Jeno's breathing got when he slept. To make matters worse, Jeno had also developed this soft way of snoring at times, which shouldn't have been too bad - except for the fact that Jaemin was an incredibly light sleeper. Renjun and Donghyuck could've dealt with it, since they both slept like logs: nothing could wake them. but Jaemin wanted to jump off a bridge, he was so tired.

Jaemin stamped his walking boots on, trying to ignore the the tiredness and his pounding head. Jeno slept like he was dead, and Jaemin wished he could do the same. Heaving a sigh, he decided to head to the toilets, crossing the field at a comfortable pace, boots trampling the dewey grass.

"Psst! Hyeyeon..."

Jaemin slowed down as he heard voices and commotion from nearby tents. Nancy had crawled across from her tent and had her head stuck into the group's other tent, wearing pyjama shorts and a hoodie since the weather wasn't too cold.

"Hyeyeon, wake up," Nancy was whispering, "it's an emergency! I started my period this morning and I didn't bring any pads..."

"I don't have any either," Hyeyeon mumbled sleepily.

Jaemin couldn't help but slow down even more as he passed. Nancy was kneeling forward as she poked her head into the tent, which naturally meant her butt was on show. Jaemin felt bad staring, but everything about Nancy was so-

"Fuck!" Jaemin hissed. He'd tripped over the guy ropes that held the tent steady in the wind, and was now a mess on the floor. Luckily, he'd narrowly missed being impaled by a nearby tent peg.

Nancy instantly turned in his direction, looking anxious, but relaxed a little when she saw it was him. "Oh, hi, Nana," she said, looking slightly flustered.

Holy shit, she looks so adorable when she's just woken up.

"N-Nana?" Jaemin repeated, stunned.

A panicked look crossed Nancy's features. "Sorry, I just- well, I heard your friends call you that and I-"

"It's okay," Jaemin interrupted, having now picked himself up off the floor. He offered Nancy a reassuring smile. "You can call me whatever, I don't mind."

"Oh, okay," said Nancy in relief, smiling in return.

Jaemin blinked at her. Suddenly, he had no idea what to do with his hands. "Um, I was gonna go brush my teeth," he laughed nervously.

"Go on then," Nancy laughed, ushering him on.

Jaemin then realised that he didn't have his toothbrush. His ears burning with embarrassment, he went all the way back to his tent to pick up his toothbrush and toothpaste and, as an afterthought, some cash.

Jeno was still sleeping, curled up and still making that god-awful snoring noise. Jaemin got out of the tent as quickly as be could and headed to the toilets so he wouldn't trip over any more guy ropes and embarrass himself any further.

When he reached the toilet block, Jaemin was surprised to find Renjun already inside in front of the mirror and sinks, snapping his retainers out and putting them back in their box.

"Morning, Ren," Jaemin yawned on his way in.

"Morning, Nana," Renjun said, his voice still sleepy.