HIKE

15 | outrun a raincloud

"Run! Run, like, now! Fuck, why are they chasing us?!"

Panting heavily, the four boys ran through the herd of cows, dodging the beasts as best they could. It was hard going carrying all their stuff as well, and they hadn't stopped screaming - which didn't exactly make breathing any easier.

"How do we get out of this fucking field?!" Jeno was sprinting ahead of the rest, arms tensing and visible peeking out the sleeves of his t-shirt.

"Go that way!" Jaemin yelled.

The cows mooed threateningly behind them.

"Oh god, we're going to die!" Donghyuck screeched, startling the cows futher.

"Just keep running!" Renjun ushered him on, trying his best to keep up with the others' long strides.

It took them a good twenty minutes to get out of that field. Seeing that both gates were blocked by cows, they decided that the best option was to crawl under some bushes and a fence to get out. A barbed wire fence.

"Fucking donkeys," Jeno cursed once they were finally out, somehow without any scrapes or wounds. "I mean cows."

"When I get home, I'm going to eat every fucking beef burger in South Korea," Donghyuck announced in irritation, while sweating profusely. "And don't you dare make another fat joke, Na."

"Wasn't going to," Jaemin mumbled, looking a little pale and worn out at this point.

"What's the time now?" Renjun asked no one in particular.

Jaemin sighed and checked his watch again. "Two pm," he muttered.

"It took us that long to get out of that fucking field?" Donghyuck exclaimed. "Kill me now."

It was the perfect moment for someone to step up and give that motivational speech, to really encourage the others not to give up and keep going. But nobody really felt the urge to do so.

"Let's just keep walking," said Renjun after a stilted silence, looking a little downcast.

So they did. At this point Renjun had given up even trying to read the map and just marched in a generally forward direction, hoping it would be the right way. If they just kept walking, maybe he could forget about the fact that they were almost certainly completely lost.

"When can we stop for lunch?" Donghyuck whined.

"When I can't smell the fucking cows anymore," said Jeno grumpily.

"Very specific," Donghyuck drawled. "Let's throw him back in with the cows."

"At least I didn't scream as loud as you did," Jeno countered.

"Pfft, I did not scream," Donghyuck denied.

"Lies," Jeno muttered.

"You wanna go?" Donghyuck tried to square up against Jeno, but ultimately failed as Jeno's arms tensed in annoyance. Jeno's Arms were admittedly very intimidating.

Without looking where he was going while making Donghyuck back down, Jeno walked straight into Renjun - who had stopped to squint at the compass and wonder where the heck North was supposed to be.

Renjun yelped, Donghyuck kept walking without realising, and Jeno fell right on top of the smaller Chinese boy.

The compass, meanwhile, soared out of Renjun's hands, through the air...

...and sank into a fresh cow pat.

"You have got to be kidding me," Renjun wheezed, breath constricted by the large mass pressing down on him.

"Shit, was that your phone?" Jeno asked.

"No," said Renjun evenly, his voice still strained, "because if it was my phone, you'd be fucking dead right now."

Jeno's mouth was awfully close to Renjun's ear so that Renjun could feel his breath on the back of his neck as Jeno said, "Sorry, Renny."

"And if I landed in that cow shit, you would be off that cliff with the fucking chocolate," Renjun added, the frustration building up inside him.

"I'm sorry," said Jeno a little more seriously then, his breath hot in Renjun's ear.

Refusing to accept the apology right then, Renjun groaned under Jeno's weight and squirmed at the discomfort of being crushed. "Get off me, you twat," he complained, "I can't breathe..."

Jeno pushed himself up on his palms, taking the weight off as Renjun wriggled round onto his back. Suddenly they were nose to nose, Jeno's body hovering inches above Renjun's, hearts racing at a million beats per second.

Renjun stole a glance at Jeno's lips for just a moment, regretting it afterwards. It was just a tiny gap to close between them and a kiss, yet more difficult than the miles and miles they'd had to walk. A rush of hormones and the pull in his gut told him to do it, to take Jeno's face in both hands and kiss him hard, and break the rising tension between them.

But his head said no. It was a terrible idea. It was a Multi Friendship Ruining Idea. But in the moment, he really wanted to do it.

Jeno was staring deep into his eyes, lips parted and breathing heavy, for those few seconds that felt like a lifetime. It almost made Renjun believe that it could happen.

Drip! Drop!

"Shit, is that rain?" Renjun muttered, finally breaking the moment as he felt a raindrop hit his nose.

The sky was grey and dark all over now, the clouds angered and ready to crash and rumble. And the rain had already begun to pour.

Renjun pushed Jeno away and rolled out from under him, pulling his rucksack back on. "We should get going," he stated.

"Uh... yeah, yeah we should," Jeno mumbled.

"Guys?" Donghyuck called from far ahead, only now realising he and jaemin had lost the others. "Why'd you stop? Hurry up."

The two of them hurried to rejoin the group, whilst the drizzle of rain became a heavy downpour, and the sky clouded over with masses of dark grey.

"We should hurry and find somewhere out of the rain for lunch," said Jaemin, though he didn't seem so fond of his own idea.

"Let's fucking go then, I'm hungry!" said Donghyuck, finding enthusiasm in the promise of lunch.

It seemed like the faster they walked, the heavier the rain became, and before long they were shivering and soaked through to the skin. They had to find some sort of shelter soon, at least to wait out the worst of the rain.

A sigh escaped Renjun's lips. At least the cool raindrops helped to calm his burning cheeks.

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