HIKE

30 | winners take it all

back to school.

after the traumatic weekend, coming back to school had been a shock to the system, much less coming back without renjun. they'd stopped at the hospital on the way home, and the doctors had said renjun's ankle was indeed sprained. he'd stayed home to rest and ice it for a few days, but had recently come back to school with crutches and an ankle brace.

"geez, got braces again, ren!" donghyuck had joked.

renjun had thrown a pencil at his face. and it was a sharp one.

now, it was friday morning, and the entire year group was gathered in the auditorium for an assembly.

"renny! sit here," jeno piped up as renjun headed towards the front of the hall where they were sitting, slow on his crutches.

jeno took his crutches for him and helped him to sit down. renjun smiled in thanks, eyes trailing down to jeno's hand. he really wanted to hold it, but of course they were in public. whatever was between them had been very lowkey since returning from hike challenge, except for the stream of texts that kept them both awake at 2am. but in school, it was like nothing had changed.

"take your time, snail," said donghyuck sarcastically, pulling a joking expression when renjun glared at him.

"stop making fun of my fucking injury," renjun snapped at them, rolling his eyes irritably.

"aw, but snail is a cute name," jeno protested. he reached out to place a hand on renjun's thigh, making renjun's breath hitch slightly.

"doesn't mean dong-yuck gets to use it," renjun put in quickly, whilst pushing jeno's hand away. he glanced around them, wary, but nobody was looking.

"can you stop using lucas' shitty jokes?" donghyuck demanded, sighing like he really meant it. "jaemin, why aren't you saying anything... are you seriously revising right now?"

jaemin looked up from his revision notes and laughed awkwardly. "exams start in four weeks," he reasoned.

donghyuck thought about this and eventually decided that, "four weeks is ages away..."

even so, jaemin stuffed his notes back into his school bag and checked his phone. a message popped up in his notifications, and it was enough to catch donghyuck's eye. he grabbed the phone from jaemin's hands in curiosity.

"oh, since when did you get snapchat?" he asked, "and who have you saved as the sparkly pink heart?"

jaemin's ears flushed a bright red and he snatched his phone back. "it doesn't matter," he mumbled.

"it's nancy, right?" donghyuck smirked knowingly.

"don't say it so loud!" jaemin whined, nudging donghyuck in the ribs.

donghyuck obliged and quietened his tone. "not official yet?" he asked carefully.

jaemin looked reluctant to tell him but eventually shook his head. "we're... nothing," he admitted, "we're just talking, i guess. how's things with xiyeon?"

donghyuck grinned then, his entire expression turning soft. "great," he answered, "maybe better than ever." he swivelled round in his seat to find his girlfriend somewhere in the seats behind them.

xiyeon caught his eye and flipped her silky black hair over her shoulder, giving a little flirty wave. donghyuck winked and blew her a kiss, and she pretended to catch it and pressed it to her lips. her friends giggled and teased her around her, and some of the boys wolf whistled.

jaemin chuckled at them and put his phone away so donghyuck couldn't tease them anymore. "you guys are so... confident," he said, searching for the correct word.

"the word you're looking for, jae-jae, is whipped," donghyuck told him with a laugh.

renjun watched for a while before turning his head back to the front of the auditorium. he wished he could be as open and obnoxious as donghyuck and xiyeon, sending flirty winks each other's way, feeding each other lunch and kissing between classes. and he knew they did that, because he'd seen it for a fact.

it wasn't like that could ever happen for someone like renjun.

jeno reached out and gave his thigh a comforting squeeze. but he withdrew his affection when renjun didn't respond. at that moment, the head teacher mr byun finally came to the front of the auditorium, followed by mr kim and mark lee.

"sorry for the wait," said mr byun, raising his voice to quiet the chatter in the hall. "i'll now hand you over to mr kim, who is here to present the hike challenge awards."

mr kim took to the centre and smiled brightly at all the students. mark was carrying a pile of certificates and trying his best not to spill them all over the floor.

"i would like to welcome all the hike challenge participants to come down," mr kim announced, "you should all be extremely proud of yourselves, as i am. there have been muddy puddles, passing out, and fire mishaps - i'm looking at you, sanha. but to have overcome these challenges is a huge achievement, and one you won't likely forget. so, if you would all join me down the front..."

the twelve of them slowly stood and made their way to the front, renjun struggling on his crutches as jeno gave him a hand. they lined up next to mr kim and the rest of the student body applauded.

"i will now present the awards, so please come and collect yours when i call your name..."

one by one, they received an official certificate from mark, and a handshake from mr kim. the resounding clapping rang in their ears, filling them with adrenaline and boosting their endorphins. sure, they had a haul of studying and exams ahead of them, but for now everything was on a real high.

and from now on they would stick together, no matter what happened.

________________________

the end.

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a/n:
it's the end!

thank you so much for the support
on this book, it means the world!
(the sequel is called rendezvous ♡)

see y'all soon, and let me know what your overall thoughts were on this book!

and ask me any questions you have about it, or about the next one!