Half-Blood | NCT DREAM

Chapter 5

"Belated birthday?" Mark asked once they were out of the forge. Haerin nodded.

"Yeah, it was my eighteenth birthday yesterday." Haerin told him.

"Interesting." Mark said as they walked towards the dinning pavilion. They soon separated, Haerin heading to Hermes' table while Mark joined the other head counsellors.

...

That night, Haerin got a pleasant surprise during the singalong.

"As you all know, we had a new camper join us yesterday." Haechan announced. "Which, unknown to all of us, was actually her eighteenth birthday!"

Haerin felt her cheeks turn bright red as the many heads turned towards her, a cheeky grin on Haechan's face. "Let's all sing happy birthday for Haerin!"

Haerin could only blush as the campers sung for her. At the end, Chenle and Jisung came rolling in with a large cake.

Suddenly heads began turning and Haerin heard someone call out. "Guys, Soomi's been claimed!"

Been claimed?

Haerin turned her head and sure enough, a glowing wine glass was above the small girl's head.

"What does that mean?" Haerin mumbled to Jisung, who was sitting beside her.

"That means that Soomi is Hebe's daughter, the goddess of youth, which honestly suits her. She'll be moving to Hebe's cabin tonight." Jisung explained. Haerin nodded her head, watching as a bright smile formed on Soomi's face.

The commotion soon faded as Soomi ran to Hermes' cabin to move her stuff while the rest of the demigods began to split Haerin's cake. Haerin sat and waited as the older demigods passed the slices around.

"Hope you didn't mind the surprise." Haechan said, taking a seat beside her. He held two small plates, each with a slice of cake and a fork. He passed her one of them.

"Thank you and no, I didn't mind at all, although it was quite embarrassing." Haerin replied as she took the plate in her hands. Haechan chuckled.

"I can't believe that I didn't know earlier. And the fact that I found out from Renjun," Haechan looked away before turning back to her with a serious face, "disappointing."

Haerin smiled as at Haechan's fake pout before the two of them fell into bits of laughter.

"Anyways, I'm glad you enjoyed it. It was hard for me to keep it a secret all day." Haechan admitted just as someone from his cabin called his name.

"Well, I'll get going now but let's talk some more sometime." Haechan said before giving Haerin a small wave.

Harin smiled as she put a piece of cake in her mouth, chewing it.

I guess Camp Half-Blood isn't that bad after all.

...

The next day, Taeyong had Haerin paired with Jaemin for training. They were standing in front of targets, but not archery ones.

"I've been told you've switched to throwing knifes and daggers." Jaemin said after Taeyong left. Haerin nodded.

"Jeno's sword was just to heavy." Haerin told him. Jaemin nodded, taking out his own throwing knives.

"When throwing, you want to keep your body straight but relaxed, and throw with moderate force, aiming at the target." Jaemin explained before demonstrated. His knife hit his target dead centre.