The Retreat | Enha multi ship

[Chapter 20]

You'd assumed that after a long day of running around the woods, their reward wouldn't include going into the woods at all. Well, it was already established how strange TFW retreats was, so the fact that the winning team was being led far into the dark wilderness came as no surprise.

Sunoo's team had won by a landslide, not losing to a single team throughout the whole day. This meant that they were the ones to claim this mystery prize, and even after their win, they still had no idea what it was. Without saying a word, Dahyun led them into the forest, lighting the way with a single flashlight. It was rather frightening, so Sunoo and Gaeul held hands, while Rei and Jay wandered beside them.

"Here we are!" Dahyun cheers, as all eyes follow the light of her torch to what appeared to be a large shed.

They all wondered why this shed was located so far into the woods, and on such a strange path, it was unlikely for someone to randomly stumble upon it. Sunoo was mainly grateful the building seemed to be in good condition, otherwise, he would have come all this way in the pitch darkness to visit a creepy, decrepit building in the woods. Now that's the makings of a horror movie.

Dahyun pulls out a single silver key, and uses it to unlock the huge padlock on the sheds door. Once it's unlocked, she turns to the students with a mysterious grin. "Follow me."

After a moment of hesitation, the four kids head into the dark shed.

"As the winners of today's challenge..." She trails off, as she walks towards the left wall of the shed. "You get to pick one thing of your choosing each."

Suddenly the lights come on, and to everyone's surprise, this wasn't any normal shed. The walls were lined with huge shelving units, all filled to the brim with life's delicacies. Anything you dreamed of, and it was here. No one could have imagined they'd have all the stuff, especially with the basic food they had been fed over these couple days.

"This is insane, why'd you have all this stuff?" Jay asks, his first instinct telling him this was too good to be true.

"It's mainly for the staff, but we like to treat the campers aswell." Dahyun replies. "So pick whatever you want, we need to head back soon."

At that, the four students begin their search for the best reward possible. It was such a large selection, so they took their time scanning the shelves, in order to make the most of their pick.

The choice ended up being very easy for Sunoo. "Cherry pie flavored lolly pops!" He instantly grabs the bag, and holds it close to his chest, knowing that there was nothing else he'd want more than these. 

While taking a glance at the drinks section, Jay notices something more enticing than the rest. He nudges Gaeul, and points at bottom shelf. "Peep the alcohol."

"She'll never let you have it." Gaeul snickers.

"I know- I'm just thinking that we should pay more attention to the path on our way back." He responds casually.

She knew exactly what he was implying. "I'll help to memorize it, but for the rest, you're on your own." She says, lighting pushing him away from that section. "Now it's in your best interest, to pick something for Jungwon."

"Obviously, I'm not an idiot." 

"Really? You fooled me." 

The two laugh before splitting off. Jay heads over to the sweets section, while Gaeul wanders over to the savory snacks, where Rei happened to be.

"Got any idea?"

Rei shrugs, but doesn't look at her, keeping her gaze fixed on the shelves. "I'm trying to find the vegan stuff."

"I didn't know you were vegan." Gaeul says in surprise, remembering how she saw Rei eating the beef last night. She steps closer to the shelves, to see what was on offer.

"I'm not." Rei responds flatly, causing Gaeul to look at her in confusion. 

"Oh, so why are you searching for the vegan stuff?"

"Take a guess." Rei replies, reaching forward to grab a packet of spiced coconut curls off the shelf. "It's not hard to figure out."

Gaeul could infer it had something to do with Jiwon, but she didn't pry any more. 

____

If the days here were cold, then the nights were baltic. Jungwon had on three layers, including his coat, and he was still shivering. Obviously this wouldn't be such an issue if he just went inside, and honestly, he was tempted to. However, he wanted to do something nice tonight, by waiting for Jay to get back so they could spend some time together.

Luckily, he could see his mint haired acquaintance coming over, so at least he'd have some company while freezing to death. "Sorry about your loss today."  

"What? Is this a funeral?" Jungwon asks in amusement, which makes Junhyuck laugh. "I don't really care to be honest, you saw the team I had."

Junhyuck nods. "Probably one of the worst I've seen-"

"Hey! We weren't that bad." Jungwon playfully slaps his arm, before shoving his hands back into his pockets. Junhyuck sends him a knowing glance, and he couldn't deny it anymore. "Okay, we did kinda suck, but I tried...a bit."

"It wasn't really your fault, what's up with you and that girl?" 

That question instantly caused Jungwon to roll his eyes. He couldn't control it, it was just a natural behavior triggered by when he thinks about Yujin. "I don't even want to get into it, it annoys me too much. Just know it's a long fucking story."

"Does it have something to do with that Jay kid?" Junhyuck asks hesitantly, and Jungwon furrows his brows, confused at how he knew that it involved Jay. Junhyuck goes on to explain, "I heard you mention him in your fight. Is he like your boyfriend?"

Jungwon averts his gaze and sighs. "It's complicated."

"So that's code for do not get involved." Junhyuck chuckles.

The brunette turns to him apologetically. "It wouldn't have worked out anyway, but we can still be friends."

"I'm good with that." Junhyuck smiles, opening out his arms. "Friend hug?"

 Jungwon lets out a little giggle as he accepts Junhyuck's hug. 

Though it's always fun to flirt, Jungwon never wanted to lead anyone on. He'd rather make it clear now that they couldn't be anything more than friends, instead of giving Junhyuck false hope.