"Hang on! Oh wait..." I winced at the unintended pun whilst I peered with great concern at Jungkook and Jimin as they hung upside down with their legs tied up securely by the green net.

Let me enlighten about what had just occurred..

Rewind to about 5 minutes ago wherein the two boys walked actively beside Wonho as he kept an eye out for traps. Those two were checking out their surroundings, as well as collecting some decent-sized sticks to throw and trigger potential traps that we would all eventually come across.

Wonho being the living guardian that he claims he is, sensed one nearby. The duo at that time had began to make a competition out of finding 'the best looking' stick and rushed ahead at the same time upon laying eyes on a thick one.

You can guess where that led them :)

"This position is not very appealing to my stomach..." Jimin groaned. Oh dear...

"Um, sit tight- wait-" I decided to keep my mouth shut. It just so happens that I had the worst words of assurance to spur out at this moment. I know this because Jungkook was giving me a glare at my choice of words considering his and Jimin's legs were tightly tied.

"Please," Jin cackled. He had been laughing since I spoke up about this occurance. He'd completely forgotten the part where we worry for the two dangling boys, all because of me. He's always been a sucker for jokes so I guess-

Okay, no. I wasn't trying to joke around!

"Hold still-" I brought one hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose and nodded in surrender when Jungkook gave me a look of disapproval and incredulity. "Yep, okay. I'll shut up." I sheepishly grinned, unable to help myself at the thought of only being able to sentence pun words.

"HAHAHAAHAHAHA—"

Because of Jin's iconic laugh, even Namjoon couldn't help but join in. Yoongi was waiting this out by a nearby tree whilst Wonho manoeuvred his way up the tree, gauging his path upto them to break them free.

Taehyung seemed to watch Wonho in intrigue, possibly wondering if he could pull of the lil' parkour the elder male was doing up the large tree.

Hoseok was the only one who seemed sincerely concerned for the younger two- well, aside from me, of course.

"Hurry up, please." Jimin sighed.

"I told you two to keep an eye out," Wonho grumbled after a grunt when skipping onto another higher branch.

I chuckled as Jin plopped onto his butt, heaving out his breath from the laughing fit I brought onto him. I was already situated on the ground with my legs laying before me, glad for the little momentary break for my right arm that supported half of my weight.

"Oh god, this one is an old one." Wonho announced, "You two! Breathe less." He instructed.

I snorted, knowing he meant well but the instruction was still humorous.

"'Breathe less' you want me to suffocate myself?" Jungkook retorted. "Boy, shut up already." Jimin huffed, swatting a hand towards the younger male, only to receive a hit back in retaliation.

"Okay, stay still and don't move." Wonho intervened, shuffling closer towards the net before taking a deep breath and holding it. He pulled out the sword I let him borrow from me to cut it from its tight knot. He worked swiftly with cutting the string carefully.

I let out a cough from the smell the string emitted, suddenly reminded of the reason why the Olfstin that was once captive in a cage like this had ended up dead due to the toxic scent.

I dragged myself back with my hands, lifting my sprained foot up to not drag it over the ground in response to my retreating form. I resounded my gratitude when Namjoon rushed to help me shift away from the growing smell.

I began to wonder how much stronger it must be for Jimin and Kook and watched with apprehension as those two had resorted to covering their mouths with one hand to block out the toxic smell from affecting them.

"Wait, how will they get down without hurting themselves?" I asked with a frown, crunching my nose as the smell grew in intensity. Wonho paused his ministration on the thread, glancing at the dangling boys squeezing their noses shut with a cringe.

Jin began to cough at the smell as well, a frown twisting his features whilst he backtracked to get away from the harmful gas.

"Just let us drop, we won't land on our heads and crack the skull open." Jimin wheezed out. Nodding, Wonho cut off the last of the string and watched as Jungkook and Jimin fell free from the trap, their bodies moving speedily to land at a less damaging position.

Soon after, their groans followed before they helped themselves up, ripping away the remnants of the thread wrapped around their ankles before scurrying away from the growing smell. Wonho hopped down little by little before letting out a coughing fit, face twisting into a grimace after accidentally taking a strong whiff of the toxic gas.

"Let's get a move on." Hoseok ushered with a grimace of his own whilst Jin checked over the younger males dusting themselves off to skim over any injuries obtained through the fall.

"Please." Yoongi agreed, already on his feet and swinging Kook's pink bag over his shoulders whilst Taehyung rushed to sling on the pot of water again.

-

We had all hurried further in, this time more attentively aware of our surroundings. We kept a close circle with each other, intending to remain as close as possible.

"If I had stayed up there a moment longer, I would've puked." Jimin groaned, and Jungkook hummed, "I wasn't there yet, but I would've soon enough, too." He shrugged.

"How far have we come, now?" Taehyung questioned aloud, a small pout adorn his pink lips as he waited for an answer. "We've still got a long way to go," Wonho replied, "Once we reach a somewhat lesser crowd of trees and bushes, we'll have reached halfway." He provided.

I let out a low whine at that, "Seriously? This forest doesn't seem like it's about to clear up any time soon." I opinionated with a look of dismay.

As we continued on, the setting only grew more heavy with plants and trees, making our straight path more rocky and bumpy than we'd like. The boys being the lovely angels they are, they offered to help me about as I struggled a few times to catch my balance when my crutch landed on a more rough surface.

It was, however, a great relief to get away from the toxic scent. It nearly felt like it was going to trigger my dizzy spells but thankfully, it did none of that.

We passed by a few more traps, though nearly getting caught under its cage as a whole group had Yoongi not been quick to put our trek to a stop. Taehyung was actually a few inches away from triggering it. This being proven when Jungkook and Jimin began throwing a variety sizes of sticks around after we had all taken a few steps back to remain out of its radar before it snapped after a triggering weight from one of the many sticks they collected and threw. The green string around a certain area sprung upwards before remaining limp and empty as we dodged passed it and continued on with the same pace and caution.

Unfortunately, considering how the forest just grew more deeper and thicker, it was safe to assume that we were still quite far away from reaching our halfway point. Furthermore, the sun had began to set, bringing the canopied forest greater darkness.

"Guys, it's getting darker..." Hoseok pointed with a wary tone, slowing down his pace.

"We don't have anywhere we could take a stop..." Namjoon mentioned in disdain. "There's no way we can just stay in the middle, here." He mumbled.

Wonho was too engrossed in his own thoughts as he spun on his heels leisurely whilst examining our surroundings.

"It's still not too dark to continue. Wherever we get, we'll just call it for the time being since two flashlights can only help so much." I console, glancing at the male preoccupied with scanning the depths of the forests.

I unconsciously narrowed my eyes at him, trying to gauge what was going through his mind.

Eventually, we had all halted to a stop. We were still surrounded by heavy vegetation and it was clear that we had a ways to go before reaching our halfway point.

I didn't think the journey was going to be that far?? My cave sketch from where he pointed it out, he told me it was pretty accurate, when he took a look at it. He even claimed to mention that the distant size of it was accurate, too. And from that illustration, it didn't seem all that far, either.

"Is it safe to stay here?" I asked with a doubtful frown. Wonho clicked his tongue, "I can keep a look out, if it helps." He honestly replied. But I wished he hadn't been so honest; with little to no light helping us see our path, the setting only grew to appear more dangerous and ominous. He didn't bother to sugar coat anything and indirectly denied my question with another suggestion.

"No, no. We can make shifts. One of us can watch out for anything and then we can switch routinely throughout the night so we don't have a closed eye throughout the night." Namjoon recommended. Everyone silently agreed, beginning to feel conscious of the volume they use whilst responding to each other.

You know what's really, really stupid about this game and this world? The constant sound of chirping from non-existent birds. More specifically, owls.

All they do is go, 'HOO HOO' and irk me with the constant sound of their blabbering mouths. Can't they shut the hell up for once??

"But how do we even begin to sleep?" Hoseok wondered, glancing at the ground piled with layers of fallen leaves. "Watch me." Yoongi retorted and headed towards the closest tree, plopped onto his butt, pulled out a pillow from the blue bag and a sheet before glancing at us, who watched him, dumbfounded.

"What? This is how you begin." He shrugged and scooted closer towards a tree root beside its branch and propped the pillow onto it for leverage before completely laying down with a look saying 'duh'.

The other shared glances at one another with quirked brows.

I held back a smile his way, slowly making my way towards him before carefully lowering myself into a sitting position beside him. He smiled at me knowingly and patted the space beside him, "The sooner we sleep, the better." He snickered softly.

I nodded, agreeing, "That's true. It's better than proceeding in the dark." I winced at the thought before reaching over for the bag. However, he put my motions to a stop and opened up the covers beside him instead, gesturing that we can share.

With a bashful grin, I was quick to agree. I had instantly forgone reaching for the bag before scooting downwards so I could lay my upper body down. I was pleasantly surprised that the spot wasn't as uncomfortable as I previously assumed.

But that just might be because I was beside a cuddle bear...

I let out a breath, turning his way before grinning up at him as he did to me before he fumbled on his spot to get comfortable and draping our cover over the two of us.

"So who's taking the next shift?"

I heard the others begin to discuss whilst finding their own close-by trees to settle against.

It was a more appealing spot to take on since we wouldn't be open to anything from all angles whilst we slept.

"You sure, Taehyung? Alright, then that's settled."

I stretched my neck to peer at the others resuming their discussion. Jin, Joon, Tae and kookie being the ones who sat in a circle beside a particularly thicker tree to decide.

I thought over this a bit before speaking up, catching their attention as they turned my way, "I can take the one after him." I volunteered.

Yoongi seemed to voice his dismay at my willingness, an arm tightening around my mid-riff in objection, but I waved him off with a chuckle. He doesn't want me moving away, which brought me butterflies. "Fine, suit yourself. I'm not letting you go, so do whatever with that." He mumbled under his breath.

I doubt it.

I gave his head a light pat, "Alright fine, go to sleep." I ushered, smiling more widely when he hummed and snuggled close.

Stop smiling you freak.

Seriously.

Though before I could completely settle into slumber mode, I peered at the boys discussing the order of shifts, calling out to them, "How do we know when to switch shifts? We don't have any timers or anything." I wondered.

"Watch the moon. Half-way through its path toward its peak, then from there to when it's right on top, then halfway down, and finally when it sets." Wonho explained.

"But, if any of us feel that we can handle staying up a little longer, we can. Just don't overdo it. We all need all the sleep we can get." Taehyung reminded, Namjoon and kook immediately agreeing alongside Wonho.

"Who's after me?" I asked finally and Namjoon raised his hand up with a small smile. I smiled back and nodded, finally settling beside Yoongi who was on the edge of completely succumbing into sleep.

I fiddled with the hem of the cover and leisurely brought it further up our bodies and tucked it over Yoon's shoulders before closing my eyes.

He was pretty warm and it just made me want to bury closer. The proximity between us was fairly close on its own, with his hands slung over my waist whilst mine was folded and tucked in between us. I dared to move this inconvenient mass (in my opinion) out from between us before inching closer.

I held back my fluster upon getting a good whiff of his natural scent since I was laying closer to the curve of his neck which made me peek and peer at him subtly. Thank goodness he's fallen asleep, otherwise the unintended eye contact would be... embarrassing to say the least. He'd probably wonder why I'm trying to get so close.

But boy, ohhohooo I must say... what a sexy neck—

No, no, Diana. BAD.

I squeezed my eyes shut and discreetly cleared my throat inaudibly.

Thirsty son of a deprived fish-

Okay, let's just focus on sleeping, girl. It's not that hard - You've done this plenty amount of times to pull it off.

Damn, I never imagined a day would come where I'd sleep with one of my favourite rappers.

Okay, let's not phrase it like that... out of context, this would sound super inappropriate.

DIANA GO TO FLIPPING SLEEP.

Okay, okay!!!

"Are you uncomfortable?" I startled at Yoongi's voice, snapping my eyes open to meet his own. I was sure I turned red. I thought he fell asleep...

We were so close, and I don't think I can really handle this much closeness. But at the same time, I want to get even closer.

And can you guess which way I went? I took the latter.

"No, I'm comfy." I mumbled in a whisper, looking away from his face because I can practically feel his breath brush my face. That's just how close we were. He didn't seem convinced, though.

I am comfy, I swear!!! Don't look at me like that, I'm just fangirling ㅠㅠ

"You're moving a lot. If that doesn't speak for itself, then I don't know what will," he mumbled sleepily.

I stiffened when the hand slung over my waist pulled me forward; Making me scoot closer his way, turning me completely onto my side and before I knew it, I had the side of my face smushed against his freaking chest. His other arm snaking beneath my head and making itself into a pillow for my head whilst he adjusted himself to rest his head over mine, effectively tucking me in against him.

IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HELP ME SLEEP DUDE? HOW DO I SLEEP NOW????

I paused for a moment when I felt the beating of his heart. It was beating so fast. Why was his heart beating so fast?? I mean, mine is, too, but I'm pretty sure the reason is entirely different compared to mine.

I adjusted my leg a little and sucked in a breath when our knees touched under the sheets.

Is this his normal heart rate?? Surely not..

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked in a whisper, tentatively bringing my own hand to wrap over his frame before I gently drew imaginary circles over his side, hoping this'll help ease him if he felt uneasy or anything. Though I don't know what would have his heart beating like that other than the thought of knowing we're sleeping in the middle of a forest.

"Yes." He replied shortly after and I nodded against his chest. Wait, I think it sped up more.

With a fretful frown, I pulled away to look at his face, but found nothing that gave away anything to explain why his heart was beating so fast. He slid his eyes open curiously at my movement, wondering what I was doing before sighing and turning to his back, "Go to sleep, Diana. You're gonna have to wake up later, anyway." He mumbled lazily, closing his eyes again.

I shrugged and complied with a muted nod. Resting my head back into its previous spot, though this time by his shoulder, I gave in with a huff.

Whatever, it's not like I won't be wondering about that in my dreams, too.

_____________________________

Weeeee

Yes, Diana can be a "bit" oblivious 💀✨

Hope y'all enjoyed this chapter! This one's a particular favourite of mine just because of the moments included in it hehe ☺️💕

See you next week! 🥰🥰😘❤️💕✨

~ Ada