14 chapters (including the epilogue) left.

Chapter 34

SMTown Retreat Day 1:

The sound of the whistle being blown was heard, signalling that the team should gather up and be alert.

Leeteuk raised his hand, "Did you all rest well, everyone?~"

They answered a "yes" and nodded.

"For today's activities: Archery, 100 meter dash, and obstacle race. Archery and 100 meter dash will happen in the morning. After that, we'll have our lunch break. Then, obstacle race. At 6 pm, we'll build a campfire and be with whoever we want to be. At 7, SMTown confession night. Then, we'll have our dinner and go back to the hotel." Leeteuk said.

"Hyung, who will be our players for today?" Chanyeol asked.

"According to the instructions, there will be three players for each game." Leeteuk said.

"For archery, Haejin, Chenle and Sowon. For 100 meter dash, Chanyeol, Taeyong and Haneul. For obstacle race, Wendy, Key and Tiffany. For those who will not play today, you can cheer for our group mates. Rest assured that you will be participating in the next days of the retreat." He explains.

Haejin bent down and reached her toes, as if she will be running a mile. She bent one knee and stretched the other as she raised her hands up high.

"Woah, you're taking the games seriously." Chenle teased.

Haejin rolled her eyes, "Well of course, I will take this seriously. I would like to show everyone that I am not weak and that I can do this." She said, burning with determination.

Chenle shrugged, "Alright, alright." He then stretched with Haejin.

"Love." An all-familiar, but soothing voice startled Haejin.

"Oh hey." She greeted with a smile on her face.

"Did you sleep well last night?" He asked.

Chenle rolled his eyes, "Hyung, oh my god it's still early in the morning. Spare me."

He laughed, "What did I do, Chenle?"

Chenle scoffed, "Whatever."

Jaemin handed her a bottle of water, "Here."

"Thanks." She smiled.

"I have to go now, good luck!" He said, kissing her on her cheek, rushing back to their area.

"I swear to God, you guys have to announce your relationship soon." Chenle said, Haejin just smiled.

****

"Win or lose, it's fine as long as we did our best and had fun, okay?" Leeteuk said.

"TEAM A!"

The games started with an opening prayer, and their national anthem. After that, the players for archery lined up.

Each team has a target board, the three players lined up 5 meters away from it.

For team A, first player will be Sowon, then Chenle, then Haejin.

For team B, Onew, D.O., and Renjun.

For team C, Sehun, Yeri and Mark.

For team D, Suho, Jeno and Soeun.

For team E, Baekhyun, Irene and Jaemin.

For team F, Eunhyuk, Jaehyun and Jisung.

"Mark!" Haejin called.

Mark turned his head towards Haejin, "Wae?"

"You'll play? For real? I thought you hated archery?" She asked.

Mark rolled his eyes, "What do you think? Do I have a choice? Do you expect me to leave the final spot to Sohyun?" He said.

Haejin raised a brow, "Wow, is this saltiness I hear? Why are you like this all of a sudden?" She asked.

Mark sighed, "I honestly don't know why I'm cranky. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed, maybe?" He shrugged, sighing.

"How many sighs have you done today? Seriously, oppa you have to pull yourself together." She said, patting his back.

"Tch, my team don't stand a chance against yours."

"Oppa! Why are you like that? That's not how a leader should act!" Haejin said, pushing Mark's shoulder. She sighed, "I don't know what the hell happened but you're not usually like this— no, you're not like this. You're not the Mark Lee I know." She said, leaving her brother alone.

She rubbed her temple, as she went back to her team.

"What happened back there?" Chenle asked.

Haejin shrugged, "I don't know.. Mark not being Mark."

"Did you ask him?"

Haejin shook her head, "No. How the hell could I ask him if he can't even answer me without snapping. What the heck."

Chenle sighed, "Let's just leave him alone for a while."

The game started.

Sowon scored 43 and Chenle scored 32.

It's Haejin's turn. Since it's the actual tournament, she should wear the gears properly or else, a deduction to their total score.

She aimed for the middle as she closed an eye. Bull's eye.

She scored a perfect 60.

Her teammates cheered for her, but she couldn't care less, since her attention was on her brother, who was not being himself.

Team B's highest score was 52.

Sehun scored 43 and Yeri scored 42.

It's Mark's turn. And Haejin couldn't bear watching her own brother playing archery.

It's not that she doesn't trust his brother's skills. She knows he can do it. And he did, scoring 48.

****

"Jaemin-ah, could you please talk to oppa?" Haejin asked Jaemin during their break time.

Haejin's team is currently leading, with a total score of 102. Followed by team E with a score of 93, and team C with a score of 86.

"What happened?" He asked.

Haejin shrugged, "I don't know, he's. ot being Mark Lee."

"Well according to Johnny-hyung, he's having a hard time in leading his team since he's one of the youngest members, and yet he's the leader." Jaemin said.

Haejin sighed, "But he's good at leading, he's even NCT Dream's leader!"

"I know, I know... but imagine leading a team with a lot of older members."

"True though."

"Look, it's Mark-hyung!" Jaemin said, pointing Mark using his lips.

Haejin looked at her back and called her brother, "Mark-oppa!"

Mark looked at her and went to their direction.

"Hi Haejin-ah.." He said weakly, sitting beside her.

"Oppa, are you okay now?" She asked.

Mark slowly nodded, "A bit... I'm sorry about earlier... I'm sorry if I sounded harsh towards you.. I didn't mean to snap at you like that."

She smiled and patted his back, "I understand, oppa. But please tell me everything, okay?"

He nodded, "Okay." He smiled.

****

"It's already Jisung's birthday tomorrow. Are we all set?" Jaemin asked.

"Of course." She answered.

He sighed, "Alright. Did you have fun?"

"Mhm! What about you?"

"I did too."

"Congrats to your team, by the way. You guys are on the lead. As wxpecred from Chanyeol-hyung, Leeteuk-hyung, and your awesome strategy." Jaemin said, laughing.

She smiled, "Congrats to you too, Love. You did well today!"

He smiled ruffling her hair, "You should sleep now. Good night, I love you." He hugged her.

"I love you too." She hugged back.

Once she entered the room, she saw her room mates looking at her weirdly, as if she did something weird.

"What's with those looks?" She asked.

"We saw everything~" Taeyeon chimed.

Haejin shook her head while laughing, "I did not do anything. Plus, how did you see us? The door was closed!"

"We heard everything, Haejin-ah!" Sohyun laughed.

"Fine, fine. Whatever. Wait, Sowon-unnie is already asleep?" She asked when she saw Sowon's sleeping form.

"Yeah, she was really tired. She was literally sleeping while we're on the way back here." Sohyun said.

"I see.. I'll go sleep now too." She said.

"Good night, everyone!"

"Good night!"

____
What's your favorite track from NCT 127's "Regular-Irregular" album?

Mine's "나의 모든 순간 No Longer"