Three

Chapter Three

Jin POV

I wasn't sure what time it was when I woke up, but I knew that it was late. The cabin was silent except for the faint crackling of the fireplace and the soft breathing of everyone. It was dark and I could see the stars in the night sky outside the windows. The fire had kept the cabin toasty warm, however. I needed a drink of water so I slowly untangled myself from Namjoon and Hobi. Both were still fast asleep and Joon snored lightly. I stretched for a moment and then padded over to the kitchen.

I moved back towards the couches and took a look over everyone for a moment. Namjoon and Hobi remained in the place I had left them; tangled in a pile on the couch. Jungkook and Yoongi slept soundly on their own couch, Yoongi on his stomach while Jungkook used his back as a pillow. I looked over at the remaining couch with Taehyung and Jimin. Tae was out cold on his side facing towards the fire with Jimin curled into a ball against him. He was in between the couch and his body, seemingly totally comfortable in the tight space. I walked around the side of the couch and gently pulled the blanket up over both of them.

"Jin?" Jimin's sleepy voice asked and he pushed himself up slightly to look at me with half closed eyes.

"It's alright, go back to sleep." I reassured him. My voice seemed to calm him, and he nodded slowly. He snuggled back into the blankets with Tae and was asleep again. I carefully got back onto my own couch with Joon and Hobi, pulling the blankets up over my head.

Yoongi POV

"Up and at em!" Namjoons voice yelled out, pulling me from a sound sleep instantly. I groaned and tried to pull the blankets up further, but Jungkook sat up, startled awake. His elbow dug itself into my ribs.

"Kookie, get up!" I grumbled and shoved him off. Confused and sleepy, he fell off the couch entirely, dragging the blankets with him. Because my foot was also entangled in the blanket, I landed on top of him with a thunk. His breath wooshed out and he groaned, trying to push me off. I finally opened my eyes and squinted against the bright morning sunshine gleaming through every window. Jin and Namjoon were already up and dressed, Jin was making breakfast it looked like in the kitchen. Jimin and V were just as surprised and half asleep as we were. Hobi was in between, getting his pants on and struggling to find his shirt.

I got to my feet finally and wandered towards the kitchen, taking a seat at the large countertop table splitting the living room and kitchen. One by one, the rest of everyone joined me. Jimin rubbed one eye as he sat down next to me, Jungkook stood behind Jin and watched him cook over his shoulder.

"I want to go explore the area a little bit today." Joon said as he handed everyone plates of food. It smelled amazing and my stomach growled. "Nothing too crazy, just like a drive around."

"How long?" I asked in between bites.

"Maybe a couple hours, if that." He said and Jin finally sat down with his own food. We ate quickly, having slept for over 18 hours, we were all pretty hungry when we woke up. It had been an amazing 18 hours though, and I hadn't woken up once throughout it.

"Alright, get your coats on, we're heading out!" Namjoon got up excitedly and brought his dishes to the sink to wash them.

Half an hour later and we were all crammed back into the van. Joon was driving this time though and Tae had taken the front seat. Jin sat next to me and looked out the window. Jimin and Jungkook were quiet as they watched the beautiful landscape pass by. Snow, ice, dead leaves, and tall pine trees as far as you could see. We were driving pretty far from our cabin. Joon wanted to find a trailhead on his map for tomorrow's hike. I just wanted to go back to the cabin and play around on my computer, maybe write a few more pieces to my music. Tae wanted to play video games with Jimin, Hobi and Jungkook wanted to relax by the fire and play on their phones. Namjoon just wanted to hike and explore. I don't know where he got this energy from. This trip was supposed to be relaxing and energy restoring.

I had to admit that the area was very pretty. The sky was clear and bright blue, the trees and surrounding rocks and plants blended together to form a painting, and the birds singing gave the place a calming feel. The air was crisp and cold and smelled of dead leaves and snow. I was glad to have my coat and earmuffs. My phone's weather app showed it was already 44 degrees out. We had parked about an hour from the cabin, deep in the forest. RM's map showed a series of trails spider webbing their way across the landscape.

"Can we at least find the frozen lake?" He asked Jin as we piled out of the van. Jin sighed deeply, his breath forming a steamy cloud in front of him. He took the map from Joonie and started walking. I couldn't help but roll my eyes. This was only supposed to be a trail we would find, and then leave. Not hiking today and tomorrow. But one by one we all filed into a line and followed Jin into the trees.

"There's so many noises here." Jungkook whispered to me, grabbing my arm excitedly. I nodded and listened too. Birds sang, insects buzzed, critters scampered through the brush, and a far away elk was crying. A few minutes in, and Tae froze, with his hand pointed up into the side of a small hill. I nearly ran into him, but followed his gaze. Sitting on the side of the hill was a tiny log cabin. It looked deserted, however, and its door was barely on its hinges. The windows were cracked and missing glass, and the chimney was leaned to one side.

"Probably one of those old hiker cabins." Jimin piped up. "They are a safe shelter for hikers who go out for extended periods of time."

"This one probably hasn't seen hikers in a long time." Tae breathed. He continued to follow Jin, who had kept going while we stopped. The frozen lake wasn't too far off now. A few more minutes and Namjoon was quickly scrambling down the side of the trail towards it. It was a fairly large lake, nearly the size of a football field. It was thick ice along the sides and all the way across. Hobi picked up a rock and hurled it out over the ice, it cracked and skidded along its surface. The crack made a sharp, echoing noise that we all froze and awed at.

"Do you think we could ever ice skate over it?" Jimin asked. I looked over at him. His face was red from the cold.

"Maybe, though I don't want to try it now. Let's go back, it's freezing." Jin said and turned to go back up the trail. I trotted after him. I really was freezing, but I guess hiking for real tomorrow would help warm us up. We got back to the van and Jin quickly turned on the air conditioning. I pulled off my earmuffs and breathed a sigh of relief as the warm air blew in. I leaned back against my seat and closed my eyes for a moment.