𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 | 𝐞𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐣𝐚𝐲

2: dawn

"𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠."

~🌙~

I pedalled faster as the wind caught my hair and the breeze rustled my loose white t-shirt. My bike carried me further down the road and I turned onto a rocky footpath. I instantly felt the change under my tires and firmed my grip on the handles to steady myself from falling. Turning up the gears with my left hand, the pedals became harder and I pushed my feet to get me back up to speed. Soon I was flying through the greenery. Trees, plants, dirt pathways. I rode my bike through the forest. Each plant swayed as I passed it. 

Eventually, I met a clearing with a few dark haired boys sat in a distant circle. I smiled at the sight of them. My extended family, who I hung out with every chance that I could, were gathered in our favourite spot. I couldn't say that it was ours for sure since it was easy for anyone to find, but we liked thinking we had claimed it. It was our getaway from the busy world.

They all stood once they saw me, waving their hands like I needed guiding to where they were. I cycled towards them, clamping my hand around the brakes to bring my bike to a stop. I must have braked too hard as my bike jolted forward with a tough screech. I panicked from the loss of control and fell sideways off of the seat. The bike landed with a thud ontop of me making me yelp and laugh in shame. The guys all looked at me with amusement, but stifled their laughs whilst walking towards me. 

"Hello," I greeted casually.

"Getting the hang of it?" Heeseung teased as he pulled the bike off of my legs. Sunghoon came behind me to help me up and I thanked him.

"I think so? Dirt paths and grass are a bit harder to cycle on," I replied with an embarrassed chuckle.

"Still can't believe you waited until now to learn how to ride a bike," Sunghoon said and I smacked him on the arm. 

"I will live my life how I want, thank you very much." 

I sat down on the grass, stretching my limbs out. Taking a breath, I let myself lie down staring up at the sky. Did I mention it was 5:30 am? Yes. They really woke me up at this time to come sit outside. However, it was worth it. Dawn was a lovely sight in this clearing. All the colours of a sunrise were visible and for us, it was the best way to start the day. 

I continued to stare at the slowly moving clouds and gazed at the hues of blue and pink in the sky. It was calm. The sound of the maknaes laughing with each other filled my ear, slightly disturbing my relaxation. 

"Ni-ki, you're actually crazy," Sunoo rolled his eyes with laughter. I sat up abruptly to see our youngest prancing around the grass like a lunatic. It was a strange sight but I couldn't help but laugh at his antics. 

"Any more of that and you're going to hurt yourself," Jungwon warned cautiously.

"I don't think he'd care even if he did," I chuckled. Ni-ki continued running about, throwing his body around in different ways. Eventually, he wanted us to join him and I sighed.

"Jay hyung! Get up here~," Ni-ki called to me. I slumped in a huff. 

"It's too early for me to be doing these things!" 

"It's always too early for you," Jake joked. 

"So?"

I closed my eyes as I laid back down. Maybe if I acted asleep they'll leave me be. For a second I thought they had. There was a brief silence. It was so quiet I could hear a distant whistle in the wind. I was at peace for a short second, which was then disturbed by my body being hoisted in the air. 

"Yah!" 

Sunghoon and Jake had grabbed hold of my arms and legs, lifting me like a heavy box. My body was being carried over to where they were running around, very clumsily with my ass dragging across the ground. 

"If you're going to lift me at least do it properly," I scolded as I gave in to being a human puppet. 

"Not our fault you're heavy," Sunghoon struggled with his words. I looked up to see the evident struggle in his face; his veins bulging from carrying me. 

"Put me down before you pull something," 

"Okay," the said in sync before dropping me. 

"Oh, you're so on!" I warned. I got up from where I was rudely dumped and sprinted towards the chortling boys. Sunghoon and Jake both ran away from me as I chased them whilst the others were in fits of laughter. Me being me, I caught up to them fairly quickly, tagging them as I passed.

"You're it!" I called and Jake gave me a puzzled look. I stopped to smirk at him playfully before making it in the opposite direction. The others then got the cue and a full blown game of tag came about. 

All this energy at dawn. Too much.