He started by clearing his throat and spoke with his sweet voice, the one that you hear when your parents are talking to you on the phone –

“Hello ~ it’s me. I was wondering if after all these years you'd like to meet..” He sang up to that part like a weirdo in front of the camera and suddenly felt shy alone because of what he did. It made me laugh.

“919 is sleeping. I don’t want to wake her up since I hate it the most when someone wakes me up when I am sleeping like this.” He stopped to direct the camera on my peaceful sleeping face. I felt embarrassed. It was a good thing that I wasn’t drooling.

“Minwooyah – she looks kind right? Dongwan kept on telling me not to act weird when I am not with you guys but I can’t help it. I thought she will kick me like Hyesungie when I grabbed her hand earlier. It was a good thing that she changed her mind. Jinnie, go to my house after this camp and teach me how to interact with her confidently. Ohh, I think I should invite Andya as well to give me lessons how to treat her properly. Kids, I miss you and thank you for always being there for me even if I am lacking. Thank you for pranking me about an MT for us. I went here with a blank and innocent mind. You did a great job, I totally thought that you will show up. If it wasn’t for you, I will not meet her. Gomdori ~ I miss you!!! Chuuuuu ” and his mini video message for his friends ended with an adorable kiss on the camera screen.

So – he has friends.

I suddenly felt sad for myself. As I went here, I never thought of anyone who could have been thinking of me while I am here. I cannot also think of anyone close enough to me for me to send a video message like this. It made me realize that I am investing my time on worthless things.

My body gave up on its own. It was a cold night to be alone. I lay on my back motionless and just let go of everything that I have in my mind. Whatever happens tomorrow is the result of my own flaws. I will accept it unconditionally since I am at fault that I didn’t give my best while I was with him. I missed the opportunity and this is my obvious penalty. My eyes closed as I let out my last deep sigh. This is the kind of conclusion that I will make sure not to happen again in the future.

The siren woke me up. It was by far the most effective alarm clock that I have encountered. I was jumpy and still on shock because of it. It was like the kind of sound that you hear when there is fire. Or is there fire? OMG! I tried to sniff and check if I can smell something burning – but there is none. The stillness made me paranoid at some point.

I was about to scream at the top of my lungs when the facilitator started to speak on the microphone.

“Ladies, we hope you are all up by now. The gentlemen will be entering the oval once you hear the music starts. The song that will be played was picked from the entries that we received from your partners last night. It was the first song that comes in to their mind when they think of you. Now – for our lucky guy – ” her speech paused and  was replaced by an audio of humming drums as we hear a rolling rollet  on background.

“WOW! The song that was randomly picked was from Mr. 216! Whoever is the lady to whom this song is dedicated to, please hear this song devoted to you.” The MC turned off the microphone and as the gates started to open, the song started to play from all the speakers located at every corner of the camping area.

Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran – I can’t be mistaken. I started to lose my grip. It was my favourite song. It was what I wanted to play on the mp3 while we were on the bus but wasn’t able to find it on the list. It was the song that I’ve always listened to at home until everyone around me got sick of it. We might have been related in our past life.

I can faintly hear people walking around from the side of my tent. This is the moment of truth. I can’t believe everything will end today just like this. I think I should just be thankful that I met him. I will try my best to find out more about him after this retreat – I think knowing his real name would mean a lot to me already.

While my mind is starting to buzz with lots of probabilities, the song ended with its last words – “we found love right where we are”. This kind of timing is seriously making me more restless. The shriek of the whistle started to occupy the quietness and it was a clear signal to reveal the most dramatic part of this camp.

The zipper of my tent started to split slowly. I closed my eyes and tried to hush my useless request for it to be Mr. 216. It seems like the other person opening it from the other side was also nervous about his guess. It was like the longest 10 seconds of my life when he surprisingly ripped it open half way – my old friend greeted me with a smile.

As my eyes widened with shock as I stared at him with teary eyes. I held my chest as I feel that painful happiness that my heart is causing. It was beating so hard that my ribs might have fractures. The oxygen around me seems to be not enough. He found me.

“It’s Nice to see you again 919. I miss you.” He said with his deep husky ‘I just woke up’ voice.

Mr. 216 barged in my tent without any warning and gave me a tight warm hug on of my coldest morning. He pressed me hard against his chest like a teddy bear being embraced by a kid who fell in love with it for the first time.

to be continued..