Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 6,088

Note: 3/12 of my first summer one shot series.

The third member is none other than Kyungsoo! I love writing tsundere Kyungsoo, and a lot of his character was based on the image from his Growl pictures (as shown above). Many of the events in this scenario are true and based on actual events. ^^

~~

A stream of steady chatter and the low revving of an engine drifts over the crowd of students gathered around the towering buses. You rock back and forth, from the balls of your feet to your heels, occasionally craning your neck over the groups of giggling girls and rowdy boys to catch sight of Chanyeol.

You see girls flirting with the poor exchange student, Luhan, and some of the guys attempting to wrestle each other to the weathered concrete ground, but there's no sight of your tall, spindly friend.

And it's surprising, how easily the excitement of an overnight school trip and the thought that Chanyeol could be chasing after the bus if he doesn't make it within a few minutes is flushed to sudden annoyance when a bitter voice asks, "Do you even have a bus partner?"

Your head turns instinctively, and bright red anger flushes your cheeks when you recognize the prominent figure beside you as Kyungsoo.

Class president and goody two shoes Do Kyungsoo.

Even when the entire senior class is departing for an overnight trip, he's styled his chestnut locks to the side with a fair bit of gel and he doesn't let his expression loosen from its unfriendly, condescending glare and pursed lips. He's dressed in ironed jeans and an immaculate red and black checkerboard shirt, and you wonder how he's going to deal with the sweltering heat of summer with the red hoodie he's wearing. The converse on his feet are new and his round spectacles are polished, and you scoff because Do Kyungsoo is one spoiled jerk.

You don't respond to Kyungsoo but simply fume at his unpleasant figure, to which he raises an eyebrow and repeats, "I said, 'Do you even have a bus partner?'"

You can't believe he even has the nerve to look down on you, let alone speak to you after all he's done. "Yes, in fact, I have a bus partner," you snap. "I'm not the stupid, antisocial loner you think I am."

You're immediately relieved when a deep voice booms your name and jostles through the sea of students to reach you. "I'm here," Chanyeol pants, dragging along his bright red suitcase.

"You were almost late," you scold the lanky male. "What would I do without my bus partner?"

You crack a smile at Chanyeol, but Kyungsoo's quick to wipe it off when he announces, "You know, I hate to break it to you, but we're taking two buses. And the teacher's assigning us to one or the other, which means the two of you may not even be on the same bus."

You want to yell at Kyungsoo to shut up, but Chanyeol's hand on your shoulder and your teacher's shrill voice is enough to stop you.

"Alright," the teacher calls, "please board the first bus when I call your name."

Students murmur and face each other with apprehension.

"Park Chanyeol."

Chanyeol flashes you a reassuring smile, before stepping onto the bus and lugging his suitcase behind him.

More names are called, and with each name that rings in your ears, you swallow the stream of trepidation in your throat down to your stomach and dig your teeth into the soft flesh of your lips.

“Lastly,” your teacher shouts, “Zhang Yixing.”

A heavy sigh falls past your lips as your eyes follow the dark-haired male’s steps toward the bus. Your lips contort into a pout at the thought that you would be without your bus partner and stuck on the same bus as Do Kyungsoo. You feel Kyungsoo’s chocolate gaze bore into you, and your eyes immediately scans over the crowd to find Baekhyun or Jongdae.

“The rest of you will be on the second bus,” your teacher announces, before disappearing as she slips onto the first bus.

Students jostle and elbow each other in the ribs to charge onto the bus and get the best seats. An indifferent expression with your eyes gazing pathetically at the ground mars the contours of your face as students push you aside. Broad shoulders prod you and push you to the back of the crowd, and the dull pain of a weighty suitcase slamming against your leg makes you wince in pain.

You aren’t exactly the most assertive person.

“Are you stupid?” Kyungsoo’s voice asks. “Why do you let people step all over you?”

Your lips press into a frown and a menacing flame sparks in your eyes. Frustration burns your cheeks and clenches your fingers angrily around the handle of your bag because Kyungsoo has to endlessly remind you how you will never be as perfect as him.

You lug your bag up the steep climb of stairs and into the bus, and your eyes immediately scan over the pairs of students to find an empty seat. Your vision settles upon Jongdae, who had promised to be your bus partner if Chanyeol managed not to show up, but a grimace mars your countenance when you see Baekhyun seated next to Jongdae.

“Sorry,” Jongdae mouths, his eyebrows furrowed and hands brought together in a pout.

A sigh falls past your lips when the only empty seats are the two clustered behind the driver, because the seat right behind the driver is always reserved for the class president.

"Why are you just standing there?" Kyungsoo queries behind you.

You grumble incoherently, as your fingers grip tightly around your suitcase. Your face grows red and your knuckles turn white when you attempt to lift your suitcase into the overhead luggage racks. Hushed chuckles resonate when your bag falls to the floor once more.

Your hair hangs over your eyes, and your cheeks flush a scarlet red.

"Why can't you do anything?" Kyungsoo grumbles exasperatedly, before grabbing your suitcase and sliding it swiftly overhead with ease.

Students cheer and make hearts at you Kyungsoo, as you slide into the seat beside the window. You feel him take the seat beside and gaze at you with curious eyes, as if there's something he wants to tell you, but you ignore him anyway.

Your vision settles over the film of trees and buildings blurring by, until a backdrop of clear blue skies and looming mountains slides into view. Silence settles beside you, and you presume that Kyungsoo's fallen asleep.

How you hate Do Kyungsoo.

~~

Silence rings in your ears as the revving of the bus engine slowly diminishes. Your eyelids pull apart, and you blink a few times to chase away the bleariness plaguing your vision. Students spill out of their seats and file into the narrow hallway of the bus, loud thumps resonating against the floor as bags are pulled out from overhead.

As you shift your weight from against the window and to your two feet, you hear Kyungsoo ask, "Need help with your bag?"

You shoot a glare at the male beside you, hair slightly tousled and plush lips pursed. "I can do it myself," you snap.

You whip your head away from Kyungsoo, hauling your suitcase from the luggage rack overhead and clumsily lumbering off of the bus. Your sneakers grip onto rocky ground, and the sharp scent of pine needles fills your mind with images of sunlight filtering through the limbs of lofty trees. Your eyes scan over the sharp green of the towering pines looming over you and lightly brush over the rusty brown of the concealed mountaintop.

The soft melody of birds chirping is interrupted when your teacher yells, “Students, gather around!”

Soft leaves crunch under your feet as you step towards your teacher. Your attention diverts when the students beside you part for a lofty figure to slide between the crowd. A smile crawls up the contours of your face when you see Chanyeol standing beside you. He lowers his head to your ear and whispers a bit too loudly, “I think we’re getting split into groups. You think we have a chance?”

“If our teacher is evil enough to separate a pair of best friends,” you murmur back, “then she’s worse than the devil.”

His eyes crease as he lets out muffled chuckles.

“I’ll be splitting you into four groups,” she shouts over the students. “When I call your name, please come to the front. You will receive a nametag with your name and group number written on it. Each group will have a camp counselor. Stand with your group, and once we have split everyone up, we’ll be taking you to lunch. Do not lose these.”

“First group,” your teacher announces, stabbing a finger in the direction of a man wearing a pine green shirt, “your counselor is over there. Please stand beside him when you receive your name tag.”

You can almost hear the students draw in sharp breaths and glance at each other anxiously, friends gripping onto each others’ arms and praying silently.

“Kim Jongin,” your teacher lists, “Huang Zitao.”

Another twenty students are called and drawn from the crowd, and you and Chanyeol share nervous glances when you see friends sighing heavily and exchanging pouts from a distance. The second group is called, and as the crowd diminishes into a few interspersed pairs of friends, you tap your foot anxiously against the ground because neither of you have been called yet.

“Third group,” your teacher shouts. “Byun Baekhyun, Kim Jongdae.”

The two males high-five each other and bound off with smiles plastered across their faces.

“Park Chanyeol.”

The three males shout noisily and slap each other on the back, and you bite your lip and cross your fingers.

How could you not be in a group with your three best friends?

“Last but not least,” your teacher sighs, “Seo Jinyoung.”

Your lips crack open and your jaw hangs ajar. Your vision slowly travels to Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae, who gaze at you with equally baffled and disappointed expressions.

“The rest of you will be in a group,” your teacher coughs, before stepping away to speak to a paunch man.

You turn slowly, observing the students to see if there’s anyone you know.

You see Yixing, your biology partner.

Luhan, the exchange student.

And Do Kyungsoo.

The male walks around with his round-framed glasses propped atop his nose, passing around the nametags. When he approaches you, you blurt, “Are you in this group?”

“Why does it matter to you?” he asks, ing the lanyard into your fingers abruptly and not looking up once to meet your eyes. His eyes flicker to your angry gaze, and he answers indifferently, “I’m in this group. So what?”

Your lips part to tell Kyungsoo how frustrating it is for him to linger around you, but they purse once more when your counselor- a lanky man with a toothy grin and creased eyes- announces, “Follow me to your cabins!”

The trek to your cabin is a long one, and hauling your suitcase up a steep and crooked stairway cut out of jagged rocks proves to be difficult. The cabin itself is a string of cramped, wooden rooms smelling of insect repellant, with bunk beds lined against the wall. After overhearing a few of the girls complain that the boys have better cabins, your counselor calls for your group once more and leads you to lunch.

Worn wooden tables are strewn over a blanket of withered leaves, and students are already waiting in a line alongside long tables with trays of steaming food. Chanyeol waves at you from the line, holding a paper plate between his calloused fingers.

"I saved a place in line for you," he exclaims, shoving the plate into your hands and scooping a spoonful of roasted potatoes onto it. The line drags forward slowly, and Chanyeol continues serving you with seemingly unappetizing foods.

“You’re so lucky,” you sigh. “You, Baekhyun, and Jongdae all got in the same group somehow. I have to be in the same group as Kyungsoo.”

“We can always sit together when eating,” Chanyeol beams, and you feel a smile playing on your lips when he flashes you a toothy grin.

You’re walking to the table where Baekhyun and Jongdae are sitting, their arms protectively over their plates as they swat away the bees buzzing around them, until you hear Kyungsoo say, “You can’t sit with Chanyeol.”

You whirl around on your heels, facing the male. “Since when have you had the right to tell me who I can and can’t sit with?”

“We’re supposed to sit with our groups, and I don’t ever recall you and Chanyeol being in the same group.”

Your eyes scan over the students, and you realize- Kyungsoo’s right.

Your cheeks flush a scarlet red in embarrassment, and your feet shuffle toward an empty table. After sitting down, however, you notice how the other members of your group sit at the table beside you, leaving Kyungsoo to sit across from you. And as much as you’d like to join the others, they’ve left no room for you.

Your fists angrily curl into balls when Kyungsoo slides into the seat across from you.

You hear your classmates sitting at the table beside you, snickering and pointing at you and Kyungsoo. You already hear the whispers of you and Kyungsoo being a secret couple, and you glare angrily at the male across from you.

Kyungsoo looks up from his plate of food and with cheeks stuffed with potatoes, asks, “What?”

You drop your fork, letting the flimsy plastic clatter against the worn wood.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he says irritably. “I had no other choice but to sit here if that’s what you’re so unnecessarily angry about.”

Your hands fall into your lap, and you realize once more how much you hate Do Kyungsoo.

Bees begin swarming around the food on your place, but you were never hungry to begin with.

~~

You’re not quite sure why Kyungsoo hates your guts.

Perhaps it’s the grudge he holds from your first meeting.

It had been a couple years ago, and you remember quite well. You were new to the school, and being an introvert, you were thankful to Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Chanyeol for approaching you first.

“Let me show you around,” Chanyeol exclaimed. “This way!”

With your oversized backpack slung unsteadily over your shoulders, you remember scurrying through the halls to keep up with Chanyeol. However, you must’ve been holding your head down, or perhaps you simply weren’t just looking forward, for you remember colliding with another student.

A loud thump was heard as the two of you fell to the ground, and the rustle of papers followed soon after, as books and heavy packets were strewn across the floor. A red blush danced across your cheeks as you brushed the tendrils of hair out of your eyes. You heard a loud groan, and your lips cracked open in dread when you saw a male student on the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” you stuttered, gathering the papers into your arms.

“Watch where you’re going,” the male spat.

A loud voice booms your name, and you heard the sound of sneakers squeaking against polished floors, followed by Chanyeol jostling through the crowd and hovering over you. “Are you okay?” he asked. And you remember the same expression of dread reflecting over his countenance when he glanced toward the male across from you.

The male pushed himself onto his feet, and he snatched the papers from your hands, glaring at you with a condescending glower. With flushed cheeks and your head lowered in guilt, you observed as the male squinted at the ground, narrowing his eyes and scanning them over the floor.

“Where are my glasses?” he grumbled.

Chanyeol had found the flimsy metal frame with a shattered lens resting beside the peeling lockers and handed it to the male. You remember digging your teeth into the pink flesh of your lips when the male was handed the broken spectacles and let out a heavy sigh.

You tilted your head up, and for the first time, you had seen the face of Do Kyungsoo.

Furrowed brows, chocolate eyes, and plush lips knotted together in an angry glower, and the male would have been quite attractive if he wasn’t fuming at you.

“Are you blind?” the male spat. “Why can’t you be more careful?”

Tense silence hung over the hallways as the male brushed past your cowering figure and strided through the sea of students.

“You okay?” Chanyeol asked, placing a consoling hand on your back.

“Yeah,” you muttered.

“Don’t worry about him,” he whispered. “That’s Do Kyungsoo. He’s the class president, and he treats everyone like that.”

And it was from that point on that Kyungsoo hated your guts.

Stopping you in the hallways when the other male students were picking on you to ask you why you’re so pathetic and can’t even stand up for yourself. Hovering over your desk in the classrooms and scolding only you in front of the others when you can’t solve simple math problems. Pointing out your every flaw and never missing a moment to embarrass you in front of the other students by letting you know how imperfect you are compared to him.

“Alright,” your counselor announces. The students gaze at him absentmindedly as he holds up what seems be a long net, a bucket, and a piece of paper. “For the next hour and a half, all of you will be getting a chance to learn about the organisms that live in our lake. You’re each going to need a partner. Once you pair up, I’ll give each team a net, a bucket, and this paper to help you identify the things you find. Be back here,” he says, scanning his arm over the wooden building behind him, “in exactly one hour and thirty minutes.”

Immediately, you crane your neck over the students to find Yixing, only for your heart to plummet to your feet and your lip to stick out in a pout when you see that he and Luhan are already partnered up. Your stomach coils into a knot when you see that almost all the students are paired up.

Except for one.

“Just my luck,” you grumble, when Kyungsoo approaches you with a net gripped tightly in his hands.

“Let’s go,” Kyungsoo says, ing the pole into your hands and glancing over the water. “I know a good location where there aren’t going to be many people.”

“Who said we’re partners?” you glower at the male.

“Everyone else has a partner, and you’re standing around doing nothing which means you probably don’t have one,” he says, “which means we’re partners by default.”

“Has it ever occurred to you why no one wants to be partners with you?” you ask the male.

His eyes turn to you with a sense of indifference, and he simply responds with, “Why don’t you ever have a partner, either? If Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae aren’t around, then you’re always alone.”

His words strike you like a wave crashing over your body, leaving you speechless and stunned. You feel your lungs constrict and an odd pain in your heart.

“Let’s go,” he says, and you simply follow.

A mysterious blue and green laps at the rocks before you, fracturing sunlight into glimmering shards. The lake reflects the towering pines and cloudless sky into a rippling, watercolor portrait, and you find yourself oddly admiring the beautiful scene before you. You place a foot carefully at the ledge of the lake, just so the tip of your sneaker prods at the reeds sprouting from the water and rests over the overlap of rocky ground and murky water. With the pole gripped tightly in your hands, you reach the net over the sprouting reeds and into the water.

Although you've been at it for the past twenty minutes, you haven't able to fish anything out of the murky water, save a few strands of leaves and a few bugs. And you think, perhaps you haven't been reaching out far enough.

You lean dangerously close to the water, until you feel a soft crunch and rock crumbling under your feet. You’re expecting to fall into crisp blue water, until you hear a sonorous voice shout your name and a pair of arms wrap around your waist. You’re pulled away from the water with a sharp tug, and the net clatters against the rocky ground. Calloused fingers grasp your arms and whirl you around so that you’re facing stern chocolate eyes.

“Are you crazy?” Kyungsoo scolds. “Were you trying to find tadpoles in the lake or trying to get yourself drowned?”

An angry red dances across your cheeks once more, and you push Kyungsoo away from you. “I didn’t need your help,” you tell him.

“You were just going to let yourself fall in there?” he asks, stabbing a finger at the water.

“Yes,” you shout back, “I was. I don’t need you always watching over me like I’m some little girl who can’t take care of herself!”

You puff a breath at the hair that hangs over your eyes, but Kyungsoo’s stern gaze never falters.

He turns his back towards to you, before lifelessly droning, “I found a good location around the lake. It's not that far from here.”

As his stern figure marches away from you, your eyes descend from his strict shoulders and down the prints that trail behind him. You narrow your eyes at Kyungsoo’s feet, and you see that his immaculate white sneakers are splotched with dark mud and sloshing with water.

Do Kyungsoo ruined his sneakers and stepped into a puddle of sludge just to save you from falling?

“So, what did you guys do this afternoon?” Chanyeol asks. Once again, he thoughtfully hands you a plate and chuckles softly at the pout on your face when he serves you a spoonful of what you think is mushy peas.

“We had to look for and identify organisms inhabiting the lake,” you roll your eyes.

“We did that too,” Chanyeol beams. “Our counselor let the three of us be in a group, and Jongdae and I were laughing for about ten minutes when we caught a few tadpoles and Baekhyun ran away screaming because he thought they were a bunch of leeches.”

“I was paired up with Kyungsoo,” you grumble, “again.”

“I swear, Kyungsoo has a thing for you,” Chanyeol whispers.

“The day Kyungsoo likes me is going to be the day Jongdae thinks that he’s ugly,” you tell Chanyeol, “which means, never.”

“Why else would he always hover around you like some creep?”

“He hates my guts and he loves proving how stupid I am compared to him,” you sigh. “And as class president, he has to watch over me because I’m so clumsy I can’t even stand on my own two feet without falling into a lake.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m an idiot and I almost fell into the lake, today. But Mr. Goody Two-Shoes Kyungsoo was there to save me like the heroic class president he is,” you grumble. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at you because he knows you’re only sarcastic when you’re upset.

“That just proves Kyungsoo likes you,” he says. “If he really hated your guts, he would let you fall into the lake and laugh as he watches you try to get mud out of your hair.”

“Wow, that makes me feel so much better.”

“People are always really mean to the person they like, you know that?”

But Do Kyungsoo has always been an exception.

~~

“Someone’s looking good this morning,” Jongdae teases, and you let out a heavy sigh as you bound down the uneven stairs of rocks leading from the cabins.

You squint through the glaring sunlight filtering between the towering boughs and speckling the ground with spots of light, incessantly running your hand over your hair to keep it down.

“My hair is the most annoying thing in the world,” you sigh, following Jongdae as he walks to the outdoor eating area.

“What are you guys doing today?” Jongdae asks.

“Apparently, we’re going to do activities in the field,” you tell Jongdae, “and learn teamwork skills.”

“With Kyungsoo on your team?” Jongdae laughs.

“Yeah,” you grumble.

“Good luck,” Jongdae exclaims.

“I’m going to need it,” you sigh.

Students rest their bodies against the soft blanket of grass and loll their heads to sleep under the warmth of the sun. Your counselor shouts something about a game of tug-of-war, resulting in groaning students to lumber from their flumped positions in the grass.

"Split into two teams and position yourselves at either end of the rope," your counselor shouts.

Once more, you allow the students to nudge past you and bicker over their positions, before straggling behind a group of students and taking your place at the end of the rope. You've never played tug-of-war and you're not quite sure what to do, so you wrap the heavy rope around your wrist and hold on tight.

"You're going to get hurt if you do that," Kyungsoo states matter-of-factly. "And haven't you ever played tug-of-war? You always put your strongest player in the back."

"In fact, this is my first time playing," you snap, "and I don't care about anything you say."

"Yeah, well, I need to get in somewhere," Kyungsoo states, and you roll your eyes as you move forward to give him the end of the rope.

His brows furrow when you wind the thick rope around your arm and asks, "What the heck are you doing?"

"Why does everything I do matter to you?" you ask. "I'm just trying to keep a tight grip on the rope."

Kyungsoo cracks his lips open, presumably to make another snarky remark, until your counselor mentions some rules about playing fair and points to the painted streaks on the grass. A whistle is blown somewhere, and you're almost thrown off your feet when the rope pulls you forward. You're stuck between Kyungsoo and Luhan, and you wince in pain as you feel the rope coil around your arm. You lean back and pull the rope towards your chest, until you hear Kyungsoo grunt behind you, "Take small steps backward."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"If you want to win, just do as I say."

Instead, you ignore Kyungsoo.

But perhaps you should've listened, for you hear loud groans as your team is pulled over the messy streak of paint. As you attempt to let go of the rope however, a sharp tug from the opposite end pulls you by the right arm and has you barreling toward the ground. A jolt of pain charges through your arm and contorts your features into a wince. You feel a burning scar against your arm when it digs through the grass.

Once more, your cheeks flush when you hear a few of the boys snickering and some of the girls pointing fingers at you and letting out hysterical laughter. Embarrassment churns your stomach, and you squeeze your eyes shut, wishing you would just disappear.

“Are you alright?” you hear Yixing ask. He stoops beside you, gingerly uncoiling the rope from around your arm and observing the purple bruises.

“I’m alright,” you respond, bringing your fingers over your right arm and gently brushing over the red streaks.

Yixing holds out his hand, and you grasp it tightly as you hoists you onto your feet. “Are you sure you don’t need to get bandaged up or anything?”

You shake your head, letting your hair fall in a curtain over your cheeks to hide the tears b your eyes and the flustered red that splotches your cheeks. You think you can’t feel any worse, until you see smeared sneakers come into view and Kyungsoo’s voice reprimand you.

“Why can’t you do anything right?” he yells. “If you wouldn’t act so stupid all the time and if you just listened to me, none of this would have ever happened.”

You hear a low “oooh” from the cluster of students, and you keep your hands by your sides as hot tears spill over your cheeks.

“Why can’t you listen for once?”

Your sadness is suddenly fractured into anger and frustration, and you shout, “I don’t need to be reminded by you how stupid I am, so just leave me alone Do Kyungsoo!”

Although you’ve made sharp remarks toward the male, his brows twitch into a look of befuddlement, for you’ve never exploded at him.

“I hate you, and I don’t want you in my life!”

Silence rings in your ears when you whip your head away from the male and run away to the rickety wooden building leaning against a bleeding sky. You charge into the bathroom and slam the door behind you. You fall to the ground, your head resting against the uncomfortable wooden planks of the door.

Tears stream down your cheeks, and you wonder how much better life would be without Do Kyungsoo.

~~

“You alright?” Chanyeol asks.

Your lips remain sealed.

“I have good news,” he says. “Our groups are going to be doing the night hike together.”

“Really?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nods, hair excitedly flopping up and down. You rest against the base of a tree, and Chanyeol looks at you with furrowed brows. “You haven’t eaten dinner.”

“I’m fine,” you mutter.

Chanyeol plops down beside you, and he glares at you with a cute pout on his lips. “You’re ignoring your one and only best friend,” he comments.

“How do you know Baekhyun isn’t my best friend?” you joke, and Chanyeol wraps an arm around you and pulls you into a headlock.

You let out a laugh, “I’m sorry, please don’t kill me!”

Chanyeol has always known how to make you feel better.

“Come on,” Jongdae and Baekhyun shout simultaneously. “Our groups are supposed to meet up at the hiking trail!”

After an hour of joking around with your best friends, it’s almost as if nothing has happened.

“Hold on,” you groan. “I left my stuff in my cabin. I’ll be right back getting my bag.”

“You sure?” Jongdae asks.

“Yeah, go on without me. I’ll meet you there.”

Night has fallen over the mountain, blanketing the sky with a curtain of dark blue and spots of light. The trees cast eerie shadows over the roads, and you squint through the darkness until you make out the disfigured staircase leading to the cabins. The light patter of your feet echoes through the darkness, and you stop at the stairway when you hear a voice call your name.

“Where are you going?” Kyungsoo asks. “You do know we’re supposed to meet up at the hiking trail.”

“It’s none of your business.”

After the incident earlier in the day, you have no intentions of speaking to Kyungsoo.

You continue treading up the stairs, only the interminable darkness splayed before you, and Kyungsoo asks, “You’re going up there? In the dark? Alone?”

“So what, Kyungsoo?”

“I’m coming with you.”

A heavy sigh falls past your lips, and although the darkness drapes over your eyes, you feel Kyungsoo’s presence beside you. The rocky ledges pass beneath your feet, and the silhouette of your cabin slowly comes into view.

“You’re going to be late, Class President.”

“Yeah, but this class president isn’t going to risk you getting hurt in the dark and having no one to help you.”

Kyungsoo’s footsteps echo beside you, and even when you’ve gone inside your cabin to retrieve your bag, you let out an exasperated sigh when you see the faint outline of his figure waiting patiently outside.

“Can I ask you something?” you ask, swallowing the anger rising in your stomach. “Why do you always follow me around and pick on everything I do? Do you hate me that much? Am I really that stupid to you?”

The male turns to you, and the only thing you can see in the darkness is the faint glint of the dim moonlight against his glasses.

“I don’t hate you,” he says in a low voice.

“You obviously do,” you tell him. “Why else would you pick on me so much?”

“Gosh,” he sighs, “I never thought you were actually this stupid.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” you blurt.

“Are you saying you really have no idea why I’m always a jerk to you?” he asks.

“I don’t.”

“I like you,” he confesses.

You feel a flurry of emotions stirring a whirlwind in your heart- emotions that you can’t figure out but seem to fit into a puzzle.

“What?” you ask.

“I like you,” he says, and although you can’t see his face, you’re sure his cheeks are as red as yours. “From the moment we ran into each other in the hallways, I liked you.”

You want to tell him that he could’ve just told you without picking on you and embarrassing you in front of everyone else in the class, but you feel yourself melting at his gaze and realizing that the Class President and Mr. Perfect is in love with you.

“The only reason why I ever followed you around was because I like you,” he continues, “and those times I scolded you and told you to be careful- it was all because I didn’t want you getting hurt. I was always jealous of Chanyeol, and I wanted to be around you without acting all gushy about my feelings.”

“But you didn’t have to be so mean,” you murmur.

“I’m sorry,” is all Kyungsoo responds with.

You step closer to the male, hoping that maybe having a closer look at his face will show the sincerity of his words. Of course, being your clumsy self, you manage to slip on the flat surface of a rock jutting out of the ground. The screech of your sneakers against rock and a panicked cry is followed by Kyungsoo shouting your name and wrapping an arm around your waist. The other grasps your arm, pulling you away from the ledge of the stairs and toward his chest.

The lullaby of Kyungsoo’s beating heart and the steady rhythm of his warm breath draws you into him, and you turn around in his arms. The moonlight casts a dull glint in his chocolate eyes, and your eyelids flutter closed when you feel his lips descend over yours.

His breath ghosts over your lips, before you feel his plush lips mold against yours. His arms encircle your waist, and your eager fingers brush over his cheeks, run through the soft locks of his hair. When he pulls away, you whisper against his lips, “We’re totally going to be late.”

“I’m class president,” he says, a smile playing on his lips. “There’s nothing I can’t get out of.”

When you and Kyungsoo arrive at the hiking trail, your teacher stands with her arms crossed over her chest and her face red.

“Where have the two of you been?”

“She left her stuff at her cabin and I decided to follow her in case she got hurt in the dark. It’s my fault for the delays,” Kyungsoo says, and you’re relieved when your teacher simply sighs.

“The first group of students has already started the hike, so you’ll be with the second group.”

Your teacher fades into the crowd, and you hear Chanyeol jostle through the crowd to reach you.

“Are you alright? We thought you were hurt,” he says.

“I’m fine,” you answer, reassuring him with a smile.

“We all need partners for the hike,” he says, biting his lip, “but I agreed to be partners with Yixing.”

“It’s alright,” you say. “I already have a partner.”

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at you questionably, before smirking when he sees the flustered red across your cheeks as you stand especially close to Kyungsoo. He mouths, “I told you so,” before disappearing once more.

Once one of the counselors has reviewed some rules about safety, the hike begins.

Students intersperse as they trek across the steep trail and into the darkness.

“Just in case you happen to fall again,” Kyungsoo mutters, “don’t you think we should hold hands? For safety reasons, of course.”

A smile tugs at the corner of your lips because you’ve never seen this side of cold, pristine Kyungsoo before.

“We should,” you answer. "For safety reasons."

His calloused fingers reach for yours, and your palms are pressed together into an inseparable warmth. You feel the beginning of a love story, a love story of light footsteps echoing in the darkness and gentle kisses being exchanged under towering pines.

You feel a new love story being written.