The bus finally stopped, and the students all cheered. The scenery was wonderful, but Eunhye saw nothing special about the image before her. It was too bland.

“Girls get the left side of the lodge, and guys get the right side.” A teacher called out as the students got off the bus.

“That was a nice nap!” Howon took in a big breath as he stretched, his eyes squinting as they adjusted to the sunlight. He stood up and smiled at Eunhye as he helped her take her backpack down from the rack.

Eunhye struggled to put it on in the environment where it was crowded with moving people, and a hand reached over to help her put her backpack on. Flustered, she looked up to see Joon grinning at her. He had leaned over Howon’s chair just to help her.

She coughed and looked away as she shoved the hand he was using to steady himself. He went crashing down to the ground, and Howon gave him a peculiar look.

“Let’s go get our luggage,” Eunhye uttered towards Howon as she slipped past Joon and speed-walked to the doors of the bus.

Howon chuckled and glanced at Joon pitifully before chasing after her.

The same thing happened during their late lunch, after they had all settled down. Joon had ‘coincidentally’ chosen a seat across from Eunhye at the table, and the first thing he did was place a piece of beef onto Eunhye’s bowl of rice.

Eunhye didn’t like wasting food but she also didn’t want to be involved with Joon, so she took her chances to get rid of the piece of food. She pinched the beef and twisted her chopsticks, sending the beef flying towards Joon. It ended up landing in his bowl.

“Such bad chopstick skills,” Howon laughed at her as he put his own share of beef into her bowl. He didn’t need it, anyways.

Joon frowned and continued eating, not attempting any other acts as he quietly finished his meal.

It also happened when they were told to get into groups for an activity.

“Get into groups of five!” Their teachers had ordered.

Eunhye followed Howon as he easily created a group of four. She spotted Joon standing by himself and looking around, and she urged Howon to quickly find someone else.

“Hey, are you-”

“Sorry, we have five people!” Eunhye gestured towards Howon who was walking with someone beside him. She forced an awkward smile on her face as Joon nodded and went off to find another group.

Howon turned his head and stared at Eunhye for a while before shrugging, deciding that it was best to leave the topic alone until later.

It even continued on to dinner.

“There’s no space,” Howon pouted as he scanned the room. Every table was full, and could fit only one extra person at most.

“Eunhye, come sit here!” Joon personally got up and began dragging Eunhye towards the empty spot at his table.

Eunhye frantically searched the room with wide eyes, and managed to find a table that could squeeze in two more people. She awkwardly twisted around and easily escaped Joon’s grip. She ran and grabbed Howon’s arm, leading him towards the table she had spotted.

As usual, Howon said nothing and only smiled as he followed Eunhye.

After dinner was free time, and Howon decided that Eunhye would enjoy a spot away from people. He had noticed how she never participated in group activities, and how she would avoid talking to others.

“Eunhye, do you want to go take a walk?” Howon asked as he spotted her entering the lobby. He had been patiently waiting for her while she went to the washroom.

Despite Howon being a broken record when it came to talking, Eunhye truly appreciated the fact that he was sticking to her like glue. She flashed Howon a small smile as she stood beside him. “A walk to where?”

Howon hummed as he began walking. “Somewhere pretty.”

Eunhye shrugged, not minding that he wasn’t announcing their destination.

They were going their own way on a trail off to the side of all the activities when a ball flew and hit Howon’s face. Crying out in pain, he clutched the left side of his face and didn’t turn around. He could tell that his injury had already turned into a normal bruise with no swelling.

Eunhye glanced at the basketball – yes that was right, a basketball – and she whipped around. She saw Joon with a shocked expression, and knew without a doubt that he was the culprit.

“Joon, were you the one who threw that?” Eunhye breathed out while glaring at him.

“I… I,” Joon stuttered. He had clearly seen Howon looking his way, and he had mistakenly thought that Howon wanted to join the game.

Eunhye huffed out air in anger and picked up the ball. She stomped over to Joon and slammed it against Joon’s chest, making him yelp in pain. She narrowed her eyes at him leaned forward, causing him to shift uncomfortably. "I see you’re still doing gangster with your buddies and being a total jerk to everyone.”

“N-no!” His eyes were wide as he raised his hands innocently. “I quit and stopped ever since!”

“Well I see your personality is still the same, then.” Eunhye shoved him before turning around to find out that Howon was gone. “Where…”

“He went into the woods,” Joon muttered.

Howon scowled as he ripped a strand of lavender out of the lavender field. He chewed on the straw to the emergency bag he always kept tucked in his blazer’s inside pocket.

While Eunhye had been busy raging at Joon, he had escaped into the woods and ran his way to the spot he had planned to take her to. He figured no one would find him, so he sat down in the middle of the lavender field and drank away.

Obviously, it tasted horrible, but for the sake of getting rid of the bruise, he had to.

Howon almost choked on his drink when he heard fast footsteps and multiple branches snapping. He glanced at the transparent bag in regret as he threw the half-full bag across the field. He would have to come back and dispose it properly.

“Howon!” Eunhye called out as soon as she reached the field. She was out of breath and tired, but she kept on running until she stood right in front of him. Eunhye tried to ask him questions like “are you okay”, “don’t you need medical attention”, “where did the ball hit you”, but she could only huff out random words.

“I’m alright,” Howon chuckled as he patted her on the head. “Calm down first and then bombard me with questions.”

“No, I can bombard you right now.” Eunhye panted out as she sat down with her legs crossed. “Why didn’t you catch the ball before it hit you?”

“I didn’t see it.” Howon said simply as he plopped down beside her. “Why did you avoid Joon the whole day?”

Eunhye stuck her tongue out and looked elsewhere, not wanting to answer his question.

“You’ve dated him in the past, haven’t you?” Howon and poked her nose. He approved his suspicions when he saw her pink cheeks go darker and closer to red. “You dork; is having an ex something to blush over?”

“Oh shut up.” Embarrassed, Eunhye hid her face in her hands. She turned her head to look at Howon and peeked at him through the gaps in her fingers. She could see a faint bruise on the side of his face. “It’s good that it only brushed past you.”

“Hm?” Howon hummed quietly.

“I swear I saw the ball hit you squarely on the side, but I guess it only brushed past you.” Eunhye lowered her hands and stared at them as she placed her hands in her lap. “I’m sorry, Joon must’ve been jealous of you.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t because of jealousy,” he laughed and wrapped a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “It was most likely an accident.”

Eunhye leaned onto Howon, a frown on her face. Howon held his breath and twisted his head around so that he wasn’t facing her, feeling regretful that he didn’t run away from the field with his emergency pouch. He should’ve hidden himself and finished it; if he did, he wouldn’t be tempted again.

“Lee Howon, are you even listening?”

“What?” Howon breathed out and couldn’t resist looking at her.

“I said; Joon was most likely just -hurt that I was avoiding him, and… Howon?” Eunhye’s voice had quieted down into a whisper when she noticed him leaning in towards her. “Howon, what are you – Howon you’re bursting my personal space – Howon are you even listening to me? Howon?”

Eunhye swore that in the sunset light, she saw light brown eyes stained with a bright blue. It was a weird combination, but either way she still wondered if that was his actual eye colour.

“Howon?” Eunhye was frozen to her spot when Howon was only inches away.

Howon couldn't hear her at all.

Edited: 130827

Author's Note: Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee yay for cheesily boring updates //gives up on everything// School's starting soon. :c