9:00 AM- 11:00AM: Morning

Jinyoung returned to the cabin the next morning, hobbling a little, but overall not too worse for wear. The other seven members of the cabin had banded together to arrange a 'Welcome Back Jinyoung' mini party, and had cleared out the middle part of the cabin with a small table and chair set for him to sit and feast on a towering stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

“Thanks you guys,” Jinyoung said, beaming in delight. There was still a tiredness to his expression, but he seemed to be working through it. “Whose idea was this?”

“Jackson's,” Jae said. “He came up with it while Jaebum was over to visit you last night, doing whatever it is you two lovebirds do.”

“Jackson?” Jinyoung's eyes flitted to him.

Jackson smiled sheepishly. He'd been reminded during his Buddy Time with Jaebum the other day that he and Jinyoung had never properly made up, and it felt wrong to leave things in a bad condition when he in a sense needed Jinyoung's cooperation in not falling in love with Jaebum, after all.

“I wanted to apologize to you, man,” he said sincerely. “I've been a real idiot lately, and I'm sorry for upsetting you one too many times. Forgive me?”

Jinyoung looked a bit surprised, but he finally gave a little nod. “Sure, Jackson. I know you mean well. I'm sorry for some of the things I said, too.”

“Three cheers for peace and harmony in Cabin #2!” Youngjae said brightly. ”Now, time to get dressed, everybody! Let's not be the losing team again today!”

The other guys trooped over to the bathrooms with promises to look in on Jinyoung again as soon as possible, but Jackson lingered a little bit longer as they left.

“Hey,” he said, bowing his head to demonstrate his shame. “I really am sorry, Jinyoung. I'm not going to talk to you about you-know-what anymore for the rest of camp, OK?”

“Actually,” Jinyoung said. “I kind of want to talk to you about you-know-what.”

“...seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously. Because, as you've realized, it's gotten kind of serious.”

“Well, OK, then.” Please, please, please tell me you haven't fallen in love with him. Because if you have, I'm royally screwed.

“First of all...is there any reason why Jaebum thinks you suddenly want me and Mark to get together?”

Jackson debated how he was supposed to answer this. He could just outright admit to Jinyoung that he'd fallen in love with Jaebum. But knowing Jinyoung, this would first and foremost result in an explosion of anger (“Then what the hell were you doing setting us up for all this time!?!”), and he frankly didn't have enough time to calm down an irate Jinyoung before the other guys came back. He did desperately need some advice, but he didn't think Jinyoung was the best place to get it from. Mark and Jaebum were naturally also out, as was Youngjae, who Jackson was suddenly feeling incredibly jealous of for having once been the object of Jaebum's affection. BamBam seemed like a blabbermouth, which left either Yugyeom or Jae. He was personally leaning towards Yugyeom, but he'd save that for another time.

The best answer to Jinyoung's question, he decided, was the one that would pacify him the quickest. “I didn't actually say that,” he explained. “I just suggested, very kindly, that if you're interested in Mark, it would be nice if he gave you the opportunity to choose again who you wanted to date in case you'd changed your mind. I'm on your side here.”

Jinyoung, thankfully, did look a little pacified. “Oh, well...thanks. I think he listened to you, since he's now giving me the option to back out after a few more days of trying this out.”

Jackson's eyes widened. "H-he said that? You're serious?"

“I think he realized that yesterday wasn't just because I had a stomach problem. He's being stubborn about this, but at the same time he's always been protective of me, so I think what happened snapped him to his senses a little bit." He paused. "But that's very lenient of you to suggest that to him considering that you almost slapped me last time for getting too close to Mark.”

“I overreacted. I'll admit it, Jinyoung. And I'm just really, really sorry for putting my 'deluded fantasies' ahead of your actual feelings. Won't happen again. My 'deluded fantasies' are going through an identity crisis at the moment, anyways.” He sighed. “Anything else that you wanted to ask?”

“Yes. And this one's important.” He looked at Jackson solemnly. “Is Jaebum really in love with me?”

Jackson's stomach squirmed with discomfort. “You haven't asked him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because in this case, I'm worried what's true might be different from what he wants to be true, and it's confusing him as much as it's confusing me. I'm asking you, because you've been the one spending extra time with him recently. Is he doing this because he thinks he has to? Or does he really mean it?”

Jackson chewed on his lips. “I'm not exactly an unbiased party here, Jinyoung.” Even if he does really mean it, I could just as easily say he doesn't to pull him away from you instead.

“Could you please try to be?”

“I think...” The devil and angels on Jackson's shoulders were fighting between lying and telling the truth. But he wondered if he actually knew the truth. If Jinyoung himself didn't even know, how could he say that he knew any better? And if there was doubt about Jaebum's feelings, didn't that mean there was a shred of hope for him?

Whatever the case was, the better side of himself was winning his internal argument. “I think if Jaebum doesn't love you, he wants to,” he said. “And wanting something can make all the difference. It means he'll find a way to it before he looks for a way to anything else.”

“I'm not sure it works that way,” Jinyoung said softly. “Maybe with other things. But not love. You can want to love or not love someone all you want, but even that isn't strong enough to change how you really feel.” He exhaled slowly. “Well. I guess I'll have to remain in the dark a little longer. Thanks anyways.”

“Jinyoung,” Jackson said. “Can I just say I'm sorry again?”

“No need to get excessive.”

“Actually, I think I do. I was arrogant enough to pretend like I actually understood anything about how soulmates work and acted like I was some kind of instrument of fate or something. God, I was stupid. Forget about soulmates, Jinyoung. Just tie your heart to who you decide it belongs to and screw what fate or anyone else says. I'm going to stay out of your feelings from now on. Best of luck figuring out what those are for yourself.”

11:00 AM-13:00 PM: Swimming

Jinyoung was genuinely relieved that he got to sit out this round of camp activities due to his still recovering health. He had a case of swimming anxiety when it came to anything much deeper than a shallow pool, and from what he could tell of the lake surrounding the camp, it was pretty deep. And probably filled with fish he didn't want getting anywhere close to him. He was thrilled for the rest of the campers, who were all psyched that they weren't actually doing anything 'educational' for the day and could instead engage in standard 'fun' camp activities. He was just really glad he didn't actually have to do it himself.

So he was more than happy to settle into a fold out chair on the docks to watch as the counselors and the other boys got ready to hop into the lake. It would probably make for a fun show, and he was also additionally grateful that it would keep away from any potential situations of being in between Mark and Jaebum.

“OK, guys, ready to get in?” Nickhun asked, after they had lathered up with sunscreen. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, all the American boys plus Jackson started ripping off their t-shirts. Jinyoung's mouth fell slightly open. Jackson was the most fit out of them, but seeing him without a shirt was like seeing the sun every morning to Jinyoung—it was nice, but he was too accustomed to it to be overly impressed. Mark, on the other hand, was a whole new feast for the eyes. He had a good build, even though it was quite different from Jackson's more traditionally ripped body. He had nicely defined muscles, particularly his arms, and his torso was slender and more lanky. Jinyoung couldn't tell by looking at it if it would be hard or soft to the touch, or somehow a combination of both. Then he remembered that he really, really shouldn't be thinking about it so intently.

“And here you can witness the difference between Americans and Koreans when confronted with lakeside environments,” Jae said, imitating the tone and accent of a BBC reporter. “Americans have an inherent sense of confidence, allowing them to dispose of their outer layer of cloth protection, while Koreans have an inherent fear of coloring their alabaster skin with natural sunlight, thus causing them to stay mostly clothed even in damp conditions.”

“Great commentary, couldn't have said it better myself,” Wooyoung said dryly. “I'm not about to tell anyone how they should dress, so just do whatever you feel comfortable with.”

BamBam pulled his shirt off, but all the Korean campers left theirs on. Thank god for the inherent confidence of Americans, Jinyoung thought, fanning himself.

They started off with a swimming ability check by having all the campers try out basic exercises—dog paddling, treading water, floating on their backs, doing basic laps, etc. Once they determined that almost everyone there was good enough to proceed onto the actual activities, the counselors started issuing challenges. First was an underwater breathing contest—Mark and Vernon wound up tying that one. Then there was the standard challenge of how long the swimmers could keep a beach ball in the air while still treading water—no one did particularly well at that one, but it was still hilarious to watch. Then there was a sprawling game of Marco Polo after Jae suggested it. Both Jackson and Youngjae wound up as “It” at different points in the game, and it was side-splittingly hilarious to watch the two of them progressively start yelling gibberish as the other players continually thwarted their efforts to find them. Even Jinyoung, who didn't even like swimming, kind of wished he could pop into the pool just to play around and have fun with the others.

Around 12:30, the boys hopped back out again to reapply sunscreen. Jinyoung again felt his eyes being drawn to Mark, aided by the new dripping wet factor that hadn't been there before. His throat suddenly felt dry and his mind was headed in unacceptable places as to where exactly he could get some water to lap up. Maybe the sun was beginning to fry his brain.

“Earth to Jinyoung,” Jaebum's voice came from beside him. Jinyoung almost fell out of his chair.

“W-what is it?” Jinyoung asked in what he hoped was an innocent voice.

“Just because you're not doing the activity today doesn't mean you should be too relaxed with hydration.” He handed him a water bottle. “Please be careful, all right?”

“Ah. Yes. I will.” He was very grateful that he was wearing sunglasses and Jaebum probably hadn't realized where exactly he'd been staring.

“I hope you're not too bored up here, by the way.”

“No, I'm fine. Just enjoying the view.”

Jaebum lifted an eyebrow, which Jinyoung instantly translated into an action of suspicion. “I mean the view of Jackson!” he blurted out, to cover his tracks. Then he realized that was a completely stupid answer to give, when he could have just said “I meant the view of the beautiful lake right in front of my stupid eyes.”

“Jackson?” Jaebum echoed.

“Well, yeah,” Jinyoung said awkwardly. He couldn't really take it back now that he'd said it. “He's got a nice body. Don't you agree?”

“Uhhhh. Yeah. Of course...” He shifted from foot to foot. “I just didn't think you had an interest in that kind of thing, too.”

“Too?”

“I mean...I was referring to... all the girls who are into him for that. At school and stuff..”

“Oh.” Jinyoung shrugged. “I wouldn't say 'an interest.' I just admire him for the effort. That's all.”

“So, you'd like it if I bulked up like that?”

“You don't have to.”

At that moment, Jackson himself popped up, shirtless and dripping wet. Jaebum averted his eyes a little bit. Jinyoung just went ahead and stared. He did look good, after all.

“One of you two boys wanna take care of my back for me?” Jackson asked, waving his sunscreen.

“Sorry, I'd rather stay sitting for the time being,” Jinyoung said. “My ankle is still a little swollen.”

“Wow, I absolutely love you right now for even suggesting I'm tall enough to where you'd have to stand up to reach me,” Jackson said, smiling in delight. “You are officially exempt. Jaebum...?”

“Is there no one else you could ask?” Jaebum asked a bit tersely.

“Why the heck do I need to go around and ask someone else when you have two good hands of your own?” Jackson asked.

“Seriously, Jaebum, it's just sunscreen,” Jinyoung said curiously. “Do you want him to get a sunburn?”

Jaebum huffed a little, but snatched the sunscreen from Jackson's hands and smeared it into his own. Starting from Jackson's shoulders, he rubbed it into Jackson's back until his skin was completely covered.

Jinyoung tilted his head, wondering once again if the sun was frying his brain. Maybe it was the fact that Jackson had a very y body on display and Jaebum had always been a really attractive guy in Jinyoung's eyes, but something about watching the scene seemed strangely intimate. Jackson was leaning his head back, his eyes fluttering shut and his Adam's Apple bobbing slightly on his throat as if he were swallowing deeply. Jaebum's eyes were half-lidded as if he didn't want to look too closely, and he was biting his lip as he worked, turning it a darker shade of red.

OK, I'm either discovering the appeal of the whole 'two hot guys doing hot things' concept, or else I seriously need a drink. Jinyoung unscrewed his water bottle and took a deep sip. Any second now, Jackson would probably say something annoying and Jaebum would get ticked and they would start bickering and the spell would be broken.

But Jackson, for once in his life, stayed perfectly silent. When Jinyoung had finished drinking, the exact same scene remained before him.

Oh my god, Jinyoung thought to himself. What if this is why Jackson had his change of heart?

He didn't know if he wanted that to be it or not. If Jaebum and Jackson could fall in love, that would certainly solve one problem. But if they couldn't, it would certainly cause several others. But whether it would be good or bad, or whether it was what he wanted or didn't want, all of that was immaterial. If those feelings existed, then they existed. There was nothing he could do to make or destroy them.

Finally, Jaebum snapped the sunscreen shut and threw it at Jackson's chest. “There you go.” The spell seemed to break, finally, but Jinyoung could still feel the traces of the lingering heat in the air.

“We still have twenty minutes left before lunch,” Seungkwan was saying to Wooyoung nearby. “We totally need to do a cannonball contest.”

“What does everyone else think?”

“HELL YEAH!” BamBam said, pumping his fist.

“Winner doesn't have to do clean up at lunch or dinner!” Wonwoo suggested.

“Winner also gets to be called Lord Splashington for the rest of the day by the losers,” Jae added.

“Seems like a popular idea,” Wooyoung said with a shrug. “Go for it.”

All the boys lined up and one by one did their most impressive cannonballs into the pool. Jinyoung was the referee, but it was a little bit hard to tell who was winning at any given moment. The splashes were all pretty amazing (except for BamBam, who gave a disappointingly light one), but Jinyoung thought Yugyeom was in the lead by time they started reaching the end of the line.

For the first time that afternoon, Mark approached him—maybe it was because both Jaebum and Jackson were in the water, and only a few stragglers from Cabin #1 were waiting to take their turn, other than him. In any case, he put a damp hand on Jinyoung's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“Feeling all right, there?” he asked, his voice a gentle breeze tickling Jinyoung's ear.

“Yeah,” he said back, quietly. “I'm wonderful.”

“I wish it could be wonderful enough to swim. I think you would be even more beautiful with water droplets in your hair.”

Jinyoung snorted to offset his slight bit of embarrassment. “Don't act like you've never peeped while I was leaving the shower.”

Mark laughed. “Fair enough. Let me correct myself. I know that you're even more beautiful with water droplets in your hair.”

“Just get in the pool so I can judge your freaking cannonball,” he said, kicking Mark in the . Mark simply laughed, obeying him directly. It was a decent sized cannonball, and Jinyoung closed his eyes as the resulting water droplets showered over him.

Well, he thought to himself. This is probably going to be my only opportunity to have this camp experience. Might as well do it for five seconds rather than not at all.

He rose to his feet, pulling off his sunglasses, kicking off his shoes, and walking to the edge of the docks. The other campers noticed right away and began chanting “Jinyoung, Jinyoung, Jinyoung!” He felt a warm feeling spreading through him as Mark joined in the cheering.

He curled his toes on the edge of the dock. His ankle felt fine enough to support his weight. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and bent his knees, springing into the water to a chorus of cheers.

The water swept over him, enveloping him in a sweet coolness. This water could be both turbulent and still, just like him, but it always found a way to shape itself back into what it needed to be. Maybe he could learn a thing or two from it instead of always standing on the edge, too nervous to do more than dip his toes in.

You'll be fine, he reminded himself as he broke the surface. Stop telling yourself that you don't want to be here. You're here, whether you wanted it or not. You're surrounded by the exact thing you want. You either drink it in, or you stand there waiting. But you have to make a choice. One or the other. No more running away.

15:00PM-18:00PM: Buddy Time- Jaebum & Mark

Jaebum was in a canoe in the middle of the lake with Mark Tuan during Buddy Time, and he still couldn't fully process the situation or how he'd gotten there.

It was Jackson's fault. Of course it was Jackson's fault. Everything was Jackson's fault. Story of his life.

It had started with Nichkhun announcing that Jinyoung would be sitting out of Buddy Time because they were doing boating activities, and he didn't want Jinyoung to be away from the shore in case he had more troubles with his ankle. BamBam was also sitting out because he'd developed a nosebleed after the cannonball contest and had needed to go to sick bay to get it checked out, much to his immense disappointment.

“So, I guess we'll just have Mark and Yugyeom—excuse me, Lord Splashington—pair up since they don't have partners?” Nichkhun had concluded, logically.

But Jackson's hand had immediately shot up. “Can I go with Yu...Lord Splashington... instead? Jaebum and I already know each other like the back of our hands, so we should go with someone we don't know as well.”

Jaebum had been struck momentarily speechless—Why the hell did Jackson want to ditch him for Yugyeom, of all people? What had he done to deserve Jackson actively volunteering to get away from him? And in the block of his speechlessness, Nichkhun was able to get confirmation from Yugyeom that this was OK (“Yeah, sure, whatever”) and then cheerfully announced, “OK, then! Jaebum and Mark can go together, in that case.”

And thus he had ended up out on the lake, sharing a canoe with the guy who evidently had a thing for his boyfriend.

The first ten minutes of canoeing had been pretty silent. They'd needed to focus on paddling in time, and on steering, which was a lot harder than it looked. Plus, there was the added entertainment of watching the other campers trying to launch from the docks in their boats. Some had been given canoes like theirs, but others were in kayaks (Jae and Youngjae were having a particularly hard time with this) or swan paddle boats (Yugyeom and Jackson were currently going around in small circles. The spiteful part of Jaebum was glad Jackson was looking like an idiot after pulling this crap on him). Seungkwan and Vernon had already tipped their canoe over and were now in the middle of a heated water fight.

After they got about half way across the lake, Jaebum finally broke the silence. “So. Care to explain what's been going on with you and Jinyoung?”

“No ice breakers or anything first?” Mark asked. “I don't think we've spoken to each other much. You just want to move right into fighting?”

Jaebum stared at him grimly. "I know you don't think much of our relationship, but you're making a move on someone who's seeing someone else. That tells me a lot about you, so I don't need to hear your backstory or anything. I just want to know what the hell you're doing."

“Right, and the fact that you're still insisting it's a relationship at all tells me a lot about you.” Mark rested his paddle across his lap. “Shouldn't I be the one to ask you what the hell you think you're doing? All I'm doing is falling in love with someone amazing. You're the one who's making this a huge mess that's eating the person you supposedly love so much up."

"Supposedly? Look, you've been in his life for five days. I've been with Jinyoung since before we could talk, so don't try to pretend I don't love him more than-"

“I'm not talking about that kind of love," Mark said firmly. "God, I'm not stupid. Only an idiot wouldn't realize that you two care about each other, and only idiots are interpreting it to mean something more than it really is. Including you. Your whole promise centers around trying to fall in love with each other. Which tells me neither of you were in love with each other when this thing started, or at least you didn't think you were in love. I also know that you're the one who came up with the whole idea. So, I'm thinking if you were willing to make this big effort to fall in love with someone, it's because you weren't having any luck with the people you were naturally having feelings for. So you wanted to give it a try with who everyone thought was your soulmate because nothing else was working.”

Jaebum clenched his jaw so hard it was starting to protrude. He knows this because Jinyoung must have told him, he coached himself, trying to hold back his temper. Or Youngjae mentioned that I asked him out a few years ago. He's only acting like this is all guesswork to try to make me feel like a transparent idiot. Don't let it work.

“It's like drinking to forget,” Mark continued. “Except you're falling in love to forget. So I'm thinking that even though you're acting like you're in love with Jinyoung now, you're still having a hard time forgetting the person you were really in love with before this whole thing started.”

Shut up, shut up, shut up.

“I was thinking Youngjae at the beginning, since you two were kind of awkward. Or at least you were. But I'm getting the feeling that Youngjae was old news, and there's someone newer. Jackson, maybe? Anyways, I have no intention of standing in the way provided that Jinyoung finds it in his heart to love you back. And I mean really love you back, not just take you out of pity.”

Jaebum felt like he'd been slapped in the face. It hit so close to home that he couldn't even protest, as much as he wanted to. He'd thought it sometimes himself when he'd been with Jinyoung recently. Rather than looking at him with the love of a soulmate, he'd often catch Jinyoung gazing in his direction with these sad eyes that said plainly "You're so pitiful that it makes my heart break for you."

“It's weird, but sometimes I really hope you are in love with him," Mark said. "Even if it means that there's a chance he'll fall in love with you back and he'll never end up with me. Because if you are using him, using him as a ing last resort because you can't have who you really want, I am going to make sure you live to regret taking advantage of his good will. Because Park Jinyoung is a kind and beautiful and sweet hearted and all around magnificent human being, and it would be an utterly sick joke if he of all people was put onto this planet to be some pitiful idiot's last resort.”

Jaebum's fists clenched so tightly onto his oar that he was sure he was getting splinters from it. But he didn't care. It was an easier pain to think of. He didn't want to hold a single thought about which parts of Mark's accusations were right or wrong in his mind.

It was enough to know in his heart of hearts that most of it was right. That was already awareness enough.

He swallowed, exhaling sharply. He was angry, but he knew it wasn't Mark he was angry at, not truly. Everything that was bothering Jaebum had bothered him long before he and Jinyoung had ever laid eyes on Mark. Mark was forcing both him and Jinyoung to confront things which they may have otherwise ignored, but his accusations were fair. Jaebum was in a strange way almost grateful to him for being so defensive on Jinyoung's behalf. It was what he would have done too, what he should be doing instead of being the reason Jinyoung was so torn in the first place.

Jaebum returned his oar to the water, just to do something to calm him down. Mark did the same, and they rowed again in silence, collecting their thoughts.

"Jinyoung's always been an incredible person," Jaebum said after a long time. "He's fragile sometimes, but other times he's so incredibly strong, so much stronger than me. He never let anyone's opinions about us get him down for years, while I always raged against it. I thought that it was because he'd never been in love and never been hurt by someone who refused to love him back because of me. I worried so much that it would happen to him too and that he'd go through all the things I did. But instead, he found you."

"Are you taking that as a positive or negative?" Mark asked.

"For him, it's a huge positive, I'm sure, though I guess the timing couldn't have been worse than now. And if there's anyone that deserves to find someone who can love them without getting caught up in anything else, it's him. I just don't understand." He looked at Mark, wishing he could see inside his head. "Why did I never get to be that lucky, too?"

"Because you're an idiot in love with an idiot," Mark said simply. "And you're writing both him and yourself off far too soon."

Jaebum felt a sudden flare of anger. "Writing him off? Don't decide that so quickly with your limited view of what's going on here. Do you have any idea what it's been like this past year? Because I spent it watching every single miniscule thing he did and paying attention to each and every single word he said trying to find the evidence there was even the slightest bit of love in his heart for me, but there was nothing. If I had found even one percent of something that could have been love, I would have gotten down on my hands and knees and begged him to give me that, but there was zero percent. And not just that, he wanted me to be with someone else, and thinking of it made him happy, and I had to witness that every day and go to bed every night thinking that the only way I could make the person I loved as happy as he wanted to be was to fall in love with someone else. And now I'm writing him off? You want me to keep on being in love with him? Because you tell me if you could survive a year of loving someone so much that sometimes you couldn't even breathe with how much you wanted them, and even though they also made you suffer so much that your heart broke every time they opened their stupid mouth, you still woke up every morning in love with them and unable to hate them because your heart just couldn't bring itself to want anyone else. But whatever my idiot heart wants doesn't matter anymore, OK? I can't do this for another year. I can't."

By time he finished, he was shaking so much that the boat itself was rocking a bit beneath him. He thought saying all of this would be like stabbing a shoddily healed cut over and over again, but a part of him was relieved he'd finally said it, even if it was only to someone like Mark, someone he barely knew. He'd never said a word about it to anyone, ever, and maybe it had hurt him more than he'd realized to force it all down inside of him until it festered and turned him into the kind of person he wasn't sure he even liked anymore.

"Wow," Mark said, his eyes wide. "I only understood 80% of that, but...you've never told any of this to Jinyoung before, have you?"

"No."

"Why?"

"He'd blame himself and it's not his fault."

Mark nodded slowly. "Well. I'm not sure you want my advice on this. You're right that I don't know a lot about you or Jackson. But I will say one thing. You've watched him for a year, but I think these past few days you've trying to blind yourself to it, clearly because you don't know how to deal with it anymore. I'm still ticked you decided it needed to involve Jinyoung, but the fact that you're involving him means part of your focus is away from Jackson. So I think you may have missed the fact that something is changing with him, too. Maybe you should try watching him again. Just one more time."

Traitorous hope started fluttering in Jaebum's heart, but he couldn't let it win him over again so easily. "Don't," he rasped out. "Don't tell me to fool myself again. He doesn't...he can't...if he did, none of this would have happened. He wouldn't have made me like this. You wouldn't do this to Jinyoung, would you?"

"No," Mark said, his voice surprisingly gentle for someone who'd given Jaebum a tongue lashing. "But not everyone knows their hearts. And it's not true that people never hurt the ones they love. Because sometimes, without even knowing it, they do. Even me sometimes, I'm sure. And even you."

15:00PM-18:00PM: Buddy Time- Jackson & Yugyeom

“So let's be honest here,” Jackson started, keeping his feet rapidly paddling as he talked. “Do you actually think Jaebum and Jinyoung are soulmates?”

“Jackson, we've been doing this for almost an hour and have yet to manage to get this going in a straight line,” Yugyeom whined. “Do we have to talk about your crazy shipping habit now?”

“This is not about that. It's serious.”

“Well, too bad. I don't have a serious thought about Jaebum and Jinyoung. I only played along with your whole destiny thing because it pissed Jinyoung off.”

“Well, I should have seen that one coming,” Jackson said, rolling his eyes. “So you really don't think they look like soulmates?”

“What do soulmates even look like?” Yugyeom wondered. “If soulmates are supposed to be unnaturally attractive guys, then sure, they look like soulmates. All the TV dramas I watch are about love between really hot people, too. But if that's all it is, then love is kind of shallow and boring, so I sure hope not.”

“Huh,” Jackson said. “I don't exactly mean that their physical appearances match up. I mean... does all of them match up? Like, is everything about them perfectly formed to each other?”

Yugyeom shrugged. “Dunno. They seem kind of vanilla to me. With Jaebum involved, you'd think there'd be more tension. Like in romance dramas. I personally haven't seen him throw Jinyoung up against a wall and ravish him yet.”

“Uh, well, we are in a rather public place.”

“Still. Jaebum seems like the ravishing type. Or at the very least, the y, smoldering, make-you-beg-for-me type. He hasn't really done any of that with Jinyoung. The flowers were kind of cringe.”

“Hmm.”

“Why are you asking?” Yugyeom asked suspiciously. “I thought you had 100% faith in them and didn't need anyone else's validation.”

“I may have lost some of my faith,” Jackson said honestly.

“Oho.”

“I may have also realized that I'm the one who's in love with Jaebum.”

Yugyeom stopped pedaling. “Oho. Ohohoho. Ohohohohohoooooooooo.”

“You're enjoying this, I can tell.”

Yugyeom was now bouncing and clapping like an overexcited seal, which was doing nothing for their little boat. “Now this is good material!” he said brightly. “So much better than the courtly romance of Prince Jaebum and boring Prince Jinyoung.”

“Um, I was actually hoping for advice instead of for you to turn this into a TV drama.”

Yugyeom's expression sobered up. “Ahem. Sorry.”

“Nah, it's cool.”

“OK. Being serious now.” He pursed his lips. “Dating Jinyoung was an experiment to begin with, right?”

“I suppose you could call it that.”

“You don't date someone as an experiment if they're your top pick. You'd just date them normally. So Jinyoung's probably not actually his top pick.”

Jackson nodded. He hadn't thought of it like that because phrasing it like that was kind of rude to Jinyoung, but he couldn't exactly say it was wrong.

“I actually kind of thought his whole set-up with Jinyoung was a way to get back at Youngjae, at the beginning,” Yugyeom admitted. “Although it's kind of impossible to get back at Youngjae, since he's so damn...Youngjae.”

“Right.” Jackson tilted his head. “So... I should focus on winning against Youngjae instead of Jinyoung?”

“Not exactly. Jaebum would have to be really pathetic to try and make anymore progress with Youngjae given how much time has passed. Besides, Jaebum seems pretty bullheaded about the Jinyoung thing, so I still think that he's still your biggest form of competition.” Yugyeom tapped his foot, thinking deeply. “I really dunno, Jackson. I've mostly been talking to BamBam during this trip. Has Jaebum really let nothing slip? Has he ever shown any willingness to give up on his weird thing with Jinyoung?”

Jackson thought. “Yeah, there was that one time.”

“What time?”

“I got mad about Jinyoung kind of having a side thing with Mark, and he demanded to know why I was so angry. He said something like my answer would 'pull him back' or 'set him loose' for good. And then when I said the reason why I was angry at Jinyoung was because I wanted them to be happy, he acted like that had confirmed the whole thing with Jinyoung for good. Which was what I originally wanted, but-”

“Oh my god,” Yugyeom cut in, staring at Jackson with wide eyes.

“What?”

“You...you don't get it?”

“Get what?”

Suddenly Yugyeom burst out into a series of high-pitched cackles, throwing his head back and laughing so hard that tears were literally spilling out of his eyes. Jackson watched him in amazement. What the hell was so funny?

“Oh my god, Jackson, you ing idiot!” Yugyeom yelled when he finally calmed down. “Jaebum's top pick? That was you.”

19:00PM-21:00PM: Lovers- Break!

Jinyoung was surprised when Jaebum told him that there wasn't going to be a date for that night, and they would finally be going to the regular campfire event with the other campers. Surprised, but definitely pleased. He wasn't in the mood for any further dating complications that night, and besides, he still hadn't even thought about what would happen when it came time for him to make his choice tomorrow night. He'd deal with it then. Tonight, he just wanted to relax.

Unfortunately, that night wasn't a s'mores night—according to Wooyoung, those would be making a comeback on Day 7, where he hinted campfires would be part of the buddy activity. Jinyoung's mind immediately filled with images of trying to start a fire by rubbing sticks together and prayed that wasn't it.

It was, however, an acoustic guitar and campfire song night. The other campers had been learning songs from each other's cultures the previous nights, so Jinyoung didn't recognize some of the English songs like “Down By the Bay” (Mark's offering) and “John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt” (Jae's offering). It was still fun to learn, though, and he was amazed at how right Mark had been when speaking of everyone's vocal talent. They were all stellar singers, and Jinyoung felt a little sorry that he was only now hearing it for the first time.

“Does anyone want to perform something special today?” Joshua asked, idly strumming his guitar. “I'll take requests again.”

“Jinyoung hasn't gotten to sing anything yet,” Mark pointed out immediately. “Or Jaebum. Technically.”

Jaebum glanced over at Jinyoung. He looked incredibly tired, tired almost down to his very soul, in no mood for singing.

“If you don't mind, I'd kind of like to sing solo for now,” Jinyoung said. He turned to Joshua. “Do you know any Infinite? In the Summer?”

“That's perfect for right now. I might play it a little slower, though. It's been awhile.”

“That's fine.”

Jinyoung took a deep breath as the first chords started. It was truly a song of the summer—light hearted and free, but still weighted in nostalgia, in memories that lingered from season to season, memories too important to let go of. Of love that was too important to let go of.

In between the cracks of sunlight
In between the flowing white clouds
In between the blowing wind, you shine...

At first, he felt nervous to be singing in front of everyone, and fixed his gaze on the flickering fire in front of him so he wouldn't have to think of everyone there watching him. But then he realized that this was no way to face this kind of song, distant and afraid to confront the emotions he was singing. He looked up again, eyes settling on the place they were naturally drawn to, the pull that had been tugging him from the very beginning. As he met Mark's eyes, his heart began to stir, the lyrics swelling within him, becoming stronger. He wasn't singing about someone else's heart and memories now. He was singing about his own.

On each place my feet rests
On each place my hands touch
On each place I place my eyes, I see you

Mark was looking at him with such fond eyes that it rocked Jinyoung to the very core. In his entire life, no one had ever looked at him like this, as if he was the source of all happiness, the reason behind the full and beautiful smile that kept widening to become fuller and more beautiful. He was so sure he'd been a source of pain for Mark this whole time, but still Mark was this happy. Why? But as soon as Jinyoung asked himself, he realized that he too was indescribably happy, even though he'd spent much of the past few days completely miserable. And he knew why. It was because he had found this person. It was because the joy of finding someone he cared about to this extent outweighed the misery of not being able to immediately have him.

I'm so grateful that I know you, that I got to meet you
I’ll grow this much to always protect you...

It felt like a decision had already been made in his heart, in that moment. Like all he had left to do was simply admit it to himself that there was really no other choice. There had only ever been one choice to make all along.

You come into me, faintly,
shyly, you come upon me
You softly shake me, as usual,
connected through the memories
Again and always, I’m living in longing
Already, already, I’m locked up in the memories

Everyone clapped for him when he finished, but he only heard the sound of one pair of hands. He only saw one pair of eyes.

He was right, he thought to himself, his heart swelling. Jackson promised a week was enough time for magic to happen. But I didn't even need a week. I just needed five days. Five days and the one person in this world who gives meaning to these words for me. He just didn't have the right guy. The right guy is sitting right in front of me. And I love him. That was the answer I was looking for. I love him, and I'm not meant for anybody else.