The first day of camp had been far easier than Chaewon had thought it would be. After being overwhelmed by all of the new people her group had mostly just stuck to themselves, unpacking their belongings and then playing on their phones. There was wifi in the dining hall and some other areas of camp, but none in the cabins So once the cook had kicked them out after meals they went to their cabins and just played games. Chaewon found out who was in her cabin (Heejin, Hyejoo, Yeojin, Yerim, and Hyunjin sleeping above her) but they didn't talk very much. 

That morning the girls had all been awakened by the blare of a large bell, ringing through camp and calling everyone to breakfast at the bright and early hours of eight am. They groaned and stepped out, meeting the rest of their group without even changing out of their pajamas. 

Breakfast had been alright, a touch awkward but nothing too bad, until most people were finished. The thirteen to fifteen year old girls watched the rest of campers get picked up and taken off by their counselors, while they just sat there. 

"I guess they have activities," Jinsoul said forlornly. 

"Yesterday was so boring," Yeojin loudly answered. "We can't just sit around all day and ignore each other. We have to do something." 

"Yeah!" Yerim cheered. "It's camp! We have to do stuff!" 

"It was cold when we were walking to breakfast, but it looks like it's gonna be pretty hot today," Heejin spoke. 

"Actually, I thought I saw a pool yesterday..." Jungeun said. 

Most of the girls brightened up considerably. "Let's hang out there!" Yerim said excitedly. 

"We'll have to see if another group is already hanging out there; I don't wanna be stuck in the pool with five year olds..." Sooyoung mumbled. 

"We can double check if people are there on our way back to the cabins. If it's empty we'll change into swimsuits and go there!" Jiwoo answered, and Sooyoung smiled at her. 

"Alright then." 

A short while later they were changed into swimsuits, hopping into the pool, abandoned except for a pretty lifeguard named Momo that Yeojin was making eyes at. 

"Guys, let's play something," Heejin suggested with a smile.

"How about water polo?" Jungeun suggested, and most of the girls cheered. They organized themselves into two teams: Jinsoul, Sooyoung, Jiwoo, and Jungeun versus Yerim, Yeojin, Heejin, and Hyunjin. Haseul volunteered to be the referee, and Vivi decided to be everyone's cheerleader. 

Even though everyone else seemed to be having a good time at the pool, Chaewon didn't feel the same. Seeing the other girls in their swimsuits hadn't exactly made her feel confident. Jinsoul, Jiwoo, Vivi, and Sooyoung had looked beautiful and grown up in their bathing suits, and Jungeun, Heejin, and Hyunjin looked so fit and muscular. Compared to them, Chaewon felt like a little girl. And, sports had never really been her thing, so she wasn't going to play water polo with them.  

Luckily, she had a respite. Hyejoo was sitting on the pool chairs off to the side. It looked like she was wearing a swimsuit, but it was buried beneath her oversized black panic at the disco t-shirt, that went almost down to her knees. She wasn't doing anything, just staring into the distance with her arms crossed, but hanging with her felt much safer than going off with the other girls. 

"Hi Hyejoo," she spoke quietly, sitting down criss cross apple sauce in a pool chair facing Hyejoo. 

"H-Hey," Hyejoo answered, glancing at her before quickly turning away and not saying anything. Chaewon pouted, trying to think of something to say.

"So...you said you liked video games yesterday?" 

"Mmh-hm." Hyejoo nodded. 

Chaewon giggled and noticed Hyejoo sharply avert her eyes. "Then how come you came to a camp like this?" 

"Well, I wanted to go to computer camp. But my parents think I should go outside more and stupid stuff like that. So they made me come here. I'm still kinda pissed." 

Chaewon hummed and Hyejoo turned to look at her, finally, her long straight black hair falling over her shoulders. Gosh she's pretty, Chaewon thought, and now she was the one who turned away. 

"This kind of thing isn't really my thing either. My parents made me come too," she answered, giving Hyejoo a sympathetic smile. "But, you know...everyone seems nice so far. We don't have a counselor so nobody is making us do anything. I...I think this might be fun, maybe." 

Hyejoo shifted so she was laying down sideways in the pool chair, facing Chaewon. "You think?" 

Chaewon shrugged and smiled. "Maybe!"

"If you think so...then...maybe." 

They looked at each other before quickly turning away, for what felt like the millionth time that day, and fell into a comfortable silence. What was it about Hyejoo that made her feel so weird, so shy? But somehow...so comfortable? 

"You know, we don't have to go play with the other girls, but we could at least put our feet in the water. It might feel nice." 

Chaewon could barely believe it but for the first time since camp begun, she saw a smile poking out of the corner of Hyejoo's triangle shaped lips. 

"I mean it is really hot..." 

Chaewon nodded and grinned. "Then let's go!" 

They shared a real smile this time and got up, sitting down on the edge of the pool and putting their feet in the water. 

"You were right," Hyejoo spoke quietly. 

"Huh?" 

"You were right. This is nice." 

The two girls locked eyes then, and Chaewon's heart began to beat faster, and faster, and faster. Really, she couldn't help but smile. And slowly, Hyejoo smiled back. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile in the pool, team Jinsoul and Jungeun and Jiwoo and Sooyoung (dubbed team triple JS) was narrowly beating out team Heejin and Hyunjin and Yeojin and Yerim (dubbed team swag, by Yeojin of course). 

"Wait!" Jiwoo shouted, panting heavily. "I need a break!" 

"What sort of strategy is this?" Yeojin yelled back. 

Haseul whistled loudly. "Time out! Take five ladies!" She shouted in a fake referee voice, and Vivi giggled at her. 

While Jiwoo sat down on the pool steps, Jinsoul swam over to Jungeun. 

"How come you're so good at this?" Jinsoul asked Jungeun with a grin, leaning against the wall of the pool. 

Jungeun grinned, trying to hide her blushing cheeks. "Well, I play a lot of sports at school. I'm on the soccer team, and the basketball team, and the tennis team, and the lacrosse team, and sometimes in the summer I do baseball..." 

"You must be super strong then," Jinsoul answered with a look in her eyes Jungeun couldn't read. 

"I dunno..." Jungeun smiled and lifted her arm up out of the water. 

Jinsoul bit her lip. "Oh! Can I feel your muscles?" 

Jungeun turned her surprised face into a grin. She didn't want Jinsoul to think she was turning her down, but maybe she was a bit surprised that the cute cheerleader one year her senior was flirting. "Of course," she answered, flexing her bicep. 

"Oh my gosh I was right... you're so strong," Jinsoul spoke while squeezing Jungeun's muscle. 

"Jinsoul!" Sooyoung shouted, and Jinsoul turned back to look at her. 

"Your hair!" Yerim added, with concern, and Jinsoul looked down. Jungeun just noticed too that Jinsoul's hair was green. Jungeun had seen blonde hair turn green from being in the pool too long, but this was a bright green, a worse case than she had ever seen before. 

"How does it even get that green?" Jiwoo mumbled. 

"It has to be pretty dead hair..." Sooyoung answered quietly. 

Jinsoul giggled good naturedly, but Jungeun just knew something was off; the laughter wasn't up in her eyes like it had been all day. Maybe this was something she was insecure about...

"Guys!" Jungeun shouted before she could stop herself. "Your hair looks a mess too! Yeojin, you look like cousin it!" 

The other girls turned around and laughed seeing Yeojin's wet hair covering her face. Yeojin pouted for a second before wrapping her hair all the way around her head, making everyone laugh. 

"Ladies!" Haseul shouted again in her special referee voice. "Everyone ready to start up again?" 

"Yeah!" They all cheered as Jinsoul put her up in a bun. 

"Position!" Vivi laughed again at Haseul's silly voice. "Three, two..." 

Jinsoul turned to Jungeun while Haseul counted down. "Thank you," she mouthed. Jungeun just smiled and Jinsoul smiled back, genuinely so, and it was heartbreakingly beautiful. 

"One, go!" Haseul yelled, and the splashing and screaming began again. 

"Go team triple JS, go team swag, go referee Haseul, go Chaewon and Hyejoo sitting in the corner, go!" Vivi shouted. 

"You're only supposed to cheer for one team!" Jinsoul yelled to Vivi between pants for air. 

"Really?" Vivi asked and laughed, Haseul not paying attention to the game at all and just staring at her. 

"How about tonight I teach you some cheers?" 

Vivi laughed. "Sounds good."