Woohyun arrived just when the sun was about to sink into the horizon and the sky was illuminated with a vibrant mixture of orange and purple and violet. He carried with him a backpack, a small duffel bag and his ever flamboyant smile. He was welcomed by the group of six at the train station.

“At last,” Doojoon smiled, ushering the younger boy to the car and helping him with the bags.

“Sorry I’m late to the party.”

“Don’t worry about it,” added Minhyuk, patting Woohyun’s shoulder as they both headed to the doors.

Chorong quietly slipped in to the seat at the farthest back in the middle of the occasion and plugged her earphones on, and when Woohyun walked past her and glanced inside the window pane, she closed her eyes and pretended to be asleep. Joohee filled the place next to her and pulled one of her earplugs away. “I know you’re awake,” she pointed out, an amused grin tugging on her lips. “You slept for like five hours straight earlier, so you can’t possibly still be able to fall asleep again.”

“Leave me alone,” Chorong rolled her eyes. Despite her easy-going attitude, Joohee was always quick in noticing subtle things. Although Chorong was mostly grateful for that quality of hers, sometimes she wished she wasn’t that easy not just for Joohee, but also for others to read.

“So where are we sleeping tonight?” Woohyun asked upon taking his seat which was previously filled by Chorong. He glanced at Doojoon, then at the back, waiting for an answer. Hoya proposed sleeping outdoors by the beach or any vacant spot they can find.

“I don’t know if the tents we brought can fit us all in, though,” Doojoon shrugged.

“If there’s not enough space we can always kick you out,” Bomi chirped in with her trademark grin.

“Or, if there’s not enough space we can always send you back to Seoul to study since unlike us, you’re not graduating yet.”

“Jerk.”

“Brat.”

The rest of them chuckled at the siblings’ little banter which they had grown accustomed to. Woohyun’s eyes flicked at the mirror and his gaze fell upon Chorong who was staring outside, seemingly uninterested in the conversations going on. He heaved out a sigh and mustered up his frown with a smile before redirecting his attention back to the road ahead of them.

--

Doojoon joined Woohyun with the preparation for dinner once he succeeded in making the fire (he insisted in doing it the traditional way, saying that there is no meaning in using lighters when camping out, but in the end he resorted to getting the help from the matchsticks Woohyun happened to have brought along with him). The younger one was chopping some vegetables while preparing the gravy for their ramyuns.

“Aren’t you going to join them?” Doojoon asked, pointing at the beach where the rest of them were as he helped wrapping the sweet potatoes in aluminium foils before throwing them all into the fire.

Woohyun’s gaze followed the direction. He crinkled his nose a little and shook his head. “Nah.”

“Why not?”

“I’m a chic cold city man, that’s why.”

“Yeah right, a chic cold city man sitting here slicing radish and onions instead of playing in the water.”

“And what about you? Why aren’t you with them?”

“Uh, well, I’m still tired from driving all day. Jetlagged.”

“Right,” Woohyun responded in a teasing tone. “Are you sure it’s not because you’re afraid of water?”

“Hey!”

The two boys let out a chuckle, and Woohyun casted his gaze at his other friends. He could see Joohee approaching Minhyuk and Hoya and whispering something to their ears, and identical mischievous grins emerging on their face as they proceeded to approach Bomi before lifting her up, Joohee holding her hands while the boys each of her feet. Bomi’s loud scream was clearly audible as the three swing her in sync before tossing her into the water. They burst out laughing while the girl sent them each angry glares. “Unnie, you’re next!” she announced, pointing at Joohee. The older girl’s giggles came to a halt when she realized that she was the new target. She shrieked and yelled to the top of her lungs as the three chased after her.

Woohyun smiled at the sight, at the same time shaking his head. Then his eyes fell upon Chorong who was standing at the sight, watching the same sight as him and occasionally throwing her head back laughing. All of a sudden, she glanced at his direction and met his gaze. He was the one who broke off the eye contact within seconds by redirecting his attention back to the food.

--

“Wow, it smells so good!” Minhyuk cooed as the lid of the pot was lifted off.

“Of course it does. I cooked it.” Woohyun grinned, face gleaming with pride.

“Still can’t beat my signature egg ramyun though.”

All of them were gathered in front of the fire, each holding a makeshift bowl made of paper cups while waiting for their turn to fill their cup (and tummy) with the ramyun. Woohyun made plenty, considering how they would be exhausted and starving from playing in the water, but now it seemed barely enough. “Don’t eat too much at one go. We can’t spend too much money restocking food every few hours since we still need money for gas or in case of emergency,” he reminded them.

“But Nam Woohyun-ssi, meal time is the highlight of every road trip, aside from the beach and campfire, that is,” Joohee countered back. “Isn’t that right, Lee Minhyuk-ssi?”

The boy shrugged in response. “He has a point though. Doojoon hyung paid the last time we stopped at the gas station. We can’t make him pay every time we’re running out of gas.”

“Finally there’s someone who cares about my wallet,” the older boy said with his mouth full.

“He still needs to pay for our food,” Minhyuk added soon after, erupting laughter from the pack while Doojoon muttered something unintelligible under his breath.

When the giggles died down, Bomi’s eyes widened and she raised her hand to speak. “You know what else is a highlight of every road trip and camping out?” The others only shook their heads and said nothing, so she carried on. “Ghost stories!”

“Bbom, please,” Chorong said with a pleading look. “You know I hate those kinds of stuff.”

“To make it fair, how about each of us just sharing a past experience? It can be funny,” Hoya suggested. He smiled when he caught Chorong’s grateful eyes. “Let’s start with you, Bomi.”

Woohyun tried to pay attention to Bomi’s story as he ate, but he was getting distracted by how pale Chorong’s skin appeared against the burning fire. She had her fingers wrapped around her paper cup, as if trying to warm herself up from the hot broth. He noticed that she was wearing a thin layer of clothing, and wondered if she was cold. However, before he could offer her his cardigan, he saw Doojoon already taking his off and handing it to her. There was a genuine surprise on her face before she murmured a word of gratitude. Suddenly Woohyun felt colder, so he huddled himself together and edged in closer towards the fire.

“You okay?” he heard Doojoon’s voice asking.

“I think I just caught a slight cold from someone in the train earlier. I’ll be okay,” he smiled.

When Woohyun returned his attention back to his cup, he realized that his ramyun had turned all soggy. Still he finished everything and hoped that it could give his body the warmth he needed.

--

“Here,” said Chorong as she handed Woohyun a small plastic bag containing various medications.

“What for?”

“I heard you caught a cold. I just happen to have them with me.”

She walked away before he could say or ask anything else, so he only blinked at the stack before studying each of the labels.

“You’re not going to buy that, are you?” Hoya asked with a yawn, at the same time stretching his arms as if to fight back the drowsiness.

“What do you mean?”

He took his time staring at the sea and squinting his eyes against the morning sun before he finally answered. “Chorong dragged me with her to the convenience about two blocks away from here in the middle of the night after we all went to bed last night just to find those medicines for you,” he explained, making sure that Chorong was not within the earshot. “Ah, my precious hours,” he ranted as he shuffled away to help the others moving their stuff back into the van.

Woohyun stay glued to his feet and continued to keep his stare at the stack of pills in his hands. He suddenly recalled the saying “it’s the thought that counts”. But at that moment, he wondered when do someone’s good intentions turn into a burden.

--

“Ah right, I forgot to ask about your job, Woohyun!”

Woohyun raised a quizzical brow. “What about my job?”

“Doojoon hyung said you got into AP Design?” asked Minhyuk, and Woohyun only nodded in reply. “But I thought you mentioned before that you want to keep working for Seungyeon sunbaenim?”

Chorong stopped on her tracks upon hearing the name. She tried not to make herself appear obvious by busying herself fiddling her fingers on her phone, typing away things that do not really make sense. Even so, Woohyun still noticed her. He shrugged at Minhyuk who was still awaiting his answer and looked away. “You can’t have everything you want, even if it’s right there in front of our eyes. That’s the reality of this world we’re living in, Minhyuk.”

■ First of all, I am extremely sorry that I don't update this fic that often. It's a big project that involves a lot of things and I have many plans for this one but it's not an easy task transforming them into proper sentences Y.Y
■ Second of all, I know this chapter is too focused on Woohyun/Chorong. I just am extremely biased want to introduce you guys to their relationship deeper. I dropped too little hints for you to notice so far but I'll reveal more about the other characters in the coming chapters!