“I think we could all use a little time away from school,” Teacher Yang stated as he entered the Cheerleading room that day.  

The students nodded enthusiastically. 

“So, we will be taking an overnight camping trip!” The coach exclaimed, beaming with excitement.  

The students clapped harmoniously. “Teach! When do we leave?” Yeon Doo asked, ready to leave right away. 

“Tonight!” 

Another round of applause.  Altogether, the students burst from the room to go pack their belongings for the trip. Sung Mi hung back and remained with Teacher Yang.  

“Teach, do I have to go?” 

“It would do you good to get some fresh air. Trust me.” He placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze before leaving the room. 

After classes had ended, the team reassembled outside the school gates, where a bus waited for them. Sung Mi arrived and found Ha Joon standing in between Yeol and Yeon Doo. She made eye contact with Ha Joon and he waved her over. 

“Hey, ready to go?” Ha Joon asked, smiling politely. 

Sung Mi nodded and looked around at the others. She watched at the numerous bags they brought with them and then glanced down at her singular duffle bag at her feet. She was glad that it was chilly today, as she could get away with wearing a long-sleeved jacket.  

“Okay! All aboard!” Teacher Yang yelled out, indicating for the students to enter the bus. Before she could reach down, Ha Joon grabber her bag and slung it over his shoulder, along with his other bags. She thanked him and followed him onto the bus.  

As Sung Mi was behind the others, she ended up taking the last seat on the bus, which was next to Dong Jae. He smiled sweetly at her and offered her the window seat, to which she eagerly accepted.  

When the bus took off, someone kneed her seat, which caused her to yelp out in pain as it made contact with one of the belt scars on her back. She looked behind her and saw Yeon Doo smiling kindly at her after apologizing.  

Sung Mi faced forward and leaned her head against the cool glass window, staring at the passing cars.  

Her train of thought was interrupted by Dong Jae’s voice. 

“Jung Sung Mi, can I hold your hand?”  

She looked at him, not sure if she could bare to feel weak again as she did earlier. However, she knew that this progress was important to him, so she offered him her hand. He hesitated but slowly and shakily touched her hand. He pulled back at first touch, but returned and gently placed his hand on hers. He exhaled deeply and glanced at her.  

On the other hand, Sung Mi’s psychometric abilities picked up on something from him. She saw visions of him as a child, when he pushed Yeon Doo off of the monkey bars in a park. Then, it changed to a vision of him in school, watching her from a distance. From that memory, she sensed emotions of care, longing and romantic attraction. Quickly, she pulled away from him and held her hand closer to her.  

“Sorry,” Dong Jae whispered. 

“No, that’s okay. I’m glad you made that much progress over such a short span of time.” 

He nodded. “Well, I had a reason to try harder.” He stared at her, smiling sweetly.   

She returned the smile and returned to looking out of the window. This new development of Dong Jae’s feelings towards her took her by surprise. She never considered him as more than a friend and she hardly saw him as a man. She was so focused on maintaining Ha Joon in her space that she thought nothing of spending so much time with Dong Jae.