"Welcome to the One Tree At A Time Camp!" The loudspeaker blared out a short and cheerful tune, the instructors on the mini-stage dancing along with it.

The person next to the previous speaker raised her loudspeaker to . "We are to be your instructors for the next three days and two nights. My name is Yoona, here's Jessica next to me, and our male instructor here is Yesung. The guy before me is Yunho, the head instructor."

"We have some Instructors-In-Training here, college students like you guys who have went through this very camp multiple times, enough to start learning the instructor ways!" Yoona pointed at the two girls next to the stage, who bowed and waved.

"Actually," Yesung interrupted, "I was a Double-I-T (which is our short way to say Instrutor-In-Training) just last year. I was upped on the ranks, so I'm the newbie instructor here."

Next to him, Jessica nodded. "That's true, I used to boss him around." The crowd chuckled at Yesung's pout. "Anyways, that's really not the point here. Let's introduce our two beautiful ladies here to serve as our IIT's."

They climbed up amidst the clapping. A few wolf whistles sounded as a group of male campers found the Double-I-T's truly easy on the eyes.

"Hello, my name is Krystal!" the first one smiled. "I'm the sunbae here, since I've been a IIT for two years now."

The second one bowed, flashing an eyesmile. "My name is Sulli. Nice to meet you. It's my first time being an IIT, so please go easy on me."

As Sulli and Krystal went back down from the stage, Yunho took over. "Please clap for our awesome IIT's! Now back to the point. I'm sure all of you came to the OTAAT" (pronounced Oh-Tat) "Camp knowing exactly what we do, but just in case you were forced here for some reason, here we have mini-seminars about nature, plant new young trees, and do some litter-cleaning work. There are arts and crafts as well, eco-friendly campfires, etcetra, etcetra, etcetra."

"Our two girls are handing out brochures right now, actually," Yoona said. "You can find all events there."

Yunho continued, "Boys' cabins are on the right, girls' on the left. No boys in the girls' cabin and vice versa at any time. Curfew is ten thirty, we will be rising and shining at precisely six thirty every morning. If you wake up late, you'll have no breakfast because we have learned from experience that college students are always hungry, and eat up everything quickly.

"Now that we've gotten that clear, off you run! Our first seminar is in thirty minutes; until then, you all have time to settle down in your new bunks. Oh, and your bunk buddies are listed on the sides of the cabins. Until then!"

Taemin grabbed his best friend, Minho, and rushed to the cabins. He scanned the sheet, finding his name and Minho's name in a second. "Yes!" he hissed. He high-fived Minho. "We're in the same cabin. Let's go before the other guys all come."

They leisurely walked away, whistling a tune that suspiciously sounded like a song named Replay in another universe where the two were members of a famous Korean idol group named SHINee. Of course, they didn't know that, even if they did feel a certain vibe of familiarity as they whistled the song together.

"Dude," Minho said, "I'm glad I tagged along. That girl was pretty hot."

"Which one?"

"Krystal or something. Maybe something will happen?"

Laughing, Taemin playfully nudged his hyung. "Don't expect much. I doubt anything romantic will occur. Besides, we're here to plant trees, not romance girls."

"That's true." Minho sighed, tugging at his mini travel bag for it to roll well. "I'm just hoping we get stuck together in everything. Since I'm really not interested in all this nature thingy, the best I can wish for is to have fun."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll become super eco-friendly after this. Might become a double-I-T later on," shrugged Taemin. "You never know."

"Doubtful, but whatever."

The two of them fell silent, one anticipating the events to come, and the other questioning his own mind in why he had come.

Thirty minutes and two cabin pillow fights later, the small camp joined up at the 'cafeterium'-- or a medium-sized room with plenty of fans and chairs and a stage set up with a mic-- for their very first eco-friendly OTAAT seminar.

Taemin sat (of course) with Minho, smack in the middle row, since the younger boy wanted to sit at the front and the older boy at the back and so reached a compromise of the middle. The IIT's and the instructors, except for the head, all guided campers to empty seats and the likes. To Minho's disappointment, his current interest Krystal was way up at the front, too far up for him to flirt with her without making it look too obvious he was interested.

In fact, near them was the other IIT, Sulli (or was it Sally? Taemin briefly wondered), doing her job as being the polite and nice guide.

After the seminar (which had been boring, according to Minho, but very informational and wonderful, according to Taemin), there was a two-hour Event Time (to be called ET for short), where campers could choose activities of their choice to participate in.

With Minho's urging, they ended up at the Health Matters, which ended up being a delightful time for both of them, as Krystal and Sulli were there and Taemin got to eat a bunch of stuff.

Then came basketball as a Healthy Sport, which Minho participated in quite enthusiastically. Taemin found the sport not as fun as Minho found it and so chose to stand out with a couple of other campers who were disinterested as well. It was because of that very choise that while Minho and his love interest Krystal brought up a heated match of basketball, Taemin found himself awkwardly cheering next to Sulli.

He broke the unsettled silence first, trying to make small talk and become closer to the IIT. "Sulli, is it?"

"Yes," she answered politely.

"How old are you?"

"I'm turning twenty. And you?"

"I'm twenty right now, and will be twenty-one next year."

"Oh, I see."

They fell back into the silence, Taemin pondering the conversation that had just taken place. It was overall very polite, but very dull, and the quiet air surrounding the two was even more louder, in the way that their silence was even more pronounced and noticeable.

"What college are you from?" Taemin tried again.

"Seoul University."

Taemin took up an expression of suprise. "That's where I'm going!"

Sulli smiled politely. "What a coincidence. What major?"

"I'm in Environmental Science. Second year."

"Oh, I'm in Environmental Bio. First year."

"That's really cool."

The conversation sank once again. Seeing that his partner in conversation was not conversational at all was a bit depressing for Taemin. That was the key point to their talk, as it ended there when the basketball game also finished up with a tie. However, the less-than-winning result was more than enough for Minho, since he got to compete against his love interest and in the process became more interested in the love interest, and the love interest in him (at least, that was what he thought as the two competitive players shook hands).

Later, Taemin recalled this event and confided in Minho in the secrecy of the cabin, admitting that while "that girl Sulli has a pretty nice eyesmile," that was all there was in her-- "No wit, no fun, just dull and boring, super polite and not in the very least entertaining."

The next day was full of seminars and events, where for the first time since coming to the camp, Minho and Taemin were separated. The reason for it was simple: Minho found what Taemin liked boring, and Taemin refused to change his plans.

It worked well for the two of them; Minho got Krystal to be teaching his The Natural Art course, and Taemin learned things he'd wanted to know of in his seminars and Nature Info. It didn't hurt that his courses didn't consist of a certain IIT with an alluring eyesmile. Just thinking about going through all that again made him shudder.

At the end of two more short events, the head instructor Yunho called up everyone (which was not a lot of people, but a considerable number nonetheless) to the podium stage that they'd first been introduced OTAAT to. With evident glee in his eyes, he told the throng of people of the amazing news:

"We're going to be planting trees for the rest of the day!"

For this, he said, everyone would be paired up with another person. "All pairs are random. We aren't trying to matchmake or make your boyfriend cheat on you or anything-- we did it through paper slips in a hat, and I'm sorry if I pair you up with your ultimate enemy. Just ignore each other and work as strangers. However, whatever the reason is, there is no excuse for not getting work done. Understood?"

Then he started calling out names in the style of "Someone with someone," some pairings eliciting excited cheers and others, loud groans.

To their brief disappointment, Minho and Taemin were not paired together. Minho was paired up with another guy named Onew, and Taemin's name was yet to be called.

In fact, his name did not appear until the instructors' names were coming out at the end, at which he was hoping desperately for Krystal so that he could put in a few good words for his closest bro. However, the best laid plans of mice of men do often go awry-- Krystal was paired up with another girl, whose name Taemin could not remember, and he was paired up with Sulli. It was, to Taemin, Murphy's law at its best.

He knew the sentiment was shared, as Sulli's expression was also far from happy when her pairing was announced. The girl was, though, far too polite to make it obvious; she covered the slight frown with another polite smile.

It was to be noticed that it didn't reach her eyes.

They took off with a cart, and as all IIT's and instructors were sent to the hardest, most way-off places, Taemin was stuck dragging the heavy cart over bumpy not-roads and jagged rocks, since Sulli was too weak (she did try at first, being the polite girl she was).

He didn't let one word of complaint leave his mouth, however, since he thought that if he did, Sulli'd apologize and try to take the cart, and the cart would overturn and he would be the one picking up all those tree saplings under the hot, hot sun. That is why he didn't dare let his partner know of silent groans.

Inside, however, was a different story.

He cursed Murphy's law. He cursed the girl for being a girl. He cursed himself for being a boy. He cursed the skies for doing this to him. He cursed the hat for making the most awkwardest match ever. He cursed the path for being too bumpy, the rocks for being so sharp, the forest for being too big, and the trees for being too heavy. He cursed practically everything he though of.

At the end of such cursing his insides out, the team finally reached their destination point, where they immediately got to work in silence. Sulli mutely handed Taemin a shovel and took one for herself. Taemin mutely gave her a tree sapling in response. And they mutely dug and planted, dug and planted, dug and planted.

In a way, Taemin mused, they had the best teamwork ever. Without a word, they were getting everything done. If this wasn't what teamwork was, he didn't know what it could be.

The minutes became hours, yet the two of them were too engrossed in their own work and thoughts to notice the time passing fast. After all, the planting of trees required only muscle work, not brain. They moved along in a line, planting one tree sapling after another. That was why the next time Taemin raised his head to the sky, he belatedly realized that the sun was already starting its path to the mountains.

"Um, Sulli-sshi?" For some reason, he felt like he needed to be formal.

With a polite (...ly boring, Taemin privately grumbled) smile, she replied. "Yes?"

"I think it's time to go home." He pointed up into the sky, where the clouds were now tinted red and orange and pink.

Sulli gasped (politely). She said (politely), "Has it become that time already?" She looked at the cart to see only a few trees left. "We have done a good day's work," she noted.

"...yeah." Taemin fidgeted slightly, his hand making it up to his head halfway before remembering to take of his soiled glove. It was then that he safely rubbed the back of his head, at a loss for words. He cleared his throat. "Let's go back now, then."

"Wait, can we finish these first? There's only five left," said Sulli.

"Um, sure, why not?" said Taemin. He put his glove on again, and the heavy silence made itself known once more.

The two of them finished off the remaining saplings, proudly looking at all those baby trees they'd made a home for in the forest, where they belonged. Sulli, in particular, lovingly patted the last sapling and whispered, just loud enough for Taemin to hear, "Grow well, okay?" She flashed her eyesmile at the young plant, then surveyed the whole scene.

"This is why I love nature," she quietly said to herself (which Taemin, of course, overheard).

Taemin resisted the urge to stare. The girl was radiating happiness, practically glowing in the almost-sunset light, happiness certainly b in her eyes and expression. He marveled at the sight-- he had, in his career as a college student, never met someone as eco-loving as she was.

He shook it off, and silently shouldered the bags that they'd brought the mini shovels in. He took up the cart, gave a subtle cough, and stood at attention. Sulli turned around, the glow still on her face, and the two started the long journey back to camp.

To Taemin's great surprise, Sulli was greatly talkative. It seemed as though she'd forgotten to be polite in her great happiness. Not that Taemin had any complaints about that: he loved nature too, which was why he was in environmental sciences, after all, and at least there was no heavy silence.

"So last year, I wasn't a double-I-T, right? I actually spoke high to Krystal, even though she's my age. Now that I think about it, that's pretty funny!" And then she laughed, a clear and sparkling sound. She continued, "Speaking of Krystal, I noticed her taking an interest in someone yesterday, at Healthy Sports time, you know? He was on the opposite team, and he played well. The whole game was practically just two of them, really! I was so giddy--"

"He's my friend, you know," Taemin cut in casually. Those were his first words since they'd started walking again, and it surprised Sulli to no end.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry," she immediately apologized after blinking at Taemin's voice for a few seconds. "I was babbling, wasn't I?" She laughed, embarrassed. "I-I'll be quiet from now."

"No, it's fine," Taemin said. It surprised the both of them-- Taemin himself didn't know why he'd said that. His mouth was of its own, it seemed. "It's better than both of us being deathly quiet."

She flashed him a hesitating eyesmile. She though for a while, and then asked, "So the person Krystal is interested in is your friend?"

Taemin hid a smile. It looked as if this girl didn't want to end up talking by herself again, and decided to include him. He played along. "Yup. Tall, super huge eyes, super small head, right?"

"That's the guy!" Sulli clapped. "He's not at all bad looking, I must say..." Her eyes widened, and she promptly blushed. "I didn't mean to say that aloud!"

The boy beside her couldn't suppress his chuckle. "He's quite easy on the eyes, isn't he?" he joked. "His name is Minho Choi, by the way."

"Choi Soojung," she mused. "Not bad."

"Soojung?"

She nodded. "That's her Korean name. She usually goes by Krystal, though. Did you know that she's Jessica-unnie's sister? She's been to this camp since none-high school years thanks to unnie. Isn't that pretty cool?"

As she chattered on, occasionally asking questions to Taemin, the aforementioned boy found himself unable to contain a smile from spreading across his face. Whom he'd first though of as dull and only polite, nothing more, had turned out to be a bright girl full of chatter. He realized that he'd judged the book by its very polite and artificial cover.

The topic of Soojung and Minho came up multiple times, connecting both of them since there were people they both knew involved. In fact, by the end of the long (but seemingly shorter than when they'd first come) path, Taemin felt as if he knew this Soojung very well, since Sulli (he found out her real name was actually Jinri) talked about her a lot.

For some reason, his arms were not aching anymore, and he felt slightly disappointed that the road ended so quickly, ultimately ending the two's time together.

As Minho and he talked via phones (at an eco-friendly camp, of all places) late at night, in two different beds, he told his best friend of how he might still have a chance with his current love interest. And Minho told him that Krystal and her team (The name was Luna, it turned out) was near by, and that he got to talk with the girl a little-- small things like "would you like a bottle?" to "It sure is hot, isn't it?"

Which made Taemin tease that he was so old, the old man, talking about weather. (Of course, Taemin got his fair share of teasing from Minho, about how the "boring and dull girl isn't only good-looking, eh?")

After a morning seminar and two more ET times the next day, the time for departure had come. Taemin had had the time to exchange a few pleasantries with Sulli, the same going for Minho and Krystal, but that had been it. The fun and cheerful girl was gone; the polite girl was back.

However, just before getting on the bus, Sulli raced to him (along with Krystal, who raced to Minho next to him), breathlessly handing him a note before giggling with Krystal and running off. The two got eyed jealously in the bus's males, some sneers and snarls present.

Taemin kept the note in his pocket until he was alone in his own room (except not really, since Minho and he were roommies in college anyways, but hey, he waited until Minho was in the bathroom). Every time he thought of the note, though, he felt a smile gradually making his way to his face. It was all he could do to push it down and ponder why a smile was connected to the note.

The contents were as following:

To Taemin Lee-shi

This is your OTAAT IIT (Congratulations; if you could understand this first sentence, you have successly become an OTAAT-er!) Sulli Choi.

(Taemin chuckled-- it was true. Someone who hadn't went to that camp wouldn't have understood the first sentence at all.)

See, I really want to matchmake Krystal and your friend Minho-shi. To do so, she would have to give her number to Minho-shi, or Minho-shi give his number to her.

I thought I'd make things sure by having Krystal give the phone number, and while trying to convince her to do so, somehow I ended up having a crush on you.

(His eyes widened-- had he really read what he'd read? Sulli had a crush on him? He tried to calm down his heartbeat, which was very fast for an unknown reason.)

Of course, it's not real. No worries. It's just that Krystal now thinks so, that's all. Don't panic or anything.

(His racing heart practically stopped. Taemin let out a breath that he hadn't known he was holding. No panicking, he told himself. It's fake. And for the life of him, he didn't know why in the world he felt disappointment.)

What Krystal thinks now is that I needed someone else (namely, her) to go with to give my number to my "crush", or you. It somehow worked-- she's agreed to give her her number to your friend, and I wrote this in secret. (Obviously.)

Even though this whole crush fiasco is fake, Krystal will be expecting news and stuff about you and I. So here we are: we have to keep constant contact to make sure she's fooled, and suggest to meet up and go on double "dates" and stuff.

Here's my number: xxx-xxxx-xxxx.

(Taemin smiled. It was a really smart idea, really, and the thought of meeting with Sulli again was quite enjoyable, too.)

Sincerey,

Jinri Choi.

He heard a whoop from the bathroom-- was that Minho? He must've read Krystal's letter in the bathroom, the smart guy. With a chuckle and an answering whoop (see how they're both awesome like that? That's why they're best friends), they shared their letters and danced around. Well, Minho danced, Taemin just laughed at dancing Minho.

Immediately, the two roommates whipped out their phones and carefully inputted new contacts with the numbers they'd recieved. And then pressed SEND at the count of three, because, well, everything's better if you have a companion, especially if said companion was a best friend.

A few seconds later, both phones rang, signaling a new text. The following shouts of glee were heard five doors down each way.

This is how the conversion went:

*taps mic* is this on? agent sulli, report, agent sulli, report

the mic is on all right, agent taemin. reporting for duty

ur idea was awesome, btw. good one. minho hyung knows, tho

ikr? XP and as long as sj doesnt no its fine

good. well gotta go do some hw goodnight

night to you too :)

Both boys fell back into their pillows with self-satisfied sighs. They fought back and forth good-naturedly as of who'd turn off the lights (Taemin ended up doing it), and then the two spent at least an hour in elation.

Though for the life of him, Taemin couldn't figure out why. Was it since his favorite hyung was getting good with a girl finally? He shrugged, smiled, and drifted off to sleep.

His last thought was of Sulli.

Aaaaaand cut! I know this story isn't finished (Yeah it isn't! It's not even halfway done!!) and I've got a thousand of things planned even more, but frankly the chapter was becoming way too long, so I cut it off here. I am planning to make a new fanfic with this very idea, though I'm not sure when. Expect! I really do like how this story is going, especially since I'd actually planned something else for an ending, not this. Alas, the story lead itself on, using my fingers to write itself out.

The death fic I've mentioned last chapter is at home sitting on my desk, ready to be typed out. The reason it's not up yet is because I'm on a trip, two hours away from home to visit some family in the summer. This idea, actually, was created out of that ride when I was staring endlessly at some trees. Ugh.

Oh, and for this chapter, I asked a friend of mine to make me a poster for this, instead of me doing it poorly myself. She made two, though, and I love both so much that I didn't know which one to use. That's why there's two posters up. And looking at the quality of those beauties, I'm now considering asking her to keep doing all my posters.

Her name is silverstar101, by the way. Credit where it's due, right?