The first morning of the camp was a lot more civilized than any of the teachers had expected. Well, it would makes sense since everyone was either dead tired or off the charts lazy. It was the first morning after all. No one wanted to get physical yet. Of course, except for the few strangely awake ones, one of them, being the Jackson Wang. But everybody had known that.

 

“Jackson, what the Hell?” Mark groaned, annoyed and still half-asleep, as he stepped outside of his tent, rubbing his eyes and ruffling his fiery red hair.

 

“Soooooooo?” Jackson grinned, alive and thriving as ever.

 

“What the do you mean?” Mark really wanted to land a punch on that face, “You ing woke me up! I was sleeping!” The redhead moved away from the tent and settled down at a tree near it. His best friend followed, still wearing a cunning smile.

 

“I meant what base y’all on?” The fencing team’s captain giggled. “Could you even sleep? Were you, maybe, too excited?”

 

As much as Mark would love to admit how excited he was, at the same time, it’s literally five in the morning, so in his eyes, Jackson was a prick right now. Mark shook his head and scoffed. He stared off towards the stilled tent. After awhile, he stood up, stretched and opened his mouth to yawn tiredly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

Jackson’s eyebrows knitted together in doubt, staring at the redhead’s pretense of disinterest. “Come on! Tell me! I wanna know!”

 

“Sshhhh!” Mark hushed. “You’re so ing loud so ing early in the morning.”

 

Jackson pouted, “I got my up early to find your ing tent and this is how you’re treating me?!”

 

“Oh, my God, shut up! Jinyoungie’s still sleeping!”

 

At this point, it seemed like Jackson had finally realized. His eyes widened and he covered his mouth, nodding rapidly, agreeing with Mark that he needed to shut up. “Sorry…” Jackson whispered carefully.

 

Mark sighed and rubbed his neck, “We’re not meeting up until another two hours. You’re so extra, Jacks.”

 

“I just wanted to know how’s your progress. But hearing you calling him by a nickname… I’m guessing you at least progressed a little…?”

 

“Not really. He seemed indifferent.”

 

Not liking the way Mark’s shoulders slumped with low self-confidence, Jackson patted his best friend’s back for comfort. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s only the first day. You still have many more to go.”

 

“What happened if after this week, he still wouldn’t let me date him? I mean, he probably thinks I’m a bother. Because he’s seen with me, he’s been getting a lot more nasty comments thrown his way. He’s upset, I know. It’s obvious. And at times, he’s, like, super uncomfortable with me.” Mark looked down at the ground and released a heavy sigh, “And he’s so smart, Jackson. He’s smart and I’m dumb as . He probably doesn’t like dumb people like me.”

 

“,” Jackson raised an eyebrow, “if you’re dumb, then I’m probably an idiot.”

 

“But you are, though.”

 

“ you, Mark.”

 

“No thanks.”

 

Jackson scoffed, “Of course not. You’ll rather Jinyoung-”

 

“Sssshhhhhhh,” Mark winked, “That’s a secret.”

 

Jackson stared at Mark’s ridiculously red face with unamused eyes. “Stop thinking about it, you ert.” The fencing captain sighed, “What happened with the confident hottie of the school that I’ve known since middle school? You’re not bad, Mark! It’s okay. You got this. I mean, he has to at least be attracted to you in some way, you know, like your looks?”

 

“Okay, but if he’s not into guys?”

 

“Oh, my ing God. I swear I’m going to kill you right now. You’re telling me that you went out your way, confessing and , while completely overlooked that? Mark, you’re… I’m speechless.”

 

“Jaebum was the one who told me to confess! I wasn’t going to until I knew for sure if he’s into guys!”

 

“This is a mess,” Jackson shook his head.

 

Mark bit his lip, “I know it is…”

 

“Jaebum’s an . Why did you listen to him? Out of the six of us, he’s the most sly and sadistic! Mark, you know that!”

 

“Be quiet!”

 

“I can’t when I’m just now finding out that you went and exposed yourself while completely clueless about your crush’s uality. Goodness, Mark, come on! And on top of that, you took Jaebum’s advice instead of mine! Jaebum’s. Im Jaebum’s. The guy you’ve known for only two years! Two ing years!” Jackson’s arms started failing around in intense protest, “Honestly, I’d rather you listen to Yuggie’s and Bammie’s stupid advices than Jaebum’s. Hell, Youngjae is the best one out of us. Why didn’t you consoled with the angel but played fire with the demon?”

 

Mark ran a hand through his tousled hair in frustration, “I don’t know! Jaebum was very convincing when he had said how he went and confessed to Youngjae not knowing if he swings that way. So I guess I got motivated and-”

 

“Jesus ing Christ-”

 

“I mean it can’t be that bad! Jinyoung blushes sometimes. I can see that! So it’s considered progress, right?”

 

“Mark, boys blush at everything.”

 

“Uh, what?”

 

“What I’m saying is that his face turning red doesn’t necessary means he likes you that way.”

 

The redhead titled his head and scrunched his face in confusion, “Ugh, I don’t know! This is hard.”

 

Jackson gave up, “I’m done here. Gotta head back and get ready before my get roasted by Eric.”

 

“Wow,” Mark rolled his eyes, “You’re just going to leave like that?”

 

“Yes, I am going to leave like that. In fact,” Jackson sassily rested a hand on his hip and glared at his best friend, “I’m going to start leaving your dumb if you keep this up, Mark Tuan. How can you be so stupid, seriously? You’re supposed to be the smart one out of the two of us! Disappointing.”

 

“Really, Jackson, really.”

 

Jackson scoffed and rolled his eyes, “No! Idiot. Anyways, get your together. I’ll see you in a bit. I really have to head back. Eric got all powerful on me after he set up the tent and ing won. “

 

Mark smiled for the first time since he had woken up, “I knew it.”

 

“Obviously, do you think someone like me could have done it? What a joke. But now I’m his slave. He’ll starve me if I don’t serve him.” Jackson shrugged, already accepting his damned fate. “Whatever, it’s only a week. I’m mature. I can handle him.”

 

“Right…” Mark muttered under his breath.

 

“I’m going to shove my foot down your throat, Mark. If you got something to say, say it to my face, .”

 

“Okay, okay, okay, go back to Eric before he cuts you. As much as I want him to rip you to pieces, I still want you to stick around for a long time, so hurry!”

 

“Ew. Don’t go sappy on me, buddy. I’m not used to you being this nice.”

 

“Go, Jackson.”

 

“Okay-”

 

“Mark…?”

 

Both captains froze. Their eyes slowly travelled, landing right on the deep color of green of the tent. Their ears perked up as the noises of shuffling resonated clearly. Jackson unconsciously gulped. Mark’s face was drained from all healthy colors. They didn’t know what to expect, but they knew both of them were scared less.

 

Coming out from the tent, a sleepy Jinyoung squinted his eyes and rubbed his puffy cheeks with his hands. His lips pouting and hair was in a messy glory of fluffiness, “Mark, is that you?”

 

Mark stared, unable to answer nor took his eyes off the insanely adorable sight in front of him. “, I’m waking up for the next six days to this?” The redhead whispered, low enough for his best friend next to him to hear. “What kind of Heaven is this? Damn, life has never been so great, Jacks.”

 

Jackson tried to hold in his laugh by biting down his lips harshly, “You’re so ed, dude. Good luck.” After an encouraging pat on the back, Jackson fled the scene, leaving his best friend to grin dumbly at the love of his life.

 

“Hey… Mark…?” Jinyoung titled his head confusion, realizing that running figure was none other than the fencing captain he hated. “What were you doing up so early…”

 

Mark was still in a trance, shamelessly staring with dreamy eyes at Jinyoung. The nerd was still half-asleep and didn’t seem to notice. Though, after a moment of silence, it was getting kind of awkward. “Mark,” Jinyoung tried to call out a bit louder this time. But the subject of his soft voice wasn’t even budging the slightest. Jinyoung scratched his head, protruding his pink lips out even more. Shaking his head, he turned around, deciding to head back inside.

 

Only then that Mark descended back on Earth after visiting Heaven for some good minutes. “Jinyoung!”

 

Upon being called, Jinyoung spun around quickly, eyes widened in an undertone horror but mostly surprised, “You scared me!”

 

“Sor-sorry…” Mark rubbed the back of his neck, now feeling the shame catching up to him. “I was, uh, um, I… Sorry, I didn’t hear you.”

 

“Uh, no, that’s okay…” Jinyoung said quietly.

 

And of course, another silence wrapped them up in its arms. It’s like there’s nothing but silences between both of them. That and awkwardness. Except for a few times of Mark’s bravery and cheesiness. But mainly it’s just been suffocating silences and unavoidable awkwardness.

 

“Did we, uh, wake you up?” Mark finally found the ability to form coherent words again, “Sorry… I did told him to be quiet… I mean, if you want, you could go back to sleep again. It’s still pretty early.”

 

Jinyoung rubbed his cheeks with his hands again, an action that makes Mark’s heart melts into a puddle of wanting to fly over to the nerd’s side and ran a hand through those soft locks of fluffiness and pinched his cute puffy cheeks and kissed his adorable pouty lips. God, Mark could spent days, maybe years, staring at Jinyoung and would never get tired or used to it.

 

“I don’t think I could sleep any more,” Jinyoung replied, “I’ll just go freshen up and sit around or something…”

 

“O-okay,” Mark nodded slowly, swallowing down the lump stuck in his throat. “Ha-have fun!” The redhead desperately wanted to slap himself for sounding so weird and unnecessarily high-pitched. Jinyoung didn’t seem to notice Mark’s self-frustration.

 

Jinyoung nodded back and his heels, about to head back into the tent to grab his hygiene belongings. But he stopped on his track before entering the tent. For a couple of seconds, he just paused there, with his back to his partner, contemplating on…

 

“Mark, I…” Jinyoung’s heart was feeling a bit brave this morning, “I, um, just want you to know that I, uh, I d-don’t think you-you’re a b-bother at all…”

 

The bright morning sun crept up from behind the trees. Early breezes flew through, intoxicating the air with their own freshness. The deep dark sky shifted to an alluring hue of burning orange before transforming to a calming blue, waking up all the birds and animals. Also waking up Mark’s heart in the process.

 

He stood there as if time stopped dead. His mind running a mile each second. Mark wasn’t sure if he had correctly heard what had just came out of Jinyoung’s mouth. He just knows that whatever it was, it had made him held his breath.

 

Jinyoung didn’t turned to face Mark, “A-and you’re not dumb, Mark, don’t think that you are… And also, um, I’m… I don’t know if I’m in-into g-guys… I’ve, um, n-never really li-liked anyone before so…”

 

“Jinyoung-”

 

“You understand what I’m trying to say, right?!” Jinyoung suddenly shouted, shutting his eyes closed and clenching his fists, as his ears drown themselves in dark, dark, red.

 

“I… Yes…” Mark answered, voice wavering under overwhelming feelings of something quite magical.

 

Jinyoung gave a curt nod, “Ok-okay… G-good. I’ll s-s-see you.” And just like that, the nerd immediately disappeared inside the tent.

 

The baffled expression on Mark’s face explained whatever just happened. “O-o-okay… Okay… See y-you…” Mark nodded and said into the empty space, face flushing like crazy of the color of his messy nest of hair.

 

 

 

%%%

 

 

 

“All right!” Coach Jung shouted, hands cupping around his mouth, above all the voices of thousands of talkative students, “Everyone gather around to receive your mission of today!”

 

Although the chatterings didn’t stop, all students were gathered around the P.E. teacher. First camp morning’s breakfast was hectic, but it all worked out in the end. Everyone got their share and enjoyed eating with their partners and other friends. It seemed like the friendship bars have risen for every students, even the male-female ones. The atmosphere of the first morning was great and harmonious, filled with all kinds of warm feelings of being in unity.

 

Clearing his throat, Coach Jung switched his beloved megaphone on, “I hope everyone enjoyed their breakfasts with their respective partners. Are you guys feeling the fun yet?!”

 

The hype spread around, students screaming and clapping and shouting enthusiastically. Coach Jung grinned, proud and happy that everyone was enjoying themselves. “As you all know, yesterday, setting up your tent was the first mission to start this camp off. And of course, I wouldn’t expect less from the Student Council’s Vice President, Eric Nam, and it pains me to say this, but the Fencing Team’s Captain, Jackson Wang. They’ve snatched First Place!”

 

Cheers erupted throughout the crowd while some bitter “boos” were also heard. The coach nodded, probably agreeing with the salty comments, because he was really rooting for his Youngjae to win. “See, you all need to pick up your games! Don’t let the Seniors dominate this entire camp! I know you Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors – ehem, Choi Youngjae, I’m talking to you – can write histories for yourself! Let there be competitions! Let there be fire igniting your hearts!”

 

The prep talk got students excited on their feet. Coach Jung continued, “Anyways, here’s the second mission. As you all are aware that there’s a lot of you here. Let’s say that, at some point during this camp, our Teacher Team ran out of food and supplies – I know that won’t happen ever – but let’s say it would, then what’s going to happen? Of course, you’re not going to starve yourself, right? Obviously not! So, here’s the mission; around camp and some parts of the woods, approximately five hundred meters radius, are scattered supplies of foods and drinks, as well as spare clothes, first-aid kits, compass, flashlight, batteries, basically everything you’ll need for the mission tomorrow. Your mission today is, with your partner, find a supply bag and report back immediately to your Section’s supervisor. Here’s the thing, there’s plenty of bags for everyone, but the time is limited. You’ll have now until lunch, which is at one or in another four hours. Those who found their bags and reported back before time’s up, will get points. Those who don’t will still get their supply bags from their Section’s supervisor, however, their points will not be recorded. Now, keep in mind that this is a competition, which means you all are racing against each other to get points. So, stealing is acceptable, but no serious physical interactions or you and your partner will be immediately disqualified and sent home to your parents. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Yes, sir!”

 

“Great. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do?”

 

“YES!”

 

“Awesome! The point you’ll receive is 300. That’s a lot of points, considering how many points that are set for other activities today. So, now, as soon as I fire the gun, you all may be on your way, with you partner. I REPEAT. WITH. YOUR. PARTNER.”

 

“OKAY!”

 

“ALL RIGHTY THEN!” Coach Jung raised his hand, fingers wrapping around a starter pistol. “OFF YOU GO! GOOD LUCK!”

 

The moment the piercing sound of the pistol echoed through the air, the crowd below rapidly dispersed in every direction, competitiveness burning hot on their heels.

 

Jinyoung was caught off guard and in a second, he couldn’t feel Mark’s presence anymore. He looked around in panic, shouting his partner’s name over and over. Too many people were pushing, so Jinyoung had to run off to a clearing. He didn’t know where he was running of to, but he just followed a group of people to avoid being stomp over. When Jinyoung reached a clear opening, he stopped to catch his breath. He looked around, completely lost and worried sick.

 

“Mark, where are you…” Jinyoung chewed on his lip nervously as he took in his foreign surroundings. “I should have held on tighter.”

 

 

 

%%%

 

 

 

“JINYOUNG!” Mark yelled through the sea of people. “JINYOUNG!”

 

“MARK!”

 

In the state of panic, thinking it’s his precious partner, Mark responded to his name instantly, but it wasn’t whom he’s expecting. “Sora?”

 

The girl, Kang Sora, a student from the same class as Mark and Jinyoung, ran towards the redhead, “What are you doing? Where’s your partner? Where’s Jinyoung?!”

 

“I don’t know! We were just holding hands and now he’s gone!” Mark looked lost and scared. “Sora, have you seen him?”

 

“No,” Sora clicked her tongue and furrowed her eyebrows, “Come on, you have to find him, Mark! You guys are our class’s representative couple.”

 

Mark ruffled his hair, frustration washed over him, mixing in with the panic he’s experiencing. “. Tell me if you see him anywhere. Pass the words onto other people, too!” Without waiting for his classmate’s answer, Mark dashed off towards the woods.

 

He didn’t cared whether or not he’s within radius, all that was on Mark’s mind was Jinyoung. What if something happened to Jinyoung? Mark would blame himself for the rest of his life.

 

“JINYOUNG!” Mark screamed, hands cupping his mouth, eyes glazed with worried and fear. The sunlight danced over the redhead’s skin as he continued running through trees and fields, or anywhere that his legs could carry him to his partner. The more Mark ran, the more anxious he became. His lips were swollen and abused from him gnawing on them out of habit.

 

Mark had never felt so hopeless in his life. He’s seriously on the verge of tears. He could feel the emotions crawling their way up his throat and swimming their way through his veins. His eyes were watered, holding in tears that were threatening to pour out in rivers.

 

“Hyung!” From a distance, Yugyeom and Bambam called out and hurriedly ran over, “We heard from others. Have you found him yet?”

 

Mark just shook his head, feeling his soul leaving his body already. Bambam reached over and grabbed his hyung’s arm, “Mark-hyung, come on, you have to keep looking for him!”

 

“We’ll help you!” Yugyeom said, giving his partner a nod. Bambam nodded back with the same amount of determination.

 

“I’m sorry, guys… I’m so ing useless,” Mark said in a shaking voice, his body trembling all of a sudden.

 

“Don’t worry about it! Whoever important to you is important to us, too!” Bambam smiled encouragingly.

 

“Mark-hyung!”

 

“Mark!”

 

From the right, Jaebum and Youngjae came running, worried spreading over both of their faces like a virus. Mark looked up, touched, “Jaebum-ah… Youngjae-ah…” The obvious fact that both Jaebum and Youngjae had left their own partners to come assist Mark pressured the redhead. How could he be so ing useless like this that his friends had to drop everything they’re doing to come and save his pathetic ?

 

Youngjae stopped first and grabbed his boyfriend’s arm, “Jaebum told me about it. We were so worried! Have anyone seen him yet?”

 

All of them shook their heads. Youngjae noticed Mark’s body trembling and patted his hyung’s shoulder. “Calm down, hyung. We’ll find him. I’ve already notified the teachers.”

 

“Thank you,” Mark said, head hung low and eyes casted down at the ground in shame. “I’m bothering so many people. Why am I so stupid and useless…”

 

“Shut up, you tard,” Jaebum scoffed, “You’re not stupid and useless, okay? You’re just acting like one, especially right now. If you could just-”

 

“Im Jaebum-ssi!” Youngjae glared, “Honestly, if you don’t have anything nice to say, then please, keep it to yourself.”

 

“What is wrong with you, Youngjae?!” Jaebum turned towards his boyfriend angrily. “You’ve been like this all ing morning!”

 

“What the do you mean?!”

 

“You’ve been ignoring me from yesterday until now! Tell me what the is wrong? Did I do something to upset you?”

 

“Look, Jaebum, this isn’t the time to be discussing this. We’ve got a missing per-”

 

“Then when is it time when all you do is ing ignore me to hang around with your new girlfriend!” Jaebum shouted, fists balling and chest heaving up and down.

 

“Jaebum-”

 

“CAN BOTH OF YOU STOP IT?!” Yugyeom screamed. Disappointment laid over the youngest’s face. Mark held on Yugyeom’s wrist gently, willing the younger to peace.

 

Bambam glanced back and forth between Youngjae and Jaebum. “I think you two need to take this somewhere else and work things out. We’re already under stress enough as it is, please, don’t add on.”

 

Jaebum scoffed softly and turned his face away, refusing to leave or talk about anything. Youngjae sighed, “You’re childish,” the younger mumbled quietly.

 

“What did you say?” Apparently, Jaebum caught that and immediately whipped his head back to face his boyfriend, “What did you say, Youngjae?”

 

Bambam groaned. “Hyung, let’s not-”

 

“I said-”

 

“MARK, OH, MY GOD! MARK, COME QUICK! HURRY!” Eric was yelling on the top of his lungs while his legs worked hard to get himself towards the group.

 

“Eric-hyung?” Yugyeom was surprised, as everyone else was there, to see the student council’s Vice President running like his life depended on it. “What are you-”

 

“Why the Hell are you all standing here?!” Eric scolded, still trying to catch his breath, “We’ve found Jinyoung!”

 

“WHAT?” Mark jumped suddenly and grabbed Eric’s shoulders, “WHERE? WHERE IS HE? IS HE OKAY?”

 

Eric panted, the oxygen in his body escaped in a fast rate, “He-He’s fine, I mean-mean, NOT fine! Jackson is there-there with-with him now, and they’re both in-in trouble! HURRY!”

 

 

 

%%%

 

 

 

“Let it go,” Jinyoung said softly, “Just let them have it.”

 

“What the ? no,” Jackson growled, rage fuming in his eyes, “You’ve worked hard to find this. Some scumbags who dared laid a hand on you don’t deserve your hard work!” The fencing team’s captain’s grip on the bag was as powerful as his strength could allow him.

 

“We don’t ing care! The rules didn’t ban stealing!” The male student pulled onto the bag. “And he’s without a partner when he should be! Come on, Jackson, I thought you hated that ing nerd, too!”

 

Jackson’s jaw clenched, suppressing his anger at this injustice. “You don’t know ! LET THE ING BAG GO OR I’LL START THROWING THESE HANDS!”

 

Jinyoung shook his head and eyes widened, “Stop it, Jackson-ssi! It’s just a bag! I could find another one! Please, don’t fight!”

 

But Jackson was beyond stubborn, “It’s not just a bag, Jinyoung-ssi. You’ve hurt your leg trying to get it! I saw it! And they’re picking on you because you can’t even stand right now!”

 

Jinyoung looked down at his leg. It hurts, and he’s bleeding. At first, he felt like crying but didn’t because he has to find Mark. But after realizing that he couldn’t even stand on his own, Jinyoung just sat there and pitied himself, silently crying tearlessly, hoping to see that bed of fiery red hair he’s been missing. “Jackson-ssi, just let it go! If you want to help, then help me find Mark!”

 

“Yeah!” The other male student agreed, struggling with his partner to snatch the bag from the captain’s iron grasp, “Go find the ing redhead!”

 

“What do you mean? Didn’t the redhead left on his own because he couldn’t stand being near that piece of ?” They burst out laughing.

 

Those laughers irritated the out of Jackson’s ears. In the midst of anger, Jackson went ahead and launched a knee at one of the guys’ stomach, causing that student to drop his hold on the bag and doubled over in pain. “I ing dare you! Say that bull one more time!”

 

“What the , Wang Jackson!” Seeing his partner on the ground, the other male quickly let go of the bag. “What the is your problem?! How could you help that ing -”

 

A punch in the face was cleanly delivered from a new arrival. The burning, flaming, color red shined under the harshness of the sun, “Get the out of here before I ing send you both back to Hell where y’all came from.”

 

The male held his jaw in pain as he looked up at the captain that just appeared at the scene. “M-Mark? You ing punched me! You know I-I can report this and you’ll get-”

 

Jaebum grabbed the male’s collars and glared daggers into his poor soul. The previous argument Jaebum had with his boyfriend had already set him in a sour mood. “I’ll see you ing try.”

 

The male gulped, realizing what kind of dangerous situation he’s in. Jaebum didn’t soften his gaze and commanded through gritted teeth, “Take your partner and get the out. Don’t let us see you two again.”

 

As soon as Jaebum released his grip, the male quickly gathered his partner and they both bolted out of that area, disappearing behind the tall trees to God knows where. Jackson rolled his eyes and turned towards Jinyoung, and wasn’t at all surprised to see Mark was already all over the injured nerd, panicking like he had just killed someone. Jackson could have sworn that seconds ago Mark had looked like he’ll won’t regret actually killing someone.

 

“Jinyoung, are you okay?” Mark asked, eyes scanning all over his partner’s body, “Are you-Oh, my ing God, you’re bleeding! NO. I’m so sorry! I should have-”

 

“H-hey, Mark,” Jinyoung called quietly, “Could you c-calm down? It’s nothing serious. I just got a cut. I mean, it hurts when it happened, but I’m fine now so-”

 

“No! You’re not! You’re not fine! You’re hurt. You’re bleeding. A-and it’s all because of me! If I hadn’t let you go, this wouldn’t have happened! , why am I so ing use-”

 

Jinyoung’s hands flew up to covered Mark’s mouth. “Don’t you say it. I don’t want to hear it.” His face was glazed with tints of pretty pink and crimson, but his eyes bored seriously into Mark’s, “If… If I hear you say that you’re useless again, then I’d rather sit here for the rest of the camp then going back to the tent with you.”

 

They stared at each other for a couple of seconds before Mark nodded. Jinyoung sighed and lets his hand fall from Mark’s mouth. “Okay, good. Now could you grab the first-aid kit from the bag, so I could bandage myself up? We have to head back soon to record-”

 

“That should be the last thing on your mind!” Mark shouted. Jinyoung flinched, surprised at the sudden attack of Mark’s angry tone.

 

Jackson placed a hand on his best friend’s shoulder, “Hey, chill out, bro. You scared him.”

 

“I-I… I’m-I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to…” The redhead apologized in a much softer voice. He bit his lip and retrieved the bag from Jackson, who handed over to him easily, “Thank you, Jacks. I owe you one.”

 

Jackson laughed and looked at all of his friends, “You owe all of us one, Markie-ah~ But then again, you’ve been in debt to all of your friends here – except for Eric – from a long time ago. You know, when you started falling heads-over-heels for your pretty boy over there~”

 

Mark blushed. Everyone started laughing along with Jackson, including Eric. “What are you…” The basketball team’s captain pretended that his best friend didn’t just said all that and find his full attention back on Jinyoung, “Don’t listen to him. He’s trash.” Mark smiled, “Here, let me help you.”

 

“How cute! Jinoung-ssi’s face is as red as Mark-hyung’s hair!” Bambam exclaimed, causing everyone to curiously land their eyes on the star of their friend’s love story.

 

“I feel like we’re intruding something we shouldn’t! We all should go before we’ll be forced to watch them make out!” Jackson howled playfully.

 

“EWWWW~” Yugyeom faked a disgusted face and hid behind Bambam, who’s still hasn’t stopped laughing.

 

Eric rolled his eyes but a smile still plastered on his face, “Y’all have so much free time, oh, my God. Leave them lovebirds alone. Go back to your own partners!”

 

“Oh, !” Youngjae gasped, “Sana! I forgot! Jinyoung-ssi, I hope you’ll feel better! I’ll drop by later! Bye guys!” And with trained legs, the soccer captain took off.

 

“Youngjae-” the swim captain looked after his boyfriend’s figure, a sadness shadowed his usually cold eyes that became unbelievably soft whenever directing it at the person who stole his heart.

 

“Something’s wrong with you and Youngjae?” Jackson raised his eyebrow in question.

 

Jaebum just shrugged, “I’ll see y’all later,” he looked over at Jinyoung, who’s trying hard to hide his embarrassment as Mark carefully tending his wounds, “Uh, Jinyoung, don’t you worry anymore. You’ve got Mark. He’ll take care of you.”

 

They all, except Mark because he’s so concentrated on wiping the blood and ripping the bandage to even care, watched Jaebum coolly walked off with both hands in his pockets. Yugyeom sighed, worried, “I hope they make up soon. I really can’t stand them like that. You could tell how hurt Jaebum-hyung was.”

 

“That’s their problem. Let them deal with it,” Eric said nonchalantly, “You two should go do your mission. Jackson, let’s go. Jinyoung has Mark now. We’re all not needed here.”

 

They all nodded and, with kind smiles, they bid “goodbyes” to Jinyoung and headed out in separate ways.

 

“There!” Mark cheered and looked up at Jinyoung, “You still couldn’t stand?”

 

“Not really…” Jinyoung glanced at his cleanly and neatly bandaged leg. A little thump of his heart made him cracked a small smile. “Hey, you’re good at this.”

 

Mark rubbed his nape shyly, “Well, I’ve been interested in medical for a while now…”

 

“That’s great!”

 

“I guess…? I mean I’m too stupid to be going to med school. They’ll probably kick me out on the first day.” Mark’s smile dropped a bit to a slight frown. Jinyoung noticed it despite the redhead’s attempt at making that disappointment subtle. Mark got on his feet and crouched down, back facing his partner. “Get on, I’ll carry you back.”

 

“Wha-what? No, it’s okay, you don’t have to-” Jinyoung held his hands up in front of him in protest, cheeks burning red, and eyes widened like a deer caught in headlights.

 

“Come on~” Mark cooed, “It’s okay! I’m your partner. I have to take responsibility of you!”

 

“But-”

 

“You want to get back on time to record our points, right, Jinyoungie?”

 

That was all it took for Jinyoung to gave in and hesitantly climbed on the redhead’s back with the bag hanging on his shoulder. When Mark was sure Jinyoung was secured on his back, he stood up and took his time walking away. Obviously, Mark was enjoying it a whole lot.

 

After a while, Jinyoung’s sharpness came to play. “Hey, why are you walking so slow? Am I that heavy? Should I get off?”

 

“Nah,” Mark smirked, “You’re fine.”

 

“You’re not…” Jinyoung suspiciously stared at the back of his partner’s head. “You’re, perhaps, not taking advantage of this, are you?”

 

“What do you mean? I’m just-” Mark stepped on an uneven surface, resulting his balance to faltered.

 

“MARK!” Jinyoung screamed and on survival instinct, wrapped his arms around the redhead’s neck and practically buried his face into the soft bed of red hair in front of him. And his legs naturally linked themselves together, tightly caging Mark in between.

 

Mark regained his balance and a devilish smirk drawn upon his lips. He chuckled, “You’re okay, Jinyoung-ah. You can relax.”

 

No respond from Jinyoung except for the tightens of his arms around Mark’s neck. Mark laughed, “Seriously, relax or else we won’t be able to move from here! You’re literally trapping me with your legs! I can’t move my arms, Jinyoung-ah…”

 

Jinyoung peeked through Mark’s hair, “Will you be more careful from now on?”

 

“Yes,” Mark answered.

 

“Promise?”

 

“I promise.”

 

“O-okay…” Jinyoung relaxed, releasing his legs and loosens the wrap of his arms a bit. “B-be careful.”

 

Mark suddenly turned his head back a bit, only to find his face incredibly close to Jinyoung. So close that they could feel each other’s breaths softly fanning over their faces. Mark gulped as his eyes unknowingly traveled down to where Jinyoung’s slightly parted lips were. He stared at them for God knows how long. Probably very long. Or at least long enough that Jinyoung’s heart was racing like crazy and face flushed in all shades of red, because he knew where Mark was looking at. Mark took the last look at those tempting, plush, pink lips before moving his gaze back up to meet his love’s eyes, “I’m always careful,” he whispered and winked.

 

Jinyoung could have sworn that his heart stopped beating for that entirety of the way back to the campsite.

 

 

 

%%%

 

 

 

After arriving back at the campsite, Jinyoung was taken to see the nurses while Mark went to record their points and grab lunch for them both. They had lunch together under a tree, leaning against each other’s back, chatting away about random topics. Although Mark couldn’t understands most of the time about Jinyoung’s devotions for book characters and scientific theories, the redhead still nodded along and smiles, loving the sounds of Jinyoung talking.

 

They finished lunch and Mark cleaned up, leaving his partner’s side for a bit to throw away the trashes. Then, he was flying back to Jinyoung’s side and they talked some more, killing time as they waited for the next instructions. They both ended up learning a lot about each other’s likes and dislikes.

 

The conversation was escalating to a friendly debate of which genre of music was better, classical or R&B, when Coach Jung announced the following list of activities that students could do to earn points. Because Jinyoung’s injury still worried Mark a lot, he decided to skip all activities that involved another partner and opted for the ones that only needed one person to do.

 

And so Jinyoung sat and cheered from the sidelines whenever Mark made a perfect Bull’s eye in archery, or whenever Mark made a dashing three-pointer in basketball, or whenever Mark made an amazing one hundred jumps of jump rope, or whenever Mark made an awesome toss of his shoe that went to almost nine feet, or whenever Mark made a new record of chugging down two bottles of water in just a minute. Jinyoung was there to cheered and encouraged it all.

 

By the end of the day, Mark single-handedly earned two hundred and fifty points, which added up with the three hundred that they’ve received earlier. Mark was dead tired after a quick shower from the campsite’s bathhouses when night began to fall. He plopped down on his back, against the super thin mini mattress of the tent and exhaled heavily. “Damn, that shower did me good.”

 

Jinyoung bookmarked his page with a pretty, amber, leaf he had picked up earlier and set his book down. “I’m sorry I wasn’t much help… We’re so behind with the other teams.”

 

“It’s okay, we’re not that behind. I know there are a lot of people who spent the entire afternoon hanging around their friends instead of doing the activities to get points. We’ll be okay. It’s only the second day,” Mark smiled, running a hand through his hair to feel the dampness. “You’re feeling better?”

 

Jinyoung nodded, “Yeah. Thank you.” Jinyoung smiled genuinely.

 

Mark matched his partner’s smile with his own, “You’re so cute when you smile. You should smile more often.”

 

“What…” Jinyoung’s smiled dropped to a shy pout. “You’re so…”

 

“Shameless?” Mark smirked, proud of his straightforwardness, “I know.”

 

They stayed silent. What’s different from this silence with others was the comfortableness that presented in it. They’ve obviously gotten a lot closer after today’s events.

 

“Ma-”

 

The blaring of the obnoxious whistle rang through the night, interrupting Jinyoung from trying to start another conversation. Oh well, that must be a sign… Jinyoung sighed softly and lied down, pulling his blanket over himself. He flinched a bit as Mark turned off the flashlight that acted as the only light source in their tent. Jinyoung let his eyes adjusted to the pure darkness for a while before glancing over to Mark’s side. But what greeted him was the wall of their duffle bags and jackets stacked together, blocking Jinyoung’s view of his partner. He sighed again and said softly, “Good night, Mark.”

 

“Hmm,” Mark replied, “Sweet dreams, Jinyoungie.”

 

The tiredness in the redhead’s voice didn’t go unnoticed by the nerd. Again, Jinyoung was unable to fall asleep. He just lay there, listening to Mark’s gentle breathings like he did the night before. They were gentle enough to sound like soothing music in Jinyoung’s ears, but unfortunately, weren’t enough for him to fall asleep.

 

Feeling a bit lonely and uneasy, Jinyoung his side, facing the wall that’s separating them. “Mark…”

 

“Yeah?”

 

It kind of surprised Jinyoung at the fast respond. He blinked a few times, but soon gathered more courage now that he knew Mark was somewhat awake. “You’ve said it earlier today that you were, um, interested in the medical field?”

 

Mark’s end was quiet for a couple of seconds before a breathy “yeah” escaped.

 

“I think that’s really cool,” Jinyoung lamely commented, then mentally slapped himself at how awfully lame that had sounded. “I mean… What specific field were you thinking of?”

 

“Weeeell, I thought about being a sports medicine physician, you know, working with athletes, helping them with their physical injuries from doing sports.”

 

Jinyoung smiled, “You’ll be a good doctor. I could see it.” He wasn’t lying. He could see it. He could see Mark helping others to heal with that charming smile and enthusiasm the redhead naturally possessed. Jinyoung’s smile grew wider as he imagined Mark in a long, white, doctor coat with pretty charcoal colored hair and eyes kind and gentle while smiling so wide that those attractive canines were showing. Jinyoung blushed as he pulled the blanket up further to cover half of his face.

 

“No, I won’t,” Mark sighed, “I’m dumb. I can’t be a doctor. You can, though. You’re smart.”

 

Jinyoung frowned, “That doesn’t mean anything. If you work hard for it, you’ll achieve it. When you got a passion, anything is possible.”

 

“Like how I got a passion for you?”

 

“I’m being serious!”

 

Mark chuckled, “Okay, okay, I got it.”

 

“No, you don’t.”

 

“You’re right. I don’t.”

 

“Why?” Jinyoung asked curiously.

 

Mark didn’t say anything. Jinyoung waited patiently. If Mark needed some time, then time will be what Jinyoung willing gives. A sigh dispersed the stillness, Mark replied, in a voice that sounded so small and unconfident, “Because, in my parents words, I’m a 'good-for-nothing.' I only got looks and activeness. Sure, I could get a scholarship for basketball, but that’s all I’ll be getting. I can’t do . I’m as useless as it can get. Honestly, sometimes, I wonder why I even exist if all I can do is s up.”

 

Jinyoung didn’t know why, but he’s so angry. The next thing he did was what he thought was best. Jinyoung sat up and removed the wall that’s he’s been desperately trying to get rid of the moment he laid his head down. When the duffle bags and jackets were completely off the space between them two, Jinyoung lay down again and faced Mark, whose face morphed into nothing but shock.

 

“What did I told you? I told you I don’t want to hear you saying that again. You’re a good person, Mark. And you’re so kind. I don’t think you’re stupid, or dumb, or useless, or a 'good-for-nothing,'or whatever words you had used to describe yourself. I’ve always thought that I’m the only who’s dealing with unimaginable low self-confidence, since everyone seemed to love picking on me, but you’re way worse, aren’t you? At least I know I’m freaking smart and embraced it. But you don’t even have the slightest hope in yourself. Why? You’re such a great person. You’re, like, good at everything you do. You’re so perfect, Mark. There’s no reason for you to degrade yourself like that. You said you love me… But Mark, you don’t even love yourself. How are you supposed to love me?”

 

“That’s diff-”

 

“No, it’s not. You need to learn how to love yourself first before you could really love others. I think you could do it if you believes in yourself more. If grades are the problem with you, then… Then I could help you. I could tutor you. That’s no big deal. I, in all honesty, fully support you, Mark. If you’re willing to work extra hard for what you’re passionate for, then I’m willing to help you every step of the way. I’m being serious-”

 

“Jinyoung-”

 

“-I believe in you!” Jinyoung stared at Mark through the veils of darkness. “I do believe in you, Mark.”

 

“I… Wow, I…”

 

“I gave you a week, so would you also give me a week, too?” Jinyoung proposed randomly. Even he, himself, started to panic after saying that. He had no idea what he was saying or doing. But he couldn’t stop now or it’ll be too embarrassing. “Would you give me a week to prove to you that you’re way more than you think you are?”

 

Mark’s eyes gazed at Jinyoung’s sincere face with admiration. The redhead covered his mouth and laughed, trying to stay as quiet as possible in courtesy of other tents. Jinyoung looked at him confused and a little offended. Mark couldn’t stop laughing. He draped an arm over his eyes and grinned widely, “Jinyoung-ah, I think I just feel even more in love with you, if that was possible.”

 

“S-stop it, you’re making me embarrass,” Jinyoung pouted, dropping his eyes down to his fidgeting fingers in front of his chest. “I was being so serious…”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’ll give you a week,” Mark his side to face the person whose words have the effects of making him feel like he entered a new realm of life and happiness, whose words made his heart beats faster than anything else ever could, whose sincerity had reached every inch of his soul, whose eyes were looking so affectionate that he was entirely enchanted, whose gentleness made him wants to cuddle up against forever, whose heart will be the death of him.

 

“Y-you will?”

 

“Yeah,” Mark smiled as he let his fingertips grazed on the warm skin of Jinyoung’s cheek. “Prove it to me. Prove that I’m worthy of your love, Jinyoung-ah.”

 

Jinyoung nodded slowly, eyes still widened and heart fluttering like mad. “O-okay. I will.”

 

 

 

 

 

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