“Can you keep it down?”

“Is this retribution for all those times I scared you?”

“Kinda..” Irene grinned.

Seulgi grumbled and sat up, stretching and groaning along the way because the slightly uneven ground made her back a little sore. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and scooted a bit, making space for Irene to sit comfortably. The said girl was huddled up in a tiny corner earlier, sitting on the little space that Seulgi did not occupy.

“How long have you been sitting there? Was the thunderstorm bad? I didn’t hear anything.”

“Long enough. You were sleeping like a log, I’m not surprised you didn’t.” Irene snorted. “It was pretty bad, kinda like the one a few days ago.”

“You poor soul. Come here.” Seulgi patted at the spot next to her with a smile. Irene didn’t need to be told twice and huddled up with Seulgi as the rain continued to pour outside.

They decided to play 20 questions while they waited for the rain to stop. Seulgi suggested to play rock-paper-scissors - the winner would get to ask questions, just to make things a little more fun and Irene was game for it. What began as a plan to get to know Irene better failed miserably when Seulgi realised that she was on a losing streak.

“Hah! I win again!” Irene cheered for the tenth time while Seulgi sighed at her luck. “What kind of job do you want to have when you grow up?”

“Not a desk job, that’s for sure!” Seulgi answered almost immediately, startling Irene. “Sorry. My brother is working a desk job now and he’s just always so miserable. I don’t want to end up like that. All that overtime. He doesn’t even have time to finish his video games now. That’s terrible!”

Irene burst laughing at Seulgi, whose face was aghast as she recalled her brother’s working life. “You play video games-”

Seulgi held up a hand to stop Irene from continuing. “Next round!”

“Alright. Rock, paper, scissors!”

“I WIN!”

“Shoot.”

“Will I see you again next summer?”

There was a moment of silence and Seulgi tried not to be too disappointed. It was nothing new, there were friends that she never saw again after camp ended. For some of them, camp was a one time thing - once was more than enough even though they claimed to have enjoyed themselves and promised to be back the following year. Seulgi braced herself for Irene’s answer.

“You’ll see me around.” Seulgi felt Irene nudge her shoulder with her own and was greeted by a mischievous grin and a thumbs up. “It’ll be like summer never ended.”

She sighed, relieved by how confident Irene sounded. “So we have a deal? I’ll see you here next summer?”

“You got yourself a deal, Kang.” Irene held out her hand and they shook on it.

Conversations came to a stop naturally and they sat in comfortable silence, listening to the sound of rain and bugs outside. Seulgi felt Irene leaned on her shoulder, murmuring something about wanting to sleep. Seulgi straightened her posture and patted Irene’s head, telling her to sleep and she would wake her up when it was time to cook dinner. That was all it took for Irene to finally doze off. Seulgi quickly set an alarm on her wristwatch and fell asleep, too, her head eventually resting on Irene’s.

***

Seulgi looked around and frowned when she saw that everything was wet from the rain. She was trying to find some sticks to get a fire going before the sun went down. Cooking dinner in the dark was not ideal so she wanted to get things done quickly. Her second nap delayed things a little and while she did not regret it, she was determined to make up for lost time. Gathering some twigs and leaves, she headed back to her tent where Irene had gathered some flat stones for them to use as a makeshift stove.

Irene went back to her tent briefly to get her mess tin and rations bag and returned to Seulgi’s tent so that they could cook dinner together. Though it was against the rules but Seulgi figured that they would be fine, her campsite and Irene’s were actually in an isolated spot further up the hill compared to everybody elses’. Taeyeon and Yoona would probably not be sneaking around the bushes behind them, there didn’t seem to be a hiking path back there.

It took a while but Seulgi managed to get a fire started and cooked Irene’s noodles first. While the latter protested, saying that the chef of the day should eat first, Seulgi insisted and there was little Irene could do to change her mind.

“Why do these noodles taste so good?” Irene asked as she slurped the last of her noodles while Seulgi grinned proudly. “I mean, these are just regular noodles we see in stores everyday.”

“It’s all in the water. My mom taught me that less water wouldn’t dilute the seasoning that much so it’ll taste better.” Seulgi paused to drink some soup from her mess tin. “And also, it was raining the whole afternoon so a nice bowl of soup really hits the spot.”

“Right on!” Irene was about to take a sip of her soup when a voice interrupted.

“Hey, lovebirds! Are you guys done eating yet?”

Seulgi blushed at the word ‘lovebirds’ and Irene made a face when she recognised who it was.

Yerim and Joy eventually came into view as they hiked up the slope to get to Seulgi and Irene’s campsites. When they saw that Irene’s tent was empty, Yerim figured that the only other place on the hill that Irene would be was at Seulgi’s tent. Because where else would Irene go during a thunderstorm if not to the closest source of warmth that was Seulgi.

Irene rolled her eyes at Yerim as she finished explaining her theories and assumptions on her whereabouts. “Would you like a medal?”

“That would be nice but not necessary, thank you.”

Joy sat down beside Seulgi and took her mess tin from her hands, helping herself to the leftover soup. Handing the empty mess tin back to its owner with a satisfied burp, Joy grinned while Seulgi could only shake her head. The four of them gathered by the dying fire to warm themselves as the temperature in the jungle began to drop, the sun had started to set.

Seungwan joined them a while later, followed by Byul and soon the entire watch was gathered at Seulgi’s campsite, unbothered by the fact that they might be caught breaking the rules of solo camp red handed by their instructor and CA. Seulgi got up to look for more twigs to burn since it didn’t seem like it was going to rain anytime soon and sitting around a small fire sounded more appealing than sitting around in the cold, dark jungle.

She returned to her seat beside Irene once she was done with the fire. The group were complaining that the afternoon was a little dull without the company of their friends and the absence of activities left them feeling lost, not knowing what to do to kill time. Wheein nudged Hyejin smiling knowingly when they spotted Irene leaning on Seulgi the whole time. Yerim and Joy seemed to have caught wind, too, and were very smug about it. It was about time after all. It took them almost two weeks of constant pushing. They weren’t sure if a confession had happened but either way,it was good progress.

“What are you guys gonna do for the rest of summer?”

“The four of us are trying to start a band.” Yongsun proudly announced while gesturing Byul, Wheein, Hyejin and herself.

“A band?”

“More like a vocal group, actually. We do covers for now but someday, you guys are gonna see our names in the headlines!” Byul added.

“Not for anything illegal, I hope.” Seungwan mumbled and the watch burst laughing. “Don’t forget us once you guys are rich and famous!”

“We’ll send you guys VIP passes to our gigs, don’t worry.”

“Right on!” Seungwan high fived Byul and finger gunned.

They stayed at Seulgi’s campsite until it started to drizzle a few hours later. All of them got up and made a run for it as fast as they could back to their own tent because there was no way all of them could fit in Seulgi’s solo tent. Seulgi was a bit reluctant to see Irene leave as well but it could not be helped, she supposed. Irene would have to return to her tent eventually before Yoona picked them up the next morning.

The night fell silent again once everybody left. Seulgi lied down in her tent, listening to the sounds of cicadas that she had gotten used to during camp and the sound of rain falling. It was only drizzling so Seulgi wasn’t that worried about her friends. She could already hear Yerim’s voice asking if she was worried about everybody or just Irene. Sighing, she turned to her side to find a comfortable spot and dozed off.

That was until a scream pierced through the night and Seulgi heard footsteps coming towards her. It didn’t take long before she found out who it was, Irene practically came diving into her tent and then peeped out of it to see who was behind her. Seulgi stared at her blankly, confused by the scenario.

“Irene?”

“I heard some weird noises outside my tent so I went outside to check it out.” Irene explained in between breaths.

“Uhm..okay?”

“And then I saw this weird shadow thing. It was really creepy.”

“Ah yes I heard you scream. You okay?”

“Yeah. I’m okay. I think. Just..uhm..let me catch my breath.”

Seulgi gave her a few moments to calm down from the adrenaline. She had heard stories like such from previous camps but none of her past watchmates had ever encountered any. Seulgi definitely had never seen any weird shadows looming around the jungle at night. But it was pretty suspicious that it was Irene, of all people, who saw it. She had a hunch that either one of their friends were behind it but she wasn’t going to complain if it meant being able to spend a little bit more time with Irene before camp ended the day after tomorrow.

They sat in the dark tent for a while before Seulgi felt Irene leaned on her again, light snores confirming her suspicions that Irene had fallen asleep after the mild scare earlier. She smiled to herself and rested her head gently on Irene’s before falling asleep herself.

Seulgi woke up the next morning to the sound of what seemed to be a camera’s shutter clicking. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she squinted to see who it was and her eyes widened when she saw Yoona grinning at them from behind her digital camera.

“You two are too cute.” Yoona teased and Seulgi blushed. “Don’t worry. I won’t tell Taeyeon about this. Wake Irene and pack up. I’ll come pick you guys up in an hour.”

Yoona winked and left them be. Irene woke up after a few gentle shakes, looking exactly like a cat as she stretched and whined when her body protested.

“Why do you sound like a grandma? I thought we were the same age?.” Seulgi teased, earning herself a glare and a shove as Irene rolled her eyes comically before returning to her own tent.

***

“We saw you..” Yerim said in a sing song manner when they were all gathered at the foot of the hill, ready to head back to base camp. Joy smirked knowingly at what Yerim was implying.

“Saw me?”

“Doing the ‘walk of shame’ just now, so to speak.”

“Yah!” Irene gave Yerim a shove, too, and blushed. “Nothing happened and you know it. Get your head out of the gutter.”

“Aren’t you’re being a little too defensive? It’s suspicious.”

“Oh my god, you spawn of Satan!” Irene grabbed Yerim into a headlock and whispered in her ear. “Did you think that I didn’t know it was you and Joy last night. Did you think I wouldn’t recognise that same trick?”

Yerim scoffed as she struggled to break free from Irene’s surprisingly strong grip while Joy snickered. The rest of the K2 were blissfully unaware of what the trio were doing at the back while Taeyeon was giving them a short congratulatory speech on surviving solo camp.

“You say that but we got you good last night.”

“You did.” Irene released Yerim with a sigh and patted her head. “Thanks though..it was nice getting to spend a little bit more time with Seulgi.”

“You’re welcome. You two are progressing so slowly it’s getting on our nerves.”

“Our?!” Irene raised her voice slightly and it caught Taeyeon’s attention.

“Irene, do you have something you would like to share with the group?” Their instructor asked curiously.

“Oh..no. I’m sorry. Please continue.” Irene bowed slightly.

Yoona returned from her rounds up the hill, reporting to Taeyeon that all campsites were cleared out and nothing was left behind. Satisfied with her CA’s efforts, Taeyeon told the watch to get into a single file and prepare to depart.

Seulgi was about to pick up her backpack when she felt something sticky and gooey being smeared onto the back of her neck. Jumping slightly, she reached for her neck and turned around to see Irene staring at her with one eyebrow raised. Seulgi brought her hand in front of her face to examine it and Irene raised her brow even more.

“It’s sunscreen. The back of your neck looks pretty sunburnt.” She said as she handed the tube of sunscreen to Seulgi. “Put some more on.”

“It’s fine, it’s a short walk back to base camp.”

“But still!” Irene frowned and Seulgi quickly took the tube from her because it looked like Irene was two seconds away from pouting, something Seulgi was quite sure she couldn’t handle at that moment.

“Th-thanks.”

***

The walk back to base camp was surprisingly quiet by their standards. The only other time Seulgi remembered them being that quiet was during the very first day before they were all introduced. She had a good view of everybody from the back to the line and saw that everyone in the K2 were walking with heavy steps, as though to delay the inevitable. She looked behind at Yoona and their CA gave patted her head, knowing very well what everyone was feeling at that moment.

Their return to base camp marked the end of their activities for the summer, all there was left to do was the barbeque dinner party later that was organised at the end of every camp. It was a treat to both the participants and the staff members, to congratulate them on a job well done in surviving summer camp.

Taeyeon had sent them back up to their dorm to unpack after lunch and told them to bring down whatever items that were loaned to them during the course of camp. They were almost reluctant to return all the equipment to the storage room because it would mean that camp was over. It was unavoidable. Once they finished unpacking, the K2 brought their standard issue backpacks down to storage and did their final checks. Seulgi watched with a heavy heart as Taeyeon locked the door for good that summer.

“Till next camp.” their instructor softly patted the door before turning around to see that her members were pouting and some looked like they might actually cry. “Aaaw you babies, get in here!” She opened her arms and all nine of them rushed in for a group hug. “Yoong, get in here, too!” Yoona happily joined in the hug, too.

“Aigoo..why are you guys like this all of a sudden? Where did my tough cookies go?” Taeyeon cooed as Yerim started tearing up. “Come on, you guys. We still need to go help with the barbeque’s set up.”

***

Benches were arranged out on the field in front of the gym hall for the barbeque. Seulgi and the rest of the participants had spent the remainder of the afternoon carrying them from the mess hall one by one and putting them into place as directed by Seohyun. They were laid out in a circle with a campfire in the middle - not for grilling, however. All the grilling would be taken care off by the kitchen staff.

The party was in full swing and the weather was perfect that night - slightly windy and not a rain cloud in sight. The instructors and CAs were gathered in a corner, no doubt trading stories of whatever shenanigans their watch got into in the last two weeks. Taeyeon was throwing her head back laughing at something Sooyoung was saying. The participants, on the other hand, were scattered around area - gathered in their own cliques. The K2 was no exception as they were split into little groups and chatted amongst themselves.

Seulgi looked around and sat herself down on one of the empty benches with a plate of food. She was about to dig in when she saw Irene approaching from the corner of her eyes and patted to the spot beside her. The said girl beamed and trotted towards Seulgi’s bench.

“What happens if it rains?”

“Taeyeon said the sky will be clear tonight so we probably don’t have to worry about that.” Seulgi replied and took a bite off one of the chicken wings on her plate. “If the forecast says it’ll rain then we’ll have it in the gym hall.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.”

“Sorry, bad habit.”

They sat in silence while the everybody else seemed to be running around, either taking pictures or looking for food. Seulgi swallowed the last bit of her food and stared at the crackling fire.

“Hey, Irene?”

“Yes?”

“I’m glad to have met you this summer. I really like you.”

Seulgi knew she was blushing, her face felt warm and it wasn’t from the campfire in front of them. She felt as though an eternity had passed because Irene wasn’t saying anything, but in actual fact it had only been two seconds or so.

“I really like you, too. And I think you already know that.”

Seulgi beamed. It took all of her willpower not to jump and cheer, a then-humongous feat for her.

“Bless.” Seulgi replied with a surprisingly steady voice and Irene burst laughing.

“You look so funny right now! What is that face?!”

“That’s the face Seulgi makes whenever she’s really happy about something but is trying not to show.” Seungwan quipped. “What are you so happy about, Kang Seulgi?”

“Nothing. Shoo, go away.”

Seungwan shrugged and left to look for the two satans.

“Really happy, huh?”

“You can’t blame me.”

“I suppose not.” Irene smiled and leaned on Seulgi, resting her head on the latter’s shoulder like second nature.

“Where do we go from here?”

“Hmm? We have time. Don’t worry.”

Time? Seulgi was trying to figure out what Irene meant by it. Camp was ending the next day, they would all go back home and probably not meet until next summer. They could try and visit each other but how were they going to justify to their parents about taking so many trips across the country throughout the year? It would worry them and it would cost a lot, too.

While Seulgi was cracking her head thinking, Irene nonchalantly got up and announced that she was going to get more food. “I’ll be right back, Seulgi. And stop worrying. We have time.”

Irene winked. And off she went.

***

Camp’s graduation ceremony was a simple affair. Participants sat in their respective watches and step forward to receive their certificates of completion from the camp’s directors. Parents and guardians were also present, ready to bring their children home after the ceremony ended.

Once the ceremony was over, Yerim was the first one to spot her parents and ran over for hugs. Seulgi and the rest watched as Yerim brought her parents over, no doubt wanting to introduce them to her new friends and their instructor and CA.

What everyone was not expecting was that Yerim’s mother pulled Irene into a hug once she was close enough.

“Aigoo, Juhyun-ah. You get prettier and prettier each time we see you.”

“Auntie, that’s not true and you know it.” She retorted playfully and greeted Yerim’s father. “Hi, Uncle Kim. Long time no see.”

He gave her a nod and left to load Yerim and Irene’s luggage into the car.

While all of that was happening, the rest of the K2 was confused over what had happened.

“You two know each other?” Seungwan was the first to come to her senses.

“We’re cousins.” Yerim stated matter-of-factly. “She’ll be transferring to our school when the new term starts in fall.”

“WHAT???” Almost everybody asked incredulously.

“And you two didn’t bother telling us that detail?”

“Such a troll.” Yoona shook her head before giving Yerim a thumbs up. “I approve.”

Yerim saluted. “We thought it’d be fun to pretend and not tell you guys until the end of camp.”

While everybody was making a fuss, one person was standing motionless among the rowdy group, still processing the new bit of information.

“Seulgi, are you okay?” Irene waved her hand in front of Seulgi’s face and she snapped out of it.

“Is this why you said ‘we have time’?” Realisation hit her and Seulgi grinned.

“Yep!” Irene started to grin, too. “I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you but Yerim said to wait until today.”

Seulgi immediately glared at Yerim and Irene laughed.

“I look forward to getting to know you better, Seulgi.” Irene took a step closer and stood face to face with Seulgi, causing the latter to blush because Irene was looking at her with those doe eyes. Honestly, Seulgi was amazed she didn’t just pass out on the spot and she was pretty sure that the entire watch, Taeyeon and Yoona included, were watching them the whole time.

Not caring about the onlookers, Seulgi took a deep breath and with one swift motion, leaned down and kissed Irene’s cheek.

---

“Hi, miss. Come here often?”

Seulgi grinned at the familiar question and looked up from her phone. Her grin grew when she saw Irene grinning back at her, eyebrows dancing with glee. “I do actually. With my girlfriend.”

“I bet you two are so cute together.”

“Not gonna lie, we are pretty cute.” Seulgi replied smugly and earned herself a shove for being shameless.

“Idiot.”

“Your idiot.”

“Unfortunately.” Irene rolled her eyes. “ Let’s go, Seulgi. We’re going to be late for the movie!”

“And whose fault is it?” Seulgi teased as she gathered her things.

“My boss’, that’s who.” Irene tugged on Seulgi’s arm. “Let’s go get dinner first. I’m hungry.”

“Yes, dear.” Seulgi hardly had time to grab all her things before Irene dragged her out of the cafe.

---