The limited time they had together was pressing down on all of them, but they were willing to make it work. Finding each other on social media, making group chats etc, they did it all.

Taekwoon and Hakyeon were no exception.

Hakyeon was starting to get teased for his lack of responsible behaviour, but he was honestly glad that those were the meanest comments him and Taekwoon received.

However, time had to run out eventually. In no time the end was upon them.

Hakyeon had to put in a lot of effort into lightening the mood during their last dinner together. It hardly worked.

Jonghyun and Minki were holding hands, foreheads pressed together. Minki was crying and Jonghyun was whispering words of reassurance.

Lisa was sobbing into Jennie’s shoulder.

Chaeyoung and Jisoo were holding each other with their cheeks pressed together, both teary eyed.

Jiho was sitting in Minhyuk’s lap, right in front of everyone’s salad, but he refused to move away.

Taeil was promising that he’d get a tattoo of Yookwon’s name on his left “tiddie,” his exact words.

Jaehwan, Sanghyuk, Wonshik and Hongbin were huddled up in a small, crying bunch. Jaehwan and Wonshik were exchanging last kisses, while Sanghyuk was trying to tie himself to Hongbin with an awfully long friendship bracelet.

And Taekwoon was silent as always. He accepted hugs, but didn’t communicate otherwise, not through typing, not through Hakyeon. He just sat in his spot at the edge of the bench and kept looking down.

Hakyeon thought he’d seen something, like a piece of paper, clutched in his hand but he didn’t question it. If Taekwoon wanted to show him, he would.

The leaders took it upon themselves to clear up that night, to let everyone get some rest for tomorrow; even though they all knew full well everyone would likely be saying goodbyes the entire night.

Hakyeon was distracted, scrubbing a plate much longer than needed. He snapped out of it when his sleeve was tugged on and he spotted Taekwoon next to him.

“Oh, Woonie... What are you doing here?”

‘I have something to tell you.’

Hakyeon looked back at the others. Yongguk gave a nod and said, “Go.”

It was all the approval he needed. He discarded the apron he was wearing and went outside with Taekwoon.

They sat on the step of the front porch.

“Is something wrong?” Hakyeon asked.

Taekwoon shook his head.

“You’re okay?”

Taekwoon nodded.

“Then it can’t be anything bad, right? No reason to be nervous.” He tried to sound reassuring, but the clear anxiety on Taekwoon’s face worried him.

‘It can be bad,’ Taekwoon started. ‘I need to tell you the truth before we part ways. You’ve been nothing but kind to me and I want to be honest with you.’

Hakyeon shifted a bit. He was now getting nervous as well, though he knew he had to stay calm for Taekwoon’s sake. He would stay calm no matter what he heard.

“I doubt whatever you have to say will change my opinion of you unless it’s drastic. So relax, I’m always here for you,” he said softly, placing his hand on top of Taekwoon’s.

Taekwoon stayed frozen for a moment, before taking a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and handed Hakyeon a note.

He opened the paper, but needed to shift a bit to catch the light from a nearby lamp post.

The note read,

‘Hyung, I have to tell you the truth about why I don’t talk. You’re the only one I trust enough to let know because you’re the only one who has never asked or tried to fix me. You have no idea how much that means to me... But I also don’t want to keep lying to you anymore.

I’m not mute. I’ve stopped talking some years ago on my own accord. The reason is that everything I say brings trouble or makes me hate myself. It’s either stupid or harmful to others. It isn’t just my opinion either, I’ve been told throughout my childhood that I’m better off silent...

Simply speaking my mind has brought me so much trouble and pain in the past that I realized I truly should just shut up forever. I learned sign language for the most necessary communication and decided to just... stop talking.

It has worked so far, but hyung I feel disgusted of myself because essentially I am a huge fraud. People are nicer to me because they assume I’m mute. If they heard me speak, if they knew how stupid I was they’d hate me.

I feel like I’ve manipulated you into liking me and for that I’m sorry.’

Hakyeon looked over the note again, then lifted his gaze to Taekwoon. He looked like he would burst from anxiety and other than the trembling, he was sitting perfectly still.

“You know I’m really glad you wrote this down because otherwise I wouldn’t have remembered everything I had to tell you,” Hakyeon said in a light tone, hoping to help Taekwoon relax.

The younger looked his way; he seemed terrified.

Hakyeon turned completely towards him and crossed his legs.

“Alright, first of all, there’s clearly a blame issue here. You can’t put all of this on yourself. I know... You’re insecure and you’ll have me believe that you made this decision because of your own faultiness, but honestly? It’s an extreme reaction to being insecure. You said you’ve been told to shut up throughout your childhood and I think you’re lessening the impact that clearly had on you. You can’t blame yourself for this. Especially because... I know you haven’t literally talked, but I loved our every conversation. I doubt you’d be any different if you were to speak. Now, I’m not really sure what you meant by your words hurting people. Unless you intentionally say something harmful, and I don’t think you would...”

Taekwoon shook his head. ‘It’s when I speak my mind that hurts people. No one wants to know that I’m sad. It’s better off pretending to be perfectly fine.’

Hakyeon stopped him by taking Taekwoon’s hands in his own. “Woonie, there’s something you need to understand. People are all different and they react to bad news differently. Not everyone will have the capacity to hear about your feelings all the time, but family and friends should the very least accept them. And they definitely shouldn’t cut you off and make you feel like a burden simply for having emotions. You can’t keep everything to yourself, it’s not good for you.”

Taekwoon was hesitant. He pulled his hands out of Hakyeon’s. ‘I can if it means that no one gets hurt.’

Hakyeon shook his head. “Love, you aren’t listening to me. Your negative emotions are always the hardest on you, not everyone else.”

Even though still sceptical, Taekwoon caved and nodded in agreement. Perhaps it was the nickname that did it.

“Lastly, Taekwoonah, you didn’t trick me into liking you. Do I seem that gullible to you? If you were some manipulative I would have noticed and I wouldn’t have stayed with you. You aren’t faking a condition because the people who do that do it to achieve some sort of goal. You don’t do that, do you? Choosing not to talk is anyone’s right. And I like you because you’re an amazing and intriguing person, not because I feel bad for you.”

Taekwoon was stiff for another moment before letting himself fall forward and rest his head on Hakyeon’s shoulder. Hakyeon didn’t hesitate for a second, wrapping his arms around Taekwoon to provide comfort.

“It’s okay, love. It’s alright. I am so happy you told me. You have no idea how much your trust means to me.”

Taekwoon laced his fingers into Hakyeon’s hair, sniffling a little. He pulled away, although reluctant to let go of Hakyeon. ‘I’m so relieved. How are you so kind, hyung? You say you’re not unique in the world, but I doubt that.’

Hakyeon smiled and leaned in to press a kiss to Taekwoon’s cheek. “I’m not unique, but I do love you. Maybe that’s what makes me stand out.” He grinned.

That night Taekwoon spent in Hakyeon’s bed rather than his own. Many other campers did this, often in groups bigger than two, just crying together and saying their goodbyes, promising to write to each other and to come back next year.

Their room was packed, Wonshik and Sanghyuk had also joined, as well as a few others, which meant that many beds were shared. They all slept uncomfortably, even though cuddling was a great way to save space and was in fact quite comfortable in itself.