The sun had dipped behind the mountain ushering in the evening chill. Far away from the cement and asphalt of the city, the air temperature dropped quickly when combined with the light breeze that blew across the lake. The air was filled with the scent of dirt, wood and water. Joohyun looked around, her lips drawn into a wide smile, happy to have the people she cared most about so close.

She watched as Lisa and Rose stood over the camp stove, playfully teasing each other, laughing at whispered jokes as they put chopped vegetables and sausage into a large, blue ceramic pot. Seulgi and Yeri sat cross legged on the ground, a red blanket laid out beneath them, trying to play a round of Go-Stop but instead making it a competition of who could out cheat who.

Somewhere out in the woods, walking in hand in hand, Sooyoung and Sungjae were out enjoying a dusk stroll. “Or perhaps they are busy kissing somewhere in the shadows,” she thought, a touch of jealousy welling up in her at the thought as she let her gaze linger on Seungwan’s slender form. The small girl was slowly humming to herself happily as she piled hewn logs of hardwood into the fire pit, making a tent like shape with them.

“I can’t believe none of you have ever made a fire,” Seungwan said with a chuckle as she wadded up paper, shoving the balls in between the logs. The girl stood for a moment to admire her handiwork before patting her pockets, brows furrowing as she looked around. She paced in a circle, lips pursed, looking for something. “I could have sworn I put the matches down here,” Seungwan said as she pointed to a bare spot of ground.

Joohyun watched as a slow smirk rose on Yeri’s lips, the girl looking down steadfastly at her cards. She could tell that Yeri was doing all she could to hold in a laugh by the way she scrunched her eyes and bit her lip. With an amused voice, Joohyun called out, “Seulgi, it looks like Seungwan can’t find the matches to start the fire. If they don’t turn up soon, it may call for a strip search of someone. Probably someone very young.”

Seulgi slowly looked up from her cards, eyes narrowing to tiny slits as her gaze settled on Yeri. A sudden look of wild panic overtook the younger girls features as she began to slowly put down her cards, shifting as though getting ready to leap up and run. Without a word, Seulgi pounced across the pile of cards, arms flying around Yeri as she tackled the girl to the blanket.

“You little mischief maker,” Seulgi said playfully as she began to haphazardly search the girl, her fingers poking and jabbing, more intent on tickling than any real searching.

Gasping for breath, Yeri yelled, “In my back pocket! Back pocket!” A moment later, Seulgi still pinning the small girl beneath her, lofted the book of matches upwards towards Seungwan, her face full of prideful victory. Laughing at the scene, Seungwan took the matches and gave Seulgi’s messy bun a quick pat.

“You are our savior,” Seungwan began in a loud satori, “Now we shall not die upon thise evening’s chill, but shall bask in the warm heat of the hearth that shall glow within our hearts!” She felt all eyes turn towards her. She could almost hear brows creaking upwards in amusement, lips quirking into smirks. She glanced down, her eyes focusing on the matchbook as she blushed and kicked the dirt with her toes.

From somewhere within the shadows of the trees, Sooyoung's voice echoed out, “So cringey!” With that, a wave of laughter broke out across the campground, Seungwan joining in, silently thanking her friend for saving her. With the matchbook in hand, a fire raged within the stone circle of the fire pit a minute later.

“You’re good at that,” Joohyun said with an appreciative tone as Seungwan settled into the folding chair beside her. She glanced sidelong at the girl, watching the way the flickering light of the fire played across the girl’s pale features, casting sharp shadows about her face. “Did you start a lot of campfires in Canada?”

“Not campires but we had three fireplaces in our house so I had to learn how to start them,” she said, eyes watching the flames and spit, a distance in her gaze. “Even now, when I see a fire like this, it makes me feel of home. I like it.”

Joohyun reached out to settle a hand on the girl’s, soft and light, as she spoke. “Do you get to go back home often?”

Seungwan gave a slow shake of her head, a sadness in her eyes as she tore her gaze from the flames to meet Joohyun’s, “Unfortunately, I don’t. It’s expensive to travel and I’m just so busy. I’m not an A list artist by any means but I get book for a lot of shows and festivals. I was hoping to go back for a month this summer but with everything going on…” Her voice trailed off with a shrug.

Joohyun’s fingers curled around Seungwan’s hand, thumb gently brushing along the back of it in slowly, circular motions. She could see the longing in the girl’s face, the fire and forest seeming to reawaken something within her. “I wasn’t joking,” Joohyun said suddenly, “when I said I’d love to go to Canada and have you be my guide.” The young girl looked over at her, lips drawn into a warm smile before giving a nod.

They sat there in silence, happy to let the warmth of the fire roll over them. The longer they looked at eachother, the softer Seungwan’s features seem to become, eyes filled with warmth, lips falling slack. Joohyun wondered what was going on behind those eyes. With a clearing of , Seungwan suddenly tore her gaze away to watch Yeri and Seulgi, their card game abandoned, who were now simply cuddled up on the blanket.

“So Seulgi, or Yeri for that matter, how did you guys get together?” Seungwan leaned forward slightly in her seat as the two girls turned their heads in unison.
“How we met or how we became a couple,” Seulgi asked as she placed a quick kiss on Yeri’s cheeks. The soft, squishy face Yeri made, a happy little squeak in , made Seungwan smile. 

“Both?”

“We grew up in the same neighborhood, Joohyun, Yeri and I,” Seulgi began as she rolled onto her back, toned arms pulling Yerio into her side. She small girl snuggled into her happily, head falling to rest on her lovers shoulder. “So we’ve known each other forever. As to when we became a couple, it was at the dance studio. Before I ran my own, I was taking classes and Yeri decided she was going to join them with me.”

“I only took them because I’ve been in love with you since the third grade,” Yeri pointed out.

“She was underage and kept making passes at me,” Seulgi said with a dramatic sigh. “Here was one of the most beautiful, vibrant girls I have ever known making passes at me and I couldn’t do anything about it.” 

“She was always eating Pringles after class,” Yeri said, a touch of wistful reminisce in her voice, “and I was always offering to clean the crumbs off her lips but she’d never let me.”

Seulgi gave a soft laugh and poked Yeri in the side, “What she’s not telling you is that she only offered to clean my lips off with a kiss.”

“The day I turned 20,” Yeri said, her lips drawing into a smirk, “Seulgi called me on the phone and told me I could now clean her lips any time I wanted.” A pink blush creeped up on Seulgi’s cheeks as Yeri began to place soft kisses against them. Seungwan couldn’t help but laugh, her eyes b with happiness for the couple.

“How about you two,” Rosie said as she came around the fire, her red hair seeming to blow like a torch in the flickering light. The slender woman settled into the chair beside Joohyun and learned forward to get a good look at the pair. The woman’s green eyes fell to their clasped hands, her voice filled with curiosity when she asked, “When did you two start dating?”

Seungwan blinked, completely stunned by the question. She went to pull her hand away only to find Joohyun’s fingers tightening, holding her still. She looked at the older woman only to find Joohyun giving a shake of her head, a wide smile on her face. “We’re not dating,” Joohyun said after a moment.

“Oh,” Rose said, the redheads eyes narrowing speculatively as they flitted between Seungwan and Joohyun. She cocked her head slightly and said to Joohyun, “Sorry, I just assumed you were. When Lisa and I were walking into camp earlier, we saw you back hugging Seungwan,” her lips quivered as amusement filled her voice, “you looked like you were sniffing the back of her neck?”

Seulgi and Yeri suddenly stopped in their whispering and playful touches to turn and stare at her. She could see Seungwan’s face filled with growing panic, the girl’s mouth working wordlessly a moment before blurting out, “She just likes fabric softener.”

“That explains everything,” Yeri said in a flat, sardonic voice.

“That was my fault,” Joohyun said as she felt a blush rise to her cheeks, hoping the other would blame it on the heat of the fire instead of her own embarrassment. “Seungwan was rubbing herself with fabric softener sheets and you know how I am about the smell of them.”

“I’m not sure that really clears it up,” Seulgi said with a tiny laugh. She looked at Seungwan as though the girl would grow a second head any moment. “Rubbing yourself with a fabric softener sheet?”

Seungwan reached up to nervously twirl a lock of hair around a finger, her voice suddenly enthusiastic, “Yes, it’s amazing too! I learned it back when I lived in Canada during mosquito season because I hated the scent of bug repellent. Someone told me that if you rubbed a fabric softener sheet all over your skin it keeps them away and I swear to you, it really works.”

“Slow down and catch your breath,” Joohyun said as she gave Seungwan’s hand a squeeze, the girl’s voice having gone breathless towards to then end of her streaming ramble. “Anyway,” Joohyun said as she looked over at Rosie and smiled, “she walked by and I could smell it and I kind of just grabbed her and wanted to smell.”

“You have such a weird ,” Rosie said, eyes dancing in mirth as Seungwan made a surprised, choking sound. “Don’t let Joohyun’s pretty face and cool looks fool you. She can be really weird.”

From across the camp, Lisa called out, “Dinner is almost ready. Does someone want to go find Sooyoung and her man so we can eat?”

Seungwan leapt out of her seat, “I’ll do it,” the girl said quickly before scurrying out of the light of the fire and into the darkness, calling out for Sooyoung with hands cupped around . Joohyun’s hand felt empty, the heat of Seungwan’s hand dissipating. Her gazed grew long as she sighed, watching the dark shadows between threes where the girl had disappeared.

“What’s this,” Rose said as she leaned over to bump Joohyun’s shoulder with her own, voice teasing as she said, “I see that look on your face. You totally want to date her.”

Joohyun blushed as her hands fell into her lap, clasped tightly together. She smiled to herself as she admitted, “I really like her.” She could feel everyone’s eyes falling on her. She couldn’t recall ever opening declaring her feeling for someone before.

“So, it wasn’t just the fabric softener,” Lisa said from behind the camp stove, the blonde’s lips drawn into a wide grin as she stirred the stew. “Does she know how you feel, though?”

“I haven’t confessed to her or anything,” Joohyun admitted with a sigh. She reached up and patted her cheeks, the sensation of being so open about her feelings unusual. She had always been the oldest and put on a stoic face, wanting to be the rock for her friends by not showing them any weakness. “I’m afraid of scaring her off.”

“She does seem a bit skittish,” Rosie said with a slow nod of her head. The girl’s features suddenly took on a mask of wonderment as she looked at Joohyun, “She seems so different than she was at the club. She was all mature and y. Very alluring and when she sang, I swear that half of the girls there were ready to leave their girlfriends for her.” There was a chorus of nods around the campsite. “But tonight she’s like a small hamster ready to run away at the first scare.”

“Well, she did just run away at the first scare,” Seulgi said with a laugh. Seulgi slid her hand into Yeri’s, fingers laced as she raised both of their hands and declared, “I want you to know that you have our support. Besides, if she’s dating my best friend then it’ll be easy to get her to sing at our wedding.”

“Wedding?” Yeri questioned, her voice incredulous. She gave Seulgi a serious look as she playfully pulled away saying, “Who said I would marry a dumb bear like you?”

“You never said it,” Seulgi said as she grabbed Yeri and pulled the girl into her lap. She placed a lingering kiss on Yeri’s cheek before saying loudly, “You moaned it.”

“Ew,” Lisa said as covered her ears and started making, “Lalalalalalala,” noises to drown out any more of the conversation. Seulgi flung herself sideways onto the blanket, dragging Yeri with her as the young girl laughed and playfully swatted at her love. Joohyun grinned as she watched, the happiness she held for her two oldest friends laced with jealousy. She wanted what they had.

“Stew is done,” Lisa said a few minutes later as she set the lid on the pot with a clatter after giving it a final stir. “And now we’re not down two people, but three. Do we start without them or wait a bit?” Everyone looked around at each other, unsure what to do.

“I’ll just go call for them,” Joohyun said as she rocked forward, springing to a stand. Grasping the hem of her shirt, she tugged it down before smoothing it along her sides. She started towards the tree line, the point where Seungwan had slipped away and into the darkness. 

“Don’t you go and get lost too,” Rose said as Joohyun left the circle of light, the warm fire replaced with the cool air of the forest in spring. She blinked a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the low light, the last vestiges of sunlight finally having disappeared from the sky.

She could barely see the small path, her eyes cast down to watch where she was going. Pausing, she raised her head and brought her hands to , cupped to amplify her voice, mouth opening to call out Seungwan’s name. She started, her heart about leaping out of her chest as the woman in question stepped out from behind a tree.

Seungwan’s face was pale, shadows making her features hard to decipher. “Omo, you scared me,” Joohyun said with a laugh as she clutched her chest. “Dinner is ready so I was coming to find you. Did you see Sooyoung?”

“They’ll be here shortly. I found them making out just a short bit down the bath,” Seungwan said in a low voice, head downcast as she walked towards Joohyun, small feet seeming to cover the distance in a moment. There was something about the way the girl held herself, shoulders slumped, that made Joohyun reach out and grab her by the wrist, staying her before she could walk past.

“Is something wrong?”

“I heard what you said,” Seungwan said slowly, her voice thick with exasperation, “That you like me.”

Joohyun rocked back on her heels, eyes growing wide as she watched Seungwan’s face turn towards her, cursing the darkness. She wanted to see what was playing behind this young girls eyes. “You weren’t supposed to hear,” Joohyun finally said in a low whisper.

They stood there awkward, both facing each other in the darkness. Moments stretched, only the sound of the hearts and breath filing their ears as the rest of the world grew mute. “I can’t,” Seungwan began to say when Joohyun quickly yanked the girl to her, their bodies crashing together. Flinging her arms around Seungwan, she held the girl in a tight embrace.

“Don’t,” Joohyun said in a thick voice. “Don’t reject me yet.”

Seungwan stayed stiff in the woman’s arms, neither pulling away or hugging. “You’ll wind up being the one rejecting me,” Seungwan said, her voice weighed with sadness. “You’re going to see her and then forget me. This story would end with only me in tears.”

“What if it doesn’t,” Joohyun asked.

“It will,” Seungwan said, her voice strangled, her body starting to shake. The sound of voices coming up the path, drawing close, made them pull apart. “We’ll talk more about this tonight,” Seungwan whispered before taking a further step back.

“Sorry we took so long,” Sooyoung said as she and Sungjae drew near, walking hand in hand, their faces split into happy grins. She looked between the two girls, the sullen way they stared at each other. Her voice fell, words slow as she asked, “Did we interrupt something?”

Seungwan shook her head, the girl’s voice filled with fake cheer as she said, “Nope! We were just looking for you. Dinner’s ready so let’s go eat. I’m starving!” Reaching out, Seungwan grasped Sooyoung’s hand and fell in beside her and Sungjae. “Let’s go!”

Joohyun trailed behind the trio, her chest aching. “This isn’t going to plan,” she whispered to herself.

***

Joohyun stretched out on her belly atop the sleeping back, the flaps of the tent thrown wide open as she watched Seungwan pouring water into the fire pit, dousing the flames. She had expected the girl to become withdrawn and taciturn when they got back to camp but was surprised by the boisterous and happy attitude Seungwan had. She sang them camp songs, some in English, and seemed to have a merry time.

But every now and then, there eyes would meet, and she could see something akin to sorrow behind the girl’s brown gaze. Seungwan’s smile would slip from jubilant to despondent and it made her heart hurt. She only wanted to make the girl happy, to help take away some of the pain recording was sure to be bringing her. “And for us to get closer and intimate,” Joohyun sighed softly before rolling over onto her back, her eyes falling close.

A few minutes later, she heard feet shuffling towards here followed by the feel of someone grabbing at the tent flaps. Eyes opening, she rolled them up to catch sight of Seungwan, the small girl’s body framed by moonlight, face cast in darkness, hovering at the entrance to the tent. “Hi,” Joohyun said in a small voice.

“Hi,” was the girl’s reply as she stepped into the tent, closing the flaps and quickly zipping them closed. “I’m going to change into something to sleep in,” Seungwan said, the sound of the girl’s duffel bag opening reaching Joohyun’s ears.

“I’ll roll over,” Joohyun said when she felt a hand on her arm, fingers grasping tight. Seungwan’s hand quivered, fingers a hard circle, grip almost crushing. “Seungwan,” Joohyun began only to be cut off.

“Why do you have a number?” Seungwan’s words came out in a sob, her tone pleading as she continued, “Why can’t you have just been numberless? I had told myself I would just sit back and watch people fall in love. That I could be happy like that but I want you so much. If you didn’t have a number...”

Joohyun’s free hand unfurled the girl’s grip about her wrist, holding that hand tight before pulling Seungwan towards her. She had worried that the girl would resist but instead, Seungwan easily came to her, settling down onto the sleeping bag beside Joohyun. “Seungwan,” Joohyun said as she attempted to summon a comforting tone, “I’m sorry you overhead that. I wasn’t wanting to put any pressure on you.”

“My heart felt like it was going to explode,” Seungwan said with a sniffle, the girl’s hands reaching out slowly to grasp at Joohyun’s sleeping shirt, “My heart wanted me to run to you but my head wouldn’t let me.” 

Joohyun reached up to cup Seungwan’s cheek, her fingers gliding through hot tears. “I had so much I had planned to say,” Joohyun whispered as she began to run her thumb along Seungwan’s cheeks, trying to push those tears away. “To try and convince you that we could be together before I confessed.”

“What is there to convince,” Seungwan said bitterly through tears, “That we can fight destiny? I would get to hold you for a short time and then send you off to someone else.”

“You talk of destiny but not of choice,” Joohyun said in that calming voice, “I’d like to think that if someone chooses you over destiny, that is a stronger relationship than what the fates decide.”

“You don’t even know who your soulmate is for you to choose me over her,” Seungwan said, her hands releasing their grip on Joohyun’s shirt to glide around the woman. She scooted herself closer, her body shaking as she whispered, “Do you want to know? Do you really want to face that choice right now?”

“I don’t need to know,” Joohyun said firmly as she slid her hand around the nape of Seungwan’s neck, pulling the girl’s head against her shoulder. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I first saw you beneath the tree. God,” Joohyun said with a soft laugh, “I have so much I want to say but I’m so afraid you’re going to run away.”

“I need to run away,” Seungwan admitted.

Joohyun felt her chest going tight, tears of frustration welling up inside of her. “Please don’t. Please,” she pleaded. The thought of suddenly losing this girl pained her, made her heart ache. She had only known Seungwan for a few weeks but felt like the girl had become air to her. Without breathing her in, she could die.

“The worst thing,” Seungwan said in a choked voice, “Is that I like you too. I should be running away from you but I can’t stop myself from wanting to be near you.”

Joohyun reached up to run her fingers through Seungwan’s hair, the girl’s words sinking in. These were the words she so desperately wanted to hear but to hear them said in such a sad voice made her heart drop. “Then let me choose you. Let me prove to you that you’re the one I want.”

“How?”

“When my numbers finally disappear, and I tell you I love you, would you believe me then?”

Seungwan melted into her, the girl’s shaking shoulders going still as she rubbed her tear stained cheeks against Joohyun’s shirt. “But that’s not going to happen.” Joohyun’s hands spread wide across Seungwan’s back, fingers gently massaging as she sought to ease the stiff tension she could feel. 

“Are you challenging me,” Joohyun said with a scoff as she rolled over onto her back, pulling Seungwan on top of her. She could see the soft look of surprise on the girl’s face, eyes wide and lips slack. Joohyun’s voice was resolved as she said, “I don’t lose a challenge. But tonight, I’m not letting you out of my arms or you might escape.”

The soft smile that bloomed on Seungwan’s lips gave her hope.

Authors Notes: Things aren't going to Joohyun's plan, but that doesn't mean it's dead. There are two more chapters in the Camp Arch!