a/n: hey everyone, I know it's been a rough couple of weeks but we will get out of this together, hang in there and hope to see Red Velvet soon when all of this is over.

_

“What should I wear!?”

The question that every girl going to a date has probably asked for the billionth time. And even a demigod such as Irene wasn’t an exception.

“It’s a canoe-in-the-lake kind of date,” Joy pointed out as she, Hayoung, and Nana dumped a trunkful of outfits in varying styles and colors on her bunk. “I think the location limits the choices on what you could wear.”

“There’s a lot you can choose from, though,” Hayoung plucked a strapless cocktail dress of deep red from the pile and held it in front of Irene’s body, tilting her head as she considered the fit. “This looks nice.”

“We meant appropriate clothing,” Joy quipped and snatched the dress from Hayoung’s hand. “Imagine her wearing this and paddling on the lake. So ridiculous.”

“And I think she should also match Wendy’s, and knowing her it would be something cute but combat-ready, you know, pretty and tactical,” Nana threw Irene a glance when the latter has also started to choose from the heap of clothes.

“And a bikini.”

Three pairs of eyes swerved to Hayoung’s direction; one was expressing confusion, another was of suspicion, and the last one was b with a warning that looked like: one more word and I swear I will choke you.

“What…?”

Irene paused inspecting a dark grey tank top with a rock band’s logo printed on it. “Why would I need a bikini? We’re not going swimming, at least I don’t think we are.”

“You know, the lake is full of water, and canoes aren’t really very safe. The boat might tip off balance accidentally, and accidentally you might fell in the water,” Hayoung was putting on one of her very best neutral faces but the other three knew her too well to believe her innocence. “I’m just saying accidents could happen… accidentally, of course.”

“I see the secret winks, don’t think you’re being sly for even a sec,” Irene gently chided her sister and went back to her rock band tank top, she was thinking of what to pair it with. She has decided on something casual and comfortable.

“I wasn’t even blinking!” Hayoung denied, her eyes wide. “I wasn’t blinking for the last five minutes!”

“That’s why they’re called secrets,” Joy muttered impatiently, she threw a pleated skirt at Hayoung’s direction which the other one dodged expertly. “And anyway, I think Wendy have enough power to turn you into a frog if you try to crash their date.”

Hayoung shrugged as she picked a shirt that had fallen to the floor. “I don’t mind.”

“You don’t mind getting turned to a frog?” Nana chuckled in disbelief. “Are you being serious, Hayoung?”

“Then I could be a frog princess,” Hayoung explained and just nonchalantly took off her shirt to try on another shirt from the pile, her voice was muffled behind the fabric. “I’ll just wait for someone to kiss me and we’d fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after.”

“You and your fantasy world, I’m honestly impressed,” Joy rolled her eyes in sarcasm as Hayoung turned to a life-sized mirror on the wall and checked the fit of the shirt.

Irene and Nana glanced at each other at the same and both shrugged, ignoring the two girls who had begun their regular hourly bickering.

“What do you think of this skirt?” Nana handed Irene a denim skirt with simple embroideries of vines and leaves on the hem. “Top it up with a brocade bomber jacket, maybe?”

“Could work,” Irene grinned and pressed the length of the skirt against her body, it ended on the middle of her thighs. She set aside the clothes that she had chosen and proceeded to discuss accessories with her head counselor.

“You’re gonna use your hands a lot – use her hands for the canoe paddles, Hayoung, get your head out of the gutter – so no elaborate rings or bracelets. Cute earrings and a necklace, instead?”

Irene nodded thoughtfully as she pictured her image in her mind. Not bad, she smiled to herself. But will Wendy approve?

_

“Wow,” Wendy didn’t even try to hide her admiration when she saw Irene appeared on the edge of the lake. “You look great. I mean, you always do. I like the top.”

“Thanks,” Irene smiled self-consciously and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear then smoothed her skirt.

Wendy gestured to a canoe just big enough to accommodate two people and the quiet lake beyond the shore, the half-moon overhead casted a faint path of silver above the water’s surface. “Are you sure you still want to go boating? I mean, you look so nice. I don’t want to ruin your outfit.”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Irene said, chuckling. “Don’t worry about the outfit. I can totally go canoeing in these.”

“Alright,” Wendy shrugged and handed her a paddle then both pushed the canoe toward the small lapping waves on the edge of the gravelly ground. She let Irene go in first and then followed her. It took them awhile to get to the middle of the lake because the canoe kept spinning around whenever their paddling went out of sync.

The early night was solemn, the fire in the pavilion burned bright, the shadows behind it danced and they could see the silhouettes of the campers against the light. A few stars in the sky blinked like fireflies.

“So, how’s my poetry going?” Irene asked casually when they finally stopped paddling and just let the light breeze rock the canoe to the rhythm of the night.

“It’s going well…” Wendy paused in uncertainty, glancing at Irene to check her reaction.

“You don’t seem sure,” the girl frowned but it was plain to see that she was just acting.

Wendy smirked, daring her. “You didn’t set a deadline,” she pointed out.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Okay, now that’s unreasonable,” Wendy complained, she put a hand in the water. It was cold. “Art takes time.”

“Two weeks, then?” Irene suggested, also putting a hand in the water.

Wendy replied with a teasing smile. “I’ll give it to you tomorrow.”

“Are you being serious?” Irene laughed, she scooped some water with her palm and flicked it to Wendy’s direction. The latter shrieked in surprise and Irene laughed harder.

‘Stop doing that,” Wendy tried to look menacing but Irene just grinned playfully. “Fine, keep doing that and you’ll get wet.”

“Okay, okay,” the daughter of Aphrodite yielded and put both hands up. “Do you like being a head counselor?” she asked after a minute passed. This girl is so random sometimes.

“Ummm,” Wendy considered the question for at least a minute before answering. “Yes, I guess so. There’s a lot of responsibility, definitely, and you gotta make sure everyone in the cabin is included in everything because we don’t want anyone feeling left out. I have to plan a lot, sort out petty fights, enforce the rules,” she smirked at Irene with the mention of rules. “But when Will first asked me to handle the cabin, I thought being a head counselor was beyond my capabilities, now I realized I actually like it.”

“I guess that’s also what Nana is like. She initially didn’t want to be a head counselor but she’