It was the beginning of summer camp and all Jimin wanted was to finally have a breath of fresh air away from school. No more popular girl nor class representative, just… Jimin.

It must be said that at first it was difficult to persuade her teacher to agree with the idea of a summer trip, until she eventually did, which led to the organization of the expedition and convince most of her classmates to attend, especially one girl.

This girl wasn't exactly Jimin’s friend or something remarkably close to that term, but oddly, Jimin found herself insisting that she should come with them.

But there she was, five seats away, immersed in her own world with her headphones on and looking out the window. Jimin couldn’t help but wonder if the girl was enjoying the scenery.

“I still can’t believe she actually came.” Yizhuo said, disrupting Jimin’s thoughts about the girl. “I always knew she was weird, but I guess not anymore. I mean, she still is, but now like twenty percent less.” The blonde laughed to herself.

“We don’t even know her, so you shouldn't be talking that way about her.” Jimin turned her head to give Yizhuo a soft but serious look.

“Okay right, I’m sorry. I just find it crazy, that’s all.” The blonde girl apologized right away knowing how much Jimin despised that kind of bad attitude.

“Maybe this is exactly our opportunity to get to know her.” A voice behind them said and both girls turned their heads to look at Aeri, who was smiling ear to ear.

“Exactly.” Jimin nodded happily at the girl’s idea. “That’s the attitude we need.” The dark-haired girl pointed out, raising both her eyebrows at the blonde.

“Okay, but… how? And I want you to be realistic. No cringe please.” Yizhuo crossed her arms, doubting her friends could come up with a rational idea. “Because she’s always wearing those big headphones, she’s always quiet, and no offense but she even looks like that one emoji.” The blonde argued.

“You will need to be more precise, there are like a lot.” Aeri asked, laughing.

“You know which one I’m talking about. That one that has a straight line as a mouth.” The three of them looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter because they knew exactly what emoji she was referring to.

“I knew I wasn’t the only one seeing the resemblance.” The blonde said in between chuckles. “Okay but now being serious, let’s say we hypothetically want to befriend her, how are we going to approach her in the first place?”

“Chill, there will be like a lot of activities throughout the two weeks, and as simple as to ask her to join us.” Aeri suggested. “Buuuut…” She paused. “Jimin should ask her.”

Jimin’s heart skipped a beat. No way. That will be embarrassing.

“You are the extrovert among us.” The brunette reminded her.

The dark-haired girl hesitated, obviously afraid of the outcome, and because she didn’t exactly want to be part of that plan, yet maybe this was the little push she needed to once and for all get close to the mysterious girl.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” Jimin said, biting her lip and discreetly trying to take a one last glimpse of the girl’s side profile.

It was still early in the afternoon when the school bus arrived successfully at the cabins after a very long ride.

“Man, my hurts.” Aeri whined when she woke up from her nap.

“I seriously need someone to crack my back.” Yizhuo stretched her arms standing up.

When the bus parked, one of the teachers stood up to explain to the students that she was going to be waiting for them at the main hall, in order to start giving the instructions of how the cabins and roommates were going to be assigned for the following days.

“Well, you heard her, Imma head out.” The blonde picked her bags and walked fast out the bus, disappearing among the crowd.

“Guess I’ll be going too, see you there.” The brunette said.

“Sure, I just need to get my things and I’ll be there in a sec.” Aeri listened to Jimin and nodded before following the blonde’s way.

By the moment Jimin ended up grabbing her bags, she noticed that all her classmates had already left the bus, except for her and the girl with the headphones on, who was still looking out the window.

Huh?

In a whole different situation, the long-haired girl would have approached the girl and asked her if she was okay, but right now she was a little bit nervous to even try it.

She bited her lip. Oh c’mon, seriously? It’s just a normal question.

After a few seconds she finally made up her mind and summoned the courage to walk up towards where the girl was sitting. Jimin called her by her name with a shaky voice, “Minjeong?” but she got no answer.

Of course, the headphones.

The tall girl decided to wave her hand to get the girl’s attention but she was evidently still listening to some music due to how loud it was.

“Uhm?” The girl took her headphones off as fast as possible to meet Jimin’s gaze.

Oh.

Jimin was stunned at how pretty she was up close that she even forgot what she was about to say in the first place.

She coughed to snap her mind back to reality and avoid looking like a fool in front of the girl. “I- I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just that I got a bit concerned because I was on my way out when I saw you still here all by yourself, so I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

The short haired girl's face was blank, not a single sign of emotion, maybe a little bit of boredom, but nothing more.

“Yeah, I’m okay, I’m just preparing myself mentally to bear the rest of the day.” Those words caught Jimin off guard, not sure if the girl was making fun of her or…

“I see.” That was all Jimin could answer, making the awkward silence that followed even more noticeable.

“I should get going.” The short haired girl said, breaking the silence, and stood up in front of Jimin for a second until the girl noticed she was blocking her way.

“Oh, my bad.” The long-haired girl moved aside to let the girl pass but the bus aisle was so narrow that their bodies almost touched, making Jimin gulp and look away.

“It's okay.” The short girl walked towards the exit of the bus and showed a small awkward smile before leaving. “See you around, I guess.”

“Yeah…” Jimin was left alone in the bus with a blushed face.

“What took you so long?” Yizhuo asked in annoyance when Jimin arrived at the main hall which was crowded and noisy.

“I told Giselle that I had to get my things, didn’t she tell you?” The long haired girl noticed her tone came a little bit aggressive and wanted to apologize but she was cut off by the teacher who began to explain that the different colors she gave the students when they arrived was going to be the way to designate the roommates. “I will be calling you by the color marked on your wrists and I want you to gather over here with your bags already in hand so I can proceed with the next indications.

Jimin looked at her wrist. Blue.

“I’m red, please tell me you two have red as well.” Ning Yizhuo grabbed both her friends' wrists, but none of them had a red mark on it.

“Mine is yellow.”

“And mine’s blue.” Jimin said disappointed.

“Well, it’s over.” The blonde sighed.

 “Blue!” The teacher shouted, startling Jimin. The long-haired girl got up almost immediately and made her way to where her other classmates would be waiting for her, but not without looking for a particular girl who remained sitting in the corner of the room.

“Jeon Heejin, Yoo Jimin, Kim Minji and Jang Wonyoung, your cabin will be the number two, the closest to the dining hall. ” Jimin couldn't hide the disappointment on her face when she saw that none of her roommates was Minjeong. But on the bright side, at least she had been paired with Heejin, one of her friends from middle school.

“Yellow!” The school teacher shouted and Aeri gathered with Yerim, Yoohyeon and Gahyeon.

“Orange!”

“Green!”

Some other classmates got up.

“Red!”

There she was. Shyly walking towards the rest of the girls. “Ning Yizhuo, Kim Bora, Jeong Jinsol and Kim Minjeong.”

Yizhuo looked at both her friends discreetly pointing at Minjeong and mouthing “what the no way“

How lucky.

Ning’s cabin was the closest to the river and the one with the best view, and of course she had to brag about it on the way to the dining hall.

“It’s just perfect, the view is so relaxing, no joke.” The blonde said, picking up some fruit, yogurt and a package of crackers from the sideboard.

“Yeah, if I’m not mistaken, you said that three times already not too long ago, so I think we got that pretty clear.” Aeri reassured her, making Jimin chuckle.

“Leave her alone, she’s happy.” The friend group walked to the farthest table in the dining hall.

“My god I’m so tired. I think I'm not cut out for this.” The blonde sighed as she sat.

“Me too, I think I will be sleeping like a baby tonight.” The brunette took a bite off her apple.

On the other hand, Jimin ate in silence, trying so hard not to inquire about Minjeong, especially now that she was sharing a room with Yizhuo.

“Unfortunately, I think I won’t be getting a decent amount of sleep these days with Bora in the room. I just know she will be talking nonstop, which I don’t mind that much though, considering we have two introverts as roommates, but I have my limits you know.” Yizhuo complained about her extroverted friend.

“I think we all have our limits with Bora.” The brunette laughed.

“Yeah, but I love her anyway. I bet right now she's probably smuggling some alcohol without the teacher suspecting anything. And before you all freak out, by alcohol I mean a single bottle of Soju and that’s it.”

“I wish that were me.” Aeri yearned before changing the topic. “Now that I think about it, Jimin is sharing a whole cabin with the prettiest girls from school.”

“Uh, hello?” Ning scoffed, clearly offended. “Where the am I then?”

“Oh no no no, what I tried to say was- “ Aeri was cut off by both Jimin and Yizhuo giggling at her worried face.

“Leave it.” The blonde laughed. “My b.” Aeri simply answered pouting.

“You are the prettiest, Ning, don’t worry.” Jimin comforted the blonde. “And about what Aeri said, I don’t know, I just hope I can get along well with them.” The tall girl was unusually nervous. “I know Heejin is very easy-going because we used to be classmates in middle school, so it won’t be awkward; Minji, well, we all know her, she’s really sweet, but Wonyoung…” She made a worried face. “She’s kind of intimidating. But I’m sure Minji will take care of us to prevent chaos .”

“Of course she will, she’s an angel.” Yizhuo said automatically.

“Yeah.” Aeri and Jimin said in unison.

“Hey, you share a room with her cousin right? Jinsol. How is she?” The brunette asked.

“She’s fine, she’s just a bit shy, the complete opposite of Minji. Yet when we were unpacking, we noticed she brought some kind of doll with her and I kid you not, that thing looked so ing creepy. So she’s kind of a weirdo too.” The blonde made a face of disgust which Jimin laughed at. “Let her be, maybe that doll is meaningful to her.”

“I guess?” Ning tried to shake the image of the creepy doll off her mind. “Anyway, how about you Aeri? You have like the most neutral roommates so far.”

“They are amazing. Yerim and I are close so it’s nice to have a friend around.” She started counting the pros. “I’m not actually a friend of Yoohyeon, but she is as sweet as Minji,  no wonder why they’re dating; and Gahyeon is just so cool, she’s like a sane version of Bora.” She joked.

“Can we trade roommates, please?” The blonde begged but Aeri just smiled mischievously. “I can trade Minjeong for Yoohyeon.” 

“Hey, don’t be mean.” Jimin frowned, annoyed at her friend’s harsh words.

“Yeah, besides we said we were going to integrate her into our group. So you should be telling us more about her.” Both Aeri and Jimin nodded, making Ning roll her eyes in defeat.

“Hmm, I mean, she’s just like there…” Ning shrugged. “I know we said this was our chance to befriend her, but I’m not sure anymore. Because unlike Jinsol who’s just shy and that you have to talk to her first to get her to speak.” She paused.” Minjeong is just… I’m sorry but she’s just weird. Even if you talk to her, she won’t say a word back.” She took a sip of water before continuing. “Today Bora tried to have a conversation with her because as you know, she can’t stand the silence, and Minjeong just straight ignored her by putting her headphones on. So, it’s going to be really hard for us to follow the ‘plan’, guys.”

“Maybe she’s not interested.” Jimin said. “Maybe she finds it difficult to interact with certain people.”

Jimin thought about the short conversation she had with Minjeong earlier in the bus. “Because we actually talked on the bus after you two left.” Jimin smiled. “Not much though, I just asked her if she was okay because the bus was pretty much empty yet she was still there. And she told me, and I quote: I'm just preparing myself mentally for the rest of the day.”

“She actually spoke to you?” Aeri was in disbelief.

“Well , now I feel kinda bad for what I said.” Yizhuo looked ashamed.

“She looks like she lacks social stamina, so that should be the main reason she isn’t talking with anyone. Maybe she needs someone who she can feel comfortable enough to talk to, and to be honest Bora doesn't seem to be the right one for that.”

“But are you? Is that what you are trying to tell us?” Ningning smirked.

The blonde’s words caught her off guard, turning her ears red, and making the temperature of her face rise gradually.

What?

“What are you saying? That’s not what I meant.” Jimin let out a nervous chuckle. “I’m just stating a fact, taking note of all the things you just told us about Sua,  

Ning Yizhuo smiled at her with squinted eyes, Jimin’s words sounding a bit suspicious.

“No but it’s true.” Aeri interrupted the awkward moment. “We agreed on Yuji being the most capable among us to do this and I think she has just proved us to be right.”

Sigh.

That felt like a lot of weight on her shoulders. “Hey! but don’t leave me alone on this one, you two have to help me too.” The tall girl pouted.

“Of course we will. Don’t worry, Yuji.” Aeri smiled at her friends. “Right, Ning?”

“Yeah yeah.”

“Just be nice guys, please.” Jimin begged one last time.

The next morning was notoriously warm and the breeze of summer mixed with the scent of the river filled the room. Jimin loved it, it brought back memories from past summers.

“Does anyone know what is scheduled for today?” Wonyoung asked.

“Scavenger hunt, I believe.” Heejin’s deep voice came from the bathroom.

“Oh, I love that one, it’s pretty fun.” Minji said with her usual contagious eye-smile, unfortunately this didn’t have any effect over Wonyoung who just sighed and closed her eyes. “Not with this weather.”

Jimin just listened to the girls talk in the background while picking her outfit for the day: A plain white muscle tee, some shorts and her pair of Converse.

Minji approached the tall girl before heading to the field along with the other girls, and asked if she wanted to join them.

“Oh no, you guys go, I have to wait for Aeri and Ningning.” The long-haired girl smiled politely. She's so cute.

“Okay then, just don’t be late, girls.” Minji warned softly. Just like a mom. Jimin thought. “We won’t.” She smiled.

Jimin sat down on the front steps of the cabin to wait for her friends; the morning sun was shining brightly and the birds were chirping loudly. It was a beautiful day, she thought, but her introspection was disrupted when she noticed a particular girl walking towards her direction.

Minjeong?

At first glance, the short girl looked tired, but Jimin didn’t care much because that also made her  very… attractive.

Minjeong’s straight short hair was intentionally messy that day and her bangs were almost covering her eyes. She was wearing an oversized black shirt with a small Uchiha logo on the right side, a pair of Nike Air force and black shorts.

So ing pretty. Jimin’s heart was beating notoriously fast. Should I say hi? She is not wearing her headphones today… Would she listen to me anyway?

The tall girl had second thoughts on waving at the girl, especially when she seemed in a bad mood. But she did it anyway.

“Good morning, Minjeong.” The tall girl awkwardly greeted her, making the short girl stop in her tracks and lower her gaze at Jimin.

She stopped? I wasn’t ready for this.

“Good morning, Jimin.” Minjeong bowed her head quickly and kept walking.

That was it?

Jimin didn’t get a chance to say something else, she just stared at Minjeong’s back as she walked away.

I’m so lame.

“Sorry if we took so long, Ning and Bora couldn't stop arguing about some stupid .” She heard Aeri’s voice, who arrived along with Yizhuo just in time to prevent herself f rom drowning in sappy thoughts.

So that’s why she seemed annoyed.

“It’s okay.” She smiled. “But we should get going though, the hunt is about to start in like ten minutes.”

“Since when are you so excited about this?” The blonde chuckled.

“I promised Minji we wouldn't be late.”

“Okay, so the milf spoke, let’s get going.” Ning grabbed their hands and dragged them to where the event was about to start.

When they reached the field the PE teacher had just started to gather all the students together to proceed with the indications.

“Okay listen guys, I will hand you the list for the scavenger hunt. You will be searching in two areas: the woods and the river.”

“This list looks cheap as .” Yizhuo complained about the harmless piece of paper.

"Have you seen Minjeong? We should track her  down in case the professor says we should go as a team." Aeri suggested.

“She’s with Heejin…Wait, she is with Heejin? What the ?” The blonde was in disbelief.

The three girls looked in the direction where Heejin and Minjeong were sitting together.

“Jimin, this is your chance, go go go.” Aeri pushed her.

What was Heejin doing with Minjeong anyway?

“Wait, I can’t go there just like that, it would be weird. Let’s wait for the instructions at least.” Jimin was getting nervous as the seconds went by.

“The rules are simple; you will have the opportunity to choose your teammates, but I will give you just five minutes to set your team up and come here with me to get your map."

“Now go!” Ning and Aeri pushed her and Jimin anxiously made her way through the crowd of classmates until she reached Minjeong.

It was obvious that neither Heejin nor Minjeong were expecting her sudden intromission.

“Oh Jimin, what are you doing here? I thought you were with Aeri and Yizhuo.”

“Yeah, I was, but our team is one person short, so I came to ask Minjeong if she wants to join us.”

Jimin’s hands were kind of sweaty. What if Minjeong said no? Maybe she was with Heejin because she was part of her team already. She felt stupid for not thinking about that in the first place.

“Oh we were actually talking about that too-“ Heejin got interrupted.

“I will join you.” Minjeong said getting up, leaving both stunned.

“What?” Jimin and Heejin replied in unison, confusion written all over their faces.

“I’ll go with Jimin.” The short girl moved next to the long-haired girl. “I’m sorry Heejin, but to be honest Hyunjin scares me a bit.”

Jimin tried so hard to suppress a chuckle.

“Where is the rest of your team?” the short-haired girl asked.

“Oh, right this way, follow me.” The tall girl made a pause. “Ehm, see you back at the cabin, Heejin?” Jimin tried to be polite with the recently rejected girl.

“Sure.”

“Oh my god she did it.” Aeri was evidently shocked at Jimin and Minjeong walking towards them.

“Shut up.” Ning shushed her. “This has to look like a coincidence.”

“Girls, Minjeong agreed to join us." Jimin announced. "I know we already met, but let me introduce you to my best friends, Ning Yizhuo and Kim Aeri."

This is awkward.

“Hi.” The short girl's voice was low.

“I love your shirt.” Aeri pointed out. “I like Naruto too.”

Minjeong didn’t know what to say, she wasn’t used to people complimenting her. “Thanks.” She said emotionless.

“I don’t want to stop you guys, but the teacher is waiting for us. Five minutes, remember?” Yizhuo reminded them.

“Okay, teams, take your walkie talkies, and all the maps you need from the table, and listen carefully: First team that comes back with all items, only the ones you can carry obviously, wins. The objects that can not be brought, you will need to take a picture with them and show it to me. Okay?”

“I think we should split up, Aeri and I could search in the forest and Jimin and Minjeong in the river.”

“It’s fine by me, over.” Minjeong talked into the walkie talkie, startling the girls. “I’m sorry, just wanted to check if it works.”

Jimin giggled at the girl’s antics while her friends were clearly annoyed.

“At the count of three you can go.” The teacher took her whistle. “One…two…three!” A loud whistle was heard, and all the students started running.

The trees were getting taller as Jimin and Minjeong got closer to the river. But they still had a, not so long, way to go.

“Can I ask you a question?” Jimin said out of nowhere, breaking the silence.

Minjeong didn't avert her attention from the map. “Uh, yeah, sure.” They kept walking through the woods, accompanied by the sounds of nature.

Actually, Jimin wanted to ask more than one question. She wanted this opportunity to have a real conversation with her, and decipher the magnetic energy she felt towards her.

“What made you change your mind to join us on the trip?” The long-haired girl was curious because as well as her friends, she didn’t expect her to be here.

Minjeong lifted her eyes up from the map to focus on her answer. A cute frown forming on her face.

“Hmm... you? I think so.” The short-haired girl confessed and gazed at Jimin, whose ears were burning from the sudden revelation.

“I don’t know. You seem like a very emotional and nice person. So when you approached me to tell me about the summer camp and invited me with such joy on your face, I kind of felt bad for thinking of not going.” She laughed, for the first time, and Jimin was enchanted by the sound.

 Jimin was indeed a very emotional human being that Minjeong’s words hit her straight into her heart, but how did she notice something so personal if they had not shared a word before? Not precisely a long conversation. 

“Am I a nice person?” Jimin smiled sheepishly.

The river peeked through the trees.

“I think so. At least that’s the impression I got from you in class.” Minjeong stepped on a branch.

Has she been watching me all this time? Since when? Jimin’s cheeks got warm after realizing she had never noticed.

“Thank you, I appreciate your words.” The long-haired girl couldn’t take her eyes off the short girl who was back on focusing on the map as if nothing happened.

It didn't take long before they reached the river.

When they did, Jimin was amazed at how clear and shiny the water was. The turquoise waves hit the huge rocks all around the river.

It was an otherworldly view, especially with all the tall trees surrounding the river and the big mountain in the distance.

“It's so beautiful.” Minjeong couldn't suppress a smile and gazed at the tall girl. It was the first time Jimin saw her smile ear to ear, her eyes glittering due to the sunlight reflecting on the water.

You too.

There was no use in denying it, she had a crush on her.

“I know.” Jimin smiled until she got aware of how much she was staring at the girl and decided to change the subject. “The list says we need to search for a peach tree, a blue boat and a book, right?”

“Yeah, and I don’t see any of those here, so we should begin searching that way.” Minjeong pointed north.

“Okay then.”

The girls walked by the river shore with the scent of the freshwater filling their lungs. The weather was moderately hot, but not enough to make you sweat like crazy but enough to get your skin to look naturally glossy.

As the heat started to rise, the tall girl noticed droplets of sweat falling off Minjeong's neck.

“Do you see something?” Minjeong asked, interfering with her thoughts.

“Ehm, not reall-“ Jimin was cut off mid-sentence when she heard the shorter girl shout.

“Look! There's a peach tree over there.” The short girl ran towards the tree with Jimin following behind. “Hey be careful, the rocks are kind of irregular.”

Jimin was panting when she caught up with the girl. “You run fast, huh?”

“Look at these peaches.” Minjeong was in awe at how many peaches were on the tree.

“Stay still, let me take a picture for the teacher.” The long-haired girl said in between gasps, grabbing her phone out to take a picture of Minjeong, who was doing a peace sign beside the tree.

The tall girl bit her lower lip to stop the urge to smile and giggle. 

“Why are you smiling that way? Is there something on my face?” Minjeong frowned, looking unintentionally adorable, and rapidly took Jimin’s phone off her hands.

“No.” The tall girl couldn’t suppress a giggle anymore. “It’s just that you look as tiny as the peach tree.” She teased.

Minjeong returned the phone to its owner after she approved the photo taken by the tall girl, and the brush of their hands sent butterflies directly to Jimin’s stomach.

“Well, I am tiny.” The short girl frowned, pouting  her lips.

This feels nice. Jimin thought. She’s nice.

“Here, eat this.” The short girl offered her a fresh picked peach.

“Is this safe to eat?” Jimin thought that wasn’t a good idea.

“Yeah. They’re soft right now so it’s good.” Minjeong took a bite from the fresh fruit and Jimin couldn’t ignore the wet lips and the peach juice falling off her chin, which the short girl then cleaned with the back of her hand.

The tall girl gulped at how soft her lips looked after the bite. “We should get going, we have yet to find the boat and the book.” Jimin shook her head to stop those thoughts.

“Hey, can we sit for a second?” Minjeong asked, wiping the sweat from her bangs with a small towel she had on her pocket.

“Sure. Are you okay?” The tall girl couldn’t hide the fact that she was worried.

“Yeah. It’s just that I’m not used to being outdoors in this weather.” The short girl sat down on the grass, under the shade of a tree, and leaned back on her hands.

“I brought a bottle of water with me, take it.” Jimin gave it to her and sat down beside her.

“Thank you.”

They sat like that for a while, enjoying the silence. Just the two of them contemplating the river, no need to talk.

Jimin got time to realize her interest for the girl had crossed the line of just “friends”, even though they weren’t exactly friends to begin with.

However, she had to admit that she had fallen for the girl even before the trip. All the magnetism and attraction was there since day one, and it only grew enough to bring them to this very moment.

She even had time to recall a very old memory of when she heard Minjeong sing for the first-time [by accident] on her way to her next class. Her voice was effortlessly beautiful and Jimin thought that maybe that was when her attraction towards the girl began, who knows, it just happened without any reasonable explanation.

Jimin found it funny because she never thought of herself falling for the “angsty kid” as Yizhuo would call her. But Minjeong wasn't an angsty kid, she was just a really reserved girl who didn’t see any reason to talk to other people, and of course Jimin respected that, yet, that had an effect on her, as if  something was pulling her closer to the girl, as if she was a huge walking magnet.

“I really like your company.” Minjeong blurted out with a voice as tiny as her.

“Huh?” Jimin’s thoughts suddenly vanished due to the girl's unanticipated confession. She turned to get a glimpse of the short-haired girl, and verify that what she heard was actually real and not just her mind playing tricks on her.

Minjeong let out a giggle because Jimin looked very puzzled.

"What I'm saying is that I think I feel comfortable around you.” The girl clarified to ease Jimin’s look of confusion. “I don’t feel pressured to say something, but when I do, you are a great listener.” Jimin noticed how Minjeong smirked at her own words. “You know, people think I’m weird, or that I am mean, but in reality, most of the time is just me not knowing how to communicate with them.”

At this point Jimin’s heart was beating loudly, she didn’t know if she wanted to cry, hug the girl [obviously not because that would come off as weird], or just simply let the girl speak. But if there was one thing she was sure of, it was how grateful she was of Minjeong’s courage to say all those things out loud.

Jimin was more than aware of the short time they had been talking, but this could be the starting point of either a friendship, or even something more.

“I am glad you think that way about me because I was thinking the exact same thing about you.” Minjeong directed her gaze at Jimin, her eyes were of a lost puppy. I know we haven’t talked much either at school or here, but yesterday when I got the chance, you seemed like a nice kid to me. Even if you felt reluctant to talk with me." Jimin smiled brightly, she really meant that. "And about not knowing how to communicate, it’s completely okay, you can take one step at a time, you don’t have to force yourself into doing something you don’t feel comfortable enough with. You just have to be yourself.” The long-haired girl reassured her. “Even if it sounds cringe.”

Minjeong laughed at the remark. “Yeah, a bit.” They went silent for a second. “Now I understand why everybody chose you as our class representative. You are also really good with words.”

Jimin chuckled as she remembered that one time when  her classmates were so eager to make her the group leader. “Thank you, but here I am not the class leader, but rather just Jimin talking to a new friend.”

“Are we?” Minjeong raised an eyebrow.

“Only if you accept.”

Minjeong stretched her hand, going for a handshake, and Jimin took it with confidence.

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

“Jimin, are you there? We found all the objects and we are now heading back. Over.” Aeri's voice came from the walkie-talkie.

It looked like their little moment had come to an end.

. She forgot about the hunt for a minute. “Ehm… hi, I’m here. We are actually still looking for the boat.”

“You forgot to say ‘Over’.” Minjeong joked and Jimin just rolled her eyes.

“No time for jokes, come on, let’s go find the rest of the things.”

“Hyunjin is truly a menace.  Yizhuo was clearly salty. “I can’t believe they actually won.”

“I do. Just look at their team.” Aeri pointed at Heejin, Sooyoung and Hyeju who were lifting Hyunjin as part of their celebration. “Also, no one expected Hyunjin to bring a giant fish with her. That somehow gave them more points." They saw how the four girls had to get together to be able to lift the fish and take a picture with it.

“Come on girls, cheer up, we might have gotten second place, but we had a good time.” Jimin tried to brighten up the mood for her teammates, but Yizhuo and Aeri just looked at each other with suspicion.

“You actually did?” The blonde teased.

“You girls didn’t?” Jimin asked naively, unaware of Yizhuo’s mind games.

“Hmm I don’t want to interrupt, but I think I should get going. I’m exhausted.” Minjeong intervened, feeling like she no longer was supposed to be there.

“Are you sure? You can come with us for dinner.” The long-haired girl suggested, which got her another questionable look from her friends.

The tall girl perceived all of this was making Minjeong uncomfortable.

“Oh no, I’m good, thank you.” She shook her head. “I’m not really hungry to be honest. I just want to take a shower and rest.” Minjeong explained, bowing before leaving. “It was nice meeting you guys.”

Jimin couldn’t help getting gloomy; she didn't want Minjeong to leave so soon. Yet she knew she was being pushy, which she of course regretted, especially after the conversation they shared earlier in the river.  She had to respect her space.

“See you at the cabin.” Yizhuo waved.

“Have a good rest.” Aeri said sweetly.

“See you around, Jimin.” The long-haired girl almost pouted as she saw her walk away.

One step at a time.

“Can somebody explain to me why she looks like she is on the verge of crying?” Yizhuo wasn’t expecting that reaction from Jimin over... Kim Minjeong? Maybe she had to start connecting some dots.

Aeri on the other hand, was just laughing. “Leave her alone.” She went to Jimin for a hug. “Can we just go eat already? I’m hungry.”

“Come on, let's go.” That was the last thing the blonde said before grabbing her best friends’ hands and dragging them to the dining hall.

Unlike her roommates who were already asleep, Jimin was wide awake busy thinking about that day's events. The conversation with Minjeong and their time spent together in the river was replaying over and over in her head. She missed her; it was obvious that her affection towards the girl had grown significantly.

It felt great to be around Minjeong, it was different, they had no context nor really a story behind, it was just them hanging around and getting to know each other.

Maybe I fall in love too easily.

Jimin’s mind rambled like that for an hour until she finally was able to fall asleep.

The next morning her roommates woke up early to get ready for that day’s hiking. Jimin groaned at the noise, the lack of sleep was surely kicking in.

“Don’t forget to bring water girls, it’s going to be hot out here.” She heard Minju say; she probably didn’t want them to pass out in the woods.