The sky was now dark, and so was the entire place. They all sat around in a circle, drinking beer and babbling loudly like there’s no tomorrow. None of them were in their right state of mind thought about setting up the campfire before it got too dark—beer does things to people. They had cleared through a whole cooler of beer, and everybody seemed intoxicated, except Victoria, who was still in her right sense.

“Whoa, I can’t see anyone’s face right now.” Taec said, although it has been dark for almost 30 minutes in.

“Well we should’ve set up the campfire a while ago. Come on, let’s do it.” Junsu laughed while pulling Wooyoung up with him.

“I have to pee.” Chansung declared.

“Ya! There’s a woman present!” Khun reprimanded at the youngest.

“Oh I’m sorry. Noona would you like to pee?” Chansung rebutted.

The there were chuckles in the dark.

“Chansung-ah if I could see you I would wring your neck right now.” Khun seethed.

“I’ll pee with you.” Junho said, and flailed his arm to find Chansung in the dark.

The two managed to get up and hold each other as they went to the back of the woods to relieve themselves. Junsu and Wooyoung were already arm in arm while singing loudly as they made their way around the camp looking for something to ignite fire. They used their cellphones as flashlights.

Khun was beside Victoria, and though it was dark, she could feel his hand on her lap. It was his signature pose whenever she was with him. It was sort of his trademark “this is mine” gesture, to let everyone know that the girl sitting beside him was his and Victoria took notice of this ever since they started liking each other.

“You okay?” he asked her quietly.

“Yeah, I’m having fun.”

Victoria could feel the heat of Khun’s face inching its way close to hers, but as soon as she felt the edge of his lips, a huge roar of fire made everyone jump back in surprise.

“Holy !” Wooyoung yelled as he snatched his hand back from he fire. He had lit a match on the already set-up campfire.

“Wooyoung you could’ve burned your hand!” Junsu pointed out, clearly still shaken up.

“Someone poured kerosene already! How was I supposed to know?” Wooyoung said.

“it wasn’t me.” Taec raised his arm from across Khun and Victoria.

The fire had now calmed down, and leveled to a safer mode. Chansung and Junho came back staggering.

“You guys. You guys. You guys.” Junho panted, as if he had something interesting to share. “A mosquito the size of Chansung bit me.”

“That wasn’t a mosquito, that was just me.” Chansung said non-chalantly.

Victoria suppressed laughter as she emptied her beer can and got up from her seat.

“Where are you going?” Khun said.

“To pee.” She whispered as she walked with a slight hurry.

Khun decided to accompany her, the gentleman that he is, but without much escape from the taunting of his very mature friends.

“Oh where you are two going, there’s no motel here.”

“Let me know if you need glow in the dark condoms!”

“Shame, shame!”

Khun shook his head at them in disbelief as they continued to howl in a mocking way. Victoria just kept her head hung low, to refrain from turning all red.

“Why do you have to follow me?” Victoria hissed as soon as they reached a distance from the camp.

“There could be bears and huge bugs you know.”

“Bugs?”

“Or would you rather be alone?”

“No! Stay.”

“I thought so.”

They each picked their own spot—Victoria behind a bush and Khun behind a tree.

“Khun! There could be snakes here.” She whispered loudly.

“Please don’t talk while I’m peeing.”

Victoria finished first and quickly got up, in fear that a snake but slither its way to her. She looked around for danger, but all she could see was beauty. She raised her chin and gazed at the night sky—it was sprinkled with stars. The moon was so close to her reach once again, she could stare at it for a long time. She didn’t realize Khun was already by her side, staring up at the stars like her.

“It’s so pretty it makes me want to cry.” She said.

“I know. They’re just like you.” Khun said.

Victoria looked at Khun, who was obviously under the influence of alcohol but still, even at his state, he could make her feel giddy. He stared back at her. There was glistening in her eyes, he could swim in it forever. This was what he meant—she was so pretty to him that it almost hurts; it makes him want to cry. He then kissed her, and she welcomed it. It never failed to baffle her how the world seemed to stop when they locked lips. She felt as if the ground below their feet have gone and the rest of the world was galaxies below them, as they floated in euphoria, in their own tiny bubble. They got carried away and swayed sideward to the nearest tree, where Victoria’s back was slammed against the trunk. She let out a tiny yelp but continued kissing him nonetheless. Khun caught himself sliding his hand up her shirt, and attempting to her, but then s loud thumps on the ground startled both of them, they had no time to retract from their positions. Five members ran by like wild animals, hooting.

“We’re going swimming yeeeeaaaahhhh!” Junho roared, more drunk than he was a minute ago. Luckily for Khun and Victoria, no one noticed, nor cared, what they have been doing. As soon as they disappeared into the clearing, Khun laughed as he rested his forehead on hers.

“Come on.” Khun held her hand and led her to where the van was parked.

Once inside, they both knew what they were going to do. Khun was kissing her hungrily, while she tried to stifle her gasps and breaths for air.

“They might come back.” She whispered, but they were already half-.

She was silenced by his kisses, and although it was nerve-racking and almost wrong to have in their manager’s van, it was the best place to do it in the middle of the woods. The timing couldn’t have been any better: the members were away to swim in the waterhole so they easily had time to rock the van back and forth, like there was some sort of struggle and commotion inside.

“GERONIMOOOOOOO!” Chansung yelled, his voice reverberating all throughout the woods before he jumped in the freezing water.

The rest of the 2PM members were now completely submerged in cold water…. Not only were they drunk but they had been overcome with great sense of liberty and courage. After Chansung dove from a rock, Taec followed suit, making an acrobatic move in the air before dropping to the water with a huge splash. The moonlight gave them enough light and the little waterfall gave a refreshing sound of water rushing and crashing on rocks.

“I am soooo drunk right now.” Junsu said, shaking water off from his hair.

“There is one more cooler of beer.” Wooyoung pointed out.

“Don’t get too close to me all of us are !” Junho complained, splashing water at everyone.

Minutes later, Khun and Victoria came running hand in hand, and Victoria’s jaw dropped to the ground as she saw five wet, men.

“AAAAHHH!” Wooyoung shouted in shock and immediately went deep in the water. The other members followed suit.

“OMO!” Victoria shrieked, as Khun covered her eyes with his hand.

“Ya don’t look!” Khun told her.

“Victoria noona, come join us!” Chansung teased.

“I can’t, put your clothes back on!” she said.

“Noona saw me , noona saw me …” Chansung began to sing like a preschooler.

And she did. It didn’t help that it was dark, she could easily see from their silhouette and how the moonlight became a sort of spotlight for them.

“She can look now, all of us are submerged!” Junsu told Khun.

“Come on, let’s go swim.” Khun told her as he began stripping of his clothes, which were off of him just minutes ago when they had their own party in the van.

Of course Victoria didn’t have to strip . She kept on her clothes as she dipped herself in the cold water with Khun guiding her in.

And the rest of the water wading was history.

After their night swimming, they ran back to the camp to take advantage of the truckload of beer they brought. They hated hangovers but they didn’t care—they were in a separate world; they were no longer idols that night. Amidst their loud drunken singing around the campfire, Taec suggested a game of hide and seek.

“In this darkness?” Junsu asked.

“Why not?” Taec replied curtly.

They all looked at each other skeptically, and as if it was rehearsed, they all stood up at the same time and ran towards the woods, leaving Taec.

“Taecyeon baaaabo! Taecyeon is it!” Junho screamed in sing-song as they all scattered to the dark woods.

“YA!” Taec yelled after them, stumbling slightly.

Once they were all sprinting through the greenery, all became quiet and hushed. Some ran behind huge bushes and others climbed up trees. Victoria had forgotten to stay by Khun’s side; she had lost him when she ran for cover. She could hear footsteps from a distance but she didn’t know where Khun was. She felt exhilarated and excited—she has never done this before; not since she became a celebrity. And as trivial as this game might be to normal people, this was a rare occurrence to celebrities like them, which is why this was a night that they’ll remember for a long time.

Victoria found herself stifling a happy laugh as she hid behind a huge boulder. She could hear Taec calling out from afar. She heard footsteps carefully tiptoeing toward her from her back and somehow, she thought ahead of herself and knew it would be Khun.

“Khun is that you?” she whispered, holding back a smile.

“Ssshh.” The tall silhouette said.

Without warning, she grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him in a kiss. It wasn’t until five seconds into that kiss that she sensed it wasn’t Khun’s lips she was kissing. She opened her eyes and saw Chansung in front her, looking bewildered and downright surprised.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” Victoria said, covering in shock and embarrassment.

Taecyeon was nearing. Chansung held up his hand, signaling her to keep quiet. A few tense moments passed as Taec walked past their hiding place, but missing them.

As soon as he was gone, Chansung and Victoria sighed in relief.

“Chansung-ah I’m sorry!” she went back to panicking.

“It’s okay noona. You thought I was Khun hyung, I get it.” Chansung laughed silently, clearly indicating that he enjoyed it.

Victoria covered her face with her hands in complete and utter humiliation. I’ve been kissing too many guys lately, she thought to herself.

“I’m sorry for surprising you this way.” She apologized again, trying to laugh it off.

“It wasn’t that it really shocked me, but when you stuck your tongue in—“

Victoria hit him in the chest and they cackled together like children. Just then everyone else came running so fast and Taec shone a light on them using his phone.

“Aha! I knew there’d be someone in here!” Taec exulted.

Victoria and Chansung stood up in unison, looking like they’ve been caught red-handed doing something. Wooyoung, Junsu, Junho and Khun looked at the both of them weirdly.

“Wow you two look guilty right now.” Junho teased and the others chortled, except Khun, who was not amused.

“Who’s it then?” Chansung asked.

Everyone’s heads turned to the spot where Taec had been counting a while ago and in seconds, everyone was fumbling over each other to get to the spot—except Khun and Victoria.

Khun stared at Victoria as if trying to examine her expression. He knew something was up, she was a very transparent person and anyone could tell something was bothering her.

“What are you looking at?” she asked bitterly, though she did not look at him.

“Your face is completely red.”

“I’m drunk.”

“You look guilty.”

“No I’m not.”

Victoria brushed past him and strode back towards the camp. She walked past the other 2PM members who were now wrestling each other on the ground. Khun stalked after her while yelling at the members with “I don’t like this game!”

“We can play truth or dare.” Junho suggested after freeing himself from the wrestling knot they got into.

“I like that game. It’ so middle school.” Wooyoung mocked.

“Alright then, I’m still drunk. Let’s make this night worthwhile.” Taec said as they all gathered around the campfire once again.

Khun sat next to Victoria, who still seemed uneasy. Taec placed an empty bottle in the middle and spun it. When it stopped spinning, it pointed towards himself.

“Why is it always me?!” Taec raged.

“Alright, alright I’ll ask first. Now we’re all mature people here. No ual and dirty questions. Now Taecyeon…how many times do you e in a day?” Junho began.

Major laughter erupted at once. Victoria had been into conversations like this with the Super Junior members.

“Well it depends on how busy our schedule is. But once a day is fine.” Taec answered casually like he gets asked about it frequently.

“Is that why your right arm is bigger than your left?” Chansung joked and everyone died in laughter.

Dirty questions were raised here and there but when it came to Victoria they weren’t so hardcore, seeing as she was a girl. When the bottle pointed at her the second time, Wooyoung raised an interesting question.

“Noona. Besides Khun, who would you pick to kiss among us?”

Everyone let out ooh’s and ah’s except Chansung, Khun and her.

“I don’t like this game anymore.” Khun sighed jokingly.

“Noona has to answer. Khun hyung here dated a lot of models so noona should take revenge.” Wooyoung pointed out.

He had an excellent point. What better way to get back at Khun than to make him suffer like this? Khun threw an empty can of beer at Wooyoung.

“Chansung.” She replied immediately.

“Obviously.” Khun muttered to himself.

Junsu spun the bottle again and this time it pointed at Chansung.

“Our maknae! When was your last kiss?” Junsu asked.

For a split second, Chansung and Victoria’s eyes met and they had a silent agreement not to disclose anything that will further complicate Victoria’s life. Chansung sort of nodded and Victoria crled her lips to a grateful smile.

“When we were trainees. I had a girlfriend then, remember?” Chansung lied, and Victoria was altogether pleased.

They didn’t know how, but their laughter and jokes slowly faded and they all began talking about serious matters. It was past midnight, and everything was still and quiet. They began talking about their struggles and hardships.

“I’ve been depressed a lot since we debuted. Especially when Jay left. We were depressed but nothing was the same after he left.” Taec shared, his voice hoarse from all the screaming and laughing he had done all day.

“I’m still happy though. I chose the toughest group to be in, but never, not once, did I regret being here.” Wooyoung said, cradling his head with his hand.

“It’s funny. I rarely cried as a kid but when I became a part of this group as a man, I cried more. I feel that we’re so misunderstood. It’s so easy for people to criticize us in the internet when we’ve shed blood and tears just to please them. I always feel like giving up.” Chansung sighed, as he lay on the grass, facing the stars.

Junho nodded and patted Chansung’s head. “We’ve all been there.”

One by one, they all shed tears when the topic of family came up in the serious conversation.

“When my parents would see hateful comments about me from other people or from the internet, I feel bad. It’s fine with me but when it comes to them, I just want to make them proud.” Junho revealed.

Victoria was wrapped up in a blanket beside Khun, who was touching her hand now and then. She was completely touched by the fact that though these boys were rowdy, loud, tactless and unruly, they had big hearts and kind souls. She never knew that beastly 2PM would have such soft sides.

Victoria wiped a tear, after looking at each member’s eyes glistening with tears. It’s so funny that seven different people with different backgrounds and upbringing would have so many similarities with each other. They went through and experienced the same rough obstacles.

“We should be happy now, guys. We’ve been through so much. We chose this path, so we might as well make the most out of it.” Khun said, trying to enlighten everyone.

“When the sun rises, we have to go back to what we’re supposed to be.” Junsu pointed out sadly.

“If work makes everyone sad, what makes you happy then?” Wooyoung asked everyone.

“Us.” Taec answered without hesitation.

“My family. This family and mine.” Chansung said.

“Music makes me happy. Which is why I continue to do this.” Junsu almost whispered.

“My happiness is my mother.” Wooyoung answered his own question, wiping his wet cheeks.

“My happiness is right here.” Khun joined in, and held Victoria’s hand. She smiled at him and felt every ounce of his love.

“I think we should sleep now. Everybody group hug.” Taec announced and everybody got up and huddled together like a true team.

“Noona’s part of the group now.” Wooyoung insisted.

“I love you everyone.” Junho said and they all squished together, arms around each other in a circle. Victoria felt so warm and secure in this tight circle. She knew she had found a new family.

“Everyone…fighting!” Junho said encouragingly as they all put their hands in.

“Goodnight! Lights out.” Junsu said and poured a bucket of water on the dying campfire. Each member got into their tents, groaning in sleepiness. Victoria was ready to sleep herself, as she haphazardly entered the tent and lied down. For a few minutes, she was trying to go to sleep, until it occurred to her that it was cold outside.

She opened the slit of the tent.

“Khun, sleep beside me.” She whispered to him.

Khun did not need telling twice. He dragged his sleeping bag into the tent and lay there beside her. She cuddled close to him and nuzzled on his neck. They both closed their eyes, ready to drift off.

“Victoria.” He breathed.

It took her a while to answer.

“Hmm?”

“Marry me.”

“I will.”

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Khun.”

And together they slept in each other’s arms, holding each other’s heart.