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At the camp site,

 

“Okay class, just collect all the red flags that you see in your way. And come back here as fast as you can. Remember, we have to win against the other sections!” Jun cheered enthusiastically.

 

The whole class nodded in understanding.

 

“And just go in pairs. Alphabetically.” He added with a smile.

 

Jinhee twitched her lip to the side. *Again? Why am I always partnered with him? Great. Just great.* She thought as she breathed heavily.

 

It was not that she hates Chanyeol, it’s just that, now that she knows that he hates her, she can’t be at ease around him. Because she feels like she’ll just be an annoyance to him. *Maybe he’s so pissed off right now because I sat beside him on the bus and now we’re team mates.*

 

Jinhee’s class paired up immediately. Jinhee and Chanyeol were the last ones to pair up.

 

 

*Do I have to say something?* Chanyeol thought as he bit his lip and walked towards Jinhee’s direction.

 

But before he could say anything,

 

“Let’s go.” Jinhee mumbled quietly as she walked past him. Chanyeol just followed her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zelo stood in front of his classmates. He eyed them. They didn’t look interested about collecting the flags.

 

“You don’t want to collect flags?” He asked them.

 

His classmates nodded.

 

“We want to rest!”

“Forests are scary.”

“We want to take pictures!”

“I want to visit my friends from the other section.”

“I want to eat!”

“Let’s just go back to the bus and sleep.”

 

His classmates started to voice out their thoughts. Zelo smiled. “I feel the same.”

 

 

“So we won’t collect flags?” His classmate asked.

 

“Let’s have a deal. Since we’re all lazy, let’s just go to the forest and do whatever you guys want. But collect flags. Maybe 15 flags will do. That way we won’t be suspected by the teachers. After we collected 15 flags, let’s go back here and rest.” Zelo grinned as he wriggled his brows together. “How does that sound?” He asked them.

 

“Great.”

“Awesome.”

“Lazy.” Sungjae mumbled. Zelo just ignored him.

 

“One more thing, let’s help class 1D okay?” Zelo added as he eyed all of them.

 

“Why would we help 1D?” A random classmate asked.

 

“Is that a question? It’s Jinhee’s section. If we’re not going to win, then they should.” Zelo said with a smile.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jinhee was walking 2 meters away behind Chanyeol while trying to look for red flags. She doesn’t want him to feel bad or burdened because of her. And he said he hates her. So she should probably distance herself from him.

 

Nothing good will happen if she kept on thinking about what happened before. So she just indulged herself in finding the flags. She already found six flags. And she’s determined to find more.

 

Luckily, Jinhee spotted a flag placed on the upper branch of the tree. Her eyes shone in delight. *I’m going to get that.*

 

And Chanyeol was there walking with no direction. He was thinking of something else. He didn’t even try to find flags. He wasn’t interested in it even for a bit. He was thinking if his decision to avoid Jinhee was right.

 

It was like fate was playing with him.

 

When he told Jinhee to just avoid him, that’s when they are always partnered. *Maybe I shouldn’t have avoided her in the first place. Why was I even avoiding her?* He thought as he frowned.

*Oh right. It was because of Junhong.* Junhong never told him to avoid Jinhee or whatever. He just felt like he needed to distance himself from her.

 

Why?

 

Because if he didn’t, he knew he’d just fall for her even more. And that’s what he was afraid of.

 

He was afraid to fall in love with her completely. Because if he did, he knew Junhong would be hurt.

 

But now that he thought about it, why does he have to back away from Jinhee?

 

 

 

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

 

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened in alarm. *That’s Jinhee’s voice.* He thought as he looked back. Jinhee was nowhere to be found. She was just walking behind him. And now she’s missing. *What happened to her? What if she’s hurt? What if she’s in danger?* He thought as he looked around the place.

 

“Jinhee! Where are you?” He shouted, praying that she would answer him despite the fact that he told her to avoid him.

 

*Just where is she?* Chanyeol thought as he bit his lip. Worry was painted on his face.

 

“I’m here!” Jinhee answered. Chanyeol looked around. “Where?” he asked as he started to walk towards the direction where her voice was coming from.

 

“..down the slope.” Jinhee answered. Her voice sounded like she was hurt.

 

Chanyeol carefully walked towards the slope and saw her there, twisting in pain.

 

“Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Wait here. I’ll try to find a rope.” Chanyeol told her as he looked around quickly. He was panicking. *I have to help her. I have to get her out of that slope.* That was what’s running on his mind right at the moment.

 

“I’m fine but.. I can’t really move my left leg.” Jinhee told him.

 

Chanyeol gaped at her. “You’re injured? Is it an open wound? Did you sprain it?” He asked as he was about to slide down the slope.

 

Jinhee tried to stop him. “No! Stop! Don’t come here! You have to---“

 

But it was too late.

 

Chanyeol slid down the slope and was outbalanced by a rock which caused him to fall down. But he didn’t mind it. Jinhee was his priority.

 

He stumbled towards her and immediately grabbed her shoulders. “Are you alright? Can you move your leg?” He asked her worriedly.

 

Jinhee nodded. “I said I’m fine.” Then she looked at her left leg. “My leg just.. hurts.”

 

Chanyeol frowned at her wounded leg. “What happened? How did you get here?” He asked her.

 

Jinhee looked away in embarrassment. “I.. rolled down the slope when I was trying to reach for the red flag on the tree.” She confessed.

 

*This happened because I didn’t keep an eye on her.* Chanyeol thought as guilt started sinking inside his heart.

 

Chanyeol sighed. “I’m sorry. This happened because of me. And I panicked when you said you were injured so I rushed here. I couldn’t think of anything else than to rush here. I’m ..sorry.” Chanyeol apologized.

 

“But if you didn’t go here, then maybe you could’ve asked for help. That’d be more helpful.” Jinhee mumbled loud enough for him to hear.

 

“Did you know how worried I was? You just fell down. What if it’s not just your leg that’s injured? You even have blister and scratches on your arms and legs. It’s because you’re walking way too far from me!” Chanyeol exclaimed at her.

 

Jinhee scowled. “You told me to avoid you remember? You told me that you don’t want to be friends with me. That you don’t want to go anywhere near me and that you don’t want to see me. Remember?” She snapped at him.

 

Chanyeol opened his mouth to protest but no words came out from it. No matter what he says, Jinhee was right. And she was just doing what he told her to do.

 

“Let’s.. set that aside for now.” He mumbled as he bit his lips and looked at her injured leg. “I’ll clean your wound first.”  He said as he took out his water bottle and started to clean her wound.

 

 

 

 

…..

 

 

 

 

 

While Jonghyun was looking for yellow flags, he saw Zelo just sitting on a random rock.

 

“You’re the president right? You should atleast find some flags.” Jonghyun reminded him.

 

“That’s the point. I’m the president. Why would I find one when you guys can do it?” Zelo mumbled lazily.

 

Jonghyun just sighed as he shook his head. “You’re really dependable.” He told Zelo sarcastically.

 

Zelo gave him a fake smile. “Thanks.”

 

“You’re welcome.” Jonghyun responded back.

 

“3 more hours before we go back to the camp. Then we’ll be eating lunch. I’ll be eating with Jinhee.” Zelo mumbled to himself with a small smile.

 

He couldn’t wait to tell her what happened to him at the bus. He couldn’t wait to show her the pictures he took. He couldn’t wait to eat with her.  He couldn’t wait to see her.

 

“What could Jinhee be doing now?” Zelo wondered as he tapped his chin while thinking of the countless possibilities of what she was doing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol carefully tied his white handkerchief on Jinhee’s wounded leg, careful enough not to tie it too tight. He doesn’t want her to be hurt anymore. “There. It’s okay. Just don’t move it too much.” He told her with a smile.

 

Jinhee nodded. “Thank you.”

 

After that no one from the two of them dared to speak up. Everything became awkward.

 

“Why don’t you climb up there and ask for some help?” Jinhee told him, breaking the silence between the two of them.

 

Chanyeol shook his head. “I won’t leave you here alone.”

 

“But we have to---“

 

Chanyeol cut Jinhee off. “No matter what. I won’t leave you here alone.” He repeated as he eyed her.

 

“How would they find us? All of us left our cellphones in our bags. Plus, It’s getting dark.” Jinhee reasoned out.

 

“They notice that we’re missing once they go back to the camp and do a roll call. And you can’t move your leg yet.”

 

Jinhee’s eyes rounded. “Then we’ll sleep here?” She asked as she looked around. Everything was grassy and there were rocks. The soil is very hard and uncomfortable. There’s no way she’d be sleeping here. She won’t and she couldn’t.

 

“Don’t worry. They’ll find us.” Chanyeol tried to make her feel better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol coyly rubbed the back of his head as he handed Jinhee some fruits that he saw when he tried to find food for the both of them. “These are all I got. But they’re clean. And edible. It’s safe to eat.” He mumbled as he sat parallel to her.

 

Jinhee nodded as she ate some fruits. Her eyes were focused on Chanyeol. *He’s saying he hates me but now he’s helping me. I don’t get him* She thought as she frowned. *Maybe I’ll just ask him why he did those. For sure there’s a reason behind it.*

 

“Can I ask you something?”

 

Chanyeol turned to her with a small nod. “Go on. I’m listening.”

 

“Why did you tell me to avoid you?”

 

Chanyeol gulped. He didn’t expect that question to come too soon. He stood up. “I think I should find more food. Maybe I’ll---“

 

“Tell me the truth.” Jinhee demanded him.

 

Chanyeol sighed as he sat again. *There’s no way to get out from this mess.* He thought. “Well.. I was just.. sick that time.” He reasoned out.

 

Jinhee smiled. “So we’re friends again?”

 

Chanyeol eyed her. *Yes. Just friends.* He nodded without thinking twice. “Just forget everything I said last time. Let’s erase it.” He told her with a smile.

 

And from that moment on he has decided that maybe it’ll be the best to just give up on her and be her friend. Yes. It hurts. But it’s the most logical thing to do.

 

“So now that we’re friends again, how’s the girl that you like?” Jinhee asked. Her tone was now relaxed. Unlike few hours ago when she was still trying to avoid him.

 

Chanyeol blushed in alarm. “Why would you want to know?”

 

Jinhee just shrugged. “I think you have a problem with her that’s why you’re behaving weirdly.”

 

Chanyeol smiled. “That’s ..right. Maybe.”

 

“Wae? Did she reject you?” Jinhee asked him curiously.

 

“Eventhough she’s not yet rejecting me, I already feel like she would. I haven’t confessed to her yet but I feel rejected a thousand times already.” Chanyeol mumbled as he played with a leaf with his fingers.

 

Jinhee’s brows furrowed. “But why?”

 

Chanyeol shook his head. “Dunno. I just feel that way.”

 

Jinhee eyed him. “So what are you going to do?”

 

Chanyeol faked a smile. “The best thing to do is to give up.” Jinhee frowned at him and she suddenly hit his head with her palm.

 

Chanyeol gaped at her. He still couldn’t believe that Jinhee hit him. “Why did you hit me?” He innocently asked her as he massaged his aching head. *What’s happening to her?*

 

“I never knew you’re this coward. If you like her, then you should tell her!” Jinhee exclaimed.

 

Chanyeol tried to explain. “You don’t understand. If I tell her how I feel, someone important to me might get hurt.” He said as he sighed. *It’s Junhong.*

 

Jinhee raised her left eyebrow. “So?”

 

*You just don’t see how complicated it is.* Chanyeol thought as he breathed heavily.

 

“You know, if you like someone you should tell her. You’ll never know, maybe she likes you too.” Jinhee smiled.

 

Chanyeol shook his head with a small smile. “That’s not possible.”

 

“Aish. I’m trying to make you feel better and you’re still thinking of negative thoughts. Be confident about yourself!”

 

Chanyeol just smiled. “She doesn’t like me. What’s the point of confessing to her right?”

 

“Don’t give up.” Jinhee said as she eyed him. “My father told me before that if you give up easily, you’ll regret it in the end.” She said with a small smile.

 

Chanyeol blinked at her. A smile slowly formed in his lips. *You’re really making me crazy. I’m thinking of giving up on you but you’re here telling me not to. What am I going to do with you? Why are you confusing me?*

 

“Aish. Just tell her you love her!” Jinhee exclaimed irritatedly.

 

Chanyeol turned to her direction with a serious look on his face. “I love you.”

 

 

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3. :)

 

 

I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you're not disappointed as well. Bye~ :D