To be honest, he spent all day worrying. It’d be just his luck for this last night of summer to get rained out. And now t’s night; the dark’s fallen over the sky already. The huge fire in the pit looks like it might explode; those guys near the front better stop throwing their camp schedule sheets in it. But at least, it was pointless for him to worry. The sky’s lit up bright and shimmering, even before the fireworks. “Look up, Soojung.” 

When she does, Jongin lowers his own gaze from above, over to her. Wonder what she think of him. 

As she watches the wonderworks in the sky, the kind his owner-of-the-camp-dad didn’t have to pay for, she smiles. Her cheeks are tinted a little rosy; he’s imagining leaving a little memory on her smooth cheek before he can stop himself. He wants to be the guy in her heart; he’s going to tell her so, just, not yet. 

“It’s gonna to go back home and back to school, huh?” Before he gets caught staring at her, he turns his head up, swiftly. 

“Yeah... good things never last,” she mumbles, and he feels her glancing toward him. Should he make eye contact? Not quite. “But this, this feels good right now. Look at us. The perfect picture of teens enjoying our youth.” 

It’s time. Amber, the hyper head counselor, tells them to give a round of cheers. Soojung cups her hands over her lips, whoo-ing. Jongin shouts a little wah.

The shooting noise is always deafening at first, always. One after another, the missiles, cloaked in darkness, fly up to the star-studded sky. Lights and colors splatter across the dark, night canvas. He watches these same lights every year, but they never fail to make him feel high, like he’s shooting up there with ‘em. 

Rays and dots fill their eyes for several minutes. He’s getting nervous; he waits for the darting tadpole ones because those are definitely worth it. 

“Soojung.” 

“Hm?”

“Wanna fly?” 

She turns abruptly, and this time, he’s ready to meet her eyes, bright and glittering from the fireworks. “Wanna get outta here?” 

She looks around them, noticing he might’ve asked her to sit in the back of the crowd for a reason. “Is that… okay?” She’s a good kid. 

He feints giving it a few seconds of thought. “I won’t get you lost, that’s a promise.” 

She dips her head with a grin then, and it does things to his chest. He finally gets to go on a walk alone with her, Jung Soojung. Thank his dad for owning a summer camp for high schoolers, and thank his older sister for finding that hidden trail leading to the little creek, when they were too young for school. 

Ducking low, he leads her easily away into the thin trees, extending a shy hand to her. Hopefully it’s too dark for her to see he’s shaking, just a bit. Her hand’s warm, a little moist. His is, too. He doesn’t even have to see where he’s going, his feet lead the way. In the dark, away from the rest of the crowd, he thinks he sees those brilliant stars from the sky ahead in front of his eyes. This all feels like a dream, walking along this trail with her. 

“This night’s never gonna happen again.” He may or may not have let that accidentally slip out of his mouth from his la la land. 

“What was that?” 

“Uhh… hold on, we’re almost there.” 

She doesn’t reply, which he takes as a sign to continue leading her by the hand, and just past that big, winding tree; the sound of running water greets them first. Soojung inhales sharply, taking in the creek, the tiny white flowers the little body of water, dirt and grass transitioning into pebbles and moss. He brings her to the flat rock he and his sister used to sit on, then lets go of her hand, though he seriously doesn’t want to. 

“I thought you were trying to kidnap me, for a second,” she laughs; it’s the prettiest sound to go along with the steady running of water. 

“I brought you here because… I have something to say.” Jongin feels the heat hitting his face like a fiery slap. She looks up at him with a tilt of her head, hair falling distractingly to her side, and he can’t bear to look her in the eyes directly, damn coward. 

“I like you a lot, Soojung.” 

A cricket croaks at the worst possible moment ever, followed by a darting rustle in the trees, followed by nothing. She’s standing there, looking at him, mouth about halfway open. Is she gonna make him say it again?

“Did you… hear me?”

There goes that damn cricket again. She nods, once. Then, silence again. 

“Well, I’m being serious… so, if you could, consider me, you know… even though we go to different schools, we live surprisingly close…” His voice cracks, telling him if he goes on any more, he’s going to ruin it for good. 

Soojung decides to let out a sigh, finally. Is that a good thing? 

“We’ve only known each other for two weeks… I did have fun, with you, during camp. I am glad I met you, Jongin… you helped me adjust a lot, that's for sure. Even this,” she waves an arm at the creek, the trees around them, “I would never have been able to do something like, sneak away from the other kids without permission, if it weren’t for you.” 

“Good thing you met the son of the camp owner, huh?” Jongin blurts, then regrets it like hell, because she probably wasn’t done, was she? He glances at her sideways, and in a moment’s decision, chooses an apologetic smile. 

Another sigh. Not as lengthy this time. “You really… like me?” 

“Yy…s..totally.” He cringes, shaking his head. “Sorry I’m stuttering… I’m kinda nervous. You make me nervous.” 

He jumps a little when Soojung raises the backs of her hands to her cheeks. Please don’t let her have seen that. She feels her cheeks, her neck, closing her eyes for a moment to feel her eyelids. “I’m nervous, too.”

A mini version of himself deep inside his throat is screaming and pumping his fist like a madman, but Jongin thinks he’s playing it cool. Right? The grin tickling the corners of his mouth is irrepressible, though. “Does that mean… you’ll consider me?”

When she catches his gaze and holds it there, they both do an awkward jump, and he realizes, to his dismay, he’s grinning so wide he can feel the breeze against practically all of his upper teeth. The good thing? Soojung smiles back at him. 

“Yeah, I’ll consider it.” She’s glowing, her pale skin and her black hair falling to her right side and her wide eyes, nervous and cloudy, but with a jolt of that high feeling, like watching fireworks, evident in them. “Kim Jong In,” she mouths, nothing but a whisper.

Jongin finds a particular interest in her pink lips right then, a lot closer in his line of vision than he thought just a second ago. He’s wiping the sweat in his palms on his shirt, bringing them up to hold her gently, very gently, by the shoulders. He doesn’t know what to do exactly so he just leans down, his glance going back and forth from her lips to her eyes. He thinks she’s doing more or less the same thing. He really hopes so. Too late to do anything about it, because he’s there. His lips and her lips and fireworks. Expensive, colorful, exhilerating fireworks. 

Summer, night, and memories.

Credits to ASTRO's Fireworks!

By Jellyfriedgreen7