I don't know how he did whatever he did, but I somehow found comfort in his words.  It's just so nice to find a friend like him and Jazz. Tho we've only spent so little time together, and this  may possibly be the only time we'll ever be together, I felt like I have found true friends in them.  They've already earned a space in my heart,  and they will forever reside in there. I flashed  him the most sincere smile I could, even though I could feel nothing but pain inside. He grabbed me into a hug and  tried to comfort me without a single word. He kept on caressing my short hair and again, for some reason, I felt comfort in his arms.  It's far too different from Minwoo's touch. It felt like I could be in his arms  forever. Don't get me wrong I am not emotionally attracted to him. Jazz might kill me if I am. But it's just a different feeling. It's  like I'm never ever going to lose him... Ever. 

"I am so d*mn broken. I don't know what to do. I don't want to let go. But I don't have a choice. If only I could hold him forever... If only HE WOULD hold me forever..." I kept on saying these as tears won't stop flowing from my eyes. And Ryan was just there. Hugging me and listening to my unending complaints... Starting from how cruel fate has been to Us. Down to how unfair they were to just conclude that I am no good for him. 

After about an hour or two which seemed like forever to me... I finally stopped crying. Ryan once again ruffled my hair and said: "I hope I somehow eased the pain you were feeling inside." And smiled at me. Of course he did! Again, for all magical reason there is, I somehow felt like one knife out of a thousand has been removed from my chest. And believe me, no one has done that ever before. They always try to comfort me but nothing happens. 

"Yep. You bet you did!  I wish this camp would never end.  I want to be with you and Jazz all the time!" I said with nothing but sincerity in my voice. 

"You can just tell us whenever you want to see us,  we'll come and visit you at your place."

"Really?! :)"

"Of course. We  go there  all the time. It won't be anyhthing new to us. Especially now that we really have a reason to go there. All those time we only  go there because Jazz  wants to. And we do nothing but eat." Ryan chuckled.

"You really love her, huh?"  I smiled.

"I never thought I was capable of loving anyone this much, Hye Lim."

"Ryan, can you do me a favor and never make  Jazz cry just like I did  a while ago? Don't make her feel unwanted, because believe me, it hurts so d*mn bad. Don't ever make her worry that there might be someone else better than her... As long as you love her,  show her.  Be honest and faithful to her. Guard her. Stand for her. And no matter what...  As long as you love her, promise me you'll fight for her. Ok? 'Coz you know? I can stand the pain. I know I can.  But if I see one of my friends suffer because of the same reason as I do, I swear I'm gonna kill whoever made her feel that way."

"Yes Ma'am! O but I won't fight for her..." I looked at him, asking what he meant. "Easy there. What I meant was, I won't fight for her. WE will fight TOGETHER. FOR US. That's a guarantee Ma'am!"  He sat firm and salute at me,  giving me a determined look. I chuckled at his actions.

"Permission to speak, Ma'am?" I nodded as he looked at me with seriousness written all over his face.

"I've been wanting to confess to Jazz for around four years now. Yea, this may sound cliche but I already have the biggest crush on her  ever since. I've always been by her side and  I have seen all her sides. Whenever she's happy, my heart skips a beat because of the smile she  wears on her face.  It's like the most beautiful creation I've ever seen in my life. Whenever she's annoyed, I want to annoy her even more because she's so cute :) Whenever she's angry, I want to stay beside her until she gets over it. But most of the time I wanna stay beside her to make sure she's ok. She's a war freak! And I love her for that. And I don't want to see a single scratch on her flawless skin! And whenever she's sad, I want to kill whoever made her feel that way. I want that person to regret what he did. I don't ever want to see a single drop of tear flow from her eyes, if she does I want it to happen out of happiness and I want to be the reason behind it. I won't say hurting her is the last thing on my list because it's not even on my list." This time, it was my turn to ruffle his hair as I mouthed the word "Thank you" and smiled at him.

"Let's go back in the bus? I think there are some snacks there. I'm a bit hungry  because  of all the seriousness in the atmosphere." Ryan stood up and offered me a hand. We went back into the bus and it wasn't long after when we went back to the hotel where we were staying. Tonight will be the last night of the camp. But this definitely isn't the last time I'm going to see my friends. 

After we got back, I saw Minwoo at the entrance of the hotel.

"I just came to make sure you'll find your way to our room." He said and chuckled. 

"You're so mean." I pouted.

"What? I'm just concerned! Come here and give me a hug.  I missed you." He said and stretched his arms waiting for a hug so I gave him one. 

"Oppa. I'm tired. I want to sleep."

"Ok. Le--wait. Have you been crying?"

"No." 

"Did Ryan do this to you?! What did he do?! WHERE IS HE?!"

"No.  Believe me he didn't."

"What happened?!" He said, panic evident in his voice. 

"It's nothing to worry about. I just missed home and believe me, Ryan comforted me. He made me feel better."

"Really?" I just nodded and smiled at him. 

"Come on! I want to sleep!" So we took our way to our room and like I said, I really want to sleep!  I was the first one in the room so I just set my alarm first and went to sleep. That's what I wanted to do. But as soon as I laid down the bed, my phone rang and unlike who I expected it to be, it wasn't Omma. It's Youngmin Oppa! I've been texting him all throughout the camp but only for a few hours in a day. 

"Oppa." I said in a tired voice.

"O. Did I interrupt your majesty's nap time?" 

"Yea. Actually I was drifting off to sleep when you called."

"I'm sorry. Should I end the call then?"

"No. It's fine. We got back at the hotel a little earlier than expected. I can still spare a little time."

"I just wanted to make sure you're ok. I got the feeling you weren't feeling well. Did you eat your meals on time?" I smiled as I hear a sense of sincerity in his voice. I mean, I know I have a boyfriend but it just feels so good knowing that the people around you care so much for you.

"Yes, Oppa. Actually I wasn't feeling fine a while ago. But I feel better  now."

"You should rest then, that's all I wanted to hear anyways." He chuckled from the other side of the line. 

"Hye Lim?" He always calls me with my real name.

"Yes Oppa?"

"Nothing. I just ... I'll be here for you, no matter what you're going through. I'll be here. Remember that." And with that, he ended the call leaving me dumbfounded. Was I that obvious even people over the phone can sense something's wrong? Not minding that thought in my mind, shook my head and went back to sleep. It didn't take time for me to drift off to sleep since I was serious when I said I'm feeling sleepy. Zzzzzzzz

----
"Ok. Everyone ready?!" Our teacher said, we were all wearing blue since the management required us to. Take note. Blue is the dominant color, so I got my eyes twinkling as I see everybody all dressed up. The guys were simply handsome wearing their polo shirts, some had their simple shirt with V neck. As for the girls, before even coming here, we decided to all wear a dress, of course, a blue one. So yea just imagine me in a dress. TT0TT I am not really comfortable in wearing girly stuffs but I didn't want to spoil the fun. I always get comments like "for someone who has been joining pageants, you sure are boyish." I know 'coz I usually just wear pants, t-shirts and then my shoes. I even own clothes for guys. How can you blame me? They're so comfy! Besides, even if I sometimes look like a guy (because of the clothes) I still have that inner lady in me. I mean, I still use stuffs that NORMAL ladies use to make themselves beautiful, pretty or cute. Of course I still want to look human. -.-" 

So yea. The program. It's like a send-off party for us, it's a formal event in the beginning. Each group had to pledge a thing (whatever it is, the group shall decided about it) and the team leaders or any representative will present it in front to explain why they pledged that thing. I must admit, it was a bit boring. -.-" But of course, I put my interest as hard as I can when I heard our team being called (we still had to stay with our teammates so I sat beside Jazz, and Ryan was on her right side. But to my surprise, as they called on our name, Ryan suddenly stood up. It took me a few seconds to realize that he is our representative and he will present our "gift". No wonder Jazz kept on looking at him a while ago. And believe me, I got curious and looked at Ryan and I didn't see any hint of discomfort or nervousness in his face nor in his actions. If you'd ask me, I would get the wrong idea and think that Jazz was the one who'll go up on stage and talk in front of other people. Anyways, a lot of people here are foreigners so speakers are required to talk in English, me and my classmates didn't really have a problem with that 'coz we usually speak in English at School since we also have a lot of foreign students. 

"Ehem." Ryan said as he tries to clear his throat. He looked at us, I smiled at him, he smiled back but became serious again. He just stood there, looking at our direction as if waiting for something. I looked at Jazz and her head is bowed down, obviously nervous about what's going to happen, well I am a bit nervous too, knowing how Ryan struggles to be serious. I nudged her and told her to give him an encouraging smile. Ryan smiled back like a happy kid so I heaved a sigh of relief. 

"So. For those who know me, you probably are wondering why I am here, coz we all know I can't really be serious and I simply at stuffs like these. But we only had three choices of good English speakers in our team and one of them went to their room early because she was crying for i didn't know how long and got tired. The other one was my bestfriend and the girl I love (I heard some "aaaaaaaah" from the audience, especially from the girls and Ryan laughed at it. I looked at Jazz and I literally saw fire in her eyes, killing Ryan with her stares). But she didn't want to. 'Coz she isn't really  fond of talking in front of a lot of people. Well, same goes for me. I am really not comfortable standing and talking in front of a lot of people, being serious and formal. But, again, to those who knows me, ya. You were right when you were thinking that our team was left with no choice."

"Ohoooo!!! We love you, Baby Ryan!!!" I heard a couple of guys shout from different parts of the crowd and laughed a bit. 

"I know, but sorry. My heart is only for Jazz!" Again, girls were amazed at how vocal he is of his feelings for Jazz. I am surprised too, knowing his struggles to confess? I have never even imagined this happening. 

"But hey,  I am not here in front of you to propose to Jazz, so Baby? Save your "YES" to my proposal, ok? I'm going to ask you but not yet tonight." He said, looking at our direction and finally winking at Jazz. And of course, Jazz is still looking at him with fire in her eyes. 

"So for the real reason. I pledge this rock, as a symbol of our gratitude and appreciation to this camp for letting us explore not only the magic of science but also the magic of friendship. Yes. This may look simple. I am sorry we aren't that rich, that we only got a rock to give. But hey, we are giving this rock because  we think that this camp gave us so much more than we paid for. I mean we paid for this to widen our horizon in Science but what this camp gave us a bond as strong as this rock. Yes, this may be weathered over time, this may disappear and separate into tiny particles but after some time again, it will form a new rock, and whatever it had from the previous rock it was a part of, it would always bring it with it. Just like us, after this night, we'll go home, we will go separate ways, we came from different parts of our country, some even outside our country but the bond that this camp gave us will forever be within us. Years may pass and we may meet a lot of different people, we will be part of different circles of friends, we will form another rock and be bonded with them again. But even so, whatever we had here, our memories,  experiences, bad things or good, we will forever cherish them in our hearts because this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Yes, this happens yearly but we also meet different sets of people. As for me here and for Jazz of course, we met a girl and got close to her because she is good in English.  At first that was the only thing that connected us, but during our week long stay here, our bond with her just went deeper and deeper, her boyfriend even got jealous of me. But I can't blame him, Lime is a beautigul girl, a sweet one even, smart, I must say she's almost the ideal girl not only for a girlfriend but also for a girl space friend. And of course, I also have the looks, I mean,  who won't be jealous?!" 

"BOOOOOOOOOO!" Said those guys again, Jazz just chuckled and nudged my arm. 

"He has a crush on you." She said

"And he loves  you" I said in return.

"And I do too." :))) ain't they cute? :)

"Ok. Ok. Save your compliments. But I am trying to say is that because of this camp, we found a new friend that will forewr be in our hearts no matter what so I hope you also found yours. I hope you had fun in here and you had memories you will forever cherish. Thank you for listening, good night and I pray for a safe trip for all of us, God Bless!" And with that, the crowd stood and gave him a round of applause. 

"Wow. Standing ovation!" I said as soon as he got back to our place.

"I'm good, aren't I?" He said and winked.

"Ew! Stop doing that! You look like a !" Jazz complained. 

"C'mon! You're just jealous that I winked at somebody else."

"O please." Jazz said and rolled her eyes heavenwards. 

"But hey, I was serious up there. You guys are the two girls I will forever keep in my heart." He said and hugged the both of us. I hugged them both back and so did Jazz. 

"I'm going to miss you." I said, a drop of tear escaping my eyes unknowingly. 

"We'll come and visit you!" Jazz said with a reassuring smile and we hugged each other again.