“Hi honey,” Sungmin approached (with a slight limp in his step, at that) his fellow camper, who had a very noticeable dreamy smile upon his pink-grazed features. “What are you so happy about?”

“Hyukkie and I just showered together,” he revealed, shutting his eyes in what appeared to be eternal bliss. “For the third time.”

“Showers, eh?” Sungmin whistled, in a tone that didn’t quite appeal to Donghae’s ears. “Wow.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, alarming the older with his cocky intonation. “You’re the one who kept screaming his lungs out last night when you and Kyuhyun were—”

“Oh my God, you were listening?!”

“It’s not like I had a choice,” he shrugged. “Everybody heard. I wouldn’t be surprised if the chipmunks got and started humping because of you two.”

“Wow, well someone’s on full mode today.” He glared at him, his defined eyebrows scrunching together in annoyance. “When did you start becoming so—so—”

“So much like you?” he finished with a smirk.

“Why, I never,” he started sputtering out incoherent words in an effort to come up with a decent comeback, but only succeeded in looking like a complete idiot. “You—you—you are the child of Satan!”

Donghae tossed his head back and laughed, “Is that the best you can do? Sungmin, honey, you’re getting rusty.”

“I am not! You are being an insensitive, little—”

“To save you from making any more of a fool of yourself, I’ll take it from here.” Donghae put his finger against Sungmin’s lips, and it took the flustered teenager all his strength not to bite it off. “Ever since we’ve been hanging out, you’ve been rubbing off on me and frankly, I like it. I thought I had another thing or two to learn from you, but it seems like I’ve got it all covered.”

“True that.” Kyuhyun interjected as he sat near the fire for warmth, joining the two’s conversation without as much as batting an eyelash at either of them.

Sungmin turned to him, a look of offense and betrayal highlighting his agape mouth. “Kyuhyun!”

Only then did Kyuhyun decide to look his steaming boyfriend in the eye, “What? What do you expect me to say? Yesterday, Donghae told me that a little blush and foundation would bring out my cheekbones—for Christ’s sakes, that is so you!”

“B-but—he—I—” he continued to stammer for a couple more seconds before finally snapping, “I do not deserve to be ganged up on like this!”

“Hey, guys,” Eunhyuk then arrived, a towel around his neck as he slid next to his lover and kissed his cheek. “What are you guys talking about?”

“Hi Hyukkie~” Donghae crooned affectionately as he buried his nose in Eunhyuk’s collarbone. “We were just having a little conversation, s’all.”

“Oh? What about?”

“Hyukjae, sweetie, I feel I should tell you this now before you find out the hard way,” Sungmin cleared his throat, preparing to expose Donghae, who had apparently become his new-found enemy. “You’re dating Satan in the flesh.”

“A minute ago, you said he was Satan’s child.” Kyuhyun pointed out, earning a loud growl from the fuming teenager.

“Shut up, Cho!”

“Satan?” Eunhyuk turned pink holding in his skeptical laughter. “You’re talking about Donghae, right? I don’t think my baby even knows who Satan is.”

“Hyukkie, what’s a Satan?” Donghae asked, lovingly the older’s arm as he fluttered his lashes in a not-so-subtle way.

“Oh, great. His boyfriend comes and all of a sudden, he becomes an innocent angel.” Sungmin rolled his eyes, looking to Kyuhyun for a support but only receiving a shrug in return. “Ugh. Donghae, come on, drop the princess act.”

“What princess act?” Donghae asked, his lips forming a hurt pout. “Hyukkie, what’s he talking about?”

“I’m not sure, Hae,” he replied, staring at Sungmin strangely as he tightened his grip on Donghae’s hand. “Sungmin, are you okay?”

Sungmin’s face turned bright red in trembling anger, “Holy mother of , what the hell is going on right now? Am I the only sane person left in the world?”

“That’s not happening as long as Siwon is still here.” Kyuhyun remarked. “Then again, that dude can be really weird sometimes…”

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up?” Sungmin hissed at him once again.

“Wow, this totally brings me back to the days when you two weren’t ing yet, and you were always at each other’s throats because there was all this flying around in the air—”

“No, Eunhyuk, no, do not change the subject. Your little saint of a boyfriend is the devil in disguise—and I mean that literally!” He blew up. “Just-just ask him! Donghae is a terrible liar!”

“Donghae, honey,” Eunhyuk pulled Donghae’s chin towards his face. “Is this true? You know you can tell me anything, right?”

“I know, Hyukkie,” Donghae put on his most innocent smile, which was enough for Eunhyuk to decide whose side to take. “But I have no idea what Minnie is talking about. Maybe he’s PMS-ing…?”

“That would explain so much.” Kyuhyun, once again, chimed in.

“Um, Min, maybe you should take it easy with the coffee a little. I think it’s starting to mess with your brain.” Eunhyuk suggested, which he thought was the least he could do. “In the meantime, I’m taking Hae as far away from you as possible; I don’t want any catfights breaking out.”

Donghae smirked in triumph as Eunhyuk dragged him away from the scene, which elicited a literal growl from Sungmin, who was shaking as much as a vibrating toothbrush. He turned to Kyuhyun, who had started to chew on an apple, an indifferent expression across his face. He didn’t even realize Sungmin was mentally throwing daggers at him with his eyes until he cleared his throat, and even then, he found it hard to care.

“What?”

“You officially make it on the list of worst boyfriends ever.” Sungmin scolded sourly, his hands on his hips. “Thanks for the support, hon.”

“What?” he asked as Sungmin stomped his way into their tent. “You weren’t complaining last night!”

Kyuhyun remained in his clueless state as Sungmin dramatically zipped up their tent and presumably, started to throw tantrums inside. He sighed, took another bite out of his apple and wondered how long it would take until Sungmin found the bottle of beer he was hiding from him (so he could save it for himself).

“Oh my gosh, your lip,” Siwon’s eyes widened as he spotted the dot of blood on the corner of Heechul’s mouth. “Did I do that? Gosh, I’m so sorry…”

Heechul chuckled and stopped him from apologizing again, “Siwon, honey, it’s fine. You probably just bit on it a little too hard...but I don’t mind at all.”

Siwon’s face drained of all color, leaving only a light tint of pink on his cheeks. “Does it hurt?”

“I didn’t even realize it was there.” He admitted as he nuzzled his nose in Siwon’s neck. “But I kinda like it. To me, it serves as proof that I just made out with Choi i—I mean, freaking Siwon.” He quickly retracted once it came to mind that Siwon absolutely hated hearing the F word.

Siwon smiled warmly as he wrapped his arms around Heechul, trapping him in an embrace that Heechul never wanted to get out of. “I have to tell you, it’s sort of weird every time you use my full name like that.”

“Why, Mr. Choi Siwon?” he teased, to which they shared a chuckle. “Oh God, I love these moments of ours. You know, there’s this saying that the gaps between our fingers were made—”

“So that another’s could fill them in.” Siwon finished as they entwined their fingers together, smiling when they fit perfectly.

“You’ve heard of it too, huh?” he asked, his lips lightly pressed against Siwon’s warm skin. “I think it’s silly.”

“I’ve always liked it; it’s one of my favorite sayings, in fact.” He admitted, earning a surprised look from Heechul. “You’ll probably laugh at me for saying this, but I believe in soulmates. I’ve always believed that there’s someone out there for all of us and one way we can know for sure is when we interlace our fingers together and see if they fit—sort of like Cinderella’s glass slipper.”

“You know, my nickname in high school was HeeDerella,” he regaled, smiling as he recalled memories from his teenage years. “I was the one who came up with it, but it stuck for quite a while because everyone agreed that I look like a princess.”

“You do.” He nodded, assuring him with a soft peck on the nose. “You know what’s funny? Everyone’s always telling me how I look like a prince. So, if you think about it, we’re kind of like prince and princess.”

“Kind of? We are.” Heechul insisted. “I can’t believe I didn’t realize this sooner, but I believe we’re starring in our very own fairytale.”

“I love fairytales,” he related. “They always give me a sense of hope, you know?”

“I bet we’ll be telling everybody about our little fairytale someday.” He mused. “I can just imagine it—I might even write a book about it!”

“I’m sorry…did you say ‘someday’?”

“Yeah, why. Do you want to tell it…now?”

“No, it’s just,” Siwon pursed his lips nervously. “I didn’t realize you were thinking about someday.”

“Don’t you?” he asked, feeling uncomfortable with the sudden mood shift. “I mean, don’t you ever think about the future? Our future?”

“What future?” the minute Heechul heard those words, he realized it was just not his day today. “Heechul, yes, I like you very much, but…that’s it.”

“What do you mean ‘that’s it’?”

“I’m afraid we can’t go any farther than that, Heechul,” he explained gently as he Heechul’s cheek in comfort. “I enjoy fooling around with you, Chul, but nothing else can happen between us. Believe me, if I could change the way things were, I would.”

“That’s not true, Siwon,” he shook his head, blinking away the tears threatening to spill. “Because you can change them. You just don’t want to.”

“Heechul, that’s not true—”

“Is it because I’m a guy? It’s because I have a , doesn’t it?” he stood up, his rationality starting to fade. “I can’t fix that but I can be a really good woman. I can wear skirts and heels and all that crap if that’s what it’s gonna take—”

“Heechul,” he interrupted, standing up to reach eye-level with him again. “You’re already dressed like a woman. And it doesn’t really make a difference because I like you either way.”

Heechul had gotten so used to squeezing into skirts and stockings that it had slipped his mind that he had been dressed as a woman for the past twelve hours now. “I can do better than this. If you want, I have some much tier outfits…”

“As much as I’d love to see you in them,” he smirked as he rubbed the small of Heechul’s back. “You already look beautiful enough to me.”

“But it still doesn’t change your mind, does it?” Heechul whimpered as he threw himself into Siwon’s arms once again. “About us, I mean.”

Siwon inhaled sharply as he kissed the older’s shoulder, “I’m sorry.”

“You know, I’ve always dreamed of having my own fairytale. One where the prince and princess can’t be together, but things work out at the end. And now I have it. We have it.” He croaked, and he could already feel a lone tear sliding down his cheek. “Only it doesn’t have a happy ending.”

“I’m sorry, Heechul, but we have to be realistic.”

“I don’t know if I can.” He bit his lip, in a useless effort to keep himself from crying. “I guess a part of me has always been a…dreamer.”

They stayed in each other’s arms the whole night, not a single word said between them anymore. Both of them knew that they had to face the inevitable sooner or later, but they also knew that neither of them was ready for it. And neither of them were sure that they ever will be.

“Ow! Sungmin, I said I was sorry!” Kyuhyun threw his hand over his head in an attempt to salvage his face from Sungmin’s knife-sharp (fake) nails. “Ow, ow! Sungmin, stop! I’m sorry, I was in the wrong, okay? There, I said it. Are you happy?”

“No, Kyuhyun, I am not.” Sungmin ran a hand through the strands of his wig with frustration. “The one time I ask something from you, and it’s such a simple thing called supporting your boyfriend, and you didn’t even do that.”

Kyuhyun blinked at him, deadpanning, “Last night, you asked me to tuck you in and kiss you goodnight. God, you sounded like Donghae.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry I subjected you to such a cruel and spiteful thing such as kissing your boyfriend goodnight.” He griped. “And, oh my God, I cannot believe you just mentioned his name!”

“What, so now you seethe at the sound of Donghae’s name?”

“First of all, who actually uses the word ‘seethe’ besides cartoon villains?” he rolled his eyes, as usual. “And second, that stupid fishface is an evil, little !”

“Well, what do you expect?” he asked. “You practically trained him to be a . And guess what? The student has become the master.”

“See? There you go again.” He groaned. “I don’t get it. The other day, you threatened to shove a stick up Heechul’s and make him a scarecrow because he fed me a piece of fruit. But when I actually do need you, you don’t even bother to come to my defense. What the hell is wrong with you? Do you even love me?”

“Yeah.”

“Because if you don’t, then I don’t see where this relationship is—wait…what?”

“What?”

“Did you just say ‘yes’?”

“No.”

“O-oh…” He was visibly disappointed as his gaze fell. “Okay then, I guess I—”

“I said ‘yeah’ not ‘yes’.” He said, bringing out a gasp from the older teenager.

“Oh my—oh you ing troll, come here!” Sungmin grabbed his face and shoved their lips together in a kiss that was full of teeth and tongue. “I love you too, you know that, right, babe? Oh God, I am so sorry I yelled at you and that I tried to claw your beautiful, beautiful face.”

“Apology accepted,” Kyuhyun pulled Sungmin into his lap and squeezed his backside. “Am I forgiven too?”

“Not completely,” he smirked as he twirled Kyuhyun’s hair. “You know a fight’s never complete without…”

“Without?”

“Make-up , hon,” he his lips before reiterating. “Make-up .”

“OH MY ING GOD, CHO KYUHYUN!”

“Kyuhyun and Sungmin are at it again.” Donghae stated the obvious as he laid his head on his boyfriend’s lap.

“Try to ignore it, hon…if you can.” Eunhyuk advised as he patted Donghae’s head. “Say, speaking of Sungmin, the incident earlier has been bugging me all day.”

“What about it, Hyukkie?” Donghae asked, automatically switching to his aegyo mode.

“I don’t know. Usually, when Sungmin’s that persistent about something, he’s usually right.” He said, telling himself to resist Donghae’s puppy eyes just this one time. “Hae, is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Hyukkie, are you saying you think I’m Satan?” he asked, sitting up and staring at his boyfriend with a pout that was almost impossible to resist. “Because Sungmin said…”

“No, Hae, of course not,” he assured him. “I love you. And even if you were Satan, I’d love you just the same…just saying.”

“Oh, Hyukkie, that’s so sweet,” Donghae giggled. “I love you more.”

“Is that even possible?” he chuckled as Donghae gave him a soft push, his back landing on something bulky in the process. “Ouch, what the—oh my God.”

“What?” he asked, alarmed. “What’s wrong, Hyukkie?”

“This box has Sungmin’s shoes—his favorite pair of heels, to be specific.” He revealed as he took its lid off. “Sungmin told me to give you this a week ago and it completely slipped my mind.”

“Sungmin…is giving me this?” he asked, his eyes suddenly filling with guilt. “Really?”

“Yeah. He said he thinks you’ll really like it.” He revealed. “I thought it was really nice of him, actually. But you know Sungmin—he refuses to include the word ‘nice’ in his vocabulary.”

“Even when talking about his ?”

“Well, that’s an exception.” He shrugged. “So, do you like the shoes?”

“I do. I really do.” Donghae nodded, his eyes watering with tears of joy. “Oh my God, I need to talk to Minnie. Soon.”

“Um, h-hi, Minnie,” Donghae approached the glowing boy with caution. “I brought you a banana.”

“Why?” he eyed him warily. “What’d you do to it? Is it poisoned?”

“No, nothing’s wrong with it.” He said as he sat beside him, albeit keeping a small distance. “Take it as an apology.”

“…What’s the catch?” he remained skeptic. “Did Eunhyuk put you up to this?”

“No, Minnie, I really am sorry,” Donghae grabbed Sungmin’s hand, startling him. “I was such a meanie to you this morning and you didn’t do anything to deserve it and—and—thank you for the shoes.”

Sungmin finally caught on, “You’re only thanking me now?”

“Eunhyuk just gave it to me a few hours ago.” He revealed. “But still, I love them and I love you. Can we go back to being friends with all the manicures and make-up stuff?”

“Sure, I guess,” he shrugged. “But, Hae, do me a favor.”

“Anything.”

“Can you please go back to being the sweet, adorable, brainless Hae?” Sungmin almost sounded like he was begging. “Because I don’t like the y you.”

“Well, to be honest,” Donghae nervously chewed on his lip. “I don’t like it either.”

“Then why did you do it?” he inquired, genuinely curious.

“I’m not sure. I guess I just wanted to be more like you.” He found himself admitting something he wasn’t even aware of beforehand. “You know Eunhyuk’s crazy about you, right? He’s always talking about you and all the stuff you guys used to do and how he misses you because you guys barely spend any time together anymore.”

“He said all of those things?” he asked, overwhelmed with a surge of delight. “Does he say anything else? No, you know what, that’s not important. What’s important is that you shouldn’t be worrying about this because he obviously loves you and I am very much in love with my boyfriend.”

“But you guys have a history.” He continued. “You guys used to fool around and you’ve seen each other and you guys go way back—”

“So? Hae, he loves you, not me. Oh, well, that’s technically not true, because as his best friend, he does love me, but he’s not in love with me.” He insisted. “He’s in love with you. Before you came along, I’ve never seen him so happy. And, since we’re being honest here, I wasn’t exactly your biggest fan before, but since you made my—I mean, your Hyukjae so happy, then who am I to judge?”

“Aw, thanks, Min-Min.” Donghae rested his head on Sungmin’s shoulder, and the older leaned his cheek against the crown of his head. “Can you do me a favor too?”

“Sure.”

“Can you and Kyuhyun be a little less loud?” he asked sheepishly. “Eunhyuk and I aren’t really that comfortable hearing Kyuhyun hit your prostate every night.”

Sungmin’s eyes widened, “Wow, I’m surprised you know what a prostate is.”

“…I don’t. I just heard Hyukkie say it once.” He admitted with a shrug.

“Oh, how I love what I’m seeing here.” Eunhyuk walked up to the two, shooting them both a proud smile. “So I take it you two have worked things out?”

“Yeah,” Sungmin nodded, patting Donghae’s knee. “I think we’re gonna be fine.”

“Um, Hyukkie? I have a confession to make.” He started. “Minnie was telling the truth earlier. I was being a…a…”

“A ?” Eunhyuk asked.

“Yes, that’s the word.” He nodded. “I’m sorry I lied to you, Hyukkie. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Oh, it’s alright, hon.” Eunhyuk told him as he cupped Donghae’s cheek. “I kinda figured. Last night, I caught you reading my diary when you thought I was asleep and I distinctly remember thinking that my boyfriend is turning into my best friend.”

“You saw me? Oh, well…I’m sorry for that too.”

“I’m just glad to have my two most favorite people in the world here with me,” Eunhyuk chuckled and kissed Donghae on the lips, “My boyfriend,” and then kissed Sungmin’s cheek, “and my best friend.”

“Hyukkie, what do you say I give you a manicure tomorrow?” Sungmin offered, Donghae’s words about Eunhyuk earlier echoing in his mind. “Just me and you. Just like old times.”

“Really?” he grinned. “I’d really like that, Ming. I’ve missed us together.”

“I know,” Sungmin wrapped his arms around Eunhyuk’s neck and squeezed him so tight that he practically cut off his air supply. “Me too.”

Donghae, despite the voice in his inner mind that insisted he pry them away from each other, decided to let the two have their moment. Everything seemed really peaceful for a moment, until…

“Hyukkie, Hyukkie, we have to go,” Donghae tugged on his boyfriend’s arm in panic. “Now, Eunhyuk!”

“What? Hae, what’s wrong?” he asked. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, but probably not for longer.” He took Eunhyuk by the arms and just about dragged him into their tent. “We need to leave; it’s not safe here!”

“I don’t get it—holy .” Eunhyuk’s face immediately paled as he turned around and came face-to-face with an expressionless Kyuhyun, who happened to have an axe in his hands.

“What’s going on here?” Kyuhyun asked in an eerily calm tone, which was enough for Eunhyuk and Donghae to run for cover in their tents, neither of them having any intention of coming out until dawn. Kyuhyun turned to Sungmin, “What was that about?”

“Long story,” he dismissed with a wave of the hand. “Honey, what are you doing with that axe?”

“Oh, I was just cutting more wood for the fire—”

“Don’t give me any of that crap; you loathe any form of physical activity…except , anyway.” He saw right through him. “Stop scaring the out of our friends.”

“I will once they learn not to touch what’s mine.” Kyuhyun picked up Sungmin’s chin and planted a kiss on his plump lips. “I love you.”

Sungmin smiled softly, “I love you too.”

“Heechul?” Eunhyuk squinted to see the counselor under the dim glow of the moonlight. “Honey? Are you okay?”

“Not really,” he sighed and hugged his knees. “My life .”

“What’s wrong?” he inquired, sitting beside him and instinctively putting his arm around his shoulders. “Boy problems?”

“What else?” he buried his tear-stained face in Eunhyuk’s chest. “Siwon and I have decided to cool off for a bit. And by ‘cool off’, I mean, cut off any romantic ties whatsoever and by ‘a bit’, I mean forever.”

“Oh, honey, I bet you’re exaggerating.” He comforted. “Anything’s possible.”

“I used to think so too,” he said. “But then I met Choi Siwon.”

Suddenly, a frustrated grunt was heard and out popped Kyuhyun and his dishevelled head of hair from their tent. “What the hell’s going on here? Do you two have any idea how loud your voices are?”

“Seriously?” Eunhyuk lifted one eyebrow incredulously. “You’re calling us loud?”

“Oh, shut up,” Kyuhyun came out clad only in a baggy, old shirt and a pair of pajamas. “Now, seriously, what’s going on?”

Heechul was as despondent as ever, “Life’s a .”

Kyuhyun scoffed, “If you think life’s a , you haven’t met my boyfriend.”

“Our boyfriends.” Eunhyuk corrected. “So, to catch you up, Siwon and Heechul are kind of…over.”

“Oh, well, that ,” he shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m actually impressed you got so far with him.”

“Hey, that’s right,” Eunhyuk agreed. “If you were able to get halfway through, then going even farther is not entirely out of the question.”

“You want my advice?” Kyuhyun started. “Have a few beers with him sometime. The guy does crazy things when he’s drunk off his .”

“That actually sounds plausible,” Heechul seemed to take it into consideration. “But, um, I think I’d rather be sober if me and Siwon actually get past second base.”

“Why? Sungmin and I were drunk when we first kis—yes, I see your point.” Kyuhyun rubbed his chin in thought. “Ah, to hell with it, this isn’t my problem. I’m going back to bed where my Minnie is waiting for me.”

“Rub it in, why don’t you.” Heechul grumbled as Kyuhyun went back inside. After a few moments of silence, Heechul decided it’s time the both of them got some sleep. “Um, Hyukkie?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I sleep in your guys’ tents tonight?” Heechul was never one to ask for favors, mainly because he knew people would always use them as an excuse to make him do something in the future. But this time…it was different. “Just this one night, I promise.”

“Heechul,” Eunhyuk smiled reassuringly. “You can stay as long as you want.”

Heechul had never gotten used to people being nice to him, so he didn’t quite know what to do whenever he found himself in these kinds of situations. “Th-thanks.”

It was a tight squeeze, but Heechul managed to make himself comfortable in the couple’s tent. Even so, he found it hard to sleep, and not just because Eunhyuk and Donghae kept saying each other’s names and making kissy sounds in their sleep, but also because he couldn’t bring himself to stop thinking about a certain prince.