Heechul had a rather peculiar dream last night. He dreamt he was being dragged across the hard ground by two figures he couldn’t quite recognize. All of a sudden, they stopped and threw him into some sort of room, which was oddly very familiar and comfortable. Not long after, they left him there and Heechul remembered feeling something hard against his head.

But when he woke up the next morning, he came to realize that none of it was a dream. He had been dragged someplace (most likely by Kyuhyun and Sungmin), as evidenced by the dirt on his pajamas, and he was thrown somewhere, as Heechul’s was still a little sore from when he presumably landed on it.

But of all the places they could’ve put him in, why did it have to be in Siwon’s arms?

Literally.

Heechul couldn’t bring himself to breathe as Siwon’s strong arms wrapped around his petite waist, in fear of waking him up and having to deal with the awkwardness that was sure to follow. However, he had to admit, he didn’t want the moment to end. He wanted to stay like that forever; Siwon’s nose pressed against his temple, his warm breath on his ear, his chest rising and falling as he breathed—everything was so perfect.

But of course, Sungmin had to go and ruin everything.

“Good morning!” Sungmin crooned loudly and frankly, quite obnoxiously. “Rise and shine, you two lovebirds! It’s the last day of camp and we need to be strong and healthy when we leave, so eat up!”

As Siwon jumped awake and Sungmin shoved a plate of scrambled eggs in their faces, Heechul could only bury his face in his arms in shame. Sungmin then took this as an opportunity to grab a handful of Heechul’s hair and bring his head up, not only so he could feed Heechul a spoon of (very hot) egg, but also so the counselor could see the smug smirk on his face.

“So, how did you two sleep last night?” he asked, suddenly feigning innocence as he batted his eyelashes

“Like a baby,” Siwon was oddly very calm about everything. “You?”

“Great,” he grinned as he clapped Heechul’s back. “What about you, Chullie?”

Heechul only muttered something incoherent in response (probably a swear word) as he fanned the burn in his tongue. In the corner of his eye, he saw Siwon smiling at him and Heechul immediately felt his whole face burn up. Soon, he found himself stuttering as he excused himself.

Siwon sighed as Heechul left the tent. “I’ve ruined it. I’ve ruined everything. Darn it, why must I be such a coward?”

“Siwon, honey, if it makes you feel any better,” Sungmin appeared sympathetic as he cupped Siwon’s face. “I completely agree with you. You are a coward and you did ruin everything with Heechul.”

Siwon narrowed his eyes at him, “That doesn’t make me feel any better at all.”

“Hey, I said ‘if’.” He shrugged, cackling evilly as he left the tent as well. “God, I love being a .”

“Hi monkey,” Kyuhyun greeted, eliciting a frown from the offended boy. “Where’s Hae?”

“He’s putting on some BB cream in the tent.” Eunhyuk revealed, spitefully closing his diary after scribbling down a nasty sentence about Kyuhyun in it. “He’ll be out in a minute.”

“Good,” he nodded and sat beside him, causing Eunhyuk’s eyebrows to fly up. “Because I actually want to talk to you.”

“M-me?” the first thing that popped in Eunhyuk’s mind was whether or not he should fear for his life. “But…we never talk. We’re practically strangers.”

“Well, I figure we should at least try to get along. For the sake of our boyfriends.” He suggested, yet Eunhyuk was (unsurprisingly) hesitant to agree. “But that’s not what I want to talk about.”

“If it’s about me pulling out Sungmin’s wedgie the other day, let me just say that I only did it because Sungmin kept bugging me to do it because he couldn’t find you and he couldn’t do it himself because his stupid fake nails kept pricking his .” He said defensively. “Plus, it’s not my fault he wears thongs. I told him how uncomfortable they were…not that I know from experience…”

“Suuure you don’t,” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes. “Anyway, what I really want to talk about is Donghae.”

“My Donghae?” he asked. “What about him?”

“Before you came along, Siwon and I used to be the ones to look after Hae. You know, to make sure he doesn’t get himself killed.” He explained. “But you’re dating him now so we think it’s only right that we pass the torch on to you. He’s all yours now, monkey.”

“Are you ever gonna stop calling me that?”

“Nope.”

Eunhyuk poked his inner cheek with his tongue, resisting the urge not to say anything he’ll regret later. “Well, um, thank you for keeping Donghae alive all this time. I promise I’ll take good care of him. I’ll guard him with my life.”

“Good to hear that,” he patted his back, which was meant to be a friendly gesture but instead turned out rather awkwardly. “Now that we’re clear on that, let’s discuss you pulling out Sungmin’s wedgie…”

“Oh, you know what? I just realized I need to put on some BB cream too.” Eunhyuk stood up with panic in his eyes as he quickly disappeared into his tent. “So glad we had this conversation, by the way!”

Kyuhyun smirked to himself; as he mindlessly turned his gaze somewhere else, more specifically to the campfire where his boyfriend was squatting before the blazing fire, his smirk only grew wider. Sungmin’s position caused his jeans to slide down (it helped that he wasn’t wearing a belt today), just enough for Kyuhyun to notice that he was wearing another one of his thongs again…not that he was complaining. In fact, he took the opportunity to just sit back and enjoy the view.

“So, I’ve called you all here today because I’m fed up with all of your crazy antics and I’ve decided that I’m going to fatten you all up, roast your body parts over the fire and eat you all one-by-one.”

As the kids exchanged nervous looks, Donghae clung onto Eunhyuk’s arm for protection. “Hyukkie, I’m scared.”

“Heechul,” Eunhyuk was quick to show his disapproval with his brows knitted together. “Stop scaring the wits out of my boyfriend.”

“I didn’t realize he had any wits to begin with.” The only legal adult rolled his eyes at the frightened look on Donghae’s face. “Alright, alright. The real reason I’ve gathered you here is because the school requires I do so. To find out what you’ve learned during camp or something. I want this thing over with as much as the rest of you, so who wants to go first?”

Sungmin stood up and dramatically flipped his bangs away from his eyes. “I learned that if you want something bad enough, eventually God will stop trying to teach you a lesson and give it to you on a silver platter. Much like how I managed to get my hands on my current boyfriend aka the love of my life aka my lover in the night time—and sometimes, in the morning too.”

“We also take our showers together every day after lunch.” Kyuhyun added. While the others grimaced at their sharing of too much information, Kyuhyun merely grinned as he pulled Sungmin down to his lap and wrapped his arms around his curvy waist. “I learned that I should be true to myself and to what I feel.”

Sungmin cleared his throat, “And?”

“And,” he hesitated, “Sungmin is prettier than Heechul with or without crossdressing.”

As Heechul gave a loud, offended gasp, Sungmin continued to prod, “And?”

Kyuhyun sighed, “And Sungmin has bigger s than all of the girls on the cheerleading squad combined.”

“Damn straight,” Sungmin, satisfied, giggled and kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “So, who’s next?”

Eunhyuk raised his hand to speak, “I learned that if you believe hard enough, your dreams really will come true.” He regaled, staring straight into Donghae’s chocolate brown eyes.

His statement earned groans and jeers from the rest of the group. “That’s so cheesy,” Sungmin griped while Heechul remarked, “You’re such a sap.”

Eunhyuk merely stuck his tongue out at them before burying his nose in Donghae’s neck.

“Ooh, my turn, my turn!” Donghae jumped up eagerly. “I learned that when you’re with the right person, nothing can go wrong. Oh, and that Hyukkie is a really good kisser. Oh, oh, and he has cute, little mole on his—”

“Okay, I think they’ve heard enough, Hae.” Blushing, Eunhyuk clamped his hand over the younger boy’s mouth. “Who’s next? Siwon?”

“Gosh, how do I say this,” Siwon’s eyes nervously darted all over the place. “Well, here goes nothing. All my life, I’ve been taught to look down on cowards. People who are afraid to take risks, people who are irrationally scared of the littlest things—my father always told me that those people are good for nothing. He said that there was nothing out there that someone with a heart and a mind couldn’t handle. But during this past summer, I’ve learned that…I’ve become one. I’m a coward.”

And just like that, the mood considerably died down.

“Well, all I can say is,” Heechul scratched his head, trying to ignore the awkward atmosphere. “I can’t believe I didn’t get laid even once this whole summer.”

“I can’t believe this is really it.” Eunhyuk sighed once he finished disassembling their tent. “We’re really leaving.”

“It’s weird how we’ve gotten so sentimental over this place, isn’t it?” Donghae mused as he helped Eunhyuk put away the equipment. “I never thought I’d love camp so much.”

“Well, for me, it’s not really camp that I love so much but rather, it’s what’s happened during it.” Eunhyuk smiled as he kissed the tip of Donghae’s nose. “Are you sure your ankle doesn’t hurt anymore, hon? I don’t want you to be in any pain when we leave.”

“Hyukkie, trust me, I’m fine,” he assured him. “Honestly, it never actually hurt that much. I’m a football player, Hyuk; I’ve gotten through worse beatings than a sprained ankle.”

With a raised eyebrow, Eunhyuk smirked, “Do you mean to tell me that you’ve been milking it the whole time?”

“Maybe,” he shrugged innocently, earning a tousle on the head from the older boy. “I’m becoming a really good actor, don’t you think so?”

He chuckled, “I blame Sungmin for this.”

“I do too a little.” He agreed, leaning closer to give his boyfriend another kiss until he saw Siwon approaching. “Oh, hey Wonnie. You all ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Siwon nodded. “But I gotta say, I’m gonna miss this place. The sight of all these beautiful trees, the morning sunlight, the sound of birds singing, the smell of nature—”

“Siwon,” Kyuhyun appeared and tapped the taller boy’s shoulder. “Our ride’s here.”

“Oh, good. This place is a craphole.” Siwon threw the straps of his backpack over his shoulder, earning amused grins with his sudden change of opinion. He was just about to follow Kyuhyun to his family limousine that had somehow managed to get into the woods without as much a scratch or a dent, until he caught a glimpse of a certain someone sitting all by himself under the shade of a tree. “Um, you guys go on ahead. I’ll catch up.”

“So, have you decided how you’re going to come out to your parents when you get home?” Sungmin asked, standing on his tiptoes so he could rest his forehead on Kyuhyun’s and wrap his arms around his neck. He would’ve worn his pumps to reach his boyfriend’s height, but Eunhyuk made him promise that he wouldn’t crossdress today for the sake of his mother, who was picking them up soon.

“No, not yet,” Kyuhyun sighed, making Sungmin’s lips curve up into a smile as his warm breath touched his lips. “They don’t have to know right away, do they? I mean, I guess I can put it off for a while.”

“If you want, I can tell them…” Sungmin offered, a mischievous glint in his eye that Kyuhyun found hard to trust.

“Um, you know what? I think it’d be better if it came from me.” He ran his hand through the soft strands of Sungmin’s hair. “This, us—it is some pretty huge news after all.”

Sungmin scoffed, “Oh please, honey. I’m Lee Sungmin—I’m always huge news.”

It took Kyuhyun everything and a little more to not roll his eyes. “So, anyway, are you sure you don’t need a ride home? I’m sure Siwon wouldn’t mind you joining us in the limo.”

“Honey, as glamorous as I would look stepping out of a fancy limousine, I’m afraid I have to say no.” He said. “You see, Eunhyuk and I haven’t been spending that much time together since we’ve gotten boyfriends and…well, I miss him. Plus, we have a lot of gossiping to do on the way home.”

Kyuhyun chuckled, “I understand, bunny. But I’ll miss you when we go home. Ever since we started dating, I don’t think we’ve ever been apart for so long.”

“Aww, honey, that’s so sweet.” Sungmin cooed as he the younger boy’s cheek. “Call me when you get home?”

“I promise,” he nodded. “Kiss goodbye?”

Sungmin giggled before pressing a soft kiss against his thin lips. He was about to lean in for another kiss, but he suddenly heard Eunhyuk calling his name before he could.

“Sungmin! Mom’s here, come on!”

“Well, that’s my ride,” Sungmin knew he would probably see Kyuhyun again in a couple of hours, but still, he couldn’t help but feel just a little melancholy. “I miss you already.”

The two exchanged ‘I love yous’ as Sungmin finally found the strength to pull away. With a heavy heart, he forced himself not to look back and watch his boyfriend disappear into the limo, and instead made his way towards an amusing episode between his two best friends.

“Hi, Mrs. Lee! My name is Donghae!” Donghae proudly introduced himself to his boyfriend’s mother, who merely stared at him with much wonder and confusion. “I’m Eunhyuk’s bo—”

“Friend.” Eunhyuk butted in, causing Donghae’s brows to scrunch together suspiciously. “Mom, this is my new friend, Donghae.”

“Oh, well, nice to meet you, Donghae.” She greeted with a polite smile before turning to her son. “Sweetheart, why don’t you and Sungmin go put your things in the trunk while I start the car?”

“I’ll be right there, mom.” Eunhyuk urged Sungmin to go ahead of him to keep his mother distracted while he explained himself to Donghae. “Before you freak out—”

“Freak out? I’m not freaking out. My boyfriend of almost two months just called me his ‘new friend’. Why on earth would I freak out?”

“Donghae, listen.” Eunhyuk managed to stop Donghae’s rambling by cupping either side of his face. “You know I love you and all, but I still haven’t come out to my parents. They’re really conservative and I have no idea how they’re going to react to all of this—but I promise I’ll tell them everything about us soon. I swear.”

Donghae, not wanting to argue on the last day of camp, merely crossed his arms and pouted. “You’re lucky I love you.”

“Yes, I am,” Eunhyuk smiled triumphantly as he planted one last kiss on Donghae’s lips before they parted ways. “I’ll call you when I get home, okay?”

Donghae nodded, hiding his unhappiness at having to separate—even just for a little while—behind his smile. “Don’t miss me too much, okay, Hyukkie?”

Eunhyuk smiled and kissed Donghae’s forehead, “No promises, sweetheart.”

“You didn’t tell us what you learned.”

Heechul looked up, stunned that Siwon was talking to him, “Excuse me?”

“We told you what we learned during camp. What did you learn?” he asked, squatting down to his eye-level.

“Siwon, I—”

“Tell me,” he insisted. “I’m curious. Really, I am.”

Heechul in a deep breath and decided to give in. “I learned that sometimes life gets in the way of happiness. And well…you just have to it up and move on.”

Siwon dropped his gaze in shame, “Heechul, I’m sorry that—”

“I know,” he nodded. “Me too.”

Siwon pressed his lips together, wondering if he should say something else. Ultimately, he decided that the moment was perfect (in its own way) as it is and so, stood up, ready to leave. “Do you need a ride home? Because I—”

“No thanks. I’ll be fine.” He cracked a smile at the offer Siwon was about to make. “I’m just waiting for my friend to come pick me up. He’ll be here any minute now; we’re gonna go out for some drinks once we get back to the city. He swears it’ll be a completely innocent thing, but you know, anything can happen, I guess.”

Siwon decided it was now or never. After all, what did he have to lose? “Yeah,” Siwon leaned closer and kissed his cheek. Heechul could feel the hairs on his neck stand up as his lips touched his skin. “Anything can happen.”

Heechul was wide-eyed as Siwon turned around and started heading towards his fancy ride, where Kyuhyun and Donghae were already waiting for him inside.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Heechul called, almost desperately.

There was no answer from Siwon, but before getting into his limousine, the teenager looked over his shoulder towards Heechul and gave him an ambiguous wink.

Then Heechul figured that maybe, just maybe, life doesn’t always get in the way of happiness.

I hope you guys stick around for the sequel. :)