The past two weeks had been absolutely wonderful for Heechul. It was as if the God he didn’t even believe in decided to give him a break from the craphole he called his life and arranged to have saint Siwon injured, inevitably leaving him in Heechul’s care. Somebody up there liked him, he thought. Though they probably have some serious issues with Siwon’s .

Or perhaps Sungmin and Eunhyuk were right in their diagnosis; maybe a part of Heechul really did mean to hurt Siwon so he could take care of him. But because Heechul would never admit to their faces that they were right about him, he instead chose to believe that it was all just an unfortunate accident. That was also what he was planning to say to the authorities if Siwon ever decided to press charges.

Fortunately, Siwon’s injury wasn’t serious; the area was mostly swollen, not wounded nor were there any signs of internal bleeding. Since Heechul was the counselor and therefore, in charge of all medical-related predicaments, he was given the job of giving Siwon a (semi-)private rectal exam (Sungmin and Eunhyuk were secretly spying on the whole thing), and he was given the pleasure of informing the patient that there was no real damage done, and that his rear will heal in time. Heechul also recommended a daily massage to speed up the healing (although not even Heechul himself knew for sure if this was accurate; it was just a lovely perk for him as caretaker) and Siwon reluctantly obliged.

“Don’t worry, honey. It doesn’t even look that bad. In fact, it looks more like you’ve just had gay without lube.” Cue the awkward silence as Heechul shrugs mindlessly and Siwon tries to hide his horror-stricken face.

Over the time, Heechul’s words had since come true and Siwon’s injury had since healed, and soon, Siwon was able to walk normally again. However, Heechul couldn’t help but feel just a little dejected, as he had just lost his only reasonable excuse to touch Siwon without being charged for ual harassment. He has already even started missing the nights when he and Siwon would actually engage in a real conversation as the former massaged his backside.

“I just had to get away from my father for a while,” Siwon had mused to him after they had somehow wandered into the topic of family. “He expects me to excel at everything—even breathing. He makes me take physicals and x-rays every month, just to make sure that there’s nothing wrong with my lungs; that way, I can deliver my presidential speech in perfect condition.”

Heechul lifted one eyebrow, “He wants you to become president?”

“He wants me to become a lot of things.” Siwon sighed and for the first time, Heechul saw him in a completely different light. That night, the dark circles under his eyes were more discernible than usual, and he noticed that Siwon’s beard was starting to grow; he looked tired, miserable, vulnerable. He didn’t look like the captain of the football team or the most popular guy in school or the rich flower boy who the girls want and the guys want to be. He looked like a real person. “He’s the whole reason I signed up for camp in the first place. I love my dad, but he’s seriously starting to drive me nuts.”

“Everybody has family issues, I guess,” was the only thing Heechul could say. He wanted to kick himself for not being any more helpful.

“Even you?”

Heechul snorted, “You kidding me? For my family, I am the problem.”

He chuckled softly, “Why is that?”

“I’ve always been what you would call, a ‘problem child’. When I came out to them, everybody started rejoicing because they had finally found the reason for my supposedly bad behavior: deprived homouality was the term they used.” Heechul’s tone had unconsciously turned solemn thinking about his family. “They said I was acting out because I was confused about my ual orientation. But heck, I was gay even before I found out what gay meant.”

“I bet you proved them wrong then.”

“Nah, it was more fun getting on their nerves than trying to get their validation.” He quipped, earning another small chuckle from his massage client. “Not that they ever had a problem with my being gay though...though I know they look at me differently now. Back then, I was just their troubled son. Now I’m their troubled gay son.”

“So you’ve gone from being deprived to depraved?” Siwon joked, and Heechul laughed at his witticism.

“That sounds like something my sister would say,” he remarked. “My sister has always been the one to stick up for me, but ever since she got engaged to this homophobic jerk, she hasn’t been talking to me much. Turns out the bigoted opinion of her fiancé is more important to her than her brother.”

“That’s terrible,” Siwon sympathized. “I know how you feel. It’s hard being left behind by someone you care about.”

“Really? Who is it in your case?”

Siwon paused for a moment before admitting, “Tiffany.”

“Your girlfriend?” he asked, surprised.

He nodded, “Right before camp started, she called and said she wanted to break up, because she couldn’t handle me being away at camp for so long. But I know it’s really because she found someone else.”

“That ,” Heechul related, though inside he was actually feeling rather overjoyed at the revelation that Siwon was single. “So how have you been holding up?”

“Pretty well, actually,” he replied. “I thought I’d be really messed up at first, but things have actually been kind of better off without her. I mean, I don’t have to buy her all those expensive gifts anymore or worry about forgetting to call her and getting her upset. I’ve forgotten how good it feels to be single.”

“For you, maybe.”

“What?”

“The single life can be really fun or in most cases, really, really ty.” He said, making Siwon flinch at the use of profanity. “Especially when you get caught up in the ty end of unrequited love.”

“Are you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Are you caught up in that end?” he asked curiously.

Heechul hadn’t anticipated his question and started to stammer, “Um, I-I don’t know, actually. I’m not sure.”

Siwon seemed unsatisfied with his answer; perhaps he was expecting something more specific, or perhaps he was expecting Heechul to scoff and tell him how foolish he was to think that someone like him could fall in love. Maybe that was what Heechul would’ve said had he had the time to think; but either way, both grew quite unsettled after their conversation, and eventually, they were devoured by a pregnant silence.

They didn’t talk again until the next morning, and it was only for Heechul to tell Siwon to drop his pants so he can check on his swollen .

“Um, Hae…what are you doing?”

“How do I look?” Donghae turned around to present himself, face painted with buckets of Sungmin’s cosmetics and the strong scent of Heechul’s lady perfume on his boyfriend floating in the air.

Eunhyuk wondered exactly how long he had taken in the shower for his boyfriend to start girling gaying himself up. “I think you should tone it down a little with the make-up.”

“I’m still new at this, you know,” he reasoned, pouting since Eunhyuk clearly didn’t like what he had done to his face. “Minnie’s still teaching me.”

Donghae had taken to calling Sungmin ‘Minnie’ recently—which was something that irked Eunhyuk very much every time he heard it. “I can see that. But you don’t have to do this just because Sungmin wants you to. You can always say no.”

“I don’t want to say no. I like putting on make-up.” He revealed without noticing the shock written on Eunhyuk’s face. “And someday, I think I might even get around to wearing dresses too.”

“Oh, dear Lord,” Eunhyuk muttered to himself as he hung his head. “Hae, since when did you become so…so…Sungmin-ish?”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” The thing is, it was exactly that; Eunhyuk most certainly did not want his boyfriend to turn into Sungmin. For God’s sake, he couldn’t even handle one Sungmin in his life, let alone two. “I don’t know. I feel like this is all happening too fast.”

“That’s what you said about our relationship at first. But look at us now.” He pointed out.

“I know,” he smiled and kissed the side of Donghae’s head. “Happy two-week-anniversary, by the way.”

Donghae grinned happily, “You remembered.”

“How could I forget?” he asked as he took out a baby wipe to clean up Donghae’s face. “Now let’s get you cleaned up, shall we?”

“You know, Hyukkie, I was thinking…” he started, taking a deep breath as if to brace himself for what he was about to say. “Since I’ve been having so much fun with this ‘girl’ stuff, I think you ought to try it out too.”

Eunhyuk nearly choked on his own spit, “What?”

“I think you’d look good in dresses.” He said before cupping the older boy’s face. “And some make-up wouldn’t hurt.”

“Listen, Hae, the farthest I’ve ever gone to being the flamboyant type of gay is borrowing Sungmin and my sister’s high heels, but that’s it. I don’t like wearing dresses and I absolutely detest putting on make-up and having to remove it afterwards.” He stated firmly. “I’m sorry if that disappoints you, sweetheart, but that’s who I am.”

“And this is who I am.”

Eunhyuk was taken aback by Donghae’s words, especially since he sounded so sure of himself. “Are you telling me you’re the flamboyant type of gay?”

Donghae nodded, “If you want me to change, I’ll try, but it’ll be awfully hard.”

“I don’t want you to change,” Eunhyuk assured him as he kissed his nose. “I want you to be comfortable with who you are…even if it means cross-dressing.”

“Thanks, Hyukkie,” Donghae gave him a peck on the lips, causing his lipstick to rub off on his boyfriend’s lips. “And just so you know, I’m still Donghae. I’m not Sungmin and I’m not turning into him.”

“Okay—”

“And I don’t want to become Sungmin anyway.”

Eunhyuk looked curious, “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to be a…a….”

Eunhyuk guffawed, “Sungmin would kill you if he heard you say that. The only person allowed to call him a is himself.”

“But Minnie is the lovable kind of . In fact, he’s been really nice to me about all this make-up stuff and he even told me how he wished he could have done all those things with you.” He revealed, causing both of Eunhyuk’s eyebrows to tug upward. “I…I just want to be lovable. I don’t want to be a .”

“You already are lovable,” he put his arm around Donghae’s neck to pull him closer. “To me, at least.”

“You’re pretty lovable yourself, Hyukkie,” Donghae giggled, and Eunhyuk rewarded him with a kiss just for being so damn adorable.

Kyuhyun dragged his feet across the ground; it was quite obvious that more than anything, he wanted to be anywhere but where he was right now. “Please don’t tell me this walk is gonna end up with you handcuffing me and me.”

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” Sungmin shook his head. “I didn’t bring my handcuffs, after all.”

“Should I be scared?” he asked, staring at him warily.

“Only if you see any wild animals.”

“Do you count as one?”

“No, but I do bite,” he smirked and pretended to lean closer to bite his earlobe, causing him to jump away. “Relax, honey. Nothing’s gonna happen; this is just two friends taking a stroll around the woods.”

“Then why are you holding my hand?” he asked blankly.

“Because it looked cold, s’all,” he shrugged. “Plus, I don’t want to get lost again so I best hold on to you.”

“Well, my hand is not cold and I could care less if you wandered off and got eaten by a bear.” He hissed, eliciting a dramatic grunt from the shorter boy.

Sungmin was surprisingly only clad in a pink shirt and a pair of jeans today. It looked almost strange to see him outside of a skirt, and since it was rather early in the morning, Sungmin hadn’t put on any make-up yet. It was refreshing to see his bare face; as a matter of fact, Kyuhyun actually thought he was better without make-up.

“Fine, then. Be grumpy.” Sungmin sulked as he let Kyuhyun’s hand drop to his side. “But if I do get eaten by a bear, I’m so going to haunt you until you die.”

Kyuhyun was quiet for a moment. “…I didn’t tell you to let go.”

Sungmin’s eyes widened, and he wondered if he actually heard right. “What?”

“Nothing,” Kyuhyun dismissed. “So, what are you planning here? Why did you suddenly want to take a walk with me?”

“Can’t a man take his friend out for a walk just because he feels like it?” he asked defensively.

“A man can but you can’t.” He said with one eyebrow raised.

“Oh, I just called myself a man, didn’t I?” Sungmin looked bewildered at the realization. “Huh. I haven’t done that in a while. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever done that before.”

“How nice for you,” he said drolly. “Can we just get this over with already? I hate walking.”

“That certainly says a lot about you as an athlete.” Sungmin jibed. “But there’s really no need to rush. We have all the time in the world.”

“Maybe you do, but I don’t.”

“You know what? You’re being extra mean to me today.” He deduced. “Something wrong?”

“Yes. It’s you.” He said quite bluntly.

“What about me?” he prodded further.

“You’re annoying me.”

“I do that every day.”

“I’m surprised that you’re aware of that fact,” he remarked. “Did it ever occur to you even once to stop?”

“My dear Kyuhyunnie, I’m a very persistent person so that would be the last thing I’d want to do.” Sungmin smiled impishly. “Besides, I thought this walk would do us both some good.”

“And how do you figure that?” he inquired.

“Well, we usually have our best moments when we’re alone,” he cleared his throat. “And we haven’t been alone for a long time.”

“Thank God for that.” Kyuhyun rolled his eyes.

“The point is, we’re alone now and I’d appreciate it if you dropped the whole ‘tough, bastardly guy’ act.” He said. “I want to see the same side of you I saw two weeks ago, when we were sitting by the campfire late at night. I want the real Kyuhyun.”

Kyuhyun sighed, “This is the real Kyuhyun.”

“The real Kyuhyun is no bastard.” Sungmin refuted. “He may want people to think he is, but in truth, he’s a real sweetheart. And like everyone else, he gets scared too. And I just want to help him in any way I can.”

“I’m not scared.” He insisted.

Sungmin laughed sarcastically, “Sure, you’re not.”

“Since you think you know the real Kyuhyun so well, why don’t you tell me what the real Sungmin is like then?” he asked.

“The real Sungmin likes to appear proud and confident, but he’s actually the most frightened person out of everybody else.” He pursed his lips together before continuing. “And he’s spent so much of his time protecting his image and taking care of his best friend that he’s forgotten to take care of himself. And so maybe he’s hoping to find someone who can take care of him; make him feel safe and protected and…loved.”

“And you’re hoping I could be that person?”

“Are you willing to?” he asked with a hint of hope in his voice.

“I don’t know.” He stared straight ahead, purposely avoiding Sungmin’s gaze. “The real Kyuhyun can barely even take care of himself.”

“Then maybe the real Sungmin and the real Kyuhyun can take care of each other.” He suggested. “Has the real Kyuhyun figured out how he feels about me yet?”

A long sigh escaped Kyuhyun’s thin lips, “Yes.”

Sungmin’s eyes lit up, “So what’s the verdict?”

“I don’t want to tell.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets and dropped his gaze to the grass under his feet.

“Well, at least tell me this,” he swallowed the lump in his throat. “Am I gonna like the answer?”

“Unfortunately,” Kyuhyun was already starting to regret this. “Yes.”

“You started without me,” Sungmin said upon seeing that Kyuhyun had already set up the campfire outside their pitched tents.

“Only because I figured you didn’t want to chop up the wood for the fire, so I got Eunhyuk to do it.” He revealed. “And I made tea. It’s kind of chilly tonight and I didn’t want you to be cold, so…yeah.”

Sungmin smiled warmly, “Thanks.”

“I know I’m a lethal cook, but I hope my tea is at least non-toxic.” He quipped with a weak chuckle as he handed him a cup of tea. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Everything.”

“Everything?”

“Everything.”

It was late into the night and everybody else was asleep; everybody but Kyuhyun and Sungmin, who agreed to spend another night by the campfire to sort things out.

Kyuhyun nodded, almost seeming nervous, “Starting with what?”

“Anything. Kyuhyun, I just want you to be comfortable with me.” He said. “I want you to be able to open up to me; I want you to trust me.”

“How do you expect me to tell you anything when I don’t even know anything about you, except for the fact that you like to dress in drag?”

“You want to know something about me? Fine.” Sungmin showed slight hesitance about what he was going to say next, but nevertheless, went through with it. “I’m a .”

Kyuhyun’s jaw nearly dropped to the ground, “…You’ve got to be kidding me.”

“Nope. The only person who knows is Eunhyuk and now, you.” He said, actually feeling quite relieved to get something off his chest. “And if you value your life, you should see to it that Heechul never finds out about this.”

“I don’t believe this,” he blinked in confusion. “But you seem so…so…”

“erse?”

“I was gonna say ‘experienced’.”

Sungmin chuckled, mostly to himself, “That’s only because I’m a really good actor. Besides, it’s kind of hard to lose your ity when you haven’t even had a boyfriend yet.”

“You’ve never had a boyfriend before?”

“Never,” he confirmed. “You look surprised.”

“It’s just…with the way you act around me…and the fact that you keep sticking your tongue down my throat...” Kyuhyun was as perplexed as ever. “I find it hard to believe that someone who kisses the way you do has never been in a relationship before.”

“Eunhyuk and I used to practice with each other a lot.” He revealed. “Want to know something else? I used to have like, the hugest crush on Eunhyuk back then. He never found out and I never told him.”

“Why not?”

“Because I value our friendship too much.” He admitted. “I thought that if we ever started dating and then broke up, then we’d stop being friends and I just couldn’t handle the thought of losing Hyukjae. He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“That’s pretty…deep.”

“Yeah. Now you tell me something.” He urged.

“Well…only if you promise that it only stays between us.” Kyuhyun said, finding himself locking gazes with Sungmin yet again.

“I promise,” Sungmin wrapped his pinky around Kyuhyun’s. “I pinky promise.”

“Okay, here goes,” he in a deep breath. “I don’t actually play on the football team. I’m just the water boy.”

Sungmin cupped his mouth to try and suppress his laughter. “Oh my God. That’s…that’s…”

“Shut up.”

“Oh my God,” he lightly hit his own cheeks to keep himself from laughing. “What the hell are you even doing on that team? Just quit.”

“Being a jock means being popular.” He answered. “Siwon has friends in high places so he talked to the coach and he agreed to make people think I’m the star quarterback, when another player is actually just scoring touchdowns wearing my name on his jersey.”

“That’s kind of sad,” he remarked. “Why do you care so much about what other people think of you anyway? Their opinions never matter.”

“They do to me,” he refuted. “I know it sounds shallow, but things are much easier when you’re popular; everybody likes you, everybody wants to be friends with you, everybody worships the ground you’re on.”

“You’re right; it does sound shallow.” Sungmin rolled his eyes. “I hope you realize that you don’t need any of those people. And you know why?”

“Why?”

“Because you have me.”

“Sungmin, don’t start.”

“You need to stop being such a wuss and confront your own feelings, Cho Kyuhyun.” He scolded. “I have been waiting very patiently for you and I think it’s about time you just admit it. You’re scared to face the fact that you’re gay because people will stop liking you; but I say, who the hell cares? If your friends leave you just because you like boys then they were never your friends in the first place.”

Kyuhyun’s temper was starting to flare up, “You think you know everything, don’t you?”

“Just about everything. The only thing I haven’t figured out is you.” He said, his voice rising. “And I’m beginning to think that figuring you out is impossible to accomplish, even for you.”

Kyuhyun has had enough, “Fine! Fine! I’ll do it.”

“Do what?” Sungmin looked at him strangely.

Kyuhyun, for once, was brave enough to look Sungmin in the eye as he said, “I’ll be your damn boyfriend.”