“Choyoung, no!”

Soonyoung's eyes snapped open with a gasp, his mind reeling. The cotton fabric of his shirt clung to his body, freezing cold to the touch as it was soaked in his own cold sweat. The air pricked at his icy skin, making him cringe at the sudden change in temperature. His eyes darted around the moonlit room to check that he was where he was supposed to be, his room. They wandered over to the piles of suitcases on the floor and he breathed a sigh of relief; he was still there. Soonyoung flopped back down on the bed, stretching his arms out wide.

The dream was so vivid that images still lingered in head. It wasn't a gruesome, dark dream like it usually would, rather, a sweet dream with a conclusion that he feared. He couldn't remember details but he could make out major characteristics – scattered autumn leaves, the bright glow of the luminescent moon, melodic violin music and two people. He only remembered the bottom half of their faces but there was no mistaking that jawline to be Choyoung's. The two, tiny, parallel moles towards the back of her jaw matched the ones in his dream. Her lips were locked with someone else's...not his.

Rubbing his face with his hands, he brushed his bangs off to the side and sighed. He laid there for a while staring up at the ceiling but something felt off. He immediately did a double take. Lifting his head, Soonyoung glanced over to his left and realized that Choyoung wasn't there but instead, there was a pillow in her place. He shot up from his bed and quickly slipped out of his clothes and changed into a new, clean set. Where had could she have gone at this late hour?

Amber and tangerine sparks blazed from chunks of wood piled on top of the dirt, the heat rising up to warm the pale canvas of Choyoung's cheeks. Eyes half-closed, her dark brown orbs stared at the bright lights illuminating her faces as she listened to the sizzling pops and whispered hisses of the campfire. A maroon blanket draped over her petite shoulders while her frail fingers gripped at the edges, pulling it in closer to lock in the warmth. Her bottom rested against the log with her knees pulled in close to her chest like a child hiding in the cupboard, fearing the monster in their closet.

Reaching up, her pointer finger ran across the bottom of her lip slowly, remembering Chan's lips against hers. Tears welled up in her eyes as a knife stabbed her heart, knowing that Soonyoung had seen them. That pained look on his face, the way his hands fell to his side – it definitely hurt him more than it hurt her. A stream of droplets cascaded down her face as her heart crumbled. She could have done something. She could have pushed Chan away, but she didn't. No matter how hard she tried to, something kept pulling her back towards him.

Exhaling deeply, her breath quivered as she shakily stretched her legs out in front of her. The back of her hand rubbed at the sides of her face while the tears continued to flow. Her mind was a tangled mess and the strings of her heart twined, unsure of where the end would be. She had walked into a never ending abyss, alone and without anyone to turn to but the owls chanting their songs, wondering who they were exactly. Yet no one would answer them, for they were still finding out who they were as well. Choyoung clutched at the corner of the blanket, and brought it up to her face and wiped until maroon turned into a soaked black.

“Here,”

With her eyes swollen from crying, Choyoung slowly looked up at her shoulder at the hand outstretched towards her, holding a handkerchief. She lightly sniffled and brought her gaze up, staring at the face she least wanted to see right now. Or at least, for a long while. Chan shrugged his shoulders slightly as he took a seat next to her on the log, crossing his legs and folding his hands on his lap. The back of his hair was wavy and pointed in many directions from sleeping with his hair damp. There were dark patches under his eyes, showing that he was unable to sleep well too.

Chan avoided Choyoung's gaze and placed the handkerchief in her hand, “Don't wipe your face with your blanket. It's not good for your skin,”

“What are you doing here?” Choyoung bluntly asked with a slightly irritated tone in her voice. She wasn't in the mood to be graced with his presence right now, and honestly she was a bit mad for him jumping her like that. Unfolding the handkerchief though, she dabbed at her eyes to dry them off.

The older boy looked down at his lap, “Same reason as you. I can't get to sleep,”

Choyoung watched him yawn and unconsciously mirrored his actions before turning back to the light in front of them. He seemed frustrated, and a lot more distant that he ever had been. There was something in the way that he talked that slightly hinted at the stress he was bearing. She couldn't help but sympathize with him. The situation was a lot like Bee and Jihoon if she thought about it. Chan liked her the way Bee liked Jihoon, but she didn't return his feelings like Jihoon did. Once again, she was conflicted; she wanted to get up and leave, but her heart told her not to.

“I'm sorry about the kiss,” Chan leaned back on his arms and peered over at Choyoung who was preoccupied in playing with a loose thread of the handkerchief, “I shouldn't have done that,”

Shaking her head, Choyoung's fingers stopped moving and instead gripped the white cloth harder. Now was not the time to be talking about this. They were both tired and confused. Not the ideal states of mind to be discussing serious matters with. She cleared and handed the handkerchief back to him, “What's done is done. Don't worry about it,”

“But why Soonyoung hyung?”

Freezing at the sudden question, Choyoung's eyes widened. Did he really just ask her that? She brought her eyes up and saw that his face was serious. Chan let out a soft laugh and stared up at the stars, “Even you don't know,”

“That's not it,” she defended, “You don't need a reason to like someone,”

“I'm surprised that you didn't say 'love' someone,” Chan interrupted her, averting his attention to her shocked face. She didn't know where he was going with this, but she didn't like the feeling arising in her stomach. It made her feel ill, and somewhat dizzy. Maybe it was just the side-effects of the medicine kicking in. It couldn't be because of Chan. There was no way her heart could suddenly be changing for someone else. Chan sat up straight again and crossed his arms over his chest, “Could it be that you don't love anyone yet?”

Choyoung quickly shook her head and turned her head away towards the woods beside them, “That's not true,”

“I've known you longer than a majority of our first year class, Choyoung. I think I know you just as well as Bee does,” he said in a hushed tone so that only Choyoung could hear it. He could imagine Choyoung's eyes wandering everywhere but at him, while his own pair lingered over to the bushes not far from them as he smirked, “You and I both know very well that you're afraid to fall in love,”

The air grew silent as Choyoung contemplated about what he had told her. Although she didn't want to admit it, he was right. The thought of getting attached to someone, dedicating your all to them, and then in a sudden turn of events they would leave you, struck fear into her heart. She hated being alone. It made her feel vulnerable and weak. That's why she always insisted that she sleep with someone in her room, but had no younger brother or sister to do that for her.

“You're right, I am afraid to fall in love,” she said after a silent spell. This surprised the boy. This wasn't the first time she had thought about this in her time being with Soonyoung. There were differences between liking someone and loving someone; liking someone means that you're happy to be around them, and to love someone was to give up your everything for them. It was a terrifying thought to be able to give up everything for a person because what if, that person wasn't truly meant for you? Then you might as well have lost everything. Choyoung felt her bottom lip quivering once again as her voice shook, “That's why I don't feel like I deserve Soonyoung,”

Chan stared at her, unable to believe that she just gave in so quickly. His eyes looked back at the bushes once more before he reached out, grabbing her shoulder and drew her closer into his arms. Choyoung's tears immediately fell when she felt her head against his shoulder. She felt dirty crying in Chan's arms. This was the second time she was doing so and a knot in her chest tightened, knowing that Soonyoung got mad at her for the first time. Chan rested his chin on her head while his arms were wrapped around her. He listened to her ramble on about how she was unsure about loving anyone right now. He patted her hair, choking on his words, “I'm sure Soonyoung loves you,”

This seemed to make her cry harder than she was already. Chan couldn't help but think of her as a little kid at this point: lost, confused, and weary. Her little child-like sobs brought back memories of her in his arms when she received low marks on her science test in middle school. And the way her eyes puffed out the next day when she came back to school the next day after showing her report card to her parents. He clearly remembered the look of desperation in her eyes when she begged him to help her study to bring up her grades. Although they weren't on close terms then, she had always come to him for help. Chan was pulled out of his thoughts when, Choyoung hiccuped, “But I'm not even sure I can love him back,”

“I see how it is,”

Chan and Choyoung's eyes both widened at the sound of the familiar voice. Choyoung's heart started to race, and she could heart Chan's heartbeat get faster as well. Both of them quickly pulled away, scrambling to their feet while Choyoung tried to clean her face off with her sweater sleeves. There was a great possibility that Soonyoung would misunderstand again especially if he had only listened to the last two things that were said in the conversation. Putting her hands up in defense, Choyoung stepped backwards, “Soonyoung, it's not what you think,”

“Oh yeah, not how I think,” Soonyoung rolled his eyes, voice suddenly getting louder. This scared the younger two, mailing their legs to their spots and shutting their mouths closed from any other excuses from coming out. Pointing to Chan, Soonyoung glared at Choyoung, “Because I really shouldn't worry about the girl that I like sneaking around in the middle of the night with her old crush, is that right?”

Choyoung stomped her foot on the ground, matching her volume with his and started challenging him at his own game, “If you truly trusted me and had a little faith in me, you would know that I'm not like that! Chan has been my friend since we were little kids. Is it wrong to cry on your friend's shoulder?”

“It's wrong if you know that he likes you!” he spat back. Choyoung's eyebrows furrowed together as she tried to come up with an answer. There wasn't anything wrong with going to a friend for comfort regardless of him liking her or not. It's not like anyone else was there with her anyway!

Seeing that Choyoung was cornered, Chan stepped in front of Soonyoung, putting the older boy's hand down, also matching their voce levels, “Stop it, hyung! I'm the one who went up to her, not the other way around!”

“Shut up, Chan!” Soonyoung harshly shook Chan off his arm before turning back to Choyoung. The last thing he needed right now was Chan interfering. Honestly, that brat was lucky that he hadn't punched him in the face. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have held back on Chan, but Soonyoung couldn't bring himself to do it. Even though he was mad at Choyoung, he didn't want to hurt her by hitting her friend. Holding onto her last strand of patience, Choyoung tugged Chan from his sweater hood and pulled him behind her. This made Soonyoung's blood boil; he couldn't understand why she was always protecting Chan.

“Why are you always getting so mad when I talk with anyone that's not you?!” she yelled back, shutting him up. Opening to say something else, she suddenly stopped and shook her head frustratingly. She had it. She was tired, stressed and this conversation was making her more irritated. Rubbing her temples, Choyoung stomped out of the campfire and past Soonyoung, heading towards the cabins.

Spinning on his heel, Soonyoung was about to follow her before he felt Chan's grip on his arm. Peering over his shoulder, Soonyoung glared at the short boy, “Haven't you done enough?”

“I know Choyoung likes you right now,” Chan started, letting his hand slide from the older boy's arm. Straightening his back, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. It was weird to still talk to his senior formally in a situation like this. He didn't want to show Soonyoung that he still cared about age formality, but at the same time it was looked down on in the culture in general if he did. Dropping honorifics, Chan looked up at the annoyed Soonyoung, “You're my rival, Soonyoung. I'm not going to give up on her just because you're my senior,”

The sudden lack of formalities left Soonyoung speechless; there was no way his junior was talking to without respect. Knowing that he had now evened out the playing field, Chan walked up to Soonyoung, and put a finger to the taller boy's chest, “She doesn't love anyone right now, but I'm going to do whatever it takes to earn her love,”

“Choyoung, is that you?” Saron rubbed her eyes as she approached the low tree that appeared to have someone sitting where the branches met to make the trunk.

Looking up, Choyoung slid off the seat-like part and dusted herself off, “Oh, Saron...what are you doing up so late?”

“I should be asking you that but since you said it first, I guess I have no choice,” the older girl stretched her arms over her head before she started to crack the rest of her body parts like she did this every day, “I'm looking for Chan. That little bugger slipped out of his room. If I wasn't a light sleeper, no one would have noticed. I can't find him anywhere. You wouldn't have happened to see him, now did you?”

Choyoung bit her lip before she sat back down on the nature-made seat, “I was talking with him earlier at the campfire. He found me there,”

“Why were you at the campfire, if you don't mind my asking?” Saron raised an eyebrow and leaned against one of the low-running branches. They were a bit off the side from the cabins but you wouldn't be able to spot them from far away unless you had great night vision. Choyoung brought her head down and immediately, Saron knew what was going on in her head, “Ah, I see what it is. Love complications,”

Saron climbed up on the branch and settled herself into a comfortable position with one leg handing over the side while the other supported her. Her back laid against the branch and her arms were folded together under her head as she stared at the sky poking through the closely knit leaves. She had seen the whole thing from Chan kissing Choyoung to Soonyoung and Jihoon helping Choyoung. It was a public secret at her house that Chan harbored feelings for his science partner. She looked down at Choyoung, “You know, Chan had been asking me since the beginning of high school on how to properly confess to a girl,”

Choyoung glanced at her senior with curiosity in her eyes. She couldn't picture Chan ever asking his sister for help. They must have a really close relationship to be able to talk about things like that with each other. Noticing the amazed look on Choyoung's face, Saron chuckled and nodded, “I gave him a few pointers, of course. I even told him the story of how Doyoon confessed to me! But even after all that, I never would have imagined that the girl he liked, liked someone else,”

“I'm sorry, I didn't-”

“Don't be sorry for liking Soonyoung. That's silly,” Saron laughed at the younger girl before she turned over on the branch to see Choyoung better. It was now Choyoung's turn to raise her eyebrows at her. She would have thought that Chan's sister would try to set her up with her little brother IT was weird to know that Saron didn't mind her liking someone other than her Chan. Then again, maybe Saron had been in a situation like this before she ended up with Doyoon. She figured that it would be wise to listen to Saron especially since she had been dating Doyoon for almost three years now. Saron smiled, “I guess you could say that I'm glad things turned out this way,”

“And why is that? If you don't mind telling me,”

Sighing, Saron waved it off, “Ever since he was a little kid, Chan always got what he wanted. He never had to fight for anything, he never had to do any work for anything – you could say he was a spoiled child,”

Choyoung slowly nodded, recalling her younger years. She never really looked into it, but now that Saron had pointed it out, Chan always did live the good life. When he was hungry he was able to talk his way into getting an extra cookie or two from their classmates, or when they were put into groups he would always be team leader. There was never a moment when he wasn't team leader. Saron continued, “But now, this is the first time Chan has to fight for something he wants,”

“But I...”

“I'm not telling you to ditch Soonyoung for Chan, but I'm not telling you to not give my little brother a chance either,” Saron interrupted, “Soonyoung and you aren't dating, right? And you're not sure if you love him either, right?”

Choyoung picked at her fingers, “No, we're not dating and I don't love anyone at the moment, either,”

“Then I want you to give Chan a chance. I'm not saying that you should like him in the blink of an eye, but I want you to give him the opportunity to flirt with you,” Saron shifted positions to lie on her back once more. Choyoung stiffened in her seat uncomfortably. This was a weird favor that Saron was asking of her. It wasn't easy either. Saron let her other leg hang on the other side of the branch and started swaying them back and forth in a rather relaxing speed, “It's only fair that way,”

Mouth running dry, Choyoung found herself unable to swallow. She had a vague idea of what Saron was going to say next and she wasn't too keen on it either. Saron sighed, “It doesn't have to be tomorrow, but when you find the time to and when you feel comfortable, let Chan take you out somewhere."