It was a fine day. No clouds in the sky but it didn’t feel damp and hot. A cold breeze occasionally blew and it was comfortable for everyone. All campers were gathered together and I was surprised when I saw that even the academy professors were among the crowd. I had a great view from up here. I could see everyone clearly.

There was a small stage up front and a podium was on it. After a while, a handsome young man stepped up. If you look at him, you would think that he was chubby, And if you try to say that to his face, he would just say that he had big bones. I always laughed every time he blamed his bones for his figure.

“Hello everyone…” he awkwardly started off “a pleasant day to all…”

I chuckled to myself. Ever since we were kids, he always tried to be the host of a show or a ceremony. He was fairly good at it, but this time he seemed awkward and quite bothered.

“This camp started off as a simple yet effective way to train our academy’s sports teams. The main purpose of this was to help us all be motivated and reach our goals. We had tiring trainings. Strict wake-up calls. Delicious meals. And lots of activities.” He paused for a while and looked at the papers he brought.

“We could all go back and show the other schools what we are capable of. And in the end we all know that we could bring pride to Sapphire Academy because we did our best and worked hard.”

There were nods from the audience but everyone remained silent.

“Me, I could go straight to the tournament and bring home that gold medal without even breaking a sweat. You all agree, right?”

More nods were responded and I noticed they were genuine nods.

“If they would ask me how I did it… I’d point back to this camp. I could bring home dozens of gold medals because of what I learned here. I’m not talking about the trainings, though…”

There was an awkward silence from the crowd. Kangin paused for a while and then he continued.

“I learned something from this camp. A heavy lesson. A very painful one… and I couldn’t help but to blame myself for letting things reach this level of agony…”

“I believe I should start off by sharing with you guys a short story from my childhood. Ever since I was young, I had this burden. This heavy pressure to live up to my parents’ high expectations. I’m an only child so they couldn’t expect anything from anyone else. It was my eternal duty to make them proud.”

Kangin fiddled with the papers on the podium but I could tell that he wasn’t reading from them. His speech came straight from his heart.

“As I was trapped in that shell of pressure, I met this kid who did nothing but to cause trouble. At first I was afraid for him. I kept on thinking ‘What if it was me who caused this… my parents would disown me for sure!’ and stuff like that. But then I noticed how carefree he was and how he thrived to make up for the trouble he caused.”

“That gave me a new push in life… that crazy kid unknowingly told me that it’s okay to make mistakes, as long as I give my best to make it right again. So time passed and I felt extremely comfortable with him…”

Kangin stopped fiddling with his papers and looked up the sky for a while before he carried on again.

“But then my mother got ill… I wasn’t there to take care of her… and she passed away. My father blamed me for what happened. And eventually I started to accept that blame too. At that moment, I felt like there was nothing I could do to fix it. I felt like I would cause disappointment to everyone else as well… so I just went back to my tight shell of pressure.”

“I shut out the world and became cold to everyone… even to the only person who deeply cared about me. I wasted years by isolating myself from everything I loved. All my focus was fixed to one thing: glory. I believed that if I could bring glory and pride in the form of a gold medal, then maybe I could somehow fix the damage that was done. But then this camp came… and I learned something again…”

Kangin smiled as he recalled whatever memory he was referring to.

“I learned that… those who truly care… would stay no matter what. That after every pain I caused, there was still someone who never gave up believing in me. I had him in my life… and I just pushed him away because I was so absorbed in my fears and pride. But then he showed me that he never abandoned any hope for me… and I was thankful that I had him back again. He helped me to break out from my shell and supported me along the way…”

Tears started to form in his eyes. He tried hard to pull them back.

“But I lost him again… I gained the knowledge that he was indeed willing to risk everything for me… but I lost him in the process. Guilt eats me every minute. And I regret those years I wasted when I pushed him away. But most of all, I regret those times when I didn’t tell him what I often wished for. Ever since the first time, I only wished for one thing… and he would always ask me what I wished for. I would just smile at him and now I regret that I didn’t tell him. I didn’t tell him my wish because I wasn’t sure if it could happen. Now I’m definitely sure that he’s my guardian angel… because he risked his own life just to save mine.”

“Just last night we were inside a car going to the nearest hospital. He wasn’t the best driver but we didn’t have any choice. The road was wet and he was in much as pain as I was. When we saw the headlights, we both knew what would happen next. And for a moment, he looked at me… and I knew what he wanted to say just by looking at his eyes. I’ll keep you safe, I promise. His eyes said it all. And when he let go of the wheel and threw his arms on me… he made himself a human shield in that moment of impact…”

Kangin looked at the distance and stared at nothing in particular. The crowd only saw that he smiled at the clouds… but I saw that hidden in that smile, there were tears in his eyes.

“This closing ceremony of Sapphire Camp is dedicated to my best friend. He was an angel without wings. He’s the reason why I’m holding the camp flag. And he’ll be the reason why I could win gold medals. It would be a lie if I say that those honors would mean nothing to me. It would bring joy and a sense of fulfillment for me. But I would trade them all… I would be willing to burn them all… if I could just have one more day with him.”

He left the stage with his head down. Without looking at anyone else, he marched straight to the lakeside and cried.

“I wish you could stay as my guardian angel, Teukie…”

“Don’t cry… I'll keep you safe...” I whispered… but I knew he couldn’t hear me…

At last… I found out what he kept on wishing for.

Do you believe that wishes come true?

I always did. Our wishes always came true.

To my subscribers and dear readers... THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND FEEDBACK!

I apologize if my updates were always delayed. We're quite busy at work these days and I always feel tired when I go home so I couldn't find time to write the next chapter. But even though I felt sleepy and tired, when I read all your comments and feedbacks, I get inspired <3

There's a new KangTeuk storyline that I'm thinking of right now. I hope you guys would like that new story as well ^-^ Thank you again for your support and taking time to read my fic :)

-fairytaleXuntold