After a few days, the pain on my backside gradually faded… but of course the pain I felt inside was still there. I spent more time outside the cabin. I explored the camp after my kitchen duties and then killed time by walking around aimlessly. It was a relief when I was assigned a new task: to monitor and record the progress of the trainings of the different teams.

When I finished all of the things I needed to do, I made sure to go to the lakeside and catch the sunset there. Every time I went there, I made a wish. But one afternoon, I closed my eyes and remembered something… it was the time when we had a family outing at the lake and Kangin came with us.

“Kangin… I think we’re lost…” I worriedly said to him.

“No we’re not,” he confidently answered “the campsite’s just near…”

“But we’ve been walking for hours…” I whined “we shouldn’t have followed those little ducklings…”

“Hey you were the one who insisted on following them,” Kangin said “I wanted to follow the cute little raccoon!”

“Kangin I’m tired of walking…” I complained again.

“Teukie I’m sorry…” Kangin stopped walking “but I think we’re lost.”

“The sun’s nearly down,” I got more worried “it would be dark here soon… and we don’t know what’s out here…”

Kangin saw how troubled I was and he didn’t know what else to say to calm me down. So he just walked towards me and hugged me tight. I felt quite relaxed and then we walked again. We reached the lakeside after a few minutes.

“Come on Teukie, let’s sit for a while” he pulled me and we sat.

“Wow would you look at that!” I pointed towards the sunset.

“Let’s make a wish!” Kangin said. He held my hand and closed his eyes

“I wish dad would find us soon…” I closed my eyes as well and wished with all my heart “it’s getting creepy here after sunset…”

“BOYS!? BOYS WHERE ARE YOU!?” came the voice of my dad a few minutes after I made the wish “BOYS WHERE ARE YOU!?”

We both jumped and shouted. Dad looked extremely worried yet relieved when he saw us. He scolded us for going too far away from the campsite and told us not to wander around again.

“Kangin it worked! My wish worked!” I excitedly said as we headed back “what did you wish for?”

He didn’t answer my question. He just gave me a smile.

I opened my eyes again and watched as the lake seemed to swallow the sun. I stood up and made my way back to the cabin afterwards. Kangin wasn’t there yet. I cleaned up my things, took a quick shower then went to bed. The door clicked open and I pretended to be fast asleep when Kangin entered the cabin. After a while, there came a knock on the door. I heard Kangin’s footsteps as he went back to the door and opened it. There was a thump when he closed it again and I heard muffled voices from outside the cabin. I couldn’t help it, I got out of bed and pressed my ear against the wooden door.

“What is it?” Kangin asked.

“We need to tell you something…” I heard Donghae’s voice.

“But please don’t take it out on us afterwards…” Hyukjae’s bothered voice came after

“What is it about?” Kangin pressed on.

“Well, we heard the coach talking over the phone earlier….” Hyuk said.

“Does it have anything to do with me?” Kangin sounded anxious.

“He said that your performance isn’t improving… and he’s thinking of pulling you out of the team and sending in Hangeng instead—“

“WHAT!?” Kangin shouted and I instantly felt worried about the two.

“Please don’t take it out on us… we just heard it when we passed by his cabin!” Donghae’s voice sounded quieter, they must’ve taken a few steps away from Kangin “anyways, he said he’ll be basing his decision on your training tomorrow. Good luck and good night!”

It became quiet for a while. I could imagine Donghae and Hyukjae running back to their cabin. And I could imagine Kangin standing there, bewildered. I was about to go back to bed when Kangin suddenly spoke.

“I can’t be pulled out of the team… I just can’t. I’ve already disappointed everyone. I have nothing left. This is all I have. This is the only thing I can do to make things right again…” I heard soft sobs from him “nobody would stay with me if I’m a failure…”

I couldn’t absorb what I just heard… and before I could react fast, the door suddenly opened. Kangin looked shocked as he stared at me.

“I’ll stay.” I said as I looked at him straight in the eyes.