"Taekwoon?" Hakyeon could see the other boy sitting a little way away from him, yet he didn't respond at all when Hakyeon  called out. " What are you doing?" Taekwoon finally looked at him, smirked, and started to walk away. Hakyeon followed after him, trying to keep up, and failing. One by one, all their other friends joined Taekwoon. First Hyuk, then Hongbin, Ken, and Wonshik. All of them walking away from Hakyeon. "Wait up! I can't go as fast as you can!" he shouted, hoping they'd stop. Instead, they kept going, getting further and further away. No matter how fast Hakyeon ran, he couldn't catch up. "Wait!" he yelled, trying his hardest to make it to his friends. But they didn't wait, didn't even turn to look at him. He felt himself go airborne before even realizing that he'd tripped, his knees and elbows slamming into the ground as he landed. "Please wait for me..." he sobbed, pain lancing through his limbs. Taekwoon finally turned then, Hakyeon's eyes lighting up only to be immediately dimmed as he heard what the other boy said before he turned and left with the group, all of them laughing as they walked away from him.

"Pathetic."

"Wake up, Hakyeon." Taekwoon's voice, a hand gently nudging him. "Hey, wake up." Hakyeon opened his eyes. A dream. Just his imagination trying to torment him. "You ok?"  Taekwoon asked, his face a blob until Hakyeon's eyes finally focused, though even then he was still blurred around the edges.

"Huh?"

"You're crying." And so he was. He could feel the tears as they rolled down his cheeks. He quickly wiped them away, ashamed that Taekwoon had even seen them.

"Fine. Just a dream." He said, before smiling brightly and rolling out of the sleeping bag. A hand grabbed his wrist, stilling him.

"You sure?" Taekwoon's eyes stared into his, making him feel like the other boy could see straight to his soul.

"Promise. I'm fine. Now c'mon! Time for breakfast!" Hakyeon needed to get out of the tent, away from the other boy and the rampaging feelings he could feel building up in his chest. If Taek kept looking at him like that, he'd cave and tell him about the dream.

"Uh Hakyeon?"

"Yeah?"

"It's three o'clock in the morning. I'm pretty sure no one is going to be making breakfast for another couple of hours." Taekwoon said with a little smirk. Hakyeon felt his face burn with embarrassment, making the quick decision to dive back into the covers and turn away from Taekwoon so he couldn't see his face. Taekwoon gave a quiet laugh. "Go back to sleep." Hakyeon couldn't though. Not after his dream. He was terrified it would come back. Instead, he listened to the rhythm of Taekwoon's breathing for the next couple of hours, his remnant feelings from his nightmare consuming him. He thought that he'd finally worked through his feelings for his best friend. Smothered them, buried them so far down that they would never see the light of day again. They were put away in a box, hid in the deepest, darkest part of his soul, locked and chained until he was sure that they would never escape. But sometimes they did. And it stole his breath away, locking it in his chest, terrified that the other boy would somehow see them. Look into his eyes and just know, know Hakyeon's darkest secret. He was secretly in love with his best friend and had been for years. He knew that it was wrong, but sometimes you don't get to decide what you feel. Even though his friends accepted him for who he was, to like one of them would have crossed that line. He couldn't even imagine what would happen to him if they abandoned him. Would he be able to go on? If Taekwoon knew, and laughed in his face, would he be able to live with himself? He was determined to never find out. He could lock away his love, ensure it stayed hidden, and keep his friends. Because without them, who was he? The light of dawn burned away Hakyeon's dark thoughts allowing him to drift off into a thankfully dreamless sleep. What he didn't know was that what had woken Taekwoon wasn't Hakyeon's crying. Taekwoon had woken up to Hakyeon calling out his name. And stayed awake through the night, wondering what kept his friend away from peaceful sleep.

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                Once breakfast was served and devoured, the group of kids made their way to the large lake that was an hour's hike away. The teachers brought fishing poles and there were kayaks and canoes available to take out on the water. The group of friends argued for a good 15 minutes before deciding to try their hand at fishing. It was something that they'd not tried before but had always wanted to. That soon devolved to Jaehwan chasing Hongbin around, a wiggling worm dangling from his fingers. Hakyeon had repeated stabbed himself with the hook he was trying to attach to his line. Taekwoon was just staring at the pole, like he was waiting for a fish to magically appear on its own. And Hyuk and Wonshik were too busy playing in the water for any fish to come remotely close to them. All in all, it was an hour or two well spent. After lunch, they decided on canoeing. It looked fun and at least they'd done this before. They paired off, Wonshik and Jaehwan already placing bets on who could reach the other side of the lake the fastest, the rest of the group bringing up the rear. While the others fought over which canoe would be fastest, Taekwoon pushed their canoe to the water before turning and grabbing Hakyeon's hand, pulling him to the canoe, and then pushing him into it, ing the boat fully into the water. "What's the rush?" Hakyeon asked, grabbing an oar and starting to row.

"No way am I letting one of those idiots win. While they're sitting there arguing, we're gonna beat them all to the other side of this damn lake. " Taekwoon explained, a fire in his eyes. Hakyeon laughed at his friend before beginning to paddle harder.

"Hey guys!" He shouted to the bickering pairs on the shore, " I'd shut up and grab a canoe if I were you!"

"Damn!" Wonshik yelled, forgetting all about the apparent advantages of one canoe versus the other and simply grabbing the closest one. "Oh hell no! It is so on right now!" After that, it was a flurry of action, oars splashing into the water, taunts exchanged between the groups. It was a close call, Jaehwan and Hyuk making an amazing effort and almost overtaking Hakyeon and Taekwoon. But their lion would have none of that. With a final burst of speed, Hakyeon felt the canoe land on the other shore.

"Aw man!" Hyuk whined, "We almost had you!" He pointed an accusing finger at Taekwoon. "You so cheated!"

"Nah. I just didn't screw around. Maybe in a few years you'll be able to beat me kid. Maybe." Taekwoon said with a smirk.

"Oh, you can bet on it." Hyuk said with a grin.

"Best two out of three!" Wonshik said.

"Too long!" Hongbin said, pushing his hair away from his face. He was not made for this crap.

" it up pretty boy!" Wonshik said, looking back at his rowing partner. "I did most the work out there."

"The hell you did!" Hongbin retorted. "Just because someone-"

"Hey, how about we see who can make it back first, hm? We're gonna have to go back anyways." Hakyeon suggested, doing his duty as the constant mediator of the group.

"Yeah! We'll win for sure!" Wonshik said. "No cheating this time you bastards!"

"All right. On three then." They readied themselves, all of them eyeing the other shore. "Three!" Hakyeon shouted, laughing as he and Taekwoon got the head start.

"Dammit! That's cheating!" Wonshik yelled. Hakyeon glanced back, sticking out his tongue.

"All's fair in love and war. Keep up if you can!" They made it to the middle of the lake before hearing the splash behind them, the yells. They came to an abrupt stop, looking behind them. The canoe with Jaehwan and Hyuk in it was floating upside down, the two boys nowhere to be seen. "Turn around! Hurry!" Hakyeon looked at the other two. "Do you see them? What happened?"

"They just flipped. They haven't come up yet." Hongbin said, peering into the water.

"Hyuk!" Hakyeon screamed, standing up to get a better look.

"You called?" He heard behind him, turning to scold the boy when he felt the canoe tip, his face suddenly meeting the water. He came up sputtering, looking over to see Taekwoon holding a flailing Jaehwan under the water. Hyuk was treading  beside Hakyeon, laughing his off. "You should have seen your face! It was priceless!"

"Oh priceless was it? I'll show you to screw with your elders!" Hyuk kept laughing, but made to move away from the evil glint in Hakyeon's eyes. "Come here you little !" Not two minutes later, the last canoe had been flipped, the other two boys pulled into the water, the battle escalating into an all-out war.

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                As the light of the day started to fade, the group of students was herded to another spot. Even though the hike had been long, the view was well worth it. The reds, yellows, and oranges of the sunset lit up the sky, a brilliant piece of art that could only be created by nature. They had traveled upwards to a cliff that hung a good 80 feet above a roaring river. The view was magnificent, even if the height of the cliff made Hakyeon a little nervous as he sat looking out at the picturesque scene . He sensed rather than saw Wonshik and Jaehwan come up beside him. "Beautiful isn't it?" Hakyeon asked, simply soaking up the view.

 "It really is." Jaehwan said, sitting beside him on one side, Wonshik on the other. "Hyung, we wanted to talk to you."

"Oh, what's on your mind?" He asked, eyes never leaving the view. He had a feeling he knew what this was about. Hakyeon didn't have to look at his two friends to see that they were both trying to get the other to talk first.

"We want you to stand up for yourself!" Wonshik finally blurted out, maybe a little louder than he'd intended. Now Hakyeon did look at him, surprised to see the "tough" one of the group sporting a bright blush. "It's not right that Yooncheol comes after you all the time but why won't you do something about it? Or at least let us? We can help you!" Hakyeon sighed, seeing that this was difficult for the younger boy to do.

"I can handle it myself. You guys don't need to worry about it."

"But hyung, we do. We're your friends. It hurts us to see how you get treated. Please, let us help you." Jaehwan said, voice powerful but quiet. "I know why you do it. Let him beat you up and never do anything in retaliation. But we can protect ourselves! If we don't do this now, when you leave, he'll just find someone else to torture."

"I don't-" Hakyeon tried to deny, only to be cut off by Wonshik.

"We know that's why! We can see it. But it's not your job to protect us forever. That needs to be taught that he can't just do this. Not to you or anyone else."

"But Hyuk-" Hakyeon tried to state, only to once again get cut off.

"He won't touch Hyuk or Hongbin! Not one hair on them! If he even tries, he will greatly regret it. " Wonshik said fiercely. And Hakyeon believed him. With these two looking after the others, he knew that they would be safe. He'd just needed it pointed out to him.

"Please hyung. We hate to see you just take Yooncheol's when you shouldn't have to." Jaehwan said.

"Ok." Hakyeon said, the doubt clear on the other two's faces since he'd agreed so readily. He had to laugh. "What? It's not like I enjoy it. But I'd do anything to protect you all. Anything. However, you are all grown now and don't need me anymore." He jumped when he felt the warmth of their arms wrap around him from both sides.

"We'll always need you hyung. Always." Wonshik said, a small wobble in his voice before he cleared it and pulled away. "Come on Jaehwan. We're supposed to be out getting wood for the fire with the rest of the class." When they looked at Hakyeon, waiting for him to stand, he just shook his head.

"I'll be there in a bit. I just want to look for a couple more minutes."

"Ok. We'll send Hyuk over. Kid's driving Taek a little nuts." Jaehwan said. And true to his word, not two minutes later, the youngest of the group came over and sat down with a grumble. They didn't say anything as they sat, just watching as the sun started to disappear on the horizon. Only when they stood up and turned did they realize that they had company. Yooncheol and four of his friends to be exact.

"Funny finding you here. Were we interrupting your sappy couple moment?" Yooncheol said with a sneer, his lackeys laughing.

"Actually, we were just going to get wood with the rest of the group. Move." Hakyeon said.

"Oh ho! Look who finally grew a pair, boys!" Yooncheol said. He blocked Hakyeon as he tried to move passed the group, Hyuk directly behind him. "I've waited to get you alone and even better than the little brat is here too. I haven't forgotten the little 'accident'. Oh no. I'm going to enjoy teaching you both a lesson."

"Seriously? Just leave us the hell alone." Hakyeon yelled, his patience at an end. Yooncheol needed to be taught a lesson, and there was no way that he was touching Hyuk. " I'm so tired of taking your , you bratty, stupid, little boy! You wanna start something, then let's get this over with!" And without further pause, promptly punched Yooncheol in the face. Stunned silence. No one moved. Then Hyuk started to laugh.

"Holy hyung! That was awesome." That's all he heard before he felt a fist in his stomach. He felt it but refused to fall. He wouldn't take this anymore. He would stand up for himself and show Yooncheol he couldn't just walk all over him. With a roar, he barreled into Yooncheol, barely registering Hyuk in the background yelling while the other boys held him back. He felt the other boys fists connecting with his flesh but was equally determined to do as much damage as was done to him. He would not back down.  He didn't see the fist coming that connected to the side of his face, making his eyes swim. He staggered backwards, unable to protect himself from the flurry of fists that railed on him. He could distantly hear his name being yelled, it sounded like Taekwoon and the rest of his friends, but he couldn't even focus on it. All he felt now was pain.

"You think you can stand up to me you little ?! Think you can defy me?!" Yooncheol yelled, not even realizing how much damage he was doing in his rage.

"Stop!" Hyuk yelled, struggling against his captors, trying so hard to help Hakyeon. "You're hurting him! Stop it! Taekwoon! Wonshik! Help! Someone help!"

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                It was Hyuk's yelling that spurred Taekwoon to run from the woods, the others not far behind him. The younger boy sounded downright terrified screaming like he was. Hyuk was supposed to be with Hakyeon and the thought of what could cause Hyuk to scream like that terrified him. Taekwoon knew he should have made Hakyeon come with him but felt it was ok after seeing Yooncheol head into the woods with his friends. He should have never left Hakyeon alone. He damn near stopped in his tracks when he reached the edge of the woods, his heart actually feeling like it did stop. No. Please no. He sprinted towards the cliff, and could do nothing as he watched Yooncheol back Hakyeon closer and closer to the edge.

"Stop! No! Don't! Leave him alone! Yooncheol!!" He screamed, voice louder than even he thought he could scream. He would never make it in time, no matter how fast he ran. He could do nothing as he watched Yooncheol land one final punch. Could do nothing as he watched his best friend disappear into the void of open air, over the edge. Could only stare as Hakyeon's eyes locked with his, and his arm came up  as if to reach for Taekwoon, and then he was gone. "HAKYEON!!"

I'm alive!! Woot! XD lol sorry it took so long for an update. Life and all that. In any case, I really hope you liked it. Try not to hate me too much! Probably 3 or 4 more chapters....well....bye! Oh and comment and subscribe if you want! I love comments. (They make you feel important!)