"You know, for what I thought would be a waste of time. This isn't actually half bad." Jonghyun said as he, Hyoli, Minho, Onew, Taemin and I sat around the campfire that we had started now that the sun had set and the darkness of the night had taken over the sky.

 

Umma had gone to sleep in her tent that she would be sharing with Hyoli for the night and we could now hear the sound of her soft snoring.

 

"It would probably be better if it were summer and not the middle of winter though." Taemin pointed out as he wrapped his sleeping bag around him tighter as he sat beside Hyoli who looked at him with a soft smile on her face.

 

For a girl, she was dealing with the cold a lot better than the rest of us. 

 

I had never been a fan of the cold and the guys probably shared the same opinion as me now that they were spending a night in this forest with nothing but their sleeping bags to keep them warm.

 

"If you get too cold, you could always take your clothes off and hug one of us." Hyoli suddenly spoke up, probably blowing all of our minds from that simple sentence.

 

Just from the sight of Jonghyun's jaw hanging slack and Minho's eyes that were now wide as saucers, I could see that the two were struggling to understand if she was joking or not.

 

After a few seconds of silence, Hyoli eventually noticed our awkward and shocked expression before elaborating.

 

"Come on! I can't be the only one who knows that body heat is the most effective way to stay warm. It's a fact."

 

"She's actually being serious." I heard Minho mutter as Jonghyun nodded his head slowly, his jaw still hanging down.

 

"If that's the case then I want to share Hyoli's body heat." Taemin smirked, spreading his arms out towards Hyoli to get hit upside the head by Onew who was shaking his head in dismay.

 

"And it's this type of behavior that I will not stand for on Monday."

 

"That right, you should know better Taemn. Don't hit on your sister-in-law... Wait, What did you say Hyung?" Jonghyun questioned, looking slightly pissed off at Taemin's attempt to get closer to Hyoli but also confused as to what Onew was talking about.

 

I have to admit though, I was slightly confused myself.

 

"What are you talking about Hyung? You can't come on the camping  trip with us. I don't know if you've realized this but you kind of don't attend school anymore. Remember, you graduated. We threw that party for you. You ate all them cupcakes that Key baked only to throw them back up the next morning?" Taemin said, probably trying to jog Onew's memory of that unforgettable night.

 

"Not one of your best moments, I've got to say." I pointed out as I folded my arm and crossed my legs with an eyebrow raised at my oldest Hyung.

 

Onew rolled his eyes and turned to Taemin to respond to him, choosing to ignore what I had said completely.

 

"I know I don't attend school anymore. I'll be attending the trip as a chaperone. After that night that I chaperoned you guys in the cemetery, the school called and asked if I was interested in being a chaperone for this camping trip on Monday. Apparently I surpassed all the teachers expectations when all of their students returned to school completely unharmed after the test of courage that following Monday." Onew explained to the 5 of us as we stared at him in awe.

 

It was silent once again for a few minutes until Jonghyun spoke up, breaking the silence.

 

"So you're going on the camping trip? Voluntarily?"

 

"Out of the goodness of my own heart, yes." Onew beamed with pride.

 

"You're crazy."Minho stated as we all nodded in agreement.

 

What sort of person in their right mind would actually choose to go camping in a freaking forest in the middle of winter, where all electronic devices are prohibited, to watch over out-of-control teenagers as they try to get through those 48 hours without giving into the urge of killing someone?

 

Onew had to know that being a chaperone on this trip wasn't going to be a walk in the park.

 

People in our generation get cranky when they're separated from their phones, imagine what they'll be like being disconnected from everything except the stupid wildlife which I think I speak for everyone when I say, pretty much .

 

"But you guys will be gone over night and I get lonely by myself. This way, I won't be separated from you all and we can have a nice camping trip, we can collect wood together, pitch up tents together..." Onew explained before Minho cut him off.

 

"Pretty much everything we did today?"

 

Onew scowled at Minho for his bored tone of voice before heaving out a sigh and shrugging his shoulders.

 

"I just thought it would be a nice experience for all of us. I know we're still as close as we always have been but I sometimes feel disconnected from you guys because I'm the only one who doesn't attending school anymore. I miss out on what happens to you guys during the day" Onew pouted as Minho nudged me slightly, before leaning in closer to whisper "We really need to find Hyung a girlfriend."

 

I nodded in agreement to that.

 

-

 

-

 

-

 

Waking up the next morning to the sound of my Umma's shrill voice was not a pleasant experience.

 

Of course, I had completely forgotten that she was heading back to Japan to rejoin my Appa on his never ending business trip.

 

It took me until then to realize that that was probably the reason as to why she had turned in so early the night before.

 

She obviously knew that she would need to store a lot of energy to drag her six younger campers out of bed to put down their tents and make their way home.

 

It was obvious by everyone's face that they were feeling annoyance for the woman that give me life, and to be honest, I was probably looking the same way during that moment in time.

 

I was almost happy to see her off at the airport later that day after helping her pack through out the day as well as having her sign my permission slip for the camping trip, although she seemed rather reluctant to leave me from how hard she hugged me as we stood outside her departure gate.

 

She had said her goodbyes to me, like usual with a small glint in her eyes that told me she would be thinking of me while away from home everyday.

 

It was times like that, that I sometimes thought it would be better if she didn't return home to visit me since it always seemed to be harder on her than myself when the time came for her to leave once again.

 

I reassured her that I would be fine and with that, I watched her walk through her departure gate with her carry-on bag hanging from her shoulder.

 

The next day, I dragged myself to school despite the urge I had just to call in sick to avoid going on this trip.

 

I would have as well if I didn't know my friends so well.

 

There was no way they would allow me to leave them to suffer alone in the wild for two whole days.

 

One good thing about this trip however was that we didn't have to wear our school uniforms.

 

For the first day of our trip, I had decided to wear some blue denim jean with a white graphic t-shrit accompanied with a black faux leather jacket over it. 

 

"You look like crap." Was the first thing Jonghyun said to me upon approaching them after handing my permission slip to Onew who was organizing all of the paper work along with the other chaperones and teachers. 

 

Our class appeared to be standing with the rest of the classes in our grade as we waited for the buses to arrive to take us to our destination.

 

"Thanks, right back at you." I smiled sarcastically at my best friend who rolled his eyes before indicating to Minho.

 

"I'm actually glad you're finally here. Minho is acting really strange."

 

I looked to Minho who seemed to be stood talking to Taemin with a smile on his face while Taemin looked less than interested and appeared to be trying to block Minho's voice out while closing his eyes.

 

I guess Taemin still hadn't fully woken up yet.

 

"He seems fine to me." I shrugged my shoulders as Jonghyun shook his head in reply to my statement.

 

"I know. He's too fine. For someone who didn't want to go on this camping trip, he's awefully happy. It's too early in the morning to be this cheery." Jonghyun exclaimed as I rolled my eyes, letting a laugh escape my lips.

 

"You're being over dramatic. Minho's acting normal. It's you that's acting weird. Minho's used to being up at this time, what with soccer practice and everything. It's us that aren't used to being here this early in the morning." I explained as Jonghyun heaved and sigh before turning to observe Minho and Taemin once again.

 

"I am not sitting next to him on the bus journey. I refuse" Jonghyun folded his arms stubbornly as I shrugged my shoulders.

 

Onew probably wouldn't have a problem sitting next to Minho after all.

 

"Morning" Came a familiar voice as I turned to face the direction I had heard her voice to find Hyoli stood beside me.

 

"Good Morning to you to. It's a good day for a school trip, isn't it?" Jonghyun asked, now facing Hyoli with a beaming smile spread across his lips.

 

I resisted the urge the roll my eyes at him.

 

He had gone from dramatic to just plain creepy.

 

The effect that Hyoli unintentionally had on him was scary sometimes.

 

"I guess... Do either of you know who I have to hand my permission slip to?" She questioned, holding up the slip of paper between her index and middle fingers.

 

"Onew's by the other chaperones over there." I said pointing in the direction I had last seen Onew.

 

"You can just give it to him." I said as Hyoli smiled and nodded her head before turning to make her way over to Onew so she could hand her permission slip into him.

 

Both Jonghyun and I watched her back as she walked away before Jonghyun turned to me with a small smile playing on his lips.

 

"What?" I questioned him curiously, slightly worried as to why he was suddenly smiling for no particular reason.

 

"I've decided something." He spoke up, as I looked to him while still wearing a questioning gaze.

 

I motioned for him to carry on speaking.

 

"I know Hyoli already knows how I feel about her but she's never heard it come from me before. I figured that she might not take my feelings for her seriously if I never confess to her myself. I know we're only half way through curing her phobias but I was thinking that tonight, I might just confess to her in person, so she knows that I'm still waiting on her and that I'll continue to wait until she's completely over her phobias." Jonghyun said, smiling softly, probably just thinking about the moment he would express to Hyoli how much she actually means to him.

 

"For real?" I questioned, almost in shock from Jonghyun's revelation and actual bravery for what he was planning to do.

 

"Well yeah, I know you're doing your best in helping her overcome her fears so she'll give me a chance but I also have to put some work into it as well. Otherwise she'll never take me seriously." Jonghyun shrugged his shoulders as I nodded my head slowly in understanding.

 

This was Jonghyun being serious.

 

I knew he was serious about Hyoli before but it had never seemed so real to me as it did right now.

 

And why, on some weird level, was I hoping that Jonghyun wouldn't find the chance to have this conversation with Hyoli tonight?