Chapter 1 – Astray

"Hey, did you see what happened just now?"

"When you said hi to that cute girl?"

"Yeah, and she didn't even say anything back. Stuck-up."

"Dude, you should probably lower your voice. You know she's sitting behind us right?"

"Oh crap, seriously?"

One of the boys in front of Solbin turned around and peeked over the seat, accidentally making eye contact with her as she continued to stare unblinkingly at him.

The boy immediately whipped around and sank down in his seat as far as he possibly could, "Crap, crap, crap! Dude, why didn't you tell me earlier! She looks like she wants to freaking kill me now!"

The two boys continued to argue back and forth in hushed whispers while Solbin sat quietly in her seat, feeling absolutely guilty about the entire situation. She didn't mean to give them the impression that she was 'stuck-up'. She was just too painfully shy to respond and so shocked at having made eye contact with the boy that her mind completely blanked out - resulting in a stare that unintentionally scared him.

"Sorry," mumbled Solbin under her breath, knowing that the two boys weren't going to hear her anyways, but she couldn't stop those words from slipping from her lips since she was used to saying it often.

Peering out of the window, her eyes gazed across the vast, thick forest that the bus was driving past in order to reach Camp Laboum. She sat alone in her seat because her two closest friends, Yulhee and Haein, had been assigned to a different bus, and like the two boys who sat in front of her, many others saw her as unapproachable.

She honestly would have preferred to stay home during the summer and not go to a performing arts camp where she would inevitably be forced to socialize, but Haein and Yulhee were very insistent and she quotes Haein in this, "Stop being so scary and open up so you can make new friends, this camp is the most perfect thing ever and the best part is we can all go together!"

The two then proceeded to shove the paper with her name on it for camp registration as Yulhee squealed, "We already registered all three of us, so you have to go now no matter what!"

Solbin sighed again as she remembered the reason for her current predicament, although she didn't get the chance to dwell on it for long because the bus was finally pulling up to the gates of the camp. She felt as though she were entering an inescapable prison as the large metal doors swung open to accept the bus. At least the camp seemed rather nice and peaceful.

As she exited the bus with all her belongings in hand, a fluffball of pastel pink suddenly tackled her into an embrace as it squeaked, "Solbin! We're finally here! Isn't it great!?"

The pink fluffball was forcibly removed from its attachment to Solbin as Yulhee approached the two and pulled her girlfriend off, "Can't you go around for five seconds without tackling Solbin randomly, Haein? I swear, sometimes I think you forget we're dating."

"Nooooo, I just went a whole bus ride without Solbin, which is more than five seconds, so this is justified!" replied Haein as she returned to clinging onto Solbin, "Soooo, did you make any new friends on your little bus ride?"

Yulhee and Haein waited for a response with hopeful expectation gleaming in their eyes as the latter gave them a small tentative smile, "Um, I ended up scaring people…"

"…..again?" Yulhee and Haein broke into a fit of laughter for a moment while Solbin watched her friends with much less amusement. This was an inside joke between the three of them because Solbin actually scared people quite often with her hostile expressions and unsettling silence.

"Awwww it’s okay! You can't help that you have the tendency to scare people off with your awkwardness," comforted Haein although the snickering made Solbin unsure if her friend was just still teasing her. 

"Yeah, this camp should give you tons of opportunities to get used to being around people and maybe even make new friends! Anyways let's go check in, I heard that the advisors have to take us all on tour of the camp grounds. Then we'll meet the counselors in charge of our cabins," Yulhee explained before she began ushering Haein and Solbin towards the main building in a rush since she didn't want to wait in line forever.

After checking in and meeting their assigned advisors, they were told that their cabin groups were assembled according to their answers to the camp registration form. Since Haein had filled out their forms for them, their answers were quite similar and offered up a chance that they would be placed in the same cabin. For now, they were stuck in a pretty large group with about twenty other kids who were all excited to get the tour started.

Solbin walked beside Haein and Yulhee, who were closer to the back of the group while their advisor went on and on about the camp's history and all the buildings. The two were chatting happily while Solbin listened and occasionally added her own input whenever she was asked to join the conversation as well. At the moment, she was too distracted by what was really on her mind first and foremost: finding a bathroom.

She drank far too much water on the bus out of nervousness and found it really difficult to contain it for any longer so when the group entered the dining cabin, Solbin's eye immediately caught on to the sign for the bathroom door.

'I'll be really quick and come back out,' she thought as she practically ran for the door.

However, when Solbin returned after finishing her business, she realized that the dining hall was now completely deserted. Solbin paled, her heartbeat picking up speed. Where did everyone go? Did they even realize she was gone?

She began panicking slightly since she still wasn't all that familiar with the camp yet, but she just had to go and get herself lost. Solbin headed towards the dining hall exit as quickly as her legs could carry her, her only thought in mind being her way back to the group - but that thought evaporated the second she opened the door to come face-to-face with another girl.

The girl was clearly a bit shorter than her by about three inches but Solbin knew the girl worked for the camp because she wore a nametag that said 'Yujeong' on it and a shirt with 'Camp Laboum Counselor' printed on it. She had long, pretty blond hair that fell onto her shoulders and cute round eyes that radiated an impression of innocence. As Solbin preoccupied herself with studying the counselor's features, she soon realized that Yujeong was staring at her with wide eyes and a completely shocked expression. She probably wasn't expecting to find anyone here at the empty dining hall, but here Solbin was, right in front of her.

Solbin wanted to shrink away again and run back to the bathroom to hide until either Haein or Yulhee went to find her like they always did when she strayed off. 'Oh no, I scared her too! I bet my face looked weird and panicky when she saw me!'

Opening but feeling the words trapped in , Solbin trained her gaze at her feet as she tried her best to say something to Yujeong. Unfortunately, it only emerged as a barely audible whisper, "I-I'm sor-sorry…"

Solbin looked up slowly, expecting to receive a horrified reaction from Yujeong, but instead found the other girl widely smiling at her. What? Well, this was a new reaction Solbin definitely wasn't prepared for. She stared at the counselor, amazed by the positive response.

"Hello! I'm Yujeong, a counselor here at Laboum! You must be a new camper! Welcome!" greeted Yujeong cheerfully, "Are you okay? You seem to be lost."

Solbin could only nod timidly in response since her mind was still reeling over the fact that this girl in front of her actually smiled and introduced herself, rather than cower away in terror.

"Oh? I guess you got separated from your group then. Hmmm," Yujeong's eyes landed on Solbin's nametag that the advisors gave out during the check-in, "Solbin… Oh! I know exactly where you're supposed to go! If you come with me I can show you the way to your cabin. I think the tours should be finishing up right around this time so you should be able to see your friends at the cabin too."

Solbin didn't even get the chance to respond before Yujeong exclaimed, "Let's go, I'll lead the way!" turning around and marching off, leaving Solbin to scurry after the shorter girl to where ever she was being lead.

"Solbin, what do you think of our camp so far?"

"...it's nice."

"Great! Why did you choose Laboum out of all the performing arts camps?"

"...singing."

"Oh, me too! Singing is one of my passions. Do you want to become a singer or an idol? I think you can become an idol, you certainly have the looks for it."

"Maybe."

Solbin was surprised that Yujeong could even hear her, much less understand what she was saying. They had just met but the older girl was already directing several questions her way. She didn't like situations where she would be forced to speak, and the anxiety of being separated from her friends wasn't helping either.

It wasn’t that long before Yujeong presented Solbin a rather nice, medium-sized cabin close by the camp's lake, "This is your cabi