“Ah, ah, Hyejin, Wheein just texted me and says there’s a new counselor joining us this year,” Byulyi showed her friend the text, only to get a sigh in response.

“Byul, if you don’t want us to go flying off the face of this mountain, please stop trying to show me texts from my girlfriend.”

Byulyi shyly tucked her phone back into her backpack and settled for staring out the window. “Sorry Hyejin, I’m just bored without the radio.”

“I told you to bring the aux cord so we could listen to music.”

“I meant to, I just… forgot?”

“Byul, you stayed up until an hour before we had to leave to get on the road for camp to start packing because you spent the last month and a half binge watching dramas.”

“Which is why it’s perfectly reasonable for me to have forgot the aux cord!”

Hyejin tried to throw a disdainful glower in the direction of her best friend, but she ended up giggling instead. “Ah, I’m not ever surprised anymore. Were the dramas at least decent?”

“Eeeeeehhh, not so much. Although there was one with lesbians, which I got really excited over.”

At this, Hyejin smirked at Byulyi. “You don’t need to watch dramas to see dramatic lesbians, Byul.”

“Yeah, I know,” Byulyi grinned back at Hyejin, who had returned to watching the winding mountain road. “I could just hang out with you and Wheein.”

Hyejin snorted. “Or you could take a peek in a mirror.”

Byulyi laughed and shrugged. “Very true. But I am a single lesbian floating in the sea of life; alone, solidary, quiet. You and Wheein provide enough romantic comedy in one day to fill an entire drama.”

“Moon Byul Yi, you are the least quiet person I know, shut up.” Hyejin slowed their car down and turned off of the main road and onto one that led into the thicket of trees. Despite being in the middle of a playful argument, both girls grew quiet with excitement. Hyejin and Byulyi had been attending this camp one week every summer since Byulyi was eight and Hyejin was five. There had been an excess of campers to sign up that year, and so the two girls were forced to share a bed. They had become inseparable as the years went on. Four years ago, Byulyi had turned 18 and became a counselor, watching over the girls that were the same age as she and Hyejin had been when they had first met. Counselor Byulyi did a bit of Camper Hyejin teasing that year.

But last year, Hyejin had turned 18 and joined the counselor team, met fellow counselor Wheein, and became so infatuated that they began dating before the week of camp had even come to an end. So the Hyejin and Byulyi camp duo had become a camp trio, welcoming a new friend and girlfriend into their tight circle.

Byulyi sighed. There were lots of good memories at this camp, and she was always itching to get back. She knew Hyejin felt the same way.

Soon enough, they pulled into the parking lot in front of the mess hall/camp sign in, greeted by a smiling Wheein. Byulyi chuckled as she watched Wheein open Hyejin’s car door and pull her out into a big hug.

“Alright you two, leave room for Jesus,” Byulyi called as she stepped out, making her way to the trunk to grab her bags. “It’s only been a week since you last saw each other.”

“And it’s been a week and a half since I saw you, Moonie!!” Wheein’s arms were suddenly around Byulyi’s waist, pulling her into a tight, almost crushing embrace.

“Oh my god,” Byulyi gasped, laughing. “I can’t breathe Wheein, go back to your girlfriend!”

The three girls laughed together, enjoying the positive atmosphere the camp had. Wheein and Hyejin ducked into the trunk to get Hyejin’s bags out while Byulyi took a nice long look around. The camp had stayed frozen in time, it had seemed. The waterfall on the mountain she had hiked to every summer for the past decade was still just barely visible from the road. The cabins were still peeking out around the mess hall, with the sun glinting off of the rippling lake behind them. The outdoor amphitheater was still across the clearing behind the mess hall, with the sports field behind a small swath of trees beside the amphitheater. She had this place mapped out mentally since her second year attending.

Her eyes slid to observe the people milling about, carrying luggage from cars into cabins, kids running around playing, teenagers sitting at the picnic table in front of the mess hall. Some adults, probably parents or the older counselors and other staff, had gathered, glasses of water and lemonade clutched casually as they spoke easily, a hearty laugh escaping their group every now and again.

This place was home for Byulyi. No place was as inviting or familiar to her, not even her own house.

Everything was the-

“H-hey, Wheein?” Byulyi stammered, her eyes fixed on something.

“Yeah, Moonie,” Wheein asked brightly, popping out of the trunk where she and Hyejin had ignored gathering luggage in favor of kissing.

“I-is that the uh… the new? The new c-counselor?” Byulyi was at a loss for words. Wheein cocked her head in confusion and followed Byulyi’s gaze. Followed it all the way to Yongsun. Wheein grinned.

“Yep!”

“She’s uh,” Byulyi gulped. “She’s uh, really pretty.”

At this point, Hyejin joined them outside of the trunk and blinked, looking over to where her girlfriend and best friend were staring. Then she looked back at Byulyi, then at the new counselor. A grin, equal to Wheein’s, spread across her face.

“Moonie has a cru-ush!” The two girls sang in unison.

“Shut up, I do not!” Byulyi’s hands shot up to cover her cheeks where a blush was forming. “And don’t the two of you know to show respect to your elders!?”

Hyejin and Wheein giggled, ignoring her chastisement. Byulyi huffed and grabbed her bags, stomping to Cabin 5 where she had been assigned.

Stepping inside the cabin, Byulyi immediately remembered the only thing she hated about camp.

She was counseling the 12 and 13 year old girls.

With a groan, Byulyi looked over to the counselor bunk bed which was situated in the front room of the cabin, away from the rest of the girls so as to give them their necessary “privacy”. Her co-counselor had already gotten set up on the bottom bunk, with a cute orange and yellow bed spread with little cartoon suns dotting the blanket and pillow. Byulyi hoped her co-counselor was as cute as her sheets. Last year she had been stuck with a parent as a co-counselor. That week had been spent with lots of snoring and the occasional rude remark about how Byulyi had treated the woman’s daughter, despite the girl being a brat who was mean to the other girls. Hopefully this year was someone more fun, or at least nicer.

She hoped it was Yongsun.

Embarrassed to have even thought of the girl, Byulyi hurriedly scaled the bunk bed, pulling her bedding up to the top with her. She brought out her blue sheets with the puppy paw prints on them and smiled. She and her co-counselor had equally cute sheets. The girls would be proud to have such cute counselors.

Byulyi set her pillow and thicker blanket to the side and started the usual wrestle with the fitted sheet, accomplishing only one corner at a time before it popped back off, the elastic uncooperative.

After at least 6 attempts at the same corner, Byulyi growled, vowing to make it stay this time. Carefully, she lifted the edge of the mattress, acting as though this was a mission and she was a spy. She pretended to be one of the girls from the latest AOA music video, leaning back on her knees and moving carefully.

Suddenly a hand touched her own, softly. Byulyi snapped out of her fantasy, turning to look at the person touching her hand, expecting to see one of the girls.

As she realized who the hand belonged to, the elastic snapped back, leaving her no better off than earlier.

“Hi! Want some help?” Yongsun giggled.

Byulyi blinked rapidly and sat up straight, sitting on her calves. In her rush to right herself, she hit her head on the dangerously low ceiling and cursed, rubbing the back of her head.

Oh my god, she thought. Byulyi, there’s a reason you’re single, and this is it.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to scare you! Are you okay, is your head hurt?” Yongsun’s eyes went wide and she reached up, as though hoping to assist by touching, though she was unable to reach.

“Yeah, I have a major concussion but I think I’ll live,” Byulyi smiled shyly down at Yongsun, still rubbing the back of her head.

“Oh,” Yongsun laughed nervously. “That’s good. I wouldn’t want to be responsible for the death of my co-counselor on the first day.”

“Co-counselor?!” Byulyi sat back up, hitting her head on the ceiling again. She let out a low groan and fell back onto the mattress, headfirst. She was mortified. Not only was this girl incredibly cute, but she had embarrassed herself twice in front of her, and she would probably be doomed to embarrassing herself in front of her all week.

Also the ceiling was very hard and her head was starting to pound.

She felt an indention on the mattress beside her and another hand rubbing the back of her head lightly.

“Wow, I am so sorry! I don’t mean to keep startling you!”

“N-no,” Byulyi sat back up, slowly this time, only to see that she and Yongsun were very close. “A-aha.”

“Here, let me help you with your sheets.” Yongsun grabbed the ends closest to her. “You grab that side. Maybe we can do it together!”

Do it together, Byulyi replayed the set of words over in her head and let out a choked, anxious laugh. She grabbed her corners of the bedsheet and set them around the corners of the mattress, thankful to come back up and see that none of the corners slipped back off.

“Thank you,” Byulyi extended a hand to Yongsun. “I’m Moon Byul Yi, by the way. I’m 22 and I still have trouble putting the sheets onto my mattress and no spatial reasoning whatsoever when it comes to ceilings.” Yongsun giggled and shook her hand.

“I’m Kim Yong Sun. I’m 23 and don’t worry,” She looked away shyly. “I had to get one of our girls to help me when I got here earlier this morning, and I bonked my head on the bottom part of your bunk a couple of times.” Byulyi’s chest was pounding harder than her head, and neither girl made any move to release the other’s hand.

It wasn’t until a group of girls ran into the room, calling the two co-counselors to go to the mess hall for dinner that they dropped hands. And even then, they gave each other warm smiles and walked out together.

“Oh, if you’d like to, my friends and I always eat at the picnic table in the front of the mess hall, closest to the road. You’re uh,” Byulyi struggled to find the words as a grin spread across Yongsun’s face. “You’re welcome to join us.”

“I’d like that very much.”

Byulyi nodded and ducked inside the mess hall, quickly grabbing a tray and heading outside to where Wheein and Hyejin were waiting, already digging into their food.

“Oh my god. Oooh, my god.” Byulyi wheezed as she sat beside Wheein, facing Hyejin. “You will never guess who my co-counselor is.”

“Oh, we can guess,” Hyejin chirped as the two shared devilish smirks.

“Oh, hello again Wheein!” Yongsun’s bright voice sounded from behind them.

“Oh, Solar, so nice of you to join us out here! Please, sit beside Moonie!” Wheein jumped up and scurried to sit beside Hyejin. Byulyi blinked up at Yongsun.

“Solar?”

“Ah yes, Wheein gave me the nickname this morning when we first me. I kinda like it actually!” Yongsun grinned and sat beside Byulyi. “And apparently you’re Moonie?”

“Well, the technical version is Moonbyul.” Hyejin explained. “But we call her Moonie because she’s just so dang cute.” Byulyi stuck her tongue out at Hyejin who returned the gesture.

“And this is Whasa!” Wheein introduced Hyejin by her given nickname, which caused Hyejin to blush. “We’re girlfriends!” Byulyi and Hyejin both froze and directed their attention to Yongsun. Times were becoming more progressive, but for Wheein to just blurt that out to someone they didn’t know? The rest of this week was dependent on how Yongsun reacted to the information that she was among a group of lesbians. Byulyi crossed her fingers under the table.

“Aww, you two are so cute!” Yongsun squealed, grinning. “What,” She asked, noticing the stares she was receiving from both Byulyi and Hyejin.

“We were just worried as to how you would take the information that you are surrounded by queer girls.” Byulyi said quietly.

“Oh, it’s fine of course! I’m queer as well!” Yongsun chirped proudly.

Byulyi’s eyes went wider than she thought was possible. Hyejin kicked her leg underneath the table, giving her a smirk.

“Well good,” Hyejin leaned across the table and gave Yongsun a genuine smile. “You’re among friends here, then.”

“Wheein, Whasa, Moonbyul, and Solar,” Wheein said proudly. “We’ve expanded again!”

“Hold on here, why are you first?”

“Because I’m the best.”

“Says who?”

“Says me!”

The four of them ate their dinner, chattering like this happily until the sun dipped behind the mountain and the camp bell rang. They all moved inside to put their trays away and usher their girls to the amphitheater, where they spent a solid two hours singing songs and listening to the head counselor go over basic rules. Wheein, Whasa, Moonbyul, and Solar sat together around the girls from their cabins and made quiet sarcastic remarks together about the rules, fighting to keep their giggles muted.

When the opening evening of camp came to a conclusion and the campers were sent off to bed, the team of four said their goodnights and parted ways, Moonbyul and Solar trailing behind their girls, making sure to count heads and assure that everyone was safely tucked away in their beds before turning off the lights in the main room and shutting the door that separated the girls from their counselors.

“So,” Moonbyul began lightheartedly as she made her way up to her bunk, flopping down and snuggling underneath her blanket as she watched Solar get ready for bed. “How was your first day at camp?”

“I think,” Solar grinned and leaned against the side of Moonbyul’s bed. “I’m gonna really enjoy this week.”

“I’m glad.”

“Goonight Moonbyul,” Solar said quietly, settling down underneath Moonbyul.

“Goodnight Solar.” And with that, Moonbyul reached down and flicked the light switch, encasing the room in moonlight pouring in from the “windows”, which were really just holes in the wood protected by mosquito netting.

Moonlight. Moon and Sun.

Moonbyul blushed and turned over to face the wall before drifting soundly to sleep.