True Beauty: An Alternate Universe

Chapter Fourteen

Soojin:

When we walked through the gates we saw everyone congregated on the oval and wheeled our bags over. The buses were parked nearby and teachers stood together, looking exhausted sipping on coffees. "Kang Soo!" Sooah ran up to me and hugged my arm, dragging me to where the rest of the group was. Suho and I placed our bags down and stood talking to everyone else. After twenty minutes the teachers addressed the cohort and discussed the rules and expectations for the camp. When they started loading the bags onto the trailers Jookyung came running with a plastic bag full of snacks in her hand. She passed them around to everyone and the students started getting onto the buses. Suho went in front of me and Jookyung stood behind me. We walked up the steps and started scanning for seats. Suho sat down and beckoned me to come over. I smiled and sat down next to him. As I did I looked at Jookyung who had a mildly disappointed look on her face but sat down with Sooah in the seats next to us.

Once everyone was on the bus started moving. The air buzzed with chatter and laughter as everyone was excited for the next three days of no school. I scrolled on my phone for a while before pulling out the snacks I packed. I decided to go for a bag of spicy chips. "Oooh can I have some?" Sooah said. I smiled and reached over to pass her the bag. She took a few for her a Jookyung then handed me one of her gummy packets. "What about me Kang?" Suho asked. I turned to him and pretended to think about, shaking my head. He scoffed jokingly and tried to snatch the bag. "Aww look at them quarrel!" Sooah exclaimed. Jookyung let out a weak laugh and I spotted Taehoon peeking from the seat in front of us. "What are you looking at?" I said, hitting the chair playfully. I eventually handed Suho the bag of chips and we ate them together. "Do you want to watch a drama? I have one downloaded on my phone," he asked. I nodded and he handed me an earphone.

He pulled out his phone and leaned in closer so I could see. I could feel the warmth radiating off of him and I forced myself not to smile. We watched for a while and laughed together at certain scenes, eating the snacks along with it. After a few episodes my eyes started to get tired. Suho must have noticed because he paused the show and took the earphones out. "You should get some rest, there is still a long way to go," he said. I nodded and dug through my bag for my neck pillow, but it was no where in sight. "I must have left my neck pillow at home!" I said, placing the bag back under the seat. "Just use my shoulder it'll be okay," Suho replied. "Are you crazy? People will ask questions you know? Especially since Sooah's right next to us," I said in a rushed whisper. He leaned towards my ear, making sure I was the only one able to hear what he was saying, "People can question and stare all they want, I don't mind. We already sleep in the same bed, what difference would this make?" he smirked as he came back up.

I gasped, "Well no one has to know that do they?" I slapped his arm. "Fine," he said leaning back in his seat, "You can stay up and be exhausted for the rest of the day or wake up with a stiff neck." I sighed, "Fine, I'll do it," he sat back up and pushed my head gently so that it laid on his shoulder. He brushed the hair out of my face and I shut my eyes, "Sleep well Soojin," Suho said. "Yeah, yeah, just wake me up if we arrive alright?" I said, adjusting my body to a more comfortable position. "I know, I know," he replied chuckling. I slowly started blocking out the surrounding sounds, focusing only on my thoughts. I thought about how kind Suho had been these past few days, how much he cared for me even if I didn't need it. My mind hasn't been so clear in such a long time. No expectations for perfection. Suho has always been my safe place. For ten years he has been there by my side and I smile the most when I'm with him. Wait, do I like Suho? I shook that thought away, that can't be! Not my best friend. I erased the possibility from my mind, and let myself drift off.

Suho:

I watched as Soojin relaxed in her seat, drifting off into a deep sleep. I smiled gently, at her. I suddenly noticed the air conditioning had been cranked up and the bus started to get chilly. Students started putting on jackets or pulling out small blankets. I grabbed a jacket from my bag, making sure I didn't wake Soojin and I draped it over her like a blanket. I look up to see Sooah with her phone out, taking multiple pictures. She stopped as soon as I noticed her and looked away giggling. "Sooah, what are you doing?" I asked jokingly. "Oh nothing!" she replied, "What are you doing?" she asked, looking from Soojin and me. "She was tired and didn't have her neck pillow it's nothing," I said. "It was nothing huh? Sure..." she started typing frantically on her phone. I'm pretty sure I knew what she was doing as Taehoon and Seojun turned around and looked through the crack in the seats. I sighed and decided that I was going to get some rest too. I adjusted the jacket around Soojin and rested my head on top of her's. I held her waist, pulling her closer while using the jacket to conceal my arm.

Jookyung:

I was listening to music with my earphones in when Sooah started frantically tapping my arm. I took out an ear and turned to her, confused. She jerked her thumb towards Suho and Soojin who were in the seats next to us. I looked up and saw that Soojin had started sleeping on Suho's shoulder, and he didn't seem to be making any movements to stop this. I felt jealousy rising in me, my body red hot with anger. What happened next made my heart drop to my stomach. Suho had wrapped his jacket around Soojin to act like a blanket. Sooah silently squealed and started secretly taking photos, all giddy and smiling. She only stopped when Suho looked at her but then she proceeded to text the boys the photo. Taehoon and Seojun turned around and silently laughed with each other. I looked back at Suho, he was smiling down at Soojin, a smile so soft it could make any girl collapse. He adjusted his position and rested his head on top of hers, falling asleep peacefully. Sooah went back to taking photos and I popped my earphones back in. I wanted so bad to throw something at them to wake them up. I clenched my sleeve and took deep breathes while doing so.

Soojin:

When I opened my eyes I felt like I took the longest nap in history. I was still on Suho's shoulder and at this point he was also asleep. His head laid on mine and an arm wrapped delicately around my waist, all concealed under a jacket. I so badly wanted to fall back asleep but the bus came to a stop and the teacher stood up to talk to the students. I gently shook Suho awake and gave his jacket back. After the teacher's briefing we all started filing out of the bus, collecting our bags from the trailer. We all grouped off with the people we wanted in our cabins. My group had me, Sooah, Jookyung and Sihyun. We ran towards one of the cabins and Sooah flung the door open, "Wow!" she gasped and walked inside. The cabin was extremely spacious with four single beds lined up on each corner. There was a table and chair beside each one. "We can do each other's hair and makeup!" Sooah said, jumping up and down. I smiled at her excitement and looked towards the others.

Jookyung looked a little nervous when Sooah mentioned makeup but sat down on the floor and started unpacking. Everyone followed and opened up their suitcases. We placed sheets, blankets and pillows on the beds, placed our products on the tables and started folding our clothes neatly. "I'm so excited for this trip! I wonder what activities they have planned," Sooah said. "I'm excited too! I've never slept away from home before," Jookyung replied. Sooah looked at me, "Soojin's probably used to this, she's always going on glamorous get aways," she said giggling. "I haven't gone camping in a long time Sooah, it's probably been a few years now," I replied. "Oh yeah? Who did you go with?" "Family." "Who's family?" she gave me a devious look. I playfully rolled my eyes, she was not going to give up, "Fine, I went with Suho's family," I smiled to myself. Sooah and Sihyun squealed, "It must have been so romantic!" Sihyun said. "Please, we were young and just friends," I got up to place a load of clothes into the drawers under the bed.

"You and Suho must have been close," Jookyung said weakly. "Speaking of Suho," Sooah said, "Someone told me that they saw a girl confess to Suho with a box of chocolates. But, she got rejected and he told her he already liked someone else!" she giggled then looked towards me, "Do you think it's you? Kang Soojin?" Sihyun gasped and started screaming from excitement. I scoffed, "He probably made it up to defuse the situation you know how he is, had to get creative with the amount of people asking him out. Don't bring me into the situation Sooah," I smiled. "Come on Soojin. You're telling me for the ten years you guys have been friends you never had any feelings for Suho? I find that hard to believe. The entire school thought you guys were a couple since the start of high school," Sooah huffed. "Are those the same people who call me a goddess? Just drop it Sooah it's all just silly rumours," I laughed. "You have to admit Soojin, Sooah's got a point," Sihyun said, "I mean lately his entire personality changed. He buys you food, new uniform, takes care of your injuries and he's touchy with you, like remember you two on the bus?" she asked.

I shook my head, "Suho's just nice it's nothing really," I replied turning back to the drawers. Even though I spoke those words, a part of me didn't want to believe it. "Think what you want but seriously what was that on the bus?" Sooah said, whipping out her phone. She shoved the phone in my face and swiped. It was all photos of me and Suho sleeping on the bus plus one video which showed Suho wrapping the jacket around me. I tried to grab the phone but Sooah snatched it away. "Sooah delete that it was nothing!" I said trying hard not to blush. "You're getting flustered you are so cute!" she said, "I won't be deleting it any time soon, it's just for, research purposes." "Well whatever you are trying to do with your, uh, research, you won't find anything because there is absolutely nothing going on with me and Suho," I replied, warmth spreading to my cheeks as a turned away. "She's getting so shy!" Sihyun squealed. "You guys are insufferable," I said jokingly and laughed with them. When we finished the teachers started calling for the students to come outside for the first activity. We all left the cabin and went towards the main area.