Lei followed behind Juri and Beomgyu who were two of the only ones who held flashlights.
"It's not as scary once we get to where we usually do the fire." Beomgyu said quietly as he slowed down for her to catch up with him.
She didn't say anything as she tried to look around but it was too dark to see anything, besides what the flashlight was lighting up.
"There's nothing out here. Just snakes, and bears. And very horrible poisonous insects." Beomgyu joked as he flashed the flashlight on her for a quick second, making her close her eyes from the brightness.
"I'm not scared of things like that."
"What are you scared of then?"
"Men."
"Fair enough." He shrugged with a small smile.
"Even if they also count as insects sometimes." Juri intercepted with a small laugh.
"Am I an insect in your book?" Jun asked jokingly.
"You might be if you keep talking."
"Oh my, scary."
She playfully glared at him for a second and continued walking ahead.
"We're here." She informed as she saw the small clearing they would always come to.
It was a tradition for the counselors to do this every first night.
It had been this way for years. Ms. Sally was aware, as the counselors from past years did it as well, and so did she when she was younger.
Jun moved ahead to start helping set up the fire.
Lei watched as she had never seen a natural fire be set before.
"Isn't that hard to do?" She couldn't help but ask, making Jun turn to look at her with a small smile.
"It isn't if you do it enough times." He answered softly. "Do you want to help?"
Lei hesitated before she walked over to him.
"Just hold this, let me get some dry leaves."
"Okay." She said quietly as she watched him confidently walk into the forest as if there was nothing to fear.
"There's a bug on your shirt." Beomgyu informed making Lei quickly look at him.
"Well, get it off!"
He smiled in amusement as he stood behind her.
"Don't kill it."
"Why not?" He asked with a small chuckle.
"It's- just don't."
"Do you feel bad for it?"
"Just get it off."
Beomgyu softly patted the bug off her back.
"There. Now I can't tell if you like bugs or if you dislike bugs." He tilted his head making her look at him.
"I hate them."
"Then you're not going to like doing this, I think it's best if you watch." Jun laughed as he shook his hands off the bugs that were once crawling on the branch he was carrying.
"Yeah." She said softly.
Beomgyu took off his backpack and took out some matches, tossing them to Jun.
Jun set the fire as if it was the easiest thing, casually throwing branches and dry grass occasionally making the fire grow bigger.
Now they can see better, and the once shadowy forest was now showing its colors.
Beomgyu took out one of the bedsheets in his bag and spread it out on the ground.
Lei looked up at the star-filled sky and let out a small sigh.
It's pretty...First thing I'm enjoying since I got here...
Beomgyu sat down as he let out a breath.
"You're not going to sit?"
Lei looked away from the sky to look at Beomgyu, who raised his eyebrows slightly.
She sat down next to him as she brought her knees to her chest.
They were all quiet as they just looked at the fire for a few seconds.
"So, Lei, right?" Jun asked as he sat across from her.
"Yeah."
"How old are you?"
"20." She answered softly.
"You're younger than me too? You guys are making me feel old." Beomgyu shook his head making Jun chuckle.
"That's because you are."
"How old are you anyway?" Lei asked softly as she looked over at him.
"He's 21. I am too." Juri said as she took out her big flask and a bunch of cups.
"When's your birthday?" Lei questioned making Beomgyu look at her in slight surprise.
She was actually starting a conversation.
"March 13th, 2001."
"Then you're just older than me by two months. My birthday is on June 3rd." She said with a small chuckle.
Beomgyu stared at her for a second before he looked at the fire.
She looked at the fire as well as she leaned her head against her knees.
The conversations around her seemed far away as she felt her eyes close on their own. The soothing sound of the fire and far away crickets made her feel more relaxed than she should.
Lei opened her eyes as she felt something soft around her shoulders.
A blanket.
She looked around, seeing Beomgyu give her a small smile.
"You looked cold."
She felt her ears burn as she looked at him for a couple more seconds.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, Hawaii."
Lei rolled her eyes as she looked back at the fire making Beomgyu chuckle.
"Are you tired?" He asked quietly as he sat up in the same position she was in.
"Yeah."
"You didn't have to come."
"I didn't want to be rude. I mean- I was already rude but- whatever."
Beomgyu almost smiled as he shook his head in amusement.
She looked over at him as she laid her head against her knees.
He looked at her with a raise of his eyebrows, trying to make her smile, but only making her crack a little.
"You should've kept your blanket." She whispered as she saw goosebumps on his skin.
"No, it's fine." He shook his head but before he could refuse, she had already placed it on his lap.
He stared at it for a second, before he scooted closer to her.
Lei froze as she watched him.
He placed half of the blanket around her shoulder, and the other half around his own.
"It's big enough to share." He said softly with a nice smile.
She stared at him for another few seconds, before she looked up to the stars again.
"So, we're already doing this?" Eli suddenly said, making everyone look at him.
"What are you talking about- Oh." Juri said as she looked over at Lei and Beomgyu.
"I guess we are." Eli smirked slightly as he passed the cups down.
Beomgyu's eyes widened slightly as he shook his head.
"What are you even saying-"
They suddenly heard a ruffle coming from behind Beomgyu making them turn to look in a heartbeat.
"What was that?" Juri asked quietly as she continued to stare at the spot.
"I don't know." Eli said as he furrowed his eyebrows.
Lei hadn't noticed what they were talking about, as her head was already against her knees again and her eyes were closed.
******
Lei seemed to be a pretty deep sleeper, and she wouldn't wake up with a simple shake of her shoulder.
So Beomgyu took it upon himself to carry Lei on his back as they all made their way back to the campsite.
It was almost funny how they liked to joke about bears and snakes, and as soon as they heard a weird sound they decided to end the night there.
It could only be around 1am.
"Beomgyu, you're pretty quick. You just met her." Eli continued to tease quietly as he held Beomgyu's bag.
Beomgyu rolled his eyes as he decided not to say anything.
Lei let out a small sigh against his neck, making goosebumps rise on his skin as he walked up the steps to her cabin.
Juri opened the door for him, trying to avoid the squeaky sound of the screen door.
Beomgyu gestured for the blankets to be moved off making Juri roll her eyes and do it.
He placed her down as gently as he could, before placing her blankets up to her shoulders.
"She's less scary when she's sleeping." He joked quietly as he shook his head. "Goodnight, Hawaii."
"Gyu?"
Beomgyu turned his head to see one of the little girls with her head lifted off her pillow.
"Hey Sara." He whispered softly as he gave her a soft smile.
"I thought boys weren't allowed in here."
Beomgyu searched for the right words as his eyes glanced back and forth.
"Boys aren't allowed. I'm here because... I'm not really here. It's a dream." He whispered as he lifted his jazz hands, making the little girl giggle quietly.
"Okay."
"Go to sleep Sara, you've got a long day ahead of you." He said softly as he gave Lei one last glance and walked outside where Eli was waiting for him.
"You took awfully long in there." Eli whispered making Beomgyu push him.
Eli laughed quietly as they made their way to their cabins.
Lei opened her eyes softly as she turned on her side to look out the window, watching Beomgyu walk inside a cabin a few doors down as he playfully waved at Eli.
He's sweet.
She was feeling a little bad for being a bitch to him.
******
"Lei! Lei!"
Lei opened her eyes to see her sister in front of her.
"You will not believe what we saw."
"What did you see Naya? What time is it anyway?" She asked groggily, sitting up on the bed.
She squinted at the sunlight as she looked around at the halfway empty room.
Juri still laid in her bed with her head covered with a blanket.
"Weren't we supposed to be awake?" Lei said softly as she took the blanket off her feet.
"We can sleep in on the first day. Something about the counselors needing rest, that's what Ms. Sally says." Hani informed as she nodded her head.
"Oh."
"Are you not going to let me tell you what we saw?"
"What did you see Naya?"
"Counselor Beomgyu was shirtless this morning." Naya smirked as she shook her head.
Lei furrowed her eyebrows at what her little sister was saying.
"And that's interesting why?"
"Are you insane Lei? He's the hottest guy in the entire camp."
"He's alright." She lied as she looked down at her hands.
"You're crazy."
"How did you even see him shirtless anyway?"
"He went out to drink water this morning and he forgot to wear a shirt." Hani giggled as she recalled the event. "He was too tired to notice until someone pointed it out and he ran back to his cabin."
"It was so funny." Naya laughed softly.
"We saw something else that is less entertaining than that, though."
Lei furrowed her eyebrows as she waited for one of them to elaborate.
"There was a dead rat in front of Ms. Sally's office." Naya said as she scrunched up her nose in disgust.
"She said it was probably an animal trying to prove his worth or whatever, some weird thing like that."
"Anyway, I came here so we can go have breakfast together. They're serving waffles."
*****
Lei tied her hair back as she walked into the dining hall. There were barely any kids there as most had chosen to sleep in longer.
Her eyes quickly spotted a long mop of hair at a table with a bunch of kids surrounding him.
She almost chuckled as she watched him playfully steal scrambled eggs from the boy next to him.
"No, we don't play with food Theo." He giggled as the little boy took some scrambled eggs from his plate. "No!"
"He's such a child." Ms. Sally said as she walked past Lei with a raise of her eyebrows towards her.
Lei looked at her in confusion but she just smirked and continued walking ahead.
Did she see anything?