Beomgyu calmly walked back into the music room and sat down next to Juri.
"That bathroom break was long." She glared at him and he gave her a small smile.
"I just went back to the cabin to get something."
Juri stared at him with furrowed eyebrows.
Normally Beomgyu would say something like 'What's it to you?!', so his reply is too normal.
"Are you sure you weren't just trying to get away from doing your job?"
Beomgyu shook his head as he looked at the kids.
Juri stared at him for another few seconds.
"Ms. Juri can you help me set up the strings?"
"Yeah."
Beomgyu continued to look at the kids as he waited for something interesting to happen, but all of a sudden, he spotted something he did not want to see.
"Hey! Hey! Stop!" Beomgyu warned as he stood up quickly, jogging over to the two kids.
One of the kids had his hands around the other's neck as he struggled to breath.
Beomgyu quickly pulled them apart as he looked at the strangler kid in slight shock.
He only glared up at him, and walked away, as the other cried.
"What happened?" Beomgyu asked as he kneeled down in front of the crying child.
"I don't know, we were just playing, and he grabbed me by the neck like that."
Beomgyu's heart jumped as he saw the kid looking at him through the window.
They stared at each other, before he walked away.
******
Juri walked into the cabin with a tired sigh and laid face up on her bed.
"What room did you get assigned to?" She asked Lei, who also laid on the bed staring up at the ceiling.
Lei didn't seem to hear her as she continued to look up at the ceiling.
Juri whistled to catch her attention but to no avail.
"Lei!"
"Huh?" She asked as she looked at her.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." Lei shook her head as she looked up at the ceiling again.
"I was asking what room you got."
"Learning room."
"Lucky."
"Yeah." She replied absentmindedly.
Lisa walked out of the bathroom with a towel on her head.
Juri gestured towards Lei with furrowed eyebrows, and Lisa only shrugged her shoulders.
"There's no soap left in the bathroom." Lisa informed and Juri nodded her head, standing up and leaving the cabin.
"Ms. Lei!!!!" Sara sang as she ran into the room, jumping onto Lei's bed unannounced. "I have news for you."
"Yeah, Sara?"
"I heard Mr. Gyu say he really, really likes you."
Lei took a small deep breath as she continued to look up at the ceiling.
"This time I really heard him say it. He was talking to someone on the phone in the office. Probably his mom. And he was talking about you a lot! Ask Ji Ah. Right Ji Ah?"
Ji Ah nodded her head as she walked towards her bed.
"She's not lying this time."
"I was never lying!"
"He was saying you're pretty, and that he really wants to be your boyfriend. I found it disgusting." Ji Ah shook her head with a scrunched-up nose.
"He said that he was sad that he likes you. I don't know why though. Did you say something to him?"
They all waited for Lei to say something about it, but she only stared at the ceiling as if it was a TV.
"I'm sure counselor Gyu wouldn't like you listening in on his conversations with his mother."
"I wasn't listening on purpose. I was waiting so that I could call daddy." Ji Ah said quietly.
"I was listening because I always follow Gyu around. He loves me." Sara bragged as she threw herself on her bed.
"Did you guys shower already?" Lisa asked.
"Yes." Ji Ah answered for everyone.
Juri nodded her head as she walked into the cabin and headed straight to the bathroom.
"Lights out. It's almost time for bed. If I come back from my shower and one of you is still awake, we'll have an issue."
"Yes Ms. Juri."
Everyone turned their lights off, except Lei.
"He was saying you're pretty, and that he really wants to be your boyfriend."
"He said that he was sad that he likes you. I don't know why though."
She didn't know why, but she felt tears fall down the sides of her face.
What are you doing crying for him? You met him almost two weeks ago. He's just a crush, you'll get over him eventually.
But he's so sweet. And he's funny, even if I don't want to admit it. He's a great person. And on top of that he's handsome.
He's... perfect.
When am I ever going to find someone like him? Never.
She covered her face as she sighed softly.
Why did it have to be here? And why did it have to be now? This is so annoying.
******
"Today, is the best day of the entire camp duration. At least in my opinion." Ms. Sally said as she stood on the box that she stood on the first day.
Everyone sat about as they yawned and waited for whatever she had planned to start.
Waking up extra early was never part of the kids' plans.
Lei contained a yawn of her own as she blankly stared at Ms. Sally.
"Today, is lake day!"
"What is a lake day?!" Someone yelled out.
"Oh come on, it's obvious. More water games!"
All of the kids cheered as they realized what she meant.
"But why so early?" Lisa complained quietly making Lei chuckle.
"We're not starting the games now. First, we're-"
Someone let out a scream of surprise making everyone look around.
Juri's face was soaked in water as her eyes were closed tightly.
Everyone started laughing as Juri wiped her face.
"The pranks have started." Lisa giggled as she looked around.
"Pranks?" Lei asked softly.
"Choi Beomgyu, I know it was you! Step out of where you are, right now!" Ms. Sally said, glaring at someone in the crowd.
Everyone looked to where Ms. Sally was looking, to see Beomgyu smiling sheepishly as he ran a hand through his hair.
"Sorry, Ms. Sally." Beomgyu said loudly making everyone let out laughs.
Ms. Sally shook her head watching Juri chase Beomgyu as he laughed loudly.
"Anyways, as I was saying, right now we're going to find little flags around the area. Each flag has numbers on them. There should be enough for everyone to get them. These numbers determine which is your weapon for battle."
"Battle?" Lei sighed as she shook her head.
Juri came up and sat next to Lei as she had a towel, wiping her face.
"I'm so gonna get back at him." Juri mumbled as she shook her head.
*****
Lei looked around for the flags on branches as she helped Sara reach them when she pointed them out.
"I have so many." Sara celebrated as she counted her flags.
"You're going to give some to the other kids, right?"
"Only if they're nice to me."
"Fair enough." Lei said quietly as she shrugged.
"There's one!" Sara pointed out as she smiled brightly.
Lei turned to where she was pointing and reached for the flag, but a hand made it there first.
"Here, you wouldn't have reached it."
Lei looked at Beomgyu, who gave her a small smile with the flag in his hand.
"Thank you." She said quietly as she gave him a small smile back, passing the flag to Sara, who only looked between them.
"Gyu! You should come with us!" Sara said excitedly as she clung to his arm.
Beomgyu looked at Lei for a second.
"I don't think that's a good idea. I have to go-"
"Please... You're taller than Lei, you can help us get the really high ones!" She begged as she placed her hands together.
Beomgyu looked at Lei again, who shrugged her shoulders.
"It's alright, right?"
Beomgyu nodded his head and looked at Sara who put her arms up for him to carry her.
"You're too big for me to carry you, Ms. Sara." He chuckled as he kneeled down so that she could get on his back.
"I saw you carry Ms. Lei. If you can carry Ms. Lei, you can carry me way easier." She said as she poked his cheek.
Beomgyu awkwardly chuckled as he looked at Lei, who was looking away from him.
There was only silence as they looked around at the trees, sometimes bumping into other kids on the way.
"How long is this search supposed to last?" Lei asked Beomgyu.
"Ten minutes."
"What if we don't find all the flags?" Sara asked worriedly.
"We will, Sara." Beomgyu smiled as he continued walking. "I think we have like three to four minutes left. Ms. Sally will tell us when it's two minutes to end."
"I'm tired, Gyu."
"Don't fall asleep on me, you did it last time and we couldn't get a lot of flags remember?"
Sara hummed as she laid her chin on his shoulder.
They quietly walked as they looked around everywhere they could.
"She never listens to me." Beomgyu shook his head in amusement as he felt her head already tilting and her body feeling heavier.
"She's six, what do you expect?" Lei said as she looked down at her feet. "We should bring her back to the center."
"No, it's fine. She wakes up when she hears the two-minute bell. She won't miss the water games. She does this every year." He informed as he let out a chuckle. "We can take our time getting back."
Lei nodded her head as she crossed her arms over her chest looking around at the forest.
"You're really good with kids."
"Am I? I just like to annoy them a lot." Beomgyu joked as he looked at her.
"You are good with kids. You can relate to them, since you're both annoying."
"Wow. That was amazing." Beomgyu playfully glared at her as she smiled at him.
There was a slightly awkward silence as they continued to walk through the forest.
She knew it was never going to go back to the way it was before.
She couldn't fake being rude to him anymore, if she didn't feel the need to be rude anymore.
She couldn't think of anything to say to him, and he seemed to have the same issue.
They didn't want to ask questions, because that would mean they would learn about each other, and if they know more about each other the interest is higher.
They both knew how crushes worked, how relationships developed. And they were trying their best to keep it from happening to them.
"I can't seem to talk to you." Lei said quietly making Beomgyu look at her for a second.
"Yeah, me neither. But we can try to be friends. I don't want to act like you're a stranger."
Lei looked down at the floor as she kicked the dirt as she walked.
"Yeah."
That isn't going to work...