Chapter Text
Jisung leans his head back up towards the sky, rolling his shoulders to ease any lingering stiffness from his time spent recovering. It hadn’t even taken that long, but it feels like he hasn’t practiced in ages. He’s missed sword fighting more than he thought he would, even though he only spent a few days in the infirmary—almost all of them being due to caution and nothing more.
Maybe it’s the rush of adrenaline that accompanies a good fight, the kind that energizes him and leaves his body thrumming with excitement that has him all coiled up, ready to practice.
Changbin points his sword at Jisung. “If you think I’m going to cut you some slack because you haven’t been practicing, you’re wrong.”
“Slack?” Jisung tightens the grip on his sword, hefting it up too easily. “C’mon, Changbin. You know I could beat you with a broken arm and a blindfold covering my eyes.”
Changbin raises an eyebrow, stepping closer to Jisung, who grins and gets into his fighting stance, ready to take him on.
“Yeah? Let’s see then.”
—
Jisung listens to the sound of the ocean later that day, splayed flat on his back in the middle of the dock. He simply wants to listen and nothing else. The crashing of the waves at shore is oddly relaxing, and he can smell the salt that accompanies the sea breeze. He’s a bit sore from practicing with Changbin, but it’s a satisfying kind of soreness—the kind that’s accompanied by a hard day’s work.
In the distance, he can hear the Demeter kids yelling to one another about plant viability and the data they’ve collected on the strawberry plants. They’re trying to figure out how to grow them as efficiently as possible. If Jisung strains his ears hard enough, he can make out the sound of swords clattering and combat practice coming from the midst of camp.
Despite all that, Jisung feels at ease. Maybe it’s the organized hecticity of camp life that’s keeping him sane; maybe it’s the thought of living another day to see Felix and his friends again. He isn’t quite sure yet, but he stays where he is, soaking in every ray of sunlight and enjoying the warmth spreading through his body. He feels so very alive right now.
Waves lap at the sand, gently and quietly. Jisung barely registers it over all the other sounds, but it’s there, lingering in the background.
—
“I have a proposition,” Jisung announces, slinging an arm around Felix’s shoulder as he sits down. He plucks a strawberry off of Felix’s plate, pretending not to hear his quiet protest.
“The answer’s no,” Changbin responds, not even batting an eye. He swats at Jisung’s hand, shoo’ing him away from Felix’s food. “Your plate magically fills up with your favorite food—leave him alone before he sics his ghosts on you.”
Jisung withdraws his hand, but not before looking over at Felix with a curious expression, his earlier proposition already forgotten. “Can you actually do that?”
Felix’s eyebrows pinch together, a slight frown on his face. Jisung waits with bated breath, thinking about the havoc they could wreak together if Felix has the ability to summon not only the bones of skeletons, but ghosts at well.
Felix clears his throat, a stupid grin on his face. “Be careful, or you might find yourself getting dragged out of your cabin in the middle of the night by one of my ghost friends.”
Changbin guffaws. “Give me a heads-up before you do that, okay? I’d like to be present for it.”
Even Minho snickers, but Jisung doesn’t mind their laughter. He ignores them in favor of looking over at Felix, who’s watching them with the barest of smiles on his face.
“Sorry guys, but it takes a lot of strength to summon just one ghost,” Felix confesses. “I’ve been practicing, but it’s hard. I can only summon so much before I get worn out.”
Jisung sticks his tongue out at Changbin, who pretends not to notice. Their conversation is interrupted by Hyunjin and Seungmin sitting down at their table, both of their plates appearing with food not even a few seconds later.
“Felix, if you get chosen as a captain for the next capture-the-flag game, make sure you pick me to be on your team,” Jisung says solemnly, nudging Felix’s shoulder.
Felix blinks, painted golden by the stupid lights hanging around the dining pavilion. He’s so pretty that Jisung forces himself to look away before it gets weird, focusing on pushing the food around his plate instead. He might just burn all of his food for Poseidon tonight; he wasn’t hungry to begin with, and he certainly isn’t hungry right now either, not with all the butterflies brewing up a storm in his stomach.
“I don’t know if we could beat Changbin and Minho,” Felix stage-whispers, actually looking worried at the prospect of being on the opposite side as them.
Hyunjin points a roll at himself and Seungmin, an offended expression on his face. “Totally not fair that we weren’t included in your hypothetical capture-the-flag team. Careful what you wish for, Han.”
“What are you gonna do about it?” Jisung retorts, but he’s smiling. “Nothing personal, Hyunjin—I just love the idea of the Athena cabin losing. You can be on our team, though.”
Seungmin rolls his eyes, like he’s thinking, here we go again.
Felix glances between all of them, a slight smile on his face and Jisung finds himself having to tear his gaze away again. He can’t stop thinking about how the yellow light makes Felix’s features even softer than usual, his freckles a blur on his cheekbones and his eyes like honey.
Stupid, Jisung thinks. He’s being painfully obvious, judging by the way Changbin is staring at him. His suspicions are confirmed true when Felix lets out a yelp, leaning down to rub his shin.
“Sorry,” Changbin apologizes, doing a wonderful job of pretending to look sheepish, “I was stretching.”
He’s shameless, Jisung thinks indignantly.
Felix brushes it off easily, smiling at Changbin. “No worries, you just caught me off guard.”
Jisung pretends not to notice the way Changbin is staring at him, like he can see right through him and take apart every single thought that flits by in his head.
—
Jisung drapes himself across the grass dramatically, holding a hand to his forehead and sighing.
“This is so bad, you guys,” he says. When neither Changbin or Minho respond to him, Jisung sits up to glare at them. “Did you hear me?”
Minho barely looks up at him from the book in his lap. “Is this related to Felix, or are you having a separate crisis we should know about?”
We, Jisung realizes miserably. At some point, they became a we.
Changbin has his head in Minho’s lap, dozing off as Minho reads his book on the top five ways to kill a gorgon without getting injured or killed in the process. Or something along those lines. Jisung can’t make out the title from where he’s sitting on the grass, mourning the fact that his crush on Felix is only getting worse the more time goes by.
“Well?” Minho finally looks up from his book, eyebrow raised and Changbin jerks awake out of nowhere, sitting up with a dazed expression on his face.
When he sees Jisung staring at him, he mumbles, “I thought I was falling. Gods, demigod dreams are the worst.”
Minho pats his head comfortingly, smoothing down Changbin’s rumpled hair and smiling. “It’s okay. You can lay back down, if you want.”
Jisung makes a gagging sound, looking away from the both of them. “You guys make me sick.”
Changbin must be tired, because he doesn’t have a witty retort for him this time. Minho, too, is focused on his book, and doesn’t even bat an eye at Jisung.
Instead, all he says is, “There’s an obvious solution to your problem, you know.”
Jisung acts as if he didn’t hear him
—
“Felix!” Jisung hollers, knocking on the cabin door. He thought about simply barging in, but decided against it.
He waits a few seconds, giving Felix time to respond. Just as he’s about to open the door, Felix does it instead. He’s still in his pajamas, stifling a yawn as he says, “Have I not told you before that I need my beauty sleep?”
“Felix, my love, I can assure you that you don’t,” Jisung promises, desperately trying not to linger on the fact that Felix’s cheeks turn pink. Then, he adds: “Didn’t you hear? We’re playing baseball today.”
“Baseball?” Felix repeats. He folds his arms across his chest, and says, “Let me guess—baseball with a twist. We’re all blindfolded and have to use our powers and nothing else. Or we have to fend off gorgons after every swing. Or, even be—”
“Nope! Just good old-fashioned baseball,” Jisung grins. “I mean, with demigod powers mixed in, of course. No murder or death, but maiming is okay in most scenarios.”
“Most scenarios?” Felix splutters as Jisung shoves a uniform into his hands, grinning all the meanwhile.
“You have 30 seconds to get your butt out to the field. Chiron’s picking captains,” Jisung tells him as he steps away from the cabin door, heading towards the other campers.
Felix hesitates, and then asks, “Can you wait for me?”
Jisung nods. “Just hurry up, yeah? I saved you some food on the off-chance you were hungry.”
Felix disappears from his view, re-appearing soon afterwards with a baseball jersey and an apprehensive look on his face.
“Can we review the whole maiming thing you mentioned earlier?” he questions, glancing up at Jisung as they make their way across the cabins scattered throughout camp. “I don’t think I’m ready to get maimed…Not yet, at least.”
“I was just joking,” Jisung admits, a bit sheepishly this time. He didn’t think Felix would take him seriously. “I didn’t realize you thought I was serious.”
“Oh. Oh.” The relief emanating from Felix is palpable. His shoulders relax, and a smile finally breaks out on his face. “Well, let’s go play some baseball then, yeah?”
Jisung holds out a muffin to Felix in response, who accepts it happily.
—
Jisung walks up to home base, stretching out his neck and rolling his shoulders as he does so. To be quite frank, he doesn’t know anything about baseball. For the most part, he knows that he has to run to first base after hitting the ball. Then, when the next player steps up to the plate and hits the ball, he should try to make his way back to home base, but that’s the extent of his knowledge. So far, he’s been really good at pretending like he knows exactly what he’s doing.
Jisung picks up the bat, tapping it against the ground for literally no reason other than to appear confident in what he’s doing, and hefts it into position. Jeongin, of course, is pitching, and Jisung wishes it was anyone but the Apollo kid who can hit a bulls-eye from over a hundred feet away throwing a ball towards his face.
Jeongin winds up, and throws. Jisung prepares himself for the sound of the ball cracking against the wooden bat, but all he hears is it hitting the mitt of the camper behind him.
Jisung hadn’t even seen the ball. One second it was there, hurtling towards him, and the next it disappeared. Jisung frowns, glancing towards Jeongin and finding Chan nearby. Realization dawns on him—Chan probably manipulated the wind so that the baseball curved around Jisung.
He huffs, annoyed that he didn’t see it coming. Two can play at that game.
The next time Jeongin pitches, a full blast of water douses Chan, and Jisung gets to hear the satisfying crack of the baseball hitting the bat. He takes off like there’s a hellhound on his heels, summoning an underground spring to tackle the camper racing after him. He slides onto first base unscathed, but doesn’t dare to move from there. He’s already out of breath, so it’s probably safer to wait for the next player’s turn.
He finds himself scanning the field for Felix, finally spotting him at third base. Jisung raises his hand to wave, grinning at him. At least they ended up on the same team. Jisung almost lost his mind when Felix sent a skeleton chasing after one of the campers, resulting in their first home run of the inning and making everyone else hesitant to attack him in any shape, way or form.
Apparently they aren’t as scared of Jisung, even though he thinks they should be. He is not someone to be underestimated.
He watches as Minho steps up to pitch, and he can’t help but grin when the other team lets out a collective groan.
“Hey,” Minho protests, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “I’m not that bad.”
“That’s the problem,” Hyunjin mutters from nearby, shaking his head to get water out of his ear from an unfortunate incident earlier involving, well, Jisung. “I hope you guys lose.”
“What was that?” Jisung frowns, cupping a hand around his ear. “Oh, it’s the sound of us being in the lead—isn’t it wonderful, Hyunjin?”
Hyunjin mutters something very unkind under his breath, but Jisung doesn’t have time to react because Minho’s hit the ball and he takes off running, determined to make it home.
He passes second base effortlessly, crowing with excitement as he nears third base. No one is there to stop him as he crosses over to the home plate, but he notices Minho gets caught halfway to second. Maybe that’s why he bumps into something solid, groaning from the impact a few seconds later. He blinks, and realizes he just knocked Minho to the ground. Minho, who should’ve been on the field and not by the home plate.
“Wh—oh my gods,” Jisung realizes. “I told you to use a hand signal if you were going to manipulate the mist!”
Minho stands back up, rubbing his abdomen with a scowl on his face.
“I did, but you weren’t paying attention,” he protests. “You did it to yourself.”
Seungmin, who’s currently umpire for the other team, glares at the both of them. Jisung ignores him, glancing around to see if Felix made it, too.
Felix waves at him from the bench, nodding his head before Jisung can even ask. Jisung bounds over to where he’s sitting, sliding onto the bench with a grin.
“Even I saw Minho signaling to you,” Felix says, appearing almost sheepish. His cheeks are pink—from running, probably, but he looks as gorgeous as usual. Jisung forces himself to look away.
“I guess everybody but me saw,” Jisung jokes, watching as Changbin steps up to the plate to swing. The other team immediately spreads out, exchanging wary glances amongst themselves. Even Jeongin—who is normally unshaken—looks a bit uneasy.
Changbin grins. “What’s everyone so scared of? It’s just me, my charmspeak, and my sheer upper body strength. Nothing to worry out”
From the stands, Jisung can hear Minho call out, “Knock ‘em dead, babe!”
Changbin blows Minho a kiss in response, throwing in a wink as well. Jisung would laugh if he wasn’t so envious of them. He swallows uneasily, trying to focus on literally anything else but Felix’s presence next to him.
He watches the game unfold: how Changbin barely makes it first base because of Chan summoning a lightning bolt out of thin air, followed by one of the Hephaestus kids setting the base on fire, leaving him unable to step on it. It’s clever, really. Changbin doesn’t have the time to make it to second base, and he can’t step on first base without lighting his clothes on fire.
Changbin, not one to be beat quite so easily, simply looks at the camper responsible and asks them, “Aren’t you exhausted from setting fire to everything? Maybe you should take a break. Get some rest.”
The camper sways on their feet, the flames disappearing, and Changbin touches first plate without catching on fire or getting caught. Or tagged, whatever it’s called. Like he said earlier, Jisung is really good at pretending like he knows exactly what he’s doing.
“Changbin…he can make people do things?” Felix questions, cocking his head to the side.
Jisung pauses, unsure of how to respond. Most people usually assume the same as Felix, that it’s some form of mind control. He wrestles with his thoughts, trying to explain it in the best way possible.
“Not exactly. It’s far easier for him to give commands if he can guess how they’re feeling at the moment,” Jisung explains. He pauses, and adds, “Like the Hephaestus camper? They probably exerted themselves too much, which is why his charmspeak worked so well. It’s easier than straight up giving commands, you know?”
Felix ah’s quietly.
“That’s really cool,” he murmurs, eyes trained on the baseball field. Hyunjin is trying to wrestle down one of the runners with vines, but it’s not really working out for him. “He doesn’t use it often, does he?”
Jisung shrugs. “It’s a last resort option for him, I think. He doesn’t seem to enjoy using it, from what I’ve noticed. Not every Aphrodite kid can use charmspeak, which might be why. You’re probably better off asking him yourself.”
Felix nods, apparently digesting what Jisung’s told him. From there, they watch the game in silence, exchanging small comments every now and then. Eventually, it’s their turn to go out on the field.
It’s all a whirlwind afterwards, the rest of the game passing by in a blur of events. Jisung finds himself seeking out Felix on multiple occasions, only to glance away hurriedly at the last second. He finds it hard to focus knowing that Felix is somewhere nearby, looking absolutely radiant underneath the welcoming warmth of the sun.
Jisung ducks sharply as one of the Hephaestus campers hurtles a strange metal contraption out into the field, listening to it whir past him in sheer disbelief. He stumbles, and catches himself at the last second, swearing.
He has no idea how they managed to build something so fast, and whatever it does must be working because it distracted Jisung long enough for Chan to slip to second base undetected.
“You just got lucky,” Jisung mutters.
Chan grins, looking stupidly proud of himself. “Or you just don’t know how to play.”
“Shh,” Jisung tells him. “I’m trying to see how long I can keep it going for. Don’t tell anyone.”
Chan snorts. “I don’t have to—you’re making it pretty obvious.”
Jisung decides to ignore him, watching as Jeongin steps up to bat. Changbin waits for a second or two, and throws the baseball with a scary amount of force. Even Jisung is impressed. Jeongin manages to hit it somehow, and Jisung watches as it flies towards him. He crouches a bit, holding up his gloved hand in preparation to catch it.
The only problem? Jisung definitely miscalculated the ball’s trajectory; he can see that as it arcs towards him. He knows he should probably move, but he feels frozen in place, like he’s watching disaster unfold from someone else’s perspective.
The next thing he knows, the baseball misses his hand completely and hits him square in the nose. Of course it does. Tyche has not blessed him with good luck lately. Maybe I should burn some food for her at dinner, he thinks dazedly
Pain bursts across his face, and Jisung keels over to cradle his nose, wincing from how badly it throbs. Like falling off the lava wall twice wasn’t already bad enough. Somewhere, in the distance, he hears someone mutter, “Bulls-eye?”
If blood wasn’t streaming down his face, Jisung would be having a fit over that comment. Maybe even try taking matters in his own hands by delivering some karma in Nemesis’s honor. She would enjoy that. Instead, he lifts the edge of his jersey to try to stop the flow of blood, but someone’s already thrusting a towel in his direction. It takes Jisung too long to realize it’s Felix, who’s halfway between smiling and looking extremely concerned on his behalf.
“Is this normal?” Felix blurts out. “This is the third time you’ve gotten hurt since summer started.”
“Of course not.” Jisung tries to glare at him, but his face is still throbbing so it ends up looking more like a grimace instead. By now the Apollo campers have reached him, holding out squares of ambrosia and directing Jisung on how to best stop the flow of blood. A quick examination tells them that, no, his nose is not broken even though it hurts like hell.
It takes a few minutes, but once the ambrosia kicks in, the pain fades to a dulling, consistent throb. Felix is still staring at him. When Jisung raises an eyebrow, he flushes.
“Sorry. You, uh, have blood all over your face,” Felix mutters. “Is it okay if I…?” He gestures vaguely towards Jisung’s face.
“Oh, yeah,” Jisung’s going to keel over (again) just from the sheer prospect of Felix being so close to him, but there’s no going back at this point. “Go ahead.”
Felix reaches for a clean towel, left behind by one of the Apollo campers, and lifts it to Jisung’s face, dabbing gently. They told him to go over to the infirmary once the bleeding stopped, decided he wasn’t so injured that he couldn’t walk himself over, but Jisung isn’t thinking about that right now.
Jeongin enters Jisung’s field of vision, crouching by his side. His eyebrows are pinched together with worry, but Jisung waves him off before he can say anything.
“It’s not your fault,” Jisung manages. “Accidents happen, right?”
Jeongin shrugs sheepishly. “At least you’re okay. I would’ve come sooner, but all the blood…” He shudders, before shooting Jisung a sympathetic smile.
Jisung nods in understanding. Everyone else is scattered around the field, having collectively decided the game is over. Some of the campers have left already, but some linger, eyeing Jisung and making conversation with each other.
He was joking about the whole maiming thing earlier, but the universe apparently wasn’t.
Felix pokes his tongue out of the corner of his mouth in concentration, and Jisung is trying his very hardest to breathe normally as he does so. His brain is screaming at him to stay calm, but his heart is ignoring it, battering against his ribcage incessantly. It’s to the point where Jisung is sure Felix can hear it without even having to try.
“I swear you have the most rotten luck,” Felix laughs, breaking the silence between them. He pulls the towel after from Jisung’s face, leaning back a bit. “Maybe we should put you in bubble wrap.”
Jisung tries to laugh, stopping once he realizes his face still very much hurts despite the ambrosia starting to work.
“You’re gonna have to start rolling me around camp,” Jisung responds, smiling.
Felix mirrors his gaze, warm and soft in the daylight surrounding them. Jisung really should stop staring at him; there’s no way Felix hasn’t noticed by now.
“Changbin’s gonna get a kick out of that,” Felix tells him. He’s smiling like they’re sharing an inside joke only the two of them understand, and the butterflies in Jisung’s stomach are only growing worse.
Jisung tears his gaze away from Felix, searching for his friends once more. They’re standing nearby, and immediately pretend to look away when they notice Jisung staring at them.
So they’re staying away on purpose, letting Jisung and Felix have their time together. Just the realization has Jisung blushing. He hopes Felix doesn’t notice.
As if on cue, Felix says, “Hey! You look a lot less pale now.”
Jisung tries mustering a smile and playing it off. “Must be the ambrosia doing its magic. Help me up?”
He holds out a hand, and Felix takes it happily, bringing Jisung to his feet.
“I can walk with you to the infirmary, if you want,” Felix offers. He’s still holding onto Jisung’s arm, even though he’s standing and doesn’t need his help any longer. Jisung doesn’t tell him that, though.
“I would love that,” Jisung confesses, “As long as you don’t mind, of course. I could always pester Changbin into doing it. I’m sure he would love that.”
Felix rolls his eyes. “I’ll save you the trouble, and take you myself instead.”
If Jisung could wrestle down the butterflies kicking up a storm in his stomach right now, he absolutely would.
—
Felix drops him off at his cabin later that day, as if Jisung couldn’t make the walk all by himself. As if he wasn’t all patched up and cleared for camp activities after a good night’s rest. Jisung doesn’t mind, of course.
“Is it safe to leave you all by yourself?” Felix asks, leaning against the entrance into Jisung’s cabin. Jisung’s hurriedly picking up stray clothing and books strewn across his cabin; he hadn’t expected company.
“Changbin seems to be rubbing off on you,” Jisung notes, but he’s smiling.
He hates that he likes how concerned Felix is, even if it’s poorly masked with humor. He hates that he wants Felix to stay even though there is probably an undisclosed rule about having other campers stay in cabins other than their own. He hates that his hands get clammy and his heart races whenever Felix so much as looks at him.
Jisung haphazardly shoves a piles of clothes under one of the bunk beds. He straightens back up, clearing his throat.
“Do you wanna come in?” Jisung asks awkwardly. “I feel bad that you’re just standing there…”
Felix’s eyes widen. “Oh, no. I mean, I’d love to but I’ve heard about what happens when you break curfew.”
Jisung shrugs, trying not to feel too disappointed.
“Fair enough,” he says. “I’ll see you tomorrow, then? I think the others wanna go for a swim at the beach. Something about de-stressing.”
Felix nods quickly, and Jisung swears he looks excited at the prospect. He tries not to let that go to his head.
“Goodnight,” Felix says softly.
Jisung barely has the time to say it back before Felix is walking away from his cabin, disappearing almost as quickly as he appeared. Jisung can’t help it; he smiles.
—
Felix is the last to join them on the beach. Jisung knew he had training to do—he’s still relatively new to the camp, so it makes sense that they want him to be as prepared as possible, but he was still disappointed to hear that he wouldn’t be coming until later.
“Felix!” Jisung calls out. He’s stupid happy to see him making his way through the sand, hopping slightly from how hot it is. Felix lifts his hand up to wave, grinning.
There’s something absolutely gorgeous about how Felix seems to soften under sunlight. Jisung knows he should stop staring—that always seems to be an issue whenever Felix is around him—but he’s finding it impossible to tear his eyes away.
“Nice of you to join us,” Changbin says as a way of greeting. “Sandwich? Hyunjin made them.”
Felix stands tentatively before their picnic blanket, and Jisung immediately scoots over to make room for him.
“You can sit down,” Jisung tells him, patting the empty space. “I don’t bite.”
“Are you sure?” Felix is smiling again, and Jisung has to look away before he starts flushing. Hopefully everyone will chalk it up to the summer sun and not Felix’s effect on him. Probably not, judging from the slight grin on Minho’s face. Apparently they can all read Jisung like an open book.
Hyunjin holds out a sandwich for Felix, who accepts it with a gracious thank you.
“So I learned all the different ways to kill monsters today,” Felix says nonchalantly. “Do you guys really memorize them? Or, like, do you have time to pull out your mythology books before a battle to make sure you don’t do it wrong?”
Jisung shrugs. “I don’t speak for anyone else, but I just half-ass it and hope for the best. Luck is usually on my side.”
Seungmin rolls his eyes. “Says the guy who kept slicing off the head of a hydra and didn’t realize that was why it kept growing new heads.”
“Hey!” Jisung protests. “That was like, my first ever quest. You can’t make fun of me for that.”
“When Jisung chose me and Hyunjin to go with him, I was like, wow, I can’t believe he wants us with him, being the son of Poseidon and whatnot,” Seungmin explains, glancing over at Jisung with a smile, “And then I very quickly realized he has no impulse control whatsoever.”
“It saved us on more than one occasion,” Jisung says, shrugging a bit. He doesn’t mind, knowing that Seungmin doesn’t have any malicious intent behind what he’s saying. In fact, Jisung finds it a little funny, how naive and reckless he was when he got issued his first-ever quest. He hadn’t even known the full scope of his powers yet, nor had he befriended Changbin and Minho at the time.
To be honest, he really only chose Seungmin and Hyunjin because they were nice to him. He knew they could fight well and hold their own, but their kindness had stood out to Jisung more than anything. It was scary, coming to camp and realizing he was alone in his cabin. None of the other kids had understood that, but Seungmin and Hyunjin didn’t seem to mind.
Felix has a wondrous look in his eyes. “You’ve been on a quest before?”
“Oh, yeah,” Jisung answers. He puts down his sandwich so he can continue talking. “I had barely adjusted to life at camp when the prophecy was issued. We had to retrieve a bunch of weapons guarded by monsters. Nothing special, but it was terrifying.”
“It sounds terrifying,” Felix agrees. “Did training prepare you?”
Hyunjin frowns. “Technically, it should have. You’re taught to keep your cool and that your body is hardwired for battle, but it doesn’t feel that way when you’re fighting monsters, you know? But it definitely makes life a lot easier.”
Felix nods like he completely understands what Hyunjin is saying. Maybe he does—not everyone gets to camp easily. Most of them are hunted by monsters along the way, scared and confused. Jisung knows he was. He wonders what it was like for Felix, if he knew what he was up against or if the fear was palpable to him, too.
Jisung shakes his head, trying to think about literally anything else. Today is supposed to be happy. The sun is out; there’s a slight ocean breeze and the water is sparkling from the sunlight. It’s beautiful. Jisung hasn’t felt this relaxed in so long. He’s grateful for his friends and the time they spend together during the summertime.
—
Jisung isn’t sure who brought the volleyball, but he’s glad they did. Minho manages to convince a Hephaestus kid to fashion them a net—really, it’s unfair that they know how to make virtually everything—and they set it up in the sand before splitting up into two teams.
“I think I should do everyone a favor and let them know that I am, in fact, terrible at volleyball,” Hyunjin confesses.
Jisung groans. “Couldn’t you have said that before Chan chose you to be on our team?”
“His height is wasted potential if he truly does suck,” Felix notes.
Hyunjin rolls his eyes. It’s Chan, Jisung, Felix, and Hyunjin against Changbin, Seungmin, Jeongin and Minho. They agreed not to use any of their powers just to see how the game would go, but Jisung’s regretting it right about now. If Felix was allowed to summon a few skeletons here and there, they would definitely win.
It’s not that serious, Jisung tells himself. Definitely not. He can’t help that he’s a bit competitive, though. Maybe it’s a demigod thing; he hasn’t met a single demigod who isn’t just as competitive as him, other than Felix, who seems to take it all in stride.
“I played a bit of volleyball in high school,” Chan supplies. “But it’s just a game. We’re here to have fun, right?”
“Absolutely not,” Jisung huffs. “I am here to cause problems.”
Hyunjin rolls his eyes once again. “You should’ve taken Jeongin instead of him.”
Felix looks offended on Jisung’s behalf, which most definitely does not make Jisung’s heart swell to three times its normal size. Not at all. He is not freaking out over the fact that Felix took offense for him, even though Hyunjin is joking and could not care less about who wins or loses.
Still, Jisung appreciates it. He slings an arm around Felix’s shoulder for no reason other than to touch him, and declares dramatically, “When we win, you’ll regret saying that. I expect you to beg me for forgiveness.”
“You would get along fabulously with Nike’s kids,” is all Hyunjin says in response. “How you didn’t end up with her as a godly parent is mind-boggling to me.”
Right after he says that, Minho yells from across the net: “Are we playing or what?”
—
Hyunjin was not exaggerating. Poor Felix rushes to hit the ball every time it comes within Hyunjin’s reach, who always seem to move three seconds too late. It doesn’t even matter where Hyunjin is standing either, because the other team always makes sure to hit the ball in his direction.
“There are three other players on my team,” Hyunjin complains at one point, while Chan’s jogged off to get the volleyball. Miraculously, the other team hit it out of bounds for once. “Stop picking on me.”
Jisung is waiting for Chan to throw the ball to him so he can serve. He doesn’t play volleyball often, but he finds it’s fun even if he’s not the best player. It’s probably the competitive streak in him, if he’s being honest.
A few seconds later, Chan calls out, “Catch!” and the ball is hurtling towards him. Jisung catches it with ease. He can’t tell if it’s due to demigod reflexes or him just being amazing at absolutely everything. He likes to think it’s the latter.
“You know what I realized?” Felix muses, glancing back at Jisung. “Jisung has yet to get injured.”
Hyunjin snickers. “You definitely just jinxed it. It’s only a matter of time now.”
Felix turns red, a guilty expression on his face. “Oh. Gods. Sorry, Jisung.”
Jisung shrugs, unbothered. “You’ll carry me to the infirmary if needed?”
“Anything for you,” Felix promises, and Jisung’s heart flutters.
Jisung grins, throwing the ball up into the air and feeling satisfied with the crack that comes with his palm coneecting with it. He watches the ball soar across the net, feeling a bit too smug for someone who does not regularly play volleyball.
His excitement only grows when Minho spikes the ball back over the net and Felix calls the ball, sending it sailing back to the other side. He wishes they had enough players to cover every position, but they can’t have it all, he supposes.
Jeongin dives for the ball, and Jisung watches as Seungmin sets it up for Changbin to spike, fascinated at how smoothly the entire process goes.
“That could be us,” Jisung says mournfully.
Hyunjin mutters, “I heard that,” right before he, by some outlandish miracle, manages to hit the ball Minho served over the net. It doesn’t go far. Felix dives to save it before it lands on the ground, but he doesn’t hit it hard enough to make it over the net.
Jisung doesn’t even think about it—he lunges for the ball to keep the rally going, and gets a face full of sand as he loses his balance. From the way Felix cheers, he assumes the ball made it safely over the net. He didn’t really have the time to check since he was too busy falling.
Jisung picks himself back up, spitting out sand and making a face, disgusted. Was that worth it? Probably not, considering they’re just playing for fun, but Jisung also doesn’t mind.
Chan grins over at him. “Nice save.”
They end up getting the point, and Felix even crushes Jisung into a hug, smiling prettily at him. Jisung pretends like his heartbeat hasn’t shot up into his throat and enjoys every second of it while he can.
—
They’re watching the sunset by the docks. It’s just him and Felix now, sitting shoulder to shoulder with their feet dangling above the water. The others all had various reasons for leaving, but Jisung didn’t believe a single one of them. He’s pretty sure they just wanted to give him alone time with Felix, which Jisung really appreciates.
Not that Jisung’s going to use it as his chance to confess to Felix, but he appreciates the opportunity regardless. He’s okay with simply enjoying Felix’s presence for now. Maybe one day soon he’ll work up the nerve to tell Felix he likes him, but until then Jisung is going to admire how beautiful he looks in the fading sunlight.
Jisung is trying his hardest not to stare. He really is. There is something awfully magnetic about Felix though, like he is a planet and Jisung is simply a star circling his orbit, unable to stop.
“The sunset is so pretty,” Felix says, breaking the silence and oh my god, Jisung understands the romance movies now. The ones where they’re sitting together and looking out into the distance and the main character starts talking about how beautiful it is, and the love interest responds with, Just like you or Yeah, it is, while looking right at the main character.
Jisung thinks it all makes a little more sense, now that he’s sitting next to Felix.
The words claw their way up his throat, begging to climb out. Jisung is a hopeless, lovesick fool. He wants to compare Felix to the petal pink sunset and tell him he is worth more than every sunset he has ever had the privilege to witness in his life. He wants to be the character in the cheesy romance film that drops the classic “You’re even more beautiful than the view,” line. He totally understands it.
Instead he says, “Yeah, it really is,” and leaves it at that.
Felix looks over at him curiously. They’re way too close. Jisung can count the freckles on his cheeks and see the way the light reflects off of his eyes. He can’t breathe. The whole my breath catches in my throat each time I see them line in books? Where the main character sees their love interest? Yeah. Jisung understands. Looking at Felix always leaves him a little bit breathless.
“Are you okay?” Felix asks. “You’re quiet. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course. It’s just not like you.”
Jisung blinks once. Twice. Three times. The silence between them stretches, thinning out. He doesn’t like it, so he clears his throat and musters up a response.
“Oh, I’m fine. Just admiring the view,” Jisung says. His heart feels like someone has wrapped their fist around it and refuses to stop squeezing. You. You’re the view, he wants to say. It’s on the tip of his tongue, ready to slip out at any moment. Jisung thinks it’s a side effect of being around Felix—the urge to be reckless and profess his feelings.
What’s the worst that could happen, the little voice inside of his head taunts, unrelenting.
Felix could laugh in his face, for one. He could awkwardly let him down and never speak to him again, which is somehow even worse than the laughing-in-his-face option. Jisung wouldn’t want to lose Felix’s friendship ever. He already feels like he’s known him for ages, like there was no time period in his life where Felix did not exist. Like Jisung’s always been in Felix’s orbit, drawn to him.
“Oh, okay. I just wanted to make sure,” Felix says. There’s a small, barely-there smile on his face as he stares at Jisung, like he’s searching for something.
Felix glances back towards the sunset, and Jisung exhales. He hadn’t even realized he was holding his breath until Felix looked away.
“I had a lot of fun today,” Felix confesses. He pauses, glancing back in Jisung’s direction, and adds, “I wanna say thank you, by the way.”
“For what?” Jisung feels slightly dizzy from having Felix’s attention on him yet again.
“For letting be part of your guys’ group. For you being welcoming and kind,” he says softly. “For being a good friend.”
Maybe Jisung should feel disappointed—For being a good friend runs through his mind like a broken record player—but he feels the exact opposite knowing that Felix enjoys his presence as much as Jisung enjoys his. That Felix thinks he’s kind. Jisung’s heart is racing once again. He doesn’t know how much longer he can do this.
“It’s nothing,” Jisung responds, feeling a bit stupid. “Scratch that. It’s not nothing. It must mean a lot to you if you’re bringing it up, and I’m really happy to hear that you feel comfortable. I know it probably wasn’t easy coming here, but, gods, I’m really happy you’re here, Felix.”
He regrets it almost immediately. It’s not like he’s known Felix long enough to get so deeply personal over…what? A thank you for welcoming him? Jisung wants to shrivel up and die out of sheer mortification. He did not need to bare his heart and soul out of nowhere.
(At what point is it socially acceptable to talk about friendships on such a personal level? How much time needs to pass before it’s okay to do so? Jisung isn’t sure, but he’s positive there’s some sort of code surrounding it).
But Felix doesn’t seem to mind, and Jisung forgets about every single thought nagging at him when Felix breaks into a smile, slowly but surely, cheeks dimpling as he nudges Jisung gently.
“I’m happy I’m here, too, Jisung,” Felix responds gently. “I don’t know what I would have done if you hadn’t knocked me down the lava wall on the first day we met.”
Jisung laughs despite himself. “You would’ve had a better start to your stay at camp, probably.”
“No, I don’t think I would have,” Felix muses. The look on his face is serene, almost. “I think that was perfect.”
“You’re hopeless,” Jisung complains, but his heart disagrees. “Who enjoys getting knocked off a lava wall by some guy you don’t even know?”
Felix smiles slyly. “It helps if he’s cute.”
Jisung’s heart plummets down to his stomach. GodsGodsGods. He is so telling Changbin about this. In fact, the second Felix leaves Jisung is racing over to the Poseidon cabin and telling him everything from start to finish.
He thinks I’m cute. Cute. Felix thinks I’m cute. Jisung’s going to throw up. He said it so nonchalantly, too. Like no one could ever convince him otherwise. Jisung can barely hear anything over the blood roaring in his ears. Gods, this is so bad.
Then, because Jisung is the stupidest person alive, he says: “It helps if the camper you knock down is cute too.”
Felix’s smile broadens. Jisung doesn’t realize it right away, but they’re inching closer together.
Jisung moves his hand from where it was lying against the dock, moving towards Felix’s hand. Their fingertips brush, ever so slightly, and Jisung forgets how to breathe for a second. Suddenly he’s back in the infirmary, when he fell asleep holding Felix’s hand and woke up to find him still by Jisung’s side.
Jisung can’t think straight, not when they’re so close to one another.
He silently thanks every Greek god and goddess he can think of for magically convincing his friends to leave them all alone together.
“Looks like we both got lucky, then,” Felix finally says, breaking the silence between them.
The sun is but a glimmer in the sky now, well past the horizon and taking every scrap fo sunlight with it. Even in the twilight sky, Felix is beautiful.
Jisung smiles. “Looks like it.”
—
Jisung skids inside of the Aphrodite cabin, breathless and unsure of where to start.
Changbin shoots up from his bunk bed at the sight of Jisung, letting out a groan when he hits his head on the bunk above him. The cabin is mostly empty, with the exception of a few campers. Jisung doesn’t pay them mind; he’s here for Changbin.
“Ow,” Changbin grumbles, rubbing his head. He glances at Jisung, who’s folded over at the waist and panting slightly. “What’s with you?”
“Is Minho here?” Jisung asks between breaths, completely ignoring Changbin’s question. “I guess you can tell him if you want. I don’t have the patience to wait any longer.”
Changbin squints at him, slightly suspicious. “I think he’s asleep already. You know, like the rest of the camp.”
Jisung huffs, straightening back up and crossing his arms over his chest. “If you really don’t want to know…”
Changbin rolls his eyes. “Jisung, of course I want to know why you ran in here like a hellhound was chasing you. The question is are you ever going to tell me?”
“It’s about, uh, you know who,” Jisung confesses, unable to keep the smile off his face just from thinking about him.
Changbin perks up instantly, his mood changing. “Did you confess? Are you dating? It’s about time, by the way. There’s no need for secrecy. Everyone here can sense your feelings.”
Jisung recoils at the reminder, suddenly feeling far less enthusiastic than he was earlier. As if sensing his hesitation, Changbin throws off his covers and gets to his feet.
“Lets go out on the porch,” Changbin suggests, and Jisung has never felt more relieved. He glances towards his siblings and adds, “No one snitch on us or you’ll be stuck on toilet duty for the rest of summer.”
Jisung happily follows Changbin outside, bubbling with excitement.
“Alright, alright. Spill,” Changbin finally says, sitting down on the porch steps.
Jisung joins him, blurting out, “Felix thinks I’m cute.”
To his surprise, Changbin’s eyes widen. “He told you himself?”
Jisung nods excitedly. “We were just talking—by the docks, you know—and all of a sudden he gets weirdly sentimental. And the next thing I know I’m saying, who enjoys getting knocked down the lava wall by a complete stranger?”
Cue a snicker from Changbin. Jisung ignores him.
“And Felix goes, well it helps if he’s cute, and the next thing I know, I’m calling him cute back like the gay idiot I am,” Jisung splutters. “Where did that even come from? I can barely look at him, but I can call him cute?”
Jisung’s blushing just thinking about their conversation from earlier.
Changbin grins. “Oh, man. You guys are so stupid. I love it.”
Jisung ignores him yet again. “Changbin, I can only do this for so long.”
Changbin holds his head in his hands, letting out a groan. “Minho and I have told you so many times to just tell him and what do you do? You do the opposite.”
“In my defense…” Jisung starts, but Changbin silences him with just one look.
“Oh, absolutely not,” Changbin begins. “You do realize that was like, your perfect opportunity? You basically have confirmation that he likes you—or at the very least finds you attractive—and you just decided to sit on that information?”
Jisung opens his mouth to respond, but Changbin cuts him off before he can.
“Jisung, I say this in the nicest way possible and as your best friend with good intentions: Please tell him before I do. I am begging you,” Changbin pleads. “I’m Aphrodite’s kid—you know I’m good with this sort of thing—so trust me when I say he likes you.”
He likes you. The phrase runs over and over again in his mind, like a song on repeat. Jisung feels like his entire body is thrumming with energy just from the sheer possibility that Felix reciprocates his feelings for him. Changbin wouldn’t lie to him or build his hopes up for no reason. He knows that. He trusts Changbin with his life.
“Oh, gods,” Jisung says. “I feel sick. Should I tell him? Like, right now?” Before the liquid courage wears off? Before I let the doubt start creeping in, convincing me otherwise?
Changbin stares at him, unblinking. “Well? What are you waiting for? Go.”
Jisung glances out into the distance, where the other cabins are stretched out. He should go. Even if Felix laughs in his face or lets him down, he’ll get over it. There’s nothing more humbling than a nice dose of rejection. Maybe the universe wants him to be humbled. Maybe the universe wants him to put himself out there. Jisung isn’t sure, but he finds himself contemplating it. He wants to tell Felix, especially after the conversation they had earlier.
“Am I going to have to haul you over there?” Changbin asks, raising an eyebrow at him.
Jisung shoots up from the steps, shaking his head roughly. The butterflies in his stomach are kicking up yet another storm. He swallows uneasily, and says, “Wait up for me? In case it goes bad.”
Jisung can’t be sure due to the darkness surrounding them, but he thinks Changbin’s face softens ever so slightly.
“I’ll wait up,” Changbin promises.
—
Jisung’s halfway to Felix’s cabin when he notices someone walking in his direction. His footsteps falter, and he’s debating between hiding or running when the person whispers, “Jisung?”
Felix, Jisung thinks happily. He doesn’t even have a chance to be nervous.
“Felix?” Jisung whispers back. He refuses to imagine what the Harpies would do if they caught them outside of their cabins past curfew. No one would be able to save them.
He sees it—the flash of Felix’s smile in the dark—and immediately feels at ease, happiness spreading throughout his body. Forget the Harpies. Jisung could care less about them if it meant getting to spend a few extra minutes in Felix’s presence.
“I was looking for you,” Felix confesses. He glances over his shoulder, like he’s worried about getting caught, and looks back towards Jisung. “Wanna see a neat trick?”
—
It turns out Felix can travel through shadows, melting into them like it’s nothing. Jisung would be more impressed if the experience hadn’t left him woozy and unable to stand.
Felix crouches down by his side. “I’m sorry. It was like that the first time I tried it too. Want me to get some water for you?”
Jisung shakes his head, keeping his eyes closed and breathing steady. He’s fine. Maybe it’s the pre-confession nerves that made the overall experience worse than it should have been. He can’t exactly tell Felix, I don’t think it’s the whole shadow thing making me sick because then he would have to explain himself.
And, yeah, he knows that was the whole point of him going to see Felix—to tell him how he truly feels.
Felix rubs his back, and Jisung has never felt more comforted than he does right now.
“I’m sorry,” Felix apologizes once again, but Jisung shakes his head immediately.
“Stop that,” he says hoarsely. “You don’t need to apologize. You literally warned me beforehand and told me I could say no.”
Felix smiles a bit, but he keeps rubbing his back, like it’ll make his nausea disappear. If only you knew, Jisung thinks. He might as well get it over with. It’s not like he’ll have to see Felix everyday once summer ends. Maybe that’ll help soften the blow.
Still, the prospect seems daunting, so he starts off by asking, “Why were you looking for me?”
The world is no longer spinning, so Jisung manages to look at Felix. They’re by the beach and his face is illuminated by the moon shining above them. Jisung doesn’t think he’s ever seen anything more pretty than the sight of moonlight illuminating Felix’s face.
Felix flushes, looking away from him. “I, uh, wanted to tell you something.”
Jisung frowns. Felix looks a bit nervous.
“Something…bad?” Jisung questions, trying to ignore the dread that’s building up in his chest. Go away, he thinks desperately. Just because Felix was seeking him out does not mean it’s related to something bad.
Felix shakes his head immediately. “No, no. Not at all.” He bites his lip, hesitating. “Are you feeling better? I don’t think I should tell you if you’re about to hurl.”
“I’m fine,” Jisung promises, pushing himself closer to Felix. “Tell me. I promise I won’t be mad or annoyed or upset with whatever has you looking so nervous.”
Felix looks a bit surprised by the intensity with which Jisung speaks, but he doesn’t seem deterred by it. Not that Jisung can tell, of course.
“It’s stupid,” Felix confesses, and it’s followed by a breathy laugh. He brushes a strand of hair away from his forehead, fidgeting a bit.
“Nothing is too stupid for me,” Jisung vows.
Then, because he’s feeling brave, he reaches out for Felix’s hand.
“You can tell me,” Jisung reassures, squeezing Felix’s hand once and letting go so it doesn’t become weird. Hopefully Felix doesn’t find it weird, or he would be absolutely mortified.
Felix stares down at his hand instead of responding, but there’s a smile on his face.
“Gods, you’re so…” Felix’s voice trails off. He pauses for a single, terrifying moment, and then says: “I like you, Jisung.”
He squeezes his eyes shut immediately afterwards, like he wants to disappear and the sight leaves Jisung’s heart aching. He’s scared. Felix is scared of what Jisung is going to say in response. He almost laughs.
Jisung, meanwhile, is in pure shock, reeling from Felix’s confession. His first thought is, Changbin is never going to let me live this down, is he? and his next one is, I think I’m going to pass out.
“Jisung?” Felix’s voice is terribly small. “Please say something. Oh, gods. I had a feeling this was a bad idea, but after our conversation at the beach I just tho—”
Jisung leans forward to cup Felix’s face with his hands.
“Felix. Oh my god.” Laughter bubbles up inside of him, but he swallows it down when he sees panic flash in Felix’s eyes. He is so giddy right now. “Do you know why I was looking for you?”
Felix stares at him, unblinking. Then, almost hesitantly: “Why?”
Jisung smiles happily. “I wanted to tell you that I’m an idiot and that I like you so much that it’s disgustingly cheesy and sappy and Changbin is absolutely tired of hearing me talk about it. Gods, Felix. I had no idea.”
He pauses, and then adds, “Well, not until today. When we were at the beach, I let myself hope and all of a sudden I found myself thinking what if and then I went looking for you. I couldn’t keep it to myself any longer, you know? I had to at least try.”
Jisung realizes he’s still holding Felix’s face at the end of his little spiel, and he lets go, embarrassed. Why had he even grabbed it to begin with? Gods, he’s so stupid. Maybe love does that to a person, takes over the reins of his mind and befuddles them until they can’t think straight. Jisung thinks he’s okay with it if it means being with Felix.
Felix is smiling at him. Gods, Jisung loves it when Felix smiles. He loves it even more when the smile is directed at him, like it’s something special for Jisung to covet and hold dear to his heart. Felix reaches out for Jisung’s hand, slipping it into his.
“We’re so stupid,” Felix says fondly. “I’ve liked you ever since you knocked me off the lava wall, you know.”
Jisung can’t help it; laughter bubbles out of him and he makes no effort to stem it this time.
“If I had known that was all it took for you to like me, I would’ve said something sooner,” Jisung admits. He can’t believe this is happening right now.
Felix is still smiling, and Jisung has never felt so warm and comfortable in his life. There is something so reassuring about being in the presence of Felix.
“You should’ve said something sooner,” Felix agrees. “Think about all the time we could’ve spent together knowing we both like each other instead of dancing around it.”
Jisung groans. “Don’t remind me. Promise not to let me be so stupid anymore?”
“Promise,” Felix agrees, still smiling at him.
Gods, Jisung is over-the-moon happy right now. He can’t believe this is happening, that luck is finally on his side and that someone as lovely and kind and warm as Felix could possibly have a crush on him. Maybe Tyche decided to bless him with good luck and fortune out of the kindness of her heart. Maybe this is the universe cutting him a break. Whatever it is, Jisung is giddy with happiness.
“We should probably get back before the Harpies make a meal out of us,” Jisung says half-heartedly. He could care less about them right now. Nothing seems so scary with Felix by his side.
“Probably,” Felix agrees, apparently unfazed by the looming threat of Harpies.
Neither one of them budges though. Jisung doesn’t blame Felix; he doesn’t want this moment to end either. Not now, not ever. He’d sit in the sand and by Felix’s side for the rest of time if he could.
“So, just to sum things up,” Jisung begins, grinning when Felix bursts into laughter. “You like me?”
Felix’s face softens as he turns to look at him. “Yes, Jisung. Since I first saw you.”
Content seeps through Jisung’s body, slowly but surely, triggered by Felix’s reassurance. Jisung is smiling so hard that his face is starting to hurt. He tries to tone it down a bit, but it’s impossible. Felix likes him. He can’t wait to tell Changbin. And Minho. And anyone else who will listen.
Felix shifts so that he’s leaning his head against his shoulder, hands clasped together in Jisung’s lap. All he can hear is the sound of waves crashing onto shore and crickets chirping in the distance, and the steady rhythm of his own heart. The moon is high up in the sky, flashing bits of moonlight against the surface of the ocean.
Felix brushes his thumb across Jisung’s knuckles every now and then, as if to remind Jisung that he’s really there, and it’s all too easy to find himself in Felix’s orbit once again, spinning hopelessly and effortlessly in love.