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☼
Donghyuck liked summer.
He liked the sun, choosing to lie out in it for hours on end whilst smiling smugly as his skin glowed more and more. He liked the heat and wearing shorts and playing on the beach with his friends. Summer was fun, summer was happy, and Donghyuck felt alive.
On particularly hot days, Donghyuck loved to wake up early and practice his archery. He’d take his usual route past the other cabins and the bright red blanket of the strawberry fields until he reached his favourite spot right at the back of the archery range. He had trained on it for years, carrying his usual worn out quiver filled with arrows that were specifically hand crafted for him by Johnny from the Hephaestus cabin. Of course, Johnny being the clumsiest person he’d ever come across, he accidentally snapped more than he didn’t, but Donghyuck appreciated his persistent efforts of assisting his hobby. The one thing Donghyuck didn’t bring with him was his bow. Rather than carry it back and forth to his cabin every day, he decided to keep it locked in the archery shed. He’d been witness to too many of his siblings lose or misplace bows, or have them stolen, and he wouldn’t dare risk it. For extra precaution he’d begged his friend Jaemin, a son of Hecate, to charm his bow into staying locked inside the shed.
These early hours of archery with the sun burning down on him was his escape, what made him relax and shut himself off from the outside world and stress of camp life. Archery was his outlet, somewhere he could focus his mind without interruption.
Until his self-proclaimed number one fan arrived, that is.
“There you are Donghyuck, practicing your archery, the love of my life!”
Donghyuck’s happy mood drained instantly, his mouth instantly turning into a scowl as he spun around to stare at the intruder.
“Not today, Wong.” Donghyuck was having quite a pleasant day so far. Letting Yukhei ruin it? No chance.
“Why do you hate me, I am constantly trying, please praise my great skills!” Yukhei was grinning from the where the strawberry fields ended and the archery range began. His voice was loud enough for Donghyuck to hear him despite being so far away.
“Your haikus are shit.” Donghyuck deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he tried to focus on the target and shut out Yukhei’s boisterous voice. He inhaled for four seconds and exhaled for eight, exactly how Renjun had taught him, shaking his head and lining his bow up. He pulled an arrow out of his quiver and aligned it perfectly, closing one eye for precision.
“I will ask again, I would be very happy- “
Donghyuck scrunched his eye shut further as his posture threatened to fall. One, two, three-
“Please go out with me?”
It missed. The arrow flew with an unprecedented force straight past the board, and into the grass behind it.
Donghyuck turned around, his cheeks flushed red from a mixture of rage, embarrassment, and the uncomfortably sticky thirty-degree heat.
He watched as the cheeky grin slipped from Yukhei’s face, his eyes widening in apprehension as Donghyuck stormed up to him. Donghyuck had this power over Yukhei - he was a lot shorter than him (5’7 to Yukhei’s 6’2, to be exact) but that didn’t stop Yukhei from being terribly intimidated any time the redheaded son of Apollo paid any attention to him. Donghyuck found it amusing how confident Yukhei was, constantly making attempts to woo him and ask him out, but the second Donghyuck even looked his way his demeanour was swapped to one of a terrified puppy’s.
“I would have a good time watching you fall from the lava wall.” Donghyuck glared at Yukhei. He giggled slightly which Donghyuck didn’t expect, almost causing him to drop his intense gaze.
Donghyuck didn’t give him time to respond, instead locking his bow back up, packing his quiver and walking right back to his cabin - anywhere where Yukhei wasn’t. Donghyuck would not under any circumstance, allow a son of Poseidon to woo him.
☼
“I think it’s sweet that he tries so hard,”
Donghyuck was sat on one of the many picnic benches at the beach for lunch, being his usual forth-wheel self.
“Shut up Jeno, your Aphrodite ass thinks anything is romantic,” Renjun threw one of his fries at Jeno, hitting him straight in the nose. Jeno smiled softly and Renjun laughed loudly, “See? I threw a fucking fry. That’s it, now he’s in love.”
Jaemin blinked at the interaction before also picking up one of his fries and throwing it at Jeno. Instead of hitting him, it landed on his plate. Jaemin pouted and Renjun cooed at him, poking his cheek.
“Please can we focus on the topic at hand,” Donghyuck was starting to get stressed, and the three pairs of eyes staring blankly back at him weren’t helping in the slightest. Donghyuck let out an exasperated sigh, “Yukhei?”
His friends chorused an ‘ahhh’ in creepy synchronisation, and Donghyuck really, really hated forth wheeling.
“Maybe you should give him a chance,” Jaemin suggested, as helpful as ever. He was now distributing chocolate ice cream between himself, Renjun and Jeno, who were showering him in praise as if he’d made the ice cream with his bare hands. Or maybe he had. Donghyuck didn’t care anymore.
“Crackheads, the three of you.” Donghyuck said as he cleared his rubbish from the table, leaving the three of them to their own devices.
☼
Music classes weren’t compulsory for every camper, but it was for the Apollo kids. Other campers could select to join the class if they wanted, but on the most part Donghyuck’s morning music class was solely made up of himself and his half siblings.
Except for this particular Tuesday at 8am, where Yukhei was staring at him, waving his arm in exaggerated movements with that stupid grin on his face.
Donghyuck forced his groan back and resisted the urge to scream.
With his classmates watching him as if he had any explanation, and Yukhei acting as if they’d been best friends since June 6th 2000, Donghyuck thought that he’d prefer brushing Cerberus’ teeth for the rest of his life. He’d have to ask Renjun if his dad had any job offerings.
Luckily, they were working independently which meant that Donghyuck got to avoid the awkwardness of Yukhei explaining himself for blatantly stalking Donghyuck. He shuffled his stack of lyrics in his hands, trying to decide on what he should sing today.
“How are you today, the world’s leading vocalist, Mister Lee Donghyuck,” An annoyingly familiar deep voice said from behind him. Donghyuck didn’t look.
“Will you please stop speaking to me in haiku form? It’s making me want to date you less and less each day.”
“So, you admit you want to date me?” Yukhei was smirking when Donghyuck’s head snapped up. That’s definitely not what Donghyuck meant, he knew it deep into his soul, but he said nothing. They locked eyes for a moment until Donghyuck broke the silence, regaining his composure and cold expression.
“What are you doing here?” Donghyuck’s attention fell back to his lyric sheets. Was it too Shawol of him to sing Replay again?
“I like music,”
Donghyuck faked an interested ‘hmm’. Maybe if he sang solo Taemin songs no one will realise his true Shawol status?
“I want to be a rapper,” And oh, boy did that interrupt Donghyuck’s thought process. He lifted an eyebrow at Yukhei, dramatically placing his hand against his hip.
“Oh really?”
“Yup,” Yukhei confirmed, his confidence shining through as usual, “My friends tell me I have a great rap tone!”
Donghyuck scoffed, because of course they told him that. Yukhei and his ego-centric friends probably had one braincell between them, he thought.
Donghyuck knew he was probably being unnecessarily rude to Yukhei but he honestly couldn’t help it. Sure, they’re both loud social extroverts, but they were also complete opposites. Donghyuck knows that if he allowed himself to befriend Yukhei, he’d end up shooting an arrow straight into his skull with no sense of remorse whatsoever.
“Well this was a nice chat, but if you don’t mind I have songs to practice.” Donghyuck walked to a vacant spot across the room for dramatic effect, not looking back at Yukhei. Just as he thought he was safe-
“A music legend, like no one has ever heard, destined for greatness!”
Donghyuck was going to shoot an arrow through his own skull.
☼
Inspection was by a mile Donghyuck’s least favourite part of camp. Since he wasn’t cabin leader (Kang Seulgi rightfully owned that title, being a couple of years his senior and the poster girl for Apollo kids) it wasn’t often he had to do it. But Seulgi had a soft spot for her half-brother, and whenever she had other commitments on inspection days, she wasted no time in handing the checklist to Donghyuck for him to complete.
He ticked off a couple of extra points in his own cabin for sympathy, since he woke up late and, in his defence, his bunk was the tidiest it had been in weeks.
Donghyuck’s method was going anti-clockwise from the Apollo cabin, meaning next was Hephaestus, then Hermes, then Hades, then Iris etc. etc. Long story short, he had around twenty cabins to go through in total and all that was on his mind was how much time he was wasting when he wanted to be practicing archery. He passed the Hades cabin, scoring it an 8/10 for no reason other than annoying Renjun since he knew it was spotless inside. The Hecate cabin was empty, as usual, because Jaemin never slept in his own room. He wasn’t in Renjun’s considering Donghyuck had just been there, so he was expecting to find him in the Aphrodite cabin with Jeno.
Before he got the chance to knock, someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“Inspection is fun, you are my inspiration, give me a good score,” Yukhei recited as if it was rehearsed. He bowed dramatically, as if he’d just delivered an Oscar worthy monologue.
“That one didn’t even make sense,” Donghyuck wanted to get this over with. He raised his hand to knock on the Aphrodite cabin but Yukhei grabbed his hand.
“Please come and see my room? I decorated it especially when I heard you were on inspection, please?” Yukhei pouted and pulled Donghyuck with him, still holding his hand. Donghyuck was ready to end it all and that wasn’t even hyperbole.
The walk across the green felt endless as Donghyuck dragged his feet in time with Yukhei’s skips. When they finally reached the teal coloured door, Yukhei wiggled his eyebrows and shoved it open. It looked…
“Normal? What the fuck is this for, Yukhei?” Donghyuck didn’t have the time for this. He hadn’t even been awake for an hour, hadn’t been to breakfast, and he just wanted to get on with his day.
Yukhei gaped at Donghyuck as if he couldn’t believe the difference wasn’t obvious.
“Are you serious?” Donghyuck nodded and Yukhei cried out, “I’ve mopped! I’ve vacuumed! I’ve arranged my book shelf and I made my bed all by myself this morning!”
Donghyuck wanted to hate every moment of this, but he couldn’t help laughing at Yukhei. He was clearly devastated that Donghyuck hadn’t noticed and the whole situation was just too funny for him at 9am with sleep deprivation. Now that he was thinking about it, the Poseidon cabin was noticeably a lot tidier than he’d seen it on previous expressions. Donghyuck was going to lose it if he pictured Yukhei running around the room in a frenzy trying to mop the floor.
“Oh no, did the baby do all the hard work for nothing?” Donghyuck baby-talked him. Yukhei’s expression changed from one of sadness to one of bashfulness as Donghyuck continued to laugh.
On his way back to the Aphrodite cabin, he was still chuckling as he heard Yukhei called out embarrassed haikus behind him.
“Please don’t laugh at me, I wanted to impress you, this isn’t funny!”
Donghyuck still had tears in his eyes when he went to re-tell the story to Jeno and Jaemin (who, by the way, was in the Aphrodite cabin after all).
☼
The lake glistened especially at night. Green and blue hues shimmered together as the moonlight reflected from it. It gave Donghyuck a different glow than the sun did during the daytime, his soft cheekbones and deep brown eyes glistening as he sat near the water. The Naiads didn’t tend to bother him at night - where they went, he had no idea, but he was grateful; he needed time alone sometimes.
Not that he didn’t love camp - because he did. He spent the rest of the year waiting for June to come around so he could go back. He loved his friends and loved spending an entire three months with them, more than anything.
But it’s tiring. Waking up every day to go to survival classes, having to share a cabin with a lot of half siblings who he barely knew all the names of. As much as Donghyuck loved talking to people and being the centre of attention, even he needed peace from time to time. Somewhere reclusive, where no one could fine him. Like the lake at night.
He closed his eyes, feeling the cool summer breeze brush his hair across his face.
His peace ended when a twig snapped in the bushes behind him. Donghyuck’s first reaction was panic. “Who’s there?” he called out nervously, his throat closing up slightly with fear. He had no weapons - not even the pocket knife he kept with him in case he lost his quiver or bow.
There was no response and he looked around desperately, trying to find somewhere to hide. The water behind him briefly touched his fingertips.
“You can’t be that stupid,” he whispered to himself. He looked down at the clothes he was wearing. His camp t-shirt and sleep shorts with old trainers. Clothes he wouldn’t mind ruining if it came to it. The bushes ruffled again and Donghyuck was sure whatever this thing is was moving towards him.
Naturally, he panicked and jumped into the water.
Now Donghyuck was no swimmer. He was a son of Apollo for a reason - and even the time he spent at the beach he stayed well away from the sea. The lake wasn’t shallow, but it also wasn’t very deep either. Donghyuck’s heavy feet touched the floor and his hair just about stayed underwater. His eyes were squeezed shut and his cheeks were puffed out, grasping every bit of air. Maybe he’d lost his mind, but with the history of the camp invasions he could never be too careful.
A few seconds later he heard a commotion above him and a pair of arms dragged him out of the water. He immediately began thrashing and yelling, pushing himself away from the intruder.
“I’m not armed, I’m not armed, you can’t fight me on camp grounds if I don’t have defence!” He shouted with his eyes still closed.
The arms held his shoulders steadily, “Donghyuck, calm down, it’s only me,”
Donghyuck’s thoughts came to a standstill. He opened his eyes and surely enough, a set of concerned dark brown eyes that he’d become accumulated to were staring back at him.
“You idiot!” Donghyuck screamed as he hit his fists into Yukhei’s chest.
Donghyuck crossed his legs onto the grass, the area around him becoming damp as the water dripped off his clothes. Droplets ran down his face from his hair, some falling into his eyes.
“Why on earth were you underwater?” Yukhei’s voice was soft and more hesitant than usual. He was wearing his camp hoodie and sweatpants, his hair flattened and messy like he’d just gotten out of bed. He looked oddly vulnerable and Donghyuck’s heart might have did a thing, but he’d never admit it.
“Why on earth are you here?” Donghyuck shuddered as the cold stuck to him, “I come here at night sometimes and no one’s ever been here. I thought you were planning an attack,” Donghyuck sniffled.
“Funny, I come here at night sometimes too and I’ve never seen you,” Yukhei stared at him for a minute. It was weird for Donghyuck, not hearing Yukhei use haikus as a method of communication. It was almost nice. Only almost. He was still annoying.
“Yeah it’s hilarious. Absolute fucking mind-blowing entertainment. We should start a stand-up comedy duo,” Donghyuck let himself cool down from anger, wondering why Yukhei even needed to come here when his room was empty nearly all the time. Donghyuck readjusted his posture to slide himself away from Yukhei by a marginal distance. The sound of his clothes squelched as he moved, causing him to cringe and slow his movements.
Yukhei remained quiet for a little longer, before pulling his jumper over his head.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing?” Donghyuck’s eyes widened at the action.
“Uh, being a decent human? You’re literally soaking,” Yukhei noticed Donghyuck still looked slightly windswept, “Don’t worry, I have a t-shirt on underneath,”
Donghyuck blushed and looked away to hide it. To save any further embarrassment, he began peeling his own shirt off his body as Yukhei threw the hoodie at him.
“Don’t worry, I won’t look,” Yukhei teased, but still covered his eyes as Donghyuck’s cheeks reddened further (how) as he pulled the huge hoodie over himself.
“Okay,” Donghyuck adjusted the large orange material that reached almost to his knees, “Okay, I’m done,”
Yukhei uncovered his eyes, and now it was his turn to blush. He looked at Donghyuck’s stolen jumper, not caring to hide his obvious smile. Donghyuck wanted to disappear.
It felt weird for Donghyuck - sitting in such a close proximity to someone he’d avoided for as long as he can remember, in silence when they both never shut up. It felt different. Good different or bad different, Donghyuck didn’t know.
He didn’t want to ruin the moment, but he had to ask, “Why do you only use haikus to talk to me?”
Yukhei laughed, loud and high pitch despite the time being past curfew. It almost made Donghyuck smile a bit. Yukhei was truly the most carefree spirit he’d ever encountered, even he could admit that.
“My friend Jaehyun from the Hephaestus cabin, you know him, right?” Donghyuck nodded, he’d seen him in passing when visiting Johnny for new arrows, “He told me that Apollo kids love haikus. So, I made it my personal mission to only speak to you in haikus. Maybe then you’d like me back,”
The honesty surprised Donghyuck. He wasn’t expecting Yukhei to be so forward with his feelings. What else would he have expected though, Yukhei had always been very vocal and open with liking Donghyuck. He didn’t think he’d say it so plainly, though, without fear. Donghyuck maybe envied him for that.
A part of Donghyuck felt guilty for it. He’d been so mean to Yukhei at times, doing everything in his ability to push the taller boy away. Other parts of Donghyuck asked why him, why did he have to be so annoying when confessing, why did he have to be so annoyingly handsome just by breathing.
“I’m not good at haikus. The only Apollo trait that’s failed me. I’m good at archery, music, I’ve healed a lot of campmates, decoded a prophecy or two, I look like the sun itself-” Yukhei nodded in agreement, “But I’m shit at haikus. Absolutely terrible. And so are you, in fact,”
“We have something in common,” Yukhei commented, and Donghyuck shook his head in disbelief at how quickly the other could turn around his thought process.
Feeling brave, Donghyuck asked another question, “Why is it that you like me so much?”
The question fell silent. Yukhei’s fingers picked at the grass beneath him, occasionally finding a stone to throw into the lake. Donghyuck thought about how the Naiads wouldn’t be too happy about that when they found out.
Yukhei cleared his throat after the long silence, “If I was made for the sea, then you were made for the sun, Donghyuck. And the sea isn’t whole without the sun.”
Donghyuck felt his breath leave him as Yukhei reached up to brush his damp hair out of his eyes. Staring into each other’s eyes seemed to be a common theme of the night, and Donghyuck was starting to feel a little nauseous at the whiplash. He couldn’t believe he was sat with someone he claimed to have hated, someone he so actively avoided. He was terrified; things would be different after this and he knew it, their vibe was different, their boundaries were different, and perhaps Yukhei held just as power over Donghyuck as Donghyuck did to him.
After what felt like an infinity, Donghyuck wished Yukhei goodnight and headed back to his cabin.
☼
“That’s not yours,” Is what Renjun greets him with the following morning as he opens the door to the Hades cabin, letting Donghyuck inside.
Donghyuck was still practically swimming in Yukhei’s hoodie, and after his mini-breakdown when he woke up he decided he needed a visit to his therapist. Better known as Huang Renjun.
With Renjun being the only inhabitant of the Hades cabin this entire summer, it was his go to place whenever he needed a place to talk in private away from the prying eyes of his half-siblings or campmates. He trusted Renjun with his entire being, and he actually gave pretty useful advice. A ten out of ten friend in Donghyuck’s books. Donghyuck also wasn’t surprised to find Jaemin curled up and still fast asleep in the bottom bunkbed opposite to where he sat, and so he didn’t question it.
“No Jeno today?” He asked instead, avoiding Renjun’s initial question.
“He’s on inspection today,” Renjun explained, before repeating, “That’s not yours,”
Donghyuck rolled his eyes, “Yes, I know this isn’t mine so please help me before I lose my mind,”
Renjun furrowed his eyebrows, clearly misunderstanding the entire situation, “You stole it?”
“No, Renjun!” Donghyuck closed his eyes and mumbled, “It’s Yukhei’s and he gave me it last night because I fell into the water and I might have also fallen in love,”
“Holy shit,” Renjun’s eyes widened comically and he rushed over to his bed, shaking Jaemin awake. Donghyuck felt like crying but he should have expected this from the moment he saw Jaemin in Renjun’s room. He pulled the sleeves of the hoodie – Yukhei’s hoodie – over his hands and buried his face into it.
Jaemin’s head peeked out from beneath the covers, his eyes still half closed and lips pursed as he muffled something to Renjun, who’s face relaxed immediately in return. Donghyuck was really going to cry. Renjun quickly explained what was happening to Jaemin, who sat up quickly the second it processed. He squinted through the light to see Donghyuck, “You’re dating Yukhei?”
“No!” Donghyuck threw a pillow across the room, “I threw myself into the lake last night because I thought someone was trying to kill me but it was just Yukhei and he gave me his jumper and now I think I like him but I don’t know because it happened really fast and I don’t know if I was just blind all along!”
Renjun and Jaemin shared a look, watching Donghyuck as he tucked his legs into the orange hoodie. His round eyes were shadowed with bags from staying up late, then waking early, then crying. He was having a rough day.
“Maybe you like Yukhei,” Jaemin shrugged, receiving a glare from Donghyuck. Renjun shushed him and sighed at Donghyuck’s current state.
“Look, Donghyuck,” He fiddled with his hands, unsure of what to say, “I think you should give him a chance. He clearly likes you a lot, and he’s been trying to get you to notice him for like two years now. If it doesn’t work, then it doesn’t work. At least you’ll have tried. Also, yes Yukhei is annoying but so are you,”
Donghyuck tried to ignore the last part of Renjun’s inspirational speech, focusing on the advice.
“I’ll go and speak to him,” Donghyuck stood up as his friends sent him thumbs-up and cheered for him.
☼
Secretly, Donghyuck hated the Poseidon cabin. Yukhei had, like, three siblings to share one of the most extravagant cabins in the entire camp. The Apollo cabin was overflowing, and Donghyuck was sick of tripping over bows and standing in failed medicine attempts. It was home, but he wouldn’t mind the luxury of a massive cabin to himself. He knocked the shell against the door.
Within seconds, Yukhei pulled open the door. He blinked slowly and tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, as if he couldn’t believe Donghyuck was outside his room.
“Hey,” Donghyuck said shyly, “Can I come in?”
Yukhei nodded, pushing the door open with such force it hit the wall. He let out a string of curses, whispering to himself about how he needed to ask Jaehyun to build him a door stop. Donghyuck wanted to kiss him.
The two of them stood facing each other in the centre of the room. A set of three bunk beds lined against the left wall, only one seeming to be in use (what was with big three kids getting their rooms to themselves, first Renjun and now Yukhei, Donghyuck noticed). In the week since Donghyuck's inspection, Yukhei had already seemed to let the tidiness escape him. The books had fallen over on the shelves and he could see a pile of dust on the window ledge where the sun shone in.
The atmosphere was awkward and Donghyuck was avoiding eye contact. Yukhei was a lot taller than him, he’d never really had chance to notice before but it was cute – he liked tall boys. You like Yukhei the voice in the back of his head reminded him. Shut the fuck up, Donghyuck said.
“You’re still wearing it,” Yukhei pointed at the hoodie. It did, in fact, fall to his knees when he stood up, because for some reason Yukhei liked oversized clothing, which means Donghyuck was basically wearing a floor length dress. Yukhei continued, “It looks really adorable on you. Please don’t try and give it back, my heart wouldn’t forgive me for accepting it,”
Donghyuck laughed softly, meeting Yukhei’s eyes, “For some reason, last night has made my brain feel like it’s rolled around the entire Labyrinth three times and I can’t stop thinking about you,”
Yukhei stepped forward and reached out to cup Donghyuck’s cheeks, “Can I?”
“Well, someone’s a bit forward. Are you this impatient? What if I was getting ready to tell you I can’t stop thinking about how much hate you?” Donghyuck was snarky but didn’t stop Yukhei from leaning down.
“You don’t hate me,” Yukhei whispered. He was so close to Donghyuck that the other could feel his breath against his face. Donghyuck held onto Yukhei’s wrists, guiding him slightly closer.
“And why are you so certain of that?” Donghyuck smirked, waiting for Yukhei’s reply. He hadn’t noticed how compatible their wit and sense of humour was until now. It made him wonder how much of Yukhei he’d ignored or missed whilst he wanted to kill him over the haikus.
“Because you’d have put an arrow through my skull by now if you did,”
Yukhei closed the gap, his lips finally meeting Donghyuck’s.
Not even the knock on the cabin door could tear them away from this moment. Not even when Jeno poked his head in and announced it was time for Yukhei’s inspection, then screaming at the top of his lungs when he noticed what they were doing.
Donghyuck and Yukhei jumped apart from each other in a heartbeat, waiting for Jeno’s reaction.
Jeno simply giggled and in sing-song intonation, “I’m telling Renjun and Jaemin!” running out and heading towards the Hades cabin across the field.
Donghyuck clicked his tongue and looped his arms around Yukhei’s neck, “Where were we?”
☼
(“Looks like the sun completed the sea,” Donghyuck said into Yukhei’s ear before placing a kiss onto his cheek.
The end of year campfire was in full swing, the bead ceremony having just ended and every camper giving a new addition to their necklace. Yukhei had somehow talked Jaehyun into making him a wooden carving of a sun onto a separate bead, allowing him to have his own piece of Donghyuck on his camp necklace. Donghyuck thought he should probably send a thank-you letter to the Hephaestus cabin – Jaehyun was practically Yukhei’s father at this point with the number of things he fixed for him, and Johnny was producing as many arrows as he ever did.
“Looks like it did,” Yukhei pulled Donghyuck to sit on his lap, his back falling into Yukhei’s chest with a solid thud. Donghyuck wiggled around a little, getting comfy and closing his eyes. Yukhei held the sun bead between his finger and thumb for a second, then wrapping his arms around Donghyuck’s waist.
Another year passing by so quickly, but they’d promised to keep in contact. They didn’t live that far from each other anyway, and Donghyuck promised he’d visit Yukhei for his birthday in January. The smile on Yukhei’s face after he said it was enough for Donghyuck to forget about how much it would cost or if he’d have to miss school. It was worth it.
Across the campfire, they could see Renjun, Jeno and Jaemin in a small huddle, holding hands and discussing their year plans in hushed voices. Donghyuck smiled, forgetting momentarily that his duty as a best friend was to constantly fake disgust over their relationship. It was cute, he’ll confess. Wow, Donghyuck thought, having a boyfriend makes you an entirely new person.
Just as he was about to slip into sleep against the comfort of Yukhei’s chest, the other tapped his shoulder. Donghyuck opened one eye to see him smirking.
“You are my boyfriend-”
“Oh, for fucks sake!”
“I love you so very much, thank you for returning it. Wait, that last one was seven syllables instead of five, give me a minute,”
“I’m literally going to kill you.”)