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BADGE ZERO: FIRST MEETINGS
Donghyuck itches his side as he stands in the blistering heat in his Scouts uniform. He absolutely hates that he has to wear this disgusting combination of different shades of brown but at least it’s only for the first and last days of camp.
He looks around, not recognizing a single face. None of the guys from his troop ended up coming because apparently they had better things to do with their summer than to sleep in a crusty cabin for eight weeks in Upstate New York. Donghyuck feels duped, bamboozled and smeckledorfed by his friends back home.
Orientation goes by slowly and painfully. There’s only so much heat Donghyuck can take when he’s in a crowd of more than thirty boys in a gym that’s barely air conditioned. The boy sitting next to him is on his phone the whole time and it makes Donghyuck wonder if he even has service so of course, he asks.
“Your phone works up here?” Donghyuck asks, nudging the boy’s side. He looks up, almost dropping his phone in the process. He shakes his head. “I’ve got iBooks, some games that don’t require wifi and Spotify premium just for this.” He winks, pulling out an AirPod case from his left pocket.
Donghyuck nods, impressed. For a moment, he wishes that he would have thought of that himself but then he thinks that he wouldn’t want to possibly lose his AirPods in the middle of nowhere so he’s glad he didn’t. He has half the mind to introduce himself to the boy before orientation ends but when the event is over, the kid is gone.
People are dispersing, going back to the counsellors they were assigned to during check-in so Donghyuck does just that, finding the man that Donghyuck can only identify because of his vibrant red hair and hot as hell man bun. According to the name tag on his chest, his name is Yuta.
“Finally, there you are,” He comments. “The cabins are assigned by numbers which I’ll hand out in a second…” Yuta begins to go off on a tangent, explaining the do’s and don’ts of the cabins like leaving the fan on when no one is inside and leaving without telling anyone. It isn’t anything Donghyuck hasn’t heard before. He’s been on other minimal camping trips with his troop and he does have the camping badge so some of this stuff really doesn’t need to be reiterated.
He looks away, taking in the sight. Donghyuck has never been anywhere else in Upstate New York besides this camp, much less anywhere outside of New York State besides the forest where his troop has been camping at every spring break for the past eleven years. The last time Donghyuck was here, he was eight so now he’s kind of upset that his friends back in the City decided to dip because they’re older and ‘don’t do kids things anymore.’
(Their words, not Donghyuck’s. As if being in the Scouts at seventeen isn’t embarrassing enough. Now they’re suddenly too cool to sleep away from home for two months? Sounds fake but okay.)
Donghyuck gets assigned to his cabin and immediately he wants to teleport back home. It most definitely does not compare to his space of living in the two-bedroom apartment he shares with his older brother and brother-in-law but Donghyuck can confidently say that what he lives in back home is way better than what he’s about to experience for the next eight weeks.
There’s only one dresser, the closet is too small, and the plug to the fan is bent. At that angle, it probably won’t even fit the outlet. Donghyuck groans, falling back onto a random bed. The springs squeak. This is worse than Hell , he concludes.
The door creaks open and Donghyuck shoots up, wary of the person who’s about to enter. “Oh, you again,” They say, with a soft smile.
It’s the guy who was messing around on his phone during orientation. He settles his stuff on the left side of the room. Donghyuck watches him, not sure of what to say. It’s weird because Donghyuck is the most outgoing person in his friend group back home but here he’s too scared to just let loose. “I’m Jeno. If I’m not wrong, then you must be Lee Donghyuck.”
Donghyuck just nods because the words he wants to say end up getting caught in his mouth. Suddenly his throat feels dry and he knows it’s not due to the fact that he’s sweating his skin away. “What part of New York are you from?” Donghyuck settles on asking.
“Oh, I’m not from New York. I drove up from Maryland,” Jeno informs him, as he tidies his side of the room, putting clothes away and such. Donghyuck thinks about doing the same but he’s not sure if he wants his belongings in the dresser. Who knows how long it just stays out in the woods like that?
“You live five hours away from New York and you gave up your summer in Maryland to come to Camp Kaufmann?” Donghyuck asked, tone incredulous. He can’t believe someone that far away would subject themselves to this sort of Scout torture.
Jeno shrugs, “My best friends and I have been coming here since we were kids. Traditions are hard to break.” Donghyuck supposes he can agree with that.
They talk for a while, mostly until they decide to head over to the cafeteria for dinner. Donghyuck learns a lot about Jeno and it’s kind of surprising. He likes to read One Piece and Naruto. He’s raising three cats back in Maryland despite his fur allergy. He likes to work out and be healthy but he doesn’t like tight fitting clothes because Jeno is insecure no matter how many times Jaemin and YangYang (his best friends, Donghyuck assumes) tell him he looks good in skinny jeans and turtlenecks.
Jeno’s also got Sanrio character stickers on his phone case and likes to take care of the plants around his house for his grandmother. Jaemin calls him an enigma but Jeno just likes to say that he has a “very layered personality.”
Donghyuck isn’t nearly as interesting as Jeno. He tells him this and Jeno just laughs. “Anyone that isn’t from Maryland or my best friends are interesting to me.” Donghyuck smiles at that, dropping his head. “If you say so.”
At dinner, Jeno introduces Donghyuck to Jaemin and YangYang. It’s disconcerting to him because the three of them are so different but somehow their friendship works out. Jaemin is observant and contributes to the conversation only when he deems his words worthy enough to be said and he makes sure they’re heard. YangYang is quiet and reserved but after Donghyuck flings a meatball at Jeno for bringing up some anime none of them have watched, he laughs and lets loose a little.
When YangYang goes on a tangent about all the new activities he’d seen in the brochure, Jeno and Donghyuck meet eyes. Jeno smiles, his eyes crinkle and Donghyuck thinks he’s just found his new group of friends for the next two months.
BADGE ONE: ARCHERY
Camp Kaufmann is exactly what you’d expect it to be. There are many Eagle Scouts who act as counsellors and make sure their groups are rounded up every morning in a meeting after breakfast, before the lunch break, before dinner, and before the campfire that ends every day. These are the only times Donghyuck doesn’t see Jeno and the others. It’s been a few days and even though the four of them have only known each other since the Opening Ceremony, Donghyuck feels restless without the other three by his side.
He’s sat in the morning meeting, wishing he were anywhere but there. Yuta is debriefing them on the amount of badges they can get by the end of the week which is a mere five. Donghyuck only needs about twenty more badges to complete his sash. He doesn’t care how he gets them but he knows that if he goes back to Manhattan without them, he’d have come to this camp for nothing! However, he did get some pretty cool friends out of it, so it wouldn’t be a total waste.
Donghyuck rejoins Jeno at their cabin before heading to breakfast, interrupting something he can’t even begin to comprehend. YangYang is in front of the fan with his shirt over it, taking all the air and Jaemin has way too many pieces of paper crumpled into makeshift fans in his hand, shirtless on Jeno’s bed.
They know the scene is ridiculous and as soon as Donghyuck makes a noise of confusion, they burst into laughter. “No one explain it to me, I don’t really want to know.” Donghyuck concludes and that’s the start to their day.
. . . : : . . .
YangYang and Donghyuck split up from Jeno and Jaemin to participate in Archery. Jeno went to get his Digital Game Design badge and Jaemin settles on walking to the other side of camp so he can finally get the Simple Meals badge he’d been talking about since the campfire two nights ago.
“Ever shot an arrow before?” YangYang asks, picking up a bow that’s too small for him. Donghyuck shakes his head, picking up each and every one, seeing which fits him the most. He’s never shot anything so Donghyuck isn’t really sure how this will go.
There’s only one other boy at this station because apparently the final test before receiving the badge has been too hard for people to complete. Some kid from Donghyuck’s group named Kunhang has been the only person able to get his Archery badge so far. The counsellors were making bets on anyone and everyone who approached the area just for some kind of excitement in their boring summer job.
YangYang, Donghyuck, and the other kid neither of them know sit through the brief course of how to shoot an arrow, how to hold a bow, and why it’s important for a Boy Scout to know all of this stuff. Of course, the three of them tune out the last part even though it’ll probably come up again in the assessment test before they can get the badge.
The boy they don’t know steps up first. Determination radiates off of him as he gets into position before letting the arrow cocked in his bow fly. He misses the target completely. It takes everything in Donghyuck to not snicker. YangYang looks at him with the ghost of a smile on his lips.
Taeil, the counsellor operating the station, gives them a look that makes Donghyuck want to roll his eyes. They turn their attention back to the boy and this time he gets a four, then gets a five. He scowls, placing the bow back on the table. “It’s okay, Renjun,” Taeil reassures him. “It’s hard for beginners to even reach the target sometimes so the fact that you hit it in the end is a feat in of itself.” Taeil pats the boy’s, Renjun’s, shoulders.
Donghyuck steps up to the line closest to the target and gets in position. Before he releases the arrow, YangYang says from the side, “You should close one eye for more accuracy.” Donghyuck ignores him because he likes to do things his way.
Everything happens too quickly. The arrow flies and hits way too close to the bullseye, right on the line that separates nine and ten. YangYang is shouting in excitement and shaking Donghyuck’s shoulders and Donghyuck swears he’s about to get motion sickness from it. Taeil and Renjun are standing with their mouths wide open in shock. What can Donghyuck say? He’s truly good at everything if he puts his mind to it.
“You’ve got two arrows left. Maybe this one was just luck,” Renjun says. Donghyuck knows there’s some anger and jealousy laced in it and it makes him want to hit the bullseye just to see what kind of reaction he can get out of the guy.
Donghyuck’s second arrow hits seven and his third hits nine again but this time, a little farther away from the bullseye. When Donghyuck puts his bow back on the table, Renjun marches up to him. Donghyuck is only about an inch or two taller than him but he still finds it cute that the boy is shorter than him.
“What’s your name?” He demands so Donghyuck tells him. “Shoot again. There’s no way in hell you can get more points than me.” Donghyuck laughs. “You think you can beat me? You missed the entire target on your first try! I mean, go ahead but don’t say I didn’t tell you so when you lose.”
Donghyuck can practically see the steam coming out of Renjun’s ears in anger but there’s no way he can take this kid seriously. He’s so small and adorable that Donghyuck decides that he wants to continue to get on his nerves so he can see him scowl cutely again.
So, he steps back in front of the line and gets himself two nines and a seven, ending with twenty-five points. At this rate, he’ll be able to get his archery badge before lunch. He expresses this concern to Taeil who tells him there are two other challenges he has to pass until he can give it to him and Donghyuck suddenly gets excited.
Renjun takes his turn and ends with a score of twenty-one which makes him eligible to go onto the next part of receiving his Archery badge. YangYang had given up after he missed the target all three times on his first try, content with watching Donghyuck’s budding rivalry with this boy he’s just met.
. . . : : . . .
“I thought you guys were going to wait for me?” Donghyuck asks when he gets to the cafeteria for dinner. He had gone to take a shower after he finished getting his Climbing badge and Jeno said he’d wait but by the time Donghyuck got back to the cabin, everyone was gone.
Jeno just shrugs as Donghyuck sits down in the last empty seat. It takes him a few more seconds to realise he’s sitting across from Renjun, the kid who challenged him to some weird kind of face-off at the Archery station earlier. In the end, Donghyuck got his badge but Taeil told Renjun to go again tomorrow. Donghyuck would be a liar if he said he didn’t laugh in Renjun’s face when Taeil had implied that he failed the assessment.
“What are you doing here? And who are you?” Donghyuck asks, pointing his question toward Renjun and the unknown boy sitting next to him.
Apparently his name is Mark and he’s part of Renjun’s group for the duration of camp. Donghyuck squints his eyes at him for a moment then smiles, deeming him another person he can subject to his endless teasing.
The conversation shifts occasionally from what they do back home when not at camp and to things they did during the day. “I’m so close to getting badges on the back of my sash,” Jaemin muses. “I’ve got two more spaces but I’m not sure what I should go around for tomorrow.”
“Let’s all do Pottery and Ceramics tomorrow. It’s supposed to be bad weather so it’ll be better if we’re inside instead of walking around.” Jeno suggests. Everyone agrees in mutters or nods. “Pottery and Ceramics is the longest one though,” Mark complains. “Yukhei was there for like five hours until he passed the assessment.”
“Would you rather be doing some activity outside in the rain or inside making a vase in what’s probably one of the few air conditioned rooms in the entirety of camp?” Donghyuck comments. Mark begrudgingly agrees, knowing that Donghyuck is right. “How many more badges do you need, Hyuck? Your sash is pretty full.” Jaemin points out.
Donghyuck isn’t sure anymore, honestly. There’s a lot of space on the back but with the way certain badges are designed, he doesn’t know which ones he’ll be able to fit. “It doesn’t seem like a lot. I don’t even think you should be concerned about how many you’ll get by the end of camp with the way you cleared the Archery badge.”
“It wasn’t that good,” Renjun frowns, pushing around the food on his plate. Donghyuck tries not to smirk but every muscle in his mouth resists. “Just admit you’re jealous that I got the badge and you didn’t, Renjunnie,” Donghyuck teases, reaching over the table to pinch his cheek.
Renjun swats Donghyuck’s hand away, “I’m not jealous. I bet that you can’t get more badges than me by the time we’re at the Closing Ceremony,” Renjun smirks, in a way that makes Donghyuck’s heart rate increase. He’s not sure if it’s because he lives to spite Renjun now or some other emotion he can’t quite place his finger on yet.
“Bet.” Donghyuck replies with the same fervor and determination Renjun started with. They shake hands over the table, squeezing the other until it hurts. “Scout’s promise, I’ll win.” Donghyuck challenges.
Renjun barks out a laugh and holds up three fingers. “On my honor, I will try.”
BADGE TWO: POTTERY AND CERAMICS
Donghyuck will be the first person to admit that he’s not very good at the arts. Music, singing, and theatre are more of his strong suits so while he desperately would rather be heading over the auditorium so he could receive his theatre badge, he’s walking to a building where Arts and Science related badges are being assessed and given out with the new friends he’s made over the past week.
He thinks about his friends back home and how they could be doing all these things together but Donghyuck can’t even find any emotion in him that’s sad. Donghyuck has only known Jeno, YangYang and Jaemin for a week, Renjun and Mark for less than a full twenty-four hours, and he’s already one hundred percent sure that if he hadn’t met them, camp would be a total bummer.
“What the hell you’re almost done?” Donghyuck calls out incredulously to Renjun who’s just got back from washing his hands at the sink.
He nods with a triumphant smile. “Of course. The arts are my strong suit.” Donghyuck rolls his eyes. “So you’re just going to sit there and stare at me the whole time while I struggle or can I get a little help from Polyclitus reincarnated?”
Renjun’s smile turns into a look of annoyance. He scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. “This is a competition. Why should I help my enemy?”
Donghyuck hums, thinking of what to say that will persuade Renjun into helping him. It won’t be that hard because neither of them can say no to each other anyway. “You and I both know that the both of us are leaving here with a badge. You’ll have the satisfaction of saying you got it hours before me?” Donghyuck offers and Renjun seems to think it over for a moment.
He sighs and brings his chair over, sitting on the other side of Donghyuck’s sculpting wheel.
Jaemin and YangYang, like the troublemakers they are, get a warning from Ten and Sicheng, the counsellors of this station. “Maybe if you stopped throwing wet clay at each other...” Donghyuck hears Mark murmur.
Mark is sitting to the left of him, with Jeno on his side. They’ve been doing their own work quietly, talking to each other occasionally. Sometimes Donghyuck likes to think he’s an overachiever but then he looks at Mark and sees a perfectionist with a certain kind of affinity for anything he sets his mind to. It’s admirable and Donghyuck wishes he could be that way towards anything including his musical endeavours.
“Donghyuck! Your vase!” Renjun warns but it’s too late. Donghyuck had been thinking too much and ruined the wet clay, making it look more like a big bowl instead of the vase he was supposed to be making.
“Shit. Fuck, oops, sorry no cursing,” He stumbles over his words, glancing at the counsellors who are giving him dirty looks for swearing too loudly. Donghyuck sighs as he throws the clay, getting it into the right mould before putting it back on the spinning wheel.
Maybe he won’t get this badge and then Renjun will rub it in his face the entire day. No , Donghyuck thinks. He’s going to get this badge because he knows how bad Renjun wants it which means he needs to work one hundred times harder to get it as well.
“You keep messing it up,” Renjun complains, getting up from his seat. He stands behind Donghyuck, putting his hands on top of Donghyuck’s.
“Hey, wait, you’re hands are clean—” “I don’t care. If I have to watch you mess this up one more time, I think I’ll say every swear word I know in English, Korean and Chinese so for the love of God, please just let me help you.”
Donghyuck is stunned into silence. He nods, foolishly.
Renjun puts his hands on top of Donghyuck’s again and he can’t help but mentally coo over how small and soft they are.
He looks up at Renjun for a second before turning his attention back to the clay below them. Renjun’s hands guide Donghyuck’s and he thinks he wants to stay like this for a while.
Donghyuck thinks about how close Renjun’s face is to his right now. If he turned and angled his head up the right way, unlike before, his lips would be close to Renjun’s lips and they’d be a breath away from a kiss.
“Stop staring at me and pay attention to the clay,” Renjun murmurs. Donghyuck looks away.
Right , Donghyuck thinks. Why would Renjun want to kiss him? So far their friendship is based on a competition. As far as Donghyuck is concerned, he’s Renjun’s rival. Nothing more, nothing less.
So maybe he should start acting like it.
BADGE THREE: PADDLING
The next week has been hotter than hell. None of the boys have been doing any strenuous badge tasks that aren’t in the few air conditioned rooms at the Arts and Science building because it’s so hot outside.
Mark lays on the floor of his shared cabin with Renjun, swearing that he’s going to get a farmer’s tan just from being outside for the ten minutes between morning meetings and coming back.
The fan in the room isn’t helping. It’s in a much better condition than the one in Jeno and Donghyuck’s room. It moves in circles to distribute air throughout the whole room but it’s kinda hard to feel the air when Jaemin and YangYang are standing in front of the fan whenever it moves to the side of the room Donghyuck is sitting on.
“How about we get our Paddling badges today? At least we’ll be able to be in the lake for a while.” Jeno suggests, trying to fan himself with his shirt, not knowing that he’s just exerted more energy and he’ll just end up being hotter instead of cooler.
They agree in scattered comments, and go back to their respective cabins to change into swimming trunks then rendezvous at Mark and Renjun’s cabin since it’s closest to the path that leads to the lake.
Jaemin and Yangyang already have their paddling badges, something they did while last summer on a camping trip with family (Jaemin’s father is their troop leader, Jeno fills Donghyuck in), so the two of them decide to go and get their Life Savings badge at the pool while the rest go through the requirements for their Paddling badges.
Donghyuck and Renjun take one row boat while Jeno and Mark take another. Donghyuck wanted to protest against it but when he saw how shy Jeno got with Mark while they got assigned to their boat and handled the paddle, Donghyuck knew he couldn’t intervene with their soon-to-be summer love.
Renjun expresses his distaste as well, upset that he and Donghyuck are basically on the same team.
Donghyuck tries to distract Renjun from the lessons while they stand on the dock, as Kun and Ten demonstrate how to row and all the other important things until Renjun elbows him in the stomach so hard that he doubles over in pain. How someone that small could be that strong, Donghyuck doesn’t know and he’s not sure he wants to find out either.
They get along pretty well for the most part and Donghyuck thinks it’s a good advancement in their not-quite-rivalry. Renjun is talking about how he often wonders if sunflowers turn themselves around after the sunset but Donghyuck is arguing that the concern is stupid.
“It’s a valid concern!” Renjun cries and Donghyuck shakes his head, fighting the smile that’s appearing on his lips. “Whatever, it’s your turn to row now,” He concludes, shoving the paddle to Renjun.
Renjun disagrees, shoving it back to Donghyuck. “I just rowed from the dock to here. You’re supposed to row us back.” “No way, I rowed us here! It’s your turn!”
“Well I’m not doing it.” Renjun crosses his arms.
Mark and Jeno are at the dock, waving their arms like mad men, unaware of what’s going on between Renjun and Donghyuck as they sit in their boat arguing with each other like elementary aged kids.
“I’m not doing it either. Unless you want to swim back to the dock.” Donghyuck challenges, placing his hands on the sides of the boat.
Renjun scowls at him. “Don’t you dare turn the boat over, Lee Donghyuck.”
“I will if you don’t take the paddle.”
“I am not paddling this God forsaken boat for a second time. I swear on Zhang Yixing’s cat if you turn this boat over, I will—”
Donghyuck tips the boat over.
Now that he’s under the water and trapped under the boat, he thinks about how completely stupid of an idea it was because neither of them are strong enough to move the boat away but Donghyuck is smart enough to pull Renjun with him away from it.
When they resurface Renjun has a coughing fit and Kun and Ten are on their way from the dock in their own row boat to retrieve them.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” Renjun yells, splashing Donghyuck with water. The younger doesn’t doubt that if they were on land, Renjun would be punching his arm until it was bruised and numb.
When Kun and Ten paddle up to them, Donghyuck shyly smiles, knowing that whatever punishment he gets will be worse than Hell.
. . . : : . . .
“I can’t believe I’m doing this shit with you. This is so unfair,” Renjun scowls, stacking the papers Yuta is forcing them to organise as punishment for earlier.
Donghyuck feels kind of bad that Kun and Ten put Renjun on this punishment too since Renjun didn’t do anything wrong and he’s expressed this to Renjun but the older just shrugs it off.
“Life isn’t fair, kid.” Yuta comments offhandedly, concentrating on whatever he’s writing. “Although I didn’t think you’d be quite the troublemaker you are, Renjun.”
Renjun laughs but there’s nothing funny. “I’m only in trouble because of this dipshit.”
“Maybe if you paddled us back to the dock like you were supposed to.” Donghyuck mutters, moving out of the way before Renjun could land a punch on his arm.
Yuta chuckles at them. “Your relationship is weird. Even Doyoung and Taeyong didn’t act like that when they first started dating and they fight all the time.” Donghyuck and Renjun look at each other then at Yuta in disbelief.
“We’re not dating.” Renjun deadpans. Donghyuck nods in agreement, however his silence is more telling than he’d like to admit. It’s not like the thought of dating Renjun hasn’t crossed Donghyuck’s mind before but having someone actually say it to his face? It kind of scares him.
“That’s what they all say at first,” Yuta hides his smile behind his cup.
BADGE FOUR: ORIENTEERING
When he agreed to getting his Orienteering badge, Donghyuck didn’t think his new friends would be complete shit at reading a map and using a compass and yet, here he is, in the middle of the woods with no clue of how to get back to Doyoung, the counsellor in charge of the Scouts trying to obtain their badge.
“Are you sure this is the right way,” Yangyang asks, annoyance clear in his tone, “because I swear we’ve passed this tiny lake thing three fucking times,” He complains, stopping in his steps when Jaemin turns around to glare at him.
“If you’re so sure on where to go, why don’t you take the map, babe ?” Yangyang snatches the paper out of Jaemin’s hands, “Gladly, honey .”
Jeno, Donghyuck and Renjun share a look of exasperation. “Guys, it’s fucking hot and we’re not going to make any progress if you keep arguing like that,” Jeno tries to reason.
The five boys take a breather, stopping by the lake they’d passed way too many times. It’s probably not too clean but they use the water to cool themselves down a little while they try to find a way to return to the campsite. Donghyuck frowns, wishing he had gone with Mark and Yukhei to get his Music badge.
Yangyang and Jeno hunch over the map, trying to figure out some kind of way to make it back to camp.
“What if we just split up?” Jaemin suggests and the rest of them look at him like he’s just said the stupidest thing of the day, which he kind of did.
“This cut on my arm isn’t going to heal itself any faster and you guys are just going to get us even more lost.” Renjun scoffs. “Let’s just follow the footsteps we made in the mud or something. They might not be that prominent anymore but we can find ones from people that started the assessment after we left.”
Even though he didn’t really want to, Donghyuck had to admit that it was a pretty good idea. Way better than what Jaemin brought up.
They begin to follow Renjun, who leads the group. Donghyuck and Jeno walk behind him and Jaemin and Yangyang walk behind them, still arguing about the map but this time a little more quiet.
“Hey… Do you guys hear that?” Jeno asks. Everyone stops in their tracks and Jaemin and Yangyang’s lovers quarrel dies down for a moment.
There’s just silence until the sound of a tree branch breaking echoes around them. “There’s someone else here.”
Donghyuck has watched conspiracy theories about kids getting kidnapped on camping trips and now his fear of it is amplified by one hundred percent. “We’re gonna die here! Renjun is going to bleed out and then the killer is going to get us one by one!” He cries, crouching on the floor.
“Shut the hell up,” Renjun hisses. “It could be a counsellor.”
“And what happens if it’s not?” Jeno asks. Donghyuck doesn’t want to know.
“We run.” Yangyang shrugs.
Another tree branch snaps and this time, there are voices. “Are the five of you absolutely crazy?! The past two days all you’ve been doing is making trouble in camp!” The nasally nagging voice that Donghyuck knows belongs to Doyoung calms his racing heart.
He approaches quickly and almost has a heart attack at the sight of their disheveled appearances. That’s what happens when your lost in the middle of the forest for half an hour, Donghyuck assumes.
“Let’s go,” Doyoung orders, walking off. “You five are going to put me in a hospital and there’s barely even a week of camp left. Gosh, how do your parents put up with you?”
BADGE --: FIRST AID
Out of the four, Donghyuck is the only one with his First Aid badge so Doyoung sends Donghyuck to the nurse’s office with Renjun after they get back to camp.
They walk in silence for the most part. Donghyuck doesn’t really know what to say. Renjun has been kind of mad at him ever since he pulled that stunt at the lake, which was a few days ago. Because of Donghyuck, Kun and Ten didn’t give them the badge. Donghyuck assumed that’s what Renjun was mad about but the older hadn’t accepted his apology when they reconvened at the campfire that night.
The nurse’s office is empty when they get there and Donghyuck crinkles his nose in annoyance. “I guess I’ll patch you up,” He mutters.
“What makes you so qualified to do that?” Renjun retorts, still holding his injured arm. Donghyuck frowns. He doesn’t like this Renjun. “My First Aid badge,” Donghyuck counters, searching the room for everything he needs or thinks he needs.
Donghyuck prepares a cloth for Renjun’s cut and tells him it’s going to sting. “You can hold my hand if you want.”
Renjun snorts but grips Donghyuck’s hand so hard that he almost cuts the circulation from it when Donghyuck begins to clean Renjun’s arm.
Their trip in the forest wasn’t exactly the safest, Renjun having the worst luck of the bunch. There was a huge hill that they all ended up tripping down but Renjun came out of it with the worst scratches out of the four of them.
“Sorry about the paddling thing,” Donghyuck can’t help but mutter. The silence is killing him and he hates knowing that Renjun is mad at him. It’s not like Donghyuck hasn’t acknowledged that what he did was shitty and if he could go back in time, he’d suck it up and paddle them back to the dock. Donghyuck just wishes Renjun would say something that wasn’t mean or with an annoyed tone to him.
Renjun says nothing. Donghyuck sighs. “I’m going to clean the cuts on your face now.”
They’re close now, figuratively and literally. Figuratively because ever since Donghyuck agreed to the bet, the two of them have been attached at the hip, going around camp and giving their all just for a stupid badge that doesn’t really mean anything.
Literally? Donghyuck is standing in between Renjun’s legs as the older sits on the countertop and lets Donghyuck tend to him. If the atmosphere wasn’t so tense, so awkward, Donghyuck would say something lighthearted. Maybe Renjun would laugh and it’d cause Donghyuck’s heart to stop momentarily.
He’s had this thought before, two weeks after they met each other when they were doing Pottery and Ceramics together. Donghyuck could stand closer, which seems impossible but it is not quite. He’d kiss Renjun and tell him how he feels. With just the right amount of luck, Renjun would kiss him back and say that he feels the same.
But Donghyuck never gets too lucky. So for now, it’s just enough that he even met Renjun this summer.
“What you did was stupid,” Renjun whispers.
Donghyuck stops, his hand in the air, gripping the cloth he’d been using to clean Renjun’s cuts.
“I know. I’m—”
“Stop saying sorry.”
Donghyuck doesn’t miss the way Renjun’s eyes flicker from his lips back to his own. He doesn’t want to read the situation wrong but sometimes he has too much hope.
Slowly, but way too fast and all at once, Donghyuck leans forward however Renjun leans back.
The silence between them was deafening and seemed to last a lifetime. Renjun drops Donghyuck’s hand and it suddenly feels cold, as if all the warmth it had came from Renjun himself.
Renjun hops off the countertop, placing his hand on the doorknob. “We should get to our group meetings soon, before we miss them.”
Donghyuck listens to Renjun’s footsteps echo away as he returns everything he used back to its proper spot and he thinks he’s never felt so alone.
. . . : : . . .
Dinner that night is awkward but even that is an understatement. Donghyuck and Renjun’s usual and constant bickering contributes to most of the conversation between the six boys but previous events make it hard for the two of them to even look at each other, much less speak.
Their new dynamic doesn’t go unnoticed, especially not by Jeno, who pulls Donghyuck into their cabin after dinner before the campfire. “What the hell happened between you and Renjun before dinner?” Jeno confronts him, standing in front of the door before Donghyuck can exit.
Donghyuck doesn’t want to answer and his silence is telling. He and his new friends have been having a good summer and Donghyuck really doesn’t want to ruin the fun they’ve been having because he’s trying to deal with boy crush problems with someone that’s supposed to be his enemy in a childish competition.
“Well, we’re not leaving until you tell me what happened,” Jeno demands, crossing his arms. Donghyuck knows how strong Jeno is so it’s a complete waste and embarrassment when he tries to push the older out of the doorway.
They stare at each other, Jeno’s gaze unforgiving and Donghyuck’s pout obviously not doing anything to make Jeno change his mind.
“Fine! I kept trying to apologise to Renjun, then I tried to kiss him because I misread the situation and it made everything awkward and now he hates me so he’s going to beat me up with Mark and they’ll drag me into the forest so no one can find out about it—”
“Hyuck, please ,” Jeno interrupts him, rolling his eyes. “Renjun doesn’t hate you. Mark’s told me about how much Renjun talks about you when they’re in the cabin for the night. He looks at you like you’re the one who puts the stars in the sky every evening.”
Donghyuck frowns. “That’s not true.”
Jeno moves out from the doorway. “We’re going to go to the campfire and you’re going to bring Renjun back here and talk out your problems.” Donghyuck has no choice but to follow Jeno out of the cabin and to take his advice because it’s a good idea and if he doesn’t follow through with it, Donghyuck knows he’ll end up regretting it.
. . . : : . . .
At the campfire, Donghyuck trails behind Jeno and Renjun tries to stick himself to Mark for most of the night. Jeno gets fed up, whispering harshly to Donghyuck that now is the time to talk to Renjun or he’ll never get the chance again. Donghyuck knows that Jeno is just annoyed that he can’t spend time with Mark because he and Renjun are being petty with each other but Donghyuck also hates that he knows Jeno is right. The Closing Ceremony is so close now. He really can’t put this off any longer.
“Renjun, we have to talk.” Donghyuck tries not to sound so soulless but he's nervous and doesn't want anything to go wrong.
Mark looks at Renjun and the two of them seem to be having a conversation through eye contact, facial expressions and telepathy. Renjun just nods and Donghyuck leads him back to his cabin.
The air is thick but not so much. Donghyuck doesn't really know where to begin. He's already apologized and he knows that Renjun would rather punch him than have to hear Donghyuck say 'sorry' for the millionth time that day.
“I know how tired you are of hearing me say that I'm sorry so I'll just reiterate everything from before. I shouldn't have done that at the lake, we could've gotten hurt.”
Renjun sighs. “You've already been forgiven for that, Hyuck. I just... What Yuta said the other day really made me think. And then that stunt you pulled earlier, in the nurse's office? Why?”
Donghyuck wasn't expecting that. He feels his heart beat increase. How do you tell your new enemy that you want to kiss him? That you just might be in love with him? Jeno didn't prepare him for this.
“I know, we're supposed to hate each other and everything but ever since the Archery thing I've liked you more than I probably should... Maybe more than you want me to.” Donghyuck admits, head cast down in shame. He's not sure why he's ashamed of his feelings. Maybe because he's almost certain that Renjun doesn't feel the same way.
“When you helped me out during Pottery and Ceramics I knew that I didn't want to just be some guy you were trying to compete with in some stupid rivalry. These badges don't mean anything to me if I have to leave this camp knowing that we're not friends because my feelings got in the way or something.”
“I'm not— Donghyuck, you really are as stupid as Jeno says,” Renjun chuckles, shaking his head. Donghyuck can't help but get caught up on the fact that Jeno called him stupid. They've only been friends for two months! Donghyuck will have to give Jeno a piece of his mind later.
“You're so fucking confusing , Lee Donghyuck. One day you look at me like you want to have the heaviest make-out session of your life with me. Then the next day you do something stupid like drown yourself in the deep end of the pool just so I can save you — yeah, Mark told me that was on fucking purpose — and not even a full twenty-four hours after that shit, you tip the fucking rowboat over just because I didn't want to paddle us back to the dock!”
Donghyuck frowns. As always, Renjun is right. There was a thin line between their friendship and rivalry in which Donghyuck never knew where to stand behind. He felt like he had one foot on the friendship side and his other foot on the rivalry side. He wants to say he's sorry again but he doesn't want Renjun to be anymore frustrated.
“I like you, Renjun. I’m just… not that great at expressing it.”
“I know,” Donghyuck ignores that Renjun said that. “But why didn't you kiss me earlier?”
Donghyuck blinks, shocked.
“I thought you didn't want me to. You pulled away when I leaned in?” Renjun pouts and Donghyuck swears he just might faint from how cute the boy in front of him is. “Well... At the time I didn't want you to kiss me because someone could have walked in on us. But now I want you to.”
“Really? Like this isn't a dream?” Donghyuck asks. He feels like he needs to pinch his arm. Renjun rolls his eyes, “Just kiss me, loser.”
BADGE --: CLOSING CEREMONY
Donghyuck finds himself wearing the same ugly shades of brown he arrived at Camp Kaufmann in, only because the Closing Ceremony starts after dinner. He's walking back to his cabin with Jeno, Jaemin and Yangyang, the four of them trying to brainstorm ways to see the fireworks from anywhere but the big field the counsellors said the show would be at.
"We could go to the lake." Yangyang suggests. "How are we supposed to get to the lake without our counsellors asking why we changed into our swimsuits," Jeno asks. It's a valid concern but Donghyuck thinks he has a pretty good solution to the problem.
“Wait, we're going skinny dipping ?” Mark exclaims, eyes widened as Yangyang and Jaemin begin to shed their clothes at the lake. “What, you've never gone skinny dipping before?” Jeno asks. Mark shakes his head. “No! That's weird as hell. We could've taken a drawstring with our swimsuits in it with us or something,” Mark protests, “I'm not getting in this lake completely naked.”
Donghyuck and Yangyang share a look of mischief before they push Mark off the dock into the lake. When he resurfaces a couple of seconds later, he yells “fuck you guys” in between laughs.
The rest of them jump in after stripping down to their underwear, splashing each other, swimming and enjoying themselves as they wait for the show to start. Donghyuck doesn't think he's ever had this much fun in his life, even with his friends back in Manhattan. He gets sad for a little, remembering that in a few hours, he'll be in the car with his brother and returning home to his boring life. Donghyuck tries to live in the moment and enjoy the rest of his time with his new friends.
"Guys, the fireworks are starting!" Jeno points up, making everyone stop their game of Chicken to pay attention to the lights in the night sky. "Hey," Renjun calls to Donghyuck, "can I ask you something?"
Donghyuck swims over to him. They're still near their friends but far enough that the group won't be able to hear whatever Renjun is about to ask him. "Shoot."
"Have you ever kissed someone under a fireworks show at midnight in the middle of a lake in Upstate New York?" Renjun asks him, a smile on his face. "Oddly specific but no, I don’t think I have," Renjun's smile is contagious and Donghyuck finds himself smiling as well. "Would you like to be the first?"
"Gladly."
. . . : : . . .
Donghyuck hates to admit it, but he almost doesn't want to get out of the shitty bed he's been sleeping in for the past two months. He knows what it means. Going back to Manhattan. Getting ready to go back to school, to start senior year. Leaving his new friends. Leaving Renjun.
Everything goes by slow and there's a sad atmosphere to his group for the rest of the time they spend together. At least Jeno, Yangyang and Jaemin get to see each other after today, as well as Mark and Renjun. Donghyuck is the only one going back home alone.
"You know, we never did decide on who won the bet," Renjun comments. The two of them are sitting on the pavement just outside camp, waiting for their rides. Throughout the day, scouts have been signing out from camp and leaving. Jeno, Yangyang and Jaemin had left a few minutes before the group decided to just sign themselves out and wait where parents and guardians would pull up since they lived the farthest. Mark left after breakfast because he had to start a roadtrip to Canada with his parents.
Donghyuck hums in acknowledgement. Honestly, after he got his Cybersecurity badge, he wasn’t keeping count and wasn’t taking the bet seriously anymore. But now his badges will have some kind of memory behind them and that’s all that matters to him now.
He’s about to answer, with something corny that’ll hopefully make Renjun laugh, but his response is drowned out by a car honk. “That’s me,” Donghyuck recognises the car’s mustard yellow New York license plate as his brother’s.
“Take this,” Renjun tells him, placing a tiny folded piece of paper in Donghyuck’s hand. “Don’t look at it until you have service.”
Donghyuck thinks he has an idea of what’s written inside. They hug, longer than they probably should have. Donghyuck wants to kiss him one last time but there are still people around and his brother would probably go into cardiac arrest so he just waves until Renjun is out of sight.
“Seems like you made a good friend,” Johnny, Donghyuck’s brother, comments, stealing a glance at him. Donghyuck hums, a smile growing on his face. “The best. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.”
Around the three hour mark of Donghyuck’s drive home, he opens the tiny paper Renjun had handed him before getting into the car. Written in the ugliest shade of bright pink is Renjun’s phone number. Donghyuck smiles, putting the new contact into his phone and sending a text.
to. renjunnie
it’s donghyuck!
texting u feels so weird :0
He gets an answer fifteen minutes later.
from. renjunnie
we can always ft u know
to. renjunnie
ofc
u didn’t keep ur promise u know
from. renjunnie
well i tried
that’s all that matters right?
besides
i ended up getting something much better than all of these badges
to. renjunnie
hmm and what might that be?
from. renjunnie
you <3