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Trip Itinerary - Class B-2
Camping to the Coast
Seoul - Hajodae
Day 1
Gather outside the school for transportation
Travel to the nature conservatory
Hike from conservatory to camping location
Set up camp
Evening activities & Dinner
Lockdown for the nightDay 2
Morning activities & Breakfast
Nature study - Life drawing & Photography
Afternoon activities & Lunch
Nature study - Pressing plant samples & Identification
Nature study - Local geology
Evening activities & Dinner
Lockdown for the nightDay 3
Morning activities & Breakfast
Packing & Cleaning up camp
Travel to campgrounds near Hajodae Beach
Set up camp
Beach - Free time & Registered activities
Return to camp
Evening activities & Dinner
Lockdown for the nightDay 4
Morning activities & Breakfast
Nature study - Beach conservation trash pickup
Packing & Cleaning up camp
Final check
Travel back to Seoul
Short break for lunch
Return to the school
Kim Dokja looked over the slightly wrinkled list of activities with a small frown as he crossed off the items one by one. Soon the only untouched lines belonged to Day 4 and the later half of Day 3. He capped the pen and spun it idly on the desk for a few seconds before turning his dour expression to the window. Low gray clouds blotted out the midday sun, the same as they had for the past two days before.
"Your independent study of glaring at the rain isn't going to yield results."
Kim Dokja rolled his eyes at Yoo Joonghyuk before walking over to dramatically flop face first on the unoccupied of two twin beds in the room. A muffled "I know" came from the limply splayed figure.
Yoo Joonghyuk got up from the edge of his own bed and lightly dropped a phone on Kim Dokja's back. The sullen teen quickly rolled over and scrambled for the little rectangle of technology that had slid on to the overly starched bed linens.
"This isn't fully charged!" Kim Dokja weakly pouted while looking up at his roommate.
A familiar impassive expression met him, "You know why." He held up both of their phone chargers before slipping them into a pocket of one of his bags, securing the zipper closed with a small lock.
Kim Dokja grumbled to himself as he opened his favorite novel app, "The light of my phone last night shouldn't have kept you up. I just wanted to do more research on how to fix this disaster of a school trip."
Their class had spent a long time planning this trip. While most other classes went with pre-packaged arrangements, Class B-2 went the bespoke route, working with their teachers and administration to set up a line of events that met the school's curriculum requirements while offering a camping experience as a break from the traditional hotel stay.
Unfortunately the plans they'd worked so hard on quickly fell apart. To start with, the sunny weather forecasted for their trip had turned out to be overcast with varying rains throughout each day so far. Their first stop at the conservatory was met with a sign on the door about being closed due to emergency maintenance. The hiking trail was too wet to safely traverse, and the campgrounds had been hit with a small mudslide, making it unsuitable to stay at.
At a loss and in need of a safe solution to care for 20 students, the chaperones had to use the reserve trip funds to book a stay at the cheapest hotel they could find in Hajodae that would cover all of their days. With all of their activities and plans rained out, the class had been instructed to stay inside and be as quiet as possible.
Such demands would usually be a boon to a homebody like Kim Dokja, but being forced to stay inside is rather different from choosing to stay inside. Plus, he had been looking forward to this trip, if the recent shift in his recommended novels list was anything to go by.
"Reading high school slice of life at 3AM is not research. I'd rather see you getting to sleep at a normal time for once."
"Your lack of appreciation for literature is disappointing, Yoo Joonghyuk," Kim Dokja shook his raised phone in the air admonishingly. "Do you know just how many stories are on this one site alone that cover the high school experience? There has to be at least one, and surely more, that deal with a weather-ruined class trip like ours. I just need to find them and apply their lessons to our reality."
The taller teen watched in bafflement as his bright-eyed roommate lost himself to scrolling through more stories on his phone, "I still think you need less screen time and perhaps some time outside of this room."
"Mmn."
Yoo Joonghyuk knew that he wasn't going to get much more than passive noises on this topic, but he still tried, "I'm going down to the hotel gym. Do you want to come with me?"
The reader managed to pull his eyes away from the screen and looked up at the fit figure for a fleeting moment before looking back at his phone with a more intense gaze, "I don't think I'd do well there."
Shaking his head, Yoo Joonghyuk picked up a small duffel bag before heading towards the door. He looked back one last time, "Do you want me to turn up the air conditioning before I go? You look a little flushed."
Kim Dokja's eyes flickered back towards him for a tiny moment, "I-I'm fine. Have a good workout."
As soon as the door closed behind Yoo Joonghyuk, Kim Dokja quietly counted to ten and then dropped his phone to bury his face into the rough fabric of the nearest pillow for a couple of minutes.
Slightly tired after his two hour workout, Yoo Joonghyuk opened the door to their room.
Seeing inside, he immediately closed it.
Distinguished brows lightly knitted as he tried to dismiss what he had just seen before reopening the door, however his eyes hadn't played tricks on him. Their hotel room now looked like a small hurricane of cards had struck the space while he was out. There were cards scattered on the floor, the desk, peeking out from behind the frame of a bland generic painting of a beach, balanced atop a lampshade, and on the two beds. There were few spots not visited by the cheap playing cards that their chaperones had given each room as a thin form of entertainment during their unintended lock-in.
At the center of the storm was Kim Dokja, seated in the middle of his bed, trying to flick cards one by one into an empty ice bucket set on the floor across from him.
"Welcome back!" There was a warm lilt to his voice, but his eyes didn't shift away from his target as he tossed another card. The four of diamonds flopped lazily through the air, managing to hit every buffet of resistance before dropping to the floor well short of its goal. It had sharply veered right at the end to a spot between their beds.
"Is this the result of your research? 52 card pickup?" Yoo Joonghyuk brushed aside a few stray floor cards with his foot before dropping his workout bag next to his other luggage.
Kim Dokja gave his roommate a withering look, "Hardly. Since someone wouldn't let me charge my phone more, I couldn't read for long. I need to leave some battery in case the power goes out or who knows what else this trip may bring." He accented his frustration by throwing another card, this one with a bit more energy, watching it manage a barrel roll before hitting the desk chair and softly clattering to the floor.
"This is me working on a skill. Could be useful someday to be able to throw a card with precision." His thin shoulders lightly shrugged as Kim Dokja gave Yoo Joonghyuk one of his slightly lopsided grins.
Yoo Joonghyuk strode over, his expression stoic to anyone unfamiliar with the popular teen, but Kim Dokja could vividly see the annoyance alight in his dark jewel-like eyes. The reader was so focused on that expression that he realized too late that the next card in his fingers had been plucked and thrown, only snapping from his daze at the soft tapping sound as the card hit the back of the ice bucket and settled inside.
"W-what?" Kim Dokja scrambled off the bed to look inside the bucket where an ace of hearts quietly sat. He quickly turned around, but Yoo Joonghyuk had already gone back to his side of the room to dig through his luggage for a clean outfit. "Hey, can you show me that again? I missed it."
"You should have paid attention the first time," Yoo Joonghyuk didn't even bother a glance back as he headed towards the bathroom.
"How was I to know you'd only show it once?" Ending on a soft whine, Kim Dokja tried to toss his last card at the bucket and watched it cartwheel off elsewhere. "Of course you'd get it right on your first try," His voice drifted off into a murmur of insults that included things like "Stupid sunfish" and "Handsome devil".
"Kim Dokja." Yoo Joonghyuk turned to look at the suddenly silent student from the bathroom doorway. Despite all of the complaints, he could see a vibrancy in those starry eyes, confirming a lack of venom to his protests.
It took a moment for the reader's brain to finally stop short circuiting from hearing his name spoken in a serious, yet gentle baritone, "I'll clean the room up, don't worry." Kim Dokja leaned over his bed to start sweeping up the cards atop the sheets.
There was a lingering dusting of warmth to the tips of his ears as Yoo Joonghyuk nodded quietly and turned back to the bathroom for a shower.
The hotel room was in a significantly better condition by the time Yoo Joonghyuk returned from his shower. All of the cards had been cleaned up and the room looked tidier in general. Kim Dokja had even made up their beds, though it looked like he had spent more energy on Yoo Joonghyuk's than his own, with the heavy comforter not quite as well wrangled and the pillows slightly matted down.
Yoo Joonghyuk found Kim Dokja slumped low in the desk chair, angled towards the bleak outdoors as he resumed flicking through story after story in his phone's web novel app. He hadn't even looked back when the bathroom door opened.
Not one to pass up an opportunity, Yoo Joonghyuk quietly strode forward and gently pulled the phone out of his roommate's hand from behind. Kim Dokja gave no resistance and looked up at the taller teen in surprise and confusion.
"Not all of the answers are in here," Yoo Joonghyuk powered off the phone as he held it out of reach before gently tossing it on to Kim Dokja's bed. He rounded the chair and gave the sulking figure a determined, calm expression, "Come with me."
He moved back to his side of the room, collecting a large round bag and a backpack from his collection of luggage before Kim Dokja could process the moment and spit out a "What?"
"Bring your umbrella," was the last thing he said before shouldering the two bags and leaving the room.
Kim Dokja still felt dazed, but knowing Yoo Joonghyuk, he was likely already halfway to the elevators at the end of the hall. Caught between annoyance and curiosity, he hastily dug out his travel umbrella from a threadbare duffel bag beside his bed and jammed on his shoes as fast as he could.
A subtle, yet smug expression radiated down on Kim Dokja as he ran face first into Yoo Joonghyuk's chest a few steps outside their door. He lightly hit the taller teen's shoulder with his free hand before taking a step back, "If you were going to wait for me, you should have just said so."
"Let's go," Yoo Joonghyuk turned to lead the way through the hotel instead of responding directly, a softly murmuring trail of complaints following in his wake.
The two were greeted by the very wet landscape as they exited the hotel lobby's automatic doors. The current downpour was going at an average rate, stronger than a light shower, but nowhere near a heavy deluge. The dark, heavy clouds hung lazily in the sky with little wind to encourage the storm away from the coastal town.
Kim Dokja quickly shook open his umbrella before they stepped out of the entryway awning, sticking close to Yoo Joonghyuk so they could share the small, dry haven. His guide wasted no time in walking out towards the boardwalk as soon as the umbrella was up, leaving the slightly older student to hurry to keep up with the brisk pace.
"Where are we going?" They had barely left and Kim Dokja already felt winded and missing the less humid air of the hotel. He held their umbrella a little higher for Yoo Joonghyuk to make sure he had enough clearance under it to see.
Yoo Joonghyuk shook his head a little as if it was obvious, "We're following the itinerary."
A trail of rain began to soak Kim Dokja's shoulder as his focus waned between the umbrella, keeping pace, and trying to recall what they would have been doing at this time without the weather, "Um, this would be the time for registered activities, no? I'm pretty sure our paddleboard class isn't happening."
"As if you were actually going to participate."
Kim Dokja lightly grinned, "Of course I was. I have excellent balance, you know. I was looking forward to it most of the entire trip." He adjusted the umbrella a little, but not enough to save his left arm from collecting more rain water.
"Mhmn," Yoo Joonghyuk's simple, guttural response spoke volumes. They both knew it was all lies, but the battle to pull out such an admission wasn't worth the effort. There were better ways to get honest words from Kim Dokja than chasing after his narratives anyways.
His listing of fictional traits and stats quickly trailed off under the sound of the rain drumming against the taut nylon fabric above them as he slipped into thought. He had been sincerely looking forward to this part of the trip, but his plan had been to relax on the beach and proudly watch Yoo Joonghyuk master another skill, as he had no doubt.
The lengthy boardwalk went past a large number of tourist shops and food stalls, most of which were dark and boarded up today. With the horrible weather, they were not likely to make back the cost of electricity to bother opening, so it wasn't too surprising. Thankfully the pathway was well lined with decorative street lamps that chased away some of the blanketing gloom.
They eventually reached a wide set of wooden stairs leading from the boardwalk to the beach. Despite the sense of haste the weather made the two feel, Yoo Joonghyuk slowed for the walk down, cautious of the uneven and weathered surface. He reached out a hand for Kim Dokja's shoulder to make sure he was steady, but wasn't expecting a soaked sleeve.
A myriad of thoughts and critiques kicked up like a dust storm in Yoo Joonghyuk's mind regarding his fool, but this wasn't the time for it. The point of coming out here had been to ease Kim Dokja's stress, not add to it. Instead of saying anything, Yoo Joonghyuk gently pulled him in closer so that the umbrella better covered both of them. Kim Dokja said nothing through this, but the initial tension in his shoulder had melted away by the time they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Yoo Joonghyuk guided them across the beach, the sound of their wet footsteps now layered with the rough shifting of sand. Not too far away from the stairs, he led them out a little closer to the coast before stopping to look around.
"This should be good," He began to shift the two bags off his shoulders.
"Good for...?" Kim Dokja kept the umbrella over Yoo Joonghyuk as he shifted in the small space before handing off his backpack.
Yoo Joonghyuk quickly unzipped the other bag and pulled out a large, round disc comprised of what looked to be many layers of something. Before Kim Dokja could say a word, Yoo Joonghyuk tossed the disc into the air in front of them and the two watched as it twisted and unfurled into a large hunter green tent.
Kim Dokja's eyes were wide in surprise, nearly sparkling despite the low light, "All of that came out of that little bag?"
His roommate gave a sound in the affirmative as he left the umbrella's protection long enough to adjust the tent's position on the beach so that it was facing out towards the ocean. Pleased with the arrangement, he unzipped the tent door and hurriedly ushered Kim Dokja inside before shortly following.
The tent was surprisingly spacious yet cozy. There was a small front room to remove their sandy shoes and set the folded umbrella. Just behind that was a zippered divider concealing a larger back room that was long enough for even Yoo Joonghyuk to comfortably stretch out in.
As Kim Dokja explored the space in mild awe, Yoo Joonghyuk took out a small rechargeable light from his backpack and hung it from a hook above the main room, casting a soft warmth that wasn't too harsh on their eyes.
"This is so neat," Kim Dokja murmured to himself as he ran his blunt fingernails lightly over the tent material, listening to the soft zwooshing sounds it made.
A towel dropped on top of his head, breaking Kim Dokja's small reverie, "Huh?"
"You're going to catch a cold if you don't dry off," Yoo Joonghyuk continued digging through his backpack while replying.
"Aren't you more wet from setting out the tent than my arm?" Kim Dokja appraised Yoo Joonghyuk, whose hair and the top half of his shirt had gotten soaked in the short time away from the umbrella.
Yoo Joonghyuk gave a clipped sigh, "Do what you want." Kim Dokja began to shuffle behind him, "But if you end up sick, I'm making you tomato soup instead of congee."
He paused at that, thinking it over a beat too long before replying in a stubborn tone, "I won't get sick." Kim Dokja began to gently rub the towel against Yoo Joonghyuk's dark hair and lightly dabbed around his shoulders. He kept back as much as he could so that the light overhead wasn't blocked as Yoo Joonghyuk pulled out three plastic containers from the very bottom of his backpack. "What is all of that?"
With a light touch, Yoo Joonghyuk popped open the lid of one of the boxes and pulled out a small golden brown square that he pressed to the lips of the curious head peeking over his shoulder.
"Yakwa!" Kim Dokja lightly shook Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulders excitedly as he ate the small honey-soaked cookie, "I wasn't expecting that at all!"
Yoo Joonghyuk sat up a bit more as he opened the other two containers to reveal some simple savory snacks in gim gui and nurungji.
Kim Dokja languidly leaned over to take a piece of roasted seaweed, "You had all of this this whole time and didn't say anything?"
"I made it for us, not the whole class," He guided Kim Dokja to sit beside him again instead of continuing a mukbang ASMR into his ear. "I was worried about the teachers taking it."
With an understanding hum, Kim Dokja nodded. After the school festival the previous year, there were few students and teachers not aware of Yoo Joonghyuk's cooking savvy. There were even rumors that a fight had broken out over the last serving at their class's food stall. Kim Dokja knew that had to be false, however, since Yoo Joonghyuk had expressedly saved the last serving for him after finding out that the one who had been stuffed into a mascot costume for three days had taken zero breaks during the event.
After drying off a little more and sharing some homemade snacks between them, the two teens fell into a comfortable silence as they watched the world outside through their open tent door. The ocean waves rolled in and out while the rain continued its scattered staccato upon the tent's surface.
The weather hadn't changed, but Kim Dokja was finally feeling some of the tension and frustration of the trip drain out of him. So lulled by the calm atmosphere, he wasn't even sure when his head had taken to rest on Yoo Joonghyuk's shoulder, or when a warm hand had naturally found a home at his hip.
A gentle press to the crown of his head had Kim Dokja sigh fondly, "Thank you for making my first camping trip so great."
Yoo Joonghyuk didn't reply, but pulled Kim Dokja in closer and lightly nosed at his soft black hair, using the moment to seek some recharging himself.
Eventually a quiet timer went off from Yoo Joonghyuk's phone, signaling the end of their unorthodox picnic. The two had to head back before the chaperones noticed that they were not in the hotel. Yoo Joonghyuk was the first to move, reluctantly nudging Kim Dokja upright so he could pack up the snacks and everything else into his backpack.
While it didn't take them too long to collect things and get back outside, it did take a few more steps to shake out the tent and get it all refolded and coiled back into a disc to stuff into its bag. Kim Dokja did his best with the umbrella to keep Yoo Joonghyuk from getting wet again during the process.
The walk back was thankfully uneventful, though Yoo Joonghyuk was pleased to see Kim Dokja standing a bit closer to him as they made their way back as well as more attentive to keeping himself out of the rain. It wasn't perfect, but it was a marked improvement.
There was an unyielding stare down from Yoo Joonghyuk regarding who was using the shower first when they got back to their room. When Kim Dokja came out, however, he found his phone nearly finished charging on the end table between their beds.
Despite an eagerness to return to his regular schedule of web novels, Kim Dokja's phone never moved that evening. For once in who knows how long, Kim Dokja got a proper night of sleep.