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Assistant: Title: all's fair in love and war
        Author: xinyuvrse xinyuvrse 
        Chapter: 1/1 
        Summary: Zhou Xinyu, three-time reigning champion of Camp Assemble. Her team, team Fox, has won Team of the Summer for the past three years. Even before they were counselors, even just as kids participating at camp, Xinyu was known for having the most spirit and energy along with her disgustingly impressive ability to create team chemistry, which led to her team’s victories.Sohyun hated Xinyu.Well, hate is a strong word. In lighter terms, she found Xinyu unbearable. Something about constantly placing second to her ignites a fire in Sohyun’s stomach. That added to her constant teasing and overbearing extroverted energy, Sohyun couldn’t stand her.orSohyun is sick and tired of losing to Xinyu; and this year, she swears she's going to beat her once and for all.
        Contents: Summary:
            
              Zhou Xinyu, three-time reigning champion of Camp Assemble. Her team, team Fox, has won Team of the Summer for the past three years. Even before they were counselors, even just as kids participating at camp, Xinyu was known for having the most spirit and energy along with her disgustingly impressive ability to create team chemistry, which led to her team’s victories.Sohyun hated Xinyu.Well, hate is a strong word. In lighter terms, she found Xinyu unbearable. Something about constantly placing second to her ignites a fire in Sohyun’s stomach. That added to her constant teasing and overbearing extroverted energy, Sohyun couldn’t stand her.orSohyun is sick and tired of losing to Xinyu; and this year, she swears she's going to beat her once and for all.
            
        

        
  Notes:





    
      rlly late but omg soxinz couple of the year!!this is a gift for my soxinz truthers!! new story might be up soon too!
    

    (See the end of the work for more notes.)



  





    
        
          Summer break. The period of the year every kid anticipates while daydreaming in their classrooms. Sweltering summer heat beating down on tanning skin while playing in the shade of a tree. The epitome of the perfect childhood summer day.Some kids stayed home and spent time resting and hanging out with their friends while others went (both voluntarily and involuntarily) to summer camps to make new friends and spend a few days to weeks away from the city. For those who chose the latter, Camp Assemble was one of the many well-known summer camps for its fun and energetic program. 5 days of friendly competition between each team and the final winners go home with a medal and the title of “Team of the Summer”What’s in it for the counselor of the winning team? Simply put: Bragging rights; that and a pretty large gold trophy that they all were vying for. Sohyun was in her fourth and final year of Camp Assemble; at least her fourth year as a camp counselor. She had one “Team of the Summer” once as a high schooler, but something was always blocking her from winning as a counselor—or rather,  someone .Zhou Xinyu, three-time reigning champion of Camp Assemble. Her team, team Fox, has won  Team of the Summer for the past three years. Even before they were counselors, even just as kids participating at camp, Xinyu was known for having the most spirit and energy along with her disgustingly impressive ability to create team chemistry, which led to her team’s victories.Sohyun  hated  Xinyu. Well, hate is a strong word. In lighter terms, she found Xinyu unbearable. Something about constantly placing second to her ignites a fire in Sohyun’s stomach. That added to her constant teasing and overbearing extroverted energy, Sohyun couldn’t stand her.After a rocky three-hour drive from the city, Sohyun parked in the “Staff Parking” zone, a few hours before the kids were supposed to show up. She got out of her small car and popped open the trunk, heaving out her duffel bag. Huffing, she struggled as she tried to pull out her suitcase, which had caught itself on something in the depths of her trunk.“Hey, Sohyun! Need some help?” A voice called out from behind her. She turned to see Yoon Seoyeon, a familiar face and fellow counselor.Seoyeon was the counselor of the Dog team, the most tame of the animal representatives, but she was not one to look down upon. Her hunger to win paired with her leadership skills made her a scary opponent as she led her previous teams to games.“Hey, Seoyeon, It’s nice to see you. And help would be greatly appreciated, I think it’s caught on something in the back” The two switched spots so Seoyeon was holding onto the suitcase while Sohyun reached into her trunk, handing it around trying to find where her suitcase had been caught.Once she found the object, she pulled it off of her suitcase. But Seoyeon had continued to pull on the suitcase, so the two of them landed on the concrete with an  oof . The two of them looked at each other in shock before falling into a fit of laughter.“Thanks for the help, sorry you fell,” Sohyun grinned, finally calming down and getting up. She helped the smaller girl up before swiping the dirt off her pants.“Nah, it’s alright, we’ll be falling a lot harder in a few hours” Seoyeon chided, reaching for her luggage which Sohyun just noticed was right behind them the whole time. “Come on, judging by the amount of cars here, the other girls are probably already here”The two make a short trek to the main campgrounds, suddenly going from a cramped blacktop to an expansion of trimmed grass decorated with roomy cabins and projects from previous years.“Looks just like how we left it” Seoyeon muttered mindlessly, rolling her suitcase to the main part of the campsite, Sohyun following suit. They waved at the other camp counselors: Yooyeon and Yubin. Xinyu was still glancing over something on her phone, but once she heard the two approaching, she looked up and waved enthusiastically.Sohyun waved back, really only out of politeness but she caught the playful smirk Xinyu had given her. Rolling her eyes, she walked up to the three of them and exchanged greetings.“You ready?” Yooyeon asked,  giving the younger girl a hug with a grin on her face. Yooyeon, counselor of the Bunny team, was known for her quiet demeanor, usually housing the shyer kids to help them out of their shells. Her knack for strategy and silent scheming made her a strong contender to win the games each year.“Yeah, I definitely am. According to the camp head, there are fewer kids this year to maximize quality time between kids and their counselors, So it’s less work for all of us” Sohyun replied.“And to have fewer kids to watch over to lower injury risks” Yubin piped in. Counselor of Tiger team, her explosive spirit and loud voice easily take over when it comes to cheering her kids on. “Seoyeon” She muttered, sending a joking glare toward the girl.“Wha- hey! That doesn’t count, Your kids kicked Naky in the face!” Seoyeon shot, pointing an accusing finger in Yubin’s face. “A small shove is hardly anything compared to a  shoe mark  printed on her face” Yubin rolled her eyes, bringing her hands up in defeat.“Touche” Yubin said, and the two giggled. “Speaking of” Xinyu joined the conversation. “Is Naky coming back this year? I heard she wanted to become a counselor.”“Yeah, she’s coming back. She didn’t qualify to be one though. Poor girl, she loved playing with the kids. She’s a co-counselor this year” Yooyeon said, a small smile on her face, feeling sympathy for the younger girl.“What is that anyways?” Xinyu asked, her face scrunched up in confusion “Nien texted me saying she was going to be mine but I don’t get what the point is, wouldn’t there just be two counselors then?” Seoyeon shrugged.“They’re supposed to be like assistants or something, basically us but without the official title. I don’t know the difference honestly” “Well, they’re arriving in like, an hour so we should probably get ourselves situated before we welcome them and then the kids later on,” Sohyun added, watching as the four nodded in agreement. They parted ways and walked to their respective cabins, the same ones they had taken over since the beginning of their roles as counselors. Sohyun opened the door, smiling as she was greeted with the familiar scent of lavender and fresh linens.She glanced over at the main room, simply decorated with charms and crafts done by kids from her previous years. Six beds and six dressers meant six kids, one being her co-counselor, and she walked into the counselor's bedroom, separated from the rest with an extra wall and a curtain for a door. It was pretty spacious in there, with a dresser, a larger bed, and an adequate amount of floor space.Sohyun placed her duffel bag and suitcase onto her bed, unzipping them both before starting to organize her clothes into the storage provided.With about half an hour left before the co-counselors arrived, she tidied up the kid’s rooms along with the bathroom before returning to the main camp, collapsing on a bench and pulling out her phone to scroll for a little while.Slowly, the other four girls started filing out of their cabins. They chatted excitedly as they waited for the co-counselors to arrive, which wasn’t too long.The first one to come was Nien, Xinyu’s best friend and coincidentally her co-counselor. They ran up to each other and hugged, chatting exhaustingly quickly as they caught up with each other.Over the next couple minutes, the other four co-counselors made their way to the camp. Nakyoung with Yooyeon, Kotone with Seoyeon, Jiwoo and Chaeyeon with Yubin who managed to snag two, and Dahyun with Sohyun. “It’s nice to see all of you guys again,” Sohyun said, arm wrapped loosely around Dahyun’s shoulders. “Nice to see you guys too,” Nakyoung said, standing beside Yooyeon. “Sucks that we couldn’t be counselors, but hey, at least they made us co-counselors…whatever that is”“It’s essentially just glorified babysitting. I mean, it’s the same thing as they are, just less pay and no official title” Kotone answered. “Well yeah” Dahyun affirmed. “I’m just glad I get to spend another year here. The kids were really fun to spend time with and the gifts they gave us were always so cute” She gushed about a drawing she received from one of the girls last year.“We already unpacked our things, you guys should too so we can prepare before the bus arrives” Yooyeon suggested, garnering multiple confused looks.“Just one bus? Did we not get a lot of registers this year?” Jiwoo asked. Yubin shook her head.“It’s not that, they lowered the total sign-ups this year to make it easier for us or something” Jiwoo nodded in understanding, her mouth forming an  o shape.It was now the afternoon, with dinnertime soon approaching; and over the next hour, the girls got situated, choosing their beds for the week and organizing their things into the corresponding dressers; then they waited for the bus to appear and this year’s kids to arrive.They didn’t have to wait long, though, as the group of eleven heard the hum of a bus engine as it made its way down the road toward the entrance of the camp. As the bus got closer, the older girls could make out excited chatter and yelling coming from inside.“Prepare yourselves guys. Its about to be an insane last year” Xinyu muttered, an excited gleam in her eyes and a radiant smile on her face. The girls braced themselves as the bus stopped and girls started pouring out.“Oh my god, i thought my legs would get stuck in a sitting position forever” a girl whined, stretching her arms up to the sky.“Tell me about it” Another girl replied, cracking her back.By now the bus had driven of, presumably into the staff parking to be used for later in the week. As the girls on the bus grabbed their luggage from below the travel bus and reunited with friends, Yooyeon stepped forward and clapped to grab everyone’s attention. “Hey guys! I’m one of your counselors, Yooyeon, and I’d like to formally welcome you all to Camp ASSEMBLE!” With the announcement, the crowd erupted into cheers, a harmony of  ooh  s and  aa  hs and claps filled the forest air. “For those returning, You might notice that there are fewer of you this year, and that’s because we decided to do things a little differently this year. Teams will be smaller so you guys can have more fun activities and less injuries. This means less people were able to join this time around” A soft  aww hummed through the groups of girls before a beeping noise interrupted. “That must be Su Ah” “Hello campers, and welcome to Camp Assemble. Please look toward the roster by the cafeteria for your team placements and wait for further instructions from your new team counselors” An almost robotic voice came through the speakers. “Yeah, what Su Ah said” Yubin called, slightly panicking as a mini stampede started for the cafeteria door. “Wait, guys, don’t run too fast!”“They’ll be fine. Knowing some of those girls, a little roughing it up would help them calm down before dinner” Sohyun said comfortingly, almost like she was repeating it to reassure herself. “Come on, let’s gather our kids” The five teams split off into different parts of the main lawn of the camp, calling out their teams’ names as girls filled toward them one by one with their belongings in tow. Sohyun took a good look at her team and noticed that she recognized a few faces: Sullin, Lynn, and Yeonji. There were two new girls she hadn’t seen at the camp before. She learned their names to be SeoAh and Minji. Taking a good look at her team, she knew Sullin was a good spirit lifter, Yeonji was essentially just a giant ball of useful energy, And Lynn was super good at anything requiring physical strength. She didn’t know much about her team's other two, but she would get there eventually. She was sure this was the year she finally beat Xinyu once and for all. “Alright, Wolves, are you ready to win this year?” Sohyun asked, pumping her fist into the air. It was cringe, yes, but the kids loved it; seeing as they got super hyped and jumped around. “This year will really be our year, last year was just a warm up” Yeonji affirmed, making a motion similar to rolling up her sleeves. “And the last?” Lynn joked, having been her second year as a Wolf, her thirst to win was nearly incomparable. “And the Last” Sohyun said. “Alright squirts, let’s head over to our cabin so you guys can offload your things before dinner. Follow me!” Sohyun turned on her heel and walked in the direction of her cabin. She glanced over at the other teams’ kids, eyeing her competition when she accidentally locked eyes with Xinyu. The older girl motioned to her kids, and used both hands to make a W, insinuating her win once again this summer. Sohyun rolled her eyes and slipped her a middle finger, looking away as they finally made it to their cabin. Thankfully it was only across the main lawn from the entrance, as all the cabins were. The girls excitedly ran in, picking their beds as they laid down and chatted excitedly about all the activities they’d be doing. “Okay guys, thirty minutes till dinner so do whatever you guys want until then. I really don’t mind what you guys do in here just..don’t burn it down? Okay? It’s either this or we sleep on the lawn, and I don’t think you guys want that” Sohyun said, half jokingly. The girls nodded, half paying attention to her words as they continued to unpack their things and personalize their spaces as best they could. “Okay, perfect! Dahyun, counselors meeting we gotta go”  Sohyun and Dahyun made their way into the cafeteria, where the rest of the girls were, except for Yubin and her co counselors, who were still getting their kids to unpack their belongings. “So who did you guys get this year?” Sohyun asked, sitting down on the table they were congregating at, peeling an old paint splotch off the edge of it. “Only the best!” Seoyeon chirped, “I got Chaewon again, but she’s upset because Hayeon got into Yubin’s teams instead of mine” “No fair, you got the athletic kids, I saw you get Soomin too” Yubin said, finally entering with Jiwoo and Chaeyeon. “There is nothing athletic about Kim Soomin” Nakyoung snorts, earning a slap on her bicep from Seoyeon. “Don’t make fun of my kid, f@ck face.” Seoyeon shot. “you called Hyerin a scaredy-cat two minutes ago!” “She said so herself!” “Woah, hey. Let’s calm down” Yooyeon interjected. “Obviously there are some strengths and weaknesses to each of our kids” She started. “But obviously our kids are far better” Xinyu let out a  pfft noise. “Mine are way better, please” Yooyeon raised an eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Then who’d you get?” “Well first I have the best co-counselor, Nien!” She wrapped a tight arms around the girl beside her, who returned her gesture with even more fervor. Everyone rolled their eyes. “Then I have Kaede and Jiyeon and a few others I’m not too familiar with yet”  F@ck, thats a pretty good lineup too. Sohyun internalized. If Xinyu’s team managed to work together she knew they’d be really hard to compete with. Lost in her thoughts, she almost didn’t hear the others calling her name. “Sohyun!” She looked up, glancing around at everyone. “Huh? Oh. Uh.. I’ve got Lynn, and Yeonji from previous years, Sullin who was in Yooyeon’s team last year, and two new kids named SeoAh and Minji” “Ugh Lynn was so on my list on wanted kid this year, you’re so lucky” Seoyeon whined. “Having Yeonji is like having an extra thirty doses of dopamine dude, good luck” Nien commented. “She’s good at games, but you kind of need to keep her under control sometimes.”“I guess so, she was really determined to win this year” Sohyun commented. “Well you might have to break the news to her that you guys won’t win again” Xinyu replied, a teasing grin on her face. “Oh here we f@ck@ng go” Yubin mumbled. Knowing how Sohyun and Xinyu’s dynamic worked, she knew these next five days were going to her a total war between the two teams. “It’s like it’s just a competition between them two and then we fight for third, fourth, and fifth” Chaeyeon joked. Sohyun glared at Xinyu, who was across the table from her with a teasing smirk on her face. “We’ll win, and I’ll wipe that stupid grin off your face,” Sohyun challenged. The others decided to disperse, letting the two bicker for a little while longer as they went to gather their kids for dinner. “I’ll be the one ending your streak this year, even if it’s the last thing I do,” Xinyu leaned in, almost challenging her to do so. “That’s a little intense,” the older girl chuckled. “Oh please, the only reason you win every year is because Su Ah likes the spirited kids, you f@ck@ng suck at everything else” Sohyun rolled her eyes. “get on my level before you want to start on why I win.” Sohyun scoffed, pushing Xinyu away from her. “Just admit you’re a sore loser and maybe i’ll take it easy on you this year.”“F@ck you” Xinyu smiled even wider, satisfied at the reaction she had garnered from the other girl. “Well whatever the outcome it’s our last year here, so let’s make things interesting” She gave a wink before leaving the cafeteria, leaving Sohyun alone, fuming. She took a calming breath and ran a hand through her hair. Xinyu really knew how to rile her up, and she hated it. With only a couple minutes left before dinner, she went to go grab her kids. Thankfully, Dahyun had it all under control. All her kids were gathered in the main lawn in front of their cabin, getting to know one another and strategizing for the week. “How are my campers doing? Are you being nice to Dahyun?” She gave a look to her co-counselor, who smiled in gratitude. “Yeah!” Sullin said, wrapping an arm around Yeonji’s shoulders. “This one has been talking Dahyun’s ear off for the past like, five minutes, but the rest of us have been good” The younger of the two pushed herself off of Sullin, giving her an offended stare. “I did  not talk her ear off, I only said like three things” She defended. “Yeah, and each thing was an essay long” Lynn jumped in on the Yeonji teasing, poking her in the arm. Sohyun couldn’t help but laugh. Knowing Yeonji, she would talk your ear off if you didn’t get her to stop. “Alright, come on, I’m starving, Dahyun’s starving, and I know you guys are hungry too. Let’s go get dinner” Racing ahead, the girls made it to the cafeteria, getting in line to grab today’s dinner: pasta. Meals at Assemble weren’t particularly known for being Michelin star quality, but one thing everyone knew was that they were definitely going in for seconds after. After grabbing her dinner, Sohyun found her team a table, beckoning her kids to sit with her. Once everyone got situated, they began to eat, making small talk in between chews. Sohyun decided to start things off with some icebreakers, letting the kids go around and introduce themselves and their interests. She figured this was the easiest way to find out their strengths and weaknesses. Sohyun learned that SeoAh was good at sports, and Minji had insane stamina and endurance. Her team was physical strength and spirit-based, so she knew she and Dahyun would have to do a lot of the strategizing. Though her plans were never quite as good as Yooyeon’s, she hoped her drive would make it just enough. Night finally comes, and the camp is engulfed in the light of the moon and the lamps scattered across the camp. They slowly start to congregate by the campfire, Seoyeon taking it upon herself to light it for the night. It took a minute for the fire to cover the firewood, but once it did, it warmed the kids surrounding it. Sohyun sighed when she felt the heat of the flames in her face. Campers around her continued to chatter about the activities that would happen tomorrow.  It all slowly turned into a buzz in her ear; Sohyun stared dazed at the flames as they licked at the firewood, blackening the areas they touched. Her back was chilled yet her front was so, so warm. She didn’t realize how much she missed this. The camp, the kids, the competition, something about spending a full week away from the city, competing in random games made her feel so in place. It also might have helped that she was getting paid. She was going to make sure her last year here would be her most memorable, and it seemed like the others thought so too. ~ 8 in the morning and Sohyun jolts awake to the sound of her phone alarm blaring from beside her. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, alarms of the other’s ringing softly in the other room shifting her consciousness. She almost wanted to go back to sleep, but the kids were already at her door, knocking on the door frame and peeking their heads through the curtain. “Hey guys” She yawned, groggily. The five poured into her room, shouting their good mornings. “We have like..fifteen minutes before morning stretches. So kind of just chill in the cabin or outside, Suah will tell us when they start.” Sohyun stretched before reaching for her glasses on the bedside table. “Alright disperse, go. Out!” She shooed them out of her room, jokingly pushing the giggling girls out before throwing a hoodie over her tee and sweats. When time came, everyone went to the main lawn. Rather than staying in their teams, they mingled with other teams. Yooyeon took it upon herself to lead the stretches, saying something about ‘stretching ensuring less injuries and made stronger kids’ whatever. Sohyun stood off to the side with the other counselors and watched amused as some of the kids tried to stay awake under their jackets and blankets. “I forget some kids aren’t morning people” Seoyeon chuckled, holding in a laugh when one kid folded in half, falling asleep in an amusingly inconvenient position. “Forget the kids, I should still be in bed right now” Xinyu groaned, eyelids threatening to droop. She dramatically held onto Yubin’s head, who let out a grunt of annoyance. “Let go of me, you f@ck@ng giant,” Yubin said, though her voice was slightly muffled due to Xinyu’s long arms. “Noo” Xinyu whined, leaning on Yubin, who was trying to push her off now. “Please just let me for five minutes” “I wish she was like that all the time” Sohyun commented, a little bit louder than she had intended. Her voice carried into Xinyu’s ears. “Like what? What’s that supposed to mean” She straightened up from Yubin and moved closer to Sohyun, wrapping her arms around Sohyun’s head and torse like she had previously done to Yubin. “You mean like this?” Heat burned itself into Sohyuns cheeks, getting flustered from embarrassment. Xinyu’s intoxicatingly good smell invaded her senses while she tried to pry Xinyu’s long arms off of her.“Wha-No! F@ck@ng get off of me, freak!” Sohyun tried to wrestle her way out of Xinyu's embrace but to no avail. “This is sabotage, someone get her off me!” She pushed against the older girl’s arms while her friends laughed around her. “Oh come on Xin, she looks like her head is about to blow off,” Nien said, sitting on the end of the picnic table and nudging Xinyu’s side with her foot. From beside her, Chaeyeon laughed. Still pouty, Xinyu let go, revealing a red-faced Sohyun. “Aww look at her guys,” Seoyeon said, smiling cheekily at the blushed girl. “Shut up Seoyeon” Sohyun rolled her eyes and tried to flatten her flyaway hairs. She pushed up her glasses and distanced herself from the taller girl. They continued to chat and bicker with one another while the stretches concluded and the kids filed into the cafeteria for breakfast; they followed close behind. A little while after breakfast was the very first game: a relay race. Hearing this, Sohyun became ever more confident. Her kids were great at physical games, so she had nothing to worry about. Everyone changed into their attire for the day, which was pretty similar considering the day was only getting hotter. Most of them sported loose T-shirts and some kind of shorts. Others preferred longer clothes which, was perfectly fine for everyone. The relay race seemed simple. Everyone, including the counselors, was participating. There were six parts to the relay. It was mostly pretty repetitive, Each team would switch off runners. 3 of six would wear their regular, everyday shoes while the other four would wear acupressure slippers. Looking around at the other teams, Sohyun noticed everyone was paying close attention to the instructions; they all wanted to win. But they wouldn’t because the Wolves would win, right? Sohyun gathered her kids, getting them to huddle close together. “Alright, who thinks they can take the acupressure slippers?” Sohyun waited, disappointed to see only three hands raised. “Oh come on guys, really? You were talking about being intense about the games just last night” “Hey, I’ll do anything  but acupressure slippers. I have sensitive feet” Sullin said, cringing at the thought. Yeonji, Lynn and Minji, who were the only ones to raise their hand, looked at Sohyun. “Why don’t you do it, Sohyun?” Minji asked, offering Sohyun up. “I mean I will if you guys won't do it” She shrugged. After a moment of no raised hands, she sighed. “Alright, Lynn, Minji, and I will wear the acupressure slippers. The rest of you, double-knot your laces, and pull up your socks. You guys better run like your life depends on it” The order was decided. Lynn would run first, then Seoah, Minji, Sullin, Yeonji, Dahyun, and finally, Sohyun, who would run the last leg of the relay. When every team was finished ordering themselves, the relay began. Lynn and the other teams’ first runners lined up on the makeshift track they had set up, waiting for the signal to begin. Over the omnisciently placed speakers, Suah counted down, a gunshot noise going off as the teams started to run around the track awkwardly, the slippers shooting an electric shock up their spines with every step. Screams and laughs were heard from every runner, nearly drowning out the cheers from their teammates. As they neared the start line once again, the next group of runners lined up, waiting for them to pass the baton. Again and again, the teams rotated between acupressure runners and sneakers runners. With Seoyeon’s team in the lead, Sohyun knew she had to bring her A game as her team’s last runner. Dahyun was in her final stretch before she and Sohyun would switch off, and the final runners began to take their places, slipping on the painful shoes. Sohyun took a good look at who she was up against: Dog team’s Chaewon, Bunny team’s Mayu, Cheetah team’s Joobin, and finally, Fox team’s Xinyu. Oh, this was going to be fun. When Dahyun finally reached Sohyun, thrusting the baton into her hands while they were still in an awkward trot to gain momentum, Sohyun noticed only one person ahead of her, Hyerin.  She took her first meaningful step, feeling the pain shoot up her legs and straight into her head. Sohyun nearly doubled down in shock, but she kept running. She sped up, hearing rapid footsteps gaining on her but she persisted, breezing past a startled Hyerin at the halfway mark. Sohyun kept running, not daring to look back as she neared the finish line. She was losing energy, though. Playing against all the younger kids was certainly not a choice she would have made if she didn’t have to. From shockingly close behind her, she heard panting and a little giggle. Sohyun risked a glance, only to see Xinyu, the one and only. Driven by frustration, Sohyun pushed herself harder. She created a large enough gap to beat the older girl if they kept their consistent pace. Sohyun could see the finish line just up ahead. It was so close, she could almost taste the victory… They won. Sohyun was the first one to make it back to their starting point, earning her team the first win of the camp. Xinyu was close behind, as were the rest of the runners. Her teammates ran up to her and cheered with her, as everyone else began to crowd amongst their teams as well, congratulating one another for their efforts. “We did it, squirts! Nice job” Sohyun cheered, ruffling her campers’ hair and giving them all high fives. “Nice work, Soda” “You did pretty good yourself, Sohyun. And look, your puffiness is gone, so I guess the acupressure shoes did something good” Dahyun chuckled, pointing at Sohyun’s cheeks. “Come to think of it, yeah. My face does feel less puffy” Yeonji marveled, putting a hand up to her cheek. “Can we keep the slippers by any chance?” “I mean I guess? What else are we going to do with them?” Dahyun shrugged, eyes going back to Sohyun for clarification. “Yeah, just keep them. They’re probably just going to collect dust in the storage room anyway,” Sohyun said. I might actually take mine home, too. They aren’t so bad once you have them on for a while.” she slipped her shoes back on and kneeled to tie her laces. The campers started to disperse, splitting off into groups as they started to chatter away about the results of the race. Sohyun tied the last knot of her shoe, putting her hands on her one bent knee to get up. Looking up, she saw Yooyeon and the other counselors walking up to her, all changed back into their shoes as well. “Nice run back there” Yooyeon said, hand going up for a high five. Sohyun smiled and reciprocated it, giving the girl a firm high five. “Thanks. It was all my kids’ doing, though. Lynn game us a really strong start in the runnings, and all my other kids had really consistently fast paces, so i was sure we were going to win” Sohyun rubbed the back of her neck, eyes looking away. “You know, not to beat down on your win or anything” Seoyeon started. Sohyun glanced at her with a confused look, an eyebrow raised. “I thought Xinyu was going to win at the last second. You know, with her freakishly long legs and everything” from beside Yooyeon, Xinyu pouted, her arms folded at her chest. “Wait yeah, Xin has Nien and that girl is literally so f@ck@ng athletic. I guess that explains the massive gap between first and second during Nien’s lap, though” Yubin added. “You say it like it's a bad thing, don’t be salty because I’m a whole head taller than you” Xinyu argued. She placed her hand at her forehead before bringing it out to show their vast height difference. “Not even” Seoyeon scoffed. “More like half a head taller” “You know,,that’s not any better…” Yubin said, hiding a grin when Seoyeon reached over to smack her shoulder. “Kidding, kidding!” “Besides, have you seen  her do anything close to athletic without tripping over her own feet?” Sohyun snarked, grinning in satisfaction when she saw a look of offense on the tallest girl’s face. “Be lucky that she could even stand with those slippers on” “I’ll have you know i do partake in physical activities. You’re just never around to see it”  Xinyu huffed. “Yeah, right” Sohyun rolled her eyes. Yubin leaned into Yooyeon’s ear, covering her mouth. “They’re bickering again..” She muttered, watching as ppotoz rolled their eyes and shook their heads. “Yeah, just wait. I bet by the time this camp ends they’ll have kissed at least once” Yooyeon mumbled, eyes darting between Xinyu and Sohyun. “What was that?” Xinyu asked, head tilting. Seoyeon shook her head. “Nothing” ~ It was dinnertine once again and the campers filed in tothe cafeteria  to receive dinner. The kitchen staff served up a warm soup, telling the kids to eat a lot so they’d stay warm this evening. Sohyun and Dahyun were eating surrounded by their kids, who had worked up a large appetite due to all the activities they did throughout the day. In the middle of chewing a spoonful of food, Sohyun looked up to see their youngest staring at her quizzically. “Hey Sohyun” Seoah asked, swallowing a bite. “Hmm?” “What’s your deal with fox team?” Sohyun tilted her head. “Yeah, the other teams keep coming up to me and telling me that i’d better not lose to the foxes because you’d get really upset” Minji added. Sohyun let out a laugh, eyes creasing as her grin grew. “They’re already warning you, arent they?” She asked, shaking her head. “I won’t get mad at you guys if we lose, trust me” “Two years ago you threatened to unseam all of Xinyu’s clothes because she beat you” Lynn said, stuffing her mouth with more food. She looked away from the counselor when she gave a challenging glare her way. “That doesn’t count, she’s a sore winner” She turned to the newer additions to her team. “I’ll have you guys know I’m not a sore loser. There’s just…an ongoing competition  between me and the head of Foxes” “One that you keep losing” Dahyun joked, dodging a light slap incoming from the older girl.  “Anyways, just play your hardest guys. No pressure or anything, but do we really want to give Fox their  fourth win in a row?” Everyone shook their heads no. “So i want you guys to be on your A game this week, okay?” The kids nodded enthusiastically. “Oh and also, save some stomach. We’re having smores by the campfire later tonight” After dinner, the campers transitioned to free time. Scattered across the whole camp, kids were chatting, and running, and others were in their cabins resting before the campfire. Sohyun was over at a picnic table with Seoah and Sullin, making friendship bracelets as the sky started to dim. “Here, Sohyun, I made this one for you!” the youngest girl handed a blue bracelet with a tiny charm on it. “Aww, thank you Seoah! Here, I made you one too!” She wrapped a lighter blue bracelet around the girl’s wrist, tying it tightly so it wouldn’t fall off. Worried that Sullin might feel left out, she turned to see what the girl was up to, glad to see her conversing warmly with Dahyun. All her kids were getting along really well. Communication? Check. Team Spirit? Check. Everything was going perfectly. While Seoah was kept busy with all the arts and crafts options scattered across the table, Sohyun looked up to observe the rest of the camp. She smiled warmly when she saw clusters of kids laughing and playing games together, reminiscing on her days at this camp as just a regular camper. Her eyes landed on the cafeteria, or rather, who was inside. Xinyu and a few others from her team were sat around a table, boxes of board games stacked onto the side while they played an intense game of slapjack. The focus on Xinyu’s face was almost comical. Her tongue was slightly out and her eyebrows were furrowed. In moments like these Sohyun had to catch herself from staring for far too long. Xinyu was pretty, Sohyun wouldn’t and couldn’t deny that. Her features made her ever so elegant yet so handsome at the same time. Her height was something so envious, Sohyun wished she could have some for herself. Truthfully, Sohyun didn’t  really  hate Xinyu, she just couldn’t stand losing to her for so many years.  Xinyu, noticing someone’s eyes on her, looked up from the game momentarily before scanning her surroundings, accidentally locking eyes with Sohyun, who looked just as shocked as Xinyu did, if not more than her. Xinyu grinned, puckering her lips and bringing her pointer up to touch them. Then she winked and made a W with her fingers, mouthing the words  winner  before pausing, waiting for Sohyun’s response. And just like that Sohyun’s dislike for the older girl came back. Sohyun frowned and scoffed. She turn her back toward the cafeteria once again before continuing to do crafts with Seoah. ~ The campfire was ablaze, and the  music was playing ambiently as the camp social hit it’s peak. Everyone was dress in their best clothes. Or, as best dressed as they could be in the hours of the night where the wind chilled their exposed skin. The kitchen staff brought out hot chocolate for the campers, which they greatly appreciated seeing as many repeatedly went back for seconds or even thirds. Sohyun, though, stuck with her tea. She was sat at the benches circling the campfire, staring into the burning embers of the fire. Yubin began to pass around roasting sticks to those circling the campfire, announcing that the marshmallows would be over on one of the benches. Sohyun turns to her kids, counting Sullin, Yeonji, and Minji. “Want me to grab you guys some?” They nodded, thanking her for her offer. Sohyun got up and walked over to where the multiple bags of jumbo sized marshmallows were. She reached in to grab four, careful not to smush them, along with other smores making materials. She sat back down and distributed them before puting her stick close to the fire, watching as the flames licked at the soft marshmallow. She rotated the marshmallow a few times until it turned a golden brown color. One handed, she snaps the graham crackers in halfand puts a piece of chocolate on one side before pressing down on the marshmalallow, daresay creating the perfect smore.Sohyun but down, the sickeningly sweet flavors boomed in her mouth as she chewed. “I really needed this” She mumbled, campers surrounding her nodded in agreement. As she kept eating, Chaewon from across the campfire hastily pulled her marshmallow out of the fire. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw that her marshmallow had now become a torch, being caught on fire as the outside crust began to blacken. Sohyun and everyone who say laughed. “You know what, laugh all you want! I can just take the outside part of anyways..” Chaewon grumbled, extinguishing the last of the embers on her marshmallow. The night lasted for a while after that; and after two more smores and a whole bunch of stories around the campfire, Sohyun was ready to head to bed. She slipped away from the crowds, feeling bad for ditching her kids but also reasoning the that others would rush them off to bed shortly after anyways. Sohyun walked silently to her cabin, when she was stopped by a tap on her shoulder. “You’re off to bed early, the night hasn’t ended yet” Xinyu hummed. Sohyun turned around, honestly too tired to start a fight between them. “What do you want, Xinyu” Sohyun asked wearily. “Just asking, I saw you sneaking off toward your cabin and I just wanted to make sure you were okay. Not everything I do is out to get you, you know” Xinyu laughed. Sohyun was silent for a moment. “That’s actually…really nice of you” She mumbled. “I’m just really exhausted so I’m going to bed early” “You’re not going to bed because then you’ll be more energized than me right?” Xinyu joked. “Well now that you said it, that’ll be a plus too” Sohyun tempted. “I’ll see you tomorrow” “Night,loser”Xinyu teased. Sohyun rolled her eyes before shutting the door behind her. ~ The next morning was rather peaceful. They were able to wake up a little later than usual, since there wasn’t a major activity until around lunch time. When Sohyun woke up, the cabin was already empty, muffled sounds of chit-chat could be heard from her window. Only Dahyun was standing at her door frame. “Good morning, sunshine” The younger joked. Sohyun rubbed her eyes and squinted to properly see her. “How come you were the first to bed but also the last to get up?” “Shut up, Soda” Sohyun said, stretching before sliding out of bed. “What’s on the schedule for today?” Dahyun pulled the clipboard off from the top of the dresses, flipping a couple of pages before scanning the list. “They said it’s going to be hot today, so theres a water game planned, and then after that theres lunch at the lake. Looks like we’ll be there a while. Same old same old blah blah blah and then we have movie night” While Dahyun reads off the list, Sohyun changes into something lighter, in the mean time at least. “Looks like we have a few hours before the game? I’ll go hang with the kids and you can chill out since youve been taking care of them since the morning” Sohyun walks into their cabin restroom and gets ready, putting her contacts in rather than her glasses. “I was going to hang out with sullin anyways but thanks!” With the last bit, Dahyun zipped out of the room, leaving Sohyun to walk out by herself. When Sohyun walks out to the main lawn, mostly everyone had finished breakfast. Campers were doing mundane activities to pass the time as she walked into the cafeteria. She grabs some toast and spreads some butter on it for her breakfast. Taking a bite, she turns around and catches Xinyu who just walked in. “Wow, you look like you slept a wonderful two hours last night” Sohyun commented. Xinyu did in fact look like she hadn’t slept a wink. Her eyebags were all the more noticeable as she practically lugged herself into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. “I don’t even have the energy to argue right now” She whined. “Out. Out of my face, you negative ball of energy” She held her hand out in front of her and started doing a rounded-wiping motion. “What- Hey!” Sohyun said as Xinyu ignored her and walked away. The morning wraps up nicely. Sohyun converses with the other counselors about the plans for the day, before Suah once again tells the kids to change into something they wouldn’t mind getting wet in. Within minutes, the main lawn is almost deserted. “I guess we should go change too, since we’re going down to the beach anyways” Yooyeon said.  When Sohyun was entering her cabin, her kids were all done changing, waiting by their beds while guessing what the game was going to be. “I can’t wait, ugh i bet we’re going to have a water balloon fight” Seoah guessed. “No, definitely something to do with water guns, I saw some of the counselors pulling them out this morning” Sullin interjected. Sohyun walked by as her kids started to pester her about what the game could possibly be, only giving ‘i dont even know myself’ as an excuse. “By the way, we’re going to the lake after, so if you don’t want to be peeling your wet clothes of and struggle into your swimsuit later, I suggest you wear them under your clothes” With that, all five kids dashed over to their dressers, searching for their swimsuits before racing into the bathroom. When everyone was outside, having finished changing, Suah explained the rules. “This game is going to be co-counselors and campers only. Counselors are able to help keep score. On the main lawn, there is a tarp. On the tarp, there are water balloons. You will pair up within your teams, lock arms back to back, while collecting these water balloons. You can only have one in each hand, adding up to four balloons per trip. From the sidelines, kitchen staff will shoot you with waterguns to distract you. Pushing and shoving is allowed, but be cautious, as the tarp will get slippery” With the instructions explained, they had two minutes to discuss the plan.  “I say we pair up by height so..” She began to move around her kids. “Yeonji with Dahyun, Seoah with Sullin, and Lynn with Minji. How’s that?” The pairs stood beside each other. “Looks like it’s the best we’ve got. Okay. So how it’s going to work is..” The game begins. Sohyun and the other counselors can only watch  behind their giant empty buckets as the kitchen staff begin to spray their kids with water. Screams of surprise could be heard as campers began to slip and their water balloons began to pop. Those who weren’t on the tarp cheered for their teammates, telling them to hurry back as the next group started to prepare for departure. That game lasted a total of fifteen minutes. To Sohyun, it felt like only five. When the counselors were instructed to count how many water balloons each of their teams hadd accumulated, Sohyun was able to count 37 water balloons. Going down the line of teams, her hopes were crushed as she placed 3rd, Foxes getting 38 and Dogs having 40. Nevertheless, she still congratulated her kids for trying their best. “With the remaining water balloons,” Suah’s voice returned once again. “A water balloon fight will start. All are welcome to participate. Those who can reach the waterguns may use those as well” an excited buzz sounded throught all the kids. They all readied their stances, water balloons in hand while others were ready to dash toward the water guns. “On your marks, get set….go!” All hell broke loose. For the next several minutes, all Sohyun could see was a blur. She grabbed anything she could, throwing water balloons into the crowd; and she laughed. She really,  truly felt like a kid again. Sohyun never realized how much she truly missed it. Everything calmed down once they ran out of water balloons and the water guns ran dry. That dodn’t stop her kids, though, as they found a bucket with a good amount of water left inside of it, snuck up behind her, and doused her in a shower of water in front of the whole camp. She screamed, the cold water shocking her body and she wiped away the water from her eyes. “I’m so going to get you guys back for that!” She yelled and she chased her kids. They split off and she stood there and laughed. Before they could go over to the lake, the kitchen staff needed to finish preparing lunch; so everyone reached for their towels and tried to dry off as much as they could. Sohyun managed to grab a hold of a few of her kids, dousing them in water from a half empty water gun. By the time they made it to the lake, everyone was super hungry. They set down their picnic blankets and set down all the food prepared by the kitchen staff. The lunch menu for the day was salads, fruits, and sanwhiches. Everyone dug into their meals, re-energizing themselves after the intense water game prior. Sohyun looked out at the lake, admiring it’s crystal clear waters and clean, sandy shores. When everyone finished with their diners, many decided to jump into the water. Sohyun on the other hand, decided to stay back, promising her kids that she would join them in a little bit. She lied down, letting the sun warm up her back as she read a book to pass time.  A laugh caught her attention. She glanced up to see Xinyu racing into the water, a wide grin on her face. Her pink swim dress caught Sohyun’s eye, the way it matched perfectly well with her features. She made it to the waters end, small waves creating splashes when she took more steps. Sohyun watched absentmindedly while Xinyu shriked and laughed, caught up in a splash fight between her, Mayu, and Chaeyeon. She snapped out of her thoughts when Yeonji called out to her, inviting her into the water as well. “Unnie, come on! The waters not too cold” She beckoned, waving her arms high in the air. “Yeah, come join us!” Seoah called,  screaming when Jiyeon snuck up and tried to dunk her in the water.  Sohyun laughed, guessing it was time to join them. She took off her loose t-shirt, and joined them in the water, yelping from the change in temperature. For the next hour or so, the campers played together in the lake. Some were chicken fighting, others swimming languidly, and some even relaxing on the pool given. For the most part, Sohyun was like the last group. She grabbed a pool flot for herself and watched amusedly while the others fought and played together. “Sohyun!” Seoyeon called. The girl looked around to find her voice. “Counselors are chicken fighting, come be my partner!” Sohyun raised a brow, paddling herself closer to the girl. “Why don’t you ask Yooyeon to be your partner? You two seem to get along well”   “Shut up, she doesn’t want to play. Now get out of that stupid donut and let me on your shoulders!” Seoyeon started to lift the donut from the side, trying to flip it over with Sohyun still in it, causing the older girl to scream and thrash around. “Okay! Okay. Just give me a second” She whined. Sohyun awkwardly pushed herself off of the pool floatie, swimming closer to shore where Xinyu and Yubin waited for them, discussing their strategy for the battle. “Ready to get beat?” Seoyeon challenged, wrapping her arm around Sohyun’s waist. “Me and So are taking you guys  down”  “Yeah right. I’m taller than you, and Xinyu is taller than Sohyun. I think we can tell who’s going to win” Yubin scoffed. Sohyun rolled her eyes, watching as the two continued to make snarky comments at one another. “I say shorter ones on the taller shoulders?” Xinyu suggested. “I’m going to be a little scared if Yubin’s carrying me” Yubin scoffed. “I didn’t even want to carry you anyways” “Alright, Let’s get this started.” Yubin and Seoyeon got on Xinyu and Sohyun’s shoulders, holding on tightly as the two of them awkwardly got up. Yooyeon, who decided to step out from the game, refereed the game. She counted down. 3…2…1.  The water was up to Sohyun’s stomach. She took labored steps as Seoyeon and Yubin latched hands with each other and tried to push one another off. With every second, it was getting hard to stay upright. Sohyun’s legs started to shake when Seoyeon started to push harder and harder against Yubin. “Looks like we’re going to win” Xinyu laughed. She looked at Sohyun with a teasing smirk.  “Shut up, Xinyu” Sohyun spat, focusing her energy on staying upright.  She didn’t have to for long, though. Yubin pushed Seoyeon one final time causing her to fall back, taking Sohyun with her. A final yelp was heard from both girls before they splashed into the water. Sohyun pushed Seoyeon off of her shoulders, surfacing to hear cheers for the other team. Xinyu crouched down to let Yubin off her shoulders, turning to each other and high fiving. “Told you so” Xinyu said, winking at Sohyun. She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, whatever. Good game you too” Sohyun shook her head.  ~ The sun had set, and the movie night was starting to take place. The cafeteria  made popcorn, and the smell of butter travelled through the camp. Blankets and camp chairs were placed in a corner of the lawn, a projector screen stood in front. The campers started to fill the blankets and chair, holding their bags of popcorn with their blankets draped over their bodies. The movie started and everyone quieted down as the intro to Ponyo started to play. Yooyeon, sitting in the back with some of the counselors and co-counselors, looked around with a confused expression on her face. “Xinyu and Sohyun aren’t back? I asked them to grab extra blankets a while ago”Yooyeon asked. Nien shrugged. “Knowing them, they’re probably arguing about who brought more blankets than the other. They’ll be back soon, trust me” They were not, in fact, arguing with each other. Instead, they were in the back of the jank storage shed. Xinyu had Sohyun pressed up against the back wall a hand under her chin as she smiled, while Sohyun had her hands fisted at her sides. In the darkness, she looked down at the shorter girl. Sohyun was panting, her mind was racing and the room was starting to feel really, really, hot. Sohyun wasn’t even sure how they got here. One moment, they were making snide remarks about the other, making certain that the other had heard, then the next second, Sohyun found herself completely helpless as Xinyu trapped her between her freakishly long arms and the wall. And she wasn’t mad about it. At all. “You’re really enjoying this aren’t you” Sohyun muttered. Her cheeks were probably so red in this moment, thank goodness for the lack of light. Xinyu grins at her with crescented eyes. “You don’t have to pretend you aren’t, either” Xinyu teased.  “Shut up, Xin”Sohyun scoffed. She looked up at Xinyu with furrowed brows. The tension in the cramped space continued to build and Sohyun couldn’t move. She wouldn’t move. Her head was telling her to leave, to push Xinyu off and pretend like nothing happened, but her body just didn’t want to. Her chest was heaving and she was looking anywhere but at the woman looming over her. Xinyu leaned in closer, their noses a hair apart. Sohyun waited for something, anything, to happen. Nothing came. Xinyu just flickered her gaze from her eyes, to her nose, to her lips, and then back all over again; and it was  so hot. Frustrated, Sohyun eventually finds a purpose for her hands, wrapping them behind Xinyu’s head and slamming their lips together.It was anything but soft. Something about constantly competing against Xinyu got Sohyun all hot and bothered. Her hands never left Xinyu’s hair, gripping at it tightly as they fought for dominance in the kiss. Xinyu’s hands slid from her chin to rest at her waist, pressing firmly once. Sohyun could feel Xinyu’s lips turn up into a grin when she let out an involuntary sigh. She pulled back, a satisfied gleam in her eyes as she took embarrassingly long to take in Sohyun’s disheveled appearance under the moonlight peeking in through the small windows. Sohyun's lips were parted, and a small thing of drool pooled at the corners of her lips. Her eyes were shut, more out of embarassment and an attempt to save face than anything. Her hands stayed stationary around Xinyu’s neck, not pulling away. “You look really good like this” Xinyu said, doing another once over at Sohyun’s heaving frame. Her ears were burning red at the tips. “Wish i could take a photo of how helpless you look right now” “You are so annoying, has anyone ever told you that?” Sohyun complained. She would’ve said more if it wasn’t for Xinyu leaning back in to connect her lips with Sohyun’s jaw, licking a stripe downwards before going down to press soft kisses on her neck. She continued to kiss and softly suck at Sohyun’s soft skin while listening to her whimper and let out soft moans.“You know, a couple times” She straightened back up, staring at Sohyun who’s eyes were now opened. “But it’s so hot coming from you” She winked.  “Just shut up and kiss me” Sohyun muttered, and Xinyu gladly obliged, resting her palms on Sohyun’s cheeks and pulling her closer. Sohyun’s heart was beating deafeningly loud in her ear. Who knew she’d one day be having a heated makeout session with her worst enemy? Xinyu deepend their kiss, pushing the both of them closer to the wall. Their bodies were now essentially pressed together; and Sohyun felt like Xinyu would be able to hear her heart beat with how close they were. She felt the taller woman slide her hands down to the waist of her pants, slipping her thumbs under them and experimentally tugging them outwards, asking Sohyun for permission before a hand swatted hers. “No. Absolutely not. Not here” Sohyun breathed out. “There are kids less than 20 feet away from us” Xinyu pouted but nevertheless, pulled her thumbs out from her waistline and rested them contently on her waist. “Fine” She pouted. “But don’t think I’m done with you just yet. You have no idea how long i waited for this” Xinyu kissed an already reddening spot on Sohyun’s neck before pushing away from her.  “Come on, they’re still expecting blankets or something”  Sohyun muttered, reaching for the stack of blankets on one of the shelves and opening the storage shack door. The air outside was chilly, and Sohyun pulled her hoodie above her head. Xinyu followed close behind with her own stack of blankets. When they got back to the main lawn after a short walk, the other counselors turned to look at them in surprise. “I asked you guys to get me the blankets twenty minutes ago, where the hell have you guys been?” Yooyeon asked, her voice hushed as the movie continued to play in the back. “We’re already almost halfway through the movie” Sohyu’s eyes widened under the light of the moon and looked over at Xinyu, who looked as cool as a cucumber. “There weren’t any left in the storage room you said they were going to be in, so we had to walk all the way to the f@ck@ng shed and get them there” She whispered, scoffing.  “And that took twenty minutes?” Seoyeon wondered, her eyes still trained on the movie ahead while shoveling popcorn into her mouth. “Knowing them, they were probably arguing the whole way through” Nien joked, reaching over to take some of Yubin’s popcorn, earning a whine from the girl. “I’ll have you know, all I was doing was encouraging friendly banter between the two of us,” Xinyu said. “Anyways, we got your blankets, didn’t we? There should be at least like seven here” Yooyeon took their blankets and passed them to kids who were shivering, still doubting the story given. “Now scoot, we wanna sit too” The eldest rolls her eyes and scoots over, patting the now vacant spots beside her. Xinyu sits down, looking up at Sohyun and inviting her to sit with them. Sohyun instead scoffs, rolls her eyes, and sits next to Dahyun and Chaeyeon. She risks a glance at Xinyu, who is already looking at her with a smirk on her face. She winked at the other before turning to focus on the movie. Sohyun frowned and huddled under the blanket with Chaeyeon. ~With only one and a half days left of the camp, everyone is on edge, and playing all the games with all the energy they can muster. Sohyun hasn’t recalled a single moment of her day when she wasn’t playing games or doing an activity with her kids, and she loved it.  The last two days of camp were always her favorites. The games start to intensify in both frequency and quality, and everyone’s competitive spirits are intensified as well. From the fourth day onwards, team standings aren’t available and all anyone can do is hope and pray they’re in the lead. However, it only makes the tensions between the Wolves and the Foxes worse, as the team counselors battle it out in each of the games, nearly forgetting there were other teams in the runnings. When night comes, the energy is still buzzing. The heads of Camp Assemble, though absent, planned a haunted escape room for the teams. With the news of the new bonding event, everyone gathered after dinner and excitedly chatted about it. They were instructed to change into warmer clothes and no flashlights. Truthfully, Sohyun kind of dreaded the haunted house. She was horrible at anything and everything scary. Her heart just couldn’t take it as well as other people seemed to, so when they announced that the Haunted house would mostly be toward the kids rather than with the counselors, she sighed with relief. They decided to throw another curveball at the camp, by telling them they’d be separated. four teams would pair up with one another, while the final one would go in alone. Upon announcing the team selections, Sohyun’s heart dropped to the pit of her stomach when she heard her team be paired up with Xinyu’s. She looked their way, noticing her kids were already barreling towards hers as they cheered and jumped. Sohyun on the other hand, glared annoyedly at their counselor, who slowly stalked up to the girl with a grin. “Looks like you’re stuck with me again” Xinyu sang. “You’d think they were doing this on purpose” She teased. “Whatever. Let’s just get this over with, I hate scary stuff” Sohyun shivered, the mere thought of entering the haunted house made her antsy. “Oh, I hate horror stuff too. For once I agree with you” Xinyu said.  Just then, the other three counselors walked up. Yubin crossed her arms with a teasing smile as she eyed the two rivals. “Well, look what we have here. How the heck did they manage to partner up the two scaredy-cats?” Sohyun dropped her jaw in offense, jabbing a finger at Yubin’s chest. “You were the one who ditched Chaeyeon last year at the haunted house” Sohyun accused. “Don’t think I forgot about you running out of the entrance crying for your mom” “You were  supposed to forget about that!” “Can’t really forget about it when you wouldn’t leave that one kitchen staff’s side the  entire time that the haunted house was happening” Yubin grumbled something under her breath, maybe trying to get in one final say before backing down, but nonetheless Sohyun didn’t catch it. “By the way, who are you paired up with?” “Can you believe it? I got her!” Seoyeon whined, pointing at Yubin. “We are so doomed” The four girls laughed.  “Well, would you rather have Yubin or go in alone?” Yooyeon prompted, and the group fell silent, thinking earnestly about the question. “The gun would go off” Xinyu replied, earning a whine from the youngest and a playful shove. “There isn’t much of a difference, isn’t there? I mean, she’ll run out so wouldn’t you just end up alone anyway?” Seoyeon asked, earning mumbles and head nods. “Oh, come on guys! I’m changed! I’m  mature ” She straightened up after the last sentence, stretching herself to seem taller than she really was. “...right” “Hey Yooyeon, that means your team is going in alone, right? Not too bad on you ‘cause you’re not that scared of horror stuff but your kids are a little afraid, no?” Seoyeon asked the eldest, who shrugged in response. “I mean my kids were pretty ecstatic about going in alone. The only one I’m worried about is Mayu. She’s the oldest after me and she’s still super scared of anything horror” The others nodded in sympathy. “Yeah, she’s going to need some serious consoling during  and after the whole thing,” Sohyun said. They split from each other as the haunted festivities commenced, Yooyeon’s team going in first. Over the next several minutes, they heard muffled shrieks and cries from the distance. Eventually, Yooyeon’s team raced back, some kids looked ecstatic while others had tears staining their cheeks. Yooyeon trailed at the very back of her team, rubbing Mayu’s shoulders comfortingly while the girl walked silently beside her. “If Yooyeon’s team got rattled from that, I’m not sure I’m going to be okay” Yeonji mumbled, laughing nervously as Seoyeon and Yubin’s teams walked to the location of the haunted house. Sohyun couldn’t do anything but shrug. “You know…it can’t be real..” Sohyun reassured; both to Yeonji and herself. More for herself, though. From beside her, Xinyu mentally prepared herself as the screams began. This was going to be a long night. Seoyeon and Yubin had come back, obviously shaken, as they walked past Sohyun and Xinyu shaking their heads. “You two are so f@ck@d” When it was their turn, the two counselors dragged behind their kids as they ran fast ahead, past the main lawn and toward an uphill road where a house with glowing red lights stood menacingly. “Here we go..” Xinyu mumbled.  Before they could do anything, though, Suah came over the intercoms and instructed the counselors to split from their counselors and co counselors. She then told them they would be going on a separate haunted house experience instead of working with their teams. Their jobs would be to retrieve the code for the house while the kids and the co-counselors were locked inside to retrieve their badges. Sohyun and Xinyu turned to each other, an expression of dread equally shared on their faces. “You're f@ck@ng joking” Sohyun mumbled. “They’re evil” The rest of the campers were ushered into the house, staff locking the door to the house as the kids explored the house. Suah counted them down, before starting the haunted house missions and screams began to erupt. Sohyun and Xinyu raced to the entrance of the storage house, keen on finishing quickly to help their kids, only to stop right at the entrance when they noticed that it was completely  pitch black inside the room. “It's…it’s not or never?” Sohyun proposed. Xinyu stared straight ahead, not responding. Together, they stepped inside, their senses enveloped in darkness. They started searching blindy in the dark, reaching hesitantly in front of them trying to grab at anything. Everything seemes to be fine and the two calmed down; until eerie music began to play over the speakers. Freaked out, the two of them raced out of the storage house, screaming at the top of their lungs. They stopped a little bit away from the entrance, Sohyun bent over with her hands on her knees while Xinyu squated and curled into a ball, trying to catch their breath. Xinyu covered her face with her hands, nearly collapsing onto the floor. She began to laugh, with tears streaming down her cheeks. “That was crazy” Xinyu breathed “It’s not scary, it’s funny” she sobbed, staring dazed at the entrance once more. Sohyun laughed, quietly at first; but it grew to be louder, trying to hide the fear she felt. “It’s so funny but I cried” Sohyun laughed even harder, unable to contain herself as she realized how stupid the two of them must have looked. Truthfully, tears were streaming down her face too, and she screamed probably just as loud as Xinyu did. Xinyu let out a cry, a tear falling down her cheek, before getting up a wiping the dirt off her jacket. She sniffled, taking another wary glance at the dark entrance. The eerie music began to soften, hardly audible against the night breeze. “Should we just..give up?” Sohyun suggested, wiping the tears that were collecting under her chin. Xinyu shook her head,  inhaling deeply. “I’m not giving up. Never. If you want to lock your kids up in there forever then be my guest”  “Just a suggestion! I’m going in too” In hesitation, and fear, they interlocked arms and walked back to the entrance. With each step she took, Sohyun felt more and more uneasy. “Is it too late to quit?” “Wait” Xinyu stopped walking, her crying still evident in her voice. Sohyun watched as she sniffled, wiped her tears and fixed her hair. “What? I want to at least look pretty if I’m about to die” “They’re not going to let us f@ck@ng die, are you stupid?” Sohyun jabbed. She looked back at the staff stare at them amused. “..You guys aren’t going to let us die..right?”  With no response, they walk right up to the entrance. “We’re back!” Xinyu announced. “If there’s any monsters in there I’ll have you know I fight instead of flight” Xinyu stammered. “The first thing you did when you heard the music play was scream and run” Xinyu shoved Sohyun. “Shut up, you did too!” They both run back to the door, none of them making a move to take the first step. Xinyu took a breath, shouting loudly before swinging the tarp covering the entrance open. Then nothing. She stood there, listening for noises while Sohyun stood behind her. “Are you going to f@ck@ng move or what?!” Sohyun whisper yelled, pushing Xinyu’s back lightly to get her moving.  “Okay! Okay! I’m going!” Xinyu let out a nervous whine before stepping deeper into the storage unit. They stepped in together as a unit, temporarily disregarding the burning rivalry they had for each other as they both reached out and started to grab at things. Sohyun eventually got frustrated as she was grabbing at literal air. From beside her, Xinyu screamed, causing her to jump back. “What, what?” “They got a real f@ck@ng chicken in here!” Xinyu wailed, pointing at the swinging silhouette of a chicken’s body. “ That’s what’s got you so worked up?” Sohyun asked “Ther kids will not stop screaming and we havent even gotten halfway through this stupid thing” “Okay then, let’s move” Xinyu said. Still finding time to bicker back and forth with each other was sort of calming for Sohyun. It gave a sense of normalness to whatever they were in right now. They briskly walk past most of the other thingsdanlging from the ceiling, reaching the back where a mannequin hand lay tied to a string, clasping the code to the door. Xinyu grabbed it and the two girls ran out of the “haunted house” screaming. They collapsed on the floor laughing and crying and trying to breathe as the camp staff chuckled around them. Xinyu gripped the paper with the code on it tightly. Sohyun stood up, tapping on Xinyu’s shoulder repeatedly to get her to uncurl from her ball. “Let’s go get our kids out, give me the paper” Xinyu stoodd up but refused to give Sohyun the paper, putting it out her her reach and unfurling it. “I got this” Xinyu said, wiping her tears before looking at the paper. “No-f@ck. Xinyu!” Sohyun got a hold of the side of the paper , looking at the contents. “Why are all the campers on this list and why do you Jiwoo and Naky have blood covering your photos?” Xinyu asked warily. She looked at Sohyun. “We don’t need to like..sacrifice you or anything right” “What the- no! At least..I dont think so?” Sohyun looked around at the staff observing them. The two focused back in the paper, trying to find some semblance of a clue. Then it hit her.“Wait, Xin” Sohyun said. The elder girl looked at her with a perplexed look on her face. “You remember that one year we were assigned numbers for like, a camp game or something?” Xinyu paused for a moment, looking down with a frown on her face before looking back up. “Vaugely” “Maybe if we use those numbers then they’re the code. Mine was 14, Jiwoo’s was 3, but I don’t remember Naky’s” Xinyu’s smile grew. “Wait! It’s seven. I remember her number is seven” “You swear?” “I swear on my kids that it’s right” Xinyu said “Now are we going to open that lock of not?” The two of the race over to the entrance of the house. From the inside, it seemed that most if not all kids were finished, calling out nervously for their counselors. The two put the code into the door from smalled numbers to largest. Lo and behold, they heard a click and the door opened, flooding out a large group od frantic kids. They went up to hug their respective counselors, some crying while others had no expression. “Unnie, it was so scary in there, I cried” Yeonji said, hugging Sohyun tightly. “Thank goodness you saved us” The others nodded along, all telling her about what happened inside the house. “A zombie? Are you serious?” Sohyun patted their head comfortingly as she looked up at Dahyun for confirmation. “Dude, it was so scary real. I nearly jumped out of the window” Dahyun said. “You’re lucky you were out here” “Listening to your guys’ story makes me feel like a wimp. I got scared over nothing” Sohyun said, a smile stretching across her face. “Come on, lets go back to camp to get some hot chocolate and then head to bed. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow” When the campers were settled into their beds and nearly knocked out, Yooyeon called the counselors and co-counselors for a recap meeting of the night. In the warmth of the cafeteria, they huddled around a table and talked. “It freaked me the f@ck out, bro. The zombie looked so real and it was accurate and everything” Nien said. “It was so cool! Xin, you shouldv’e seen it” “No thank you” Xinyu cringed, shaking her head. “I could hardly take the thing I did, let alone encounter a whole ass zombie” “What did you guys do anyways?” Naky asked, wrapping her blanket tighter around herself as she sat criss cross on top of the table. The counselors shrugged. “Compared to you guys, it was literally nothing” Yubin said, crossing her arms and leaning her hip onto the edge of the table.  “And we all still couldn’t do it” Seoyeon said, shaking her head. “I don’t know where you’re getting the ‘we’from, ‘cause we did it” Xinyu rubutted. “Yeah, I did it too” Yubin looked around in shock. “ They did it but we couldn’t?” She said, pointing at Sohyun and Xinyu. “Woah, why are we catching strays?” Sohyun asked, pointing a finger at Yubin. “You guys suck at horror” Jiwoo said, laughing with the others. “Okay I’ll admit we cried” Xinyu said, raising her hands in defense. “But at least we didnt keep our kids locked up with a zombie like a certain two people I know?” “Touche” Seoyeon said. “But f@ck, that raw chicken was so gross” The counselors and co-counselors discussed for a while longer before deciding to head back to bed. Sohyun, though, said she was going to stay behind for a little bit to drink some tea, and Xinyu offered to stay with her. “What’s up with them?” Nakyoung asked “Did the haunted house f@ck them up so badly they’re buddy-buddy now?” “Who knows?” Yooyeon said. “They’ll get over it tomorrow anyways” Sohyun entered the empty kitchen, brewing herself a packet of chamomile tea. Xinyu walked in a couple minutes later, hands shoved into her pockets to hide them from the cold. “Tea? Right now?” She asked, incredulous. “It’s chamomile. It helps me sleep” Sohyun explained. “Want some?” “Why are you being nice to me” Xinyu doubted. “Is this a ploy to lock me up the night before the final games?” She joked, leaning against a countertop as she watched Sohyun sip her small cup silently. “No.  But “ Sohyun paused. “We need to talk” Xinyu raised an eyebrow. She tried to keep a lax face, pretending her heart wasn’t literally beating out of her chest from anxiety. “Okay, what’s up?” Sohyun shook her head, reaching for Xinyu’a hand. “Not here” She guided Xinyu through the back entrance of the kitchen, taking her into the storage room. Xinyu leaned against a storage shelf. “So what did you want to talk about” “Actually I lied, I just wanted to get you alone for a quick second” Xinyu cocked her head, confused. “For what?” “For this” Sohyun raised onto her tippy toes and pressed a kiss onto Xinyu’s lips.  Taken aback Xinyu freezes. She was startled by the fact that Sohyun had actually made an advance towards her. Isn’t it usually switched roles? She kissed back eventually, though, and the warmth they felt melted away the harsh cold of the midnight weather. Sohyun pushed against Xinyu, pressing her up against the shelf. She slowly began to leave open-mouthed kisses down, leaving warm red spots all over the taller woman’s neck. Xinyu’s head was about to burst off, it all was just too much. Her hands found themselves tangled in Sohyun’s hair and she let out quiet moans and sighs. Just as quickly as she had started, Sohyun pulled back from Xinyu’s near trembling body. Xinyu’s eyes fluttered open, never even noticing that they had closed in the first place as they shot darts into Sohyun’s eyes. “Why did you stop?” Xinyu exhaled, clearly bothered swallowing her spit and taking her hands out of Sohyun’s hair. Sohyun threaded a hand through Xinyu’s long hair.“Because I want to” she spoke, shrugging.  “Well keep going” Xinyu huffed.  Sohyun smiled. “I’ll think about it”  Xinyu let out an annoyed whimper, eyebrows furrowing. Xinyu pushed off the shelf, reaching for Sohyun once again before locking their lips in a heated kiss. Sohyun sighed into it, becoming maluable in Xinyu’s arms. The elder spun them around, this time pinning her against the shelf instead. Xinyu smiled into the kiss when she felt arms reaching up the wrap around her neck, pulling her impossibly closer to Sohyun’s soft lips. God, Xinyu couldn’t get enough. “Zhou Jie, you in here?” A voice rang through the walls and reverberated in the pairs ears. Nien’s. Their eyes shot open. Sohyun pushed Xinyu off of her, a little too hard, causing her to stumble back and hit the other shelf with a loud  thud   and an  oohf from the girl. Following the noise, Nien opened the door to see Xinyu rubbing her back grimacing in pain, while Sohyun was knelt down trying to help her up. Feeling uneasy, Nien raised a brow. “..What are you guys doing in here?” “Uh..were grabbing some extra cups for the kitchen because there wasn’t and extra for Xinyu” Sohyun rambled, kicking at Xinyu’s feet to get her to play along.  “Yeah, what she said” “There’s stacks of cups by the water boiler?”“We know, we uh..just put them there” Sohyun said, her voice in a falsetto. She was praying that Nien wouldn’t notice her red face and the fact that it was a little over midnight and they were in a storage closet. Nien’s eyes narrowed, switching from Xinyu to Sohyun and back again. “Okay…I’m going to go head to bed. Jie, Can you pick up your stuff from my drawer?” Xinyu nodded and hummed an  mhmm before Nien walked away from the door.  Yubin and Nakyoung were over by the fire pit, eating snacks when Nien walked past them, a quizzical expression on her face.“Hey Nien!” The two girls waved with hushed voiced, beckoning her over. “Want some snacks?” Nien shook her head. “Nah, I’m good” “You look really confused, did you find a rat in the kitchen or something?” Naky asked before shoving some popcorn in her mouth. Nien cringed, reeling her head back slightly. “Ew, f@ck no. Thank god I didn’t thats gross” She crossed her arms, perlexion on her face once again.  “But I think Seoyeon owes me a f@ck ton of money” ~ The two stood still, waiting for the sound of Nien’s footsteps to disappear. When they did, they turned to each other in silence.Xinyu sucked in a sharp breath, shrugging her shoulders. “Well, mood ruined” Sohyun rolled her eyes, pushing off the shelf and walking out. She left the storage closet and went into the kitchen, grabbing her tea“I’m going to bed” Xinyu followed her out, tailing behind her like a lost puppy. It was entertaining, really. “Aww, ending the night so soon?” Xinyu pouted, hovering over the other while she finished all of her tea. “We’ve got games tomorrow, Xinyu. If you want to lose, be my guest. What we did was stupid anyways”   Xinyu blocks her path out, a smug look on her face “Says the one who pulled me into the storage room for a lip-lock” Sohyun stays silent. Her brows furrow and she frowns.  “Let’s just forget about it. That’s the last time it happens”Xinyu raises her brow. “Are you sure?” “...No”~ The final day. T-minus nine hours before the final standings and everyone is on edge. The games are getting more and more intense as the tensions rose to new heights. It all comes down to the final game. None of the teams knew who was in the lead, but they were all sure that the places were not all that far apart from each other points-wise. The final game was announced around noon and the kids ran toward the main lawn in anticipation. It was then that everyone noticed the giant marshmallow looking objects positions in the middle of the grassy plane. Each of the teams were allotted two of the ‘marshmallows’ to defend from another team. While they must defend their marshmallow, each team must also ‘conquer’ their assigned team’s marshmallow. The more kids on the marshmallow, the more points the teams would get.It was a simple enough game, and Soyeon felt she didn’t need to much time to plan. They were given five minutes to talk out their next moves with their team, and Sohyun huddled her team close to their two marshmallows. “Okay first off” She started. “Who can jump onto this thing? Like seriously, it’s up to my ribs” Sohyun tried to jump and push herself onto the giant white structure, to no avail. “You can uh..help me and Dahyun defend this thing” Instantly, all of her kids tried jumping onto the marshmallow, grunting and huffing as they tried to swing their legs over the structure. Sohyun laughed, it was comical, really. “Okay okay. Sullin, Yeonji, and Lynn go try and jump on the other team’s marshmallow. Minji and SeoAh you guys help us guard this thing. If those three are struggling to get past then you guys can run in too” Teams were announced, and the order went as follows: Sohyun to Seoyeon, Seoyeon to Yubin, Yubin to Xinyu, Xinyu to Yooyeon, and Yooyeon to Sohyun. Sohyun was a little nervous. She always was going up against Seoyeon in games like these; but this time, she was going to win. She was sure of it. The timer starts and the three runners start bolting over to Seoyeon’s team, who were already prepared for them and were standing at guard.  Lynn, the tallest of the bunch, found an unguarded area of the marshmallow, and jumped, swinging her leg over and rolling on her side to land on top of both marshmallows. The Dog team tried to drag her off, grabbing onto her leg pulling on it, and yet Lynn help on. Sohyun watched attentively at her offensive kids, until she heard footsteps approaching her team. She turned her head and two of Yooyeon’s kids had tried to sneak up on them. She grabbed a hold of Hyerin, who shrieked when she felt arms wrapping around her torso. “Not so fast, Hyerin” Sohyun jokes, laughing when the younger girl tried to wiggle her way out of the tight embrace. “Let go!” Hyerin grumbled. Sohyun shook her head and continued to hold onto her. A few more of Yooyeon’s team came as well, and Sohyun grabbed another one. She held onto them tightly and felt relief when she saw SeoAh and Dahyun doing the same. Wait, Seoah and Dahyun? Where did Minji go? Sohyun  turned to the side laboriously to see the girl running toward Seoyeon’s team, fighting against the barrage of defenders. Well, at least she’s not hurt. Five minutes passed and the Wolves and Tigers placed first with three kids on the marshmallows. One last round, and Sohyun lets the kids run loose, doing as they please while she defends the marshmallows alone. It can’t be  that hard to repel a horde of kids barreling your way. right? ~ She was dead wrong.  Sohyun was only able to keep two from jumping onto the marshmallows at a time. Three were able to slip past, struggling their bodies onto the marshmallow. Like a godsend, though, Dahyun came from behind and started to pull them off. She grabbed them by the arm and tugged them away. “Didn’t really need to help the kids” she huffed. “Looks like they have it under control.” They turned their heads swiftly to see four of five kids laying flat on the marshmallow and smiling victoriously. “Thanks for the help” she breathed. Dahyun gave her a determined smile and they pushed Bunny team’s campers away from their marshmallow. In the end, Sohyun’s team placed first with four of five kids on the marshmallows, with Seoyeon and Xinyu’s team in second with three kids. Sohyun gathered her kids and they celebrated their win. Surely, they were in the top two at least?  Sohyun could only hope. ~ For the next few hours, they did their last bonding activities with their teams. It was bittersweet; spending time away from their homes with their friends for the week, but everything must come to an end. Kids began to clean up and pack their belongings, recklessly stuffing their clothes and such into their bags and suitcases without a care.  Others helped tidy up the camp, wiping down tables and tidying up their cabins. The counselors and co counselors helped too, of course. Mainly with cleaning up and clearing out, but they got distracted easily with nostalgia and reminiscing on their former years at the camp.  “I can’t believe it’s your guys’ last year here” Dahyun said, helping Sohyun load the storage room with miscellaneous items they had used during the week. “I wish you could stay longer.” Sohyun shrugged, trying to ignore the way her stomach flip-flopped when she thought of her final year. “I mean, all good things need to come to an end, right? Plus, if we never left, you guys wouldn’t become counselors” “I guess that’s true..” “Besides, these past four years have been the best years i’ve ever had at Assemble, ignoring the fact that i keep getting beat by Xinyu” The two share a laugh as they shelf the final boxes. “Speaking of Xinyu, what are you going to do if you lose?”  Sohyun let out a noise that resembled a long sigh and an aborted grumble. “We won’t, I'm sure of it” She inhaled. “ But, if we do lose..I think I could come to terms with it. Obviously i’d be super bummed, but it’ll be a little relieving to not be fighting with Xinyu all the time” Sohyun let out a chuckle that accompanied the last part. “But wouldn’t you miss the bantering? Like, a little bit?”  Sohyun had to think about it. Would she? Sure, the bantering was a part of their dynamic. It added a certain  oohmph into their relationship that she appreciated. It was no shock to anyone that Xinyu was Sohyun’s biggest bother.  But what only the both of them knew was that they were always something more, no matter how much Sohyun wanted to deny it. Maybe once Sohyun could put her competitive spirit aside after this year, they could be closer friends. Or more. She sighed. “Honestly? Yeah, I would. Ignoring our camp rivalry, she’s good company. You know, when she’s not teasing you and everything” The two of them walk out of the storage room and sit down on the freshly cleaned table. “It sucks that she has to return to China after every camp. I think we all would have been really good friends outside of camp.” Dahyun nodded in agreement. “I can see that. I can also see that you care a lot about her”  “You could say it like that” Sohyun shrugged. “Wait, I take that back. I care about her but not in the way you’re probably thinking” Sohyun  said, frowning at Dahyun's amused expression. Dahyun snorted.“Yeah, sure. Okay. Whatever you say” She yelped when a hand came at her and smacked her bicep. “Oh my god, shut up, Soda” Sohyun rolled her eyes.  She wasn't ready to think about it. ~ With their suitcases in tow, everyone gathered onto the main lawn and anticipated the final standings.  Sohyun stands with her kids, waiting with a heavy heart for Suah to announce their final placings. She was sure they were going to win. Seoah looked up at her. “Unnie, I think we’re going to win, what about you?” the older girl smiled. “Who else would win besides us? Our team was the  best this week. If we don’t win then Suah is clearly blind” Sohyun paused and looked around warily. “For favorable reason that was a joke. I love you Suah” She said, raising her voice for sure measures. Her kids laughed at this, finding Sohyun’s worry amusing. “She’s not listening right? She’s just a voice over..right?” Minji asked. “You know…i don’t actually know” She admitted. “Even when i was a kid, Suah was always just a voice over the loudspeakers so like, I have no clue” She shrugged. Still confused, wolf team turned to face the front once again when a voice came over the loudspeakers. Everyone was in a circle, listening to Suah’s voice over the speakers, waiting anxiously as she did her little rant before revealing her final standings. “Before we continue to the placings” She started. “I’d like to say that I hope everyone had a great time and made new memories. I’d also like to thank this year’s counselors; since this is their final year as counselors, I can only hope that this is the best year they have ever had” The five counselors nodded appreciatively, smiling fondly. “Also I’m not blind, as some of you might be insinuating”  Sohyun’s cheeks blushed red, laughing awkwardly when her team’s eyes landed on her. She waved her hand in front of her face, telling her kids to focus back on Suah. “As I was saying, thank you for spending a part of your summer with us at Camp Assemble. We hope to see many of you next year. Now, onto the moment I’m sure you all have been waiting for: the final standings” A buzz of voices spread through the camp, nervous kids listening for their team to be called. “This year, the standinga were extremely close, the closest they have been in a very long time. In fifth place: The Tigers. In fourth place: The Bunnies” Following the two placings, both respective teams patted each other on the back, muttering  good job s to one another “In third place: The Dogs” Seoyeon’s team burst out into cheers, congratulating one another and high fiving. They had no intention of winning first or second, seeing as Xinyu and Sohyun’s team were always in competition with one another and basically in a league of their own; so in technicality they were ‘first place’. In heavy anticipation, Xinyu and Sohyun exchanged a glance. In some kind of understanding, they nodded. Whoever won this year deserved it. They both fought hard and did all they could in their final year as counselors. “Second place goes to…” It felt like the world paused for a second, could Suah go any slower? “The Fox team! Congratulations to the Wolf team! Your hard work has paid off!” Sohyun didn’t hear it the first time. She had already half expected Xinyu to win. It wasn’t until her kids turned around and tackled her onto the ground, cheering and chanting her name did it register in her head that they had won. Her heart soared. Finally, after four years of constantly getting kick ass by Xinyu, she had won! Her kids gathered together and cheered for one another, exchanging hugs and smiles while Sohyun gathered herself. In the midst of it all, she turned to look at Xinyu. Instead of looking bummed out or upset, she had a radiant smile on her face, patting her campers on the back and muttering words of encouragement to some of her sulking kids. When the moment was over, everyone said words of goodbye to each other before all the kids were loaded up into their bus, shouting  goodbye  s and  thank you s to the counselors. They waved back, thanking the kids for an amazing final year. “Well that was certainly something” Jiwoo said, turning to the group.  “Yeah, what a plot twist” Nakyoung replied, plopping down onto the floor with a sigh, everyone followed suit. “I thought Xin was gonna get her fourth win”Xinyu shook her head. “Nah, not really. Sohyun’s team was really good this year” Everyone eyed the tall girl suspiciously. “Five days ago you two were ready to battle it out in the ring, and now you guys are all buddy buddy with each other.” Nien quipped. “Seriously, what happened in that haunted house?” Sohyun laughed, shaking her head at the nonsense. “Nothing happened in the haunted house, idiot” She nudged her with a finger. “We just like..agreed to be chill with the standings this year because its our final time being counselors. We didn’t wanna end on a bad note” “Yeah plus I’d rather not get threats to have my car keyed and my tires slashed” Xinyu joked. Everyone laughed, entertained at Sohyuns hot temper when it comes to losing. When everyone calmed down, it was Yooyeon who spoke first. “So…it’s officially over, isn’t it?” Everyone nodded, a somber mood taking over the atmosphere. “I guess so. Our final year here is over” Seoyeon said, looking around at the camp. “Not much has changed, though. You’re all still the same idiots I went to camp with all those years ago” “Yeah, and now they’ll be the new counselors for a few years” Yubin motioned toward the co counselors, who smiled enthusiastically. “You can count on us” Nakyoung affirmed, making a salute motion that made everyone laugh. “Yeah, don’t even worry about the kids, it’ll be alright in our hands” Chaeyeon smiled. “We’ll miss you guys, though. It’s really not the same without you guys” Dahyun sighed. A familiar knot twisted in Sohyun chest, making her frown. “We’ll come and visit or something..if they let us” Yubin said, looking over at Yooyeon with a confused look. “...We can do thet, right?” The eldest shrugged. “I don’t know, but honestly, whos stopping us? We can come visit for a day or something and watch you guys. I mean, if we catch the time” Sohyun chuckled. “Yeah, we won’t just disappear from your lives. We still hang out outside of camp anyways” She turned to Xinyu and Nien, who cocked their heads to the side, confused. “Plus, we could always visit you guys too, like a vacation”“I like the sound of that!” Nien exclaimed. “But actually, You wont have to travel anywhere, because I got into a university here! Now I dont have to wait for summer to spend time with you guys!” The group shrieked and cheered at the newfound information, talking over where Nien was studying and where she was staying until they decided to go home. “We’ll catch you guys later?” Jiwoo and Chaeyeon shouted from their cars, already starting to head out of the lot.  “See you!!” Seoyeon followed after, driving away in her own car. Everyone started to slowly trickle out until it was just Xinyu and Sohyun in the parking lot.  The Korean had already packed her duffel bag into the trunk, but was hesitating to put her suitcase in, something stopping her from doing so. “What’s wrong? You seem upset” Xinyu said from behind, causing Sohyun to turn around in surprise. She shook her head. “Nothing, I’m fine” Turning to the side to glance at Xinyu’s car, parked and packed, she gave her a quizzical look. “I thought you’d have left already” “I didn’t want you to be left alone here, considering we’re in the middle of the woods with like, no civilization for a little ways” Xinyu shrugged. “And you don’t look fine. We don’t have to, but do you want to talk about it?” Sohyun bit her lip. Her stomach flittered with anxious butterflies and the knot in her lungs wouldn’t go away. Better to talk to someone that not, right? “Sure” They sat in Sohyun’s trunk, legs hanging off the edge as they looked outwards towards the trees, no one saying a word. “So..what’s wrong” “Nothing, it’s nothing I swear” Xinyu raised a brow. “You’ve been staring off into space all day, and whenever mentions the camp, your eyebrows crease before you smile” Sohyun looked at the girl beside her in surprise and suspicion “Why do you notice that..?” Xinyu shrugged. “I just do” She sighed. “I just..I don’t know” Sohyun inhaled before continuing. “This camp has been a part of my summers since I was 10. It was where I met all my friends and how I got away from stress when I got older” Sohyun paused, glancing up at Xinyu to gauge her reaction. Instead of looking disinterested or bored, her face was full of emotion. Nodding to signal the girl to continue, she smiled softly. “It didn’t properly register in my head that this would be the last time that I would be here until I guess last night. I’m just…I don’t know if I’m ready to let it go” To let  you go, she wanted to say. But she didn’t. It was silent until Xinyu spoke up. “I get it, I really do” She began, experimentally grasping the younger girl’s hand in hers, both their eyes still trained on the trees in front of them. “I joined this camp the same year you did, remember? I was a shy little 10 year old girl who barely understood any Korean. I practically grew up at this camp, and so did you.” She smiled. “I don’t think it’s h@t me quite yet, but I think I’ll really miss this place when I do” “But how do I just forget everything from this place?” Sohyun whispered, her heart banging in her chest. The hand grasping hers gripped tighter, rubbing circles on the back of her palming. It was grounding, keeping her from falling into a fit of sobs. “You don’t have to. Like you said earlier, you can still spend time with your friend outside of camp. And you have your memories that you can hold close to your heart, right? Just because you can’t be at Assemble anymore, doesn’t mean you have to erase everything from here out of your mind”“But what about you? You’re going back to China, I won’t ever see you again” Xinyu’s grin grew wider. “I thought you hated me? What’s with this sudden change of heart?” Sohyun scoffed, a smile tugging at her lips.“Shut up! It’s not that I hate you. I don’t think I ever have. It’s just my pride refuses to like you until I beat you” “And you beat me this year, so now what?” Sohyun stayed silent.  Now what? For four years, her pride had driven her to beat Xinyu at least once. But now that she had gotten what she had wanted, where does she go from here? Go on with her life and just forget about the Chinese girl?“I dont know. I don’t hate you, that’s for sure.” She chuckled.“I think we made that really clear last night” Xinyu laughed, yelping when Sohyun pushed her.“Oh my god, do not speak of that ever again” Sohyun buried her face in her hands.“What? It was hot. And sort of cute, in a way”After a minute of laughing (and beatings from Sohyun to Xinyu) the two fell into a calm silence.“So…” Sohyun started, unsure of how to bring up the subject of the matter. “What  are we?”“What do you mean? We’re friends now, right? Unless, you still hate me then thats fine, I’ll just go and kill myself then” Sohyun’s eyes widened.“What? No, oh my god, Xin, No!” She shook her head. “I meant as in…I went from hating you, to thinking you were okay, to confused. Like, we’ve kissed before and i like you but I don’t really know if you’re into me or if you just haven’t had any action or something” She rambled, feeling her cheeks burn up. “Actually, just forget it. I’ll never see you again anyways so this will be less embarrassig for me if we just like, stop talking right now” She turned her head away from the trees, gazing at the path out of the lot to avoid Xinyu. Unfortunately, she could still feel Xinyu’s eyes still burning into her skull.“I never said I was going back to China” Sohyun’s head whipped around“What?!“Yeah, I was going to say soething when we were still with the girls earlier when Nien announced hers but it din’t really seem like a good time. I’m transferring to go to university here, coincidentally at your school which I found out from Yubin”“This just got a whole lot more embarrassing for me” Sohyun muttered, planting her icy fingertips on her cheeks, trying to cool them down.“Hey, we’re not skipping past your really crappy onfession, you know” Xinyu smirked, arms crossing and leaning her back against the inside of the trunk. She watched entertained at Sohyun, who was still staring straight ahead with her hands still on her cheeks.“Yes. yes we are. That is the most embarrassing thing I have ever done. Get out of my car so I can leave and avoid you at school too”Xinyu raised an eyebrow. “Even if i said I like you back?”Sohyun nodded vigorously. “Yes, even if you like me back” Then, she took a second to register what the elder girl had said “Wait did you just confess to me too”Xinyu shrugged. “Yeah, but if you wanted me to leave i can..” Xinyu got up slowly and started walking to her car, only for Sohyun to frantically reach out and grab her arm to sit her back down.“No, NO! Stay. Please” She sighed.“Fine, only because you’re really cute when you’re embarrassed” She grinned, amused at Sohyun’s cherry-red cheeks.“You really like me? Why? I’ve been such a b@tch with you for four years”“Because you have ambition. I lik that. Plus you’re pretty and smart, what a f@ck@ng combo” Xinyu laughed. “The question is, why do you like me? I mean, other than the fact that i’m awfully pretty and f@ck@ng awesome” Sohyun rolled her eyes.“I honestly don’t know” Xinyu pouted. “I’m serious! Something about you is just really attractive to me and..” She looked up to see Xinyu stifling a laugh. “Oh forget it, you know exactly why”“So does this mean you’ll be my girlfriend?” Xinyu asked, half expectant and half giggling.“Yeah, I will” Xinyu scoots closer, tucking a hair behind Sohyun’s ear. She presses their lips together, sharing their first kiss as an official couple.And it was far better than the both of them could have ever imagined.~“Are you f@ck@ng kidding me” Seoyeons jaw practically dropped. Xinyu had told them she was staying in Korea. So the group of eleven had met up once again after camp to hang out. They were outside a cafe, sitting in the outside seating.They all stared in shock as Xinyu and Sohyun walked in with locked arms. Sure they were bantering with each other as they walked in, but seeing the two as close as they were was new to everyone.“Who replaced them with clones?” Nien whispered to Nakyoung, who had a perplexed look on his face. “I don’t know but I’m like, really f@ck@ng scared”Xinyu smiled at the girls, waving at them with her free hand. “Hey guys! It’s so nice to see all of you again, even though we were just at camp like, last week”Seoyeon passed over two drinks they had ordered for them, getting a thanks in return.Chaeyeon scoffed “Only a week and it looks like we’ve missed a chapter” She muttered, earning laughs from those around her. “What’d you say?” Sohyun wondered, a confused look on her face.“Nothing!!”The two sat down, intimidated by the eyes on them.“So…what’s new with you two?” Yooyeon asked. Xinyu shrugged.“Other than us dating, nothing much”  With the news finally out, everyones eyes widen and outcries erupt.“I f@ck@ng knew it!” Nien yelled, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table. She turns to Yubin and Seoyeon, thrusting her hand in front of them. “Fifty bucks, each. Right now. Me and Yooyeon”Xinyu scoffed. “Did you guys bet on our relationship? Im hurt”Yooyeon looked around, like it was a surprise to no one. “Um, yeah. Have you seen the way you too act? It’s like youre constantly hot and bothered by each other”“Ew Yoo, gross” Dahyun cringed. “You’re ruining my appetite”“What? Am I wrong?”“Are we going to ignore the fact that you guys bet  fifty dollars ?” Sohyun asked, eyes wide.“Well, no surprise Nien won” Xinyu laughed. “She knows me best”“It kinda helped that I think I interrupted your makeout session during camp” Nien joked.“You huh?!” Yooyeon yelled “Yeah! Yubam, Naky, remember that day when I came out of the kitchen when u guys were eating popcorn? Yeah they were in the storage closet that day. Gross”“Umm ew..”“Okay, Okay! Enough about us..how are you guys?”'
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