charm(less)

ūndēvīgintī

—— ū n d ē v ī g i n t ī ——

THEY STAYED OUT on the beach for so long that the sun was beginning to rise by the time they made their way back up to camp, painting the lightening sky in shades of gold and pink. Exhaustion was beginning to creep up on Park from a whole night up and he could tell Korey was growing tired too, if only because his ability to talk relentlessly without any provocation was wearing down to leave bouts of silence between them. Park couldn't stop thinking about the way Korey's eyes lit up when he managed to successfully skip a stone, about the way his heart had sped up when they held hands, a feeling that felt more natural than anything he had ever done before. He'd told Korey he was too scared to let himself care for anyone else again and yet he was, caring for Korey, caring for him far more fiercely and intensely than he knew what to do with.

"Great," Korey said, with a wide yawn, as they reached the cabins. "Can't wait to lie on the floor and absolutely not fall asleep to the soundtrack of snoring. Not to mention everyone will be up for camp activities in a couple of hours, which will definitely wake me up."

Park watched Korey rub his eyes sleepily for a moment and didn't let himself overthink before saying, "You could sleep in my cabin."

"Huh?"

"The Hades cabin. I'm sure there's a bunch of untouched beds in there," he said, at Korey's startled look. He wondered whether he thought for a moment Park was suggesting they share a bed and tried to force his own thought away from that route.

"But that's against the rules," Korey said.

"Oh, Hera forbid we break the rules," Park said, layering the sarcasm on thick to make clear exactly what he thought about the rules. "It's bad enough that I'm stuck eating meals at a table on my own. I couldn't give less of a shit if you sleep in the Hades cabin. He's my dad, isn't he? My dad's cabin, my rules."

"I can't argue with that logic," Korey said with a laugh. He glanced at the Hermes cabin, the sagging roof and chipped wooden door, and then at the Hades cabin, glossy and undisturbed. "Okay, sure. What's the worse that they'll do if they found out?"

"Literally not a single thing," Park said flatly. "This is a summer camp, not prison. They're not going to whip you for breaking the rules."

"I feel like I should point out they don't whip you in prison for breaking the rules either."

Park rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and get in my cabin. I want to sleep."

Park pushed open the door to the Hades cabin for the first time since arriving at this camp and let himself inside, Korey trailing in after him. Golden lights built into the walls and ceiling automatically lit up as the door shut behind them. The interior was as sleek and modern as the exterior surrounded, bigger than the Hermes cabin despite the fact it was empty, a marble tiled floor inlaid with precious gems and windows fitted with blackout curtains. Park drew to a stop in the middle of the room when he saw the sleeping situation. The bed was large and fitted with white sheets, looking as if it would easily be more comfortable than most of the places Park had slept in the past five years.

The only problem was that there was only one.

"Uh..." Korey peered around his shoulder to appraise the bed. "So much for a bunch of beds."

"Why is there only one?" Park asked. "Don't all the other cabins have lots of bed, just like cabins in a camp should?"

Korey looked as bemused as he felt. "No idea."

There was an awkward pause in which they both just stared at each other and evaluated how to go forward from here. "I guess I'll just go back to the Hermes cabin," Korey said, the words slow and reluctant. "It can't be that bad..."