MISSION: Love

+ nineteen +

Sunghoon

The camping day finally arrived. I held my bag close and held a list of things I packed, making sure everything was settled. Other students were gasping excitedly when they saw a few school buses arrive. The head teacher blew her whistle before announcing, "Class A! Get ready to board the bus!"

There she was, looking all beautiful and perfect. Hana was talking and laughing with Heeseung and Jake. I could feel my heartbeat beating at an unusual pace. It was calmer and more peaceful. I hoped that it matched the rhythm of her heart too. People always say if two people are liking each other, their heartbeats will synchronise.

"Drooling?" Jay's voice brought me back to reality. I frowned before asking, "You're Class A. Why aren't you boarding the bus yet?"

"It's already full. I'm boarding the second one. Wanna join? There's Jihu and the others as well. But Heeseung already boarded the first one."

I shrugged, "Sure," and followed him to the next bus. I was hoping to sit near Hana but the vehicle was full of Class A students. I entered the bus and took a seat behind Jihu and Jay. I grimaced at how she was being touchy and clingy to my best friend. Maybe this is one of the reasons why Hana dislikes her.

I put on my earphones and played my favourite music. I rested my chin on my hand as I admired the scenery outside. The teacher-in-charge started counting all of the students to make sure everyone boarded the bus before telling the driver to start driving.

I closed my eyes and let myself get drowned in the song lyrics I was listening to. Maybe it was because my heart was at ease. Everything felt so peaceful and lovely. Maybe the song reminded me of her? Of Hana?

I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you.

I don't wanna think of anything else now that I've thought of you.

I opened my eyes again and found myself smiling. I looked at my own reflection in the window and thought about the moments when we both played volleyball together. The time I treated her bruised hand. And the time I walked her back home.

"I think Sunghoon's in love!" I heard Jay teasing me. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms, ignoring him. "So, who's the special girl? Is it Ahrin?" Jihu asked out of the blue. I furrowed my eyebrows and asked, "Why would it be her?"

"Oh, please. I caught you staring at her for so long before we boarded the bus. And you keep smiling to yourself. I know when a guy stares at a girl with amazed eyes, he's in love."

"It's not Ahrin."

"Better not be. Heeseung likes her. You can't steal your best friend's crush, Sunghoon," Jay said.

"I couldn't think of anyone else other than Ahrin. I mean, it wouldn't be Hana. She's not as smart, pretty and popular as her. So, who is she? It's that girl who always sits at the corner whenever we go to the lab, right?"

"It's none of your business, Jihu. And what's wrong with Hana? She's smarter than you, that's for sure." I snapped and watched her go silent. She turned back around and stayed quiet for the rest of the ride. I rolled my eyes and put my earphones back on.

💌

Hana

"Hana-yah," I felt someone poking my arm continuously. I frowned and slapped the owner's hand, "It hurts, Heeseung!"

"We've arrived," Jake said as he picked up his things from his seat. I stretched myself and held my throbbing head since it got banged against the window many times. We all got out of the bus and looked at the campsite. There was a gate with a sign that had the forest's name carved on it.

"We better hurry up and put up our tents. It's going to rain. Look at the cloudy weather, oh dear," the head teacher said before leading the way into the forest. I held my backpack tightly and followed her from behind. The journey was so long that I finished my water in just 30 minutes. My fault for bringing a small water bottle.

My sight became blurry and everything started moving from side to side. I lost my steps and fell to the ground, scratching my elbow against the hard ground. "Ow!" I winced in pain. Suddenly, I heard footsteps running towards me. Sunghoon squatted in front of me and helped me stand up, "Are you okay?"

I could hear whispers behind me. Most of the students were wondering how I could get close to him. Ahrin and Jihu were one of them. Then, I could hear cheering noises from Heeseung and Jake.

"I need water," I breathed out slowly as I held onto him for support. He leaned forward to hear my words. I weakly repeated the sentence and watched as he took a big water bottle out of his backpack, "Here."

"Please hold me. I think I'm gonna fall," I whispered to him as I felt my legs wobbly. We continued our journey to our campsite with him holding both of my shoulders. A few hours later, I could feel my bladder acting up.

"Are you okay?" Sunghoon asked again when he saw me put my two legs together so tightly. "Yeah, I'm fine," I answered back with a pathetic voice. My face turned so red that sweat started forming. It was tiring to hold my legs close tightly.

"Oh god," I breathed out when I could feel my bladder failing me. Stupid me for drinking three bottles of water. "We can sit if you want. I'll tell the teacher to rest for a few minutes."

"No! We can't," I said again with a whiny voice. "Why?" He frowned in confusion. "Because I need to pee," I mumbled under my breath. "What?" He asked again. Oh, how I wanted to punch him in the face for asking again. I couldn't tell everyone I was trying to hold my pee.

"You jerk!" I grabbed him by the collar, "I need to pee! I'm gonna pee!"

He was taken aback by the response and looked at me with his widened eyes. "I'll take you. Come, Hana," one of the teachers heard me and immediately brought me to a place more suitable for me to pee.