off limits ✧ zb1 applyfic

✧ fifty four

When came time to sleep, it seemed that none of the eighteen friends were quite willing to separate just yet. They'd spent such an awesome day together, away from all the stress of regular life, and there was nothing they wanted more than to keep it going. But tomorrow would be an early morning, as they would need to go back to their respective homes. They'd already stayed here far longer than they were supposed to. All good things had to come to an end, after all.

Once again, Haewon had taken great care to organize who would go in what tent. She'd made sure there would be an adult in each of them, so there would be no catastrophe left unsupervised. The only line-up she hadn’t planned herself was the tent she shared with Hao, but she certainly couldn’t find it in her heart to complain about that. Any minute more spent by his side was a precious moment to her...

"Good night," she said first, as she unzipped the door of her tent.

All of them exchanged good nights, as they crawled through the little space allowing them to enter their tents. It was no luxury hotel, but it would certainly do.

As if he was back at his teaching assistant job, Jiwoong had found himself in a tent with Yujin and Ricky. Only the sounds of cicadas and chirping birds permeating through the fabric of the tent, the atmosphere inside was nearly silent. In truth, Ricky was the only guy acting normal in there. Yujin seemed completely distracted, buried in his sleeping bag. Jiwoong, on the other hand, wouldn’t stop sighing. Ricky wasn’t quite the type of guy to notice things, but there was definitely something strange going on, that much was obvious.

"Jiwoong hyung, did something happen?"

For some reason, that question did not get a reaction out of Jiwoong, but instead prompted Yujin to sit up in his bag. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jiwoong, the expression of someone ready to fight on his face. Feeling his intense gaze on him, Jiwoong chuckled nervously, instinctively scooting further away from him. Of course, having missed several chapters of the Jiwoong and Jiyeon saga, Ricky couldn’t for one second figure out why there was all that tension in the air.

"Haha, nope, nothing," Jiwoong hurried to reply, a forced smile on his face. "I'm just tired after today. You know I'm old!"

Well, Jiwoong wasn’t quite geriatric enough to use it as an excuse, but Ricky let it slide. It seemed Yujin abandoned the conversation too, as he slid back into his sleeping bag, a crease between his brows. Ricky watched as he stared wordlessly at the ceiling of their tent, as if he was on a completely different planet. Seriously, these guys were so weird today. Was there something in the water?

"And you, Yujin?" he inquired, mildly confused. "Everything okay?"

The reply that came out of Yujin's mouth was miles away from what he'd expected. "I think I'm having a heart attack."

At that, Ricky's eyes widened. "Huh?!"

"My chest is painful. I feel feverish and I can't breathe properly," he explained matter-of-factly, still looking into the void.

While Ricky was there on the verge of panic, Jiwoong shook his head slowly, an amused grin on his lips. Weren't first loves so adorable? Sometimes, Jiwoong wished he could feel so pure a feeling again, untainted by the harsh world he lived in, and the many mistakes he'd made. He hoped Yujin would savor that first love, with all that he had.

"I think you're a little too young to have a heart attack," he reasoned, still unable to let go of his smile. "There's probably a simpler, more obvious reason."

Yujin had no time to process that, because Ricky was already frantically looking around the tent. "Wait, lemme google your symptoms. They’ve got those cool websites that can tell you if you’re in an emergency."