Camp Heartbroken | TXT Novella

Chapter 25 - Beomgyu

Go on every single ride together. Experience all the emotional highs, and when you come back, you'll be able to start week four with all sorts of inspiration! — Taylor

Beomgyu hasn't been to Wet'n'Wild in years, but the sounds of summer are familiar. Kids run in wayward directions, dragging their friends along to their favorite rides. The ground is soaked, even with the burning sun at its full, noonday strength—which the few, wavering palm trees do nothing to block out. Screams echo out from all directions. They're accompanied by unseen splashes and chiding directed at the more hesitant riders. Close by, the littler ones wade in the shallower playground, while cheering rises from a nearby surf machine.

Beomgyu leads the group at a steady pace to the next ride. On the last one, they were facing each other on a large, circular floaty. After being pushed off a small slope, they were thrown immediately into a whirlpool that funneled them down a red tunnel. Beomgyu felt as though his screams were the loudest of all. After being sucked out into a calmer pool at the bottom, his eyes were so wide that Huening Kai began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Bathroom break!" Huening Kai calls out, pointing to the nearest washroom sign.

"I'll go with you," says Soobin.

"Yeonjun and I can grab everyone's floaty," says Taehyun. "I think one can fit three of us, so we'll need two in total."

Soon, Beomgyu is left alone. He shakes his head, trying to rid himself of the fear that came with the wind blowing past his ears and free falling down complete darkness. Before he can think any longer, he heads to the next line, which is beginning to fill up below a spiral staircase. The Green Castle, he reads, while admiring the winding, open slides that seem to balance precariously in mid air.

Then, black hair tied into a high ponytail catches his attention. He remembers everything about her. From the way she stands, tilted slightly to the left, to how she holds her towel with her left hand, by her right shoulder. When she turns, Beomgyu makes out golden brown eyes that highlight a kind face. Her smile is the product of two stars colliding, and her laughter is what follows the explosion. It's a type of beautiful aftermath, one that she once directed at him for almost a year.

Now, her attention is for another person. But the boy fades into a blurry mess, just like everything else in Beomgyu's vision. The only one he bothers to notice is the girl he met in his last year in high school. She looks the same but different—as if her smile is wider. Could it be that she's happier now?

She was a junior, he was a senior. They talked first because of a class ice breaker, where he found that he joined his mathematics level because she was ahead in almost every subject. From there, they began to text. Some of the messages are saved on his phone, all variations of I love you and We'll be here for each other, forever. Texts turned to phone calls that lasted for hours, deep into the early morning. Time blurred together. Beomgyu couldn't even tell what day it was. All that mattered was their next conversation, where their intimacy would grow in a space where there was all acceptance, laughter and trust.

On their first date, Beomgyu picked her up for an evening date at The Old Spaghetti Factory. He had just gotten his drivers license the day before, so he was nervous to drive by himself the first time. She was concerned too, but he reassured her. "I promise you," he had said. "If my fear of the road is the only thing keeping us apart, then I'm going to face it as soon as possible."

"Be careful," she had said. "No texting. And once I'm in the car, you'll be more confident."

It wasn't just that one night. His confidence and joy remained steady and growing, like a sturdy oak tree. Every moment they shared would replay in his mind like a movie trailer—kisses, embraces, conversations at her family picnics at Kahala Beach. But on one, ordinary night in February, she took him on a date to Ward Theater. They stayed even after the credits rolled. Kaila took his hand, holding it a bit too tightly for comfort. After the last viewer left, she turned to him with wet eyes filled with regret.

Beomgyu is sure he could recite every line from that conversation—when she admitted her feelings for someone else, when they held each other so tightly it seemed they would suffocate each other. They both cried. From then on, Beomgyu's entire world was shaken. His future was destabilized, and thinking of what lies ahead became a surefire path toward depression.

His imagined future is standing in front of him.

Beomgyu takes one step forward. If I can just talk to her one more time. Maybe a chance for us still exists....

Taehyun is the first to return. With one look at his team member, the impact of the last three weeks hits Beomgyu in the chest like a dropped boulder. Yes, Kaila is the reason he could apply to Camp Heartbroken, but she will not be the reason why he'll become saved from heartbreak. The support of his team, through the long hours of practice and times of grieving, is the only way.

Beomgyu coughs and swivels around, turning his back against the girl who was his world and simultaneously shattered it. Soon, Huening Kai returns and Yeonjun and Soobin come by with red and black floaties. Seeing his team all together, he can almost, almost forget about Kaila.

"Let's go guys!" he shouts, pointing to the next ride as if he's commanding a troupe. If Kaila hears him shouting, he hopes she'll remember their good memories.

He hopes she's happy with another heart in her hands.

A/N: more emotions! Thank you for reading and supporting the journey of Camp Heartbroken. We are already past the halfway point :).