𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚕𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚖𝚖𝚎𝚛 ― 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚔𝚑𝚢𝚞𝚌𝚔

one

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mark was looking through the windows of his mother's car, which was currently driving near a mountain range.

"i'm sending you to summer camp!" his mother had exclaimed cheerily two days before.

mark hated the outdoors. too many bugs, and way too hot - especially in summer. nonetheless, he decided he would give it a go for his mother's sake.

he knew she was only doing this to get him out of the house, but he still played along. he knew that his mother was still upset about her and mark's father's divorce, and how he had moved on so quickly. yet, he was still willing to try leaving home for once and heading to a summer camp.

"how much longer?" mark asked, looking at the passing forests and mountains.

"it should only be about 5 minutes until we get there." his mother replied.

mark was a little anxious, partly because he had no friends at the summer camp, and because he couldn't make friends at the summer camp. being in the outdoors with other teenagers was going to be very different from staying at home sleeping all of the time.

5 minutes on the dot, and mark's mother was parked near the entrance of the summer camp. 

"it's so hot," mark complained after he got out of the car.

"let's go," his mother said, dragging him by the arm to the office.

"hello! welcome to camp ivanhoe. are you registered already?" the lady at the front desk asked.

"yes, he should be registered under mark lee." mark's mother replied.

mark stared down at the wooden floor, not wanting to make eye contact.

"he'll be in cabin 210. i'm warning you though, they're a bit crazy." the woman laughed and gave him a map.

"this is a map of the campgrounds, and there's also a schedule on the back stating what times we do activities. i hope you have fun." 

"thank you." mark's mother said, and they walked outside.

"well, i guess this is goodbye." mark mumbled.

"bye hon. i'll see you in a month, okay?" mark's mother got in the car and waved.

as if she cares, mark thought as he walked off.

finding the cabin was definitely the hardest part of his journey. not only were the cabin numbers not in order, but people kept staring at him and making him nervous. 

once he reached the cabin he would be staying at, he contemplated whether he should knock or just go right in. he decided not knocking would be rude, so he knocked on the heavy oak door.

the door swiftly opened, and a brunette boy was standing there with a packet of oreo cookies.

"who are you?" the boy asked.

"i'm mark.. i'm gonna be staying here." mark replied.

"oh, cool. i'm jaemin." he moved out of the way to let mark inside, and mark set his bags down.

"you're gonna be with haechan 'cos all of the other rooms are taken. but don't call him haechan, his real name's donghyuck. okay? okay. bye!" jaemin left him and went to his room.

well, crap. now i have to find this so-called haechan.

since he knew the room jaemin went in wasn't haechan's, he only had two other possibilities. he braced himself and knocked on a door.

"hello?" a tall boy answered the door.

"are you haechan?" mark asked.

"no, he's in that room." the tall boy pointed to the room next to his.

"oh, thank you." mark walked over and knocked on the door.

after a minute of standing there, a tan boy opened the door and looked at mark.

"you're ha- donghyuck, right?" 

"yeah, how do you know me?" donghyuck replied.

"oh well, i'm gonna be your.. cabin mate? and so jaemin told me who you were." mark stuck a hand out.

"i'm mark, by the way." he added.

"m'kay." donghyuck turned around and flopped down on one of the beds. he was listening to music, it seemed, since he had earbuds in.

mark set his things down on the floor and put them neatly away, and when he was done he couldn't help but to glance at the other male. 

he noticed that donghyuck had stuffed animals lining his bed, and the michael jackson posters on the wall.

"mj, huh?" mark asked.

"oh, yes. i look up to him, he's amazing." the boy's eyes seemed to sparkle as he talked to mark.

"nice. i like the beatles." mark said.

"they're okay. not as good as michael jackson, but they're okay." 

"okay? the beatles are amazing, too. they had so many great songs, and practically took the world by storm with their music." mark gasped, though he wasn't very offended.

"hello? so did mj! king of pop." donghyuck scoffed.

"say what you wanna say, but never insult the beatles." mark laughed, and donghyuck laughed softly.

"so.. where do you come from?" donghyuck asked.

"canada. but i live here in korea, i mean not here. like, in another city. but i live in korea." mark explained.

"i knew it!" donghyuck smiled.

"knew what?" mark asked.

"knew you were a foreigner." 

"how did you tell?" mark laughed.

"you have that foreign swagger. just how i knew lele and injun were foreign, because of their foreign swagger." donghyuck said.

"lele and injun..?" mark questioned.

"oh! they're in the cabin, too. their real names are renjun and chenle. there's also jaemin, jeno, and jisung."

"so, there's 7 of us?" mark asked.

"yep!" donghyuck nodded.

a knock interrupted their conversation, and a short boy opened the door.

"can i use your phone charger, haechan? i forgot mine." the boy pouted.

"sure." donghyuck handed him a charger, and the boy thanked him and left.

"who was that?"

"injun. he likes moomin." donghyuck smiled.

"moomin?" mark asked.

"oh, mark, you have so much to learn."

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